Otherworlders are the result of a mysterious phenomenon that have been occuring since the earliest known records of humanity. Other worlds with mysterious technology that follow completely different rules and laws. A famous otherworlder who was open with their status was the late Anne Forger. Born to a noble family, she underwent the alias of 'Dr. Who' and revolutionized the medical industry to what it is today. In several interviews, Anne stated that she used to be a man in her previous life and dealt with severe gender dysphoria throughout her early adolescence. The doctor did not reveal her status as an otherworlder until she was an established individual with many accomplishments. Despite this, she still faced skepticism and was regarded as a madwoman, but her ability to recall most of her previous life, along with the ability to speak in a completely foreign language called German only added to her credibility. The amount of confirmed cases are roughly six a century, an extremely rare phenomenon. Researchers theorize that unconfirmed cases could reach up to thirty a century.

~

Chester tried to hold in his vomit upon swallowing the half-cooked piece of flesh. He had his legs crossed beside the carcass of a bright orange wolf, tending to a fire caused by one of its attacks.

He stoked the flame, feeding it some leaves to keep it going. All around him was a turquoise forest. The trees were several meters tall, and the canopy let in a few streams of sunlight to shine down on the area.

‘I can’t believe I have to hunt these bastards for this. What I would do for a lighter right now…’

The man had been surviving in this mysterious game-like world for two weeks now. After suffering from several mental breakdowns, food poisoning incidents and starving predators, Chester had adapted. Learning the new rules, concepts, and how to break them to his advantage.

'Looks like levelling up gets slower. Still don't know how to use the MP. Wish they'd give me a tutorial, man this is really poor product design.'

A sharpened boar tusk lay beside him, and his eyes scanned his surroundings in a paranoid manner. He knew that these wolves were pack animals, and that taking out one of the beasts would mean that more would likely come running.

He stared at the flames, cutting into the wolf and roasting its flesh on the flame like a rotisserie chicken. Although he had never attended a campfire in his life, he figured that the act of roasting a marshmallow felt similar to this.

Every bite tasted like blood; bitter, salty, and undesirable. But he kept eating. Chester knew that protein didn’t come often, and finding a wolf on its lonesome was rare.

The silver-tongued con man was jarred by his environmental change. His enemies were no longer humans, but monsters that could rip an average human to pieces. They could not be reasoned with, and smelled fear and weakness from kilometers away. The only benefit was that they were easy to outsmart.

His body had transformed in the time he spent hunting wild beasts. From a skinny, underdeveloped adult male to a boxer’s physique. His arms were well-defined, and his whole body looked much more solid than ever before. Chester’s face was matted with dirt, blood, and a variety of liquids. His beard had grown an insane amount, and his hair was a wild and unkempt mess. It covered his eyes and he was forced to flip his hair often.

‘In all honesty, I’m afraid to know what I look like right now. I need some skincare and a hairstylist ASAP. A phone too. Maybe some fast food as well.’

Chester guessed that he looked like a Neanderthal. His shirt and pants were riddled with holes. He wanted to replace his clothing soon. The tattered outfit he wore was the only evidence that he came from Earth.

He opened his status window, to provide exposition and show the progress so far for his imaginary audience.

A portion of the reason why he hadn’t gone insane was due to this. Pretending that his current predicament was being filmed in similar style to the Office, making comical one-liners and looking at an imaginary camera to ease his mental distress. Coping with the loss of basic goods and services along with the monsters hunting him down had done a number on his psyche.

‘Isn’t that a sign I’m actually going insane?’

CHESTER EVERHEART

PERK(S):

Level: 8

Race: Human (Otherworld Variant)

Class: N/A

HP: 106/120 (0.7 HP regen/min)

MP: 130/130 (0.65 MP regen/min)

PRIMARY

STR- 17

AGI- 16

END- 14

INT- 13

SPECIAL

CHA- 41

LUC- 6

Skills:

ACTIVE

N/A

PASSIVE

Dagger Mastery Level 2

Poison Resistance Level 1

Chester decided to get up and inspect the wolf corpse for anything useful. The fangs were large, but not as large as the boar tusk. He looked at the weapon, observing the handcrafted item.

