A groan emitted from the stone floor as frigid winds blew in from a hole in the nearby wall. Caressing the ground with a goading embrace, the breeze stirred Gino awake from his slumber - or ‘daydream’ as he called it since he wasn’t capable of actually falling asleep or dreaming. However, after numerous attempts over the course of months, he finally learned how to maintain a mental state close enough to that induced by sleeping; all he had to do was stay motionless and think about anything deep enough to gradually lose awareness. It had been such an abrupt realization that he was dumbfounded for minutes upon discovery, unable to comprehend such a simple solution. With the draft picking up in speed, his eyelids gradually opened and, unbeknownst to him, revealed midnight-black, pupilless eyes.

Despite ‘resting’ for a period of time, Gino sat up grumpily, feeling inexplicably furious about something that was at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t quite place what it was. Then, out of habit, he raised his left arm up to look at his watch, only to see a naked, ghostly wrist. He frowned instantaneously, suddenly remembering what occurred just before he returned to his stone shelter several hours ago; his beloved watch was snatched away.

Mother. Fucking. Golems. The next time I see any of you, I’ll beat the shit out of you and turn you into a part of my walls. Fucking pieces of rock.

Gino had been coming home earlier than usual when he was ambushed by seven truck-sized Syenite Golems. In the midst of the ensuing battle, a large, potent fist hammered directly into his arm with the Casio watch, consequently breaking its buckle and sending it flying. Helplessly, Gino watched one of the golems swallow whole the flung watch and subsequently disappear into the ground like a dolphin would in water.

Recalling the scene over and over again in his mind, Gino lifted up a nearby chunk of boulder and punted it outside of his open ‘window’ before stomping away to a poorly-made stone door. He moved it aside with brute force and exited the doorway, stepping into the outside and allowing gusts of winds to make itself home in his hovel. Gino didn’t bother putting the door back to its initial place because he had already left a generous number of scratches and nicks all over the place to warn roaming creatures that this territory was claimed.

Calming himself down with deep breaths, Gino casually looked around and chose a random direction to head in. Eyes examining the vague outlines of extensive mountains in the distance with forced interest, he departed, leaving behind his resentment of golems in the dust.

“Another fine day to adventure, again. Great.”

Gino muttered as he increased his speed. His legs rapidly pounded on arid earth and left trails of debris hovering in mid-air. Traveling over dessicated plains and monotonous scenery, his head continuously swiveled around in search of creatures or anything remotely interesting along the way. Seeing nothing worthwhile that he hadn’t explored before, Gino decided to open his status screen while maintaining his pace.

Gino Faulkner Unknown race Level: -48 Concepts: 5 -Of Awareness [E] -Of Reflection [CM] -Of Conversion [JM] → [CM] -Of Balance [T] -Of Order [T]

Hmm… apparently Conversion upgraded again, thanks to the golems. But, just what does CM even mean?

Think Gino, think. What acronym could CM refer to? If nothing comes to mind, then I’m just sticking with my own naming convention. CM, the letter C, the letter M, power scaling, acronym, evaluation. Uhm…

His legs subconsciously careened towards a soccer ball-sized rock and kicked, sending it soaring into the distance. Barely registering the action, Gino remained focused on his thoughts, grasping for any inspiration. It came when he was almost halfway there to the mountains.

Command! How about Command? It’s a stupid name, there’s no doubt about that but it’s the only word I can think of for now that has the letters C and M, and refers to power in some way. So, CM means Command, got it.

Ugh, it sounds ridiculous no matter how many times I tell myself it’s not. Ah chiz, whatever.

Okay, now… what was I thinking about yesterday? Oh yeah, the other acronyms! If CM means Command, then JM should be… Journeyman? Doesn’t sound too bad actually, it has a ‘J’, ‘M’, and could be interpreted as ‘power-ish.’ I do remember it means something like someone with decent skill but not exactly… outstanding. Could be used in the military, I think.

That makes it, what, T upgrades to JM, then CM and then E? Or is T higher than E? Where would JM and CM fit then? Ugh, for all I know, I could be completely wrong in how the ranking system works, but I couldn’t care less anyway. Sick of these acronyms, though.

Refocusing on his surroundings again, Gino observed the terrain and skies before taking a glimpse at the mountains that were slowly approaching. He thought of nothing significant for a while until his mind gradually wandered to the memories of his past in this new world. It eventually settled upon a particular memory - his first discovery and kill of a Tisse. That was the moment Gino finally accepted that he was no longer on Earth.

When he had first stumbled upon the floating menu of words he would quickly come to call the ‘status screen,’ he had been in utter disbelief. His mind at the time, still struggling to adjust to his incomprehensible situation, nearly collapsed from mental shock and information overload. Witnessing a sight that was reminiscent of a computer game from his childhood not only brought back ancient memories of RPG’s, but also made him question if reality was really a lie - just a complex simulation made of code that the founder of Tesma once conveyed to the public.

But his own rationale took over, disapproving several things. First, Gino felt that the ‘status screen’ felt oddly organic, something that was a part of him that he had only then realized. Second, he strongly believed that coding was a human invention, not something that could create reality and life. Gino didn’t have any evidence of such an assumption but nonetheless, he discerned it was correct on an instinctual level.

However, the contents of the status screen on the other hand, still mystified him. Gino could understand why his name was there, chalking it up to sentience and the awareness of self. He deducted that if an animal’s intelligence rose to a certain level, they too would have access to the screen. But he couldn’t explain why ‘race,’ ‘level,’ and ‘concepts’ were included, especially ‘level.’ The negative level alone had stumped him for weeks on end. He could accept being of an unknown race, however.

Guess I’m already here… Wow. That is… Damn.

Gino arrived at his destination, shaking out of his trance. He was amazed at how tall the mountains were, unable to glimpse their peaks even with his significantly improved eyesight. Over time, he uncovered with pleasant surprise that his converted race came with several perks, two of which were upgraded vision and mobility. However, right before he could walk any further, he stopped in his tracks.

Gino already detected something closing on his position exceptionally fast. Whistling softly with a subtle smirk, he purposely crouched down and examined the ground as if unaware of the approaching threat. He identified several foreign footprints in mud just as a bus-sized, obsidian-black bird swooped down on him, head foremost.

But right before they crashed, Gino made sure to line his own head directly in the trajectory of the avian’s beak. He let out a full-blown grin, mouth widening in glee and with excitement rushing to his head.

If there was one thing that made his time enjoyable in the past couple of years, it would be moments such as these; one of the very first supernatural abilities that he had acquired, the Concept of Reflection, allowed him to face perilous situations with ease and come out alive, barely scathed. However, that couldn’t be said for the opponent.

Observing the bird mere inches away from his head, Gino casually remarked in his head.

I wonder how many levels I'll get this time since he’s such a big boy? 5? Naww, at least 5. Then how about-

They collided.