[Natsume's Dream (AKA Anabel)]

"When are you going to get a job, you useless hikikomori?! You better do it soon, or I'll kick you outside! You're a grown-ass man already!" Dad?

"Oh, come down already. He said he's been looking for work already. Leave our baby alone; he's doing his best."

"He's a goddam liar! He hides in his room all day and doesn't even open his door to talk to us; instead, he simply grunts and yells whatever he feels like! He needs to face the consequences, woman!"

{Sigh} Mom and Dad are fighting again. It always gets so noisy when they fight over useless subjects. What does it matter if I work or not? Dad can simply give me all his companies if he worries about my future; why should I work when he's a multimillionaire?

I never understood the old man; why not let me live as a closed-off Hikikomori? I do no harm to anyone else besides myself, and it's quite a pleasant life. Oh, speaking of which, it's soda time already! Alright!

{Glup, Glup}

Ahhh!! It's so good. I'm living my life. Being able to play games and watch porn till I'm tired is incredible! I wouldn't change any of it even if I could. I found heaven on Earth. Uh? I ran out of Gacha coupons. Ugh, I guess I have to go outside for more.

Just let me get my Hatsune Miku hoodie and noise-canceling headphones, and I'll be good to go... Wait, what is that I see before me in the mirror? Who is that girl looking back at me?

{Dream abruptly ends when Natsume sees the shape they turned into after being reincarnated in the shape of Anabel.}

"Ahhhhh!!! I'm not a loser! I'm not a loser! Not anymore! Ah ahh, ahh, augh!"

It was all just a dream, but it felt way too real; I really thought I was back in my room, back in my original life, where I died off as the lowest scum on Earth. Why? Why did I have to remember it? Whoever is in charge of dreams hates me. It was not funny at all.

Stolen novel; please report.

Still, it is my undeniable past, so even if I wanted it to be false, it would never be; that guy in the Dream was me. I was a useless member of society. I did nothing with my previous life; I achieved nothing. My existence wasn't even important for my parents, who I always ignored.

Yet, what have I done with my new life? I have achieved nothing! I have done nothing! I have been alive for eleven years and have done nothing with it! Will I always be a loser? Am I really never going to achieve anything? Will I ever accomplish something!?

No, I refuse. I cheated death and the Goddess of reincarnations. I tricked my way into another chance, so I will not let it go to waste.

Even if the Goddess resents me and wants to see me be a loser forever, I will fight back this time! I will not die without making my name known across the history books! I will die when I gather enough merits in this new life! I refuse to die early!

I had been awaken in what looked like early dawn when the stars were still out. I looked up at the stars and noticed that it was completely different from Earth; the constellations were different, and there was no "Milky Way" to be seen anywhere.

Since I couldn't go back to sleep, I began work early. With my tiny hands, I grabbed the palladium from my bag and tried playing with it. I tried placing it on a metal holder to see if it would react to incantations, and to my surprise, the material shone when I said an incantation.

"I'm the source of all power! Hear my words and heed them! Cover my enemy with a splash of water! Aqua Splash!"

The palladium in my hands shook violently as it shone brighter and brighter until a small magic rune formed in front of the metal holder, and from it, a tiny aqua splash came out.

"Uh! UHUHUHUHU! Ahahaha! Yes! Finally! Stick this victory up your ass, GODDESS! I did it! I found a way around you!"

[System bug detected. Bug not recognized by the system. Trying to self-patch. Patch Failed. The bug is outside the system's power, and we cannot block it.]

Ahaha! Suck on that, you useless Goddess! My weapon is outside your system, as it comes directly from the planet itself instead of your system! You cannot patch or ban whatever the Earth will give away as free energy! That is all mine to exploit!

Now, the problem comes with the strength of the splash; it was so dam weak it's laughable. I also suspect that the entire core will vaporize itself if I do it too many times dam. I need to find a way to refine or make it more reactive to Magicules so it's less prone to waste energy on useless heat and light.

If only I had Alexander here to explain more about the material! Dam it! I need another scholar and blacksmith!

{Ribbit? Ribbit!?}

I hadn't noticed it, but now I had the Toad looking at me after I used the prototype. The Toad somehow made me feel like it was trying to talk to me, but I couldn't understand what it wanted to communicate until it simply moved its head up and down.

Was it trying to say, "Well done!" How? Wasn't the Toad a simple slave beast I had bought? Was it actually smart?