Kyle clambered to the ground and looked nervously for the cliff he had fallen off of. As he'd thought, it wasn't anywhere in view. He climbed back up to double check from a higher vantage point, and still couldn't find it. There wasn't even any damage to the trees from when the car would have landed.
"Yep," Kyle said, returning to the ground. "This certainly implies I'm not where I should be."
Kyle found a large stick and began dragging it, drawing a small line on the ground. Kyle nodded, chose a random direction, and started walking. Hopefully,with this line, he wouldn't get lost.
As he walked, Kyle noticed several things that were a bit odd about this forest. First, there wasn't much underbrush. Sure, there was a bush bridging the gap between trees in irregular intervals, but they didn't impede his progress. Second, despite every tree being decidious, there were pinecones all over the place. Kyle started absently kicking some along with him as he walked. Eventually, he saw some bushes that were significantly larger than the others in a ring around a group of trees. Kyle walked around the circle, inspecting it.
As Kyle leaned in close to one of the bushes, trying to see what lay beyond, and suddenly a cougar leaped out at him. Kyle stumbled back, fumbling for his gun, and the cougar… hit him? There was a soft sound of shattering glass, and Kyle flew back a bit.
"Oof!" Kyle's back hit a tree, knocking the wind out of him. He finally found his gun, and pulled it out as the cougar leaped at him again. Kyle brought the gun up and fired as quickly as he could.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
The cougar fell to the ground, blood pooling out of a hole in its head.
Lv. 8 Pouncing Cougar Defeated!
Experience Awarded!
Level Ups Available
Skill Requirements Met!
Aiming Available
Kyle blinked. "Wait, what? Like a video game?" Kyle shook his head. "I guess I should figure these things out. It might help me survive or find civilization."
Kyle followed his trail back slowly, the thin line in the dirt not very distinct.
Skill Requirements Met!
Tracking Available
Kyle blinked at the box that popped into his vision again just as he reached the tree which held his car. Kyle climbed up and back in, then pressed the Level Up button. The unfamiliar character sheet popped back up on the windshield.
Name: Kyle Montegomery
Level: 2
Strength
9
HP: 0/12
Dexterity
11
Mana: 14/14
Constitution
10
Stamina: 8/12
Speed
11
Intelligence
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
12
Titles:
Creatively
18
Otherworlder
Charisma
10
Champion of Creativity
Available Stat points: 2
Available Skill Slots: 2
Available Classes: 0
"Well," Kyle said. "I may as well treat it as real, even if it isn't. First things first, stat points. I'll put one in strength, as it's the only stat below 10, and I'll put one in constitution, to test the way hit points and stuff are calculated." Kyle tapped on the windshield, pretending it was a touchscreen, and added the points. The sheet updated accordingly.
Name: Kyle Montegomery
Level: 2
Strength
10
HP: 13/13
Dexterity
11
Mana: 14/14
Constitution
11
Stamina: 13/13
Speed
11
Intelligence
12
Titles:
Creatively
18
Otherworlder
Charisma
10
Champion of Creativity
Available Stat points: 0
Available Skill Slots: 2
Available Classes: 0
"So, stamina and hit points are CON plus level, and mana is INT plus level? Seems like somewhat low growth, but maybe most things have a higher stat value, or higher level. I haven't seen many things in the forest, so it's possible that the cougar was merely low leveled..." Kyle mused. "What's this about skill slots?"
Kyle idly swiped to the side and a second page popped up.
Skills Available Skills Anything you can do, I can do better (Unique) Aiming [Empty] Tracking [Empty]
"Tracking seems useful, but I don't think I need 'aiming' for now." Kyle said, dragging tracking into one of the empty slots. "Wonder how you get more slots."
Kyle looked over his sheet again, checking to see if he'd gotten everything he wanted. "Seems good," He said, nodding to himself. He pressed the Level Up button on the console again, and a box popped up on the windshield.
Are you sure you want these changes? Yes No
Kyle rolled his eyes and hit yes. A new box appeared on the windshield while another appeared right in his face.
Congratulations!
Achievement (Level Up!) Earned
----------------------------------------
You have leveled up! A great achievement for your God!
Reward: XP, 1 VP
Quest: Tutorial
You have been taken here as a player in the first Contest of Champions! Leveling up has granted you access to the Quests.
This is the Tutorial Quest. To complete this quest, read the explanation of the game below, accept the Quest, and reach Lv. 5.
The Contest of Champions is being played between 10 Champions, of which you are one. The one who collects the most Victory Points (VP) will win. The prizes are as follows:
1st: A return trip home, and you get to keep everything you gained while here.
2nd: A return trip home, and you get to keep the stats you gained while here.
3rd: A return trip home, and you get to keep half the stats you gained while here.
4th and 5th: A return trip home, if desired.
6th or less: You lost. You get to keep the abilities you've earned, but you won't get to return home.
Ways to earn VP:
Every 10 levels will award you a VP
Clearing a dungeon with a party awards you a VP (1/dungeon)
Clearing a dungeon by yourself awards you 5 VP if you've never cleared the dungeon before, and 2 VP if you have (1/dungeon)
Quests will award VP
Gaining 5 or more levels in a single fight will award N*N VP (N is the number of levels gained divided by five, rounded down)
Rewards: 10 VP
Yes No
Kyle reached over to the windshield, and pressed Yes.