Prologue: Systems On!

(AN: Play the song on the top for better experience ▼・ᴥ・▼)

(P.S. if it only shows white, just press the middle)

"Shizumu you ni tokete yuku you ni~"

(Just like I'm about to sink, just like I'm about to melt)

"Futaridake no sora ga hirogaru yoru ni~"

(Only the two of us at that night on the vast sky)

A piano solo was playing energetically on the background as I slowly opened my eyes, immediately taking notice of my own surroundings. I feel like....

Like I'm floating. Which I was, in a middle of a room with nothing but endless darkness.

My first reaction was to ask questions, but I can't seem to move my mouth, or any part of my body at that matter. Only the song was reverberating throughout the empty room as if I was inside a music studio.

' I.....I don't remember anything.....why am I here? Who am I? What's the meaning of life? Lmao okay wait back to the situation at hand. '

Looking around once more, I noticed some slight changes. First, it wasn't as dark as before, it's like someone opened a light so far away that I can only see so much. Apart from that, nothing really important appeared.

' Maybe I have to wait? I'd love to, but I want to get out of here. And fast. I may not remember anything, but I know that even my past self don't like being trapped in a place where I'm not familiar with. '

Narrowing my eyes, I desperately squirmed my way out of the predicament I was in. I'm not really floating...I think. I might just being bind by chains mid air...or maybe was I forced to ingest some kind of drug....that's some good shit if I'm this delirious.

"Heh. Even with amnesia, you still wouldn't drop the detective thinking."

Instantly on guard, my eyes looked around, frantically trying to find the source of the voice.

Even though I can't move much, I felt was slowly being let down by another force. That force being the one that spoke to me earlier......I think.

"Who are you and why am I here?"

I asked, highly suspicious of the being before me. Just like in a steam punk era, the being's body was made of different mechanisms and motors inside...as if it's insides were clockwork, instead of wires and electric ports that's being covered with a tattered white cloth. It's face was metal, long nose and chin with two, slightly enlarged slits with golden clocks inside them, as if it was acting as his eyes. Sitting on a throne looking down on me, he wore an old rusty crown that looked like it was there since the beginning of time itself.

The being chuckled, it's metal gears slightly shifting and emitting spurts of smoke from the gaps on it's body.

"I am Deus ex Machina, God of time and space. Do not worry for I am not a foe. I do not intend to hurt you, Miss Detective."

He said, looking at me with an amused gaze which I returned with a glare.

A Deus ex Machina huh?

Why am I being worked up this much, you ask?

A Deus ex Machina is a metaphorical term for a clockwork God. The only God who can be controlled. And if I'm right, there must be someone else controlling this situation from the shadows. An old saying. A metaphorical belief, yes, but I don't let anything past me. Not even the smallest detail. Although I don't know how I remembered that, but I surprisingly did.

"I see. You think that there's someone else controlling me from the sidelines, am I correct? I don't blame you. Being in this situation, I'm surprised you acted quickly and already thought of ways on how you will escape. I commend you. However, you cannot leave. For this is the destination that your soul chose."

"How.....you read my mind....soul?"

I said, being at my wit's end. What the hell is happening?! Why am I......

Huh? Wait.....

That can't be true....what he said...can't be true unless....

"So you already figured out? Anyone might be in denial but I'm guessing that's different for you."

The clockwork God chuckled, while I stood before him, still confused as fuck.

I'm.....I'm dead? That's the only reasonable answer I have. Is this heaven? Or hell? Should I bite myself in order to confirm this?

Wait no! I shouldn't just believe him just because he said so! I am not that gullible!

As if acting on instinct, I combed my hair with my fingers. I shouldn't lose cool in this kind of situations. There must be some other way in his statement. A loophole, or something. And if what he really said was true......

"Sure. I'll believe you. For now. Although I do have a question. If I really am dead, then what do you want from me? Aren't I supposed to go to heaven or something?"

"I see you have realized your existence in my domain, although it's pretty bold for you to assume that heaven would accept you."

The being chuckled which made me glare at it again. Prick.

