Woke Up in Another World

"Ughhh..." I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was still blurry, and my head felt like it was spinning. My entire body was sore.

Realizing I was in bed, I glanced around in confusion. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar, as was the room itself. I didn't recognize the mattress or the design of this place at all. It looked outdated—like something straight out of the medieval era, back when nobles held absolute power.

"Hey, wake up, you lazy bum!" A sudden system notification popped up in front of me.

"What the heck is this?! Wasn't I supposed to be dead?" I blurted out, baffled.

"Goddess of Benevolence... Reincarnation..." Memories of meeting the Goddess of Benevolence and her offer to reincarnate me came flooding back.

"Calm down, idiot! Did you forget everything already?" the system scolded me.

"Why is this system so rude? Did the Goddess forget to set its personality or something?" I muttered, annoyed.

"I can hear you, you know. I've always been like this!" the system snapped back.

Somehow, I could feel its irritation through the text on the screen.Ignoring the system's snarky remarks, I shifted my attention to my surroundings. The Goddess had said she'd reincarnate me into another world, so... could I really be in a new world now? I tried to get out of bed, but a wave of pain shot through my entire body. I glanced at the mirror in the corner of the room.

"What the—?!" I gasped in shock.

The person staring back at me looked to be around my age, with black hair and black eyes. The face was eerily similar to mine back on Earth! But this body was taller, a bit more muscular. The hairstyle was also different. While my hair on Earth was a messy, shaggy style, this guy had neat, middle-parted curtain hair. It actually looked... pretty cool.

"Heeey! I'm way more handsome than I used to be!" I exclaimed, marveling at the reflection.

"So, you're admitting you weren't good-looking before? Hahaha!" The system mocked me, its words practically radiating laughter.

"Damn it, stupid system!" I grumbled. First meeting and it's already getting on my nerves.Choosing to ignore it again, I decided to take off my shirt.

"Why is this body covered in bruises? No wonder I'm in pain..." There were bandages wrapped around my torso, and when I took them off, I saw bruises all over—my arms, chest, waist, and back. I was puzzled. Did this body get into some sort of fight or something?

"This is ridiculous... Waking up like this, seriously?" I muttered, feeling a mix of disappointment and a strange sense of amusement at my situation.

The confusion gnawed at me. I needed to learn more about this body and this world."Hey, system... The Goddess assigned you to help and guide me in this world, right? Can you give me some information about who I am right now?" I asked eagerly.

"My name is not 'Hey,' and I'm not just a system! Call me Envi. Got it?" the system retorted with an indignant tone.

"Alright, alright, Envi. I have no other choice but to work with you to complete the Goddess's mission, so... I'm counting on you," I said, trying to swallow my pride.

"Hahaha! So, you know how to show some respect. Okay then, Nao, take a look at this status window I'm displaying for you." A window appeared before my eyes, revealing detailed information about my current status.

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Name: Naoki von Blackmore

Level: 25

Title: Failed Hero

Condition: Vitality decreased due to unresolved bruising

HP (Hit Points): 350 / 500

MP (Mana Points): 7,500

Strength (STR): 25

Vitality (VIT): 5

Agility (AGL): 20

Intelligence (INT): 75

Skills:- Swordsmanship Lvl 1

 - ??? (Locked)

Goddess Points: 50

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"Naoki von Blackmore? Sounds like a noble's name... but he's got the title of Failed Hero?!" I said, utterly confused.

"Look at this ridiculous status! He's supposed to be a swordsman, but his Intelligence is 75! I'd understand if Naoki were a mage—he'd probably be incredible—but I still can't believe he's actually this dumb," I muttered in frustration.

"More importantly, just look at this! Who in their right mind has only 5 Vitality?! No wonder this body's so weak! I'm practically dying over here thanks to this pathetic Vitality!" I complained.

Even though I was never an RPG expert back on Earth, I'd played enough to know how absurd this setup was. This character was flawed to the core! If I stay like this, defeating the Demon King is nothing but a distant dream.

