As she opened her eyes, the first thing Himiko saw was the sky. A clear blue sky cut off by the snow-capped peaks of mountains that stretched up from the land. As her eyes followed the mountains down to the land, she again found the sky waiting for her. As she blinked in confusion, she realized that the second sky was instead a crystal clear lake, flawlessly reflecting the view above it without a single ripple marring its surface.
As Himiko stared into the lake, she felt the familiar pressure on the back of her skull. She tilted her head as she focused on it, and the information from it flowed into her head.
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Welcome to the Island Dungeon Lys-Omylyn.
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She tilted her head as she gave her surroundings a fresh look with the information in mind. This is an island? Where in the world am I?
She examined her immediate environment now, a little bit warier than she had been moments ago. If this was a dungeon, like in a video game or Dungeons and Dragons, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that there might be enemies or monsters lurking around nearby. And that is something I very much do not want to deal with. It sounds like a pain, after all.
She was sitting on the sandy shore of the mirror-like lake currently, which was encompassed by mountains on the north and east side. Surrounding the lake was grassland, which extended for 30 meters before meeting a treeline that cut off her vision of the rest of the scenery beyond. The mountains themselves probably sat about four or five kilometers away and jutted around two kilometers into the sky. The sun was at its peak in the sky right now, but in the mornings she imagined it took longer for light to reach the lake than it did the rest of the island.
As far as she could see, there were no monsters in her immediate vicinity. This was a slight relief, but she would likely need to start hunting soon if she couldn’t find any berries or the like. I guess I might as well start looking around. It feels like I slept well enough during the ‘Integration’ or whatever, so the least I can do is walk around for a few hours.
As Himiko attempted to stand, she noticed something… strange. No, this was more like something was wrong. Her body wasn’t responding in the way she was directing it to. In confusion, she brought her hand up to her face before widening her eyes.
She scrambled on the shore of the lake in panic before splashing into the water, scarring the perfect surface and sending a ripple into the larger body. As the water settled, she felt her heart thundering in her chest, ingraining the reflection she saw in the water into her mind.
Gazing back from the water was a young, brown baby fox.
She took a step back away from the water and took a deep breath to quiet the dread building in her heart.
Status.
Once the information appeared she filtered it to show what she wanted. The information shuffled until only one item appeared.
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Race: Kitsune
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--
Himiko spat out the sand in her mouth and climbed back to her feet. It had taken a while to recover from the shock of her new form, but once she had, a problem very quickly became apparent. She simply wasn’t as familiar with her new body as she had been with her old one. Walking had taken about an hour for her to take to, and now she was getting trying to adjust to running around the shoreline of the lake, which she had taken to referring to as Mirror Lake.
She sighed and opened her Status, eyeing at the other oddity she’d discovered.
Once it’d become clear that her very being had been altered by the integration, she’d tried adjusting the filter for every different item she could think of. There was far too much that had changed in this new world, and she knew that information was the key to surviving. The only other unexpected element was the one she was reviewing at the moment.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
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Age: 28
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She took a deep breath and resumed running along the shoreline. There could be multiple meanings to this, and none of the implications were very reassuring. She had been 22 when the Integration had taken place, but it appeared the System objected to that. Himiko slowed her gait as her stamina bottomed out, immersing her body in the cool water. There’s just too much I don’t know. If I’m ever going to retake my prior lifestyle, I’m going to need to secure a steady source of food. It’s looking like I’m biologically immortal by the looks of my Body Quality, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t need sustenance to survive, and I guarantee that I can still be killed.
With the information still floating through her consciousness, Himiko directed the Status in her head to sort to a single field. There was only one thing she hadn’t checked out yet, Skills. The other parts of the System had been mind-shattering enough that she had put off overloading herself, but if she had the right idea, Skills could be the key to surviving in this new reality.
One of her roommates in college had been an internet bookworm, blazing her way through web novels at a speed that would put Himiko to shame. She had been fond of gushing about the stories she’d read whenever she’d had the opportunity, sometimes even interrupting Himiko’s naps to rant about something that had happened in a serial she’d been following. Before the Integration, she’d been getting into a genre known as Literary RPG’s, where the characters would gain game-like powers. With abilities known as “skills” in the stories, they were able to perform extraordinary feats, such as growing stronger at unbelievable rates or performing amazing acts of magic.
It had an eerily similar setting to what she was going through right now, and if that was the case, she might have a Skill that could turn this situation around.
I wonder what Jacele is doing right now. She’d probably be in love with this situation.
Himiko had never been a fan of them herself, but when she’d been awake enough to listen she’d heard a few points that might be helpful. Things that boosted growth were good, but what was most desired were things that boosted the potential of future gains. There was the idea that rarer abilities or items were more powerful, but not always. Her roommate had also ranted about the trope that unique abilities were usually the most powerful, saying that weaker abilities that suited the individual were sometimes better than stronger abilities that didn’t.
As she kept all of these points in mind, Himiko steeled herself and opened the Skills portion of her Status her paws crossed in hopes that whatever was there, it would make her life a little bit easier.
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Sloth
Unique - Mythical
Passive
Major Merit
???
Merits
???
Demerits
???
Major Demerit
???
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Himiko tilted her head. Thank you System, very helpful.
She threw a glance towards the west of the island. The sun had only just started dipping below the treeline, the night was nearing. One of the other tropes her roommate had deigned to bring up was that monsters were almost always more prolific at night, as they could skulk about unnoticed. Himiko saw no reason to disregard that idea. She’d speculated the idea that the lake might be something akin to a safe zone, as she hadn’t seen a single monster as of yet, but it never hurt to be safe.
She dug out a small hole in the sand, grabbing a few stalks of the grass afterward to make a makeshift shelter. It wouldn’t fool anything intelligent, but it would have to do for now, as the cold was slowly creeping into her bones. She shivered slightly before crawling into the pit she’d created. With her mouth, she dragged the grass coverings over her and retrieved the human clothes she had previously mistaken for her blankets. She closed her eyes and began her usual sleeping routine.
It began with maintaining a slow breathing rhythm; in through the nose and out through the mouth. After maintaining this until she was comfortable, she turned her mind’s eye inward. She imagined her thoughts as stars, her mind a brilliant galaxy as all of her worries and emotions slowly twinkled in this miniature universe. Slowly, the stars began winking out. One by one, galaxies vanished, the skies going dark. And as the last star faded, a ringing chime echoed throughout the void. But by that time, she was already asleep.
--
The Old One watched her as the Little One slept. For the first time, it had awoken.
It had looked on as the Little One had run laps around its dwelling, panting and struggling like a newborn babe. It had watched as it had swum and drank its waters, as it reveled in its new reality, as it warily watched the treeline.
The Old One watched with the eyes of someone watching its child walk for the first time. This Old One had spent the past many years alone, with no companions to speak to. It did not require such things, but that was not to say it did not desire as such. The arrival of the Little One had been something of a shock to it, but over time it had become to think of the Little One as its friend.
The Old One watched as its small neighbor built its rudimentary shelter as a shield against the elements and a precaution against the dangers of the night, when it made its decision. Surely the Little One could not know of its presence and as of now, it had no intention of revealing itself. But, as long as the Little One sought shelter here, the Old One would protect it.
The Old one trembled as it thought of its neighbor, a small ripple ringing out across the lake.