In a dimly lit and untidy room, a twenty-year-old literature student groaned from his bed as he rose sluggishly and walked towards his bathroom.
Kevin lazily brushed his teeth, glancing at his tousled hair in the broken mirror on the wall before spitting at his reflection.
"Disgusting," He muttered before languidly returning to his bedroom where used soda cans, mouldy bread, and pizzas littered the space.
His unwashed clothes were strewn all over the furniture as well, mirroring the room's untidiness.
On his desk, was his computer, a device that had become his habitual means of escape from the wretched world he no longer wished to endure.
The only reason he clung to life was the countless light novels, manga, video games, and adult videos stored on his computer.
He came from a middle-class background and currently lived with his parents, who had a ton of debt. They were barely earning up to $50,000 a year.
In the modern world he lived in, this amount was barely enough to keep a family of five happy, especially with the daily price inflation, Kevin knew he had to fend for himself.
Therefore, he worked as a part-time valet attendant to help pay for his tuition fees and daily necessities, only to end up earning a meagre $7 per hour and during a night shift at that.
He had tried finding a better job but no one wanted to hire him, judging him to be unreliable due to his appearance, personal hygiene, fashion sense, and modest height of 5'3.
No matter how hard he tried to improve his look, his face was always met with disgust by those around him.
He had no friends and the concept of a 'girlfriend' was something he could never dream of having.
Things hadn't always been like this. In the past, before his family's financial downfall, Kevin had been hardworking, gregarious, and bright.
Although he wasn't good-looking and was of below average height, he was optimistic that things would get better in the future.
With the belief that if he worked harder and got good grades, good fortune would eventually smile upon him.
But the reality wasn't like that.
One by one, the people Kevin knew as friends started distancing themselves from him, subjecting him to frequent bullying. His advances were also rejected by every girl he liked, no matter how sincere he had been.
Although these were all a thing of the past, the future didn't look any brighter either.
Today was Sunday, and it was the only time he could freely indulge in what he truly loved.
He managed to prepare a morning coffee for himself before taking a seat on his favourite chair and switching on the computer.
He slowly unzipped his pants and then...
*Knock* *Knock*
Just before he could savour the good part of his day, a knock interrupted him and he knew exactly who had such bad timing.
The memories of his past had put him in a really bad mood.
The last thing he wanted was to encounter this person, who would come in to collect his laundry while weeping and imploring him not to be angry at how incompetent his parents were.
Right now, all he wanted was some alone time.
"Kevin, it's Mum. You need to.....,"
"Get out!!" He bellowed, raising his coffee mug and smashing it onto his desk.
The content spilt onto his keyboard and CPU, causing a spark that rendered the screen permanently black.
"What?! No!!"
"Huh?! Kevin?! Is everything alright?!"
'What? She is still here?!'
Surprised that she was still standing at his doorstep, Kevin flung the mug at the door, yelling. "I said get out!!"
The woman behind the door covered her lips as tears streamed down her cheeks before walking away with a hand clutched tightly to her chest.
Kevin stared at his computer, wondering what he could do to fix it.
Going out right now was impossible due to the incessant downpour.
However, just when he thought all hope was lost, his monitor flickered back to life.
"What? How?" He wondered, but then a word appear on his computer screen.
[[Congratulations, the goddess of happiness has deemed you to be a creature of great potential.]]
"Huh? Goddess Of Happiness?"
"Creature of potential?"
"Me?!"
Kevin was appalled by the words displayed on his screen.
His gaze shifted to the shattered mug on the floor.
'Did something get mixed into the coffee?'
'That has to be it. That's the only thing that could explain my current hallucinations.' He reasoned before turning back to the screen.
[[As a reward for being intriguing to the goddess, you've been offered a chance to be reborn.]]
[[Do you accept?]]
'Yep. I am hallucinating. This is what I get for reading and watching too many novels and anime,' He disappointedly facepalmed himself.
His mind must be playing tricks on him, he thought.
Still, he decided to play along with the images fabricated by his mind.
"Yes,"
His computer was fried. There was no way a vocal response could be accepted if this were truly reality.
[[Response Accepted.]]
"What?!" He sprung up from his seat.
'Was this really happening? Am I going to be reborn like in my beloved novel collections?'
A glimmer of hope was beginning to sprout within his heart.
[[You'll be reborn as an orphan baby. Do you accept?]]
Even though he currently had two parents, he never felt any different from living as an orphan.
"Yes." He responded.
[[Response Accepted.]]
[[Warning!! You won't be able to recall any event that occurred in your current life. Do you accept?]]
"Yes," The sooner he forgot his current hardship, the better.
[[You'll be experiencing death shortly. Your new world awaits.]]
After those final words were displayed, his computer blacked out once again.
Seeing those words, a smile blossomed on Kevin's face.
Finally, he would be experiencing a new life. Who knew, maybe he would be adopted by a wealthy parent and live the rest of his life being spoiled rotten.
But the unexpected occurred.
An hour, two hours, and three hours went by, but nothing happened.
"I knew it, it was all a figment of my imagination," Kevin grumbled before packing his computer system into a cardboard box.
He was going to do what he should have done hours ago.
He planned to go out into the rain with an umbrella to fix his computer.
In a fit of anger, Kevin stepped out of his house. However, the moment he stepped outside, a bolt of lightning struck him, leading to his death and a new world filled with fun, love, hate, revenge, mystery, family drama and an intense battle against mutants and god awaited him.
All of these events occurred twenty years ago.
___
A/N:- This " " signifies the words spoken by the characters while this ' ' signifies the MC's thoughts.