Chapter 3: what the hell? Everything sucks.

1st POV: Nicole

When it comes to systems in Earths media, there are many different versions, with none of them being absolute. The basic mainstream system is the classic video game status, with HP, MP or the equivalent, levels, skill, etc. Popular games using this kind of setup were everywhere, just look at any young persons phone and you'd probably have a 50% chance of finding one.

In some more niche parts of the internet, there were more branching kinds of system. Some novels based on systems for world management had ways to evolve one beyond their natural capabilities, sometimes into completely different species; others came with magical perks only for them, like infinite inventories, unique skills, helpful guiding spirits, familiars, or shops to buy all of the things above from. The idea of having something similar as a so called reincarnation perk, otherwise known as the almighty golden finger, was making me buzz with excitement.

'Let's see. How should I summon this amazing system of mine to show me how amazing I am, because let's be real, I'm probably the OP protagonist who's gonna have to fight against god or something. The easiest way is probably to just call for it, right? Okay. Deep breaths Nicole. Here we go.'

"Mrooaaw!" (system!) I tilt my head up to the sky and shout out for the system, looking like a stylish hero. (lol no she doesn't) Mother looking at me concerned for my mental health or overall sanity must be my imagination, right?

…come on, any time now...

........

Yeah, nothing's happened and I look like a chuuni loser. What was I thinking? I'm so stupid. I totally got swept away by the mood in the moment. Is there even a system at all?? Are my efforts totally futile? … No. I need to stay optimistic. If I stop being light-hearted I might go insane from how crazy this whole situation is. Anyways, what else can I do to summon my system? Oh, wait. There's one more popular thing people say to open an interface in all those novels and shit; status!'

*bleep*

'Holy crap, it really worked? I'm a genius! haha!' A semi-transparent screen popped up in front of Nicole, who was once again getting a bit ahead of herself . 'Now, I need to concentrate. I will need to read through all of the information on this screen. It may take me hours, but this is all essential info.'

With determination in her eyes, Nicole turns towards the screen.

---Status---

Name: Nicole

Age: 1

Race: Unknown (Heavenly Tiger/Dragon hybrid)

Title: One of a kind; Reincarnated

Stigma: Mind over matter; Analyze

Humanization: 0%

---Status---

'….I don't understand. There are so many things in this tiny screen that make absolutely no sense. What the hell. This is so dodgy. First of all, what is a stigma? The word itself has a negative meaning, so I'm not sure I want one, let alone two? Also, where the f*ck is my level? My eagerly awaited Evolution tab? How do I understand almost nothing here?? Wait, wait, Let's take this slow and go over everything here.

First of all, my name is Nicole. No surname. That's correct, I already knew this. Okay, so far so good. Next, my age. 1. Technically, I was born today, but rounding it up to one isn't too far gone I suppose. Passable. Next, Race. Yeah... I'll unpack that at the end, so pass for now. Titles, finally a classic fantasy element I can get behind. The title "reincarnated" makes sense, and "one of a kind" might have something to do with my race, once again, I'll unpack it later. I'm not sure if two titles is many or few, but both of mine seem to be quite rare, so I'll say that I've got more then average. Next, stigma. No knowledge, so I'm completely blind in this. Maybe it's something similar to skills? I have no clue. Lastly, Humanization. This one's a progress bar, and I assume it has something to do with the fact that I am, in fact, an animal. Does this mean that every animal is born with the ability to become human? Or does it have something to do with the animals intelligence maybe. How fascinating, I can't wait to study all this later.'

'Anyways, let's stop avoiding the question and look at what I've been pointedly ignoring.' My eyes come back into focus and drill holes into one point of my status; 'my race. Assuming it means race as in species... uh, yeah, I'm "Unknown". It seems that I'm a hybrid of Dragon and heavenly tiger. Heavenly tiger? Is that what mum is? Seems fancy. A hybrid, huh... now I'm scared. Hybrid animals on earth were normally flawed, with short lifespans and a myriad of serious health issues. Worst case scenario, my second life could end almost as soon as it starts. I also don't know what I even look like. Am I... am I ugly by chance? Please, don't let me be too unbearably gross to look at, this is my new chance at life.'

'Yep, I've got to know. I'm dying of curiosity over how I look right now. There's a bowl of water just at the edge of the grass mattress. Let's go.' Nicole stood up from where she had laid down by her mothers side, and marched towards the water bowl- or, well, that was my intention, but, um... I don't know how to walk on four legs. Four ridiculously small, weak legs at that. Yeah, It's gonna take a while for this to work out. Might as well start movement practice.