Well. That's fun.

I sighed and closed my eyes. I feel like I've been sighing a lot recently, huh.

"So you're telling me that there's basically no chance of me living past the first month in this world?" I questioned, desperate.

「Yes.」

Awesome. Suddenly I feel like all that time I spent think and prepare for this was all in vain. To be quite honest, I'm really not in the mood to overthink anymore so I'm just going to go with the option where it looks like I'll have the least chances to die.

"I pick Zandar."

「Understood.」

『Name: None (Currently)

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Speciality: Firecast

Hair Colour: Silver

Eye Colour: Black

Region of Birth: Zandar』

「You have now finished the 『Body Creation』 menu. Do you wish to enter the world?」

Yeah. Let me live and enjoy hell all over again.

「Understood. Please close your eyes.」

Close my eyes? Su-

=====================================|o-O-o|=====================================

I woke up and immediately wanted to go back to sleep. Or maybe I would say 'go to sleep' in this case? Was I sleeping before in the first place? I don't know, and quite frankly, thinking about all this is giving me a bigger headache than I started with.

I slowly stood up, my movements still groggy. I stretched my limbs and opened my eyes reluctantly, the light of the beaming sun flooding into my vision. God, it's bright. Now I'm seriously considering ditching this whole new life thing and just going back to sleep. But even so, I trudged on, painstakingly opening my eyes and gaining more and more control over my still asleep limbs.

Now that I could see, I observed the environment around me, taking note of how there seemed to be thick, towering trees surrounding my every path leaving only a small, round clearing in the very centre where I stood. Strange. Doesn't this kinda look like the place I just died in not so long ago? Shrugging off these intrusive thoughts, I walked around, looking for a gap where I could fit in. Soon enough I stumbled unto a tiny hole in-between two trees that was just about my size if I crawled. The journey inside the hole was quite uncomfortable but still I persevered. Somehow, I have the feeling I'll have to be doing that a lot from now on. Persevering, I mean.

Anyhow, the walk after the hole was slightly more pleasant - I followed along a well-trodden path, a sign that maybe I was closer to civilisation than I had first thought. As I strolled along, I took in my surroundings - analysing everything I could take in. The world I had landed in seemed surprisingly similar to Earth (or at least I think it does from the foggy memories I remember). The leaves and grass weren't some abnormal colour, nor was the sky some raging inferno and there didn't seem to be two moons in the sky. All in all, this seemed perfectly normal.

CAAWWW!

The loud, commanding shriek immediately set my heart into a state of panic. It almost sounded unnatural - no creature on Earth would've been able to create the deafening, horrifying volume of that cry, and worst of all: it sounded hungry. My heart started racing. My vision tunnelled as I abruptly stopped in my tracks. It felt as if life itself had stopped - as if every neurone in my brain was running on overdrive and were all telling me the same thing. Run.

I immediately took off running, not even sparing a second. Becoming bird food was the last thing I wanted to do in the very first day of my new life. My heart pounded in my chest as I expended every single bit of energy I had left into powering my legs. I ignored every obstacle in my way as I ran - not caring about the branches that scratched my face nor the stones that stabbed my feet.

My mind gradually became more and more clear as I ran - the fear seemingly leaving me..

「Your energy levels are reaching dangerously low levels.」

I took a moment to catch my breath.

"...Hah... I think my head's about to fall off..."

My breaths were laboured and heavy. I laid on the roots of a massive tree and closed my eyes - trying to get rid of the feeling of vertigo that invaded my brain.

What... what was that?

That feeling of... desperation? No, that wouldn't be the right way to describe it. Was that just pure adrenaline? Although, I hadn't ever felt adrenaline that powerful in my past life. Was this perhaps just a new quirk of this new body? That feeling in my body had felt instinctual - primal, even. As if I had lost control over my body and it had gone autopilot for the sake of survival.

"...Too much... thinking..."

Screw it. Whatever it is, I'll figure it out later. Right now, the only thing I should be concerned about is me restoring my energy - that autopilot mode had drained an ungodly amount of stamina from me.

Stolen story; please report.

I relaxed upon the tree, allowing my arms to fall down by my side. As I laid upon the roots, I listened and took in the smell of the vast forest that I was stuck in. It was quite a busy place - the sound of water rushing was constantly paired with the soft cries of of the forest inhabitants. The scent of wood was prominent, it sound out among the smell of smoke and salty water. It was quite a rela- wait a second.

I stood up immediately.

Smoke? Why would there be smoke in a forest?

My mind rummaged through the possible conclusions. A forest fire? I grimaced at the thought. I just finished running a marathon and now you're telling me to start running again? System, is this your idea of a joke?

No response from the System, not that I was really expecting one in the first place.

I sighed heavily. Alright, think about this logically. Forest fires aren't the only way a fire could start, right? Maybe this was a man-made flame? That could explain why there weren't any animals running away from the direction of the smoke. Honestly, that in itself was a telltale sign that either this fire was nothing to be worried about or that it was a controlled, deliberate fire.