"You keep saying 'idiot' like you know everything. If you're so smart, why don't you fix it yourself?" Envi snapped, clearly annoyed.

"Wait, I can reset this body's status? I can reassign the points however I want?" I asked, intrigued.

"Of course, dummy. I can reset it for you, but only once. Do you want to do it or not?" Envi offered, still sounding irritated.

"Yes! Let's reset this ridiculous status!" A confirmation window appeared with the option: Reset status? Yes or No. I didn't hesitate and quickly hit Yes.

Immediately, I could reassign my stat points however I wanted. Each level gave me 5 points, and I learned that skill levels could only increase through practice. After thinking it over, I carefully redistributed the points:

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Name: Naoki von Blackmore

Level: 25

Title: Failed Hero

Condition: Normal

HP (Hit Points): 3,000

MP (Mana Points): 2,000

Strength (STR): 30

Vitality (VIT): 30

Agility (AGL): 40

Intelligence (INT): 25

Skills:- Swordsmanship Lvl 1

 - ??? (Locked)

Goddess Points: 50

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"Now that's more like it! The key to success in RPGs is balance, especially early on," I said, pretending to sound cool.

"Congratulations! With the reset and your vastly improved Vitality, your body's condition has returned to normal," a notification suddenly appeared.

"I think your INT stat is really low… which means you're kinda stupid… pfft." Envi chuckled softly.

"INT stats are only for mages and bookworms. Right now, I don't need that," I replied confidently.

I immediately felt the soreness leave my body, and to my amazement, all the bruises had disappeared.

"Hah... Thank goodness resetting the status healed me. Thanks, Envi!" I said, genuinely relieved."Yeah, yeah... you're welcome ~_~," Envi replied, clearly annoyed.

"Hey, Envi, what's up with that locked skill? And what are these 'Goddess Points' you keep mentioning?" I asked, unable to hold back my curiosity.

Envi, my floating, smug AI companion in this new world, let out an exaggerated sigh, as if dealing with me was the greatest burden. "Geez, you're always full of questions. You should be thankful I'm here to explain! Goddess Points are exactly what they sound like—blessings from the Goddess of Benevolence herself. Think of them as divine currency. You can exchange them for miracles, like, oh, I don't know… asking for help to get back to your family on Earth or becoming way stronger in this world. That kind of thing."

"That's amazing!" I said, a flicker of hope sparking in my chest. "If I use those points, I might actually be able to help Mom and my siblings back on Earth! Thank you, Goddess!"

Envi smirked. "Hold your horses, hero. It's not that simple. You need to earn those points first."

"Earn them? How?" I tilted my head, already sensing there was a catch.

"Easy peasy," Envi said, crossing her arms. "You complete quests issued directly by the Goddess. The harder the quest, the more points you get. The system's totally fair… at least most of the time."

"Quests, huh? Alright, I'm in," I said with a determined nod. "But then—what's the deal with that locked skill? The one labeled '???' on my stats page? I mean, it looks important."

For a moment, Envi froze. Her expression blanked out like a crashed program. "Uh… well… about that… I might not remember?" She let out a nervous laugh, her usual confident tone wavering. A sweat-drop emoji appeared on her face.

"You don't remember?" I repeated, staring at her in disbelief. "Aren't you supposed to be the system? How can a system just forget?"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Envi snapped, puffing up her cheeks in mock offense. "Maybe it'll come back to me later, okay? I'm not perfect."

"Fine, fine," I said, throwing up my hands in surrender. "I was just messing with you. But seriously, I'm counting on you from here on out, Envi."

As much as this system was a pain, I needed it on my side if I wanted to survive here.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever -_-," Envi grumbled. Inwardly, I was a little irritated, but I had no choice but to work with this sassy system.

Suddenly a notification appear, and I opened my menu to investigate further, a new notification flashed before my eyes:

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[!!!NOTIFICATION!!!

QUEST RECEIVED: Welcome to the Another World!

Click to see quest details

----V----

Accept or not?]

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This is a quest? Why did this pop up so suddenly?!

And just like that, my heart started pounding.

...

---To be continued in the next chapter---