Inferior Tusk Dagger

- Made from the Troll Boar’s tusk.

- Poorly crafted by a complete amateur. Due to this, it has poorer durability.

- Deals mediocre cutting and piercing damage

‘I don’t know why, but it feels like this shit is making fun of me…’ Chester narrowed his eyes at the harsh remarks about his craftsmanship. Although the system was responsible for giving him the tools to survive in such a brutal environment, he despised it.

Wrenching the tusk from the boar’s head was insanely difficult, and grinding it down into an even sharper edge took hours. He put up a mental middle-finger to the system for their rude analysis of his work.

Occupied in his own thoughts, he forgot to take care of the flame and watched as it dissipated.

“Fuck! Shit!”

He sighed, deciding that there was no point in staying here any longer. The bearded man shuffled into the forest, slipping past the trees before any scavengers could come and fight him over the corpse of the fire-breathing wolf.

Chester clutched his makeshift dagger, making marks along the sides of the trees as he passed to remember whether or not he’s passed by this route before. His arm muscles were strong enough to carve into the bark with little resistance.

After some time of walking along a straight line, he came across a river stream. He almost collapsed in happiness.

It had been days since he had last seen a proper water source. The only way he quenched his thirst was by drinking the blood of other animals.

He took off his clothing and splashed into the river with reckless abandon. Chester forgot to check if there was anything hidden in the shallow depths, but was thankful to see that nothing attacked him. The dirty man rinsed his entire body, cupping the water and letting it fall onto his face. He sloshed it around inside his mouth before spitting it out.

“Ah, this is refreshing.” His chapped lips eagerly absorbed the hydration that graced his lips.

All the grime, dirt, blood, and other bodily fluids were gone. Chester felt like a new man. He decided to stick close to the river, and followed in the hopes that it would lead him out of the forest.

Chester walked for what seemed to be hours. He had carefully avoided the monsters roaming the riverside, hopping up onto the trees for a greater vantage point. The branches were long enough to leap from tree to tree with ease. His legs possessed a jumping ability superior to that of high-level athletes.

Despite his rising mental fatigue, he had never felt so good physically. Acclimating to his newfound powers had taken some time, and he assumed that he would eventually learn how to utilize it to the absolute limit.

‘What happens when my stats reach fifty? A hundred? Two-hundred? Do I turn into Superman?’

Further ahead, he could see a tremendous battle. It looked like a massive skunk; flattened body, short legs, and thick, coarse hair. The mammal was significantly smaller than its opponent, an elongated reptile with scales that shined like armor.

The lizard looked prehistoric. It was over five meters long. Chester had mistaken it for a crocodile, but realized that this one had a flattened snout, longer neck, and leathery skin.

“These…these are true monsters.”

He was thankful that he hadn’t encountered either of them beforehand. Otherwise he would’ve died. Chester watched as the skunk-like creature hissed angrily, whipping around the slower reptile at ridiculous speeds and clawing at its scales.

The lizard’s armor was impervious to most of its strikes, swinging its massive tail like a whip to catch the mammal off-guard. With hackles raised, it’s violent onslaught continued with renewed ferocity while dodging the massive tail.

A purple glob of liquid escaped the reptile’s mouth, and accurately landed on the right side of the skunk’s face. It hissed in pain, incapacitated. The stalemate had been broken.

The larger opponent snatched it with its massive jaws. It swung the mammal around, smashing into a tree and causing the large wooden structure to shake wildly.

Despite the vicious treatment, the skunk was still alive. It clawed out the lizard’s right eye and forced it to let go. The fur was still intact with little sign of damage. Instead of retreating from danger, it leapt back into the fight with suicidal drive.

Seeing that its attacks had little effect, the mammal began attacking the face and snout. At the expense of taking critical damage, it began injuring the lizard.

Chester watched in horrified awe, before sensing an opportunity. His gut always had the worst, most intrusive thoughts at unbelievable times. Seeing the two monsters locked in a death-match, the man readied himself to interfere.

