Kai groaned, his body aching as consciousness slowly crept back to him. His head was pounding, his limbs felt heavy, and something cold and wet pressed against his cheek. The familiar scent of damp earth filled his nostrils, and as he blinked his eyes open, he realized with mild annoyance that he was face down in mud.

Pushing himself up, Kai wiped the dirt from his face, grimacing. The world around him swirled for a moment, adjusting to his new reality. Trees loomed above him, their leaves rustling softly in the breeze. A narrow, muddy path stretched out before him, weaving between small wooden houses in the distance.

"Fantastic. Of all the places to crash-land, I end up here," he muttered, spitting mud out of his mouth. His voice caught in his throat—higher pitched than he expected.

Frowning, Kai cleared his throat. "What?"

That was… odd. He tried again, and the same strange, almost boyish sound came out. His eyes narrowed, and panic started to build. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet—or at least, he tried to.

Kai wobbled as he stood up, his balance off. Everything around him seemed a little too… big. He glanced down at his hands, his fingers smaller, thinner than he remembered. And his clothes—ragged, loose-fitting, definitely not what he'd been wearing before.

"What the hell happened?" Kai muttered, trying to make sense of the situation. His mind raced back to the system's error, to the rushed "character already assigned" message.

With a sinking feeling in his gut, he glanced around, hoping for something familiar, some clue to ground him. But instead of a clue, he was greeted with another shock: He was shorter.

Much shorter. Like, significantly.

Suddenly, everything clicked. He wasn't just in the game; he was in a new body.

"Alright… calm down," Kai told himself, though his pulse quickened. "It's just a temporary glitch, right? The system probably assigned me some under-leveled character as a joke."

But even as he tried to reassure himself, the nagging feeling of wrongness gnawed at him. It couldn't be this bad, could it?

"Okay, status window," he muttered, raising his hand in the air like he was summoning a spell. If he really was in the game, then accessing his character sheet should be easy enough. "Show me what I'm working with."

To his surprise, a translucent screen flickered into existence in front of him. His heart skipped a beat as lines of text began scrolling across it, and there it was:

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Name: (Kai) Mikhail (Orphaned)

Age: 15

Class: [Unassigned]

Level:0

Health: 50/50

Stamina: 30/30

Mana:10/10

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 4

Intelligence: 5

Endurance: 2

Luck: 0

Skills: None

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Kai stood frozen, staring at the cold, merciless numbers on his status window as if they were mocking him. His breath hitched, the reality crashing down on him with a weight that felt almost physical—his reincarnation into this world was not the glorious rebirth he'd imagined. Not the kind bestowed upon heroes, nor one that promised greatness. Instead, it felt like a cosmic joke.

It wasn't just the body—the frail, half-starved, fifteen-year-old orphan body that could barely stand without feeling like it might collapse. No, it was the cold, biting truth that he was starting from absolute zero. No class. Zero level. Zero skills.

And, of course, the pièce de résistance: Zero luck.

He chuckled, though it was more of a bitter bark than anything joyful.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Ahead, the village loomed larger. If you could call it a village. The place looked like it had given up on life about a decade ago and had been slowly decaying ever since. Buildings leaned at odd angles roofs sagged, walls crumbled, and the few villagers who shuffled through the dirt roads looked as lifeless as the buildings they lived in. This wasn't a place of opportunity; it was a graveyard waiting to happen.

Kai clenched his fists, the bite of his ragged nails against his palm grounding him. He wasn't here to rot away in some forgotten corner of a dying world. No. He was going to take this world and bend it to his will. SSS-ranker or bust. Maybe they'd carve that into his gravestone, he thought with a bitter grin.

But first… he needed food. His stomach growled in agreement, loud enough that a few nearby villagers glanced his way.

Weakness might have claimed his body, but his mind was as sharp as ever. And that would be his weapon, at least for now.

As he stumbled into the heart of the village, the sharp scent of rot and decay hit him like a slap. Stalls were haphazardly set up along the street, offering meager scraps that hardly looked edible. Bread as hard as stone. Fish that stank of death. His stomach twisted, part hunger, part disgust. But his gaze remained steady, calculating. In a world like this, you couldn't just survive—you adapted, exploited, overcame.

