Chương 1: New life, new beginning

I woke up to a splitting headache. I had died. A careless cat. Me playing hero. Boom. And a truck turned me into a pancake. For fuck's sake, at least I could have died instantly. But no, the driver had pressed his brakes, sending me flying through the air with just enough force for every bone inside my body to turn to mush yet not killing me instantly. The last few seconds were pure agony. Then, I blinked and awoke inside a bumping carriage. My first reaction was that the carriage was luxurious.

My second was; where the heck am I? I sat on cushioned seats made out of dark brown leather. The walls were wooden and covered in green silk. But it smelled and felt old. The leather was coarse and if one looked closely, filled with small cuts. I looked outside the window by my side. Grass hills upon grass hill folded over another as far as my eyes could see. Above it, a piercing blue sky with not one cloud in sight. Across it, small birds gave chase to another. It was breathtaking. Is this heaven?

Then the memories hit. I was Ivory Harvings again. I was the youngest son of Count Leonard Harvings and had been expelled for being a shitty asshole. But that was something that could be ignored. What couldn't be ignored was the Class I chose–Drunkard. An even shittier Class for an already shitty person. I was not sure why I chose this class, but I did. For the sake of saving the family's face, I was expelled. And right now I was on my way towards my new territory.

Blackstone Town–a town located within the Barren Lands. Lands stripped of fertile soil, dungeons, and resources. And in turn, merchants and money. Oh god–the kind of stuff you read in a novel. I sat there for a moment, and pinched myself. It hurt. I was here for real, in a new body, that I knew looked like the me from my previous life and a completely different standing. Most importantly, I was on Hyperion, a world full of Magic and Classes. A world of full fucking magic!

I knew I should have been sad at my death, but I wasn't. I had nothing going for me back on Earth. A new opportunity with new possibilities was exactly what I had wished for, and I got magic. My excitement was short-lived as I remembered the Class I got access to. I couldn't help but curse the old Ivor. I thought about training to increase my strength but decided against it. Sebastian, my personal butler, was a Peak Bronze Rank Flame Mage Journeyman. Strong enough to protect me once the knights left.

Besides, where could I train? We were traveling. More importantly. How would I train? By drinking? Shitty Class and all that. Apparently, my worry was evident on my face, causing my butler to speak up.

"Are you alright Ivor?" I looked away from the window and gazed upon the middle-aged man in front of me. His hair was long and slicked back, with strands of gray poking out. His face was clean-shaven and, quite frankly, handsome. He wore a black suit with a red tie that fit his scrawny body perfectly. Tailor-made.

"I am just worried about my Class," I said honestly. The memories inside my mind were clear. Do not trust Father. Do not trust siblings. Do not trust the words of a woman working at a brothel. Most importantly: fucking trust Sebastian. He sighed. Then looked deeply at me before sighing again.

"What is done is done. Your only option is to reset your Class after reaching Stone Rank. That would send you all the way back to the beginning of Wood Rank with an added debuff. But you know that. You also know your current Class is useless. Even leveling won't change that." I nodded. I knew that. I would lose a lot of time. And as a noble, I didn't have that time. I had to compete with my brothers, my peers, and all that. My strength was my reputation, and my reputation was my family's.

I know that I was not this Ivory Harving, but that was my new reality now that I have taken over his body. I now was him, and had already accepted that. A little too easy for my personal taste, but I guess it made sense. From a shitty job with no friends to being a noble in a world full of magic. I could live with that change.

"You will be behind. You will lose time, and the competition will be fierce. But your life is not over. Do not forget that." I grimaced. His words stung. I was behind again, at least I could change that.

"So what do I do now?" I asked.

"You will need to level up. But this will have to wait until we reach Blackstone Town. And you will have to rule. But maybe this way you will receive a ruling Class. Tell me your Class Skill." I sighed. I didn't even properly settle into this body and my new life, and I was already destined to rule over people. Me, a minimum wage worker in my last life and a drinking man-whore in my new one, was supposed to decide over the lives of hundreds if not thousands.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. At least this is a better life than slaving away as a retail worker. Should have gone to college, truly. With that, I willed my status screen to appear. Name: Ivor Harvings Class: Drunkard [Common] --> Life Simulator [Unique] Level: 1 Rank: Wood Stats: Strength: 3 Dexterity: 4 Constitution: 1 Mana: 4 Free points: 5 Skills: Life Simulation [Unique] General Skill [0/3]: Oh. Oh. My class had changed. This was impossible.

In this world, everyone gained access to the System at 18 years old. Based on their personality, traits, talent, and previous actions, they would be given the option to choose from different Classes. I was a drunkard, so I got a Drunkard Class. I also had the option to be a Swordsman, Minor Moble, and Mathematician. I chose Drunkard in the end. Again, I don't know why. My memory was hazy in that regard. But the important part was that that could not be changed until Stone Rank. So why did I have a different Class?

Who gave a shit. I certainly didn't. Chalk it up to transmigration and my soul being a different soul or whatever. All that mattered was that I had a different Class. A Class that didn't seem useless. Being useless was the worst, but now I wasn't. At least I hoped. But I didn't think a Unique Class would be useless. My vision focused on the Class section of my status, and a new blue block of otherworldly words appeared in front of me.

