A Situation

How does a five year old deal with this shit?

Let me remind you, I was an ordinary kid, with the memories of my prior life as Alex and Aadi locked in a box, so with a normal mind and average intellect, how would one deal with the death of his parents; especially when that kid was feeling woozy and had his hormones whipped in a frenzy from whatever his now dead parents did a few hours ago?

Simple, I fainted, which I embarrassing find myself doing a lot these days. What happened next was somewhat of a blur, with the panic and anxiety clouding my mind and senses, and with hormones thrown into the mix, I was on a trip even psychedelics couldn't beat.

I can vaguely recollect what happened. There was lots of yelling, some screaming, banging door and shuddering windows. I might have fallen asleep somewhere in between, and those events may not have happened in the same order.

Somehow, a brief fitful nap later, which for some reason I spent dreaming about weird abstract shapes which I now know are DNA strands, all while the word 'PERFECTION' kept going on in a loop in my mind, I woke up in a car rushing along an empty road.

Through my groggy eyes, I had a brief glimpse of the driver- Raven haired locks, baby blue eyes and a rugged face marred by scars, and a thick beard hiding his chin, a face which bore a striking resemblance to my now deceased father, belonging to none other than now my last blood relative, my father's younger brother and the black sheep of the family-'Uncle Aaron'. It had been a while since I last saw him, and seeing him again was surprising, especially when they had a falling out with each other.

Even then, I was happy to see him, a familiar face, yet, for some reason, his presence did not evoke a feeling of safety.

His face was bloody, a large bruise forming on his cheek, as if somebody had smacked him hard. He was drenched in sweat, and his neck sported marks as if some wild cat had scratched him.

He often looked behind through the rear mirror, as if someone was chasing us, and kept on muttering, "Soon. We'll reach there soon." But that did not sooth him, and neither did it bode well for me.

What happened next was the was a bump in the road and I fell out of my seat, hitting me head against the door, and once again fell into the land of dreams.

Next I remember being led through a gate, a long corridor and standing in front of a wiry looking man in a pinstriped suit, who spoke with 'Aaron' for a while and later called for someone, while looking at me intensely.

Too out of touch with what was happening around me, I just stood there dumbly in what I now recognize as a principal's office, waiting for my fate to be decided.

The response was quick, and a woman, older and more stout than my mother, quickly entered the room, talked to the principal, and took me with her.

Going through another corridor, a few more paths and turns, and I found myself outside a black wooden door standing at almost twice my height. The lady opened a smaller door which smoothly merged into the larger door, and with surprising ease, lifted the heavy looking door and shoved me in. Entering behind me, she led me to my bed, the lower half of a bunk bed, while also showing me the washroom.

"Keep quiet, sonny, and rest well. Have a big day tomorrow, all of you." With these parting words and a laugh which grated on anyone's mind, she left after letting the heavy smaller door fall, which closed shut with a resounding thump, the loud noise erasing and possibility of silence, leaving me alone with my thoughts locked in a room full of scared children.

And that's when I took over.

Somehow dragged myself over to the washroom.

Finally looked into the mirror.

And got my memories unlocked.

That's when I was finally free, I got the second chance I was promised.

Floating in a blank space, with memories playing akin to a slideshow all around me using the blank surroundings as canvas, painting a vision attracting my complete attention. There was one playing my first meeting with Gwen, and how her excited demeanor at finally making a friend made me lose all my inhibitions and come out of my shell. 

Another one showed me finger painting with Gwen a fine afternoon with Helen watching over us. 

Another one where we went for a puppet show.

There also were memories with my parents, but they were significantly lesser than the time I spent with Gwen and her Mother. Most of the memories with my parents involved either had them putting me to sleep, or spending some time together at breakfast; for they were too busy in their work, and when they did come home it was usually way past my bedtime. That's not all. There were thousands of memories playing across the screen of my mind, all at the same time, and I could feel them all.

It was both mesmerizing and confusing. Mesmerizing for all those memories, I could feel as if I had experienced them. I lived through every moment, and the sensations, the experiences, overwhelmed my very existence.

Confusing, because it was all me. There was no actual soul which I had displaced or swallowed when I transmigrated here. It was all me. I was practically reborn in a new world with the same name and face, but just my memories had been locked since birth and I had been ignorantly squandering my second chance until now, when I finally got back my memories.

Getting out of the rut which my thoughts seemed to have fallen into, and leaving behind the addictive and empowering sensation brought by the new memories and sensations, I finally paid attention to the Blue Screen which had now been floating in front of my eyes for a while now.

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[System Connection Established.]

[Initiating Complete Scan for Stat Screen Creation.]

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Complete Scan? A rather offensive way of wording. But nothing I can complain about. A stat screen though, that seems impressive. Would it be a barebones system displaying nothing more than stats or would it be more? Like seriously, novels and fanfics feature systems and stat screens which get characters pretty overpowered.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

[Scanning.]

[Scan Completed.]

[No Superpower Found.]

[Initiating Unlucky Noob Protocol.]

[Modifications to Backstory and Starting Point Made.]

[Happy Questing!]

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Hey! What the heck man, where's my Superpower? [Conceptual Card Creation and Manipulation] is a power I spent a lot of time thinking about, and it is perfect. Perfect Growth Potential; Early-Mid-Late Stage, it could be game-breaking as it allowed one to adapt to any change. 

'Calm, Alex, stay calm.' I tried to calm myself, but it was hard to do so, especially when I knew what was at stake here. This was not a solo isekai adventure with me being the protagonist of my story, but a game which could end up being either an adventure with Rivals competing to complete one mission or a fucking battle royale. I had to compete with others like me on their second chance, who were most likely armed with superpowers. All while being powerless. 

I was hyperventilating, no doubt, but I cannot deny that there was a part of me that was exhilarated, with my blood singing in my veins, at the second chance, high stakes, and the impossibly high difficulty.

But my musing was interrupted by the screen flashing and a new message being displayed.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

[Setup Completed.]

[Say or think 'System' to access the interface.]

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Curious, I obliged with the instructions and simply thought - 'System', and the screen changed, displaying four options:

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[Stat Screen]

[Objective]

[Inventory]

[Return]

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Now officially curious and excited, I was about to ask for the Stat Screen to be shown, but the screen changed without my input displaying a new message.

By the time I finished reading the message, I could not keep a wide, unhinged smile from spreading across my face.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

[Message from your World Will recovered.]

[Displaying Message. ]

[Champion,

Superpower approved. With the following limitations:

1. Card Creation will be limited by your own soul strength.

2. You will attract attention from Fated Ones and always find yourself in the thick of things.

3. You will never be trusted by the Fated Ones and never be on the same side.

4. No allying with the competition. Kill them all whenever possible.]

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