I spent another hour or so continuing to walk in a straight line from where I’d left off before I’d gotten distracted by the lake. On my way through the endless forest, I’d run into another pool of green slime, this one pond-sized.

I honestly felt tempted to try eating the stuff. Stupid George, putting crazy ideas in my head…

Other than that, I also found a rocky hill without much vegetation. I could finally test out the other skill I’d bought.

Just as with heat vision, I could feel the mental switch and an instinct telling me what to do with my throat muscles to use the skill.

The description said that it would grant me enough fire resistance that I didn’t need to worry, not to mention the blessing, but I still felt a bit apprehensive about this.

Well, nothing for it. I’d already bought the skill, so not even trying it would have been a waste.

So with that said, I breathed in, noting the warmth in my stomach, before gently breathing out like I was doing a breathing exercise or something. As expected, a surge of heat erupted from somewhere in my stomach and rushed through my airways and out of my mouth, forming a cone of flames that covered the rocks in front of me. It felt weird. Like a mix between vomiting and exhaling but not quite. The fire felt pleasantly warm rather than hot and dangerous, but I still couldn’t help but start instinctively choking.

GeorgeDoshington: BUUUUURN FILTHY ROCKS

FouxMoux: how hot is the fire?

uptonMIKE: you alright?

The fire in front of me quickly dissipated once I interrupted the breath, but the small patches of grass between the rocks still caught fire.

I got the coughing under control, breathed in again, and touched my throat. It was warm. Warmer than normal.

“...I’m fine, chat. It just felt really weird… No idea how hot the fire is, Foux. Don’t even know how I would test it.”

I sighed, then breathed in, and tried to do it again, this time without choking.

Just like before, heat flooded my airways and I spewed out flames that dissipated the moment I reached the end of my exhale. I managed not to choke this time. Progress.

Hold on, were the rocks glowing a bit from the heat…? Huh, pretty dang hot fire breath, then.

FouxMoux: how can you even do that? Do you have a new organ that stores and generates heat?

trelipideliberitation: yoooo what up everyone?

GeorgeDoshington: sup

“Now, that’s a mighty good question Foux. I have no clue!” I looked down at my stomach and rubbed it. Then I smiled. “Hey! Welcome, Trelipe… Trelide… Tre…lipi…deli… … Trelip! Welcome!”

FouxMoux: do you feel colder now?

“Not really, Foux.” I frowned. “It’s like the skill just made fire out of nothing… Although I do feel a bit more tired.”

GeorgeDoshington: its using the ether thingy right?

trelipideliberitation: are you burning down a firest?

“Oh, yeah. Ether. Not that I know what that is, though.” I huffed. “No no, I’m not burning anything down! I’m just testing the fire breath skill.” I opened up the skill’s description, just so the newcomer could see. Then I saw that the fire was slowly spreading from the little patches of grass and quickly stomped on it before I turned into a liar.

trelipideliberitation: oh cool its a vr game?

GeorgeDoshington: naw its an ARG

I let out a long-suffering sigh.

“It’s neither a VR game nor an ARG. This is real life for me now,” I grumbled as I left the scene of the crime and continued trekking on. ”I’ve gotten isekai’d into this weird empty world and I have no idea what to do. Ugh…” I scowled. “But you’re gonna call it whatever you want anyway. Not like anyone would ever believe I was actually reincarnated in another world. So… yeah, whatever.”

FouxMoux: well, it IS pretty unbelievable

uptonMIKE: I don’t really believe it but I’m acting like it’s all real

FouxMoux: but so far it’s been convincing

trelipideliberitation: hmmmmm

GeorgeDoshington: just wait til she gets tired and ends the stream lol

“Yeah… thanks, guys… Not you, George. You suck.”

My stomach then grumbled once again, making me let out a pathetic whine.

“Ugh… This isekai adventure is going terribly so far. I can’t even find anything to eat…”

GeorgeDoshington: eat the trees

trelipideliberitation: you know what

trelipideliberitation: I like it

trelipideliberitation: its unique

I eyed the various trees and bushes around me. As always, I couldn’t see any fruits or berries, but maybe I could try eating the leaves themselves…?

“Maybe… I don’t know! I just want an apple or something!” I growled. “Thanks, Trelip… I guess?”

Once again, I remembered the sweet-smelling lakes of suspicious green slime. I was honestly beginning to get tempted to go back to one of them and simply try eating the stuff since I didn’t have any alternatives.

But not yet. I wasn’t that desperate yet. That stuff looked gross anyway.

For a couple more hours, I continued to walk in a straight line while taking breaks here and there when I got too tired, hoping to find something other than more trees. I still hadn’t even seen a single animal or insect, and it was honestly beginning to feel unsettling. Despite walking through a forest, everything just felt so… dead.

Paradoxically, the lack of living things only set me on edge. Like at some point, a giant monster would appear to compensate for the hours of dead silence.

