I wake up, looking around to find green-skinned people sitting in an unfamiliar cave. What? Where am I? It's cold, and I'm wet. Afraid of the green people, I crawl back to the wall and notice that my skin is also green. What? What am I?

Suddenly, a blue screen appears. Panicking, I want it to go away, which it does. Breathing heavily, I try to remember my last memories. Hm… I was reading a novel on my phone while walking home... Wait… Did I stop at that red light? Damn it! I suddenly remember that I was so engrossed in the novel that I forgot to stop at a red light at a pedestrian crossing! It’s over. I have been killed by Truck-kun.

I look around. Now that I've calmed down a bit, it’s obvious that I’m the same species as the green people, which means they are unlikely to kill me. Did I reincarnate somehow? There was no goddess, though. I look around more. In a corner, there are two human women. Both are naked, and it is obvious they recently gave birth. Is one of them my mother?

Most of the green people are only around a meter high. There is one male with a similar height to humans. I and all new children are smaller, around ten centimeters high. I’m really small. Am I some kind of goblin?

The blue box appears again, but I decide to investigate this time. However, all the text is in some foreign language to me, and I’m not able to understand anything. I try to concentrate on a box, and suddenly information flows into my brain.

Endurance: 2

The text didn’t change, but I can understand its meaning. Interesting. I try that on the rest of the boxes, and it is the same each time.

Name: NA

Age: 0

Race: Goblin

Level:0/10

Strength: 1 (2)

Vitality: 3 (5)

Endurance: 2 (3)

Dexterity: 3 (6)

Intelligence: 21 (23)

Will: 15 (16)

Affinity: 3

Health:16/16

Stamina:19/19

Mana:0/0

Traits

Iron Stomach 1

Combat skills

None

Magic Skills

None

Crafting Skills

None

Titles

None

You have a free skill to choose!

A skill for free? I check the stats first. Strength is simply physical muscle power. Vitality relates to regeneration, stamina, and pools. Higher vitality means faster regeneration and larger pools. Endurance pertains to enduring physical hits, with higher endurance resulting in less damage and tougher skin and body. Dexterity is about precise and stable movement.

Intelligence enhances brain capabilities, such as thinking speed. Will represents a form of mental endurance. Affinity measures the connection to magic and mana, making casting easier. Fascinating. Magic exists here. I focus on brackets, discovering that these are the stats I'll have after growing up.

Then, there are pools—more informative than system-governed. Health indicates the amount of damage a body can endure before shutting down and dying. You could have negative health and still be alive, but there is no coming back from that, at least on your own. Considering there is mana, I bet there are healing spells to help with that. Stamina is similar, with regeneration functioning like on Earth. Resting speeds up stamina regeneration, as does sleeping, and vitality plays a role.

My mana is at zero, but the system states it's my internal mana, whatever that means. I lack any skills or titles, but the system informs me that I can only have ten in each category, similar to Traits. However, I do have the Iron Stomach trait, so I decide to check it out.

Iron Stomach

Makes the user omnivorous. Provides some resistance to poison in food. Enhances digestion abilities.

Hm… It’s better than nothing. I bet it will be useful, given my current surroundings. The rest of the goblins are naked, and only the big one has a loincloth.

I should check that free skill, but let’s examine the rest first.

I check my name. None. The system informs me I don’t qualify for a name. Age is self-explanatory, and I don’t learn anything more. Race is more interesting.

Goblin (Common)

1st tier Monster

A race of small humanoid monsters. They are social beings. All goblins are born as males and can have children with females of enlightened species. Can easily evolve into other forms of its evolutionary tree.

Racial traits: Iron Stomach

Growth per level:

+0.1 Strength

+0.2 Vitality

+0.1 Endurance

+0.2 Dexterity

+0.1 Intelligence

+0.1 Will

+0.1 Affinity

Hm… Interesting, but this growth rate... I will only get one or two stat points before reaching the maximum level. I check the level part, and it is just like I thought. I have to kill to earn experience points, and at level ten, I can possibly evolve into a better race.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I sigh. Reading my status screen calms me down. I want to go back, but I know my body on Earth is dead. There is no going back. This is giving me the power to go forward. I chuckle. There was a similar situation in history. Conquistadors burned their ships to make sure Spanish soldiers wouldn’t even think about going back. It was to go forward or die.

