"They say too much of a good thing can kill you. Turns out… they were right."
I had it all.
Money? More than I can keep count.
Luxury? Endless bliss everywhere you look.
Freedom? Absolute and total freedom to do all i can in this world.
Purpose? Unfortunately that is what I lack most in this world despite my limitless fortune.
My life was one long binge of games, food, alcohol, and laziness. I barely moved from my custom gaming chair, the glow of triple monitors feeding my endless consumption.
Until my body said: It has had enough of my lackadaisical life."
The chest pain was sudden. A sharp stung that came out of nowhere and crush my purposeless life.
A crushing weight settled on me and a fleeting regret surface recalling how I have lived my life.
I knew what it was even before the world darkened.
A heart attack at 24. It was expected and also overwhelming.
The irony?
I wasn't even scared.
Maybe… I deserved this. For living a life not worth noting down. It was a gnawing realization that I have wasted the whole of my 24 years doing nothing worthy.
But death wasn't my end as I come to realize. It seems lady luck is not ready to let me go.
Instead, I opened my eyes to a sky so blue it almost hurt. The air was pure, the grass soft beneath me. Birds sang unfamiliar melodies as a warm breeze brushed my face.
"Where am I …?"
I sat up, confused and disoriented.
And then it appeared.
A glowing beige translucent screen hovered before me.
[Reincarnation Complete]
[Welcome to Eldrion Lian.]
Eldrion? Like a fantasy world?
I blinked, not believing my eyes as I stared at the glowing screen hoping it will disappear. But it has been a long tiring two minutes since the glowing world surfaced, my mind racing and only one thing came to mind:
This is… isekai? A dream of every gamer to ever live.
Do I get a system? I asked no one in particular but as if the system was listening to my thoughts another interface came up.
The screen flickered again.
[System Detected.]
[Initializing: Foundation Protocol System…]
I grinned wide.
Yes! My cheat system! This is it!
Time to become OP… hahahahaha. I laughed like a maniac; having read and played a lot games i knew what was coming.
[System Initialization Complete.]
[Daily Task List Generated:]
[Run 5 kilometers.
Perform 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats.
Practice sword basics for 3 hours.
Meditate for 1 hour.]
…Wait.
What? What in heaven's name is going on. I cried out in disbelief.
No super skills? No infinite inventory? No "God-King Starter Pack"?
[Note: Growth is proportional to effort. No skills granted automatically. All abilities must be earned through completion of daily protocols.]
This has to be a bug…
But the screen kept going.
[Penalty for failure to complete daily tasks: Attribute decay.]
Penalty?!
And then just to crush me further came the final message:
[Welcome, Bottom Feeder.]
[Your grind begins now.]
I sat there, mouth dry, mind numb, not believing what I am seeing.
I was nearly driven to tears staring at my system interface… This… isn't the isekai I signed up for.