I wake up while feeling dizzy. Doesn’t seem that the aftereffects of whatever Gaia did, are gone yet.

As I open my eyes I’m surprised by the sight right in front of me. A girl leaning down while staring into my eyes. No, she is rather staring at my face. Not that it is any less uncomfortable for me.

She realizes I’m awake and leans back, sitting on the ground.

Wait, no, this isn’t the forest. Her face and the waterfall of hair over my eyes was obstructing the surroundings, but now that I look around myself. It looks like a room in some temple. I’ve seen pictures of these when I was young. A variant of a Buddhist temple. At least from the inside.

As I think about that, I’m led to remember my childhood.

I need to go back.

My clan needs me. My mother, grandmother, elder sisters and father too I suppose. How much they dote on me. And all the things I’ve been taught as the successor. How to keep my head calm and rational. How to assess a situation.

I take deep breaths as I slowly get up from the bed. It’s quite soft. Obviously nowhere close to what I’ve been used to sleeping on, but still not bad for a temple.

I look around. The room is mostly empty. Well doesn’t seem like I’ll be gathering any information from that. The girl from before has also disappeared now.

I hold the bed’s mattress, it probably has feathers inside it, at least judging from the feeling of apparent softness and occasional clumps of soft material with a bit of hardness, like the spine of a feather. Though it could also be cotton.

Hey, Gaia, you still there? It’s not like I need to mentally talk to her since it seemed like she could read my mind.

An answer comes back, sure enough.

What is this place?

Where is this place?

Basically, because it’s convenient?

I didn’t understand a few words that she spoke. What are sects? And what is this Wind Kingdom? But I’ll ask those questions later.

I thought I didn’t want those questions answered right now.

Too much information at once isn’t that good as it could lead to confusion.

I let out a sigh and then close my eyes to think about the current situation now using the new information I have. But actually, there isn’t much. In the first place I don’t want anything to do with this world.

Even though you say it’s the ‘system’, isn’t it just you basically keeping tabs on my progress for whatever you want me to do?

<…Yeah. But this way makes it more fun than to just gain strength automatically for no reason.>

I let out another sigh. She mentioned she was a goddess but now I’m starting to doubt that, as evident from her nature which doesn’t at all seem like that of a goddess.

Such a whimsical goddess who calls me here from my own world but doesn’t even tell me what she wants me to do. And now has set up this whatever system so I could gain strength, whatever even that means.

Another sigh escapes me. So now I pay even less attention to Gaia, possibly even ignoring her.

I look towards my left hand instinctively to check for the time. Grandmother always used to insist that time is money, and that I should pay attention to it. It’s become a habit now to look at what time it is. But my watch isn’t there.

But that isn’t the main problem. After looking at my hand I realized. These aren’t the normal clothes I wear. I didn’t even notice the difference. These feel so similar to my own clothes. This luxurious feeling possibly couldn’t be something that a temple can afford.

Could it have been that priestess girl? Did she change my clothes? Then she must have seen my naked body. Oh no. I’m not pure anymore.

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Mother told me that other than her I must not let anyone else see my body, not even my elder cousin sisters. I’m sorry mother, I’ve let you down. I’m not worthy of you anymore.

A voice too loud to ignore interrupts the thoughts inside my head.

Fine. Not like that makes the situation any better.

Okay. I think about the ‘system’ and something like a menu pops up in my mind. There isn’t much to it at the moment.

It’s distinctly like something that I am not seeing with my eyes, but something inside my mind, thus not requiring me to spend time reading or interpreting what it means.

> Self

>

> Items

>

> Quests

>

> Hints/Tutorial

A tutorial. How convenient.

Ignoring that previous statement, I open the Hints/ Tutorial part.

> The Self menu tells you about your own level of strength, abilities and skills, as comparable to the rest of the world.

That sounds about right, just as expected.

> Items include all the items you possess in your storage. The items that you have on person do not count. There is virtually no limit to what you can store

This probably is related to Gaia somehow, since I don’t see the clothes I was wearing anywhere in the room. Well, this whole ‘system’ is related to Gaia since she is the one who made it.

