The tires of the truck screeched loudly, a child’s startled cry pierced the air, and then there was a sickening, heavy crash.  That jarring sequence of sounds was the last clear memory Mihir retained from his life in Kolkata.  He had been rushing to work, caught in the usual morning chaos of the city, when a brightly colored ball bounced into the street, followed by a small child who hadn't looked before running after it.  Seeing the bus approaching rapidly, Mihir reacted purely on instinct, leaping forward and managing to push the little girl back towards the safety of the sidewalk, even as he himself was struck by the full force of the vehicle.

In the aftermath, everything simply faded into darkness, not with pain, but with a gradual lessening, like the volume of sound being turned down slowly, or a light dimming until it finally went out completely.  He experienced a sensation of floating, as if drifting aimlessly in a vast emptiness, until a voice, soft and warm like the gentle heat of the sun, reached him in the void.

“Mihir,” the voice resonated, carrying a sense of immense size and kindness that enveloped him, “your previous life was unfortunately burdened by misfortune, a cosmic misstep that caused undue hardship.”

Confusion flickered within him, a faint echo of his earthly existence, as he wondered, Who is speaking to me? What mistake are they talking about?  He remained unable to see anything, only feeling a sense of lightness and weightlessness surrounding him.

“To rectify this… imbalance,” the voice continued, the warmth growing slightly stronger and more comforting, “I am offering you a new beginning, a chance to live again in a world quite different from the one you knew, a world called Aerthos, a realm of swords and magic, fundamentally structured around… systems.”

The word systems sparked a faint, almost forgotten feeling of excitement within him, a distant echo of cherished memories of playing games, of losing himself in RPGs, leveling up characters, and mastering complex skills, all from a life that now felt incredibly remote, like a half-remembered dream.

“In Aerthos,” the voice explained, the warmth now becoming even more pronounced and reassuring, “power is not an abstract concept but a tangible reality, clearly visible to all; every being in that world possesses a status window, displaying their attributes, skills, and inherent potential for growth.”  The voice then declared, “You will be reborn there, Mihir, as a new person, as Rylan.”

Rylan.  The new name echoed in his awareness, feeling somewhat unfamiliar yet strangely right at the same time, and a flicker of anticipation, a fragile spark of hope, began to glow within the fading remnants of his consciousness.

“To aid your transition,” the voice continued, now tinged with a note of apology, “and to compensate for the inevitable disorientation and the initial lack of clear memories, I am bestowing upon you two unique gifts, special skills that will be intrinsically linked to your very being from birth.”

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A surge of warm, tingling energy flowed through him, suffusing his formless essence with power.

“The first gift,” the voice announced with gentle authority, “is Intuition, a deep-seated sense of knowing, a constant guiding whisper that will help to steer you on the correct path; it will not grant you perfect foresight, but it will subtly nudge you towards advantageous opportunities, provide warnings of hidden dangers, and resonate within you when you are about to make a truly correct choice.”

Intuition… the skill name resonated in his mind, sounding exceptionally useful and undeniably intriguing, perhaps like a gamer’s in-built sense for finding hidden quests or optimal strategies.

“And the second gift,” the voice continued, its tone now filled with a hint of wonder, “is Rapid Learning, a remarkable potential, a profound talent that will significantly accelerate your ability to acquire new skills and deepen your understanding of this new world, a gift that is, in essence, quite extraordinary.”

Rapid Learning…  That definitely sounded like an incredible advantage, like having a built-in cheat code activated from the start, and a faint, unseen smile might have touched his lips if he still possessed a physical body to express such emotions.

“You will not consciously remember your previous life on Earth, nor this very conversation we are having now, Rylan,” the goddess stated, the comforting warmth of her presence now enveloping him completely, “however, echoes of your past will linger, surfacing in your dreams, in fleeting glimpses of a life you once lived, and in moments of déjà vu, that peculiar sensation of knowing something instinctively, even when you cannot consciously recall why.”

The light surrounding him intensified, becoming almost overwhelmingly bright, yet still retaining its comforting warmth, as the voice softened, gradually fading into the distance. “Live well, Rylan,” it whispered, “live your new life to the fullest, and perhaps, in this different existence, you will finally discover the happiness that was… misplaced in your previous one.”

Then, everything rushed in. Colors, feelings, spinning.  And then… just feeling.  Warm and soft.  Sounds far away.

Rylan opened his eyes.

Soft light was all around him. He blinked, and slowly turned his head.  A gentle face came into view, a woman looking down at him.  Her eyes were warm, and she smiled a soft, loving smile.  He felt safe in her arms.  A larger figure moved closer, a man standing beside the woman.  He looked down at Rylan with kind eyes and a quiet smile.  Rylan looked from the woman to the man, and back again, feeling a warmth spread through him.

“Welcome, Rylan,” the woman murmured, her voice gentle. “Welcome to the world, little one.”

Rylan.  His name. It felt right. He looked up at the woman’s face again, and then at the man beside her.  He felt a deep sense of comfort, a feeling of being cared for.

“He’s strong, Lienea,” the man said softly to the woman.  “A good boy.”

Dad? Mom?  Even though he didn't know words, the feelings were there.  Safe.  Loved.

He was Rylan now.  In Aerthos.  With them.  Riverford.  A new life was beginning.  Earth was like a forgotten dream.  Only this moment mattered.

And deep down, a tiny spark of something new began to grow.  Excitement.  Maybe adventure. He was Rylan, and his story was starting.