And...those optimistic thoughts led to my current situation. Who the heck was stupid enough to venture into an unknown Isekai forest without any weapons or armour, or even a map? Me, that's who! At first I was just enjoying the scenery and looking out for birds and other interesting wildlife when I chanced upon a monster feeding on a kill, a large deer. My euphoria disappeared instantly and I broke out into a cold sweat as I stared at the scene in horror. I backed away instinctively and the monster must have heard the rustle of leaves. It looked up and spotted me. I whirled around and fled as fast as I could. Sounds of pursuit spurred me to greater speeds and I practically flew over rocks and tree roots. I was sure I had never run so fast before, even during sports day events.

Just as my stamina was running out, I tripped and the fall ended up saving my life as the monster's cudgel whooshed through the space my head had been. I quickly attempted to get up and continue running again. What I saw stopped me in my tracks. At my feet was a shiny straight double-edged sword. I wasn't too familiar with swords, but it looked like an European-styled one. Was that what I had tripped over? It had a simple design, consisting of a naked blade with a cylindrical white grip and slightly thinner metal crossguard. Most of the blade was stuck in the ground though.

As for the monster chasing me, it had swung its cudgel so hard that the weapon was now stuck in the trunk of a tree above me thanks to the nails embedded in it. It was grunting as it tried in vain to pull it out.

I had a flash of inspiration and acted upon it immediately, pulling up the sword and swinging it at the monster. To my surprise, it came out of the ground so easily that my swing turned out more powerful than expected. The sword sliced through the monster like a knife through sizzling butter and the creature fell into two pieces with an astonished look on its face. The two pieces never hit the ground, turning into black smoke that blew away in the breeze.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I slumped down against the tree that just saved my life and stared at the insanely sharp sword. The fact that I had just killed a monster barely registered, but exhaustion soon overtook me and my vision went black.

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When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying on dried leaves at the base of a tree and clutching a sword in my right hand. I had no idea how long I had been out for, but thankfully no other monsters had come by. Looking at the sword again, I finally realised that I had become a bonafide Isekai protagonist and killed my first monster. Well, the sword had, at least.

To my disappointment, however, there was no voice or screen telling me I had levelled up or anything. Had that monster been too low-levelled? Did I have to say "Status" or "Appraise" or something like that? It would be rather embarrassing if I had to say that in front of people though, not to mention inconvenient. Just in case, I held out a hand and said, "Status! Appraise!" but nothing happened. I facepalmed and was glad no one was around to laugh at me.

"A-anyway, I had better be getting back or my parents would be worried," I spoke to no one in particular.

First, I had to find my way back to the mansion on this side. My heart sank as I realised I was lost. I could try retracing my steps, but what if there were more of those monsters where the dead deer was? I wasn't sure I could kill any of them since my first kill had pretty much been a fluke. Also, one thing puzzled me. The monster (a goblin, maybe?) had disappeared when it was killed, but the dead deer remained there. What was the difference? And come to think of it, the cudgel had remained stuck in the tree, but the rusty armour it was wearing had disappeared with it. Was the weapon considered a monster drop? Or was it because the monster had let go of it just before it died?

I pondered these questions as I carefully retraced my steps. It was easy to tell the way I had come with all the broken branches from the monster swinging its cudgel. I had more or less run in a straight line since I hadn't even been thinking as I ran. Somehow, I felt more confident with the sword in my hand, even though I had no experience in any martial arts at all. At most I could do cool poses like those in manga or anime, but those wouldn't intimidate anyone. Regardless, I reached the dead deer without encountering another monster. From there, I glanced around to try to find my way back to the old mansion. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell which direction I came from and there were no obvious paths to show me the way back. Uh oh...what should I do now?

I was lost in another world. Hey, that could make a great title for a light novel, was the only random thought that came to my mind.