> Quests will keep a record of your goals and sometimes also give you goals to achieve. Each goal completed will give you experience points to increase your strength.

This is quite game-like. I was always skeptical of how collecting herbs would give you experience related to fighting monsters in a game.

Anyways, now that the hints section told me about everything I could currently do and I feel it might add more things as I encounter them, I think about opening the Quests tab. It only has one quest as of now.

> Storyline Quest

> Young man from another world. Find out for what purpose you were summoned here. The forest towards the north of the Wind Kingdom might hold some clues, but you are currently too weak to go there. 

This is probably something that Gaia wants me to do.

Ignoring that statement. I try to test out if what the hints section told was true.

I make a mental note that I need to get out of the bed. I think about it really intently, as if it’s something I really must do.

> Quest added.

I open up the menu and then the quests tab, another quest other than the story one is now present.

> Personal Quest.

> Young man, getting out of the bed during the morning is a tough decision to make, especially if you’re not alone on the bed. Be brave and accomplish getting out of bed. 

That was something ominous. I quickly take a look around, I’m still alone in the room. There is also no one other than me on the bed. I also look under the bed just in case. There isn’t anyone underneath the bed either.

That was a poor joke, Gaia. Your sense of humor evades me.

I slowly get out of the bed and walk a few steps away from it.

> Quest completed

> You have gained 0.01 Exp. For accomplishing this task. 

Honestly I can’t tell if the amount of Exp. I got from doing that was worth anything at all.

> As this is the first time you completed a quest, 50 more Exp. Is awarded to you.

Okay…

> As this is the first time of you gaining Exp. 50 more Exp. Is awarded to you. You have gained a level and are now level 2.

Give me an achievement for just opening the game, why don’t you.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. This is just her messing with my head.

I calm down and then open the menu, this time going to the items tab.

Rather than what I imagined, which would be it giving me a list of items, instead a room appears in my mind. It has my clothes and the other objects I had with me earlier. It feels like I’m reaching into another dimension as I pick and item to try taking it out.

The floor creaks a little as a wooden hand reaches out from in middle of the floorboards. The hand itself is feminine, reminiscent of Gaia’s appearance, its details are exquisite. Making it look as if a sculptor put his all into carving just the hand.

That hand is holding my smartphone. I take the phone and the hand disappears back from where it came.

That is a really flashy way of taking something out of the items storage. I doubt I could use it with anyone else around.

The smartphone is also capable of tazing someone. Since they obviously wouldn’t allow me to carry a gun in school, even for self-defense. The phone can easily stun someone and knock them unconscious, but requires me to be close. It might be useful sometime.

I open the item menu again and think about putting the item back.

I drop my phone and it falls towards the floor. But just before hitting the floor itself, a hole suddenly opens up in the wooden floorboards. I thought it was a hole but looking a bit more carefully, there seem to be rows of sharp, wooden teeth around that hole. Like the mouth of some shark. It swallows my phone and then the jaws close, restoring the floor back to its original appearance.

Now that method is incredibly convenient to store items.

Taking an item out is still pretty cumbersome though.

Now there’s only one option left. I open the menu and open the Self tab.

> Name: Gray Valentine

> Level: 2

> Exp. Till next level: 199.99

> Race: Human?

> Hair color: Silver

> Eye color: Mauve

> Skin tone: Pale white

> Height: 182cm

> Weight: 80 kg

> Body type: Slender but athletic

> Three Sizes: B 95 cm, W 83 cm, H 97 cm

> Age: 17 years

> Gender: Male

> Sexual orientation: Unknown?

> Likes: His mother

> Dislikes: His mother

> Martial Skills: Jeet Kune Do practitioner, HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) practitioner

>

> … Show more ...

> Abilities

>

> Otherworldly Charm

> Being someone from another world, the aura around you makes females of all species hold a favorable impression towards you.

>

> Ruler of Plants

> The ability to control water has evolved to another form, allowing minor control of surrounding plant life. Sentient plants might help you on their own. 

WHAT IS THIS? WHY IS IT SO UNNECESSARILY DETAILED?! ALSO I’M PERFECTLY HETEROSEXUAL!!