#1: AN APPARENT TUTORIAL ON THE WORLD I’M ADUCTED IN

There was a point in time that I wonder if I should always expect the unexpected. Life will somehow always throw you a curveball that you need to respond accordingly, at the best of your ability in a way that you actually live and succeed through that specific problem that life had thrown at you.

It was the process of gaining experience that you would never forget, something that will always be ingrained in your mind and body to always face that curveball whenever it happens.

But sometimes, life can just be bullshit and throw you a ton of bricks instead – a painful experience that you don't even know how to even start to recover from.

In which case, why the hell I am somewhere that isn't in my room?!

When I expect life to throw something at me, I did not expect it to literally rip me off from where I was and transfer me into a world that I don't even know. Expect the unexpected my ass, this is literally the definition of "when life gives you lemons, chuck those lemons somewhere else as they might be expired!"

...calm down, Samuel. You aren't dead yet, which means there might be a way out of this joint.

Fortunately, there seems to not be a case where I can actually die from anything at the moment. Being shoved into a forest landscape, where the plants and leaves are awfully colored yellow-green more than any real life plants that I had ever seen, there has been no hostiles. No bears or tigers that would have snuffed me out, killed me from where I stand or people that would shoot me with a gun or something...

...hopefully the latter does not come into fruition as I try to find a way out of here.

The fact I have a vibe that I get from video games – the way on how the world looks and has a feel of it – makes me feel quite... uneasy. It feels unnatural yet natural at the same time as if the mixture of reality had been merged and gotten 'gamified' in a sense. I can't put a finger on it at the moment, but maybe when I see something that can justify what I feel towards the environment –

- wait, did I suddenly hear a squishing sound approaching me?

Looking behind me, I saw something that I know that I never had seen before in reality. It was a round-shaped, green blob made of goo. It was approaching me with a movement of short hops, yet I can literally just walk away from it and it probably won't ever catch up to me. Heh. Seems like these fellas will always be basic enemies...

In typical RPG fashion, Green Slimes are notorious for being a beginner mob for players to kill at the start of the game. It usually has weak stats, can be killed in a few hits, and give some experience that is needed for the characters to level up. The fact that I am seeing one right now confirms one thing...

I am definitely in a world that involves Fantasy and RPG in one shape or the other – which is something that I never had played in en masse.

Trust me when I say there aren't many RPG games that had hit the scene and became popular as a competitive e-sport. I am more of a gamer that plays the run-and-gun type of games like what most of the masses play and watch every day, in which the main objective is to simply just shoot and kill whoever was in your cross-hair.

RPG games... I had played some of them but I am definitely not knowledgeable enough to know them in-depth. It doesn't mean that I'll be dumb on some aspects, but rather, I can't naturally know or feel how the game works and might take some time to get used to, unlike those people that do specialize in those types of games.

Well, a Green Slime is still a Green Slime – no matter what kind of game this is. I just need some sort of weapon to smack it around. Should be easy enough when I do as it slowly approached me, one hop at a time.

It shouldn't be that hard, right?

Settling in to find a small, jagged rock on the ground, I decided to do a test of some sorts. I wasn't the best thrower in real life as I am not buffed or with muscle, but I bet I can still do some sort of damage by throwing a rock at the slime. It should still deal at least some damage, even if it was just something.

With that in mind as the Slime kept hopping closer like a mindless zombie, I threw the rock at it with the hardest amount of force I could muster with my arms –

- and it recoiled back a bit from the hit, which made a rectangle pop up above it, making me do a double-take at what it was before it disappeared.

Tch, from the looks of it, I am really stuck in some sort of RPG land without me knowing how I even got in.

Those rectangle life bars are a static indicator of life in an RPG – a gauge on where you can see the life bar of your opponent so you can strategize your moves accordingly or brainlessly mash a button as you were grinding your levels. Although it had disappeared in mere moments, it was just a simple rock toss to see the hit points or HP again and plan accordingly against this bouncing blob.

Grabbing another rock from the ground, moving away from the hopping Green Slime, I threw another rock at it. It recoiled back a bit from the force, the bar of HP came up to see that it had fourteen hit points left from the sixteen it had earlier. Huh, guess I have to throw a rock at it sixteen times to kill it?

Wait, why did it suddenly stop moving –

Agh! It propelled upwards even higher! It was hopping towards me in small jumps, now it did a super huge one that it was reaching the sky?! What the fuck?!

Jumping out of the way of the clearly telegraphed spot that he would hop on, I grabbed another rock and threw it once more at the Green Slime. Yet somehow, someway, it dodged the rock by hopping to the side before resuming its hopping cycle once more towards me.

...okay, that was weird. I almost pissed my pants off from that sudden super jump that it did and the fact that it can dodge projectiles. It was still manageable sure, but it meant that I have to do something to kill it faster as it may have other tricks that it has under its body.

Don't want to deal with it suddenly duplicating, thank you very much.

Taking a look around my surroundings, it was kind of weird that there was this one lone Green Slime that is attacking me at the moment. Shouldn't there be more hostile monsters that should be around the area? Heh, best not to think of it as I am already having trouble trying to kill a bouncing ball of goo.

