A layer of light pierced through my closed eyes, making me frown my eyebrows. My senses slowly came back to me and I could feel a sharp pain in my chest. By the time I realized it, I was already gasping for airs, filling my lungs with it while also coughing water out of it.

I slowly turned my body to the right, coughing more water from my mouth. My whole body was soaking wet and, despite the sun being stinging hot right above me, my body was shivering from cold. I felt like I was nearly drowned and somehow managed to survive in the end.

I tried to open my eyes, trying to focus my blurry vision. When my eyes finally adjusted to the surrounding area, what I saw bewildered me.

It appeared I was laying in an opening near a river with towering trees around me. Forest. I was in the middle of a forest.

The clothes I had in my body were soaking wet and full of dirt. Some of the leaves stuck in my hair.

But what shocked me the most was my appearance.

My once pale skin was now a beautiful glowing white if I exclude the dirt that covered most of it.

My hair was no longer black with uncut bangs that hid my face. Instead, it was in a silver blue color. Only by touching it, I can tell it was carefully being taken care of.

It was a fact that my physique was smaller than the average person around my age. That was also the reason I got picked at a lot. But this time, I can say for sure that I was way smaller than before. My whole body looks like a toddler's body. It was tiny.

I was convinced by this when I crawled to the riverbank to take a look at my reflection. I can't help but be amazed. What I saw was a child-like round face with flawless skin, pointy nose, tiny lips, and two shining azure round eyes looking back at me. I look no more than a 3-years-old boy.

My mouth was slightly ajar as various thoughts were merging in my head.

I'm... Alive?

I was sure I was dying a while ago. I still can remember the feeling of being swallowed by the darkness. Then again, it was impossible that I managed to survive given the amount of blood I lost and all of the injuries I suffered.

And yet here I was, leaning towards the river with eyes widened in shock from my completely different appearances, still breathing and healthy if I excluded the fact that I really looked like someone who nearly drowned in this very river.

I'm alive....

But how?

While I was absorbed with my thoughts, a sound from my right side jolted me back to reality. I readied my two tiny fists in front of me in case a wild animal came closer to me. I'm in the forest after all.

But there was no sign of the animal. Instead, a hologram-like screen suddenly popped up in front of me with two big eyes covering the whole screen.

"A..aaa... Test. Test.... Is this working? How do I use this exactly?" A sound came up from the screen as the two eyes moved a bit.

What the hell is this? Am I hallucinating?

Another sound came up. This time, it was an annoyed sound of a woman with a beautiful soothing voice. "You're too close to the screen, Zyon. Step back."

As soon as it said that, the two big eyes slowly shrank, revealing an old man's face with long white hair and beard. His expression reminded me of a friendly grandpa in the neighborhood who is not familiar with gadgets and technology. He even seemed troubled on the screen, not sure of what to do.

"Like this?" He asked. Now, his face and beard filled the whole screen.

"*Sigh* still too close. You're using the whole screen for yourself!" Said the woman's voice from earlier.

I'm not sure what happened but the next thing I know is that there was a beautiful woman appearing on the screen, pulling the old man away from it so I can see more things.

"Ah, so this is how it works huh? As expected of the goddess of creation, Creace." The oldman chuckled softly as he smiled

Meanwhile, the woman rolled her eyes as she muttered "Even a three years old earthlings can do this..."

I was still dazed by all of this. Who is this old man? Did he just call the woman the goddess of creation? What is this hologram-like screen in front of me? What the hell is happening right now?

"*Cough* You must've had a ton of questions in your head right now, right? Don't worry, we'll answer it for you. Well, most of it at least. I'm what you earthlings called as god. The god of wisdom and knowledge, Zyon." As if it can read my mind, the old man answered with a big smile, ignoring the mutter from the woman he called Goddess of creation.

This is crazy. Am I being pranked or something?

I looked around me, carefully trying to spot a camera or a mic that can tell me this is just a prank. But then again, how can it be? I'm supposed to be dead, right?

"I'm sure you wanted to ask your question directly. But unfortunately, this is just a recording we prepared in advance to fill out most of your confusion. I'm deeply sorry for that."

