World of Villains

I'm falling...

Or is it more like I'm floating...

What a weird sensation, I can't feel my body, but I can still have a sense of movement.

It's really dark here, wherever this is. Honestly this is a really weird situation.

...

It's already been so long in this scene, I'd like to move on now, please!

I'm bored~ I wish I at least had my phone to read some light novels while I'm stuck here! God, what is this crappy situation!

...

It's dark, I think I fell asleep at some point but I finally feel like I'm "seeing" the darkness rather than being in darkness. My senses are coming back, and I feel like I'm in a body again. I feel my weight against the floor I'm on.

<Initiating Beginner's Tutorial>

"Who is it?!" I stand up quickly. It is completely unreasonable that I would hear a woman's voice in this dark, creepy place!

<To begin, please issue the [Status] command.>

The voice seemed to be in my head, it didn't sound like it was coming from any particular direction.

Tutorial makes it sound like I'm starting a video game...

Is this!? Is it that!? Is this real!? Is this the legendary pattern from light novels, books, manga, and anime?

The one where I "reincarnate or transmigrate with a video game system" setting?

Stifling my excitement, I take a deep breath. This train of thought can wait for later, let's do what the nice lady says for now, it's a rookie move to miss the tutorial after all.

"[Status]", I confirm the command with my thoughts.

Whoa, a game character's status screen showed up! This confirms it's just dark in here and I'm not blind.

========================================

Name: [Enter Here]

Race: Human

Level: 1 Class: N/A

Strength: 1 [+]

Agility: 1 [+]

Vitality: 1 [+]

Intelligence: 5 [+]

Spirit: 1 [+]

Unassigned points: <10>

Titles: N/A

Skills: <Absolute Memory>

========================================

This... IS AWESOME!

I can set my own stats, and I already have a skill! I get to pick my own name, which is a little weird? And it looks like my intelligence is 5 to start off with, I hope that's at least average for this world.

<Next, please call out the [Map] command.>

"[Map]" A new screen appears. It has a green blinking dot labelled <My Position> in the middle of a black square, and the rest of the frame is empty. The top of the screen has a header that says <Cave of The Forgotten God>.

What an ominous name for a cave. This map doesn't seem to be filled out, so maybe only the places I've been to will be shown. I'll close the screen for now.

<Lastly, please use the [Inventory] command.>

"[Inventory]" Another screen appears in my vision. It's split into two separate parts: the left side shows my body outline with labels over my clothes, looks like I'm wearing a shirt, pants, and shoes. The right side has a bunch of squares, right now they just all say <Empty>.

<This concludes the Tutorial. Would you like to re-do the Tutorial, or exit?>

"Exit, I think I got it."

<Thank you for completing the Tutorial>

<Best of luck on your adventures ♥>

I don't think the voice is automated. It could be my mistake, but I totally imagined that whoever was making the announcements was smiling as she wished me luck.

I let out an excited breath, this feels like a dream. I'm afraid that I'm going to wake up any second, and be faced with all that paperwork that must have piled up at my desk.

If this is a dream, I'll do everything I can to make it last! OK! Let's forget about my responsibilities and continue with the assumption that this is all real.

First things first, let's use up my stats. I'm going to put 2 in Vitality, and 4 each into Strength and Agility. I've always liked being hit and run type characters. I'm still a little afraid I might die, so I'll put some points into Vitality as well.

I should also pick a name. Should I make up a fake name, or enter my real name... Crap, what is my real name?

I try to think to before I woke up, and what I remember are some vague memories of my... My friends? Is that my family? Are those my co-workers? It's all so fuzzy, I remember some vague things, but no names or faces appear.

Strange, I definitely remember all the video games that I've played, all the books, novels, or manga I've read, and anything related to my hobbies.

This is all a little worrying, but let's roll with (ignore) it! Fake it till you make it!

So I guess I should make up a name too. I can't even remember what ethnicity I am, just that I know a lot of Western names, several dozen Chinese and Japanese names, and a few Korean names. I think these are mostly from books and manga though...

I'm going to pick a name by meaning, it doesn't matter if it's weird... Something with the meaning of forest and maybe hero or king. The only cool hero kings I know are Arthur... which is a little too obvious. Oh, I remember hearing Richard means brave ruler, also it's the first name of one of my most favorite fantasy protagonists.

So for my family name, I want a good name that means forest... A Japanese last name might be weird with a Western first name, so... I think Silvius which means forest and is name of a king, will match with Richard.

If I see that my name doesn't meet society norms, I could always change it later, or make up a nickname.

Well the tutorial is over, but it doesn't fix the fact that I can't see anything.

Squinting my eyes, I try to focus on something, anything, but there's nothing in this dark cave.

