A fuzzy light in the darkness seemed to be growing larger and larger.
"Hah!"
A sharp intake of breath broke the silence of the dorm room. The man gasped for air as if he'd just breached the surface of a deep lake, his chest heaving with effort. Pain surged through his body like a tidal wave—his limbs felt like lead, his skull was pounding, and a dull ache pulsed from somewhere deep in his core.
At this moment memories began to flood in.
A small child standing in front of a grave with two black and white photographs. A tall woman holding his hand. A teenage boy lying on the floor in a pool of his own sweat, exhausted. A happy face holding an acceptance letter. A confused figure standing alone amongst a crowd of people. A teenager, face pale and bruised, lying on the floor of a dorm hallway as sneering voices laughed and walked away.
Every memory from the short life of James Woodrow pierced into his mind. At this point he wasn't sure whether he was James who got strange memories from a soul from Earth or whether a soul from Earth got the memories of James.
"I am James now." This was the truth.
The man—no, James—lay still on the narrow bed, breathing heavily, drenched in sweat. Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes for no reason.
He sat up slowly, wincing as a fresh wave of soreness rippled through his body. He looked down—his torso was wrapped in white bandages. Clumsily, James peeled them off, expecting to see bloodied scabs, bruises, or wounds.
But there was nothing.
Not a single scar. Not even a scrape.
James frowned.
"How did this body die?"
He couldn't remember, everything from the last week or so was fuzzy. James looked around the room hoping to find some clues from his belongings.
The room was small but well-kept. A single desk, a set of drawers, a magical crystal lamp flickering gently above. A few personal effects were scattered on the desk: a book on magical theory, a cracked mana stone, and a schedule sheet pinned to the wall.
The Ainsworth Academy of Magical Arts, it read at the top in ornate script.
James leaned closer to inspect it. The schedule listed beginner-level courses—History of Magic, Elemental Practice, Mana Control, and Meditation, Runes, Combat Practice.
At the bottom, in smaller print, it read:
Student: James Woodrow
Year: 1
Class: Blue Star Apprentice Division
Background: Civilian Region 1133
Blue Star. The name felt oddly appropriate for this new world.
Suddenly, a rush of heat surged through his head, and a blinding white flash overtook his vision.
"Agh!"
James clutched his temples in pain. After a short while he opened his eyes again, everything was as before—but now, in the top-right corner of his vision, a glowing red insignia hovered faintly.
[Gigolo System 2.0 — Status: Initializing...]
James blinked: "What the hell?"
He concentrated on the symbol, and instantly, a floating panel opened before him.
[GIGOLO SYSTEM 2.0]
James was hoping for a system, he was familiar with these kinds of situations, having read many online back on earth. But something called the Gigolo System…That didn't sound serious no matter how you put it.
[Welcome, Host. You have successfully bonded with the Gigolo System. Please start your new life!]
"What's the use of this system?" James said in his mind.
[The Gigolo System will help the host gain more power in this magical world. By using the abilities of the system the host can gain rewards by contracting various women. Climb up the ladder of this world while relying on your patrons!]
"..."
"How can I as a man rely on other people to succeed?!"
[Does the host want to terminate the contract with the System? Proceeding in 10…9…8]
"Stop! Stop! It's just a joke, just a joke."
[Uninstallment cancelled.]
James breathed a sigh of relief. What kind of idiot would lose out on a system? What's wrong with being a gigolo, the best meals are free meals.
He began to inspect the details of the system. There were a few items on the panel.
[Lucky Draw]: Open a treasure box to win a lucky item.
[Favorability Meter]: See how others feel about you in real-time.
[Missions and achievements]: Completing achievements will give you special rewards
[Shop]: Use affection points to buy special items from the system store.
"Affection points? What are affection points?"
[Affection points are the currency of the system, whenever the favorability of the contracted individual increases or the host completes any missions or achievements, the host will receive affection points.
[Affection points can be used to buy items from the shop or to use the lucky draw.]
"It seems gigolos also have to work hard."
James sat up from his bed and wandered to the door of his room. Every student at the Ainsworth Academy had access to a single unit room, even a commoner like him. Of course the true nobles would not live in the school dormitory but in the special housing. Actually even though it was called Ainsworth Academy this place was closer to a small city, with various different sectors and industries.
Still, James was grateful, he needed to organise his thoughts right now, this wasn't the time to meet people. James moved away from the door and headed to the small training machine.
The magic of this world was based on two things, bloodline and mana. This was true even for the demon tribes in the south or the elves in the western regions. In fact bloodline was sometimes even more important than mana, because the stronger your bloodline the more powerful your magic roots, which in turn determined your mana reserves. Bloodlines could also give the user special abilities that ordinary people could never possess.
This is the reason why nobles were able to prosper in this magical world.
James looked at the system again, his eyes hovering over the words [Panel].
He braced himself and looked carefully at the information.
[Name]: James Woodrow
[Age]: 18
[Mana]: 10 (1-10, normal range for Magical Apprentice)
[Skills]: None (Skills that have no reached level 1 are not included by the system)
[Magical Root]: Medium Low (Congratulations! A level 2 mage is the highest peak that you can reach!)
"...Dammit!"
He looked at his bloodline information hoping for a miracle. Wasn't it usually the case in novels that the protagonist had a dormant bloodline that needed to be awakened.
[Bloodline]: Human (A normal human bloodline, with no trace of anything else!)
James was depressed, his information was exactly the same as it was in his mind. He thought maybe rebirth would change something but no, he was just a bit more talented than the average person. It seems he really was lucky to be admitted to Ainsworth.