*Initializing*

*Population migration in progress*

*Control population adjusted to mana rich environment*

*Population redistributed to minimally fatal environments*

*Population migration complete*

*New World Primer now available*

*Good Luck Pioneers*

The messages flashed by within seconds of each other. White text against the void that surrounded Andrew. A sharp pain at the base of his skull accompanied a disorienting tug backwards and the sudden earthy dampness of forest air.

Andrew opened his eyes to numerous shafts of sunlight breaking through a thick green canopy. Birds were chirping, a brook was bubbling, and a rock was digging into the back of his head.

"What in the fuck am I doing out here?" he said as he sat up and brushed the dirt and rocks from his hair.

Where was camp? Am I concussed? How far did I go? Panic began to set in as he slowly stood up and looked around. If I can find a landmark I can get back to camp. What happened last night? I couldn't have been drinking, or smoking, I didn't bring any of either. Hell, haven't touched any of either for the last three weeks. I'm out here alone, I wouldn't have slept outside my tent, Am I concussed? How far did I go? Where the hell am I?

The forest was entirely different from what he remembered. These trees were tall, practically redwoods, and this underbrush was far too dense for him to have ever willingly worked his way out here. Not without good reason at least.

Something else was off.

The bird calls were different. He had spent three days camping in this forest already.

That can't be normal. No landmarks.

Andrew turned in a slow circle, gazing up between the branches of the tall trees around him. He looked desperately for any signs of the landmarks he had become familiar with over the last few days. Nothing. He searched over the same empty sky and unfamiliar stretch of forest over and over again, pushing down the panic that began to rise within as it became more and more apparent that this wasn't anything like the forest he had been camping in.

….

[Perception skill created]

I need to move, to do something. Ten more minutes of staring at unfamiliar trees, looking for the mountaintop that definitely isn't there, the trails and signs that definitely aren't there, is not going to get me any less lost. Or maybe it would. I really should have paid better attention to those wilderness survival guides. I guess it's survival camping now, if that’s even a thing. Water First, look for a trail on the way, get out of the forest and find my bearings.

Andrew set off through the woods. He picked his way through the ferns that carpeted the forest while his eyes darted around, searching desperately for any sign of a trail while following the growing sound of flowing water. Forests had always calmed Andrew, the clean air and subtle white noise of the creatures and the wind, the brief escape from the responsibilities of the outside world.

Now the forest felt claustrophobic. Every root tripped at his feet, every rustle of branches a potential predator, every unfamiliar birdcall was yet another undeniable indicator that he was far from where he wanted to be. He kept walking, kept moving, doing something made him feel better, kept the panic away. The ferns opened up as the river came into view. The first unobstructed view in what felt like hours.

Water, check, or at least found. Don't know if that's drinkable yet but I suppose it counts for something. Think positive. I have good sturdy boots. A thick waterproof coat. A pocket knife and--

Andrew ripped his cellphone from his pocket.

Of course. Idiot! The phone! Seriously am I concussed?

The phone lit up, the screen flashing a bright white before several purple lines flashed across the screen and it went dark once again.

Seriously? Seriously!

The phone would not turn back on.

No amount of swearing, shouting, or concussive recalibration would bring life back to the device.

Think positive. Good boots. Thick Coat. Pocket Knife and the most eco-unfriendly hope destroying brick for a hundred miles.

A mighty roar followed by a rustling and snapping of branches brought Andrew right out of his plastic brick hating haze. Something was heading right towards him and he sure as hell wasn't sticking around to see what it was. He took off running along the river bank. Dodging the considerably reduced undergrowth lining the bank, far faster than he would consider safe. One slip of a rock and he was dinner. Another roar cut off into a yelping gasp and Andrew ran for only a minute longer before curiosity got the better of him.

It turns out wolves are a lot bigger in person, and seeing the most horrific fuck-off excuse for a grizzly bear tearing into one not fifty feet behind him was far from comforting. The thing couldn't be healthy, or natural for that matter. Three rows of bleach white spines protruded from its back and when it looked up from its meal it's four pronged furry jaw opened to reveal a long snaking tongue.

[Dire Bear lvl 38]

Fuck this. Fuck that. Fuck curiosity and that dumbshit cat. I'm getting the hell out of this forest. Andrew took off running once again, even faster than before, still following the river downhill. He completely abandoned all hope of searching for a trail and instead was laser focused on not slipping and eating shit in the river.

His full blown panic sprint slowly deteriorated to a run, then a jog as exhaustion began to take hold. The trees were thinning out now and he had to have been running for at least a half hour. Even with the adrenaline rush, that was more sustained running than he could manage with his relatively newfound passion for the outdoors and exercise. At least there was no pack weighing him down.

