When Bharat was first told that his life from now on would be like an RPG character in games, he was admittedly a bit skeptical and wondered what the other party smoked before deciding to spout such things. When it turned out that it really was happening, his mind was filled with anticipation.

It was like he had gone back to his childhood days and had recently received his favorite PS game. So, he set out to find all secrets of his new ‘toy’ like a madman. But in his eagerness, he failed to remember one very important fact. He was in a fucking forest and there was only one rule in a forest, which was ‘Survival of the fittest.’

Which brings him to his current situation. He was frozen in his previous position with one hand raised in the air, from before when he was messing around with his brand-new system, and in front of him were two very big, bad, and pissed-off pair of wolves looking like they were out for blood.

Not for a moment did the idea to fight with them cross his mind. The question marks in the level section of their name were already a red flag for him. And then there was the description he got from the ‘System’. If he, by some miracle, with his level 1 self, even managed to put up a fight, there was a high chance of getting discovered by the whole pack of them.

Very slowly, as to not startle them to attack suddenly, he picked up his ‘Training kit’ and got up, looking in the eyes of wolves the whole time, ready to break into a run at the first sign of aggression.

When the right wolf took a step forward with a snarl on his face, he decided to hell with it and made a mad dash in the opposite direction, into the forest. Clutching the box in one hand as he ran, he could hear rapid steps behind him and knew the wolves were hot on his trail.

He didn’t dare look back, only focussing on running as fast as he could as his life depended on it, literally. But he could hear them catching up to him by the second.

They were wild animals after all, probably lived in this forest their whole lives, so running after their prey was nothing new to them. Bharat, on the other hand probably ran only a handful of times in his short life, most of which was for his PE classes.

‘I don’t want to die this fucking early!’, he thought to himself in panic. It hasn’t even been 20 minutes since he got the ‘System’, and he was already about to become wolf food. He hasn’t even started on becoming OP yet! He couldn’t accept that. So, with desperation, using reflexes that he didn’t know he had, he opened his status menu and put a single point in agility.

+ Agility: 8

The moment he did, he got an instant boost in his running speed. He couldn’t describe the sensation he felt, only that his running speed increased by more than half. It felt like pressing the boost button in a car while it was already going top speed.

As his speed increased, the distance between the wolves chasing him was also increased. But before he could bask in the euphoria of escaping the jaws of death, he came crashing down by tripping on a stray root sticking out of the ground.

When he came to a stop after rolling on the ground for a few seconds, he saw the box lying down a few feet away from his position with all its contents spilled out. With great desperation, he hastily crawled to the box and picked up the dagger.

In his heart, he knew that it wouldn’t do shit against those wolves, but it was the only insurance he had at this point. At this very instant, the wolves appeared in his sight. With each step they took in his direction, he felt his heart starting to beat faster and faster in his chest as if it would burst out of it any moment now.

In this crucial moment, when he was staring at his death, he remembered back in the room, how he got favorable results by putting points into luck stat. So, he did just that again, putting one point in his luck, truly grasping at straws by now.

Seeing the situation unchanged, and the wolves only a few feet away from him, he was about to add another point in luck when the ears of both the wolves twitched and they gazed in the same direction.

Bharat was confused by this sudden behavior of his likely killers, but he wasn’t going to complain. Focussing a bit, he could hear a faint howl in the distance, which was echoing through the forest.

Suddenly, both the wolves snarled in the direction they were looking at and ran back, likely towards the source of the previous howl. All this while, Bharat was sitting on the ground holding the dagger with a death grip, feeling like the wolves would jump out any moment now as if saying ‘Fooled ya!’.

When it became clear that the wolves were not going to come back, he let the dagger drop from his hand and collapsed to the ground in a heap, feeling drained by this ‘exciting’ and ‘adventurous’ experience of his.

While he was laying on the forest floor and trying to catch his breath, the System announced its presence with the sound of notification.

*Ding*

>

<< Agility: 8

Description: Numerical indicator of the speed and grace with which you can move your body. Provides a temporary boost for a short while after manually adding a point. Explore for more functions.

Remarks: Good for running away from risky situations >>

‘So, it seems that the sudden boost to my speed was just temporary, And the actual differences will be a lot more subtle. Still, I could imagine a few scenarios where an instant boost like this could save my life. Exactly what just happened’, Bharat mused to himself after seeing the updated description. That last part told him that there was more the stat could do that he hasn’t found out yet.

He thought to try out if other stats gave similar boosts on increasing. But he held himself back after seeing the lone unspent point he had left. He would have to wait for a while to test his theory, at least until he gets more points, which he presumed he will once he levels up.

Next, he turned his attention to the second notification, which showed the updated description of Luck, which was turning out to be his favorite stat so far.

