{DAY 1}

After a quick panic attack and early mid-life crisis, I found that I was, in fact, in the body of that RPG I started…

I would've made myself more buff or hotter if I knew this was going to happen… Well I'm already far above average looking in this body anyway. Well as far as my memory and the river I'm looking into was telling me

“Alright, first order of business, survive. Rule of three, three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water and three weeks without food…” I think to myself, bringing together all the survival knowledge I had collected during my pre-RPG era “Air is breathable so check that off the list, and three hours without shelter is only for extreme conditions like the tundra or desert…”

“Which means I need to find a source of water first. Obvious enough.”

I look towards the river… admiring my features slightly. Humans are inheritly social creatures, a lack of other beings will definitely have adverse effects. But I can minimise it... “By talking to myself.”

“River water is bad. Don't drink it, only as a last result” I noted to myself, before turning around and heading upstream “But it's safe when I have a fire to purify it. I don't have a container nor a filter though so that's out of the question... My best bet is to try and drink from the beginning of the stream”

At least that four hour Bear Grylls documentary I watched a few years back is finally coming in handy now

I need to think of this scientifically… How in this situation can I survive…?

I need clean water, food, clothes and shelter before I can even think of doing anything else…

Four things, most important are water and shelter, then food, then clothes

“Fucking hell...” I curse to myself "This seems more like a survival game than RPG...”

I should've picked anything other than human, spawning in a civilisation would be so much better than this…

Whatever, it's fine. I can survive

Rather, I know how to survive... in theory...

Apart from basic fauna like grass and leaves, most of these plants are completely unrecognisable…

Key word: Most

For example, that one growing at the base of that tree over there is Armillaria Mellea, commonly known as the Honey Fungus. Found mid-summer to late autumn. Grows on stumps and at the base of beech, willow, poplar and mulberry trees

It was a pale honey-yellow colour, with a long, 20cm tall stem connected to a flat cap, dipping down towards the middle

Honey Funguses are edible, so whilst it may not be a balanced diet, I do have a source of food

I look towards the forest. It was dense. Stupidly so. It was near pitch black in there, which means that I shouldn't venture too far in, or I'll lose my way and get lost. At least without a fire

It reminded me a bit of a jungle despite the fact that the climate wasn't remotely the same. Vines were growing pretty much everywhere, thick branches, twigs and dead trees were just as common

After god knows how long, I finally ended up at the beginning of the river...

Or as close as I could get

My legs were so physically tired that I probably couldn't take another step forwards even if I wanted to...

“Fucking hell…” I murmur to myself, collapsing onto the ground in exhaustion as my gaze wanders towards the water

Right now this is the safest water source I have, and even then it's filthy as all hell

I'll set up base here. If I rip apart some vines and collect a few thick branches, I'll be able to make a small basic tent to somewhat protect myself from the elements

Since I can, I'll try to refrain from drinking water for two days before succumbing on the third

I need to minimise water consumption because this water may just kill me if I'm unlucky

Or make me sick, which is just as bad

After a bit of rest, I manuevered my exhausted body towards the outer edges of the forest...

The banks of the river were completely devoid of trees. Which makes sense if you think about it, trees don't just spawn in out of nowhere, the seeds that find themselves near the banks probably get washed into the river everytime it rains

I collected all that I could

Vines, branches, Twigs, anything and everything

I made a few trips, doing what humans do best and destroying nature for our own personal gain

By the end of it I had a pile of rudimentary materials I could use to build both a fire and a base, whilst still having a bit of excess

It was midday when I woke up, and now it seems to be around evening

So judging from the sun's position... I've been here for about maybe 4 or 5 hours...?

I'm losing daylight. I need to get a fire going and give myself some light before it gets too dark to build shelter

I also don't know how cold the nights could get here, so it's best to stay warm

First I need string...

Taking a two rocks, I begin smashing them together

And as expected, it broke

"Fuck" I take another stone, laying it on the floor and hitting it with another stone. And yet again, it broke

I tried it a few more times... With no changes

I had tried a few different techniques, hitting it at an angle, using more force, using less, but it still broke

Think! Why is this happening?

"The energy isn't being dispersed, so the force travels through the entire stone, breaking it!" I come to a conclusion. Theres an easy solve to this. Holding a stone in the air, I smash it with another stone... And it worked!

Instead of being broken, it chipped!

If I continue to chip it I can get...

"Stone Tools Acquired!" I shout to myself. If this was gonna act like a Survival Game, then I'll treat it like one!

Its not sharp. Nope, not at all. But it'll work

Taking a vine, I begin to strip it, using the knife to cut along the grain, it's fibers being separated into a few thousand thin lines of thread "Reminds me of string cheese..."

Taking the fibers, I began to spin them in my palms, combining them together into a simple rope

Now I can get started on the fire...

Laying a few smaller sticks on top of eachother, I add some dry leaves. I tried to make it a small distance away from the river so it couldn't accidentally be extinguished, but also far enough from the forest to not cause a fire

Smokey the Bear would be proud...

I take some of the rope I made and wrapped them around both ends of a stick, creating a small bow, using my finger to pull on it's string

*THWING*

"Not enough to play Beethoven, but it'll do" I muse to myself before taking another stick, wrapping it in the bow's string. I take a rock and use it to push the twig into the leaves a bit, keeping it upright as I begin moving the bow left and right, causing the twig to rotate

I begin using all the power in my arms to move the bow, spinning the twig as fast as I could

"The gases released by the cellulose as it oxidised produces heat..."

