Goodwill System

It was a cold dark night in autumn. Sitting propped up against a wall, Arthur could feel the heavy rain cascading down his body and onto the street. He smiled faintly as he looked up at the beautiful night sky, to think it would all end like this...

His stomach felt like it was burning up, and the sharp pain made it hard for him to focus. At first, he tried to put pressure on the wound, but after realising that no one was around to help him, he had resigned himself to his fate. After all this time, was this really how he was going to die? His entire life, he had chased after riches and excellence, and to think that he would end up dead by himself in an alley, he couldn't help but softly chuckle.

Arthur Tillman, that was the name he was given at birth by his parents. He grew up in a fairly normal household, his father had a menial job, and his mother was unemployed. Although they lived frugally, at least they didn't starve. Growing up watching the haggard faces of his parents, Arthur refused to end up like them. He wanted to live an extraordinary life, and if he could, he wanted his parents to have a taste of luxury.

Unfortunately, fate worked in mysterious ways, and he ended up just like his parents. He was smart, he had good grades, he had graduated from a decent university, and he was even handsome, but it wasn't enough. His looks landed him a few modelling jobs, but it wasn't really enough to live on, and he didn't want to just live on the bare minimum either.

As time passed, he tried out numerous ideas and tried starting various businesses, yet nothing worked out. There was always some stupid slip-up that ruined everything and brought him back to square one. In the end, he was over 30 years old now, and he still didn't manage to create a successful business.

To think he would end up dying for such a stupid reason, if only he wasn't so meddlesome, he would've still been fine now. He had just been walking down the street when he saw a woman being harassed in an alley. Although it had nothing to do with him, he couldn't just stand by and watch, he couldn't just ignore it and go on with his day either. In the end, he was stabbed and the woman didn't even bother calling an ambulance for him before she ran away.

Although he felt a little indignant, Arthur felt like maybe this wasn't all that bad. He didn't have much to live for anyways, if there was an afterlife, maybe he would be able to see his parents again? As he stared into the distant night sky, he saw a falling star. Maybe it was a sign, he didn't know, but he decided to wish for something.

With a pained smile on his face, he just wished that he could live again, and this time he wanted to live an interesting life, as for whether or not the falling star was actually able to grant wishes, Arthur didn't care. Feeling the last bit of strength leaving his body, Arthur closed his eyes. It was so cold…

…

As if he had just been electrocuted, Arthur woke up with a start. Flustered and out of breath, he sat up with a peculiar look on his face. Looking down at himself, he quickly inspected his stomach, only to notice that the wound wasn't there.

"What the hell… so it was only a dream?"

Before he could feel relieved, he felt a pleasant breeze caress his face, and he looked up in shock. Where the hell was he? As he looked around, the expression on his face quickly soured, he had no idea where he was. To his confusion, he seemed to be in some kind of forest. If that was all, it wouldn't be too weird, however when he looked up at the sky, he was thoroughly shocked. The sun was blue? Not only that, but it seemed way smaller than he remembered it.

As confusion started taking over him, Arthur inspected his surroundings once more. The grass he was sitting on was lush and green. The trees around him all looked healthy and were adorned by splendid green crowns. The breeze was gentle, but it was still couldn't disguise the hot temperature of summer. Wasn't it supposed to be autumn, since when did it become summer?

Arthur was still confused, what the hell was going on? His grip on reality had started to slip, and he wasn't sure what was happening anymore. Wasn't he supposed to die? Why did he wake up in the middle of nowhere, without as much as a scar where he had been stabbed? As he put his head in his hands, he seemed to realise another crucial truth. Was this even his body?

As he inspected his own body, he quickly realised that this wasn't his own body, yet it also seemed oddly nostalgic, as if he had grown younger. As he started to put two and two together, his conclusion shocked himself. Had he been reborn? It seemed like an absurd thought, yet it was the only conclusion he could come up with. Had his wish upon the falling star been granted? His head felt a little fuzzy, but he was pretty sure that he had wished to live again.

It was an absurd thought for sure, yet instinctively, Arthur knew that it was probably true. The only question that really remained was where he was, and most importantly, who he was. Because of his sense of nostalgia, he reckoned that he was still in his own body, just that he was younger.

After dusting himself off a bit, Arthur got up from the ground. It felt weird to him, his body felt foreign. His heavy and uncomfortable body that was probably riddled with ailments felt young and healthy again, something that many people would undoubtedly kill for. Before doing anything else, he tried out his new body a little. He was shortly shocked by his own athleticism.

Even when he was younger, he couldn't move his body like this at all. If he could see himself right now, he would undoubtedly notice the stupid grin on his face. Whether or not he had been reborn wasn't as important as this right now, his body felt amazing! As he was inspecting his surroundings, a voice suddenly broke the peaceful silence of the forest.

[Do you wish to be ordinary?]

[Yes/No]

Suddenly seeing this text pop up in front of his eyes accompanied by a mechanical voice, Arthur almost fell over. Although he wasn't sure what it meant when it asked if he wanted to be ordinary, to Arthur, the answer was easy. His entire life he had tried to escape from mediocrity, did he want to be ordinary? Was that some kind of joke?

"Yes!"

[Confirmation successful, initialising the Goodwill System!]

[8%]

[57%]

[100%]

[Initialisation successful!]

After seeing that his answer actually did something, there was only one thing on his mind that Arthur wanted to say.

"Fuck..."