Time passed slowly, or at least it felt that way to Marcus.
Days blurred into nights, and nights blurred into days. For a normal baby, life was just eating, sleeping, and crying. But for Marcus, who possessed the soul and mind of a thirty-year-old adult, being trapped in this tiny, helpless body was pure torture.
"I am going crazy..."
Lying in his wooden crib, Marcus stared at the rough-hewn ceiling beams. His eyes were open, but his mind was racing a million miles an hour.
'I died. I was driving home from work, tired and exhausted, and then... crash. And now I am here.'
He looked at his own hands again. Small, soft, chubby. They looked cute, yes, but they were completely useless. He couldn't even hold a spoon properly, let alone defend himself.
The panic from the first day hadn't completely gone away. It had just settled into a heavy, constant anxiety in his chest.
'This world is called Aethelgard. My parents run an inn called the Green Leaf Inn. We are poor. The building is old, the furniture is worn out, and we barely make enough money to put food on the table.'
He had received all this information when he first woke up, like a file being downloaded into his brain. But knowing it and experiencing it were two completely different things.
"Goo... goo..." Marcus tried to make a sound, but only baby noises came out. He gritted his teeth internally.
'Damn it! I want to speak! I want to say something! Why is my body not listening to me?!'
It was frustrating beyond belief. He had so many thoughts, so many plans, so many worries, but he couldn't express any of them. He was completely dependent on others. If his parents didn't feed him, he would starve. If they didn't change his clothes, he would be dirty. If he got sick... he might just die like that.
'This is too dangerous,' Marcus thought seriously. 'In my old life, even if I was poor, I lived in a safe society. There were hospitals, police, laws. But here... looking at the clothes my parents wear, the swords some guests carry at their hips... this world is different. It's primitive. It's harsh.'
He heard noises coming from downstairs. The clattering of plates, the shouting of customers, the heavy footsteps of his father moving logs.
This was the reality.
"Marcus~ Are you awake, sweetie?"
The door creaked open, and his mother, Elena, walked in. She was wearing a simple linen dress, and her hands looked a bit rough from washing and cleaning all day, but her smile was as warm as the sun.
"There you are! You were sleeping so long again!" She came over and gently picked him up.
Her embrace was soft and warm. She smelled of flour and a faint scent of wild flowers. As she held him and rocked him back and forth, Marcus felt his tense heart relax slightly.
'At least... they love me,' he thought. 'They aren't just strangers. They are my parents now. Just like in my past life, they work hard every single day just to keep this family going.'
"Are you hungry? Let's go downstairs. Dad is there too."
Elena carried him out of the small bedroom and down the wooden stairs. As they descended, Marcus opened his eyes wide and carefully observed everything around him.
This was the first time he was seeing the "Green Leaf Inn" properly.
It wasn't big. The main hall was spacious but simple. There were about ten wooden tables and benches. The floor was made of hard-packed earth and wood. There were a few customers sitting around eating and drinking. They looked like travelers, merchants, and maybe even some hunters.
Marcus noticed something important. Almost every single one of them had a weapon. Some had knives at their waists, others had swords strapped to their backs.
'See? I knew it,' Marcus's eyes narrowed. 'This world isn't peaceful. If everyone carries weapons, that means danger is real. Bandits, wild animals, maybe even things I don't know about yet.'
"Hey, little Marcus is here!"
A loud voice boomed. It was his father, Arthur. He was a big man with broad shoulders and a thick beard. He was carrying two heavy wooden buckets of water as if they were feathers. He walked over and tickled Marcus's chin roughly but gently.
"Haha! Look at those eyes! So sharp! You are watching everything aren't you, boy?" Arthur laughed loudly. "Don't worry! When you grow up, you will help Dad run this inn! And maybe become a strong warrior too!"
Warrior.
That word struck Marcus's mind.
'Right. Strength is everything here. If you are strong, you survive. If you are weak... you get stepped on.'
He looked at his father. Arthur was strong, yes, but he was just a normal person. He wasn't some legendary hero. He was just an innkeeper trying to make a living.
'I can't stay like this forever,' Marcus realized deeply. 'I have the mind of an adult. I have experience. But that's not enough here. Knowledge won't stop a sword or a beast.'
Suddenly, he remembered the voice he heard when he woke up.
[ Hero System Activated! ]
"System..." Marcus whispered in his mind. "Hey... are you there?"
[ Ding! 🤖]
[ Yes, Host! I am always here! ]
Marcus was startled for a moment, then relief washed over him. It wasn't a dream. It was real.
"Status! Show me my status!" Marcus commanded mentally.
Immediately, a semi-transparent blue window appeared in his vision, floating in the air where only he could see it.
📋 [HERO STATUS]
- Name: Marcus
- Age: 1 year old
- Title: The Reborn Soul
- Health: Healthy 🟢
- Strength: 1 🟥 (Extremely Weak)
- Agility: 1 🟥 (Can barely crawl)
- Vitality: 2 🟡 (Average Baby)
- Intelligence: 12 🟢🟢 (Adult Level Wisdom)
- Points: 0
- Skills: None
"As expected..." Marcus looked at the numbers and sighed internally. "I really am just a normal baby. My body is trash, but at least my brain is still working."
"System, what is your purpose?" Marcus asked seriously.
[ Ding! ]
[ Mission: Help Host survive, grow stronger, and become the Greatest Hero in Aethelgard! ]
"Hero? Hmph." Marcus didn't get excited. He was too realistic for that. "I don't care about being a hero right now. I just want to survive. I want to protect myself and my parents. I want to make this inn better so we don't have to suffer poverty anymore."
[ Understood Host! ]
[ The System will support all of Host's goals! ]
[ However, Host is currently too young. Main priority is: GROWTH! ]
"I know, I know." Marcus pouted slightly.
He looked around the inn again. He saw the worn-out walls, the simple food, and the tired but hardworking faces of his parents.
'This is my starting point,' Marcus thought, his baby eyes flashing with a determination far beyond his age.
'I started from zero. Actually, I started even lower than zero because I am a baby. But so what? I have a second chance at life. I have a system. And I have the experience of an adult.
This world is big, and it's scary, but it's also full of possibilities. I don't know what I will become in the future, but I know one thing for sure...
I will not waste this life. I will work hard, I will learn fast, and I will build everything from scratch!
Green Leaf Inn... just you wait. One day, I will make this place famous! And I will become strong enough that no one can ever bully us again!'
"Gugu!" Marcus made a short sound, clenching his tiny fists tightly in the air.
Arthur and Elena laughed, thinking their son was just being cute and energetic. They didn't know that inside that small body burned the soul of a man who had already decided his path in this new world.
The journey had just begun. Step by step, day by day, Marcus would rise!!