A New Body

Kaito woke up.

He woke up to a familiar noise and a familiar light. He woke up to a familiar smell and a familiar sight. He woke up to a familiar feeling and a familiar thought.

He woke up in his bed, in his apartment, in his life.

He woke up as himself.

He blinked and rubbed his eyes. He looked around his apartment and saw everything as it was before: the old furniture, the cheap appliances, the no decoration. He saw nothing different, nothing new, nothing changed.

He saw his life.

But he felt something. He felt something different, something new, something changed.

He felt his body.

He felt his body and realized it was not his body. It was his body, but it was not his body. It was his younger body.

He looked at his hands and saw they were smaller and smoother. He touched his face and felt it was softer and cleaner. He lifted his shirt and saw he had no scars or fat.

He had his younger body.

He was shocked and confused. He didn't know what to think or say. He didn't know what to do.

He didn't know what was going on.

But he remembered something. He remembered something that happened before he woke up. He remembered something that changed everything.

He remembered Orion.

He remembered Orion and everything he said to him. He remembered the explosion, the offer, the system, the goal. He remembered the portal, the new dimension, the new life.

He remembered Orion.

He heard a voice in his head. It was Orion's voice. It said:

"Hello, Kaito. I'm glad you're awake. How do you feel?"

Kaito heard the voice and felt something. He felt curious and intrigued. He felt hopeful and excited.

He felt something.

He wanted to talk to Orion. He wanted to ask him questions. He wanted to know more.

He wanted to know everything.

He opened his mouth and said:

"Orion? Is that you?"

He heard the voice again. It said:

"Yes, Kaito. It's me. I'm here with you."

Kaito nodded and said:

"Where are we? What happened? What's going on?"

He heard the voice again. It said:

"We are in another dimension, Kaito. A dimension where you can become a hero. A dimension where you can become a king."

Kaito frowned and said:

"A hero? A king? What do you mean?"

He heard the voice again. It said:

"I mean exactly what I said, Kaito. You have a system that can enhance your abilities and skills without limit. You have a goal that can make you the king of the galaxy in this multiverse."

Kaito blinked and said:

"A system? A goal? What are you talking about?"

He heard the voice again. It said:

"Look at your wrist, Kaito. You'll see what I'm talking about."

Kaito looked at his wrist and saw something. He saw something different, something new, something changed.

He saw a screen.

He saw a screen that showed his name, his level, his stats, his skills, his quests, his inventory, his settings.

He saw a system.

He was shocked and amazed. He didn't know what to think or say. He didn't know what to do.

He didn't know what was going on.

But he felt something. He felt curious and intrigued. He felt hopeful and excited.

He felt something.

He wanted to use the system. He wanted to try it out. He wanted to see what it could do.

He wanted to see what he could do.

He touched the screen and opened the settings menu. He saw several options: language, sound, display, notifications, help.

He tapped on language and saw a list of languages: English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, German, etc.

He tapped on Japanese and saw the screen change to Japanese characters.

He tapped on sound and saw a slider for volume: low, medium, high.

He tapped on display and saw a slider for brightness: dark, normal, bright.

He tapped on notifications and saw a toggle for on/off: on, off.

He tapped on help and saw a message: "If you need any help or have any questions, please contact me anytime. I'm always here for you."

The message was signed by Orion.

Kaito smiled and closed the settings menu. He opened the stats menu and saw his stats: strength, agility, vitality, intelligence, wisdom, charisma.

They were all low.

Kaito frowned and closed the stats menu. He opened the skills menu and saw his skills: none.

They were all empty.

Kaito sighed and closed the skills menu. He opened the quests menu and saw his quests: none.

They were all empty too.

Kaito closed the quests menu and opened the inventory menu. He saw his inventory: none.

It was empty too.

Kaito closed the inventory menu and looked at the screen. He felt disappointed and confused. He felt angry and sad.

He felt nothing.

He wanted to say something. He wanted to say something to Orion. He wanted to say something like:

"Is this a joke? Is this some kind of prank? What's the point of having a system if I have nothing in it? How am I supposed to become a hero or a king with this?"

But he didn't say anything. He didn't say anything because he heard something. He heard something outside his door. He heard something like:

"Hey, Kaito! Open up! We know you're in there!"

He heard voices. He heard angry and threatening voices. He heard familiar and unwelcome voices.

He heard enemies.

He recognized the voices. They belonged to a gang of thugs who called themselves the Scorpions. They were a group of wannabe gangsters who terrorized the neighborhood and extorted money from the residents.

They hated Kaito. They hated him because he refused to pay them or join them. They hated him because he fought back and resisted them.

They hated him because he was different from them.

They were regular guys with shitty lives.

They were nobodies.

Kaito heard the voices and felt something. He felt fear and dread. He felt panic and despair.

He felt something.

He wanted to do something. He wanted to do something to escape or defend himself. He wanted to do something like:

"Call the police, lock the door, grab a weapon, hide under the bed."

But he didn't do anything. He didn't do anything because he saw something. He saw something on his screen. He saw something like:

"Quest: Survive the attack of the Scorpions.

Reward: 100 XP, 10 gold, 1 skill point.

Failure: Death.

Accept/Decline?"

He saw a quest.

He was shocked and surprised. He didn't know what to think or say. He didn't know what to do.

He didn't know what was going on.

But he felt something. He felt curious and intrigued. He felt hopeful and excited.

He felt something.

He wanted to accept the quest. He wanted to accept the challenge. He wanted to see what would happen.

He wanted to see what he could do.

He tapped on accept and saw the screen change to:

"Quest accepted: Survive the attack of the Scorpions."

He heard Orion's voice in his head. It said:

"Good luck, Kaito. I'm here with you."

He heard a loud bang on his door. It was the Scorpions trying to break in.

He got up from his bed and looked for a weapon.

He found a knife on his dresser.

He grabbed it and prepared to fight.

He prepared to survive.

He prepared to live.