Chapter 1 - Rebirth

Since before I could remember, I’ve had an incurable illness. The disease spread throughout my body and didn’t take long to have me bedridden. My last request was to die where I've lived these last few years, the one place I felt stronger than ever—Starlight, a VRMMO where I never needed to worry about my failing body or sickness.

I rested my head against the virtual tree and sank into a bed of roses that spread throughout the floating field in the sky.

My comrades, every single player and NPC I had become friends with, gathered around in my final moments. Tears fell from their eyes. It was a perfect end… so why did it feel so crappy to say goodbye?

I knew this was coming, so why, why couldn’t I accept it? It was unfair, unjust! I hated my body; the unlucky hand dealt to me was just…unacceptable.

I hated my body for not being able to do anything. I hated not being able to walk on my own two feet without collapsing or getting even worse than before. I hated my weaknesses. I wanted to live the way they did, the way everyone else did. It wasn’t fair, not at all!

You hear me, God, you failed me in this life! If I ever had the chance to do it all again, I would grab that chance and never let go!!

Suddenly, as all remained still, a sudden yet familiar noise shattered the emptiness of it all. In my mind, a screen of light appeared in the centre of endlessness. It was the message screen that would appear in my Virtual Reality Game whenever I got a notification.

{Your plea has been heard}
{I will grant you a new body}
{One fit to change the world}

I recognised it from my countless hours playing games; it was a real-life game screen. There was nothing else around me, wherever that was. I felt nothing, no sensations, no pain. So if I died, just who the hell was I talking to…?

{Pain resistances have been set to Max Level}
{Status resistances have been set to Max Level}

Resistances? What are you talking about? Am I still playing a game? I thought I died–

Just then, I tried protesting, but my mouth wasn’t reacting. I knew my body had given up most things, but my eyes and mouth were the last things I could use.

Why can’t I feel my mouth, where’s– I can’t speak– I can’t move!!! The menu isn’t reacting, what’s going on?!

{Physical strength Level has been increased}
{Vitality Level has been increased}
{Defence Level has been increased}

It’s not talking back to me, does it not hear me? That means this isn’t Starlight. If I began to panic like this, the game would automatically pause… so what’s happening then?

The screens of status changes flashed through my mind one after the other. It was strong, overwhelmingly so. I couldn’t concentrate on my thoughts; I could barely understand what it was rambling about before.

{Connection Complete}
{Welcome to your new life}

*******

My body felt strangely heavy, like I was restrained. My sense of touch hadn't returned just yet, so everything felt kind of dull, like there was a cloud over my mind still. I grew annoyed that I couldn't move. I thought maybe I had been cheated out of the new body the system had promised.

I pushed out and raised my arms, something I hadn't been able to do in my final week. It was surprisingly easy, even with my stiff joints.

Guaaahh!!!!

The darkness around me tore and the beaming rays of the sun were revealed. Strips of moss and dirt fell from my arms.

I was covered in pebbles and dirt, and scared out of my mind! Was I buried? Did that system give me a dead body?! Maybe that's why my senses hadn’t completely returned yet, I couldn’t even smell the dirt.

I tried reaching for my nose and a massive stump of solid white stone carried the dirt to my face. It took me a moment, but after realising it was attached to me, I jumped back. My movements were sluggish, I barely managed a pinky off the ground and a heavy thud followed when I landed.

What's happening– is this my hand?! Also, why am I so freaking heavy, just how much weight have I picked up…?

I tried looking at the rest of me, but couldn't bend my neck that far down. Like most of my body, it felt fixed in place, uncompromising. In my panicked state, there was only one thing I could think to do. I raised my hand and brought it down with a sudden swing.

The blunt end of my pillar-hand smashed into my chest and roared with a strong tang that made the loose pebbles around me bounce. With a few more knocks to the body, I confirmed my theory. From head to toe, I was made of stone.

Suddenly, the game screen appeared in front of me with glowing letters that put my heart into a mix,

{-1 HP}

I took damage from that? It’s just like in Starlight… Wait, so if my Health points drop down to zero, then…do I die for real? Okay, I don’t want to test that theory.

It seemed more and more like the game I had left behind, even the system notifications looked similar. I couldn’t put the idea past me that it must have all been intentional.

H-how could this be? I was told this would be a world of swords and magic, not freaking stone! What kind of life is this, if I’m not even human anymore?!!

I traversed through the cave, hoping to find something, anything that could help me. I didn’t know where I was and none of it seemed familiar. That meant I wasn’t in the world I knew from my game, since I had explored every inch of that landscape until it was like reading the back of my hand.

The cave I awoke in wasn’t completely dark, but covered in shiny glowing stones that resembled crystals along the walls and pretty much any surface it could grow out from. They ranged in levels of brightness, but every one of them was uniquely shaped.

Strange, I thought this cave looked unfamiliar, but so do these weird rocks…

{Luminous Rock}

Woah, my appraisal skill still works here too! If the system functions are all the same, I should see my status screen first. Open Status… Hello, status screen?

No matter how I phrased it, nothing responded to my commands. Maybe it wasn’t exactly like the game I left behind; the system's look was the only thing I took with me, apparently. Pretty disapointing.

No status or inventory… I really did die. This is reincarnation then, right? I wasn’t sure how to react to that, even after all those years preparing to die, having actually met my end, even for just a second, it felt surreal. I would never see my family again, the nice people in the hospital or my friends from Starlight.

I pressed my stump to my face and ground against my stone head. No tears either, huh? I have a new life now, so no point in dwelling on the past anymore.

Passing the crystals, I noticed a pile of rubble around where I woke up. Searching around the room, I looked up and noticed the large gaping hole that had been blown through the ceiling. It must have passed at least five layers.

This is pretty wild, was this caused by a living creature…? Surely not. I was too scared to know the answer to that. I hurried towards the cave's natural entrance and didn’t look back. Strange, the blast was aimed directly from where I woke up. How did I not die from that?

Through all that walking, I noticed the new condition of my body. Although I didn’t get tired or have an appetite anymore, my eyesight was pretty bad. Not only was the distance limited to a few feet away but I was sure that without light, I wouldn’t be able to see anything at all.

My deep thought was suddenly interrupted by a knock to the head. I snapped my attention to the culprit–more accurately, I slowly turned— only to find a large bat flapping ahead of me.

{Razor-Wing Lv2}
{HP: 35/35}

Eek–a real monster! I cowered back, but seeing that, the flying rodent swooped in for another hit. I raised my chunky arms and felt the light tap against my defence, but nothing else. Strange, I barely heard it. I guess I don’t have very good hearing either.

I wanted to let out a deep sigh but settled for slumping my rocky shoulders instead. Drops of blood fell in front of me and I was forced out of my anxious thoughts.

Huh, are you hurt? Wait, it didn’t have those before, it must have broken its claws against…against me? 

I examined the bloodied stains on my arms where it hit me and mentally smirked. Hey, this body might not be so bad after all! 

If that’s the case then bring it on ugly! I egged it on, gesturing with my arms for it to come at me.