My eyes glanced downwards to see the kindling lighting up slightly

"In other words..."

Bending down, I cover the fire from any harsh winds before blowing on it lightly to try and strengthen the flame

My efforts were not in vain, as soon after it went from a light red glow to a full on blazing fire

“Combustion!” I yell out as I jump up and pump my fist with vigour

Finally…

Now that I've got fire I can work into the night...

"Yay..." I let out a dejected cheer as I suddenly get reminded of the countless all-nighters I've pulled whilst coding

Thankfully the making of the shelter didn't take as long as I thought it would, so I managed to do so an hour or so after the sun actually set

It wasn't much, only a few thicker logs tied together with vine in a cone shape

But I was god damn proud of it

Wiping the sweat from my brows with my nonexistent sleeves, I hear a small-

*DING*

The sound makes me flinch backwards as I almost trip over straight into the fire, before regaining my balance and keeping myself upright

My eyes wander to the source of the noise as I look over to see a silvery screen, much like the one in my memory

[Level Up! 1 —> 2]

Wait, I have a status…?

Well I guess it makes enough sense considering that this IS supposed to be an RPG, no matter how much of a survival game it feels like

“Uh… Status?”

[Name: Darwin
Level: 2
Race: Human
Class: Scholar - Learning = EXP

-Stats*

Strength: 1 —> 4*
Agility: 1*
Dexterity: 1 —> 2*
Endurance: 1 —> 4*
Reflex: 1*
Intelligence: 1 —> 6*
Comprehension: 1 —> 7*
Magical Precision: N/A
Magical Power: N/A

Bonus Points: 1

-Skills

[UNIQUE - Genius: 200% Learning Speed + EXP Gain]

[UNIQUE - Unforgettable: What was once learned cannot be unlearned]

Skill Points: 1*]

Oh wow…

Some of these have apostrophes next to them, I wonder if I can…

Raising my finger, I click on the first star, next to the “Stats”, as a pop up window appears

[STATS

You have a variety of stats, all of them with a unique affect on your body or mind. Every time you level up you gain 1 Bonus Point that you can allocate towards any of your stats at will, with the exception of N/A Stats. You can also gain stats naturally through exercising the aspects which the stats encompass, however these naturally gained Stat points only get applied once you level up]

Oh… so if I understand this right, if I do a shit ton of weight training to increase my strength Stat, nothing will happen, however once I level up all the Stat points that I WOULD’VE gained get given all at once?

Does that mean it's impossible to physically strengthen myself without the help of levelling up...?

I swipe the pop up away before tapping on each of the individual stats

[STRENGTH

Encompassing the total amount of power your muscles can output]

Short and simple, just how I like it. Pretty self explanatory anyway

[AGILITY

Encompassing the explosive power of your muscles, your ability to go from 0 to 60, as well as your speed]

[DEXTERITY

Encompassing movements that require finesse or control of the physical body, as well as flexibility. Crucial to the art of crafting]

[ENDURANCE

Encompassing the density of your muscles, your ability to take a hit, as well as your stamina]

[REFLEX

Encompassing your ability to react to the external world, as well as your ability to detect danger]

[INTELLIGENCE

Encompassing your knowledge of the world around you as well as the speed at which you can perform mental tasks]

[COMPREHENSION

Encompassing your ability to grasp new concepts]

I know I said I like the descriptions short and simple, but that last one is WAY too vague…

Either way all of these seem incredibly useful… But considering my current situation Endurance is the most important thing I can raise. The more damage I can take the bigger the chance I can survive the wilderness

I raise my Endurance from 4 to 5… and don't feel any noticeable difference

Alright, the last one I've got is Skill Points…

[SKILL POINTS

Skill Points are used to either enhance your existing skills or gain new ones. The skills available for you to gain are related to your actions, personality and stats

Available Skills: Craftsmanship, Survivalism, Observation]

Alright… judging from the names, every single one of these could be incredibly useful to the situation...

Craftsmanship is most probably a skill to help me build things

Observation seems helpful, and may allow me to find out if some of this unknown foliage is edible and such

Survivalism however… I'm not sure, the name gives too little information to invest in it...

Right now the most useful to me is Craftsmanship

With it, I can create a variety of objects that will help my survival…

A bit sad that there aren't any combat abilities but that makes sense, after all I haven't fought anything since I came here

Ugh… I'm tired

My legs feel like they're about to give out any moment now, and my arms feel like spaghetti

Tapping on Craftsmanship, I look over the contents of my new skill

[Craftsmanship: Allows the user to speed up the creation of items and structures they have already made by 200%]

Okay, so I'm twice as fast at building things… I've already built!?

Fucking hell, there's no way I just picked up a trash skill…

If it sped up creation all around, I would've been okay, but only for things I've already done, it's just useless!

What's the point of building a thousand more shitty shelters like this one if it's only mildly faster!?

Calm down Victor, it's fine… I'll have plenty more opportunities to gain more skills later on…

“I need to sleep…” I mumble to myself, before entering my tiny shelter. I should've made my character shorter, it's an incredibly tight fit inside of this shitty tent…

I had to curl myself up in a ball like a cat to even attempt to keep my entire body inside

I close my eyes and shiver slightly, as a light breeze manages to squirm itself into my shelter

It's barely even working… But at least nobody will be able to see my naked ass hanging out with it here…

The fire crackled with a rhythmic intensity that helped both warm me up and lull me to sleep

Author's Note

Second chapter, or first REAL chapter. It's gonna be a while before he meets any other species so please be patient 😭