2

In the days that followed, he finally learned his name from his parents: Art. It was short, but it had a somewhat unique ring to it.

This was about all he could gather. After all, he was in a baby's body with no responsibilities and no ability to move on his own. His days were filled with eating, sleeping, pooping, and the occasional baby noise or finger-grabbing routine.

This left him with plenty of time to think about his future.

Art determined that he had two priorities: first, he needed to gather more information about the world he was living in; second, he needed to learn the language. All babies are expected to learn their native language within a certain time frame before being considered special needs, so slacking off was not an option.

Whenever he was around other people, he tried to listen to their conversations. Even though he didn't understand the language yet, he paid close attention, trying to pick up common words or patterns.

As months passed, Art learned a great deal, with the most shocking discovery being the world he had reincarnated into. He realized he was now in Runeterra, the fantasy world of sword and magic, home to many of his beloved and despised video game characters.

With this information, he was able to determine where in Runeterra he had been born.

However, he wasn't sure of the exact timeline, as some of the game's lore had been retconned due to the Arcane TV show, of which he had only watched two episodes before dying.

What he knew for certain was that he had been born in the heart of the continent, Piltover—a city on the brink of progress—to two wealthy parents, Lilah Truefall and Zalie Truefall. He felt fortunate and grateful he had not been born in Zaun. According to the lore, Zaun was created because of the greed of Piltover's wealthy elites.

They had proposed destroying a portion of the isthmus connecting Valoran and the Southern Continent to enable a safe sea passage between eastern and western Valoran.

This ambitious initiative was driven by their desire to boost trade, enhance economic prosperity, and establish Piltover as a major hub of commerce and innovation. The new sea route would allow ships to circumvent dangerous waters, shorten travel time, and increase the exchange of goods and resources between the continents.

The plan involved using thousands of chemtech bombs to crack open an area of the land so that a cavern could be created.

However, the results were catastrophic.

What seemed to be an accident triggered a series of earthquakes that completely destroyed the isthmus, sank large districts of Zaun along with thousands of its citizens, and released poisonous gas into the city's surviving areas.

Zaun had now become a large undercity district situated in the deep canyons and valleys threading through Piltover. The only light that reached below was filtered through fumes escaping from the corroded pipework.

This place became a haven for the poor, the bombing survivors, criminals, and inventors—those who rejected societal rules.

Thus, the higher-ups of Piltover regarded living in Zaun as living in filth.

He recalled from the first two episodes of the TV show set in Piltover and Zaun that he watched before he died, Zaun wasn't even recognized as an independent nation. It was known as the Undercity.

The people of the Undercity were often ignored and regarded them as dangerous.

Coming from a peaceful part of his world, Art sympathized with their suffering, believing no one should be treated that way.

But he wouldn't go out of his way to interfere in the conflict. It would only endanger him, given his weakness. He could barely protect himself, unlike an Iceborn with natural strength or a super-genius who could invent a time-travel device.

Moreover, Art didn't even know which time period he was in. He didn't know whether Zaun had gained independence or if the uprising had occurred yet.

It was useless to think about any of this without knowing what time period he was in or what part of Piltover he was living in.

What pissed off Art more than anything was that he wasn't given cheats.

When he first woke up in this world, there was no system notification welcoming him or informing him that he had been chosen. This made him think that maybe he was meant to live an ordinary life, an idea which Art refused to accept.

Without abilities to protect himself, how could he hope to survive in the future?

This world was teeming with dangers, such as demonic beings that fed on people's lust and pain. After seducing their victims, she would brutally murder them in twisted ways, usually as slowly and painfully as possible.

Then there were the creatures of the Void, whose sole purpose was to bring total oblivion to Runeterra.

Art understood that he would be in serious danger if he ever encountered any of these Avengers-level threats.

A former horny teenager like him wouldn't be able to resist Evelynn if she set her sights on him, and meeting Cho'Gath, who was the size of Mount Everest, meant certain death.

But this was Art getting ahead of himself. There were many dangers in his home turf he needed to worry about first, such as a maniac who loved causing chaos without caring about the consequences, and a scientist who was kidnapping people for his experiments.

Art wanted to be able to defend himself. It seemed he wasn't entirely abandoned.

Upon learning he was reincarnated in Runeterra, Art's first priority was to discover if he had any magical talent. He began imitating a certain bald old man in a wheelchair, attempting to lift objects in his room with his mind.

Luckily, success came sooner than Art had expected.

Within the first week, Art experienced a sudden icy chill wash over him, as refreshing as a gulp of cold water.

By the second week, the icy chill left his body. It was as if an invisible thread had wrapped around one of the chew toys in his crib. The toy began to levitate—first by ten inches, then twenty, and finally thirty—suspended in the air by unseen hands.

Witnessing his toy float, driven by magic he never imagined he'd possess, left Art momentarily paralyzed with awe. But soon, he shook off his astonishment and erupted into jubilant baby sounds only he could understand.

His joy was short-lived, though.

Whether it was due to his early age or a limited reservoir of magical energy, the toy's levitation lasted just a few seconds longer. Then, as abruptly as his newfound power had appeared, it faded, and he slipped into unconsciousness.

During the day when he was alone in his crib, Art focused on learning the language his parents spoke. When night fell, he practiced what he called levitation magic until sheer exhaustion finally put him to sleep.

Although he had gotten used to this routine, life as a baby was more boring than he imagined. Unable to speak because his body was still developing and limited in movement, his days were primarily spent observing his surroundings, eating, sleeping, and taking care of basic needs.

But he had no choice but to tough it out, with his only sources of enjoyment being able to use magic and the time spent with his parents.