"Oh really?"

"Yes!" Answered the old man, still with a friendly big smile, leaving me looking at him with a flat expression.

Didn't he say I can't ask my question directly because it was only a recording? He just answered me directly just now. And yet he claimed himself to be the god of wisdom and knowledge....

What in the world....

And please stop with that smile. Rather than friendly, it look kinda stupid now. Did he realize this?

I can see the woman behind him covering her face with one of her hands, giving up at the old man's behavior.

I feel you.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Let's go straight to the point, shall we? As you may already know, You have died. You are being reincarnated to this world inside a three years old body. It's similar to the reincarnated stories you used to read back in your old life. As to why you are being reincarnated, we gods and goddesses wanted to thank you and show our gratitude." The old man's face turned a bit sad as he stopped his words.

"Well, we wanted to thank you in person but it's impossible given the term of your soul. When you died, your soul was at the edge of disappearing into pieces. We have no choice but to transfer it right away to your new body. I let you have your old memories in hope it can help you in this life."

This time, another beautiful woman appeared on the screen. In contrast to the so-called Goddess of creation who has the feeling of cleverness and creativity, this one has a gentle feeling around her. She has a really friendly face. But for some reason, I get the feeling she will turn more like a devil if she is angry or displeased.

"Oh, and I'm the goddess of Life and Death, Viarte. I'm the one responsible for transferring your soul to the world you are currently in." She smiled as if she could read my confused expression.

Is this really just a recording?

I'm doubting that more and more now...

"Yeah, we haven't introduced ourselves, yes? I'm the god of combatant, Lupta. Nice to finally meet 'cha, human." Another figure appeared on the screen.

It was a muscle man with a toned skin and wild brown hair, which reminded me of a pro wrestler in a poster I once saw on my way to school, which, not really a pleasant memory for a reason I don't wanna say...

Not long after him, a fat and short looking man appeared, slightly pushing the muscle man to give him space on the screen. Zyon, the god of wisdom and knowledge, was pushed to the back by his big figure. "Oou, we introduce ourselves, now? Fine then. This kind one will say his name. I'm the god of merchants, Ubitor. The richest of all gods."

"Gentlemans, shouldn't it be ladies first?" A voice interrupted and suddenly, another woman appeared between the god of merchant and combatant. She is as stunning as the other woman, with a slim figure, black long hair, and a sorcerer's appearances. "I'm the goddess of magic, Lula."

What a complete mess...

Seriously, the way they tried to shoved others so that they could appear on the screen is somewhat....

I can't even put it into words.

If not for the fact that an unknown floating hologram-like screen appeared in front of my eyes, I'm alive when I should've died, and I'm currently inside a three-years-old boy's body in the middle of an unknown forest, I would never, even the smallest bit, believe that they are gods....

"Ok, times up. We're getting distracted here!" Zyon suddenly shoved the three gods and goddess who was blocking him to the side of the screen.

But before he could say another word, a man suddenly popped up so close to the screen. He has a calming aura around him and he kind of reminded me of elves. Long hair, beautiful face despite being a man, and green eyes. "I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm the god of nature, Felle."

Now I feel like slapping my own face....

A loud coughing voice was heard and Zyon once again shoved all of the other gods and goddess out of his way. "As I was saying before... We wanted to thank you. You see, some circumstances made the earth unstable. If it goes on, the earth will be forced to come to its end. We, gods and goddesses, are trying so hard to stabilize the earth. As you may know, there will be no lights if there is no darkness. And-"

"There will be no death if there is no life." Cut the Goddess of Life and death, suddenly showed up next to the god of wisdom.

"And there will be no hero if there is no evil."

"No riches if there are no poor."

Now the gods popped up again one by one, continuing Zyon's words, until Zyon once again pushed them to the side. "Enough." He said, clearly annoyed that his words are constantly being cut by the others.

Well, I won't blame him. It has been roughly 10 minutes and I feel like we haven't covered even half of the discussion. I wish there was a fast forwarded button...

