“What in the world is happening here?” I looked around, confused and unsure about what was going on, where I was, and why I was naked and bald. I stood in a clearing about six hundred feet in radius and tall trees growing on all sides of it; on closer inspection, it seemed a little odd how perfect the clearing ended, and the trees began, but before I could get to all that I have to acknowledge that I am in a bad situation here.

Now, I’ve been in some bad situations. There was that time when James had a round bale of hay come loose and roll over on my legs. It took us an hour to figure out how to get it off without it crushing me under its weight. At least in this situation, I can take a deep breath without pain.

I'd been here for about an hour trying to figure out what was going on, and the best I could make out was that I was in some strange place without any knowledge of how or why. It was suspiciously like those shows that Gus had me watch with him. I'd never say it to his face, but I enjoyed some of those.

I could either treat it as real and wake up later, having had the craziest dream of my life, or I could treat it as a dream and have a slight chance of dying to something odd. After taking a few moments to come to grips with the fact that I may be crazy, I move on and tackle the situation as if it were one hundred percent real.

Facing a clearing of oak trees that are too big to be normal, I decided that fantasy might not be so far out of reach today.

“First things first, I need some clothes,” I said, looking around to see if I could make anything else from what was around. I did not want to have to do some Adam and Eve stuff with leaves, but if that was the only option, that's what I would do.

Request registered.

Quest Generated.

Plant a Seed.

Requirements: Plant one seed of any kind.

Reward: Basic clothing option.

Now, this screen just pops out of nowhere to help me get clothes. Am I crazy? Is this some kind of twisted dream of some sort? It looks like a game pop-up that I would get in some JRPG. I won’t try to figure this out; let's see if it works.

I kneel, pluck some grass seeds, dig a small hole with my hands, put them in, cover it up, and wait to see what happens. After a few moments, a new pop-up appears, saying I did it and giving me an option between pants, shirts, shoes, or underwear. Knowing my priorities, I chose underwear first, of course. From a swirl of particles came underwear. I put them on and immediately felt better.

You can take on the whole world if you have good underwear! Unfortunately, these are mediocre, so I can only face today. But now I have to see what else I can do.

“Hey, Blue Box, can I do that again?” I asked the open air, still not sure if I was dreaming, dying in my sleep, or if someone gave me way too many shrooms. It could be all of the above if you think about it.

Request registered.

Quest is repeatable.

That's good, seeing that I plant even more grass seeds to get a complete set of clothes. Thank the Lord, I needed that. Now that I am dressed, I can see what is happening. I wonder if the boxes will tell me. If I ask them, they seem to be helpful.

“Alright, Boxes, let's see if you can tell me what is happening here and keep it simple, please?” I asked, hopefully, to get some exposition to help me understand my situation.

Request registered.

Answer: You got isekai'd.

“Shoot! Like in anime?”

Request registered.

Answer: Yes.

“Is that why my joints don't hurt me anymore? They're still sore but nowhere near as bad as they used to be! I might even be able to jog and not need ibuprofen!” I exclaimed, excited now but also a little worried about the monsters that typically are found in Isekai and if they would find me.

Request registered.

Query: Would you like a complete overview of events that led up to this moment and how they may affect you?

I gave my ascent, and it told me about some magic stuff that let me come here and how it's tough to get back, and no, I did not get godlike powers that make me unstoppable, and yes, there are monsters and I can and probably should get magic powers. It also mentioned different ranks and the basics of this new world.

“Well, then, how do I get magic? It seems important enough, especially if there are monsters out there. Tell me what to do, boxes.” I asked, hoping that it would tell me what to do next.

Request registered.

Important information noted.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

You should acknowledge your racial abilities.

Displaying relevant information now.

Old Abe

Age 72

Race: Outworlder

Current Rank: Normal

Progress to Iron 0/4

Attributes

[Power] (no essence) Normal

[Speed] (no essence) Normal

[Spirit] (no essence) Normal

[Recovery] (no essence) Normal

Racial abilities

Little Helper

Growing Magic

Storehouse

Get Off My Lawn

Astral Affinity

Gruff Wanderer

Basic information conveyed.

Important information to note is the abilities of Little Helper, Growing Magic, and Gruff Wanderer.

I represent the Little Helper ability and am here to help you interface with the world around you and answer any questions.

Growing Magic makes any farming you do generate magic and reap that magic into things you need.