*Ding*

>

<< Luck: 3

Description: A Mysterious figure, the functioning of which still alludes to most who have experienced its wonders. Any increment to this stat will shoot up your luck for a brief instant, bending the very world around you to provide varied results. Explore for more functions.

Remarks: For a person fond of gambling with their life. >>

‘The description is a bit…spooky. But isn’t it too OP? A moment of heaven-defying luck that bends the very reality. Exactly what happened earlier. Now I just need to make sure to always keep one point for luck in case I encounter any more surprises.’, Bharat thought in satisfaction. Sure, the remark this time was a bit unsettling, but he was already learning to ignore these sassy comments, so he didn’t bother with it anymore.

‘But I probably shouldn’t rely on this overmuch. I must find a way to level up safely first. And get some good gear too.’, He reasoned, looking at the stone dagger despondently. He had no illusion of surviving in this forest with this dagger.

He imagined that the wolves probably weren’t very powerful either. Just that he was too weak right now. God knows what else was out there in this mysterious forest. He shuddered to imagine something like that dragon showing up or something worse. He had a feeling that even luck wouldn’t save him in that case.

Getting up after he caught his breath and calmed down enough to think rationally again, he picked back up the box and collected everything back inside. Following this, he chose a random direction, opposite to the wolves of course, and set off into the forest with extreme caution, training his eyes and ears everywhere.

The first order of business he decided, should be finding a shelter. As only a short amount of time has passed since he appeared in this forest, he couldn’t tell if the day and night cycle was a concept here at all, but Bharat knew he would have to prepare for it beforehand. The little amount of light that managed to enter the forest meant that he could still perceive his surrounding, albeit barely, but the complete darkness during the night would be much more dangerous.

Feeling a little dryness in his throat after his previous run, he decided that somewhere with a clean water source nearby would be much more preferable. Also, in some forest adventure documentaries he had seen in his free time, he remembered that making a camp in open spaces, like a natural clearing, was very helpful in spotting incoming predators at night.

But Finding something like this for someone so used to life with stuff like GPS was easier said than done. The only thing he was sure of was that he wasn’t walking in circles because he scratched a cross on every tree he saw on his path.

After a while of walking, he noticed that the forest seemed to be getting darker and a faint chill was settling around the forest. Now feeling a bit of urgency, he rushed as fast as he could without getting exhausted, but to no avail.

Just as he was about to hell with it and drop another point in luck, he heard it. It was faint but he could hear the sound of rushing water in the distance. Running in that direction for a while, he finally got a glimpse of the place he would call home for a long while.

It was a small clearing with a waterfall, protected from all directions whether by thick bushes and trees or the small mountain from which the water was falling into a small pond. Walking a bit closer to the mountain, he noticed a small cave that was covered by the waterfall itself.

‘Perfect.’

Bharat was satisfied with what he could see. A source of water with a small cave for sleeping. The sound of the waterfall he believed, will also cover any noise that he might make. Now he just needed to make sure that it wasn’t occupied by some predator.

Walking around the pond and entering the cave eased all his worries. It was a small cave with no other entrances except the one he used. Just a small hollow space inside the mountain.

Feeling the tension draining from his body, he went to drink some water from the pond to provide much-needed relief to his dry throat, instantly noticed that it was sweeter than he was used to, or maybe he was much more parched than he realized.

‘It’s only been a day, but it already feels like an eternity since I could just relax without the world throwing curveballs at me at every corner. Too much shit happened that I didn’t even have a moment to contemplate all that. Hell, I almost died two times in a single day and only got out of it due to some bullshit.’

He wondered if everyone back from earth was experiencing the same level of crazy that he was. Surely, no one from his world was ready for such a world-changing scenario where their daily jobs and tasks turned into a game of survival, except maybe a select few groups of people in society.

Not for a moment did he think of his own inability to survive such experiences. A part of him knew very clearly that he wasn’t ready for this. That he was in one piece at all, and not in the belly of some wild animal was all due to luck and no due to his own competence.

But another small part, the one he buried years ago, that kept reminding him of all those hours he used to spend immersing himself in the fantasy worlds imagining himself as the protagonist, gave him a tiny bit of hope that maybe, he could be something like that too.

Looking at his reflection on the surface of the water, he saw his below-average face covered in dirt and sweat looking back at him and scoffed to himself. ‘Yea right…Me as a Protagonist. What a joke.’

“It seems I’ll have to go without dinner tonight. No way in hell I’m stepping inside the forest at night. The day was bad enough. But I’ll have to start looking for a food source tomorrow.”, Bharat muttered as he eyed the forest warily.

Heading back deeper into the cave, he sat down against the wall and closed his eyes to finally rest, while hugging himself tightly to keep out the cold. The last thought Bharat had, as he went to sleep was if he would wake up back in his hotel room the next day, and all this would turn out to be a dream.

But even if everything that happened till now was just a dream…

…He couldn’t deny that it was a good one for once.