And then suddenly, as if to break things up on purpose, a blue screen popped up in front of me.

‘Baby steps’ achievement unlocked!

+1 Skill point

I jumped with a startled scream. “Wha–?!”

GeorgeDoshington: wtf jumpscare

uptonMIKE: it’s a horror game now?

GeorgeDoshington: lmao

“Stupid system…” I murmured, my cheeks going red. “What is this? Achievement? There are achievements?! And they give skill points?!”

The system dutifully answered me by opening a huge window comparable to the skills one, this one split into five columns.

Achievements:

Complete arbitrary tasks to gain Skill points, unlock titles, and gain access to higher tier limit breaks.

Tier 1:

Baby steps - Take a total of 30k steps. [COMPLETE]

Aerial menace - Defeat 5 flying opponents without using projectiles.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

Allied force - Conquer any dungeon in a party of three or more people.

Arm day - Do a total of 500 pushups.

…And so on it went. The second column had Tier 2 achievements, third column Tier 3, and so on.

I gaped at the massive wall of text, before once again willing to somehow compress it into something digestible. The screen complied by getting rid of everything save for the one achievement I’d completed, but then immediately brought everything back since I didn’t like that either.

GeorgeDoshington: holy shit those tier 5 lmao

uptonMIKE: that’s a lot of spam

trelipideliberitation: damnnnn

“...Okay, chat. I think I found my main source of skill points,” I said absently as my eyes scanned the achievements and their requirements. I briefly glanced at the tier 5 section and my eyes nearly bulged out of my skull at the first one I read.

Interplanetary - Travel to another planet without the help of any vehicle or transportation device.

Yeah, okay. What the hell?! Was that something I would eventually be able to do?! Just how powerful could the system make someone?! How would you even do that without a vehicle or a teleporter? Jump really hard?!

GeorgeDoshington: time to grind Nana

I scoffed. “Time to grind… Uh huh…” I frowned as I scanned over the tier ones I could feasibly do and found out that most either involved dungeons or just a lot of exercising. Also, even the easiest tier 1s required a lot of effort to achieve – like doing 500 squats. And they all probably gave just a single skill point as a reward.

“Right… I guess skill points are pretty hard to get,” I mumbled.

FouxMoux: hey you could get Appraisal with one more point

FouxMoux: and use it on the green stuff

My eyes lit up.

“You’re right, Foux! I have one more skill slot and I just need one more point to buy it…”

GeorgeDoshington: you gotta get that flameguard!

trelipideliberitation: what other skills can you get?

I completely ignored George and opened the skill shop absent-mindedly just to show all my new viewers, while I thought about what to do now that I knew about achievements.

First step would probably be to complete one tier 1 achievement for that one skill point, so I could buy Appraisal and scan the green stuff like Foux had said. Step two? Well… I still wasn’t completely sure, to be honest.

GeorgeDoshington: wait what about quests?

I blinked, my thoughts stuttering to a halt.

Right. Quests. I’d completely forgotten, but hadn’t the streamer skill come from completing a quest? It had also given me those five points. Could I get another quest with rewards this juicy?

“Right! Quests! Why didn’t you remind me sooner, George?!”

GeorgeDoshington: forgot lol

I narrowed my eyes in annoyance, before mentally calling to the system to show me quests.

Quests:

Complete quests to gain skill points, unlock specific skills, and gain other benefits. Failing a quest may inflict penalties.

You can accept up to three side quests but only one main quest. Side quests have a time limit, while main quests do not. Main quests grant much greater rewards than side quests. All quests can be accepted as side quests, but only certain ones can be main quests. You can downgrade a main quest into a side quest after accepting it, which will decrease its rewards, but the penalties will stay the same.

Current main quest:

None

Current side quests:

None

Generate new quests

“Okay, there we go!” I cheered.

uptonMIKE: so quests are high risk high reward, achievements are no risk low reward

“Right, yeah, looks like it,” I agreed with a nod. I grinned. “Finally! A direction! Let’s see it, system! Gimme your finest quests, system!”

Generating new quests, please wait…

I frowned and let out an annoyed grunt. “Stupid loading screens…”

While I waited, I scanned over the achievement window, trying to find a relatively easy tier 1 achievement. They were all either impossible – like not having party members to clear a dungeon with – incredibly difficult in my current state, or just really grindy and annoying.

I either needed to find more dungeons and begin clearing them, or I needed to start grinding.

I grumbled under my breath, looking at a pair of achievements.

Arm day - Do a total of 500 pushups.

Leg day - Do a total of 500 squats.

“Chat, the stupid system is trying to get me to exercise!” I howled in indignation.

There was a reason why I hadn’t done that many 3D streams. Well, at least this body was much more agile and had more stamina. It should be easier to do all of that.

GeorgeDoshington: chop chop!