A hulking vendor eyed him from behind one of the stalls, a scowl permanently etched into his weathered face. The man's muscles bulged beneath his tattered clothes, and his cold, predatory gaze fell on Kai with the disinterest of someone who had seen too many like him.

An orphan, an insect. Another mouth to feed that wouldn't last the week.

Kai didn't flinch. He'd dealt with men like this before—the type who preyed on the weak, who enjoyed watching the desperation of those beneath them. But the vendor was wrong. Kai wasn't weak. Or at least, he didn't plan on staying weak for long.

"Move along, kid," the vendor growled, his voice like gravel. "We don't do charity here."

Kai's eyes flicked to the food, then back to the man. This was a negotiation. Not for a scrap of food, but for control.

"I'm not looking for handouts," Kai thought, his mind racing. This world was cruel, and cruelty was a language Kai spoke fluently. His lips curled into a smile—small, deliberate. He would have to be clever. Use the man's greed, his arrogance, against him.

Moments later, Kai walked away from the stall, chewing on a piece of rock-hard bread. The vendor had tossed it at him, half in amusement, half as a challenge. Tomorrow, Kai would work for him—if he survived the night. But Kai wasn't planning to survive. He was planning to win. One step at a time.

The bread was harder than the rocks on the side of the road, as he scanned the streets, eyes locking onto the few, miserable villagers, all pawns.

In this world, alliances would be fleeting, driven by necessity rather than trust. But he could use them. The ones with that faint glimmer of hope still left, those were the ones he could manipulate. The broken ones—like this village—were worthless.

Suddenly, a scream shattered the air, cutting through the quiet despair of the village like a blade. For a moment, he hesitated. He wasn't a hero. He wasn't here to save anyone. His only priority was to get stronger.

But the screams grew louder, more frantic. His feet moved of their own accord, carrying him toward the source. His mind raced ahead, already forming strategies, calculating risks, weighing options. As he rounded the corner of a narrow alley, the sight that met his eyes confirmed what he already knew: three men, all brute muscle and cruel smiles, cornering a young girl. One held her arms, another gagged her, while the third casually looped ropes around his hands.

A deep, simmering rage rose within Kai. He could walk away. He should walk away. But something inside him rebelled at the idea. Weak or not, he wasn't the type to cower in the shadows.

The words his father always said echoed in the back of his mind: If you want something, you take it. If someone stands in your way, you crush them.

Before he knew it, he had stepped into the alley, his eyes blazing with cold fury.

One of the men, a towering figure with scars crisscrossing his face, looked over at him and sneered. "What do we have here? Another little rat trying to play hero?"

Kai didn't respond. His mind was already working on a way to tear them apart, piece by piece. No weapons. No skills. Just wits and a bit desperation.

The first brute charged. Kai moved fast—dodge, weave, strike. His body was weak, but his mind knew how to fight dirty. A well-placed kick to the knee, a stolen moment to strike at a vulnerable gut. Pain and chaos.

But then the leader's fist collided with his jaw, sending him sprawling. Blood filled his mouth, stars exploded behind his eyes, and he could feel his strength fading away.

From the ground, Kai saw a blur of movement—the girl, free now, hurling a rock that struck the leader's head. His moment of hesitation was all Kai needed. He leapt up, grabbing the girl's hand. Together, they sprinted through the alley, heart pounding, lungs burning.

They ran. Across the streets, away from the village and into the woods.

After what felt like hours, Kai collapsed behind a massive oak, pulling the girl down with him. They sat there, chests heaving, listening intently for any signs of pursuit.

"I think... we lost them," Kai gasped, wincing at the pain in his jaw.

The girl nodded, her eyes wide with fear and gratitude. "Thank you," she whispered.

Kai leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes his vision blurred with exhaustion.

As he panted, trying his best to stop his nose from bleeding, a faint, familiar blue light shimmered before his eyes.

[TUTORIAL UPDATE: READY TO BEGIN?]

[YES] [NO]

Kai blinked, then let out a weary chuckle. "Now you show up," he muttered. But as he reached out to tap [YES], a small smile played on his lips.

Now? Now the real game begun.