It was a long time before someone found me, so I’ll just skip to when it happens. A man with a shovel appeared at the top of the hole. He was bald, and looked like a villager along with average brown cloth clothes that were stained with dirt. It also seemed like my personality had changed a bit. I used to be kindhearted and cheery, but now everything feels different. Even my thought processes. I have a good feeling that’s it because of the ‘death’ that I experienced earlier. My attitude did a quick 180, so that makes me wonder if even dying has consequences such as your emotions being dulled or entirely stripped away.

“Hey! Do you mind lending a helping hand?” I shouted upwards, putting thoughts of technicalities to the side.

“Uh, no can do. You could be a monster disguised as a human,” replied the bald man.

“I’m a regular human just like you though.”

“That’s exactly what a monster would say.”

This villager didn’t believe that I was human. Assuming that someone is a monster is pretty rude to say straight to their face because last time I checked, I wasn’t a monster. Since this guy didn’t think I had the right to get out of that hole, I could only try to convince him. And so I tried…

“Plea-“

“No way.”

… and failed.

“This is harder than I thought,” is what I thought as I paced the ground calmly. It wasn’t that I was angry, it was just a bit time consuming that he didn’t think I was a human. Why would I be angry at him? If I was in that villagers shoes looking down at an unknown being, I wouldn’t want to listen to it either. It’s be much more convenient to leave it down there for someone else to worry about. Before I could ask the villager up there why he wouldn’t believe me, he explained himself.

“Ok, you could could be a human,”

“Go on.“

“BUT! What kind of human would fall into this obvious trap? A monster or animal I’d understand, but a intelligent human? That’s literally impossible.”

“Humans make mistakes all the time,” I said matter of factly.

“Or, you’re a dumb monster that doesn’t know what a human made trap looks like,” said the bald man as he leaned over the hole a bit more.

“Leave me be then, I’ll get out myself.”

I decided that I would escape this place by climbing out myself, but my hopes were dashed right away. The man moved away, because I thought he was done speaking, but that was off the mark. Dirt started dropping down from the sky like rain, and I got hit by a few rocks mixed in with dirt as well.

“Oh, so you’re going to bury me to get rid of the evidence?” I said out loud, becoming a little more fascinated.

I didn’t receive a response, but I interpreted it as a silent yes. Dirt continued raining down from the top slowly but surely. What am I supposed to do in this situation? Should I attempt to climb up, or try to persuade the villager? Soon enough though, my decision was made for me and it was not one of the choices I had in mind.

A huge amount of dirt about the size of a small car came down at once, and crushed me against the ground. I was trapped, none of my body parts could move an inch. Eventually though, that man must’ve finished filling the hole up with the dirt that had been dug out before, and I was left under all of it. To try to escape. To suffocate. And finally, to die. That’s how I died in this world for the second time today, and it really is an unpleasant feeling.

[Requirement: has been met. One skill has been randomly selected from the target and copied.]

I wonder what kind of skill I’ll get this time? Another DING, and my question was answered.

[Skill: has been acquired.]

Seriously? Dig? What am I going to do with this? Dig holes like those villagers? It could help with getting out of the hole, I’ll give it credit for that. But once I get out, there’s literally no use for this skill. How is this going to help me take over a kingdom? I knew I would be stuck under that dirt upon my revival, so that’s why I wasn’t as disappointed by this seemingly useless skill but it still was pretty sad disappointing.

I’m wondering myself why this absurd power allowing me to reincarnate isn’t freaking me out. I have a good idea why. It almost certainly stems from my knowledge of isekai novels and manga that I loved reading since my teen days.

Disregarding the part where it’s weird how I’m so calm, my body was in the process of being rebuilt under that dirt pile. Once I could feel myself suffocating again, I immediately activated but I was met with a dilemma. I couldn’t speak because my mouth was filled with dirt, so what should I do? The only thought that came to my mind was thoughtless chanting.

Common to isekai novels, the protagonist is usually OP and could almost always cast spells without chanting. I assume that it’s the same case for skills in this world, so I decided to give it a try. “!” I thought.

