I remembered the first application I had for a BPO position. Fresh out of college, naively confident and ready to conquer the world with knowledge gained from my four years of college. My arrogance was swiftly crushed. Life, with its unique sense of humor, immediately humbled me by exposing me to the stark reality of the world. Initial interview, computer literacy exams, behavioral interview, and if that wasn't enough, the last and final interview: a panel interview of three stoic-faced panelists. Oh, it was morbid. I was so nervous my armpits were practically faucets. I barely passed the initial interview, did great on the computer literacy exams—of course—and fumbled through the behavioral questions. Simple questions became menacing, coming from three people asking you different things at once. At the end of it all, I failed to get the position. Boohoo.
But this time, a Rabboar was facing me, giving me the same intimidating vibe as my first application. You know that feeling? When the odds are stacked against you, and nothing's going your way, yet you still feel that flicker inside—that belief you can somehow overcome the overwhelming odds. My sweaty, trembling hands twitched, gripping my giant kitchen knife with an overflowing, unearned confidence.
How did I get here? Good question.
Well, after my "Google Maps" discovery, I was walking in search of my first real food in this cruel Isekai world. I walked for what seemed like hours. I didn't see any pretty dryads, no elf goddesses, no beautiful maidens in distress, not even a tightly dressed she-orc, can you believe that? Not. even. a. tightly. dressed. she-orc. No, sir. What I saw was ruins, trees, and more ruins and more trees. Bizarre-looking creatures popped up one after the other. I was nearly caught by a flock of crazy Raptorbills—terrifying vulture-headed raptors that screeched and attacked head-on. The only reason I survived was by diving into a thorny bush and holding my breath, which apparently was enough to earn me a new skill: Advanced Sneaking Learned. I also saw this big Gorgolin—a massive, scale-armored gorilla, its eyes like burning coals, its enormous fists resting on the ground with the subtle tremor of an earthquake about to happen. As it passed, I saw creatures around it bow. It then looked at me with such undeniable pressure, I instinctively followed the lead of the animals. I bowed profusely, and it continued to walk onwards.
Then, I found it. A big tree that looked more like an overgrown bush, laden with reddish-purple, cone-shaped fruits. It smelled like a melon milk shake, a scent so sweet and out of place it was almost suspicious. I looked at the map. I was in the vicinity of the encircled area with "berries?" written beside it. Was this what it meant? Were these edible? One way to find out. I walked underneath the bush-tree to reach the trunk, and while looking up, I saw it had hundreds, if not thousands, of fruits just hanging there for picking.
Crack.
The crack sound was me stepping on a brittle bone. I dropped into a guard, hand at the sword ready, my eyes flinging left and right at lightning speed, checking for any predator who might have heard the cracking sound. For the first time, I felt like a hero. I thought I looked cool. So cool. I felt a little teary just thinking about it.
Then, I looked down. The ground was scattered with the source of the cracking sound. Not branches. They were bones. Bones of different sizes, bleached white against the dark soil. Wait, why were there so many scattered bones here? I asked myself. My eyes shot back up to the tree. Could it be… poisonous?
I stared at the tree, focusing my intent. A prompt popped up. General Awareness: Cone Bush Tree - no info available.
"What's with this awareness prompt?" I grumbled. "Utterly useless."
I noticed that there were no animals on this tree, or even going near it. And with the bone-littered ground… I'll take that as a bad sign. This tree might be poisonous. As the thought formed, the prompt right before my eyes shifted. General Awareness: Cone Bush Tree - potentially toxic.
I blinked twice. What just happened? Could it be… that this awareness skill is based on my own knowledge and deductions about things here in this Isekai world?
Squoink, squoink! Rustle-rustle!
The sound came from the tall grass near the tree. Rabboars. A whole pack of them, hopping frantically from the grass and moving north-west.
My stomach talked. Meat, it said. "Meat," I agreed, and ran after them.
After a few more episodes of dodging ruins and weaving through vegetation, I followed the furry-boars to a clearing. They were gathered around a different tree, playing and eating something on the ground. I stealthily moved closer, from bush to tree, to tall grass, and finally to a boulder near the feasting Rabboars. They were eating fruits that have fallen from the tree. If they're eating it, it must be edible, right?
Time to put my new theory to the test. I focused on the tree. General Awareness: Peach-Mango Tree - no info available.
I thought about it logically. These creatures are eating it. They seem fine. It's probably edible. A wave of euphoria washed over me as the prompt shifted. General Awareness: Peach-Mango Tree - potentially edible.
"Whoo! I'm right!" I exclaimed.
Oops.
The Rabboars, startled, hopped away in a hurry. All but one. The biggest of them, the size of a regular pig but furry like a bunny, turned towards my direction.
Squoink! Squoink! It squealed, or squeaked. I'm not sure, but I think it was saying, "You there, coward! Come out and face me like a real man, or boar, or rabbit!"
My first instinct screamed run, but exhaustion, hunger, and thirst would eventually catch me anyway. "Fight or flight?" I pondered. I'd rather die trying to look cool facing this overgrown hairy-pig than dying doing nothing. "That settles it then," I said softly.
From behind the boulder I unstrapped my sword, and went out to face my foe.
It said, "squoink squoink!" again, like it was saying, "There he is," in a menacing squeak/oink combo. Just then, a tumbleweed, looking impossibly out of place, bounced lazily by on an unseen gust of wind, just like in a classic Western movie, right between me and the Rabboar.
Seeing my trembling, sweaty and heroic stature it charged fast, by hopping.