Just as the skunk’s attacks slowed, and the lizard’s strength began to falter, Chester leapt from high above.

No sane person would’ve done such a thing. An opportunistic person would’ve likely tried to attack after one died, but to attack both while they were still alive?

That was reserved for the insane.

But this world seemed to reward those who thought outside the box.

His entire body weight pressed down on the lizard’s neck. It couldn’t handle the impact and smashed into the ground. Chester’s tusk stabbed the maimed skunk in the face, going for its vitals. Four consecutive strikes ended the injured animal’s life.

You have slain Overgrown Honey Badger (Level 17)

You have leveled up! You are now level 9.

The reptile reared its neck and threw him off, and Chester’s head smashed into a nearby tree. He tried to regain his bearings, but was splashed with an unknown liquid in the process.

It seeped into the minor scratches on his body, and a burning sensation permeated his skin.

Poison Resistance (Level 1) counteracts a portion of the effects.

-7 HP/min, -10% reduction to physical stats.

He didn’t have time to curse; Chester hid behind the tree to avoid the lizard’s tail. It lashed out and struck the tree, stripping the bark and denting the dense wood. The reptile’s eyes were gouged out; but it seemed to be flicking its tongue to track the man with limited effectiveness.

He scaled the tree, clinging on as hard as he could while the lizard repeatedly hit the tree with its tail. Chester mustered every bit of willpower in his body to smash his feet onto his scaly opponent’s head after jumping off the tree’s highest point.

The man followed it up with accurate strikes to the eye socket. He further maimed the beast and began falling as it tried to buck him off. Chester’s arm wrapped around the lizard’s snout to prevent it from opening and to maintain his position. His legs locked together, surrounding the great beast’s neck to stabilize himself even further.

Its tail was as long as the body, and struck the man on the head with enough force to give him whiplash. A cracking noise along with the pain signified just how severe his injuries were.

Another tail swipe caught him on his backside, and a burning sensation spread throughout his back. Gritting his teeth to the point they cracked, Chester refused the urge to scream. His body was on fire, and every nerve was in agony as he pushed himself to the absolute limit. The man had no time to regret his decision to join the battle.

‘KILLKILLKILLKILLKILL’

His mind was focused on only one task. Chester didn’t breathe as he dug his bone dagger even deeper into its mangled eye socket. The lizard was unable to survive after two brutal battles, and collapsed to the riverside in a bloodied heap.

Chester laid on the dirt, gasping for breath as his mind finally registered the pain to its full extent. His body trembled, and he could feel warmth seeping into his back, bleeding from the lashing he received. His hands shook as the adrenaline left his body, and a numb, tingling sensation overtook his senses.

His ears were ringing, and he could barely move his neck due to the tail strike from before. But the system notification still alerted him to his situation.

You have slain Venomous Monitor (Level 21)

You have leveled up! You are now level 10

You have leveled up! You are now level 11

You have received Perk: Underdog I

Underdog I - Slay an opponent with a slightly higher level and stat total. +5 to all stats.

“Fuck…I’m gonna die before I can even…”

His breathing was labored. The wounds he sustained were infected and poisoned, and he could hear his heartbeat pound in his ears. He quickly brought up his status menu, struggling to maintain an upright position.

‘The glitch…I have to do it…’

He pressed on the screen, his fingers touching the plus signs beside each stat point simultaneously.

Invest 15 points into STR? Y/N

Chester declined it, falling down onto his knees as nausea permeated his senses. He tried again, trying to stop his fingers from shaking as he pressed all the buttons at once, mimicking the glitch he had completed yesterday.

Invest 15 points into Sͥ̉̆̅̌̊̂̎̓̑ͥ̈̀̂ͩͧ̚͏̡̟̬̙̣͝͝G̵̷͑ͩ̆̋̏ͪͪͦ̓͑ͦ̄̚͘͢҉̭̹̯̹͖̰̠̠ͅD̪̘̗͇̺̯͉͍̽ͯ͊ͧ̂̔̆̄ͨ͂̏̌̆ͪ͐̄ͯ̔ͦ͘͢͟ ? Y/N

He accepted it, and watched as his STR, AGI, END, and INT rose by fifteen points. A small rush of power flowed through his veins, and the pain and nausea became a bit more bearable.

