After the numbingly fast shifts in circumstance I gathered myself. I needed to quickly determine the steps to a tentative plan. Despite being in a new world I expected I was still essentially human. With that said, I knew several things. In order, I needed water, food, then pants. Unfortunately I knew pants had to fall lower on the list as I wouldn’t risk death by dehydration because of my indecency.
With not much to go off of I followed a simple plan. Follow the sun overhead in one direction and hope I found something before I died. Part of me itched to look more into the system but I wasn’t able to convince myself I could risk it while stranded in the woods. It was either mid morning or early evening, but I had a feeling it was early in the day. Plan in mind I started off on my self prescribed path.
After the fourth time I stepped on something sharp, only a couple minutes into my journey, I nearly lost it again. I stopped and leant my head against the smooth trunk of something recognizable as a tree. I needed to keep my mind away from useless frustration, so despite the risks I focused on calling up my status screen.
-|Status
Level (0)
SGP (0/10)
Name - (-)*
Race - (Human)
HP - (100/100)
MP - (1/1)
Stats*
Skills*
Traits* |-
Mentally focusing on the asterisks gave me submenus related to each category.
-|Name
Please input a name [_ _ _] |-
I determined to hold of on selecting my name, as I didn’t know where I was and I didn’t know anything about the importance of names in my new reality. In truth I expected very little to come of my caution but I decided I’d rather be safe than sorry.
-|Stats
Strength - (8/1)
Wisdom - (6/1)
Intelligence - (7/1)
Constitution - (7/1)
Luck - (5/1)
Dexterity - (8/291,518,714,290)|-
The skills list was essentially a completely blank screen, a clear reflection of my capability in this new world, but my stats seemed to reflect what must have been my stats before I arrived despite being greater than what I was supposed to be able to achieve. The traits list was exactly the same as I’d seen when I received them in the first place. The only part of the system I didn’t have a relatively clear explanation for was the meaning of SGP. It seemed to fill the role of experience if I had to take a guess but something about that didn’t seem to match just right.
Still, I was unable to make much of the information. I pondered momentarily about the nature of skills. Based on reading far to many stories of people like myself, I knew that skills usually fell into two broad categories. First, that of a specific set of abilities a system would gift you in relation to some kind of class. Second, that of a particular activity you received credit for due to repetition and skill.
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Unable to sate my curiosity about much, I decided that testing with kind skills this system used was worth the attempt, even in my breezy state. Stooping down, I foraged for several minutes. After finding my prizes, I stood, arched my back, and looked down at my hands. Staring back at me were three lumpy grey rocks, all vaguely similar in size.
I’d never been a performer, and my skills in juggling were barely more than abysmal, but I knew I could probably get at least a few revolutions before dropping anything semi-spherical and about the size of an orange. Muscle memory didn’t fail me, and after a couple false starts I got all three rocks dancing around each other in the air.
In the corner of my vision I noticed an unobtrusive popup after only a few seconds. My mediocre juggling skills didn’t allow for even that level of a distraction, so I nearly lost an eye when one of my rocks slammed into my forehead before falling to the dirt. Rubbing my head I looked at the new notifications.
-|Congratulations! You have learned a new skill (Juggling[D] - LV (1))|-
Dismissing the window, I went to close my screens again entirely but noticed two slight changes in my status screen.
-|Status
Level (0)
SGP (1/10)
Name - (-)*
Race - (Human)
HP - (99/100)
MP - (1/1)
Stats*
Skills*
Traits* |-
Turned out, ever point earned in a skill gave me SGP, and a lightly tossed rock to the forehead did one HP damage. This was good news, as apparently I could train skills just by attempting things, and I had a pretty solid feeling that if I reached ten SGP, I’d be able to level up. Slightly reinvigorated by my discoveries, I made myself close all the windows, and get back to trekking.
Knowing that being stranded in the woods at level zero most likely wouldn’t be good for my health, I focused on trying new things as I stomped my way through the underbrush. Despite knowing that running naked through a forest was probably a bad idea, I couldn’t help but see if I could gain a skill for running.
I pushed myself into a light jog, just fast enough I couldn’t consider it walking. Despite having never run naked through a forest, I’d spent probably far too much of my time running, though generally for sport. I was hoping the system would recognize the skill I had prior to getting here and give my skill points based on my actual skill, not just my practice under it’s purview.
A few seconds later, I saw another small signal in my vision. Pulling it up, I was rewarded with exactly what I hoped for.
-|Congratulations! You have learned the skill (Running [D] - LV (8))|-
I dismissed the notification, and without looking knew my SGP was most likely sitting right at nine. I continued pushing myself with the goal of seeing if I could reach level one by getting my SGP to ten. Another few minutes passed, the natural noise of a forest only interrupted by the occasional mumbled curse when I stepped on something particularly uncomfortable, until I received another notification.
-|Congratulations! You have reached Level (1) You have been awarded (1) Stat Point to each
Stat below its Allocation Cap. You have been awarded (10) free Stat Points.|-
-|You have reached Stat Allocation Cap for (Strength) you will no longer receive Stat Points for
this stat upon level up.|-
-|You have reached Stat Allocation Cap for (Wisdom) you will no longer receive Stat Points for
this stat upon level up.|-
-|You have reached Stat Allocation Cap for (Intelligence) you will no longer receive Stat Points
for this stat upon level up.|-
-|You have reached Stat Allocation Cap for (Constitution) you will no longer receive Stat Points
for this stat upon level up.|-
-|You have reached Stat Allocation Cap for (Luck) you will no longer receive Stat Points for this
stat upon level up.|-
-|Please allocate Free Stat Points
Stats
Strength - (8/1)^
Wisdom - (6/1)^
Intelligence - (7/1)^
Constitution - (7/1)^
Luck (5/1)^
Dexterity (8/291,518,714,290)^|-
Excited, but still not a little bit salty about the way in which I’d been fucked with by the R.O.B., I allocated my points the only way I could. By dumping them directly into dexterity. Instantly I felt a massive difference. I knew I was definitely faster, and despite the world around me moving at the same speed, everything from the way the leaves rustled above me to the way my heart beat was noticeably easier to follow.
With an uncontrollable grin on my face I started back on my run. It felt like I was going faster than humanly possible, and the grace with which I ran was preternatural. In just a few seconds I was leaping from root to root springing off of firm footholds in a way that was definitely more than human.
Grin still on my face I looked at my skills. It was unbelievable how much I’d gained in just one level. Apparently, hitting level one allowed my stats to affect my skills, as instead of just gaining a small boost my dexterity related skills gained a boost equal to the stat.
-|Skills
Juggling[D] - LV (1+18)
Running[D] - LV (9+18)|-
My grin stayed on my face, but unfortunately I’d gotten distracted by the good news on the display in front of my as my forehead committed fully to a getting to know an low