There should be a more efficient way to deal some damage to it. Maybe I can make something like a weapon that can make me do more... There are some sticks laying on the ground around here, maybe something like a string or a rope to make some sort of jagged weaponry –

- Whoop, there it goes again with the super jump! Dodge away, Samuel, dodge away!

Sigh. This is making me exert more exercises than my P.E. subject. Glad I wasn't that physically inept or this Green Slime would have got me by now if I was tired. Although, it gave me an idea of a weapon that I could try and do.

Grabbing some sticks and pebbles in the ground, pocketing some of the pebbles into my pocket. I looked around more to see what I can do with the current resources I have while the Green Slime is being predictable and hoping towards me like this. If I can have a more effective weapon now, that means I can dispatch any of the Slimes that I might encounter on a later date.

After all, I am going to be stuck here for a while. Might as well make killing Slimes a lot more efficient in that case.

Grabbing some Plant Fiber from the grass on the ground, a sudden white-rectangular box appeared right in front of my eyes –

You can now craft a weapon: Slingshot!

- ...guess this pretty much solidifies the fact that I am indeed in a game. But how the heck do I even craft it? It isn't as simple as saying Craft Slingshot, is it-

Oh shit, my left hand that was holding the sticks and fiber started to glow a bright blue color, making me close my eyes for a bit from the sudden flash of light. After reopening my eyes, I immediately jumped away from the spot as the Green Slime tried to take advantage by doing another super jump towards me.

That's like trying to get a headshot on a dude that was away from the keyboard! Lame show of sportsmanship, you damn slimy bastard!

Sigh. Regain your breath for a bit, Samuel. Check what you have in your left hand that somehow made something when I was literally thinking to craft a slingshot. Lo and behold, it was indeed a Slingshot that was made – the fiber making up for the mechanism as the sling while the sticks that I have suddenly merged and became a sturdier stick that was the base of the whole entire thing.

Crafting Recipes in games work like that – you just don't question how some even work like it. Although I would really want to check the stats of the weapon in hand, it seems that there isn't an option to do so at the moment...

...let me get some more distance away from the Green Slime first. He is about to taste more than my throwing power this time around with this bad boy in my hand. Hopefully, it is a lot more powerful than my physical strength as it would be a waste to even have this.

But eh, at least I am aware that I can make stuff by just thinking about it. The white-rectangular box is literally another indication that I am stuck in a game again, by the way. That doesn't happen in real life unless you are high or playing a game in VR – which are both things that I am sure that I am not in the moment.

Now, time to face even more damage, Green Slime!

Grabbing one pebble that I collected from earlier, I reel back the sling as I placed the pebble on it, pulling the plant fiber backward. Using the many experiences that I have with shooting games, I take a careful aim at the Green Slime that was hopping slowly towards me, probably unaware that I finally have a weapon in hand.

Eat this rock, you living ball of goo –

- and as the rock catapulted towards the Slime, it dodged the projectile once again before super jumping towards me. Tch! Guess it is learning as time goes on, huh? Gotta move away!

Now, I need to shoot at it as it going to descend on the spot that I was! Nabbing another pebble from my pockets, quickly loading it in the slingshot, I predictably shot the rock at the point that it was about to hit the ground, hitting it dead center as it suddenly exploded in goo.

...welp, it dealt twelve damage. I think it was a critical hit or something as I saw the text flash a golden color on the numbers. Was it lucky that I managed to do that or does the game reward actual good skill and strategy to maximize damage?

Eh, whatever it was, at least that problem has been dealt with for now.

You have killed a Green Slime – you have gained 7 exp!

You have now access to the commands: STATUS, INFO, and INVENTORY because you have survived the encounter!

Woah, woah. These white-rectangular boxes are getting quite out of hand with their notifications... at least there are some features that I apparently couldn't do because the Green Slime was preventing me from doing so?!

Damn, that Green Slime was probably a tutorial mob or something in this game. Probably teaches the players how to adapt on the spot and actually think about their actions rather than relying on the menu and other essentials that should be in the game. Where is the QUIT option while we are at it?

Sigh. But hey, at least I can see what my stats are. Guess if I say STATUS –

SAMUEL WILSON, EARTH-BOUND

LVL.1

EXP: 7/50

STATS:

STRENGTH – 1

DEXTERITY – 7

SPEED – 4

INTELLIGENCE – 5

LUCK – 3

- and there it goes in another white-rectangular box with all the info that I have currently on myself. That high DEXTERITY stat is probably from all the shooting games that I had played over the years, meaning my aim should still be good in this world. Although having just one STRENGTH is kind of insulting...

...hey, what's EARTH-BOUND? Why do I have that affliction with me? Am I part of that Nintendo game now? Huh. Guess I'll keep that in mind for later if there is something about that.

Anyways, what is this other rectangular box popping out the side of my STATUS box? -

You are now the enemy of the Slime Kingdom – Slimes will start to target you nearby.

Well. Shit.