So what should I do? As I walked around the city, this question kept running through my mind.
At least the food problem was solved for now, although I didn't know for how long, but getting one free loaf of bread every day was better than nothing.
Water is also easy to get since there are many wells provided by the government.
For a place to sleep, I have no choice but to sleep on the ground, right? Should I look for a blanket so I don't get cold?
Actually, this isn't too bad, at least I can eat, drink, and sleep peacefully, but only a fool would feel fine being homeless, especially in this fantasy world. I want to find out if there are elves somewhere in this world. Besides, as the girl said, the mother of this body is very skilled in healing magic. I hope I inherited her talent so I can live properly.
Alright, so my first goal this time is to improve my standard of living.
Then where are the problems and shortcomings that will hinder me?
Despite this body still being in its childhood stage—damn it, now I'm in the body of a child around 8 or 9 years old—I used to help my parents work at this age in my previous life, so that's not a major issue for me. What I'm worried about is whether I can find work with a child's body. And after observing this city, I realized something.
This city is a complete mess. There are many children like me wandering around aimlessly. I think we share the same fate. I'm sure there are no orphanages here. I think the church is too busy to take care of abandoned children. I'm also not sure if there are any job openings, and of course, whether they would be crazy enough to hire a child as an employee. 19 million job openings, lol.
And the worst part is that my body could break down at any moment.
If only I had a system, wait, maybe I do.
"SYSTEM!!!"
...
When I shouted, the people around me started glancing in my direction.
Feeling the stares of many people, I started running towards a narrow alley to hide myself.
"Damn!!! I'm so stupid, why did I shout?"
I really don't like attracting other people's attention, especially after my previous embarrassing experience.
"There you are," a voice suddenly came from behind me.
I turned to find a child roughly the same age as the owner of this body.
"Didn't I tell you to give it to me? You haven't learned anything, have you?" He walked toward me with a smile.
"What do you mean? Give what?" I don't understand why suddenly there's a mob babbling nonsense like this.
"Forget it, this isn't the first time, is it? I'll teach you so your body remembers what to do."
Suddenly, he lunged forward with his fist. In an instant, I crossed my arms to block the blow aimed at my chest.
Even though the punch wasn't very strong, I felt pain from my bruises.
I gritted my teeth to endure the pain while focusing on his next attack.
Without wasting any time, I raised my right elbow and kicked him in the stomach. His body staggered back a few steps, his eyes narrowing in anger.
"You dare to fight back, don't you? Fine... I'll teach you a lesson!" he shouted, his voice echoing with rage.
He launched a kick right at my stomach. I took a step back, dodging his attack, and tried to grab his leg to throw him off balance. As soon as I grabbed his leg, he surprisingly used that leverage to kick me in the head with his left foot. I ducked just in time, avoiding the kick, then pulled his right leg down. My opponent lost his balance and fell face down on the ground.
I released my grip on his leg and stepped forward quickly. In one smooth motion, I turned my body to face him. My left wrist locked around his neck, while my right wrist grabbed his groin, forming a perfect lock. Gathering all my strength, I pushed both of them forward. My muscles tensed, and his body curved like a crescent moon.
He screamed to be released, but I tightened my grip. He struggled to breathe and mumbled something indistinct.
In an instant, silence enveloped us. After I didn't hear his voice, I began to release my grip. Seeing his face turning blue, I felt worried, because surely a murder case would not end so easily. At best, I would be made a slave because I was an orphan, and at worst, I would be killed.
I quickly put my hand on his nose, and luckily, even though he was weak, I could feel that he was still breathing.
It was already dark and the moon was beginning to appear in the sky. I tore part of the clothes he was wearing into two rectangular pieces of cloth, then used one piece to tie his hands behind his back and the other to tie his legs.
After that, I sat leaning against the wall, thinking about my next plan.
After a few minutes, I noticed the child's strange movements, but I decided to stay silent.
Several hours passed in an instant as I was lost in my thoughts.
....
Pov mob
The first thing I saw when I woke up was the gaze of a boy who, even though he wasn't bigger than me, somehow made me feel scared and want to run away from him as soon as possible.
I knew him very well. Our first meeting was three months ago.
I met him in the slums; he was a new orphan living in the area, but somehow he always managed to get warm bread to eat every day. One day, I decided to follow him to find out where he got the bread, and that's when I saw him. He met a beautiful girl in an alley, and she gave him a whole loaf of bread to eat. Driven by jealousy and hunger, I decided to confront him.
After the girl left, I immediately approached him. At first, I only intended to take the bread from his hand to fill my stomach, but seeing his pitiful appearance, for some reason I became very angry.
How could a child like this live comfortably while I, who had been struggling desperately to survive day after day, had to endure hunger for days on end, while he could eat a whole loaf of warm bread without doing anything?
Every day of my life felt like torture. When I was hungry, I had to steal from others, but unfortunately, I couldn't run fast enough and ended up getting caught and beaten by adults. But even so, I still tried to hold on to the apple I had found as if it were protecting my life because I knew that if I didn't die from being beaten, I would die from starvation.
Every day I fill my stomach with water to stay alive. When winter comes, I collect wood and scraps of old cloth and pile them up to warm my body.
At that time, there were rarely any merchants, so I could only scavenge for leftovers from restaurant or bar trash cans. If I was lucky, I might find a piece of stale, cold bread or leftover vegetables.
When I was thirsty, all I could do was collect snow from the roofs of houses or trees, pressing it into my mouth little by little. It tasted bland, cold enough to make my teeth ache, but it was better than dying of thirst. Every time I swallowed dirty or mossy snow, my stomach screamed, nausea shook me, and I had to lie in a dark corner, enduring pain that made me almost unable to cry. Some days, I could only curl up, clutching my aching stomach and staring at the sky that never helped me.
I also tried breaking the ice on the frozen river, or lowering a bucket into an old well, hoping that a sip of water would quench my thirst. But luck was not on my side. I slipped on the slippery ice and fell, my body plunging into the frozen water. The cold pierced my bones, my whole body shaking uncontrollably. The thin piece of cloth I used to keep myself alive suddenly became something that could kill me. I returned to the small hut I had built, fighting against the cold that seemed to freeze my bones, hoping I could still see tomorrow.
Isn't my life already sad enough? Then why has no one ever helped me, no one ever paid attention to me, no one ever reached out to me?
Meanwhile, he? He has people who care about him, give him warm bread every day, ask about his condition every day.
Isn't fate unfair? Didn't God create me just for His amusement? If not, why doesn't He ever help me? Is my story so entertaining to watch? Or is my suffering a funny form of entertainment for Him?
I hate Him, I hate this fate, I want to change my fate, I want to exchange my fate.
I WANT TO REWRITE MY DESTINY