Very reluctantly, I stretched my arms in front of me and began doing squats while I waited for the loading screen to finish. George very enthusiastically began counting in the chat. The bastard.

It took five squats before the loading finished and presented me with a new window.

New quests generated:

Find the culprit (main/side quest)

Secrets of the world (main/side quest)

Rookie dungeoneer (side quest)

Don’t starve (side quest)

“Okay! Let’s see it!” I exclaimed as I dropped on my butt, opened each quest in a new window, put them all side by side for better clarity and began reading through the details.

Find the culprit:

(Time left: 2h, 59m, 57s )

You have been inexplicably kidnapped, killed, and reincarnated into what looks like an entirely different world. You suspect the culprit may be a phoenix. Find out who it was for sure and confront them.

Rewards(Main) - 50SP, Molten ash of new life skill for free

Rewards(Side) - 20SP

Penalty for failure(Main) - 100SP debt

Penalty for failure(Side) - 38SP debt

Accept as Main quest

Accept as Side quest (1000 days)

Decline

Secrets of the world:

(Time left: 2h, 59m, 57s )

You found yourself in a mysterious new world where things aren’t as they first seem. Figure out what this world really is and what happened to it.

Rewards(Main) - 10SP, Appraisal with Psychometry for free, Refunded SP if already bought

Rewards(Side) - 5SP

Penalty for failure(Main) - 20SP debt

Penalty for failure(Side) - 7SP debt

Accept as Main quest

Accept as Side quest (100 days)

Decline

Rookie dungeoneer:

(Time left: 2h, 59m, 57s )

You’ve had your first taste of a dungeon, but you failed. Get your revenge on those pesky dungeons and clear one for real this time!

Rewards - 2SP

Penalty for failure - 3SP debt

Accept as Side quest (14 days)

Decline

Don’t starve:

(Time left: 2h, 59m, 57s )

Oh no! You’re in the wilderness without any source of food! Find something to eat that won’t kill you! Quick! Before you die!

Rewards - 1SP

Penalty for failure - Death by starvation

Accept as Side quest (3 days)

Decline

“Okay… This is a lot to take in. Hmm, I guess I have three hours to accept the quests before they go away again?” I speculated, seeing all the quests had the timer.

trelipideliberitation: wtf that first one

GeorgeDoshington: lol its the same skill

FouxMoux: oh nice

GeorgeDoshington: its spreading like rabies

uptonMIKE: uh that last penalty…

I frowned.

“What are you talking about, George?”

GeorgeDoshington: the skill you get is teh same as the blesing thing

“The skill…?” Oh, the ‘Molten ash of new life’... Yeah, he was right. The blessing said that the phoenix had used that exact skill on me to reincarnate me. “What? You think this is how this skill spreads? Someone with the skill reincarnates random people, and then they get a quest that gives them the same skill? And then I’m gonna have to reincarnate random people to keep spreading it?”

GeorgeDoshington: dunno

GeorgeDoshington: it sounds sus

FouxMoux: first quest is best as main imo

GeorgeDoshington: mb it mindcontrols you into using it

I rolled my eyes.

George was probably overthinking it. Although the idea of being taken over by a damn skill…

“What does the skill even do, exactly?” I asked out loud.

For the first time since I’d begun messing with the system, I didn’t get a straight answer. Instead, I got this.

Molten ash of new life:

[LOCKED]

I blinked.

No info at all. The system locked it out completely. I only knew the name.

GeorgeDoshington: access denied

GeorgeDoshington: im afraid i cant let you do that dave

“Well then…” I slowly went back to looking through the quests until I noticed the penalty for failing the last one and I froze. “Uh… crap. Chat. Is this quest saying that I’m gonna starve in three days? Shouldn’t it be possible to survive longer than that? Why is it even a quest? Is finding food really that hard?!”

uptonMIKE: you should keep moving

trelipideliberitation: oh fuck

trelipideliberitation: gogogo

GeorgeDoshington: ur small so u need more food probably

GeorgeDoshington: or its isekai bs

“Yeah, you guys are right,” I said with a nod as my eyes rested on the last quest. “Actually… There really isn’t any reason to not accept this one, is there? I’m gonna die anyway if I don’t find food…”

I suddenly felt cold.

Dying to a giant killer robot was one thing, but starving to death somehow made it feel more real. People starved all the time. Who the heck ever got killed by killer robots?

And that was what made it so scary for me. A simple timer that said ‘You’re going to die in three days’ was somehow more terrifying than a sudden killer robot inquisition.

I swallowed.

“Alright… Don’t starve. Accept as a Side quest.”

‘Don’t starve’ Side quest accepted!

Main objective:

   Find something to eat.

Side objectives:

   Find a source of food that will last you at least a week.

Rewards - 1SP

Penalty for failure - Death by starvation

And wasn’t that a weird thought? Not starving being a side quest.

With that, I continued walking while I decided what to do with the other quests.