My eyes fluttered open to the sound of birdsong—
No, not birds. Something sharper, more melodic.
The kind of sound you'd expect to hear in a dream painted with colors you can't quite name.
I blinked against a too-blue sky. Clouds drifted lazily above, puffy and perfect.
A breeze carried the smell of wildflowers and something faintly... sugary?
Where was I?
I sat up, groaning.
The grass beneath me was absurdly soft, almost like velvet. The kind of grass you'd only see in a premium wallpaper background. My fingers ran through it, just to be sure it was real.
It was.
Realer than real.
No pain. No soreness.
No mold-stained ceiling or peeling posters of webnovel heroes.
Just wide, open sky and rolling hills.
And me.
Wearing... was this silk?
I looked down.
Flowing white robes embroidered with silver patterns. Loose sleeves. An amulet at my chest that shimmered faintly with magic—or something pretending to be it.
A laugh slipped out of me.
Was this it?
Did I finally get transmigrated?
I stood slowly, stretching limbs that didn't ache, didn't creak, didn't carry the weight of years spent in half-sleep and minimum wage.
My body was lighter. My senses sharper. Even the colors seemed to sing.
[System initializing...]
I froze.
A soft chime rang inside my mind. Not intrusive. Not loud.
Just... present. Like a smile behind my thoughts.
[Welcome, Seren Aldwright.]
[System Sync: Complete.]
[Current Balance: Unlimited.]
My heart skipped.
"Unlimited...?"
[You may purchase anything. If it can be imagined, it can be obtained.]
I spun in place, grinning like an idiot.
No way.
No freaking way.
The fantasy forum threads. The fanfic dreams. The "what if I had a system with infinite money" debates at 3 a.m.
It was real.
I was in it.
"Alright," I said aloud. "If this is a prank by the gods, don't stop it yet."
A panel flickered into view, semi-transparent and glowing faintly.
[System Shop Opened]
Suggesting starter bundle: Self-cleaning underwear, language comprehension, beginner mana awareness, and fruit basket (gifted).
I barked out a laugh.
"Fruit basket?"
[Everyone needs fruit.]
The system had humor. Or personality. Or both.
I tapped 'accept' without hesitation.
A small basket of gleaming fruit—none of which I recognized—appeared at my feet with a soft plop. One floated upward and nudged my hand like a puppy demanding to be petted.
I took a bite.
Juicy. Explosively so. Like a mango, peach, and something magical had a baby.
"This wasn't a game. It couldn't be. No game ever smelled this real, or made your lungs feel this full."
A part of me waited for it to break.
For a bill to arrive.
For Auntie to yell from behind a glowing tree.
But none came.
Just light, and sky, and magic.
"Okay," I muttered between chews, "best first day of my life."
No rent. No bills. No bookstore shift. No moldy walls. Just this.
Me.
A fantasy world.
And a system that didn't even make me grind.
I threw my arms up.
"Let's gooo!"
Birds scattered from a nearby tree.
A deer-like creature with feathers instead of fur glanced at me from the treeline, unimpressed.
I stepped forward slowly, watching it vanish into a thicket of violet leaves.
But beside it was something even more surreal—a massive tortoise-shaped creature with a full garden growing on its back. Shrubs, flowers, even a tiny trickling stream rolled gently down its mossy shell as it lumbered past in complete peace.
My jaw dropped.
"Is that a… moving garden?"
[Species: Verdantcarapace. Passive temperament. Common in low-magic zones.]
"Common?" I gawked. "That's your definition of common?"
The tortoise blinked slowly and let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a hum.
Several butterflies took flight from the bushes on its back.
I didn't care how common it was.
It was magical.
This was my world now.
And for the first time ever... I wasn't nobody.
And yet—
Just for a second, something behind my eyes twinged.
Like a muscle I'd forgotten existed.
A flicker of unease I couldn't name.
I brushed it off.
Magic was real. Let the dreaming last.
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[End of Chapter 3]
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