I stared at the floating numbers, my brain short-circuiting. "STR? INT? Is this a joke? My Luck is only six?"
Before I could even process the indignity of having single-digit endurance, a flutter of movement caught my eye. I looked up just in time to see a folded piece of paper materialize out of thin air, drifting down from the ceiling like a feather.
I snatched it out of the air before it hit the wet floor. Another letter.
"Where are these coming from?" I muttered, tearing the seal open with shaking fingers. "Is there a mail slot in the astral plane?"
I unfolded the paper. The handwriting was messy, casual, like a doctor's scribble or a hastily written text message.
[ Good Morning! How are we doing today? ]
[ Welcome to the world of High School DxD. ]
My breath hitched. I froze, staring at those three words. "High School... DxD?"
The anime? The one with the devils, the angels, and the gratuitous... physics?
I forced my eyes back to the page.
[ You probably have a few questions. "What's going on?" or "How did this happen?" Well, in short: You died in your previous life. ]
I let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "Right. I died."
I read it again. The chuckle died in my throat. The cold reality of it washed over me. I wasn't dreaming. I wasn't hallucinating. I was dead.
"I... I died?"
[ Fortunately, I decided to give you a gift. A second chance. You are very lucky that my magic still works in this domain, though our time is limited. And I do mean limited! ]
[ Personally, I won't go into the nitty-gritty of how you died. Let's just focus on the important stuff: ]
[ 1. You have been given 'The Gamer' ability. It's a unique skill that allows you to improve your stats and abilities just like an RPG character. ]
I looked back at the blue screen hovering in the mirror. "So that explains the interface."
[ NOTE: I said 'The Gamer Ability.' That does NOT mean you have a Sacred Gear. Yet. You might find one later, maybe by stealing it from someone you kill, or maybe the local system administrator (God) will pity you. Who knows? I'm not writing the script here. ]
[ 2. You have lived in this world before. Sort of. This body is a 'Carbon Copy' created for you to inhabit. You have a history here, a paper trail. ]
[ 3. On Monday Morning, you will be attending Kuoh Academy. Good luck with that. ]
"Kuoh Academy," I whispered. "That means devils. Rias Gremory. Sona Sitri. If this is real... I'm walking into a war zone."
I flipped the paper over. There was more scrawled on the back.
[ Oh, one more thing. There will be another letter later explaining the tutorial. ]
[ But please remember: You have the ability to change anything in this world. Be careful of your surroundings and how you affect the timeline. You might break the story if you aren't careful, my boy. ]
[ Good luck. ]
[ From: A God (The cool one). ]
[ P.S. Do me a favor and don't die a second time. It was a bureaucratic nightmare to get you here, and if you die again, I can't help you. One-way trip, kid. ]
[ P.P.S. Considering how you were killed, your memories have been... scattered. Don't worry, they'll start to return in a few days. I'm sorry in advance, but if I shoved them all into your new brain at once, you would've gone into a coma. You're welcome. ]
….
I sighed, the tension bleeding out of my shoulders as I re-read the letter on the desk. It was absurd, terrifying, and impossible. But looking at the stranger in the mirror had been the slap in the face I needed to accept reality.
"So I died..." I whispered, touching my chest. "And this is the new me."
Panic should have set in. I should have been hyperventilating. But I wasn't. A strange, cool blanket of calm had wrapped around my mind, keeping the hysteria at bay.
I turned away from the desk and decided to get moving. If this was my life now, I needed to know the layout. I changed out of the damp clothes and found a set of sweats in the cupboard that fit perfectly.
I walked out of the bedroom and started opening doors. It was a three-bedroom apartment, shockingly spacious. It came fully furnished, a TV room with a massive screen, a dining area, and a kitchen that looked like it had never been used. I opened the fridge; it was packed.
"Well, gotta eat," I muttered.
I grabbed some bacon and eggs and started cooking. The smell of frying grease made the whole situation feel a little more grounded. I was just flipping the eggs when a flicker of light caught my eye.
Another letter materialized out of thin air, fluttering down to land on the kitchen island.
I plated the food, sat down, and tore open the envelope. It was a manual. Or rather, a cheat sheet.
[Stats, Skills, and Inventory Guide]
LVL (Level): A measure of experience. Increase EXP to level up and gain status points.
HP (Health Points): Your life force. If this hits ZERO, you're dead. Permanent death.
MP (Mana Points): Magical energy. Used for spells and special attacks.
STR (Strength): Physical power. Determines lifting capacity and melee damage.
END (Endurance): Physical resilience. Increases Stamina, Defense, and HP.
AGI (Agility): Reflexes, coordination, and speed.
INT (Intellect): Processing power and memory. Improves mana control and spell efficiency.
WIS (Wisdom): Intuition and perception. Increases mana regeneration and willpower.
LUK (Luck): The uncontrollable variable. Influences critical hits and random encounters. Note: Cannot be trained naturally.
The bottom of the page noted that the [Inventory] had limited slots for now but could be expanded.
"Standard RPG mechanics," I mumbled, taking a bite of bacon. "At least the rules are familiar."
I finished eating and leaned back in the chair. Since waking up, I'd been instinctively focusing on objects, whispering "Observe." At first, it just gave me names: [Chair], [Fork]. But as I moved through the apartment, the information got denser. My [Observe] skill had already hit Level 2.
I opened my status menu with a thought, checking the "Skills" tab to see why I wasn't freaking out.
….
Don't forget to send power stones and add this to your library.