Some goblins walk into the cave, I'm assuming we are in a cave, bringing with them the carcass of a deer. They rip legs off for themselves and throw entrails to the children. I’m completely surprised when goblin children start eating and fighting for it. Damn. I’m hungry, too. I suppose I have to trust the Iron Stomach trait. I crawl to the entrails, which are completely disgusting. Back on earth, I wouldn’t want to even touch them if possible. I have no choice if I don’t want to die of hunger. It's not possible for me to hunt down anything right now. I think about eating plants, but I’m rather sure that goblins aren’t able to digest plants, even with their traits. They aren’t herbivores with a specific biology and digestive system specifically designed to digest fiber from plants.

I suppose I can look for some roots or something. I shake my head. Roots are probably going to be similarly unappetizing. I take a bite. The taste is unfamiliar but not disgusting. Everything is quickly eaten, and I’m left hungry because of my reluctance. I sigh and decide to check out that skill.

Status! It opens up. The system informs me that I can choose one starting trait or skill for free. I check the list. There are quite a lot of them. I check combat skills first.

Dodge (Common) You know how to avoid an enemy’s attacks.

It is pretty basic. Additionally, the system informs me the skill won’t have any passive bonuses. For every ten skill levels in a skill, I would be able to choose between active and passive minor abilities for the skill. Skill progress relies only on my understanding and real skill. Raising skill levels is more complicated and depends on experience points, which means that to get level ten and an active ability, I have to kill some things. However, I can train and raise my skill cap (and real skills) above that in a peaceful environment.

The system also informs me that I can get the first level of skill just by training, which means I should get a skill that should be the hardest to gain by training.

I check all combat skills, but they are all pretty basic, like weapon skills, brawling, but also sneaking and hiding. I briefly consider stealth skills, but I decide they should be easy enough to get manually. Most of them are common, with a few being uncommon. By concentrating on rarity, the system informs me that it is related to how good a skill is.

Knowing what to expect, I check the list of magic skills. They are a lot more interesting, though there are only eight of them.

Mana Control (Common): You know how to control mana.

Mana Perception (Common): You can perceive mana.

Mana Manipulation (Uncommon): You know how to manipulate mana.

Mana Sense (Uncommon): You can sense mana.

Mana Infusion (Uncommon): You can infuse mana into your body, temporarily giving you more strength and endurance.

Mana Enforcement (Uncommon): You can infuse mana into a tool or weapon, giving it more durability.

Mana Strike (Uncommon): You can send destructive mana out of your weapon and do more damage to your enemy.

Mana Orb (Uncommon): You can create an orb of destructive mana and use it to damage your enemy.

The system also informs me that the last four skills need to be supplied with internal or external mana. That means only mana manipulation and mana sense are viable for me. Mana Control and Mana Perception look like the weaker versions of the two. I don’t have any internal mana. I have no idea if there is external mana in the air, though.

I check traits, which are more interesting than crafting skills.

Tough Skin (Uncommon): Your skin is tough, allowing you to minimize damage.

The system informs me that traits also have levels and could be strengthened. A skill like Tough Skin cannot be upgraded by learning, so I figure I would have to take a beating to level it up. I check the rest of the traits. There are sensory traits, like Good Eyes (Uncommon), but also other Tough Series traits, like Strong Bones (Uncommon). Some traits upgrade specific body parts, like Sharp Claws (Uncommon). All of them are pretty basic. Some of them are solid, though, so I contemplate getting one of these skills rather than a magic skill that may not even work.

The last remaining section is crafting skills. Once again, they are pretty basic, like Woodworking (Common), Bonecrafting (Common), Tinkering (Common), Trapmaking (Common), and so on. All very basic.

