A bright light shines through my closed eyelids as I lay on a hard surface. I try to roll over away from the light but it doesn’t seem to help. Who opened the shades? God, it’s too early to get up. I yawn and rub my eyes as I come more fully awake.

“Welcome to Terra.” Hearing someone speak, my eyes shoot open. I look around for the source of the noise and see a small flying figure. Focusing on it, I see that it’s a tiny woman with wings. She has jet black hair, alabaster skin, and is no bigger than my palm. This tiny woman flies through the air with four translucent wings and is wearing a dress that seems to be made out of leaves. “What the hell?!” I yell and sit up.

“I said ‘Welcome to Terra’. Or are you deaf?” she says with her hands on her hips, hovering in midair.

“Huh, no. I’m not deaf. Just surprised is all.” Still in a slight haze after waking, I look around and notice that I’m not in my home. Instead I’m sitting on the ground surrounded by trees. “Where am I?”

“I just told you. Terra. Remember the ‘Welcome to Terra’ part?” she replies sarcastically.

“Where the hell is Terra? And what are you?” I ask, trying to keep track of the flitting thing.

Flying right up to my face she replies in a huffy tone, “I am not a thing. I am Mary and I am your fairy guide.”

A real fairy? Is that even possible? I must be dreaming. Noting my incredulous expression Mary sighs. “I guess you don’t have fairies where you come from? Well, if you’ll let me get on with my introduction speech, maybe I can answer some of the questions you must have.” I nod for her to continue.

Mary clears her throat, “As I was saying. Welcome to Terra. I’m Mary, your fairy guide. You’ve officially died and been transported here to have a second chance at life.”

“Wait! I died?” I interrupt.

“Yup. You’re the first person from your world to be reincarnated here too. The great Overlord God decided that you’d fit in well on Terra and brought you here after you died.”

“How the hell did I die?” I ask, interrupting her.

Mary seems to look at something I can’t see and responds “Hmmmm. From your file it seems you died from a heart attack after a 72 hour marathon gaming session. You really should have taken better care of yourself.” I sit in stunned silence for a minute, absorbing the fact that I died, and was reincarnated.

“You really did luck out on which world you reincarnated to though. Based on your file, Terra is the perfect world for you. It’s creation is, in part, based on the video games you seemed to have enjoyed so much.” she says trying to comfort me.

“What do you mean, ‘based on the video games’ I enjoyed?”

“Hmmm. The best way to explain is probably to show you. Think in your mind or say out loud if it helps, ‘Status’. Go on, try it.” she suggests.

Feeling a bit silly, I do as she suggest and shout “STATUS.” To my surprise, a blue window appears in front of me.

Name: Armon Ellington Age: 19

Level: 1 Class: none

Exp to next lvl.: 100 Titles: none

Health: 15 Mana: 20

Stamina: 20

Strength: 10 Intelligence: 10

Dexterity: 10 Wisdom: 10

Constitution: 10 Charisma: 10

Luck: 0

Attack: 1 - 1 Defense: 0

Skills: none

Abilities: none

Spells: none

She’s right. This is a status screen just like the ones I’ve see in the role playing video games I love playing. I see my name and age. Level 1. No class? That’s what my ex-girlfriend said when she dumped me, so no surprise there. I have 10 for all my stats. Guess that’s average. Thinking about the variety of different video games I’ve played over the years, I wonder what each stat does here.

“Mary, what does each of the stats I see on my [status] page mean?” I ask.

“Oh, well strength affects how hard you hit and how much you can carry. Dexterity determines how quick you are and how accurately you hit things when you aim. Constitution determines your health. Intelligence determines your mana and how powerful your spells are. Wisdom affects how quickly your mana recovers and how resistant you are to some spells. Charisma determines how likable you are. Luck affects a variety of things subtly. Like how likely you are to find treasure or win at gambling.” she answers.

Ok. So I’ll need lots of constitution if I don’t want to die from low health and lots of intelligence if I want to cast many spells. Hmm, have to think about how to increase those two.

Looking back at my [Status] screen I see that my attack is one. I wonder how that’s calculated? Something to figure out later. Defense is zero. That’s probably because I’m naked. “Umm, Mary? Where are my clothes?”

“In your inventory silly. You get a few items to help you get started as a part of your starter reincarnation package. Your clothes are there.”

“How do I use my inventory?” I inquire.

“You can usually access any part of the system menu by saying it out loud or thinking the command. Try silently thinking ‘Inventory’.” Mary instructs.

I do as she suggests and think ‘Inventory’ in my mind. Another blue screen appears next to my status screen. This one is a series of boxes and some symbols at the very bottom. One of the boxes has something in it. When I focus on that box a small window pops up.

Starter Shirt

Defense: 1

A basic shirt that offers minimal protection. At least it's better than being naked.

Oh. That’s neat. I get more information when I focus on something in the blue screens. I wonder how I put that shirt on? Hmm, maybe I’ll try thinking [Equip Starter Shirt].

It works. Suddenly I’m wearing a shirt. It’s basic homespun wool. A little itchy but that screen is right. Better than being naked. I focus on the other boxes that seem to have items in the inventory screen.

Starter Pants

Defense: 1

Basic pants that offers minimal protection. At least it's better than being naked.

Definitely need those. Can’t have the boys swaying in the wind. [Equip Starter Pants].

Like the shirt, the pants just appear on my body. Again, basic homespun wool. The itching might be more annoying down there but beggars can’t be choosers. Only two other items in the inventory. One is food and the other water.

Stale Bread Loaf (5)

A stale loaf of bread. When eaten, increases regenerates of health and stamina by 5% over 30 minutes.

Water Skin (5)

A skin of water. When drunk, increases mana regeneration by 5% over 30 minutes.

Health and mana regeneration when I eat or drink? That’s pretty standard in most RPG games. That’ll be useful if I get hurt. Health I get. It measures how hurt or healthy I am. What about stamina and mana? “Mary, what effects stamina and mana?”

“Use of abilities and some skills use up stamina. Spells use up mana.“ she answers.

Huh, skill, abilities, and spells? I check my status screen and find none of those. “Mary, I don’t have any of those.”

“Of course not. You’re only level 1 and just reincarnated. Abilities are either gained from your class or ability books dropped by monsters on very rare occasions. You can learn skills by either practicing something repeatedly or receiving training from someone that has that skill. Spells are gained from either trainers or spell books.”

Hmm. I don’t have any skill or spell books. Nor do I have a class. “You said I can gain skills by practicing them?”

“Yup, if you run a lot then you get the [Run] skill. Want the [Unarmed Combat] skill? Hit things with your bare hands. However, unless you already understand the intricacies of metal working you’re not going to gain [Blacksmithing] unless you train with a blacksmith. Also, abilities, skills, and spells all gain experience the more you use them. Skills begin at novice level then grow to beginner level, intermediate level, advanced level, expert level, and finally master level. So, the more you practice the better you get.“

Well at least I can gain some skills on my own. Though it would have been great to have some overpowered spell or ability right from the start. I close all the blue boxes in front of me for now. Well, time to start gaining skills.