Chester threw himself into the shallow river, and washed off all the blood to avoid infections. Although his max HP had almost doubled after the glitch, his current health remained the same. The damage he suffered from the poison was reduced, counteracted by his stronger body and his increased regeneration.

‘Think, think, think! How do people get rid of poison in their system?’

With greater mental capacity, he recalled a wilderness survival documentary he once watched. Chester gulped down the river water until he was ready to burst, and waited patiently as his bladder began to fill.

Urinating seemed to do the trick, as the venom coursing through his body had stopped damaging him and finally allowed the man to recover his HP at a steady rate.

Your body has adjusted to the effects. Poison Resistance is now Level 2.

HP: 78/340 (1.7 HP regen/min)

MP: 330/330 (1.65 MP regen/min)

PRIMARY

STR- 32 (37)

AGI- 31 (36)

END- 29 (34)

INT- 28 (33)

SPECIAL

CHA- 41

LUC- 6

As he rested, Chester was curious as to how strong his body was now. He knew firsthand how valuable a stat point was. The power he received was linear, and his physical abilities grew rapidly with the glitch he had found yesterday.

The man grabbed a rock the size of his head. From its size and shape, he assumed it was at least thirty kilograms.

But he casually carried it with one arm, as though he were palming a small bowling ball. His grip strength was superhuman, flipping the rock upside down so that his hand faced downwards. Chester hurled the rock up high, almost five meters into the air, and watched as it smashed into the river.

“Captain America strong? Sweet!”

His jump from ordinarily impressive to superhuman was evident. The excited, but injured man slammed the back of his fist into the trunk behind him, watching as the entire construct shook. It cracked under the force of his strike, and he looked over his fist to see that it wasn’t injured at all.

Chester laughed. His laughter was full of joy and wonder.

‘I grew up quick. I had to let go of all those stupid superhero fantasies. Maybe I can entertain myself again?’

It had been decades since he fancied himself as a superpowered freak. Unlike the children who imagined being a hero, he just wanted to be strong enough to fend for himself. To be able to do what he wanted, when he wanted.

The days he went hungry, he dreamt of a life where he could run faster than the security guards. When he could beat the homeless who stole from him. Where he had control of his fate. His dreams of casting illusions like Loki, or swinging from skyscrapers like Spiderman were daydreams that took up most of his adolescence.

Chester shook his head. He decided to stop ruminating about his past, and to focus on the present.

With his HP back in the triple digits, he got up and returned to where the corpses of the beasts lay. Chester searched for his dagger, which he dropped after winning the fight. He cut into the honey badger’s hide, which took several attempts. It was thick, rubbery, and loose; which explained why the skin remained untorn during its fight against the monitor.

After an hour of skinning, cleaning, and washing, Chester had fashioned himself a vest. He had enough to make it into a no-sleeve shirt, cutting jagged holes into the hide which fit his arms.

Chester’s nose had become desensitized after living in inhospitable conditions. Although it possessed an unpleasant odor, it would be ample protection against the elements and from attacks.

Looking at the massive, scaly lizard, he figured that making some protection for his limbs was a worthwhile investment of his time.

Skinning the massive lizard took much longer. The scales were far more durable, and ripping it off the body proved to be a difficult task even with his superhuman strength. Chester separated the scales into strips, cleaning them carefully and using the river to rinse off the accumulated blood and membranes. He noticed how tough the scales were; and he had to reshape his blade continuously when it would continuously grow dull.

He wrapped it around his forearms and legs. There was more than enough of the tough hide to spare, and he tested out his movement in his new clothing. It was so poor in quality that nothing from the system registered the items as equipment.

It smelled horrible, but it proved to be much better than going into fights without any protection. He found that both skins were puncture-resistant, and could withstand repeated blows from his blade. Although he wished that he could fashion himself a new weapon, none of them had anything to offer.

With a new set of equipment, the man continued his journey deeper into the forest.