Chapitre 10: Chapter 10 - It’s All a Dream

I continue to grumble angrily as I take a bite out of the tough gray bug meat. The giant locust I had fought recently sat over the fire I had made about an hour ago. The thing was only Level 2, meaning I only got 6 EXP from it, and it hadn't even been thoughtful enough to drop an item I could use.

But, the last thing I ate was a young jackrabbit the day before, which hadn't given me anything except 2 tiny "Rabbit Legs."

It was not a great meal. If you could even call it a meal.

With a groan, I flop onto my back. My Stats have gone through leaps and bounds, and yet I am still covered in small scratches as I still somehow manage to trip and fall in ways that completely baffle me. I mean, there was even one time I lifted my leg a bit higher to make sure I didn't trip on a tree root, and instead, I tripped on the air.

I laugh; a tinge of madness sits within it. "I mean, how do I even trip on air??"

Realizing I was, again, talking to myself, I shove another bite of the oddly flavored meat into my mouth before tossing the exoskeleton of the leg past a tree to my left. If I just pretend it's weirdly colored crab, it's not so bad. I hop to my feet and hold my hand over the cooked bug.

"Inventory."

The bug disappears as a screen opens over it and swallows the remains whole. This trick still makes me feel pretty cool, proven by the 6 random sticks I had picked up to practice my new Stats and Skill with. I originally had 8, but I broke one against a tree — or rather, put too much of a dent in the tree, overextended, and then proceeded to tumble and crush the stick — and the other had snapped while fighting the locust — when I actually hit it. The irritation is evident by the dent in the skull of the locust, as out of anger I had simply held it down and punched it to death while yelling curse words at the tutorial.

I return to laying on the ground, pulling up my Statscreen. It had already been two days, and the majority of my growth had been in the first day I awoke in this world. At first, it had felt like it was one thing after another, but now that things had begun to stagnate I find myself looking around trees a little too earnestly, expecting another Boar to jump out at me.

"Oh, whatever," I groan, pulling my arm under my head as I roll onto my side. "Just let me find some humans or something. And a bath."

I didn't lay on my side for long, and soon I return to my back to look at the setting sun. While the sun was the same color and size as the one back on Earth, this planet, apparently called Puria, had a much larger moon than the former. It bathes everything around me in a gentle glow as it slowly rises past the horizon, chasing after the quickly disappearing sun. As I stare at the moon, my lips part and words slip out of my mouth. I was still talking to myself, yet this time it was at least in a much calmer manner.

"I wonder, if magic and Skills and all that are real here, are things like werewolves and vampires real too?"

The thought makes me shudder. As bad as I was longing for a fight, I would fight 10 Boars before I would want to fight one fantasy-accurate vampire. That pulls my attention back to my earlier thought, though.

After all, my clumsiness annoyingly persisted even with 5 Dexterity now, causing me a load of minor inconveniences as I travel. Yet, whenever I get into a fight with something, it was almost like that disappeared.

It had been much the same for Luke, the me of a past life. As a kid, I had tried almost every sport there was. And, funny enough, I was good at them. But, no matter what sport it was, I always, always, hit a wall. I couldn't train to get better, because suddenly my body acted as if it didn't know who I was anymore, and I would always fall on my face with the simplest movements, like perpetual beginner's luck.

I didn't have a condition, but my body sure acted like it did.

And the worst part was that it had followed me here.

"And that goddamn useless Skill," I complain, pulling up the stas for Klum's Reincarnation.

[Klum's Reincarnation (Unfound Autoskill)]
[Cooldown remaining: 1 day 16 hours…]

I shouldn't call it useless. I had seen firsthand how much it could literally save my life. Yet, I couldn't stop thinking about the 'bad luck.' What happens if I'm fighting something like a Boar and my Dexterity suddenly drops to one?

I'm dead, that's what.

My mind lingers on that thought before I realize something else. 'When did I become so accustomed to fighting? In my past life, I couldn't get into fights because I'd end up hurting myself more than they did, much less hurting them at all. Not to mention my anxiety.

Ever since that fight with the Boar ended, it felt like fighting things had become much more natural than just a 'fight for survival' type of thing.

"Maybe it's due to my main Skill being so suited for combat?"

I call up Critical Eye to look over it, musing at the evolution requirements.

[Critical Eye (Rare Passive Skill): When engaging in battle, the attacking enemy or target(s) will be randomly marked with a 'Critical Mark.' Upon striking the 'Critical Mark,' damage will deal 350% of attack. (Max targets: 2 — Max 'Critical Mark' per target: 1)
Cost: None — Cooldown: 3 seconds
Evolution Requirements:
15 ACC
Land a hit on a 'Critical Mark' 10x (6/10)]

[Note: Some Stat Effects are changed by this skill.

"Two on the Boar, three on the goblins, and one on the locust," I count out the 6 Critical Hits I had so far obtained. Even if I got 4 more…

"I still need 9 more Accuracy, which is… 18 Points in Agility and Dexterity?" I sigh, a slight whine to my voice. "The curiosity is killing me."

