This is Life: The Beginning

"You're so toxic."

Robin woke up with a gasp. Eh?

It was more of a wail. He tried to move his body, but it wasn't reacting properly.

He found himself in an unfamiliar room and attempted to recall what had happened last.

"I was in my room, doing surveys and had one more to complete to cash out."

"It was that damn scam survey!" A baby's cries echoed throughout the room.

"Oh, I guess I'm starting to be able to control the body a little."

Wait, a baby? Why am I hearing a baby?

He began to hear rushing footsteps. "Master Sin."

Robin saw someone standing over him. An Elf? The figure wore a headpiece and a black maid outfit.

"I see you woke up." She giggled and started rubbing his cheeks. "You're so adorable. Do you want to hear your lullaby?"

Lullaby? Wait, am I really a baby? Sleep, no, I need to figure out this situation!

The Elf began to sing, a melody that filled every pore of his being. Slowly, he began to lose consciousness.

Robin awoke to a screen in front of his eyes.

[System Downloaded]

[Name] Sin Hawkin

[Race] Half-elf

[Class] Task Rabbit

[Skills] Average Joe, Magic Resistance, Task System, 6th Sense

[CP] 100

[MP] 100

What is this? It's like an RPG.

Robin, no, I should call myself Sin. The situation is setting in now, and even though I'm a baby, I still have my consciousness. I want to have a better life this time. This is my chance!

"Skill Average Joe" - Passive skill automatically debuff your power by 50% of opponents.

What! This, he couldn't believe it. Was it going to be a dead-end run?

At the very bottom of the screen, it said upgradable. Does that mean my skills can get better?

He began to calm down. I can find ways to cope later on. If this is a true RPG world, there are ways to buff your stats.

Magic Resistance - the ability to resist magical attacks. The ability stacks with Average Joe, reducing resistance by 50%.

Sin was speechless. He could somewhat guess what the 6th sense skill was going to be; lately, he could feel people approaching his room.

Gig Hunt - the celestial survey board grants the ability to do surveys for CP points. CP (Comp Points) are used to activate the skills. Task Rabbit class boosts skill.

Notification [The survey god is impressed. He challenges you to prove yourself. Failure to prove yourself will cause the loss of the system.]

Is he underestimating me?

Sin, in his past life, was a survey grandmaster. He had done over 100k surveys.

"Gig Hunt."

A screen popped before his eyes. This... This...

The site was beautifully made; he had never seen anything like it. There was a section for daily surveys, tasks, and messages.

He was able to control the whole thing with his thoughts. So, there's no worry about my lack of body control.

Let's see, tasks are locked, but what's this? Daily surveys are open.

[Daily Quest: How many blue items in the room]

Reward: +5 Tip - "CP daily quest rewards go up with leveling up the skill."

Failure of the quest will affect your rating.

Rating?

A screen popped up.

[Sin Hawkin]

5.00*

A rating of 1 causes the deactivation of the account.

Okay, Sin has encountered sites like this in the past. When he was a beginner, it was brutal to gain researchers' trust for the good bonuses. Plus, now that he knows there's a rating, that means there's a way to cheat the system. You could hear giggles in the room.

But how will I move around?

His 6th sense ability activated, and he felt someone approaching.

That's it; this is my chance!

"Wah, wah, wah." The person stopped.

"Grab Lady Elfa!" It was a man's voice, a guard. He was so curious about what's outside this crib.

Speaking of, it's always the maid that comes. I don't think I've seen my mother who's supposed to be the lady of the household. Or maybe she's a mistress?

Well, I can't do anything like this. He kept up his act, and eventually, someone came into his room.

Alright, let's test this system out.

[Quest Start] [10 min]

"Oh, Master Sin, why are you so fussy?"

"Here, here." Elfa picked Sin up; it was really his first time getting a good look at the room.

He was shocked.

Why is almost everything blue? Floors, walls, and accessories.

They are all blue! What is my father thinking? How is this going to inspire morale in his soldiers?

Getting a good look, he counted over 30 things already.

But he could only see half the room; how can I get her to turn?

"Wah, wah." Sin cried, trying to grab her attention.

"Oh, how silly of me, you must be hungry. It's a good sign you're a hungry one."

