Sleep. It's one of the best things in the world, closely followed by gaming and anime. It offered a sense of freedom that few things could match or grant. You could dream about being a popular and attractive celebrity, or you could be a superhero who was loved by all. That's what made dreams so amazing.

  You got to escape reality and live in a world of your own making in which all you desired was yours. You no longer had to be who you were. You could be what you wanted, who you wanted, and be with who you wanted. That was the best thing about sleep. And in this moment, I was in a dream of my own.

  It was your average dream. The kind that constantly switched. One moment, I was playing one of my games; the next, I was at an odd mall with a water park inside, speaking with a stunningly gorgeous girl.

  “You aren’t happy with your current life, are you?” Her short pink hair was in a bob-like cut, and her pink eyes stared lovingly at me.

  I found the question strange. Was I self therapizing myself in my own dreams?

  Regardless, the answer to that was easy. I wasn’t. There was nothing good about life, which is another reason dreams were so amazing. They weren't reality. But the reality of dreams was that, eventually, you'd wake up, and I could feel the creeping of my alarm as it stalked up on me like a predator in the early morning getting ready to pounce on its sluggish and half-awake prey.

  “I’m not,” I replied.

  “Why is that?”

  “Because reality is shit.”

  I figured it out long ago. This shit world I was born in, this shitty life I lived, it was never meant for me. You see, I had discovered in myself desires which nothing on this Earth could satisfy. Therefore, there was only one logical explanation: I was made for another world.

  “I see.” The woman smiled.

  Slowly, my eyes grew heavy, and I could feel myself slipping into the sticky strings of reality as my alarm clock's buzz began to crawl its way into my ears.

  “Be mine,” she reached a hand forward and placed it on my cheek. “And I shall grant your desires.”

  “I doubt you can do that.” I closed my eyes at the warmth of her hand and placed mine over hers. “But even so,” I stared deeply into her eyes. “I would gladly be yours.”

  Too bad this is only a dream.

  She truly was beautiful. I wished I could take her to the real world.

  She smiled endearingly before standing up and turning her back to me.

  "You have a long way to go.” She started. “But I know you’ll make it.” She glanced back at me. “Now, wake up.”

  This was the worst part about dreams. Right when you were getting to the good part, you'd wake up.

  ???

  I awoke lying on my back, gazing at the sky as the sun shone down on me through the canopies. The clouds drifted peacefully without a care in the world, and I felt the grass rustle around me as the wind blew it like the ocean waves. The sound of the crickets buzzed all around me, and the birds chirped their morning songs.

  I sat up, looking around and taking everything in.

  “A forest?” I murmured to myself.

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  How had I ended up there? I never stepped outside. Touching grass was a no-go for me. Yet…

  My hands rubbed the grass I was sitting on, and the cool dew wet my hands. It was soft, cold, and invigorating. “No way.” My eyes widened as I stood up and did a full circle. "This is another world.”

  I felt lighter, like I had lost a few pounds, and I no longer hurt. It was as if all those years hunched over gaming were no longer in play with my bones, but I paid no mind to that as I gazed at the beautiful sky.

  The sun beamed its rays of warmth over me and the forest floor, almost like it was welcoming me. It felt…good.

  "I never knew the sun could feel this good,” I murmured with closed eyes as I let the beams of trickling light wash over my skin. When I opened them again, I noticed the HUD in my vision.

  Like every classic RPG, it consisted of a health bar and a magic bar in the top left corner with the time and location in the top right, along with a mini-map.

  “Hmm.” I hummed to myself as I began walking. “If I have a HUD, I should have a status menu, right?” The problem was how to view it.

  No sooner than that thought crossed my mind, a menu box opened in front of me with a ping. It seemed all I had to do was want to see or think about it, and it would open.

  I immediately began to look over my stats, my eyes widening and jaw dropping the moment I did.

  Sion Barzahd Age: 17

  Class: None Race: Human? Job: None

  Level: 1

  Strength: 1 Agility: 1 Vitality: 1  Magic : 1  Defense: 1  Luck: 500

  Experience: 0 NEXT: 50 Charm: ??? Harem: 0

  Skills: ? Calm Mind (Passive) ? Charm LV.MAX (Passive) ? Adaption LV.MAX (Passive)

  “Level one?!” My voice cracked as I raised it. My face flushed momentarily, and I looked around to see if anyone had heard. Thankfully, it was only me in the forest.

  I was surprised to have seen my age at seventeen again, despite having been twenty-eight on Earth. But I didn’t care for that as much as everything else. Being brought into another world in most anime reverted the MC to a younger age. But I had seldom seen any of them given low stats.

  “Seriously. What’s with these?” I grumbled as I continued to look over them as I walked. “Why is there a question mark after Human, and why is my luck so high? More importantly, what’s with this Charm and Harem stat?!” I cleared my throat as I closed the status window with a sigh. “This world is mocking me, isn’t it?”

  It seemed it wouldn’t be any different from Earth. I was a weak, pathetic nobody who was being mocked about being a single virgin all my life. Only now, I would constantly be reminded of that by my stats.

  It took a while to get out of the forest, but I eventually found my way out with the aid of my mini-map. When I stepped out of the thicket, I turned my head to see mountains piercing the skies to the east and more forests littering the land to the west. I was right at the exit of the Narvile Woods, according to my map, and was now in the Grassy Plain.

  Expanding my map enlightened me on the layout of the land. It looked like the Grassy Plains was the center of it all, and you could reach the woods, mountains, villages, and towns by traveling through it.

  Using my finger to scroll through the map showed me that there was a city known as the Raetia Empire to the north of me. And so, just like every starter quest, I made my way to the town of beginning.