Comically, it was right then that a wave of exhaustion slams into my brain, over my sore muscles, and into my eyes. "Of course that's my luck."

I can't blame my body; the amount of hours of rest I had gotten since I had first awoken could be counted on one hand, and even if everything felt the same, it was still new to me. I close my eyes gently, as if doing so too fast would shatter my eyelids.

- - -

With a jolt, I sit upright in my office chair.

"Huh? Wh-wha?"

I look around my surroundings despairingly, as reality seems to sink back in.

I was back.

Back in my office cubicle, where I had slaved away for 3 years, with nothing to show for it.

"No…"

It was a dream?

That was too good to be a dream.

Shooting to stand upright in my chair, its wheel catches itself against something on the floor — I can't see what — and causes my knees to buckle. I flop to the floor helplessly, bruising my elbow.

"Ow!"

Ow?

If I was feeling pain, too… then this really wasn't the dream? Puria had been the dream?

'No.'

I stumble to my feet, dashing towards the end of the cubicle. It feels like it takes so many steps, but as soon as I make it to the end—

"Hey there, knucklehead!"

From right behind the cubicle wall, a short, fat, balding man pops out. My boss. His ugly toothy grin flashes before he drops it just as quickly.

"How ya doin'? Good? Good. I need those three reports I sent ya, pronto. Need ya to stay late if you can't finish it by closing time. Usually I'm lenient, but… ya're pretty far behind. No slacking off now, ya hear?" He gives his usual short, fake laugh before reaching up to pat my shoulder, followed by a little shove as if to say "back to work now."

I wait until he rounds the corner, then beeline it for a group of cubicles near the windows of the boring floor. I walk past three of them, tripping and falling in front of the opening to the fourth. A loud groan escapes my mouth, and…

"Well, what's that make the score? 0/4?"

A bright, cheery voice calls out from the cubicle, and I can't suppress the water from filling my eyes upon hearing it. I drag myself up to one knee, raising my head to look at the bony woman sitting with her legs crossed in her chair.

"Christy… you're here," I mumble, a few tears falling down my cheeks as I drop my head back down.

"Of course I am! Who else would bother to babysit you. I mean, look at you. You're a crying mess."

"I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? Why?"

"I… left you behind, didn't I? Heh… Well, I guess not. It was just a dream." Hastily, I wipe my tears away.

"No, it wasn't. We always knew you were gonna get another chance one day. It's like you were made for it."

I froze. "Wh-what did you say?"

Christy laughs, hopping out of her chair to come kneel in front of me. "You heard me. And look, you didn't leave me behind, okay? I'm always right here." She pokes my chest, a serious expression taking over her face.

My head began to spin, unsure of what was real. "Huh?"

"Hoooh boy, you're not taking it as well as I thought, huh? Didn't even call me out for that corny ass line." Christy stands, pulling me up by the arm. "Anyways, it's time to stop feeling sorry for me and yourself. You gotta wake up."

I blink, feeling a bit dizzy. "The hell are you talking about…"

My eyes only close for an instant, but once they reopen, Christy's face had been replaced by a blank Statscreen.

"Get the fuck up."

- - -

I didn't have time to process the small crackles that suggested the fire had nearly died out. I didn't have time to process the rays of light penetrating my eyelids, suggesting the sun was just starting to rise. I didn't even have time to process the horrible, putrid smell that had suddenly appeared.

Every single alarm I could possibly think of was going off inside my body, getting louder and louder to near-unbearable levels. If the Boar's attack had been my body telling me 'MOVE,' this was more like screaming it 20 times a second, and trying to force me to do so even in unconsciousness.

But… why?

Finally, I have enough cognition to open my eyes, and my eyelids slowly flutter apart to view the scene. Squinting against the bright sunlight, two beady black eyes meet with my own, accompanied by an upside-down ugly face that had unrealistically long fangs jutting down from its upper lip. On instinct, I activate Analyze.

[Fanged Ogre]
[*Warning! Super Rare Creature!*]
[Age:10]
[Lv: 6]
[* Warning! Detecting high Lv difference!*]
[Health: 63/63]
[Mana: 40/40]
[Stamina: 60/60]

STR: 10 MAG: 5
AGI: 2 DEX: 3
VIT: 10 INT: 8

ACC: 2
DEF: 10
POW: 6

[Skills: Skewer Bite (Super Rare), Heavy Bite (Super Rare), Berserk (Rare), Predator's Sight (Rare), Roar (Uncommon), Bash (Common)]

[* Warning! Get the fuck up! *]

"Oh f-"

Seeing movement, the Fanged Ogre opens its extensive unhygienic mouth and lets out an incredible roar.

[Fanged Ogre used the Skill Roar.]
[Note: Roar is the evolved form of Screech.]

Oh… Fuck.



* * *

We made it! 10 chapters. Progress for uploads may slow down for a bit; don't hate me for an illegal cliffhanger lol. My hand is still healing unfortunately, and I plan to start having chapters with more length like this one has (the previous ones were ~1000-1500 words, while this one was almost 2k). If you prefer this or the shorter chapters let me know :)