In this world, it seems they use magic to produce 'formula' for their young. This family seems well off, so I wonder if it's the same for the lower class.

Even in a fantasy world, it's all the same.

He still has only looked at 75% of the room; Elfa grabbed him his bottle; he opened the bag; he saw blue toys in there too. Wait, I didn't account for this. Looking at the timer, he had about half of the allotted time left.

There must be a way to check! "Gah, gah," he started motioning towards the toys.

"What, you want to play? Aren't you a little young?" Elfa thought to herself. Isn't the fact he's so active a good sign? He's so well-mannered; is he showing signs of being a prodigy?

Besides, this is a good sign to see him play. She started giggling to herself. She dumped the contents onto the floor.

Placing Sin on the ground, he finally had full motion over his head. Looking around, he saw there weren't any hidden spots. He was trying to keep a mental track. At this point, he wasn't sure if it was going to be a multiple-choice part of the test; he was hoping so.

He kept a mental tally: blue items itself 121, complex items with multiple parts of blue, he was at 240 and counting.

Elfa was smiling, giggling to herself, muttering, "Master Sin is so cute."

Sin was pretending to play while thinking.

He was at 300 items with less than a minute remaining.

No time to double-check.

He summoned the screen.

[Daily Quest] [Time remaining: 30 seconds]

[End Discovery Mode?]

"Yes."

Another screen popped up. 'How many Blue items?"

Time to answer: 30 seconds.

Damn, it wasn't multiple choice.

He started to think about the question

How many blue? It is not my fault the interior design is a Hack!

He decided to go with the larger number; there were various blue patterns, so it should be safe to assume that it doesn't mean 1 item.

300

The screen changed [Verifying]

Did I get it right?

[amount of blue 340]

340? I was off by so little; he was expecting a failure screen to pop up.

[There was no failure condition; would you like to know the point of this survey?]

Sin was shocked; sometimes surveys are looking for things about the user and their reactions. He clicked yes. [Thank you for completing this survey! For this quest, I wanted to see how a baby would react to simple tasks. For providing results beyond my expectations, here's a bonus.]

Received 5 Cp

Bonus: Telekinesis

Wait, wait, wait. A skill for a simple counting task? This is too OP.

He had to wait until Elfa left the room to check this out.

She's having more fun than me. Looking at her face, she had a dangerous expression.

"Oh no, I forgot my daily tasks." She scooped up the toys and picked up Sin. "You will be good for me, right?" She placed him back in the crib.

"Wah wah." She giggled. "Such a good boy, I will leave you with your bottle; I will make sure to tuck you in."

After she left, Sin popped up the skill screen.

[Telekinesis]

Telekinesis grants the character the ability to manipulate objects with the power of their mind. As the character progresses, the telekinetic abilities evolve, allowing for more intricate interactions with the environment. The skill average job gives a 50 percent decrease to all CP skills.

Is this my limiter? I thought I would be able to live an easy life!

Paying it no mind, he activated the skill. One thing that he always believed is there is always a loophole.

When the skill activated, he tried it on something small like his blanket. Just like he expected, it drained his CP and not his Mana. So, I will be able to dual-cast it looks like? He currently had no magic-related skills but his mana resistance.

From his calculations, the skill consumed 1 CP per 1.5 seconds, so 150 seconds. That's not much time. First, he had to confirm the info from the Status window. It's possible to awaken my skills, so let's try!

He tried to levitate his body. This will help me in the future with quests like today.

He started to float. Woah, it's like all the weight left my body.

The consumption rate didn't change. Now, let's see how long it takes to regenerate next. Just as he was going to set himself down, he got a notification.

Awakening near passive skill Average Joe activates. CP consumption increased by 2.5%.

The skill started draining quicker due to the change. He started losing control, causing the skill to consume quickly. Is this the result of losing focus? Plus, this Average Joe skill is too much. This is going to be his biggest barrier. He slowly watched the gauge go to 0.

Damn, I'm losing consciousness. A notification. Tip: CP consumes soul energy; mental strain causes a blackout. MP consumes physical strength; strain causes paralysis.

"Now you tell me," he thought.

Hey, guys, this is Amaterasu; this is the first chapter. I hope you like it.