Life Simulator [Unique] -Life Simulator, a Class of Unique Grade, making it the only one in this world. Simulate life on different planets, as different persons with different skills, and gain Experience and Skills from lives lived. -You gain 5 stat points per level. I took in a sharp breath. A Class only I held. 5 Stat points per level. This was not useless. This was good. 5 Stat points per level meant that it was at the level of an Uncommon Class stat-wise. At least in Wood Rank.

This was better than any other class I had been offered. Well, except minor noble, which too had been Uncommon but only offered 4 Stat Points. Either way, I was not a Drunkard anymore—I was a Life Simulator. Unfortunately, my General Skill Limit stayed the same. It wasn't a surprise, however, since the limit was connected to my Rank and not the rarity of my Class. A grin crept up on my face. My hands formed into fists with excitement.

I was in a world full of magic, and I actually had a Class that seemed to be able to use it. I took a deep breath. Calm down. I looked over my Class description again and tried to gather as much information as possible. The pros and cons. First, I was the only one in this world who held this Class. This meant no teacher, no school, no nothing. Nobody could show me my path forward. But this also meant nobody had experienced my Class yet. People wouldn't know how to counter me. How to fight me.

How to kill— I took another deep breath. I was barely a minute here, and I was already thinking about whether people would have an idea on how to kill me or not. My cortisol was spiking. Unfortunately, that was my new reality. As I settled more and more into this body, the memories fused with me. I became Ivor, and Ivor became me. The expectations that were placed upon him were now placed upon me. And with that came the pressure. Anyhow, I moved on to what my Class actually did.

I can simulate life on different planets as different people and gain their Skills. This was it. But this was more than enough. Skills were abilities that could be learned or taught. But they also could be given. By Classes and Skill books to be more precise. And it seemed that this Class wouldn't have a problem when it came to those. Most importantly, they made one's true strength and why higher rarity Classes were so sought after: more Skills and stronger ones.

As I fantasized about all the different skills I could get and how I would manage all of them, I heard it. A scraping sound so vile my ears hurt. So ferocious and dangerous my heart leapt in my chest. Shivers ran down through my spine in pure terror. My head snapped to my left. There it was, the creature of nightmares. It stood on four paws. Its body was pitch black like the night, with shiny fur covering it from head to toe. Claws so sharp they glinted.

Its head bore lethal fangs made for killing, and its whiskers danced through the air as the leather seats were torn apart. It was–"A cat."

"A cat indeed," Sebastian said as he straightened his tie, a Windsor knot. Then he moved on to his cuff. They were already straight, but the man went through the motions anyway. I looked back at the cat, who still kept aggressively attacking the leather cushioned seats next to me, and a name sprang into my mind: Inky. My body moved on its own as I grabbed the cat by its nape and gently placed her upon my lap. I stroked his head. Inky hissed but otherwise did not resist. My actions were automatic.

I barely registered them.

"I am glad you have finally come out of your coma," Sebastian said as he held a cup of tea in front of him. The carriage hit a bump. Some of the liquid flew upwards, but the butler caught it all back into his cup. Then he took a sip. He savored it with closed eyes. A moment later, he glanced back at me.

"Is the Skill so bad that you went from shocked to grinning to being lost in thought only for the cat to wake you up? Tell me what it is. We can work with it." Right! The Skill.

"Life Simulation," I said.

"Hmm? I haven't heard of that Skill before. Did you–" Before Sebastian could finish what he was saying, everything turned black. The carriage. The walls. The leather seats. All of them lost their shape and turned into an eternal form of nothing. Even the outside was gone. Only a single line of text floated in front of me, followed by more and more. Life Simulation Begins! You are an 18-year-old farmer, living with his family in the Rulo Region. Survive the bandit attack or perish. The world warped around me.

The previous darkness began to shift and form into new forms and shapes. Ones that I wasn't familiar with. I was somewhere new. And I was standing. My feet sank into the muddy dirt below me. Wind and rain raged against my body, soaking my clothes. In the distance, screams and cries echoed through the otherwise silent night. In that same direction, a raging fire blew a bulbous cloud of smoke into the air that vanished into the dark and starless sky. Right beside me, a house with a thatched roof.

A single candle illuminated a window and the living room inside. Hushed voices echoed through the walls before a middle-aged man ran over to the candle and blew it out. The smoke dissipated slowly. As he turned around to leave, our eyes met. He froze. His mouth opened and closed again before his gaze shifted to the ground. Then he bit his lip, turned around, and disappeared into the darkness. I still didn't understand what was happening. Then two men entered my vision. One large and round. The other short and thin.

Both held swords in their hands. Both grinned like wild animals, teeth missing from their mouths.

"Ohhh, look at this, brother. We have a valiant warrior here who has picked up his sword to play the hero," the thin man called out and licked his blade. Then his voice turned chilling.

"You know what happens to heroes in real life, do you?"

"Don't blame us, boy," the round man snickered.

"We also got to eat. You understand? So, drop your sword, and we will let you live." I looked down at my hand. And, indeed, I was holding a sword. You are Mila, an 18-year-old farmer, living with his family in the Rulo Region. Your village is overrun by a group of bandits. Current objective: Survive the attack Well, fuck.