Gruff Wanderer lets absorb Essences, Awakening Stones, and Skill Books. It also enables you to understand and speak the local language.

“First of all, thank you. I appreciate all the work you are doing to help me. Secondly, I don't appreciate being called old or Gruff! Everyone called me Old Abe, but you didn't have to.” I said, doing a required amount of grumbling about being called old.

Before I do anything else, I take a moment and center myself. I relax and send a few prayers up. I don’t know how I got here, but there has to be a reason I am here, and I just have to believe it works out. This situation isn't how I thought my time would be after I died, but maybe this world requires me, and if so, I'll be here to do what needs doing, and right now, what needs doing is farming.

“Alright, little buddy, it's time to get some farming done! First, I need to know how to get a garden hoe. Then I can get going!” I was excited that this was the most exciting thing since Gus and Kassandra had Little Emma!

I paused at that thought. I realized that I would never see my family again, that we were on different roads now, and that an intersection was unlikely. I didn't shove it down immediately. I let myself feel all the pain and anguish that those thoughts held. Then I put them aside. I couldn't focus on that now. I had to focus on the task at hand, on the new life I was about to begin.

Request registered.

Quest Generated.

Begin a Grove.

Requirements: transplant five saplings into your farming area.

Reward: One gardening hoe.

“Sounds good, let's get to work!” I said and made my way to the edge of the clearing and began to look for saplings from the local forest. I think the trees were a kind of oak but closer in size to a redwood. They were beautiful as the sunlight filtered through the leaves, creating a mesmerizing display as the wind gently rustled them.

Unfortunately, it was ruined by meeting my first monster.

“Ow!” I clutched at the side of my head, suddenly blossoming with pain as I looked around and saw a squirrel. Despite its voluminous fur, it had an incredibly fluffy brown coat that looked like it would be amazing to pet. It was adorable.

It was also about to throw another acorn at me. I took a step to the side and dodged the relatively slow projectile. Seeing that its tried and true strategy was no longer working, I decided to close the distance. I could feel Helper wanted to say something, but we both knew I couldn't read fast enough to see what he wanted to tell me.

I started backing up and taking my shirt off as I did. As it closed the distance, I crouched slightly, regretting it instantly as my joints cracked in protest. But I held firm, and as the fluffy squirrel jumped at me, I caught it in my shirt and wrapped it tight so it couldn't claw me or tear it up too badly. I still got some scratches on my hands, although it was nothing too worrying.

“Alright, Boxy, what have you got for me?” I asked, holding the squirrel under one arm as I continued looking for some saplings.

Ah, yes, I wanted to let you know that what you have just subdued is not a wild animal but a Normal Rank monster, also known as a lesser monster. They are essentially feral and are going wild from the magic that makes them up, beginning to break down and no longer being stable enough to sustain them properly.

Also, the short battle triggered your Outworlder Ability, Get Off My Lawn. It assisted and is still helping with dealing with this creature.

At your earliest convenience, I recommend killing the creature.

I grunted in acknowledgment at Boxy but continued to hold the squirrel. I stopped looking around for a moment, looked down at the bundle in my arms that was still struggling, and thought about it for a moment.

“What happens when they aren't killed? I'm sure there are tons of these things out in the wilderness that never get killed.” I asked Boxy to clarify the situation.

After their magic destabilizes, Lesser monsters in the wild go wholly wild and attack anything but members of their species.

“So they don't have control of themselves, and their nature makes them do it when they don't want to. Is that right?”

Correct.

“Then what these creatures need is not to be put down; they need help for the time they have left.” With that, I slowly unwound my shirt and adjusted it until the little guy's head poked out.

I was again caught off guard by how adorable it was, even as it was still trying to attack me. Although I could tell it was running out of energy, I gently started to pet it and try to soothe it. I walked around and grabbed a few acorns, sat down with my back against a tree, and began slowly feeding it and petting the back of its head to try and get it to relax.

I could see the struggle to fight in its eyes and a tiredness that made me weary. I provided it with another acorn as I slowly hummed the tune I used to put little Emma to sleep. I had been looking forward to singing it to her daughter, too. She was due to be born in the next few weeks. As I hummed, tears fell down my face, and the grief came back with a vengeance. But I just continued to feed the little squirrel until it lost all energy to fight and fell asleep in my arms.

I was still humming when it dispersed into a rainbow of smoke.