Where the Hell Am I?

In a wooden, dilapidated cabin, a woman lay peacefully on her bed, her womb rotund. Her husband moved around, hard at work taking care of her.

"Honey, are you alright?"

The woman simply smiled but did not speak.

"..." The man did not talk any further, standing up and walking towards a wooden bucket on the floor. He grabbed the wet towel inside and started to wipe his wife's body.

"Unngg..."

The man stood up and dropped the towel and looked alarmingly at his wife. "Is it... time?"

"Ung... hurry!"

He nodded and walked out of the room, calling for a midwife.

.....

The first thing that came into his mind was confusion.

In his line of sight was a wooden ceiling that could use a little maintenance, as well as two big faces that kept looking at him. He avoided their vision, but they didn't seem to notice his unwillingness to look.

Their eyebrows furrowed. One of the people, a woman, spoke in a language that he couldn't understand. The man responded in a concerned tone, to which the woman replied-

Ouch!

She hit my ass! What the hell is she doing?

As she garnered no reaction from him, she readied her palm to hit him again-

Ouch!

It... it hurts!

A teary feeling flowed from his eyes, continuously dripping down.

"Uuu... uwah! Uwah!"

His cry seemed to have given the two people some sort of relief as the woman stopped hitting his butt.

Hah... where the hell am I?!

.....

More than a decade later.

Han Ganxing was fully accustomed to his life in this world.

Holding a strong bamboo stick, the boy struck it against his father, yet the latter dodged it easily. He retaliated with a strike of his own, one that looked light but felt heavy.

Han Ganxing's stick flew away, after which Han Liqi proceeded to hit his vulnerable son's elbow with a side swing.

"Ah! F, father, please go easy on me..."

Han Liqi had a stern expression as he glanced at his son.

"This was me going easy on you."

Watching from the side, a girl shook her head. "Ganxing, your father's right. How can you be this bad at 11 years old?"

This girl was Shi Wenyang, Han Ganxing's childhood friend a couple of years older than him. She was hailed as the strongest swordsman in Corner Town since she won the Annual Swordfighting Tournament last year by a landslide. For her to criticize him like this, it disheartened Han Ganxing.

"I am only an ordinary person, okay? Not like you, a genius monster..."

In the ten years that passed since Han Ganxing's birth, nothing eventful happened. He still had no idea why he was reincarnated.

'Usually, in web novels that I've read, a person would reincarnate with a cheat. They would have one of three things: the ability to be all-knowing, extreme luck and resilience, or a system that would guide them. I have none of those things, so why did this happen?

Well, it didn't matter to me anymore. What mattered now was me living happily in my current life. In my last one, I died at the tender age of 18, right before I graduated... '

Han Ganxing got teary-eyed as he thought about it...

A soft slap on the back of his head brought him back to reality.

"Ah, what do you mean monster? I know I'm a genius, but leave the monster out, okay?"

Shi Wenyang glared at him while pouting her lips.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Han Ganxing rubbed his head discreetly.

After sparring, Han Liqi would head to his office to manage the business that he had as a merchant. It wasn't until dinner that he would have a chance to meet with his son again.

.....

Han Ganxing pursed his lips as he stared at the food in front of him. No matter how luxurious it was, it couldn't beat the feeling of loneliness that he always felt on this overly long table. Luckily for him, Shi Wenyang accompanied him for breakfast whenever she could.

"What are you being sad about? You're still acting like a child, sheesh."

He rolled his eyes. "You're only 2 years older than me."

"Eh, that's two whole years. You're never going to catch up with me~" Shi Wenyang sneered, covering her mouth.

"..." Girl, I am twice your age mentally. You are nothing but a child in my eyes.

The maid grabbed the empty plate on the table as Han Ganxing stood up and left the room, Shi Wenyang following along.

.....

At night.

Han Ganxing laid on his bed, let out a lengthy yawn, and flexed. Thinking of tomorrow, he got excited. It was going to be his birthday, after all.

In this world, children would turn into teens at the tender age of 12. Shi Wenyang often mocked him for being a child as she had turned into a teen 2 years ago.

The 12-year-old milestone marked more than a mere sentiment here. Turning 12 also meant that one could start practicing martial arts and connect his spirit with the world. In other words, cultivation!

In his 11 years of life in this universe, the one thing that interested him the most was cultivation!

Something only fictional in his previous world could actually be done here, to be honest, who wouldn't be excited?

As he stopped himself from jittering on the bed, he pulled his blanket to cover his whole body.

He was sure that this night would be a special night.

.....

"Thank you for choosing Heart ♥ Capture System~ to go along with you on your journey! Please press [Start] to continue..."

What the heck...

Just when Han Ganxing finally fell asleep, a loud 'beep!' woke him up, limiting his sleep to exactly... 2 minutes and 3 seconds.

When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of this interface.

He momentarily glanced at the glass sphere on his bedside desk. The glass sphere showed an unclear line between darkness and light, which would've been more or less 6 am in his previous world.

The interface's brightness didn't allow him to ignore its existence for even a tiny bit longer, as the glint burned the sides of his eyes.

Han Ganxing looked at it again and bit his lip.

Below the notice were two buttons, [Start] and [Quit].

"Is this the system I've been longing for? A cheat that would help me reach the top of this world?

But what's with this name? Heart Capture System?

Don't tell me... my path to greatness is harvesting hearts?"

He shook his head, ridding these thoughts immediately. To improve his concentration, he sat up.

"I shouldn't get pessimistic. What if it turns out to be a really strong system? The goddess would have truly blessed me."

After his initial hesitation, he excitedly pressed the [Start] button.