My name is Renato. At age 24, I live a normal life. I work an office job and while its working conditions aren't good, it at least pays enough for rent.
*Tick.Tock.*
The clock hands hit twelve. I close my computer, packing my bag and getting up from my seat. Finally, I'm done with today's work. My boss, in an act of tyranny, piled so much extra work on me today. I walk to the door, flipping off the lights and using my keycard to clock out before using the building's elevator and exiting the office.
My apartment is a thirty minute walk away from my office. With a sigh, I begin walking. I pull out my phone as I walk, opening a manga I'd been reading. Proccupied with my phone, I failed to pick up on the sounds of footsteps approching me. By the time I realisied, it was already too late.
*SQUELCH!*
A machete pierced through my chest, sliding down to my stomach before being ripped away. I fall to the ground, the pain feeling as if someone set me on fire and dumped me in ice at the same time. I look around, searching for anyone that could help me but find no one before looking back, attempting to spot the culprit but once again, finding no one.
My vision swims as bile rises from my throat, but I force it back down. I gather my strength, trying to push myself up, but fail. I faceplant into the sidewalk, gasping for air as my vision darkens. A horrible cold sweeps through my body and I shiver as I take my last breath.
'At least I'll see my family again...'
With a final thought, my darkening vision fades to black.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
| Congratulations on acquiring the Praise System! |
'...What?'
A screen floats in front of my face, obscuring the bright sun floating overhead. I push myself up, my body slightly numb but with much more strength than before.
'Wasn't I just about to die? Where am I?'
| Answer: Your death has been intercepted to bring you here. |
| Answer: You are in the realm known as Athra. |
I look around, finding trees upon trees before looking up and a mountain nearby but no clear signs of civilization. I turn back to the screen.
'What are you?'
| Answer: I am what is known as a System. Every 'Otherworlder' is granted a System when entering this realm. |
'Every Otherworlder? Are there others like me?'
| Error: Insufficient Knowledge. |
'What? How?'
| Answer: Information given has been provided by the Sub-Skill [Index LVL 1] under the Skill [Minor-Omniscience LVL 1] |
Feeling my body finally regain its usual strength, I push myself onto my feet and spot my bag laying at a tree nearby. I approach the tree, but a vine shoots at me when I get close. I stumble backwards, narrowly dodging the attack. Now out of the vine's reach, I begin focusing on the tree trunk and notice it pulsating, as if its stems were blood vessels pushing blood around.
'What is that?'
| Answer: The creature in front of you is a Monster known as the Sentree. It is a tree that has mutated due to the atmosphere's high mana content. |
I look around for a weapon, my eyes catching on red plastic in the grass. I walk over and pick it up, hand grasping onto a familiar shape.
'My pocket knife!'
Now armed with a weapon, I return to the Sentree. I stick a foot into the monster's range, baiting a vine to attack. Dodging away when it does, I slash down, cutting off a portion of the vine. The Sentree's bark pulses at the injury, as if angry. Near its base, roots begin shifting and I hear dirt moving beneath me. I leap to the side as a sharp root jabs out of the ground, followed by more shifting and moving as another root jabs out beneath me. This pattern continues as I dodge, creeping closer to the tree before grabbing my bag and running. The roots continue jabbing at me as I run, only stopping afer a couple dozen meters.
Now in a safe position, I oprn my bag to see what was brought with me. I find my lighter and my bottle. My phone is missing, sadly.
'Must've dropped it when I got stabbed.'
My stomach grumbles as I think, the sound gurlging through the forest.
'Uh oh. Hope I didn't alert any monsters.'
Hoping to find shelter, I run towards the mountain I saw earlier. After running from a few minutes and hiding from a couple monsters, I reach the mountain. Finding an opening in the rocks, I peek into the crevice and find it opening into a large cave. Within the cave are countless glowing blue crystals that give the cave dim lighting. In the center is a lake with a gushing stream running in and out on opposite sides.
"Woah..." I mutter.
*PitterPatterPitterPatterPitterPatter*
The sound of rain accompanies my footsteps as I enter the crevice, barely fitting through the gap. Approaching the water, I see salmon and trout, though they do seem a little different from the ones on Earth, the most botable difference being that they are twice as big as usual.
*Grrr...*
'Right. I haven't had dinner yet.'
Returning to the cave's opening, I spot some branches nearby that the rain doesn't seem to have gotten to yet. Rushing out, I grab the sticks and return to the cave. After taking off my wet coat, I set the sticks down, and bring out the biggest one, using my knife to fashion it into a spear before returning to the stream and attempting to catch a fish. A couple attempts later, I finally catch the smallest fish I could find and return to my pile of sticks, where I use my lighter to start a fire. Then as I put the fish into a spitroast on my spear, my System appears.
| Would you like to use Sub-Skill [Oversimplification LVL1] to cook your fish? |
"Sure, but what Skills do I even have?"
| You have a total of 3 Skills and 2 Sub-Skills. Your Skills are [Minor-Omniscience LVL1], [Minor-Omnipotence LVL1] and [Minor-Omnipresence LVL1]. |
"And my sub-skills?"
| Under [Minor-Omnipotence LVL1] is [Oversimplification LVL1]. Under [Minor-Omniscience LVL1] is [Index LVL1]. |
*Ding!*
A sound of a microwave interrupts my thoughts. Turning to its source, I see a perfectly cooked spitroasted salmon.
'Wow. These Skills are useful.'