X-X-X-X

Chapter 1

X-X-X-X

I blinked a few times, trying to get used to the fact I was surrounded by darkness. I crossed my arms, trying to figure out how I got here. The last thing I remember...Oh yeah, I was playing on my PSP while my friend was driving. Shit, that guy...I keep telling him not to get distracted while driving!

"That guy...if I'm dead, I'm going to haunt him until he's good and dead!" I growled really hoping my PSP was safe.

You can't blame a guy for worrying about his possessions more than anything else. Video games are my life, you don't know what it's like to be me and not have some type of gaming device in my hands! I jumped when a hologram screen appeared in front of me. Holy crap, you don't know how much that freaked me out! Something bright popping up out of nowhere when it's dark as hell would scare anyone!

"The hell?" I slowly moved towards it to read what's written. "Hello, Gamer-san! This is your big break, for you have won a once in a zillion chance at playing the ultimate game." I said a grin slowly forming on my face.

The ultimate game...now that sounds interesting as hell! I was giving the option to play or not, but I was warned there was a big risk involved if I do say 'yes'. Let me think...to play or not to play, that is the question...Of course I choose play! I thought pressing yes. I received a list of warnings after pressing yes.

"Let's see...Please read through the rules very carefully before making your decision again? Damn, this is becoming annoying as hell." I muttered flipping down to through rules.

It was very simple and not all that difficult to understand. Once I press 'yes' I would be given an identity in the game, there is no going back either. I can access the menu at any time except in battles. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about my life before this. Most quests are optional, but there required tests as well. There is no save points and if I die then it's game over.

"It's not that bad." I said pressing yes.

The screen disappeared for a second before reappearing. I felt as if I was going to die just from reading my basic profile. There is no way I'm going to accept this...Why the hell...do I have to become a girl?! I glared at the screen, a frown on my face.

Name: Scarlett (No Surname)

Gender: Female

Hair Color: Crimson Red

Eye Color: Grey

Race: Human

Title: None

Level: 0

Experience points needed to reach next level: 50

HP: 20

NP: 10

Unallocated skill points: 20

Strength: 2

Constitution: 3

Defense: 1

Dexterity: 6

Intelligence: 4

Charisma: 0

Luck: 10

Skill List

Specialization – The Gamer (This allows the player to interact with the world as if it was a game)

(Unknown Skill) – Requires Level 100. Must know identity of biological father.

(Unknown Skill) – Requires Level 100. Must know identity of biological mother.

(Please note that skills can be gained while playing. To level up said skills you must repeatedly use said skills or complete certain actions.)

"Why...Fate is too cruel!" I cried seeing such pathetic stats and why must I be a girl?!

X-X-X-X

I stared at the words 'Game Start' on a floating screen in front of my face. I blinked a few times and I now realize how freaking cold I was! Holy crap, why the hell is my mother carrying me around in the middle of the night?! I looked up at the face of a sad woman with grey eyes. She seemed to realize I woke up and she pulled me closer to her.

"I'm so sorry...Scarlett...Please...forgive me one day. I can't...I can't let him take you as well. No matter what, Mama and Papa will always love you."

So this is my biological mother, wow, she's pretty young. She kissed me on the forehead placing me down on the doorstep of an orphanage. I was given a raggedy looking doll in the shape of a lion. I stared at it for a few seconds taking in the many sewn parts, this thing must be old if it's like that.

"Congratulations! You learned Examine! With this skill, you'll be able to learn the details of any items you are observing! Some items have effects that can only be learned by using a high level Examine! Keep up the good work!"

Talk about a weird message. I muttered a close in baby talk and it disappeared. I felt something hit my nose and I realized the woman was crying, her tears hitting me. I used Examine on her and I saw a question mark for her name and level. Damn it...why is it crying women are my weakness? I reached up to grab her hair, is it me or is her hair purple?

"What's wrong, are you trying to comfort me? Don't worry so much, my dear. I love you no matter what." The woman placed an envelope on my chest. "I'm sorry."

