Author’s Note: New story time! I’ve always been a sucker for trash isekai stories. So, I wanted to try one of my own. While there are stats in the story, I’m trying to keep it as simple as possible. It’s also a slow burn. Let’s go!
Adrian groaned as he opened his eyes. He had a throbbing headache and felt a rock jabbing him on his back. Was he lying on the ground? His vision cleared. He was . . . in a forest? That was odd. He looked down at himself. Completely naked. Had he been drugged and left out here for dead?
Adrian tried to remember his most recent memories. He had recently graduated college and had moved back with his parents as he was looking for a job. He was going to a job interview . . . a crash! He had been in a car accident! Wait, had he died? Was this the afterlife? He looked around and pinched his leg. He still felt alive.
Suddenly, a hologram appeared in front of him. Adrian blinked at the display. It hovered in his vision no matter how he moved his head.
<Adrian Rogers [Human]
Level 1 (0%)
Skills (0 / 1): (none)>
When he read it, the screen disappeared. Level? Skill? Was this some type of video game? Confused, Adrian climbed to his feet. The only thing he could see were trees. He needed to get his bearings. He chose the largest tree he could find and climbed it. It was rather difficult because he was naked, but he managed to make it close to the top, above the canopy.
The view gave him a panoramic view of the area, which didn’t give him a lot of information. He saw he was in a densely forested valley between mountains. The rocky mountains appeared difficult to cross, especially without any clothes. However, something caught his eye about a mile away. Wooden buildings. People!
Adrian nearly fell out of the tree on his way down, gaining many cuts and scrapes. Before rushing in the direction of the village, he paused. The blue screen had returned.
<Congratulations! You have gained the Climbing skill. Scale walls and ascend trees with grace and ease.>
He had gained his first skill. Climbing? Probably not his first choice, but it came easily enough. He was tempted to climb the tree again to test it out, but maybe another time.
“It’d be nice if I could see my status screen,” Adrian muttered. Unexpectedly, the screen popped up.
<Adrian Rogers [Human]
Level 1 (2%)
Skills (1 / 1):
- Climbing [1] (0%)>
Adrian smiled. He gained experience just from climbing a tree. Granted, he was Level 1, so progress probably came fast. But, he was happy to learn he could gain experience from doing things other than fighting.
Not wasting any more time, Adrian started walking to the village. About halfway there, he heard a soft buzzing. Curious, he looked around a tree. A giant bee the size of his fist was flying directly at him! Adrian took off at a dead sprint. It only took him thirty seconds to realize this plan would not work. He had no endurance. He felt his legs slow down and the bee started getting closer. Groaning, he turned around. Better now than before he got too tired.
He scooped up a rock on the ground and threw it at the giant insect. It missed of course, but it did slow the creature down as it dodged out of the way. Trying again, he threw another rock as he retreated. This time, it grazed its wings, making it falter. Adrian hoped it would stop chasing him, but it only came at him even more aggressively.
“Fine, let’s do this,” Adrian said, gritting his teeth. He found a fallen tree branch nearby. It was flimsier than he would have liked, but it’d do well enough. He swung the stick as hard as he could when the bug came within range. Whack! Wood crushed against the body of the bee. The creature dropped to the ground, but it was still wriggling. Not letting this chance pass by, Adrian found a large rock and smashed it down on the insect. Guts sprayed everywhere.
Adrian leaned against a tree, breathing heavily. That was terrifying! But, he had won. It gave him a thrill he had never felt before. Fighting for his life. He shook his head. It wasn’t something he wanted to get used to. The screen popped up again.
<Congraduations! You have gained a level. You are now Level 2! You have opened up 1 skill slot.>
Adrian mused. Skills were tied to levels? That was something to pay attention to. He wondered if that was all that levels gave him. He collected his wits and started to head to the village again.
And he immediately got lost. When the bee had chased him, Adrian had run in a random direction. Sighing, he decided to use his Climbing skill and get oriented again.
He wandered around for a bit until he found a tree large enough to see over the canopy. Climbing was much easier this time. His hands found it easier to grab branches, and he felt he had more strength to pull himself up. That was useful. In no time, he got a view of the area. Luckily he had run in slightly the right direction.
Back on the ground, Adrian checked his status screen.
<Adrian Rogers [Human]
Level 2 (23%)
Skills (1 / 2)
- Climbing [1] (1%)>
Climbing that tree only gave him 1%? He supposed it was too much to hope to get more. Before Adrian started his hike again, he looked around and found a good sturdy stick slightly shorter than he was tall. He didn’t want to get caught without a weapon again.
As he neared the village, Adrian wondered if not having clothes would be a problem. Also, would he even be able to speak their language? If this was another world, the odds of him understanding anybody were low. Would they even be humans?
