Absolute Zero to Hero

The last thing I remembered before I died was working on Kevin. Kevin is a supercomputer that I was seeing for the first time. I had won a raffle in the newspaper that gave me the chance to see the supercomputer in person.

However while in the room, Kevin overheated, and the lab's safety measures kicked in. Causing a cold snap as the temperatures of the room went to -370 degrees Celsius. This rapid change in temperature killed everyone inside the room.

But there was something that I couldn't remember, and it's: how did I survive? I was clearly thinking right now, I could even feel my extremities, and the feeling of the wind on my skin.

It was this that prompted me to try opening my eyes, and when I did the sight of the ground rapidly approaching filled my vision.

"Ooooooh SHIIIT!" I screamed, covering my eyes with my arms as I braced for impact. Knowing fully well that crossing my arms in front of me would not save me from the fate of becoming a pancake on the side of the Earth.

After a few minutes, I realized the splatting never happened, and so I uncovered my eyes. I was floating a mere three inches from the ground. I thanked whatever was controlling his fall.

That was until I face planted a moment later.

"Mother fucker! God, I couldn't have just woken up inside the forest or something?" I said, stroking my nose that took the brunt of the damage.

As I was looking around the area a little, a screen appeared before me.

[Welcome to Arcadia! You have been transmigrated!]

[System features such as Status and Skills tabs have been unlocked.]

'Ah, I had read about this. I was also deathly familiar with games because I was a bit of a shut in nerd.' I thought to myself.

"Status." I called out enthusiastically.

[You don't have to say it aloud, simply thinking it will achieve the same thing!]

'Ah, that was a little cringe...'

[Name: Artemis Black]

[Stats:

HP: 60

MP: 10

STR: 5

CON: 5

AGI: 5

DEX: 5

INT: 5

WIS: 5

LCK: 10 (MAX)

]

////

'My attributes are all average, except my luck it seems. I wasn't sure how strong max luck is, but I can't really ask for any more. Now let's check out the skills tab, I feel like this will be the most important part of my survival. Skills.' I thought.

[Skills-

Active: None

Passive: None

]

////

"Oh... I'm useless... I hope it isn't too hard to gain skills in this world. I guess my first priority is to find out where I am, and find someplace safe to stay."

I began to climb a nearby tree, hoping to see something once I got past the canopy of trees, and start my journey from there.

*huff huff huff*

"Fuuuck, I'm out of shape. Moreover, why the hell are these trees so tall?!"

"FINALLY! I MADE IT!" I cheered for myself. I began to look around and noted the terrain.

To one side, there were mountains with snowy peaks, while opposite of that was open plains with forests sprinkled here and there.

A third direction there were just endless tree tops, going on and on, past the horizon.

The final direction, I saw something magnificent, a giant castle in the distance. It had huge walls surrounding a lower district, but the castle was so high it couldn't be hidden behind those walls.

I had always loved the medieval look. The bricks that carried so much vibrant history, the sweat and blood of so many were used to erect these giant fortresses. While that may seem unjust, that the common folk sacrificed their lives to build the homes for the rich and spoiled, there were many others who benefitted from the buildings.

It was a grand design that enchanted me, and the feel of the fresh air made it even more surreal. The unadulterated forest added to the reality that humans didn't develop the same way as in my world.

Yet.

It was then that I felt a jolt rush through my head. A flash of heat, followed by a holographic screen, similar to the system, appeared in my eyes.

It was a map. A lot of empty spaces, however the landmarks that I had seen were marked, with an accurate distance.

'20 miles. That is doable... also it is huge? Almost four miles wide that city is.'

I began to climb down, when I suddenly saw another screen.

[Passive: Supercomputer Lv.1 gained!]

My brain suddenly began speeding up. My thoughts became extremely organized, and I realized my thinking speed had accelerated tremendously. I oriented myself according to the map, and began walking.

The map was continuously updating, marking even the trees I was passing. As I walked, I was able to experience more effects of my new Passive. I realized I now had photographic memory. Everything in my sight was digested as information, and I was able to understand and even process it immediately.

I knew the exact orientation of a tree I passed not even for a second. The number of leaves on a branch. The number of branches on a tree. It was so much information.

However it was at this moment that I began to sweat. I began to feel strain on my mind, and I had to stop for a moment because I felt I was about to collapse.

[Would you like to turn off Passive: Supercomputer?]

"Oh for God's sake, YES!"

After a moment a cooling feeling washed over me and I felt the burden disappear. It seemed that this Passive of mine didn't come without disadvantages, which made me realize that not all skills are beneficial.

I continued walking the direction I was before, only occasionally turning my skill back on to reorient myself.

I went at it like that until it became dark. I stood still, looking around for any sort of place I could rest safely, but there was only one option for me with my limited skills.

I'm sleeping in the trees I guess.

My reasoning for this was pretty founded, when I had my skill activated I had noticed that there were no signs on any animals living in the trees. No birds Nests or any marks of animals using trees to traverse.

So I climbed a nearby tree, to a spot that was relatively high up, and I nestled myself into a spot where I was practically stuck between two branches. This would let me sleep without worrying about falling out of the tree.

With that, I began to drift off, while looking at the night sky. The stars were so bright because of the lack of pollution.

Perhaps I was going mad, but I began to wish I had died sooner.

'What is wrong with me?'

I thought as I chuckled. Succumbing to sleep.