A Spark of Change

Chapter 1: A Spark of Change

Alex trudged down the sidewalk, his face etched with worry. His black hair flopped around his pointed nose, framing eyes an unusual shade of blue. A grey t-shirt clung to his lean frame, barely concealing the black trousers that seemed perpetually stained. He moved like a man lost in thought, his gaze fixed on an invisible horizon.

A sigh escaped his lips, a sound heavy with discontent. "Fed up," he muttered. "Just one good thing, that's all I ask. But life…" He let the sentence trail off, the bitterness evident in his tone.

His mind drifted back to a time before the grey - a time before the orphanage. He was just three when a car accident ripped his parents away, leaving him adrift in a sea of grief. The orphanage, though seemingly a haven, offered little solace. He was an easy target, bullied for reasons he couldn't fathom. Here, too, there was no solace, only the sting of being ostracized for simply being Alex - an average guy, neither handsome nor rich.

Eighteen years in the orphanage bled into a struggle for independence. Odd jobs barely kept him fed, leaving him with this…this purposeless existence.

A sudden crack in the sky jolted him from his reverie. His gaze snapped upwards, catching sight of a brilliant object streaking across the heavens. Fear momentarily paralyzed him as the light intensified. Then, in a blink, blinding white gave way to suffocating darkness.

Panic clawed at his throat. He tried to scream, but no sound emerged. Trapped in this inky blackness, he braced himself for the worst.

A voice, cold and vaguely robotic, sliced through the silence. "[HOST FOUND] [SYSTEM BOUNDING TO HOST. PLEASE WAIT...] [SYSTEM BOUNDED SUCCESSFULLY] [HOST CAN SEE MORE INFORMATION BY SAYING THE WORD "STATUS"]."

Alex gaped, speechless. So many things had happened in such a short span. Dead wasn't his fate, apparently. Maybe, he thought with a flicker of dark humor, he'd gotten sucked into one of those crazy novels he liked to read. "A system, huh?" he muttered, half-expecting a booming voice to reply with a hearty, "HAHAHA! This will be fun!"

Taking a deep breath, he decided to play along. "Status," he called out tentatively.

A holographic screen materialized before him, glowing a vibrant blue. It displayed an array of statistics:

[NAME: Alex Cain]

[AGE: 21]

[LV: 1]

[HP: 10/10]

[STR: 1]

[AGI: 1]

[VIT: 2]

[MP: 5/5]

SP: 0

[TALENT: { Lightning manipulation }]

[AUTHORITY: { Lightning(1%) }]

He ran a hand through his hair, a humorless chuckle escaping his lips. Strength and Agility - both a measly 1. Typical Alex, he mused, never one for physical activity. At least his Vitality, which he assumed meant health, was decent. Ten health points, manageable. Mana, well, that remained a mystery. He couldn't compare it to anything without a reference or maybe magic. hah how could i forget.

SP, stat points - just like in the games. Points to distribute whenever he leveled up.

A spark, faint but undeniable, ignited within him. Maybe, just maybe, this wasn't a curse but a chance. A chance to rewrite his story, to rise above the "average guy" he always felt he was. With a newfound determination, he closed the screen, his gaze flickering back to the inky void. "What's out there?" he whispered, a note of challenge creeping into his voice.

The silence held its answer, but for the first time in a long time, Alex wasn't afraid to face it. He had a system, a spark of power, and a heart yearning for something more. The world, whatever it held, was about to meet a very different Alex Cain.