It was dark.
The only light in the room came from a cheap desk lamp.
Berum, a freelance web developer, was hunched over his keyboard, eyes sore, shoulders tense. He'd been working for hours straight, and his deadline was in less than five.
He let out a tired sigh.
"Maybe... someday, I'll finally make it."
That hope didn't last long.
His vision blurred.
His hands stopped typing.
Then, without warning—he collapsed.
No dramatic music.
No final words.
Just silence.
No one was there to help him.
His mom was working overseas.
He didn't have friends—well, maybe he did online, but none that lived nearby.
And so, Berum died.
Days passed.
A neighbor complained about a foul smell.
But they brushed it off. "Probably just some spoiled food," someone said.
It was coming from Berum's room. No one checked.
Green grass. Clear skies. Wind.
Berum was lying on a hill, body spread out like someone dumped him there.
The sun was bright. Way too bright.
"...Ugh."
He squinted.
Then blinked.
Then sat up with a groan.
Wasn't I… dead?
The warmth of the sun, the smell of grass—
Wait, this feels way too real to be a dream.
"Where the hell am I?!" he yelled.
No one answered.
He looked at his hands. Still the same.
The breeze hit his face. He looked around. There was a village down the hill.
He muttered, "Alright, let me guess. Computer > died > woke up in a field > sees a village > gets involved in fantasy crap."
Yeah, pretty much the same start as every reincarnation story ever.
As expected, there was a village nearby.
Berum walked down the hill and made his way toward it.
When he got closer, he saw them—
Elves, dwarves, humans. The usual fantasy races.
But something was weird.
Why do they have… rocks sticking out of them?
Some had stones on their arms, others on their backs or chests.
Wait… are they homunculi or something? Like that anime I watched last week?
While muttering to himself, an old beggar nearby raised his head.
"You there, strange boy."
"Huh?"
"Yes, you. In those weird clothes. Did you grow up in the mountains or something?"
Berum blinked. "Uh... yeah, let's go with that."
"I overheard your muttering. I've got an Ear Singularity."
"Ear... what now?"
The old man looked at him like he was an idiot. "You really are from the mountains, huh? Those stones you see—everyone has one. It's called a Mana Singularity. Absorbs mana, turns it into magic."
Berum nodded slowly. "…Cool, cool. So… why don't you have one?"
"Kid, if my singularity were visible, I wouldn't be a beggar, would I?"
Berum scratched the back of his neck. "Ah. Makes sense."
"The more your singularity is exposed, the stronger you are. Yours will show up when you become a man."
"I'm twenty-eight."
The old man narrowed his eyes. "Then you're a very late bloomer."
Berum sighed. "So this 'singularity' thing is like a random gacha drop, huh? Some people get rare stones on their chest, others get nothing?"
"…I don't understand your mountain slang. I'm leaving."
And just like that, the old man walked off.
Berum stood there, brain halfway fried.
So there's an Ear Singularity. That means there's gotta be other types, right? Fire, Earth, whatever.
What a weird system…
He wandered around for a while, keeping an eye on people's stones.
And yeah—the old guy was right.
The more stone someone had exposed, the more respected they seemed.
Especially the gate guards—big glowing stones right in the middle of their chests.
This place is weirder than I thought.
But for some reason, that made him a little excited.
After staring into nothing for who-knows-how-long, Berum finally snapped out of it.
Just in time for his stomach to betray him.
Grrruuuughhh...
He clutched his belly like he'd been stabbed.
"Okay, okay, point taken. Nutrients needed."
Dragging his feet like a zombie, he started wandering around aimlessly in search of food. Head down, footsteps slow, vision blurry.
Step... step... step—
Thud.
He bumped into something solid. No, someone.
"Can't you watch where you're going, young m—...ster?"
Berum, still on the verge of collapsing from hunger, replied with a barely audible, "Yes..."
And then he collapsed. Again.
One day later.
"...Where am I?"
"Young master, you're in your bedroom. You've been gone for three days! We even thought you'd been eaten by orcs!"
"Three days?! Hold on—I'm not your young master!" Berum shouted, confused out of his mind.
The voice belonged to an old man in a butler's uniform, standing beside the bed. He looked deeply concerned.
"Did you hit your head while you were out, young master? Where did you even go? You almost missed the admission for the Aidyn School of Singularity!"
Berum blinked rapidly.
"I... I don't even know what that is! I seriously don't know what's going on right now! And I appreciate you mistaking me for someone rich and well-fed, but I'm sorry to tell you... I'm not him!"
The butler just shook his head, sighing.
"You are him. If you don't believe me—look in the mirror."
Berum blinked again. "Mirror?"
The butler handed him a polished handheld mirror.
He looked.
EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!
"Why do I look so young?! And... handsome?!"
The butler chuckled softly. "Oh my... Yes, you're quite handsome, young master. Though it's strange to hear you say it out loud."
He added with a light bow, "You're seventeen years old, young master. Indeed, still very young."
Berum sat there, stunned.
"Seventeen...? But... I was twenty-eight just yesterday. Did I... reincarnate?"
He mumbled it more to himself than to the butler.
The butler didn't hear—or didn't care.
"Young master," he said with a serious tone, "in one year, your Mana Singularity will awaken. This is our last chance to restore the honor of our house. We feared it was all over when you ran away from home for three days..."
Berum stared at the man, mind spiraling.
Singularities. Rich kid. Magic school. Missing for three days. And I look like an anime protagonist now...
"Yeah. This is going to be so weird."