I stretched my arms and flexed my legs. Ouch. Not a good idea. They still ached from the stamina killing run they just endured. Well, nothing to worry about. It wasn't like I was particularly in a rush. Still, now came the question of whether or not I try to find out the origin of this smoke. On one hand, I could maybe find the first human or intelligent creature I've ever met in this world and get some tips and tricks on how to not get eaten and die. However, on the other hand, it could just as well be a small fire slowly spreading. Going towards that would probably end up in me dying some horrible, fiery death. And that was the last thing in my 'Things I Want To Do In This New World' list. Gosh, this was hard. Unless...

"Hey, System. Mind telling me what made the fire this smoke came from?" I asked out loud, not really expecting anything to come out of it.

「Sorry, I am unable to fi-」

A piercing pain suddenly erupted through my brain, forcing me to buck my knees and clutch my head in pain. A loud ringing noise invaded my ears as I shut my eyes closed, unable to bear the pain.

「Warning. Overuse of Skill 『Danger Sense』 has resulted immense Energy Exhaustion.」

I continue to grip my head as I read the message - baring through the pain. "Danger Sense"? Was this the strange autopilot I experience earlier? If so, I'd be stashing this skill away immediately and never using it again because this drawback was unbearable.

I stumble back on my feet unsteadily, nearly tumbling over again. God, nothing was going my way, was it? Getting chased by a giant bird, having to run my heart out and now suffering from migraines that this System essentially forced on me. The isekai novels I used to read were completely different than this!

Or at least I think so..? Honestly, my memories from my past life are a bit fuzzy now. It feels like bits and pieces are missing - like everything before was just a dream. I almost feel like I'm going to forget I even had another life before this.

"..."

...On the topic of forgetting, I feel like there was something I needed to do before I got distracted by the death-inducing headaches.

"Oh right. The fire."

I look around, trying to see if I can still see any smoke. A faint trail of smoke travelled a few meters away from me - it was much smaller than what it had been just a few moments ago. Perhaps the fire was put out? That would mean that the flame was either intentionally created in the first place or it was just a small natural fire. Well, either way, getting to the bottom of this is my only real clue in finding a way out of this wretched forest.

Right. New mission - locate where the hell the smoke's coming from. I groan as I slowly made my way towards the direction, leaning on the trunk of the tree for some much needed support. With the way I moved you could've mistaken me for a frail old man with a horrible case of scoliosis and I wouldn't have blamed you one bit. That's what being screwed over three times in a row by a new unforgiving world does to a person, I guess. Fun.

I focused as I moved forward with new found determination, my legs doing a very good job of imitating a leaf in the wind. Though I doubt I could've had a worse start to this new life if I tried, this only meant that things were bound to get better. After all, after hitting rock bottom, the only way to go was up!

"...That's right, me. Soon I'll be at a luxurious mansion, enjoying a nice cocktail as my harem of elf wives surround me, pampering me! Hehehehe..."

「It is highly recommended not to interact with elves. They are known to regularly hunt humans for sport and are highly skilled in combat.」

...Well there goes my dream. Squandered in what, two seconds? That must be a new world record. Hey, at least that's got to count for something, right?

I sigh as I continued to trot towards my destination.

The leaf beneath my shoes rustled as I trampled upon them. It was almost hard to believe that this was a world separate from my previous one. This whole environment all seemed so normal - so ordinary. The tall, imposing trees coupled with the damp moisture that surrounded the area reminded me of the Amazon Rainforest. Green, healthy vegetation covered all as far as the eye could see. Small critters crawled around, looking for food and shelter. A thin river flowed slowly, producing a calming trickle. This beautiful scenery made the journey slightly more bearable.

As I walked, I felt my body gradually but noticeably revitalise at an unnatural speed. With each step I took, I felt slightly less tired.

"Guess this body's pretty sweet, huh?"

For the first time since entering this world, I properly checked out my body. My new arms with quite toned and muscular, my stomach was flat with slight abs showing and my legs were somewhat thick with defined muscles. The strength I felt was also unusual - I felt like I could do thirty pushups in a row without breaking even a slight sweat, which meant that this body was probably already 30x more athletic than my old body. You know, for such a stingy System, you sure can be quite generous sometimes.

「Your feedback has been noted.」

=====================================|o-O-o|=====================================

After a few more minutes, I arrive to where it seems the smoke was coming from. A man-made campfire stood in the middle of a clearing with a tiny dying ember still lit within it. The smoke really didn't come from a natural flame - my suspicions were right. It looks like the campfire was only put out recently, maybe the person who made it was still around here somewhere? I quickly scan the area, noticing some footprints left on the moist earth.

"Nice!"

It seems my luck was finally starting to turn around! All I have to do now is find this person and ask him for some much needed help and, with their guidance, I'll finally be able to get this new life properly started! Heh, I was right after all - the only way to go from rock bottom is up!

I quickly ran over the the footprints, following them and smiling in excitement. The path they led to was heavily darkened by the shadows of the towering trees. I had to slow down my pace in order to not lose my way. It really had become quite hard to see in this place. I could just about make out the outline of the footprints I was following, although I wasn't too certain that'd be the case for much longer.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. Maybe I should go back an-

Cold steel touched my neck. A tight grasp wrapped around my arm, stopping me in place.

I felt a cold breath hit my ear. A whisper quietly rang out behind me.

"...Who are you?"