The decision is basically between traits, Mana Manipulation, and Mana Sense. Traits are obvious power-ups. I think I can get some of them, like Tough Skin or Strong Bones, by training my body, but others would be a lot harder, like Resistant Organs (Uncommon). Getting a good trait would immediately give me more power. Power than I probably need. On the other hand, getting a skill would give me some knowledge. Due to my human memories, I think that getting most combat and crafting skills would be easy enough. On the other hand, Earth didn’t have magic, so I know nothing about it.

The problem is that I can only learn one skill. I can take Mana Manipulation, but I may not be able to sense mana, so the skill would be useless. Mana Sense won’t give me any spells, or at least, I don’t think so.

Ultimately, I decide to pursue magic. It's not only because it’s magic—something mysterious and interesting. In most novels and games, magic allows for ranged attacks, making it safer, especially in a group. Additionally, my stats are better for magic than for physical combat.

So, Mana Manipulation or Mana Sense? I sigh and pick up Mana Sense. Who knows if there is even any mana around me?

You have learned Mana Sense (Uncommon)!

I suddenly feel faint, but it passes quickly. It isn’t some instruction manual or knowledge injected into my mind. Rather than that, I gain a new sense. I can feel something around me. A wind? Not really, but I know it worked. I concentrate on that feeling and try to make sense of it. After a few hours, I think I'm getting better at it. Every goblin goes to sleep, with most children cuddling together for warmth. I join them, not being a fan of the cold.

The next day's situation is the same. I try to improve my skills, but I’m also paying a bit of attention to the tribe. Goblins use a language, but it is not very complicated. It is mostly about grunts, gestures, and pointing at things. There are actually some words, but after one day, I already knew most of them. Most goblins left early and returned after midday. I notice there is one less goblin with them, but they bring another carcass. This time, I actively fought for food.

You have learned Brawling (Common)!

Nice. It is easy to defeat goblin children with my human intelligence. This time, I ate a lot more, but I could tell I was still hungry. I'm puzzled as to how such a small body can consume so much food, but then I notice that all goblin children have grown by two or three centimeters overnight. It is no wonder, then.

I continue with my practice, getting slightly better at sensing mana. I tried to move it, but with no success.

The next day is similar for me. The biggest, human-sized goblin doesn’t let human women rest today, and he engaged in activities with them for a few hours. The biggest goblin, the hobgoblin, is obviously the leader of this small tribe. I wanted to help the women, but I knew it wouldn’t be good for me. There are no female goblins in the tribe, so without humans, the tribe would die out sooner rather than later. I’m not strong enough to survive on my own, or at least I don't think so. Given that stronger, adult goblins were disappearing, most likely dead, this means my only chance of surviving is in a group.

The humans aren’t reacting to anything, though. Their eyes are dull. I wonder how they are still alive, given that I never saw goblins make food for them. I observe them for some time, and I notice one of the goblins has nipples on his hands, from which some kind of liquid is produced and fed to humans. Gross. I remembered it was one of the traits available for buying.

All the goblin children grew noticeably, even more than yesterday. I’m hungry, even though I ate way more than yesterday.

The next day, goblins bring sticks and branches to the cave, creating primitive weapons. Goblins make primitive spears and axes, likely as a way to teach children who are forced to mimic. I take a branch, cut all the smaller branches, and sharpen it with a sharp stone. Done.

You have learned Woodworking (Common)!

Congratulations! You made your first creation! Due to this, you are going to get the experience regardless of quality or rarity!

You have created a spear!

Rarity: Common

Quality: Extremely Poor

You have earned 7 experience points!

Great. I get that I won’t be able to farm experience points with crafting. I guess there is some cut-out quality and rarity that you don’t get experience points below. Anyway, it’s good that I have a weapon, no matter how shabby it is.

The next few days will be similar. I manage to become familiar with sensing mana. Mana is in the air, drifting here and there like a breeze. I also notice there is a different feel to the mana in the air compared to the mana on the stone walls of the cave. Is it some elemental mana?

Goblin children are growing fast, and I gain new skills by sparring with others.

You have learned Spear Fighting (Common)!

After a week, goblin children are half a meter high. The next day, hobgoblins decide we are big enough to hunt on our own and lead us out of the cave.