The village appeared through the trees. Adrian took a deep breath. He needed food and clothing if he was going to survive here. He stepped out into the opening. And immediately regretted it. Instead of people, large red lizards sunbathed on the stone streets; they were about eight feet long and had razor-sharp claws. There were hundreds of them. And they were all looking at him.
Terror flooded through him. When the closest lizards stood up, Adrian’s legs began to move before his brain caught up. He was sprinting through the forest before he knew it, earning scrapes and stubbed toes as he wasn’t careful about where he moved. He heard a noise behind him and moved faster.
Gradually, the noises died down, and Adrian let himself catch his breath.
<Congratulations! You have gained the Running skill. Move with greater speed and endurance.>
At least he’d gotten a skill out of that. Running seemed to be a useful one to have, especially since he was alone in the wild. However, he lost his stick in the escape.
Adrian wanted to cry. The village was not safe. It had been his one hope since arriving in this world, and it was torn away. What was he going to do now? He still needed food, shelter, and clothing. He was no survivalist to stay out here overnight. He looked overhead. He still had a few hours before the sun set. He didn’t want to give up on the village quite yet. Maybe the buildings were empty. If he could get inside, he could probably secure a room so he could rest.
Adrian circled the village. He climbed a tree to get a better view of the layout of the buildings. The village had two large buildings in the center and twelve smaller ones around them. One of the larger buildings looked like a church and the smaller ones looked like homes. He could see the lizards lounging around the village.
Adrian studied each of the buildings and found one that had fewer lizards nearby than others. It was also closer to the trees and had two floors. He decided to try for that one. By the time he positioned himself close to the house, the sun was beginning to set and the lizards were waking up from their afternoon nap. Now or never.
He slowly inched his way closer, trying to use the cover of the trees as much as possible. After a quick sprint, he was pressed against the wall trying to keep his heart rate down. He looked through the window and quickly pulled his head back. A lizard was sitting on the table. This floor was no good. He looked up at the second story.
The upper floor was always going to be Adrian’s first choice, but he’d rather have taken the stairs. His Climbing skill was perfect for situations like this. The wooden wall had easy handholds. Before he knew it, he was peering through the second-floor window. All clear.
He pulled himself in and studied the room. It had a bed, a dresser, a metal mirror, and a bookshelf. Everything was in tatters, but Adrian wasn’t going to complain. The door hung open, so he quietly closed it. He let out a sigh of relief. He couldn’t believe how just being in a room took a weight off his shoulders.
Before he did anything else, Adrian took all of the books off the bookshelf. He made to move it in front of the window, but the moment he tried to move it, he heard a hissing noise. With dread, he looked up. A lizard was looking down at him from on top of the bookshelf. It was much smaller than the lizards outside, but it was still four feet long with really sharp claws.
They made eye contact. The lizard jumped at his face. Adrian flinched back and raised his arm. He felt a sharp pain as the lizard latched onto his wrist. He swung it around, whacking it against anything he could see. The floor, the wall, the bed, the dresser. When he slammed it against the window sill, the lizard’s grip loosened, and it went flying out the window.
Cautiously, Adrian peeked outside. The young lizard lay on the ground, unmoving. However, he could see the adult lizards moving closer to see what the sound was. He could also hear the lizard from below climbing the stairs.
Adrian acted fast. He finished moving the bookshelf in front of the window and pushed the dresser in front of the door. The moment he did so, he heard scratching at the door. After five minutes, the scratching stopped. Adrian let out another sigh of relief.
<Congraduations! You have gained a level. You are now Level 3! You have opened up 1 skill slot.>
Once again, he was reminded he was in some sort of video game fantasy world. He yawned. He felt his exhaustion all at once after the adrenaline drained out of him. But, he needed to make a sweep through the room to make sure there’d be no more surprises. Nothing under the bed or in the dresser. Good. He even found clothes. However, this must have been a woman’s room, because the only thing inside were dresses.
Adrian shrugged. Anything was better than being naked. He went through each dress, and only one was large enough for him to fit into. It was a maroon cotton dress. He slipped it on over his head. It was tight, but not enough to restrict movement. The skirt was probably meant to go down to the ankles, but it was so ripped and tattered, that Adrian had to rip it so it came up to his knees. He even put on the underwear so he wouldn’t feel so exposed down there.
He then tore the leftover dresses into bandages and wrapped his arm. It was throbbing, but he thought it was already healing. Maybe this world had faster healing? That’d be nice. He was too tired to care at the moment.
He found shelter and clothing. Now, he just needed to find food. His stomach rumbled at the thought, but he could go a little longer. It was almost night, and he was more tired than hungry. As he lay down on the lumpy bed, he received one more notification.
<Congratulations! You have gained the Disguise skill. When you wear the clothes of someone drastically different than you, your appearance will change to fit more in line with the clothes you are wearing.>
TheXtra Path 
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