I sat up.

Ok, first item on the docket, do I have all my hands, arms, and legs?

I quickly looked myself over, confirming that all extremities were at their desired locations. Not only did I have all my limbs, but I was also wearing a medieval-looking tunic, some trousers, and a pair of leather boots that were all a lot more comfortable than they looked.

Item number 2, where am I?

I looked around, I was sitting in an idyllic-looking clearing in the middle of a healthy-looking forest. No city-destroying monsters in sight neither were there any giant spiders. No smoke in the distance either, it seems there would be no easy way to find a conveniently placed village/city. There were, however, some mountains in the distance, not sure how helpful that is to know but now I do. There was only one sun in the sky, pointed away from the mountains. It was also a pretty good temperature, maybe around 65 degrees? Hopefully, it was summer or whatever passed for it in this strange new world. Dealing with freezing temperatures on top of starvation, and dehydration would not be ideal.

I looked around once more, what to do now...

I spied the nearby forest. Getting a good stick to use as a walking stick/bat ought to be a good start.1

I placed my hands on the ground and pushed off, trying to get to my feet...

Before immediately falling back down onto my face.

I tried again

And failed

And again

And again

Apparently having your soul ejected from your body and then placed into another one has some... consequences when it comes to your motor control.

Come to think of it, I wonder if Time-Beyond-Death left any surprises in this body. It would be really convenient if I got a disembodied voice here to explain things to me.

Silence

Dam it, I really thought that would work.

Whatever

After an embarrassingly large amount of tries, I managed to get up. I walked slowly towards the forest, really hoping I wouldn’t fall over again.

This body got used to walking around pretty quick. Already knowing how to walk around made it a much faster process.

I entered the forest proper and began searching the ground for a decent stick, or a rock, or something to add to my very limited arsenal.

Eventually, I found a stick of decent length, thickness, and durability that was worth keeping. As I picked it up, a blue screen appeared in my vision.

> Item acquired: Stick

No way... this isn’t just any isekai fantasy novel. It’s a LitRPG isekai fantasy novel!

That is like, the perfect outcome. LitRPGs have this thing where people can get really, really overpowered. If I can figure out the secret to doing so, I will become the most powerful being in the universe!

Images of myself fending off dragons and saving princesses filled my mind before I quickly reminded myself of the fact that having a fancy blue screen thing does not make you invincible.

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I mentally flicked at the screen and it vanished, nice.

Well, if I’m getting action messages would that mean...

Status?

> Name: Leo

> Level: 1 (0/100)

> Class: None

> Skills: None

> Abilities: None

Let’s go! First try! Admittedly it’s a very poor-looking status screen. There’s no health bar and no inventory. Apparently, I also have no skills and no class.

No matter, with the help of the System, I shall rule this world!

Kidding, that would be way too much work. Maybe a city or a small barony though, it could be pretty fun to try.

Anyway, I set off walking along the edge of the woods. I didn’t want to go into the woods in fear of running into something my trusty stick and I couldn’t handle.

Thankfully I found something I could hone my skills against, a truly worth foe to begin my quest for fame and glory!

Bunnies.

What? I need to start somewhere.

And those little bastards are fierce!

The first one I walked up to didn’t even wait for me to attack first, it lunged at my face with its flat teeth that I got a little too good of a look at as I panicked and swung my stick, missing horrifically.

I noped out of there really quick. Thankfully, none of the other bunnies seemed to notice me and the one that had attacked me didn’t bother chasing me.

Alright, I’m going to have to go about this better.

Several days later...

I have no idea what I’m doing.

My original plan was to find a rock that I could use to sharpen one end of my stick into a spear. This plan was foiled by the fact that rocks have the really irritating tendency to not be sharp, so I have been regulated to using my stick as a blunt instrument. Not the best start. Maybe I could have just faced off against a bunny without bothering with any fancy plans. But right now, I don’t want to risk getting injured out here in the middle of nowhere and having no good way to seal the wound.

By that time the sun was getting too close to the horizon for my liking so I had to abandon Operation Kill Bunny, to begin work on a shelter. I leaned the biggest branch I could lift up against a tree on the edge of the forest so there was some space under it. Then I leaned branches up against the first branch, creating a small lean-to framework. I then piled some leaves onto the frame I had constructed, spread some leaves on the inside as bedding material, and called it a day.

As I lay there, I got another blue screen

> Skill acquired: Shelter Building

> Skill: Shelter Building has reached level 2, 3

Nice

As I lay in my little shelter, I began to question this body that I found myself inhabiting. For one thing, I’ve been doing more physical activity in the last day than I have in the last 2 weeks back on Earth, yet I'm not sore in the slightest. I also haven’t felt the slightest hint of some hunger pangs even though I haven’t eaten in the last day. Thirst seemed a little closer to normal, but luckily I found a small stream in the forest while I was collecting branches. I might have caught some nasty disease from it, but at least I'm not dying of dehydration.

Whatever Time-Beyond-Death had done when he made this body, I was thankful for it. Without a doubt, if I had been in my body from Earth I would have keeled over a long time ago.

Admittedly it was a little weird, knowing that this wasn’t the body I was born with, but I would take a little weird over being trapped in The Void any day.

Day 2.

With the original plan written off as a failure, it was time to move on to plan number 2. Plan numero dos was to build a snare I could use to catch a rabbit. The problem with this one was that I didn’t have the proper materials and whatever I was able to cobble together was immediately broken by those feisty little demons. I spent a few hours attempting different designs, before writing this plan off as a failure.

I didn’t receive a trapmaking skill from this. If I had to guess, I either needed the materials required to make a trap that actually works, or I can only get a skill on a successful action.

It’s a shame that didn’t too because it would be really nice if I could just sit back and wait for the bunnies to fall into my trap. Oh well.

Now I’m on plan number 3, which is less of a plan and more of ‘I’m tired of this so I’m just going to bum-rush it and hope for the best’. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

I watched the Bunny Fields (as they are now officially known) from a distance as I waited for a suitable target. Despite my fatigue, I wasn’t completely stupid and knew that a successful attack on a single bunny could bring the whole colony (flock? herd?) crashing down on me, certainly ending in my demise.

Knowing this, I waited for a bunny to wander far enough away from the rest that I felt comfortable enough trying to face it.

And waited

And waited

I’m going to be here for a while, aren’t I?