I slowly start moving around, and blindly grope my way around the room until I find what seems to be a tunnel. Running my right hand along the right side wall, I walk forward slowly, I heard this is the surefire way to escape a maze. Though that's from a manga, so I don't know how true that is...

I keep walking until I hear the sound of something click-clacking over to my left.

In the direction of the sound is a wall, illuminated by a pale green light. It seems like the wall follows around a corner. I can finally see something in this place! Letting go of the wall on my right, I walk towards the corner with the light.

Making my way over as quietly as I can, I lean against the wall and peek around the corner.

I can see a glowing mushroom growing from the floor by the wall, and right next to it is some kind of bug. It's body is the size of a large shoe, it has six legs, and a head with pincers sticking out. It's black in color, and I see it eating the rocks around the glowing mushroom, which is the source of the sounds.

That mushroom looks useful. If it stays glowing, it will help with finding my way. I must have it! It's not like I'm afraid of the dark and think that a monster is hiding in these tunnels... really!

Now that I know what I need, I plan what I'm about to do, I will take out that bug!

I spring out from the corner and run in the direction of the insect, being careful not to hit the mushroom I kick the bug at the opposite side of the wall.

*Thud*

The bug hits the wall with a hard impact and falls to the ground upside down, but it doesn't seem to be dead.

Worried that it might recover and bite me, I immediately charge after it. I'm going to use my secret technique so I jump high into the air.

"Sure Kill Move: Double Crusher!!!" I hop and stomp down with both of my feet right onto the bug's carapace. A crunch followed by a wet squish sound can be heard as I land onto the bug and my weight crushes it.

*Ding*

Even though I know I'm alone in here, I look around to see if anyone saw my embarrassing play. I'd die from shame if someone actually saw me yelling out nonsense as I simply jumped on a bug.

Remembering the ding sound I heard after I squished the bug, I open my status screen.

[Progression & Leveling Up: Tutorial 1]

The regular status screen was grayed out in the background, and at the forefront was a new button. I clicked for this new tutorial.

<As you kill or defeat creatures, you will earn Experience or EXP. A new progress bar has been added to your status screen to give you a visual aid. When the progress bar is full, you will level up and gain more attribute points.>

The button went away and the status screen was shown clearly.

========================================

Name: Richard Silvius

Race: Human

Level: 1 EXP: [▬▬▬=======]

Class: N/A

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Vitality: 3

Intelligence: 5

Spirit: 1

Unassigned points: <0>

Titles: N/A

Skills: <Absolute Memory>

========================================

<The second part of the tutorial, [Progression & Leveling Up: Tutorial 2] will become available after your first level up. Best of luck>

It seems the new tutorial has ended. Looking at the new EXP bar, I see that killing one insect filled up about a third of my EXP.

I walk back and pick up the mushroom I saw earlier. Gently plucking it from the ground, I pull it up by the stem. I now have a light source to guide me along the way. Just like a certain plumber that collects mushrooms underground, I found a pretty nifty little tool.

Next, I go over to the insect. Those pincers are pretty sharp, they look like bigger versions of a black beetle's head. I rip them off and accidentally cut myself on the left palm. The two pincers are about 7 inches (18 cm) long. If I hold one in my hand, the part uncovered by my palm is about half of that. I have acquired a stabbing weapon.

I continue walking, a glowing mushroom in my left hand, and a pincer in my right.

These tunnels would be a confusing maze for most people, I would probably have gotten lost too if it was the me from the previous world. With the help of my Map and <Absolute Memory> there is no way for me to get lost, so I was always exploring new pathways and making forward progress.

I've picked up a few more of those mushrooms, they're kept in my inventory, but I haven't seen any more insects. In fact, I haven't run into any living creatures.

After several hours, I finally made my way outside the cave.

As I step into the outside world, I take a moment to breathe in the fresh, crisp, evening air. There hangs the scent of pines, mixed in with the after-the-rain smell. I see an old forest, trees reaching high into the sky and the ground level had small plants, vines, ivies, and the occasional bush.

I look at the map, and see that this is <The Forgotten God's Forest>. Who is this Forgotten God guy anyway?

I grabbed some branches and dry brush from the forest's floor for a fire and walked back into the cave. It was getting dark, and the ground was damp, plus I would feel weird just sleeping in the open forest.

Inside the cave, I tried rubbing a stick on some dry grass and leaves like in survival videos, and with my strength and hand speed that is faster than before, I was actually able to start a fire. Adding wood and branches to the fire, I got warm and comfy.

Having settled in, my consciousness was drifting. In my sleep, I swear that I could hear footsteps coming from the cave's entrance, but that's a concern for tomorrow's, more rested me.

Good-night... Zzz... Zzz...