Moving in silence, I circle the lake. Nobody is following us.

Did the Orcs give up or am I this much faster? It's impossible to tell, but now that the little one is asleep and no longer cheers me on exhaustion catches up.

She's so cute and peaceful, it's all a game for her. Oh, how much I envy kids now that I reached the doorstep of adulthood.

[Notice: You incur one level of exhaustion. It will impact your CON stat. If you don't rest now, your future attribute checks will get a penalty.]

Well, that makes it official. Running for two hours after a brief fight is where the line is. It's very gamey but seems fair. Is it safe to stop here in the wilderness though?

Small critters scurry on the tree trunks everywhere I look to evade the larger animals. Those larger ones scoot into cover when they notice us, but what about the top of the food chain?

What else does the forest hide in a fantasy setting like this? Wolves? Bears? Magical monsters? Dragons?

Even if Charlotte and Hana won't find me some of those things might. The large body of water would draw them in from the nearby woods, that's basic survival 101.

It's what I learned on the couch while watching documentaries with my little sister. It's not like I liked them, but she often took hold of the remote.

Is she safe? Stupid question, in my world not even a day has passed, and I'm the one who's in trouble. What would she do in this situation?

I'm more versed in isekai stories and nerdy stuff than her, so I have that advantage, but she's way better at life. Okay, she's only fourteen, but still.

She has better grades and she's better in athletics, and it might be my bias talking, but she's prettier too. Well, not while I'm in this body.

Not even Emi can be a match for Alexandra, but I'm still curious how she'd handle the System. Whether she would do better in her body or this one could be debatable.

For me it's obvious. That lanky tomboy body wouldn't survive a minute. Sure, it's a pain when someone recognizes Alex, but imagine that mediocre human face in this world. It wouldn't do me any favors.

Emi would have no issues charming the Orcs. She has her way with words too. Damn, why do I miss her so much? How would she deal with the missions, and the System in general?

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"She wouldn't be as naive to listen to her," I note in a whisper while rolling my eyes. It's more of a hindrance than an aid.

[Warning: I can give you extra penalties if that's your thing.]

Ugh, she's getting cheekier by the minute. I'll have you know, Alex activated you to help me while she's away. I didn't expect a literal tyrant to try to troll me instead.

[Error: Cannot compute.]

No, don't give me that shit, you know that I'm right.

Or am I losing it? I'm arguing inside my head, though at least the voices are there for real, and I'm not imagining it.

Well, what proof do I have that the System exists? Or that any of this exists? Finding myself in a fantasy world, after falling off the stairs?

What if I hit my head and all this is only a hallucination while I'm in a coma somewhere?

[Notice: You have a wild imagination. -1 INT, +1 WIS]

What? Did she reshuffle my attributes? Open the [Character Sheet].

[Character Name: Leona] [Race, Class, Level: Beastfolk (Feline), Harem Warrior, Lvl 1]

[Str: 12] [Dex: 18] [Con: 16(-1)] [Int: 13] [Wis: 15] [Cha: 16] [HP: 80/80] [MP: 70/70]

She did! Wow. And it had to be between my intelligence and wisdom. Did this make me smarter or dumber? It's the age-old question, which stat means what?

[Querry: Are you okay?]

"Yes, this is a serious question. Since you are the System, you should be able to explain." I whisper into the darkness, still walking at a steady pace.

In my head, intelligence translated to something like being book-smart. You know the theory, you can do maths and stuff, but even the most sensible things could trip you up.

Having a high wisdom stat was like being street-smart. Your grades might be poor, but no men could fool you. So does it work like this in this System too?

[Explanation: Intelligence measures deductive reasoning, cognition, knowledge, memory, logic, and rationality.]

[Wisdom measures self-awareness, common sense, restraint, perception, and insight.]

This got even more confusing. Isn't rationality and common sense the same thing? And deductive reasoning and insight too?

[Error: Cannot compute.]

[Notice: You should rest before your head explodes.]

I choke back a laugh to avoid waking up the little Orc girl. Who broke who now? I didn't mean to get back at the System for being that annoying, but I succeeded anyway.

[Warning: No, I'm serious. You exhausted yourself, you need rest. Failure to do so...]

"Fine, fine, let me look for a suitable place." Anywhere near the lake is asking for trouble.

Mabel mentioned some pipelines, but what I find is much more impressive. It's a viaduct system, something I have only seen in books about Rome.

The eastern side of the lake is up against a natural dam. It prevents the water from pouring into a shallow valley. The viaduct arches over it before turning into a tunnel inside the next hill.

At its tallest point, it must be around ten feet. It isn't huge but it's the largest viaduct I've seen. And the only one. I could walk over the valley on it and get out of reach of most animals.

[Notice: You are finally making sense. You gained some Exp.]

Gee, thanks, now I don't want it. Also, how much is some Exp? You're coming with this crap again. Be more specific, otherwise, I won't believe anything you say.

[Notice: You gained one Exp. You only need 899 for the next level.]

Ah, now I wish I didn't know. Okay, so you reward Exp for good ideas too? How about this: I could use the Sentient Mask to hide my presence from wild animals.

[Notice: You could, if you still had it, but you left it in the Vice Captain's shack in the Orc Village.]

Crap. Does that mean Alex won't be able to return to me?