Think positive.

He heard no signs of pursuit but forced himself to continue walking at least. If he stopped now he wasn't sure if even that monstrosity of a bear could get him back up any time soon.

[+1 Vitality for pushing the limits of your endurance]

[+2 Dexterity for navigating difficult terrain at high speed]

"Think positive, gotta think positive." he said to himself.

I have water. I have a knife, I have good boots and a good coat. The trees are thinning, that means the forest is ending soon. I'm going down hill, that means I should be able to see a ways once the forest breaks. Whatever that thing was it's probably not hungry anymore. Little message boxes are probably mild hallucinations, but I appreciate the encouragement from mr. brain damage. Probably concussed. Think positive.

As Andrew reached the edge of the tree line a wave of relief washed over him. A road! The road was little more than a wide dirt trail snaking parallel to the tree line, down a hill and still a respectable distance off. Maybe another twenty minutes of walking and he'd be back in the comfortable grasp of civilization.

A short rest, then I'll make for the road.

He slumped onto the nearest tree, ignoring the rough bark as he slid to a comfortable position among its roots. His short rest devolved into a 20 minute nap and he jerked awake, alerted by distant shouting.

A caravan of some kind was working its way down the road. A rough wooden wagon was being pulled by two black wolfish creatures. Wolfish considering each was roughly the size of a horse. Tall tan yellow skinned creatures walked in front and behind the cart, organized into two neat lines. They stood upright, taller than most men with squashed faces, pointed ears, and thin stringy hair braided with leather cords and bits of bone. Two in front, Four in back.

Oh shit.

Two men and a woman were nestled between the rows of four trailing the cart. It was difficult to make out from here but they appeared to be chained together in a line, connected to the back of the cart. Shouting came from the man in the middle. The violent swing of a bludgeon followed by a sharp crack put a swift end to his complaints, though the hit was only enough to cause him to stumble.

[Perception lvl 1 - 2]

One of the creatures leading the procession suddenly raised a hand, and began calling out in an unfamiliar language. The caravan ground to a halt and the creatures looked around nervously, eyeing the forest where Andrew had hastily ducked behind his napping tree and the fields of hard yellow grasses that stretched out below them. Distant shapes began to reveal themselves from the grasses on the opposite side of the road, that were now much taller and thicker than he had initially assumed. Humanoid as well, though significantly larger than the creatures guarding the caravan. While the caravan creatures wore a mixture of leather armor and haphazard plates, these two creatures wore only loincloths and belts lined with a variety of small pouches.

They crashed into the caravan with shocking speed, knocking the lesser creatures off their feet with heavy swings of their tree trunk clubs. The humans tried to run but couldn't escape the chains binding them to the now flipped cart. Andrew watched with a growing sense of morbid curiosity and helplessness, unable to look away from the disaster below. The leathery creatures put up a valiant fight, firing bows and charging the creatures, but they shrugged off the attacks and laid waste to the caravan within seconds of arriving.

This is, without a doubt, not the forest I went camping in. Not even earth probably. If anything like that existed someone would've known about it. This stinks of fantasy bullshit. These glowing messages probably aren't hallucinations either if that's the case, however much I'd like to continue pretending they're just hallucinations. I'm pretty sure I'm in some serious fucking trouble out here too. Big scary monster bear in the forest above me, big scary monster man in the grasses below me, and slavers on the only road I'm aware of. Definitely in trouble.

That man before was definitely speaking English, despite everything else. Not that it mattered now. The forest was starting to look a whole lot more appealing all of a sudden.

Think positive.

Andrew finally looked away as the victors began consume the bodies of the fallen. Disturbingly ignoring the wolf-creatures in favor of bickering over the humanoid and actually human ones.

This place is all kinds of fucked up and if I'm not wrong the sun is going down in the next few hours. I need shelter, and I'm sure as hell not following that road. I can't go too much further uphill either, I'll have to find something nearby.

Andrew wandered the tree line keeping distance and cover between himself and the road, occasionally taking peeks at the bickering giants below. A short distance into the forest, not far from the river, he found an especially large tree. The roots grew up and away from the dirt and a comfortable hollow formed within.

Well. This is as good a place as any to hide for the night. I guess I'll be sleeping under a tree. Far enough from the road to avoid the attention of those big fuckers, and close enough to the edge of the forest to not have to worry about that godawful bear making a comeback. Thank god the trees around here are so big, one upside to the new forest I've found my self in at least.