"Ekhem... Let's continue. Where was I again? Oh yeah, The earth was unstable. Your life has been really difficult for 16 years... it was a result of the unbalance in the earth, causing you to suffer way more than you have to. I, myself, find it heartbreaking. But due to you too, the balance was slowly restored. Your act to save your own bullies opened up their hearts to do good deeds in the future. Your name would spread across the country in the future, moved the stone-hearted people and balanced the earth. You saved the earth from collapsing and helped our job greatly. But ironically, you will never be able to experience the balanced earth. You have saved earth without knowing but you can't eat the fruit of your success. For that, we felt so bad if we were to let you die just like that...'' The old man stopped to catch his breath.

The other gods and goddesses slowly walked inside the screen. I can clearly see the seven gods there, smiling wryly at the screen. Some with a sad face that they tried to hide, the others didn't bother to hide it at all.

The goddess of life and death took a step forward while grasping her hands. "We came to the conclusion to reincarnate you to the world you are currently in. We wanted you to have another life where you can live happily to your fullest to repay your efforts. I even left all the skill you had from your previous life in this life."

I stayed silent, staring blankly towards the screen with an expressionless face.

"We have all bestowed our blessings for you. The way this world works is mostly similar to the RPG game you played in your past life to make it easier for you to understand. Every person there has a status panel that displays their status, level, skill, and so on. But for you, I added an extra bonus. There are also inventory, stores, quests, and daily gifts. Daily gift will give you a random item each day. Inventory will be unlimited and you can sort it the way you wanted it. Completing quest will give you an experience to level up and grant you a game coin (GM). You can use it to buy various goods from the store." Said the goddess of creation. If I remember it correctly, her name is Creace.

"I added the goods in the store from my personal collection. All of them will be useful for your expenses there. It will be unlimited and you can find a lot of things there. You won't have to worry about a single thing." The fa- i mean, the god of merchants spoke up.

The god of wisdom and knowledge clapped his hand, bringing the 'discussion' to its end. "Well then, I have left three books inside your inventory. One is a guide book about all the things you need to know about this world, it's people, blessings, and power, second is a tutorial book left by Creace to familiarize you with the game system, and lastly, a book of beast and plants from Felle. Creace created the system for you tobe able to enjoy your life like a game. Of course, with a little bit of easiness so that you won't stressed over it. We hope that with all of this, you can have an enjoyable and happy life in this world. We thank you from deep inside our hearts. If you happened to came across a crunch, please don't hesitate to come and greet us. We will be able to communicate face to face that way." Zyon's old man smile showed up again, letting out the friendly grandpa next door feelings.

"With that being said, we wish you good luck and bid you farewell for now. So long, hero."

Creace came closer in view. Her breathtaking smile filled the whole screen. Just when it was about to disappeared, Zyon's said in the last minute "Oh I forgot to-" and then silent. He didn't manage to finish his words because the screen already disappeared.

I was left sitting alone in the opening, speechless. To be honest, I was laughing in the first half of the 'recording'. I can't help it. Who would've thought that the so-called Gods and Goddesses can behave like that? It was a bit silly but amusing at the same time.

But in the latter half of it, I was mostly quiet. Only staring blankly at the screen. My mind was filled with a lot of information that I have yet to absorb.

Hero, huh? Don't make me laugh....

They were right when they said it was unfair for me. I have suffered for 16 years... 16 years full of abuse. Not a single day in my life that my body was clear from wounds. When the old one disappeared, a new one was made. That's how it was...

And after all that, they said I'm a hero who saved earth?

I let out a deep sigh, trying to relieve the tight feeling in my chest. I still felt angry about how my past life was. But now, I have a new life...

No use of getting holed up in the past.

I slowly tried to stand up. Because of this tiny three-years-old body of mine, it was rather difficult to move around. No, I'm just still not used to it. Well, nobody would adjust right away when their body suddenly shrank, right?

New life, new things to do. Since I'm here already, best to explore it to the fullest, right? In the past, I used to play games in my room whenever my foster father is not around. I also read online books about reincarnation stories so I can easily grasp the basics of it.

Now, let my new life begin.