It then waved it's hand, flashing a particular scene in what it seems to be a time before my death.

"Behold. Your death in the human world."

He said, a woman whom I'm assuming is me appearing on the floating screen.

Woah. Would you look at that. I'm the literal embodiment of "plain jane" in my past life. Or something. I still don't believe I'm dead okay?

Brownish black hair that reached a little below my shoulders, brown generic eyes that looked at the road as "I" drived, really REALLY pale skin. No, not white as paper. I was white as SNOW. Dang am I a vampire in hiding or what?

"Hmph. A plain jane yet has an attitude so foul that Hitler ran to his mommy and cried."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."

I said narrowing my eyes at the scene before me. Although I think I agree. If this woman is really me, that is.

The way "I" held my head up whenever a person greets me from my guess was my working place, the way "I" strode inside the building and straight up glaring at a client before smiling so forcefully. The way I solved the case almost too immediately.... I'd say he was right. I was almost as toxic as those CEOs from those tv shows.

"Hmph..."

"Something on your mind?"

"You know you can just read my thoughts right?"

"I find your.....wordings rather interesting. Let's see how you sugarcoat your words against yourself."

"I don't need to sugarcoat my words. After all, if what you're saying is true then I must criticize myself in order to know my own mistakes."

I said, watching as "I" walked past everyone with my head up high. Those people clearly hated "me" as they looked disgusted after I turn "my" back at them. Huh.

"Even a wee baby could guess that my death was clearly caused by one of my enemies."

The clockwork God said nothing as we watched how the car I was currently driving be sandwiched by not one, two three four or five, but eight 10 wheeler trucks which erupted in flames.

"And they made sure that firefighters was around the block so that the fire was immediately extinguished. They made sure that only you will die."

"I heared of isekai but this is just overkill. Is this the isekai these days now that I have died?"

"You can say."

Another wave from it's hand and the floating screen was nowhere to be seen. It's confusing really. Should I accept the fact that I am indeed dead?

"You should. I would hate it if I still have to force you to believe me."

"But that doesn't answer my question. Why am I here?"

His gears yet again spouted smoke as he looked stern.

"Then let me cut to the chase. You still haven't remembered anything even though I showed you these situations, am I correct?"

I nodded silently

"Good. Other Gods have decided that you shall repay the cruelty that you showed when you still lived, by means of being reborn with memory of what you shall do."

"Heh.......that thing...you call second chance....this is what you're giving to me right? I'd rather burn myself in hell that being indebted to you and your oh so glory."

I spat, sneering at the unamused God. I don't even know why I said that.....was that because of my so called memories? My lingering regrets, perhaps?

"Let me finish. In that world, you delivered blind justice even though you knew there were consequences. Even the gods have to intervene just to give you as situation to choose moral over justice yet you passed verdict like you were the judge of all."

"In this new world, you shall learn how to survive. Like those who suffered loss in your hands. A world where the law is kill or be killed. A world that approves on both just and injust."

"Survive? What's the connection of that to justice?"

The clockwork God glared at me which I returned with the same ferocity, if not more. I refuse to be controlled without my will. I refuse to let this humanoid thing win!

"Hm. You will be in a situation where you'll need to uphold justice, yet you will sacrifice those who are most important to you. What shall you pick, Miss Detective?"

"None."

Deus looked like he was shocked for the first time, that shock being replaced with amusement yet again.

"You want me to survive right? And you want me to choose from those two. Then my answer is clear. I choose nothing. I'll survive alright. I'll survive on my own. Even if it means sacrificing justice. That's what you want right? Then I shall give you just that."

"Ahaha...ahaha! AHAHAHAHHA!! I see! I see! Well then, survive until the very end, and it shall be your win! However, if you loose, you shall compensate for your sins in many different dimensions. FOREVER"

As soon as it said that, everything faded into pitch black.

. . .

[Systems on stand by.....awaiting game master's command.....]

[Loading resources.......unpacking scenarios...............preparation complete.]

[Command authorization received. Welcome, Miss Detective.]

"Uuugh.....what..happened?"

