1 Chapter 0: Epilogue.

It is said that people are judged by our social circle. 'Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are'…

But. What happens if I do not have friends or acquaintances ?.

What happens if I no longer have family and I live alone ?.

How could they know how I am then?

I, Alex, was one of those people with no one in his life.

My parents died 3 years ago, when I was 11 and now I'm living alone in the ramshackle little house that I built with my own hands under a bridge near the port.

I moved here when I escaped from the social worker who wanted to take me to an orphanage.

I currently earn money selling sculptures and handicrafts that I create myself, with things that other people throw away. It's not much, but it's enough for me to eat.

Unlike many people think, I'm going to school every Day. . I'm trying hard to go unnoticed and this way, nobody knows my background since I hardly speak in classes.

I'm not a bad student, but not a very good one either. You could say that I don't stand out at all.

All this caused my personality to become distant, and I lost all confidence in myself, to the point that, even if someone spoke to me, I used to evade them and follow my path.

Even when I sold my handicrafts door to door, I had a sign with me that said I was mute, to talk as little as possible.

But hey, that's enough of my depressing life. Let me tell you about the moment when everything began to change.

I remember it was a Monday, school was normal as always, it was already late, almost at night even, and I was returning home after a long and tiring walk, with my backpack over my shoulder and a basket where I carry the crafts that I try to sell to my costumers.

I could only sell one that time, so it wasn't a great day for me.

I was feeling tired, and I remember taking a shortcut through the center of the city in order to get home quickly and sleep.

While I was thinking about what I could eat that night, I unconsciously turned my way to an alley in which i had never been before.

The lighting wasn't very good and it seemed that it was colder there than in the other streets. But I did not notice this until I was already deep in the alley.

When I finally paid attention, I was already close to the exit.

Finally I was a few meters away from there, but then, something on the floor next to one of the walls caught my attention.

When I got closer to see what it was, a very simple little ring, silver in colour, shone tenuously under the lights of the place.

The moment I saw it, I could feel a small attraction to the ring, as if it was calling me to pick it up and take it with me.

Given my way of life, I usually took things that I see in the trash or lying around, so I did not think much about it and pick it up.

When I had it in my hands, I felt a small engrave on the inside. I thought it was a special dedication or a date, like those engravings that are usually done in rings like this. But to my surprise, it wasn't words what it contained, or at least, weren't words that I could understand.

Strange squiggles filled the entire inner face of the ring.

I didn't find any sense in them, so I just kept it in my pocket and went on my way.

From that moment on, I forgot the ring and went into a store to buy some noodles and cheese to cook.

At home, I left my cargo near the "door" (a half-loose sheet that could move a little to enter and leave the cabin) and began to prepare dinner.

Outside, the sky was clear, without a single cloud in sight. The light of the moon covered the harbor. It was a beautiful vision. Although I did not pay as much attention to it as I did the first days I lived here.

I ate very little and left something for breakfast the next day. To cook, I made a small fire outside the house, and put a saucepan with some clear water over it.

Since I did not have any appliances, I couldn't preserve the food, so I only bought what was just enough and necessary for the day to day.

I had already taken a shower in the locker room of the school, which I remembered to see how dirty my "bed" was (a mattress on the floor and ruined sheets full of holes).

The next morning I woke up with an excruciating headache. I was dizzy and weak. It did not take long until I fell back asleep – or rather, fainted.

Once again I opened my eyes, this time I didn't feel any pain or discomfort.

'I must have been dreaming' I thought.

But then...

Ding!

Something was heard inside my head, followed by a very pretty female voice (albeit a bit robotic) that said loud and clear.

"Welcome!"

"Confidence will be built! Please wait…"

The next moment, a screen appeared in front of my eyes.

'Loading, please wait…' was all it said.

After a few seconds, the screen updated.

"Welcome to the system, Alex."

"This system will provide the you with the necessary help to improve your life in whichever aspect you chooses,"

"From this moment onwards, through a series of quests, the host can earn points, and then exchange them for attributes, objects, or skills, of which the system will offer in the store,"

"The host will also be provided with a personal storage space, where he can store any 'non-live' objects he wishes. (Current space: 1m³. Improvements available in the Store)"

"The user will be able to access the system just by thinking about it. To see your status window (as an example) clearly think about the word 'stats'."

...

I remember that at that moment I thought: 'What the hell…?'