He could no longer ignore the growing thirst that continued to gnaw at him and he had to take a break from examining the tree to try the river water. He took a few cautious gulps at first before he threw caution to the wind and sucked down as much of that sweet sweet river water as he could stomach.

The water was flowing fast so it should be fine right? Guess I'll find out soon anyways.

He returned to his tree hollow and began scooping dirt out, filling in gaps in the roots and leaving himself with a singular entrance and a more comfortable hole in the ground.

[Worm]

[Beetle]

[Pillbug]

[Tree]

[Fern]

[…]

He tried out his newfound identification powers on pretty much everything he saw. It seemed like that monstrosity of a bear was the only thing that had levels, and he could only identify living things. The stones and dirt around him resisted his attempts entirely. He continued identifying everything around him as he began collecting big leafy ferns and scattering them around his freshly erected dirt barrier.

[Camouflage skill created]

The weak camouflage left him feeling distinctly safer and better prepared as he nestled into his dirt hole and pulled his makeshift fern door closed behind him. It was quite dark and he hadn't rested since his short nap at the tree line.

Focus on the task at hand. What can you get done right now. What are your priorities.

Water, check.

Shelter, check.

Food.

I bet that caravan had supplies, maybe there will be some left in the morning. Otherwise it's berry picking and poison roulette on the menu tomorrow. Can't forage now though, if that’s what roams around during the day god knows what I'll encounter at night.

Sleep?

Soon, probably unavoidable but not something I'm feeling up to right now.

Information.

What do I know?

This sure as hell isn't earth anymore. Nothing like that exists and those creatures definitely weren't human. They appeared to have fairly basic weapons and domesticated animals, a sure sign of civilization. They also appeared to have human prisoners. Not a good sign. I need to figure out what those messages mean.

Show messages.

…

Nothing.

Show log.

A flat blue screen appeared listing each notification he received that day. Though it was perfectly clear in the pitch blackness of his hidey hole, it didn't appear to give off any light.

[Population migration in progress]

[Control population adjusted to mana rich environment]

[Population redistributed to minimally fatal environments]

[Population migration complete]

[New World Primer now available]

[Good Luck Pioneers]

[Perception skill created]

[+1 Wisdom for creating a sensory skill]

[Dire Brown Bear lvl 38]

[+1 Vitality for pushing the limits of your endurance]

[+2 Dexterity for navigating difficult terrain at high speed]

[Perception lvl 1-2]

[Worm]

[Beetle]

[Pillbug]

[Tree]

[Fern]

[…]

[Camouflage skill Created]

[+1 Dexterity for creating a stealth related skill]

I had thought those messages in the beginning were some kind of weird dream. Guess not. That one about minimally fatal environments seems like bullshit to me though.

What is the New World Primer?

[Welcome to your new world]

[Due to an uncontrolled self-propagating arcane force 87% of this planet's populations has perished. Luckily the gods have planned for this. You are the last step in the planet repopulation process! Congratulations! Samples from a variety of control populations have been seeded into this world and allowed to naturally accumulate. Sentient repopulation is the final step in this process. With this the world's balance should be complete and ready for natural evolution]

[You can check previous system messages by focusing on the words: Show Log]

[You can check your current status by focusing on the words: Show Status]

[Customization of each is possible with practice, and additional menus may become available due to personal advancements or discoveries]

[Your Pioneer Title will allow you more rapid development of skills and attributes. Spend it wisely]

[Your Catalyst is the main method by which you channel mana. Choose wisely as this may evolve, but cannot be replaced]

[A Class provides access to specialized skills, most of which are designed to help you survive this world's threats and secure territory]

[A Profession provides access to specialized skills, most of which are designed to supplement your survival and passively benefit you]

[Titles provide passive boosts and can be earned by performing exceptional acts]

Oh. Well that was a lot more information than I was expecting.

Show Status.

Name: Andrew Neilson

Race: Human

Catalyst: None

Class: None

Profession: None

Titles: Pioneer

Status:

HP: 60/60

SP: 55/60

MP: 50/50

Strength: 5

Dexterity: 8

Vitality: 6

Intelligence: 5

Wisdom: 7

Skills:

-Perception lvl 2

-Camouflage lvl 1

Vitality for health and stamina, intelligence for mana. Seems pretty simple compared to some games I've played. I'm still hoping this is a dream, but if it's not I think this is something I think I can work with.

Shit wait.

Who else was brought here? How many?

Was my family among them? My friends?

Who all is involved in this 'population migration'?

Shit.

New goal for tomorrow. Find more people.

Stay away from anything not human.

Figure out how to gain a class.

Get Stronger.