I held my head in pain, sitting up from the hard and itchy bed that I probably slept in last night. It seems like I have appeared at my destination. Or something.

I looked around, immediately noticing my surroundings. I'm currently in the middle of a forest, in front of a river.

"Lucky.......I thought he'll spawn me in the middle of a battlefield immediately."

I said, approaching the river and quickly taking a sip of water from it. Although a forest would be an ideal place for the perfect game of survival, I still need to fetch myself some food. Kill a deer, perhaps?

There's so many things that I still need to do and I've got all the time in the world, so I think I better get started.

[The game master has given you the title; "Miss Detective"! +30 INT+10 LUC +1VIT -10 STR! (Game master thinks detectives are weaklings ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)]

I immediately stumbled backwards as a window suddenly popped up from nowhere, the said thing blocking my vision.

"Wait.....game master? You mean Deus?"

[Hai.]

"I see..."

My left hand interlocked with my hair once more, my right hand playing with the window. Huh. It's like a window from a game.....

[Would you like a tutorial?Yes/No?]

As I pressed yes, the window dissolved into pixels, making another tab appear before my eyes, containing what seems to be my stats......ah so I was respawned in a game? That's......creative of Deus.

[Main Menu

Quest box: none

Mail: 1

Map: currently unavailable

Character Info]

[Please tap onto "character info" for the extension of the tutorial]

I followed it's command which brought me to a double window tab,

[What would be your name?_______________(you can only put 4-8 characters)]

"Hmm......I don't even remember my name from before......what could be a good name?"

A keyboard slid from below the tab, waiting for me to use it. Hmm....since Deus is the god of time......then I should be timeless!!

[What would be your name?Akali (4-8 characters ✔︎)]

Character Info

Name: Akali (no last name available)

Title: Miss Detective

Age: 8

Gender: Female

Level: 4 (400/1000)

HP: 100/100 happy-cautious (regen 0.30 per sec)

CP: 300/300 (regen 0.30 per sec)

STR: (Strength) -5

VIT: (Vitality) 4

DEX: (Dexterity) 5

INT: (Intelligence) 30

LUC: (Luck) 10

STY: (Sanity) 100% (lowers every kill)

Unspent points: 10Runes: 5

[You are extremely weak. Even a baby can kill you. Kindly grind points.]

"No shit." I said, rolling my eyes. All my stats are absolute shit except for my INT. I guess having that plus was good.

[If you wish to access your skills, just say Skill List. That also applies to the main menu and the other settings.]

"Skill list."

The current window vanished again, revealing another which had more information.

Skill List

Gamer's Mind(passive) lvl 'max'The power of being immune to sleep and other mind inducing casualties such as mind control, persuasion etc. It helps the gamer to be able to think things through calmly. If gamer ever has any violent reactions, this skill can calm the gamer's mind.(Unless host is really gullible)

Gamer's Body(passive) lvl 'max'With this skill, host can experience everything in real world point of view, such as taste, touch and all of the other senses.

[Kekkei Genkai???] Will be unlocked by gamer's exploration

[???]Will be unlocked by gamer's exploration

[Empty slot]

[Empty slot]

[Empty slot]

[There is also the inventory and the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly task, which allows you to earn points. Once tasks are completed, you can be rewarded by runes, which allows you to by skills in the skill shop, a function which can be accessed after gamer passed a certain level. For now, we have a gift for Miss Detective! Get it in the mail now!]

"Mail." The tab disappeared and there was an app which served as as email for this system. I immediately tapped the unopened message.

[To Miss Detective, Happy birthday🎂🥳!! This is the first time you've ever celebrated and being a new player, the game master has given you these rewards!!]

[Acquired Items; +100 points scrollLevel up!+1 to all stats!]

[Enjoy your rewards!!!(it'll probably be the last.)]

[Now that you have finished the tutorial, please say 'continue'. You can say 'pause' or 'main menu' if you wish to pause the game.]

[Save game?Yes/No?]

I pressed yes.

[Progress saved.Save 1: After TutorialSave 2: (empty slot)Save 3: (empty slot)]

[Enjoy your new world, the Naruto world.]