My expectations were met when the dirt in front of my face started clearing away, and the space around mes slowly started clearing up. After a few seconds, I could eventually stand upright and then after that, the way leading to above ground was cleared. I ended up emerging near the opening of the hole with dirt in my hair and pockets of my clothes. I still didn’t understand exactly what the skill did, but I think it was along the lines of an invisible force pushing the dirt away in front of me. Without me having to move my hands.

Another physics defying skill. I wonder what I could do with this on Earth. Hmm. My unrelated thoughts aside, I was still stuck in this area with nowhere to go. If I had to think carefully… The footsteps of the man from earlier were still fresh in the sticky mud. He had looked like a villager, so there must be a village or small town nearby where he should reside in. Having made a decision to retrace his steps, I started walking by following the footprints left behind.

Muck, MUCK, MUCK!!!

The sound of my feet sticking to the mud was annoying, but bearable so I continued on. At this point, it started raining which was both good and bad. Good because all the mud clinging on me would be washed off, but bad because the rain is cold and I was on the verge of catching a cold. I trudged on, but it was seriously cold here. This might be the northern part of this world. I can deduce that from the fact that the villager was wearing clothes similar to those that people would wear in the fall and winter months of the year. It must be to deal with this cold and harsh climate.

Also, the subtle change within me was more noticeable now. The several deductions and my awareness of details has greatly improved. The fact that I was basically immortal now went in one ear out another, but that was the main cause for this huge personality shift. I may eventually become an emotionless shell of a human one day, and that isn’t good.

Something interrupted me mid thoughts. A giant sign similar to the ones on Earth situated right before you entered a new area. They usually wrote “Welcome to (Insert city)” on these wooden signs. So I wasn’t shocked at all. I probably wouldn’t even be surprised if this world had people of higher and lower status, and an adventurer’s guild. All common to isekai novels.

“Welcome to Sheldor. The town of the north.”

My hypothesis was correct, this is indeed North, it seems like I’ve arrived at Sheldor. It may not happen, but it will be bothersome if I run into that bald villager that buried me alive. Following the path to the town, I passed by more and more stone houses the farther I walked. Once, I even saw a bonfire going on somewhere. This town seems like it’s isolated from the rest of the world, considering almost no one likes living in cold places, leaving me to think that it’s a close estimation.

Another few minutes went by just walking— not a single person noticed me. Until I reached what looked like the town square of Sheldor. The town square only consisted of a fire pit in the middle of a huge circular space made of stone. There were a few stores that surrounded this area, making me think that this is the commercial grounds. The houses were more situated towards the outskirts of this small town, because I had stopped seeing them beyond a certain point on my walk.

As I loitered around, I had time to think more about my significance in this world. Right now, I had no significance. A regular citizen that wasn’t recognized or someone that hadn’t accomplished any respectable feats. What’s my goal in this new life of mine? Become famous throughout the land? Become a king or the strongest in the world? None of those interested me, but an idea finally came to me.

In most of the light novels I’ve read, there’s almost always a organization moving behind the scenes. Whether it was on the side of good or evil. They controlled how everything worked and were at the peak power wise. These people working in the shadows only acted when they desired to do so, not caring at all about the results of their actions. They had the strength to protect themselves so why care about others?

That’s a perfect goal for me. With this system, is what I decided to call the notification giver, makes me immortal. In addition to immortality, I have the potential to become overpowered through the acquirement of skills. This is perfectly suited for me, it's like it was determined by fate. Instead of trying to rule the world with this power, how about I try to live a normal life? If someone bothers me, I’ll just get rid of them cause I have the power to do so. No one would know anyways, because I’ve hidden my powers. I’ll live however I want and anyone who opposes me, I can deal with because I would have the power to do so! A smile started creeping onto my face, but then something I wasn’t expecting hit me in the side of a head.

I fell down and my consciousness started slipping as blood pooled around my fallen body. The last thing I saw was a hoe dripping in blood being carried by a bald man… how unfortunate that the skill I’m about to receive was from that guy.

[Requirement: has been met. One skill has been randomly selected from the target and copied.]

[Skill: has been acquired.]

[ 3/3 requirement has been met. Commencing Upgrade of the System…]