Truck-kun, an extra-worldly entity that isekai’s people to fantasy worlds. I have sought this entity. I have sought to observe him. However …
I open my red eyes. Light filters into them. I squint as my eyes adjust. Blades of grass wave at my feet. Leaves on tree branches rustle.
However, I have been been unable to find Truck-kun. That bleeping truck has consistently been one step ahead of me, or maybe, I have just been one step behind him. Well, if I can’t observe Truck-kun, I’ll observe the other side instead. Building the requisite device took time, but with the help of my philosopher’s stone, I have isekai’d myself and now stand in another world.
Trees line the clearing I stand in. The sun shines down from above. The sky is clear, not a cloud in sight. My eyes settle on jiggling blobs at the clearing’s edge. They bounce about. Are they slimes? Their bodies are a translucent blue with no distinguishable features. Just globs of translucent blue. They are not that large. If one would let me, I could probably hold it in my hands. However …
Are the slimes hostile? Have I isekai’d myself into the proverbial monster’s nest? There are so many of them. I had not been expecting monsters at my starting point. Were my calculations off? The slimes have not noticed me yet, but I am blatantly exposed at the center of the clearing. It is all but guaranteed that they will notice me.
I reach back toward my dagger. It is sheathed horizontally behind me with its handle to my right, its black sheath held in place by a black strap about my waist. Both the dagger’s hilt and blade are a metallic black with a red sheen. The conductive metal composing the the weapon is called heavens cry. Heavens-cry ore is harvested from meteorites. I considered bringing a handgun instead, but my research indicated such a weapon would stand out too much. I also considered a sword but found it too unwieldy. Ultimately, I decided on a heavens-cry dagger.
As predicted, the slimes have noticed me. They don’t attack though. Perhaps they are not hostile. I don’t draw my dagger and instead reach my right hand into the brown pouch at my right hip. Like my dagger’s sheath, it is also held in place by the strap about my waist. A brown flask filled with juice rests against my other hip, also attached to the strap. Some would have brought water, but I prefer juice. It’s more caloric and provides better nutrition.
I pull a red stone, my philosopher’s stone, from the pouch. It isn’t large and easily fits into the palm of my hand. The slimes still haven’t attacked. I hold the stone up in front of myself, my right hand clenched around it. Red light bleeds through the gaps between by fingers. I scan over the slimes. They are friendly. That’s why they aren’t attacking. They predominantly consist of structured water with protein lattices, similar to giant cells. They lack nuclei though. They have no core, just globs of structured water with protein lattices. They are strangely cute.
I turn my attention away from the strangely cute globs of structure water. Red light still bleeds out from between my fingers. My attention turns to the fantasy world itself. This world is … I blink. No bleeping way. This world is Arlia Ravioli? Who sticks “Ravioli” into the name of a world? The philosopher’s stone stops glowing, and I return it to the pouch at my right hip.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
My attention turns to my own body. I glance down at my hands. My skin is soft and porcelain. I reach down, hinging at my hips. My fingers touch my toes—well, the top of my pink shoes. I straighten back up. I wear a pink long-sleeved button-up shirt and brown pants. The buttons at my chest fit a bit snug. Overall, I’m petite, but my chest sure isn’t. I’m a shortstack.
I spread my legs and side squat to one side and then the other. I pivot forward and do a handstand. Well, I try to do a handstand but faceplant instead. If I said I meant to do that, I’d be lying. Well, my body does seem to be functioning at least—faceplant notwithstanding.
I climb back to my feet and dust myself off. I comb my fingers through my short pink hair. Then my eyes come to a slime. It has bounced up to me. Is it checking on me? Is it worried about the woman who faceplanted into the grass? I crouch down to get a closer look. Somehow, the thing is giving me puppy-dog eyes even though it has no eyes. How peculiar. I reach down and scritch the slime. It purrs. Slimes can purr. I stand back up and then stomp down. The slime crushes to death beneath my right heel. The other slimes in the area flee. They seem to possess a sense of self-preservation. A ding gets my attention. I have leveled up.
$ Name: Philosopher
$ Level: 2
$ To-Be-Allocated Stat Points: 4
$
$ Stats:
$$ Strength: 8
$$ Dexterity: 10
$$ Mana: 12
$$ Wisdom: 13
$$ Charisma: 9
$
$ Skills:
$$ Philosopher’s Stone
My name is set to Philosopher. Well, that is what I go by. I don’t much like giving my birth name. I continue looking over my status. My strength is kind of low. That might be why my handstand failed. My charisma’s not that great either. Maybe I could compensate by undoing the top button of my shirt if need be. Wisdom is my highest stat. What’s mana? Magic?
“System, what is mana?” I get no response. Does the system lack query functionality? “System. Help. Mana.” Still no response. I’ll just do it myself. I fish my philosopher’s stone back out from the pouch at my right hip. The stone glows in my grip. Mana is life force. It is not just useful for magic users. I return the stone to the pouch.
What, then, should I allocate the to-be-allocated stat points to? My strength is kind of low, and so is my charisma. Mana seems useful though. Wisdom is currently my highest stat. There is also dexterity to consider. Who am I kidding? I’m dumping them into wisdom.
$ Name: Philosopher
$ Level: 2
$
$ Stats:
$$ Strength: 8
$$ Dexterity: 10
$$ Mana: 12
$$ Wisdom: 17
$$ Charisma: 9
$
$ Skills:
$$ Philosopher’s Stone
I don’t see an XP value given in my status. Perhaps the system doesn’t track XP, or maybe it just doesn’t expose the XP value via the status. Nevertheless, it clearly tracks levels. I glance around the clearing but find no hint of the other slimes. That’s too bad. Perhaps stomping a few more would have netted me another level.
I pull my philosopher’s stone back out. The system has recorded my ability to use this stone as a skill. Anyway … The stone begins glowing in my right hand once more. I have successfully isekai’d myself and even leveled up. The next order of business is to find the nearest town. I glance to the side. The nearest town is that way. I put my philosopher’s stone back into the pouch at my right hip and head off in that direction, my destination the nearest town.