The whole tab vanished after that. Is it just me or did the system say Naruto world?

I scratched my nape and plopped down the ground. It wasn't too much information, in fact, this was a norm for an rpg like game. The only problem is generally surviving. It'll take me long to find food, and I might even get lost or be attacked by a wild animal! No wait scratch that, this is the perfect environment! I can grind points and get drops from animals, maybe I could also get skills or develop them! I guess I should evaluate the situation further, match the variables to my stats and see if I can hold. I don't want to die so early even though I saved after all.

"Character status"

I said, making the tab reappear once more.

Character Info

Name: Akali (no last name available)

Title: Miss Detective

Age: 8

Gender: Female

Level: 5 (0/1500)

HP: 200/200 happy-cautious (regen 0.30 per sec)

CP: 300/300 (regen 0.30 per sec)

STR: (Strength) -5(+1) -4

VIT: (Vitality) 4(+1) 5

DEX: (Dexterity) 5(+1) 6

INT: (Intelligence) 30(+1) 31

LUC: (Luck) 10(+1) 11

STY: (Sanity) 100% (lowers every kill)

Unspent points: 10Runes: 5

"This is no good....if every birthday means a free level up then I'm severely under leveled.....oh wait there are unspent points!"

I sighed in relief, reaching out my finger to assign the points before abruptly stopping.

"If I'm right, this will be the first and last time that the game will be generous....should I save them for later? The system did say I received a +100 so.....I'll assign these 10 and I'll keep the plus 100 for later. Yeah that sound good."

"The question is....where to add points? If I add all ten to my strength then it would be a complete waste...after all, what's the use of that if I can't even dodge? I can just rely on attack speed but I won't take my chances.....that being said, I'll assign it to either DEX, VIT or LUC......."

I tapped my cheeks repeatedly, looking at the tab with a calculative gaze. If I spend all 10 points on luck, then I wouldn't have to encounter monsters or wild animals, but that's still a maybe. If I spend it on vit, then it'll take me a long time to kill a monster....no wait, I don't even have 1 point on strength! How am I gonna injure it in the first place?! And what about dex.....ah I know, I'll just split it!

I reluctantly added points whilst I bite my bottom lip. I added 6 points to STR and the rest 4 to DEX. I'll have to be flexible if I want to attack without getting damage. Since this is like a real world simulation and a game at the same time.

Now that I mentioned it, shall I be a specialist? Should I focus on one stat before the others? That's kinda logical since I'd rather focus on one rather that steadily leveling them all up. If I want to survive, I have to cheat this system. I have to be a Mary Sue if I'll have to be. If I can, that is.

Another pressing matter is.....Naruto? Yeah. That anime that was so popular on my world before. I remember watching the whole series and studying it's components just because it was needed for a case which a wannabe Otaku decided to become a serial killer....and his words were said to copy those of Madara Uchiha's own......

[Memory fragment acquired!! (1/34)]

A disappointed sigh escaped my lips.

Don't get me wrong, the show wasn't bad. It's just that this place is the worst possible place to be reborn in! Of all places, why do I have to be reincarnated in a place where I have to be forced to kill-

Then it came to me.

"In this new world, you shall learn how to survive. Like those who suffered loss in your hands. A world where the law is kill or be killed. A world that approves on both just and injust."

I clenched my fists in disdain before angrily swiping away the tabs.

"If that's the case, then I'll play your stupid game....and I intend to win."

"Now to eat. I sure am hungry."

Character Info

Name: Akali (no last name available)

Title: Miss Detective

Age: 8

Gender: Female

Level: 5 (0/1500)

HP: 200/200 neutral-indifferent (regen 0.30 per sec)

CP: 300/300 (regen 0.30 per sec)

STR: (Strength) -4(+6) 2

VIT: (Vitality) 6

DEX: (Dexterity) 6(+4) 10

INT: (Intelligence) 31

LUC: (Luck) 11

STY: (Sanity) 100% (lowers every kill)

Unspent points: 0Runes: 5

. . .