I slowly open my eyes, taking in the unfamiliar room around me. "Where am I?" I mumble, feeling confused by my strange surroundings.
Slowly, I push myself from the bed, trying to recall what happened. Suddenly, a sharp pain shoots through my head, causing me to groan in pain.
"Ugh..." I touch my head, as a flood of unfamiliar memories rushes in. After a few moments, the surge of memories subsides, and I begin to process what I've just experienced.
The memories seem to belong to a second-year high school student from Kuoh, named Ren Kuroishi. Aside from being somewhat handsome and leading an ordinary life, there's nothing particularly noteworthy about him.
Wait, Kuoh High School? Isn't that from High School DxD? Does that mean I've been reincarnated?
I should probably be freaking out right now, but to my surprise, I'm oddly calm.
Then again, it might be because I never really had much attachment to my previous life in the first place.
In my past life, I was just an ordinary person, living day by day and doing my job as a programmer. While it wasn't a satisfying life, I don't have any regrets either.
Now that I think about it, how did I die? I don't remember it at all.
Ah well, it's not like I can do anything about it. What's important is what I am going to do now.
Considering that the world of High School DxD is rather dangerous, I should probably gain some power to defend myself.
Also, I don't like how the supernatural can easily mind-control ordinary people. I don't like being controlled.
The question is: how can I gain power? Based on Ren's memory, he was just an ordinary human.
Although there are strong humans in the series, the majority of them are Sacred Gear users, and despite that, they are still the weakest party.
I wonder if I have one myself? That would be great.
Let's see if I remember correctly. In the series, you can manifest a Sacred Gear by imagining the strongest being you know.
Well, let's just imagine Saitama from One Punch Man. To me, he is the strongest I know.
As I imagine Saitama killing a monster with one punch, a minute passes by, and nothing happens.
"As expected, it's not that easy, huh?" I say as I exhale a sigh.
There's no way ordinary people like me have Sacred Gears. Just as I think that, I suddenly sense something in my body.
"Ughhh..." I collapse back onto the bed, groaning in pain. My hands clutch the sheets as I grit my teeth, trying to hold back the pain surging through my entire body. It feels as if I'm being burned alive, every inch of me consumed by an unbearable fire. Tears well up in my eyes, but all I can do is endure.
Five minutes stretch into what feels like an eternity before the pain finally subsides.
"Haah... haah... haah... wh... what's happening?" I gasp, my body covered with sweat as I lie in the bed, utterly bewildered by what is happening.
[System has been activated]
The moment those words appeared in my head, a feeling of happiness washed over me, temporarily making me forget everything that happened before.
"System!? Seriously!?"
I felt excited—finally, I had a system like those reincarnation novels I'd read before.
"Okay, calm down," I said, trying to steady myself by taking a deep breath.
"Okay, system, how can I use you?"
Once I'd calmed down, I asked the system how to access its features.
"..."
After waiting for a moment, there was only silence.
"Sigh... I guess this is a passive system. I'll have to figure it out myself," I muttered, feeling a bit disappointed.
"Let's check the basic [Status]."
[Hell System]
Name: Ren Kuroishi
Race: Demon (Dark)
Level: 1
HP: 25/25
MP: 50/50
Strength: 5
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 10
Endurance: 5
Stats Points: 0
Skills Points: 0
Abilities:
| Dark Power I | Dark Vision | Demon Form | Demonic Aura I | Temptation I | Soul Language |
Resistance:
| Physical Resistance I | Magic Resistance I | Fire Resistance III | Poison Resistance III | Dark Immunity | Light Weakness V | Holy Vulnerability |
Seeing the system appear, I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Let's see what we have here."
The moment I read my stats, my eyes immediately focus on my race.
"Wait, what? Demon?"
I feel confused and uncertain, as I'm pretty sure my race is human. Then I remember the pain that felt like being burned alive from before. Just remembering it makes me shudder with fear.
"Wait, don't tell me, this system is actually turning me into a demon?" The more I think about it, the more certain I become that the system is the cause.
"Haaaaah..."
I let out a deep sigh, exhaustion suddenly washing over me as I think back on everything that happened today. Not only did I get reincarnated, but I also ended up with some weird system that's turning me into a demon.
"Well, whatever. I guess I should be grateful for a second chance at life. Besides, being a demon doesn't automatically make me evil… right?"
Still, there's one issue bothering me.
"How do I even level up? Do I have to kill something to gain experience?"
A frown forms on my face. The thought of killing doesn't unsettle me as much as it probably should.
"Maybe it's a side effect of being a demon," I mutter, unsure if that's comforting or concerning.
As I'm lost in thought, a voice calls out from downstairs.
"Ren! Breakfast is ready, come down!"
"Yeah, coming!" I replied.
I'll worry about all this later. For now, food first—I'm starving.