I watched as she knocked on the door and waited until she heard someone come down. After that she quickly disappeared, how the hell did she do that?! The door opened and an old woman was standing there. She took one look at me before pulling me into her arms muttering comforting words to me even though I didn't need it.

"Poor dear..." The old woman looked around for my mother, but didn't see her. "Well, get you inside, dear."

I was brought inside and into what was obviously a nursery. There were three cribs, but they were all empty. I guess I was the only baby left behind. The old woman left me in the room after taking the letter. I spent the next hour using Examine on anything I could see. I leveled it up three times and I was left completely bored after I was finished. I should have used it on the old woman when I had a chance to figure out who she was...if I could anyways. I spent the rest of my time figuring out the menu. There were the usual things, inventory, system, my profile, skills, mailbox, and party. There were the odd ones like the character box which sorted people into different categories based on my personal opinion on them (Allies, Enemies, Friends, Important People, Unimportant People, and Unknown). A shop allows me to spend points or money to purchase things like new skills or weapons. Map was an odd one since it only showed what I know and let me tell you that is very little at the moment.

X-X-X-X

"Alicia! What did I tell you about holding Scarlett? You're supposed to support her head, young lass!" Obaa-san, the old woman, scolded the older girl.

"Sorry, Obaa-san!" Alicia said nervously.

"Here, give me Scarlett." Obaa-san said holding out her hands.

I ignored the two as I used Examine on everything in sight. Damn is this boring, for the last week I've done nothing but use said skill and trying to figure out what I should with the extra 20 points I had. I was carried around by Obaa-san and the older children who saw me tried to pull at my cheeks or get me to laugh. Not once since I came here have I laughed. I cried when I needed something, but other than that I was silent.

"Why is Scarlett so quiet?" Alicia asked looking over Obaa-san's shoulder.

"She's not a fussy baby, some children are like that so don't worry too much about it." Obaa-san said waving off Alicia's concern.

I grudgingly drank from the damn baby bottle. I really hate this baby body, I can't do crap. Speaking of crap, I officially hate being a baby. It is damn embarrassing being changed and I'm still a freaking girl! When I leave this place, I'm investing my time in getting boy's clothing. I'm a man, for god's sake! I was taken outside for some fresh air and I used Examine on anything I could see. I already knew the names of all the children at the orphanage and I didn't deem them very important in life so all of them went into the Unimportant category in the character box. Alicia was placed under friends because I like her and it's fun making her panic. Obaa-san would definably be in the Important category since she didn't downgrade me to the silly baby talk and I liked her no nonsense personality. She's stern, but not overly so.

"Alicia doesn't understand you at all, does she?" I nodded my head, clutching the silly lion toy to my chest. "You sure love that toy, don't you? Well, my little Scarlett, I'm sure you love it. After all, it's from your mother." Obaa-san said with a chuckle.

Hell no, I'm only keeping it around because the brats at the orphanage may take it from me and hide it or destroy it. This might be an important item in the future, if I ever meet my mother, I can use this to identify myself as her daughter...that is if I ever meet her again. I'm sure I will, if not I can always try to find out who she was.

"Such a curious little one aren't you?" Obaa-san asked patting my fluffy red head.

I absolutely love how my hair is short and fluffy, it makes me look like a boy and more than once did the people coming in to adopt children thought I was a boy. To avoid getting adopted, I always made a fuss when those people touched me by crying loudly and trying to claw and bite said people. Hey, it's not my fault! It's part of my quest called To Go or Not To Go! I have to avoid 'going' until I'm five. Until then, I'm not failing the first quest I received. I wonder what would happen when I turn five though...I'm very curious about that.

X-X-X-X

A year and a half later, I spent time using Examine and my new skill Puppy Dog Eyes to get what I want. I learned a lot more about where I live, an island called Eternal Spring. That would explain why the trees are always in full bloom and why there is no winter or fall. It gets hot, but not enough to be considered summer. The island is pretty big, but there are only four villages and one large port town. I live in the village on the northern side of the island called Cerasus, which means cherry tree. It makes sense since cherry trees are the only trees grown on this side of the island. At the moment, I'm trying to complete a quest...a very odd one.

