All of my senses are dull. I can barely think. My limbs are numb and shaky. I look down at my stomach. It's completely torn open. I can see my organs. Most of them are shredded. Some are split in half. Blood is flowing in. I uncontrollably cough for a few seconds. The pain makes my mind numb. I look around. I'm alone. There's a dead wolf next to me. A status window is floating in my vision.
[You have killed a Wolf, Level 3, G rank]
[Level 1 > 2]
[Gained 1 Beast Core (Common)]
Another system window pops up after I finish reading. My vision fades for a brief moment, but I refocus.
Class: N/A
Race: Human
Rank: G (Bottom)
Potential Rank: G (Bottom)
Level: 2
Experience: 2/15
Strength: 2
Constitution: 2
Agility: 2
Mana: 2
Stat Points: 3
[Skills]
Recover
I desperately look through the window for anything useful. A deep, primal fear settles in my torn-open chest. I don't want to die. The moment I see the skill called [Recover], I try to use it. I attempt to speak at first, but a painful cough filled with blood interrupts me. Instead, I hold a hand over my stomach and think about using the skill. A dark mist with intermittent black spots surround my hand. I put my hand inside of my stomach, clenching my jaw. Some of my organs heal. It's not nearly enough. I look back to the system window, with what I assume to be my stats. I put all of my stat points into Mana.
[Mana 2 > 5]
I use the rest of my mana, watching as my organs slowly patch themselves together. It's disgusting. Thin strands of flesh and blood grow out and from my organs, pulling them together. Luckily, my lungs aren't punctured. Very, very lucky. Unfortunately, this fucking hurts. The feeling of flesh spontaneously growing and bending itself to the system's will is nearly incomprehensible. It takes everything I have not to pass out. Even still, the moment I run out of mana, I pass out.
[Recover 1 > 2]
[Recover 2 > 3]
My eyes open. I'm alive. My head feels like it's being torn apart. My stomach also feels like that. It's... less torn apart now. At least I have the privilege of thinking, now. The sun has moved. I only have a few hours of daylight left. I look down at my stomach and resist the urge to throw up. It would be really, really bad if I threw up into my stomach. I raise a shaky hand to my stomach, the red mist from my [Recover] skill diffusing into the air around it. My hand hovers above my organs. I feel them being stitched together, but I look away. The sound is disgusting. It makes me light-headed. At least I don't have to look at my alien organs. I use all of the mana, and my organs are close to being healed, but not quite there. I'm stable, at least. Well, as stable as a man with a fucking hole in his stomach can be.
I feel a dull throb in my head. I don't think it's from the pain or stress. It feels different. It feels drier, kinda like I'm thirsty. In my brain. Maybe it's because I used all of my mana? Not sure. At least my everything else hurts a little less. After a few seconds, I become bored. I can't do a lot here, and I've already disassociated from my gaping stomach. It feels more like a shitty coworker, now. As long as I don't look at it. I decide to try something useful in my spare time. All of the system windows have closed at this point, but I remember some sort of stat window. The moment I think about it, it appears in front of me.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Class: N/A
Race: Human
Rank: G (Bottom)
Potential Rank: G (Bottom)
Level: 2
Experience: 2/15
Strength: 2
Constitution: 2
Agility: 2
Mana: 5
Stat Points: 0
[Skills]
Recover: 3
I look through everything. So, I guess I got some experience from killing that [Wolf]. Fuck. The feeling of my own thoughts being uncontrollably boldened is really disorienting. Was it shared with those assholes that left me to die? How much did I gain? I didn't see my experience before I levelled up, so I'm not sure how much I needed. Maybe I got 3 xp, so one for each level? Also. I put all of my stat points into Mana. What is Mana? Does it do anything? Honestly, I'm not sure what the other stats do, either. Other than the obvious stuff, of course. Strength makes you strong, Constitution makes you constitute things better, Agility makes you agile, but I have no idea to what extent. Did all of my stats start at 2 or 1? Do I get stats when I level up? What stats does the average human have? How much stronger does a stat point make me? It's all so confusing. And fucked. I'm fucked.
After messing around a bit and seeing if I can do anything in my stat window (I can't), I discover that I have an inventory by complete accident.
[Inventory]
Beast Core (Common)
With a single thought, a small, green pearl appears in my hand. It almost slips out of my blood-covered hand. I look at it for a brief moment, and a small system window pops up.
[Consume?]
I hesitate for a brief moment, but decide to do it. I won't learn anything if I shy away from every opportunity I have, and I clearly need to learn as much as I can about this world and the system to survive. I would already be dead without my skill, anyways. The small green pearl glows for a brief moment, and then it turns into mist that forcefully enters my nose and mouth. It's not pleasant. The mist is viscous. I hate it.
[Constitution 2 > 3]
I like it when the numbers go up. I don't feel any changes in my body, though. Well, there's not much else to do, now. I guess I can look at the [Wolf]? How did it even die, anyways? I put up a hand to block my guts from my vision and look at the [Wolf]. It's laying on its side, dead. Its entire face is covered in blood, presumably mine, and it has a ghastly hole in its neck. It also seems to be missing an eye. On top of that, its back right leg is bent almost completely backwards. Damn. Maybe it's a good thing I don't remember the fight? Seems like it was pretty fucked up.
Oh shit.
My cat sweater.
It's fucking ruined.
Well, that sucks, I guess. I really liked that sweater. Maybe I can use [Recover] on the sweater? Actually, that's a pretty interesting thought. What does [Recover] do anyway? Clearly it can heal me, but how the fuck does it work? I have so many questions. At least I can be a little bit interested in some stuff. Well, I don't really have that much to do, other than wait for my mana to regenerate. Maybe I can like, channel the ambient mana, or something? Does ambient mana even exist? Whatever. I'm gonna give it a shot.
I close my eyes and slowly, carefully breathe. I'm still in terrible pain, but it's bearable. After a few minutes, I'm finally able to enter a state of calm. I've meditated a few times before, so that's easy enough, I guess. I sit in that state for a few more minutes, and eventually feel a small tug on my consciousness. It feels like someone's gently pulling my head. I open my eyes and tilt my head up, looking in the direction of the tug. It's the mountains. Strange. I keep doing this for about another hour. Once I've gotten used to it, I feel more, weaker tugs on my mind. They're coming from the mountains, the fortress, the village and the forest, in order from strongest to weakest. I think I'm sensing some sort of mana? Maybe it's large collections of mana. It could also be consciousness or something, and I've gained psychic powers. Probably not. Maybe the [Goblin King] is in the mountains? Or maybe it's some other monster. I have no clue. At least that distracted me for a while. I feel like most of my mana is back. I hover my hand over my stomach and use [Recover]. It's still sickening, but I watch it anyways. The red mist seeps into my organs and small tendrils of flesh come out from them, stitching together my organs. It looks like the [Recover] skill is using me as a puppet, or something.
[Recover 3 > 4]
I still have some mana left, so I bring my hand over my skin. I watch as my skin slowly mends itself with little alien-like tendrils. It fucking hurts. After a few seconds, the gaping hole in my stomach is gone, replaced by scarred flesh covered in blood. I stop using the skill, and slowly sit up. My head aches and my stomach churns as I do so, but nothing breaks. I carefully stand up, feeling incredibly dizzy, and turn towards the village. My steps are slow and staggered, but I'm incredibly happy that I can walk. My stomach growls. Only now do I realize how hungry I am. And how bad my head hurts. My thoughts are fuzzy and slow, but nothing seems too off about them. I think. Not sure. The sun sets in front of me as I walk. I'm alive.