As I descended the stairs, the smell of a home-cooked meal wafted through the air, making my stomach growl with hunger.
Walking into the kitchen, I saw a beautiful woman placing a plate of grilled fish on the table.
"Good morning," I said.
Hearing my voice, the woman turned around and smiled gently at me.
"Good morning, Ren. Did you sleep well?"
"Mmm," I replied with a small nod.
Thankfully, Ren's personality is similar to mine, so I don't have to put on an act in front of his mother.
"Itadakimasu," I said, clasping my hands before I started eating.
As I ate, I couldn't help but glance at Yana—my new mother. With soft brown hair, green eyes, and a graceful figure, she was truly beautiful.
According to Ren's memories, she isn't his biological mother. Ren's father married her six months ago. His real mother passed away five years ago from an accident.
"Ren, is something wrong?" It seemed I had been staring too long, and Yana had started to notice.
"It's nothing," I said, then smiled. "I was just thinking how beautiful you are."
Hearing Ren's words made Yana's cheeks turn red—she felt a little embarrassed by his compliment.
"Thank you, Ren. It's rare for you to compliment me," Yana said with a sweet smile.
"Yeah, I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. If you weren't my father's wife, I'd try to make you my girlfriend," I said with a teasing smile.
"You flirt! Hurry up and finish your food!" Yana replied, continuing to eat to hide her embarrassment.
I laughed. "Hahaha," amused by how Yana acted like a shy young girl.
After that, they continued eating in a good atmosphere. Every now and then, Yana glanced at Ren, thinking he looked more handsome than before. She shook her head to get rid of the strange thought and resumed eating.
Once they finished the meal, I immediately left to test my new powers after saying goodbye to Yana. Fortunately, I knew a place where I could test my abilities without being seen.
"Alright, first I'll try using Dark Power," I said as I arrived at the spot—an open field surrounded by trees, perfect for testing my new strength.
In front of my palm, a ball of darkness appeared, and I tried to shoot it at one of the trees ahead of me.
As the ball of darkness was about to hit the tree, it suddenly vanished without affecting the tree at all.
Seeing that, I felt confused and tried again. The result was the same—the dark ball disappeared instantly.
I narrowed my eyes, sensing that something was missing. Suddenly, I remembered something and decided to try once more.
Bang.
This time, it worked. The tree that got hit by the dark ball had a hole in it.
"Looks like I need to add an MP to perform an attack."
After that, I experimented with Dark Power and learned how it actually works.
Dark Power can be used without MP, but in that state, it only affects the environment—like darkening the surroundings. When I use MP, I can manipulate physical objects, such as forming a hand out of darkness to grab a distant rock or shoot it like a bullet.
"Alright, let's try Demon Form next," I said.
As I activated the Demon Form, I felt my entire body become stronger.
Upon inspection, my body had transformed into that of a demon — sharp claws, two fangs like a vampire, tall horns pointing upward, wide dragon-like wings, and a long, scaly black tail resembling a dragon's.
"Oooh, this is awesome!" I said in awe of my transformation. Unfortunately, there was no mirror around, though I could feel that even my eyes had changed.
After admiring myself for a moment, I spread my wings to try flying. With a single flap, I soared into the air.
"I'm flying!" I shouted joyfully. It seemed like I could instinctively use my wings with ease.
Unfortunately, I couldn't fly too high in case someone saw me. With that thought, my excitement dimmed a little, and I decided to return to the ground after flying around for a bit.
"Now, let's try Demonic Aura." I said, after landing on the ground.
When I activated the Demonic Aura, a terrifying black aura surged from my body. If anyone saw me right now, they'd probably scream in fear and call me a demon from hell.
"Huh? Is that it?" Sure, the black aura looked cool, but that can't be its only effect, right?
I kept observing my surroundings to see if anything had changed. In the distance, I noticed a cat watching me, its fur standing on end, and I also saw several birds flying away in fear.
Seeing that, I immediately deactivated the Demonic Aura—its effect, it seems, is to instill fear.
"Oh right, I almost forgot. Let's check my status—has anything changed?"
Level: 1
HP: 25/25 +(25/25)
MP: 50/50 +(20/50)
Strength: 5 +(5)
Agility: 5 +(5)
Intelligence: 10 +(10)
Endurance: 5 +(5)
"Mmmh, it looks like Demon Form has doubled my stats from before."
Feeling satisfied with my newfound power, I planned to head home. Since the rest is a passive skill, I can't do anything about it.
Just as I was about to leave, a sudden blow struck my stomach, sending me flying.
BAAANG
"Gaah!"
My body slammed into a tree, making me cough up blood.
Pain shot through every part of my body, forcing me to take a deep breath. But this pain was nothing compared to what I felt when I first transformed into a demon. It was that thought that helped me stand up again, though I was still shaking a bit.
Then, I glared at my attacker with eyes full of hatred.