"Here." I placed the fish in front of the animal I found recently. It reminded me of a tiger and a dog, which was weird as hell. From what I gathered it's an animal called tigerwolf and it's currently level 4. It's not exactly big, about the same size as a housecat. "Bye." I said before walking away.

It was a very simple quest, I just had to feed the odd animal for a week and today was the last day I had to complete it. I always snuck out bits of food from breakfast before going to the forest to feed it. I returned to the orphanage afterwards only to find out another hopeful married couple would be coming in today. I swiftly went to the kitchen, stole some food for lunch, then walked right out the orphanage. Obaa-san didn't stop me, she knew my dislike of being adopted and it made it much easier for the other children to have a better chance at getting adopted. Thanks to my unique colorings, people really wanted to adopt me. It made the other children jealous and the only good thing is that they helped me avoid being adopted. I returned to the forest and I found myself shadowed by the little tigerwolf.

"So boring." I sat down at the base of a tree deep within the forest. "Menu." I said and the world froze.

I halfheartedly flipped through the quests before accepting the reward. I received a level up notice and I closed it before going to my profile. I stared at the picture currently up. I'm a bit happy I look a bit like a boy, but not that much. I think if my hair was shorter I could pass as a boy, but Obaa-san furiously refuses to allow me to cut my hair on my own after my disastrous first attempt.

"Close." I said and the world resumed.

I noticed three things when using menu, one the world stops completely. Two, I can walk around and such during that time. Three, even if I walk away from where I opened the menu, I would end up back there after saying close. It wasn't that bad though, it was useful if I wanted to explore and not waste time. The bad thing is that the range is limited to where I've been. I'm unable to go any further if I haven't been there before. That's where the skill Scan comes into use. It's pretty useful since it scans the area around me adding it to my map. I often used it while exploring the forest to increase my current range and find out about the many things quickly. It's not much different compared to Examine, but Examined can only be used on a single person/object while Scan takes in the things around me, but in a limited range. Scan only gives me the name and level while Examine gives me more information. Scan also has more uses since I can use it to quickly figure out what is around me.

"...Scan." A red pulse went off of me scanning a four yard radius around. I gained the information of the bugs, plants, and trees. The one that stood out was the fact the tigerwolf was nearby. "Come here, are you still hungry?" I asked pulling the sandwiches out of my inventory.

The tigerwolf approached me slowly and it was right in front of me, sniffing the sandwich I was offering to it. It bit into the sandwich then proceeded to spit it out. I watched as it stuck its tongue out as if it couldn't feel its tongue anymore. I pulled the meat out and I offered that to it instead. It took one bite of it, after giving it a long stare, then proceeded to eat the rest as if it was a staved dog. I pulled the rest of the meat out of my sandwiches and gave it to the little guy until it was full.

"Now that I think about it..." I had my sandwich hanging out of my mouth and I picked up the tigerwolf. "Are you a boy or girl?" I questioned looking at it.

I found it was a boy and he is a friendly little guy. He proceeded to lick my face as if I was his best friend, gross, I got animal drool on me. I spent the afternoon exploring the forest, finding all sorts of bugs. I also found some edible berries I put into my inventory. They weren't poisonous, Examine was high enough level to do something like that. The tigerwolf followed me the entire time, sometimes eating the offered berries. I get the feeling the two of us are going to be very good friends.

X-X-X-X

Chapter 1 Ends

I'm not too sure if I can do a guy turned girl POV. I'm a girl myself so if I ever turned into a guy then I'd be pretty accepting of it. I wouldn't really care, but I'm sure some guys would really hate being a girl. Well, girls go through a lot of stuff compared to guys. If my life was a video game though...damn that would be awesome. At the very least you'd have some idea what to do instead of twiddling your thumbs and waiting for it to happen. Well, until next time dearies! Bye-bye~!