After bawling and crying his eyes out for a while, Fate flipped through the journal to find the ‘registered skills tab’ that the alert had mentioned earlier…

-But no matter how hard I look, I can’t find it! I flipped through every page and not one of them, besides the ‘messages’ and ‘stats’ pages, has a single word or smudge of magical ink on them! I can’t even find something resembling a tab!

The ‘tab’ that was thinking of was of the sort that one might find in a pop-up book or on a desktop computer. However, this was a ‘magical artifact’ of sorts, granted to him by a Goddess and it didn’t seem like she had made it extremely simple to use.

-The ‘stats page’ has made it feel like I’m actually accomplishing something and re-reading the ‘messages page’ makes it feel like I have the internet...or at least someone to talk to.

Fate: *sigh*

-I might as well check the first page, maybe she put a new message or someth…!

Fate had flipped the pages back to the very first and discovered that there was, indeed, new information to be seen!

-She actually sent a new message...I’m genuinely surprised. And this is...

A screen projected out from the words that were now coming into existence with a dark-blue flicker of light. The screen looked sort of like a ‘blue screen of death’, like when a computer crashes. The blue was a lot darker, granted, but it still looked like an old computer screen setup.

-...This is new... Before it was just all the messages she wrote me on one page, stacked vertically. I actually kind of like it…!

A smile crept onto Fate’s young face. Though he had just been crying for his first time in this world just a few moments ago, now it seemed that he had forgotten about it completely. Fate tried tapping the screen, but his stubby finger just phased through it completely.

-...What? How am I supposed to use it if I can’t touch it?

Fate: “...Enter?”

Fate’s words seemed to receive no reaction from the screen.

-Why did I do that, so embarrassing…! Whatever, now that I thought of doing something that stupid, I guess I’ll see it through!

Fate: “...On!”

Again, no reaction.

Fate: “...Accethh…!”

-Dammit, my babyish lisp kicked in!

Suddenly, there were new words on the screen. ‘Third time’s the charm’ actually seemed to be an effective means to get it working...or...not…

-What is this?!

Witch of Fate - Hello, my familiar! Did you enjoy the new setup for these messages? I thought that the page would get filled up if I just kept indulging you, so...I set up this new system, using things that you liked on Earth! If you’re wondering how I know this, just think for about 2 seconds…~

-Think about it for 2 seconds? The hell does she…?!

Fate: “!”

Fate thought about it for exactly 2 seconds, by his count, and the only explanation that he could come up with was.

-She looked through my memories?! How far can she see, what can she see, and what is she looking for in there?!?! Oh...f*ck...if she finds all my...embarrassing memories...SHE’LL HAVE ENDLESS SHAMING MATERIAL!!!

Fate kept reading hoping that the ‘Witch’ had at least limited herself in accordance with common decency.

Witch of Fate - Awww, you were so cute as a baby. By the way, I know when you first…!~

-It’s hopeless...I should just kill myself right now…

Fate’s neutral expression turned extremely sour and panicked. Even with his hopes for his privacy crushed, he continued to read.

Witch of Fate - ...Tried to admit to a girl you had a crush on her, but you accidentally poked her contact lens and she didn’t speak to you for a whole year! *Giggles*

Fate blushed a little and his face regained some normalcy. However, he was still a little below a neutral expression.

-That’s...actually better than I was expecting, but still...why is she looking at my childhood? Why did she actually write in the *giggles* effect?

Witch of Fate - ...I have all your history at my fingertips, but...I don’t get to touch it for now…~ My dumb sisters called me in for a meeting, so I won’t be able to message you for a good while...So sad…

-...She still has all my personal history!!! If she looks through everything, I’m ruined!!!

His face turned sour again. Although his face was sour, he could feel a sense of warmth and comfort from reading these words and from feeling extremely embarrassed, oddly enough.

-I feel like she’s really here...It’s like I’m just talking to another kid at the playground...all those years ago before we moved to what I playfully called…*internal grumble*….‘The Capital of Depression in Western Europe...’

Fate remembered his past life on Earth and all the years he lived, having friends and being a generally friendly person. However, his father had a large opportunity in another country so the whole family moved with him. Fate was never able to make a single friend...his ability to fade into the background without his will and to kill a conversation online made him a repulsive and elusive existence. His own father was never around due to his job and his brothers had been terrible people, one feeding off the old styles of the other in a perpetual cycle.

-And in the end, they, their friends, and every person I hated ended my life on Earth and now...I’m here...talking to someone like another person would an old friend…

Fate continued to read, almost feeling giddy from these new feelings of warmth from within.

Witch of Fate - With that said, I won’t be sending messages to you for at least a few years.

-Years?! Just when I thought that I felt something pleasant, life tears it away from me!

Witch of Fate - However, I will be leaving some pre-recorded messages on the ‘message page.’ These will be instructions on basic things like stats to more complicated subjects, such as magic circles and relics.

Fate propped his chin up with his fist and began to ponder.

-I can sort of visualize the magical circle if I think of O*erlord or random Isekai manga, but...what is a ‘relic?’

When Fate thought of relics, he thought of obsolete technology or ancient archeological discoveries. However, he couldn’t imagine something out of date in this world being that useful. After all, shouldn’t something like ‘magic items’ improve in design and thus efficiency over time?

- Maybe this world had some sort of ‘golden age.’ A few mangas have had something similar and the ‘relics’ and ‘artifacts’ they possessed from these ‘golden ages’ were treated as supreme treasures...Then again, as soon as the MC shows up, they’re instantly crushed by whatever useless crap the MC ‘accidentally creates without trying…’

He continued to read.

Witch of Fate - To get to the ‘tabs’ and other options where the data is stored, you need to insert magical power. The only reason that the screen popped up and my words reached you is that I knew you’d make a cute mispronunciation.~

-Just when I thought she had turned over a new leaf… R.I.P, my dignity…Still, though, how does she expect me to use magical power? I haven’t even been able to make a fireball, even the smallest one should be easy for a Reincarnator!

Witch of Fate - To allow your magical power to flow into an external force, your【Magic】stat will need to be at least 5 to 10. The higher your 【Magic】, the higher the chance of a spell succeeding, of course, that kind of practice will have to be done later, and the less difficulty you will face in manifesting such phenomena.

-5 to 10?! It’s taken me so long and I’ve had to deal with a sh*tload of pain, but now I have to get more than 5 to 10 times the amount of 【Magic】that I currently have?!!

Witch of Fate - Be advised, the amount of 【Magic】that you can currently contain can be further increased, as your 【Endurance】has increased due to your...unforeseen encounters…

-YOU TOLD ME THAT YOU SAW THE ‘POSSIBILITY’ OF IT HAPPENING, DON’T WRITE MY SUFFERING OFF AS AN 'unforeseen encounter’!!!

Again, despite his feelings, Fate continued.

Witch of Fate - That ends this ‘tutorial’ of sorts. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to view this message if you forget any of this. Grow stronger in order to serve me well, my familiar!

That ended the words on the spectral, dark-blue screen. It appeared that Fate would be extremely busy in order to meet expectations.

-Even with my suffering...Even with the amount of pain, I’ll be forced to endure...This seems a lot more manageable than when I took 4 AP tests in one year...and managed to get 1’s on 3 of them and a 2 on the other…

A sick smile spread across Fate’s mouth.

-Let’s get to work…

Fate: “Ha ha ha aha ha ahaa ha ha!!!”

*knock* *knock*

-Oh, sh*t!

Jacob: “Young master, I have returned with your dinner.”

Fate looked at the window, it was dusk.

-How is it that late already?!

*grumble*

-...I guess there’s no helping it...