Introspection

Real talk, my goldy (golden finger) is not that OP if you really think about. At least, when compared to other interdimensional, cross-world travelers it's not.

I know, I did do a little sneaky fine print trick with the author. But that is only so that I don't get the short end of the stick. My goldy has excellent potential but takes some time to get there. I had to make it seem I like I didn't get much so that the author can agree to it easily. Let me explain.

I can copy skills of others. I can learn the mistakes they are making. When I use it on myself that enables me to learn from my own mistakes, without having to wait for some 'comprehension' to happen. But that is limited. I won't get new ideas out of nowhere. It basically uses my existing knowledge and experiences to find the mistakes.

That simply makes me a very good AI, at least when it comes to troubleshooting. It's small but it has a lot of potential in the hands of not-dumb-MC like yours truly, me.

So yes, I can create all sorts of skills and skillsets, given I have some basic knowledge and experience that my goldy can work with.

Now, I have many creative ideas for cool skills and stuff but in terms of knowledge my mind doesn't have much. You see, I was a big sci-fi and fantasy fan in my previous life with all the novel-reading I did. So I can theory craft and talk mumbo jumbo but I don't have much real knowledge.

But don't worry. I still got this!

...

I look at the night sky from my little hole in the ground I dug up in the middle of a bunch of bushes. I love the smell of wet mud. Though not a fan of the bugs and insects.

And yes, I did create some survival skills. I'm not gonna mention every little skill I create. Thats too bothersome. Basically, it comprises of a general survival skill that gives me survival instincts, a camping skill that lets me set camp with whatever I can get hold off and some other little things. These skills are barely skills. If not for my imaginative brain and lot of novel reading experience I would not have much knowledge in these aspects to create the skills.

Anyways... As I look at the night sky, I close the hole with a made-up leaf and twig roof. I hear the bickering of the bugs of the night. Annoying little things.

I what I really have knowledge about, so that I can create some skills to heal and strengthen myself. I don't have much medical knowledge. Even though I read those medical novels, the medical mumbo jumbo never registered in my dumb brain. I was always like "Oh, that's how it is." "Ah, that sort of makes sense". I don't remember a single medical name.

Now that I think about it, I didn't tell you much about myself, did I? Haha, I was never much of a social interactor. Is that what they call normal people? I don't know. I was a loner.

My name was and will continue to be Chinmay, in-case you missed in on the status screen. Born in India. I was a curious kid. I was quite smart for all of my school days. Got bullied a bit. Alright, more than a bit. But we move past it. But after school, my IQ went down, I guess. I was always good with reasoning and logic stuff but not much with memorizing things. I was very forgetful. And that was a real bummer.

So, life went on a downhill from there. But I had the web novels to keep me company. I don't like reading books. If not for web novels I wouldn't have read any books.

And that's it, I guess. My life pretty uneventful and boring.

Back to the topic of things I am knowledgeable about. After reading novels I wished cultivation was real, similar to how kids watching superman or spiderman would jump off buildings. I couldn't do martial arts as that would require me going outside and that's a no-no. The only left was meditation, and I am not from China so I don't think of Buddhism when I think of meditation, I think of yoga.

So, I learned all sorts of breathing methods and stuff. I did burn some fat and was doing a little better, but I wouldn't say I entered the 'Qi cultivation stage' or something. I was a bit disappointed with that. But I was pretty curious about all the 'lore' behind yoga.

I wondered why there wasn't many novels regarding it when cultivation novels were the thing. Probably because they are all written by Chinese authors. I don't want to sound racist but it's amazing how openly racist these authors can be. Either the outside world doesn't exist for them, or it only exists for them to mock at.

Anyways, so yoga would be my starting point. A lot of yoga related knowledge is still fresh in my mind, and I had few years of practical experience, so it has to count for something right?

…

After some 30 minutes of getting in the zone, I felt like I was getting somewhere. I started to correct my mistakes according to my goldy. I slowly started to forget the sense of time. I just kept correcting my mistakes. I wanted to do some experiments, but I didn't want to do as my situation is not ideal for that. I let go of that thought and immersed myself in meditation. Usually, I would start to get backaches by now, but I was able to correct my posture and it all slowly felt natural.

...

I opened my eyes. My body felt a bit stiff. Although I wasn't hurting when staying in the posture any movements started to hurt. I guess I need to train my body more. So, I did my usual stretches and asanas (yoga exercises?).

I felt very refreshed. I sweated quite a bit. But now I am starting to feel really hungry.

I don't have memories of my predecessors yet. System, give me memories related to the path to a human settlement and other general knowledge.

{Ding: Task confirmed. Retrieving requested memories... Done!}

Ha... Good. So, no confirmation questions after I give an order ha? I feel the vibes. Author is probably like, "You think you are so smart, so why would the system pamper you?". You don't have to say it Mr. Author, I can feel the vibes.

I gloss over the memories really quick and realize I don't have much to worry about right now. I am probably dead in the eyes of the world. This will only get spicy if and when people that no me notices me. Eh, I will think about it later.

But that does make me curious. Where are memories stored? You would think it's the brain, but novels work in weird ways. How would ghosts be a thing if they can't have memories. The system indirectly confirms souls have memories. So, wtf is the brain doing with those billions of neurons and stuff?

Time for some theory crafting.

- Why don't most people remember their previous lives?

There are few possible explanations for this. One possibility is that past memories are erased during the re-incarnation process. Be it natural or by some divine intervention.

Another possibility is that those memories are simply not accessible because the re-incarnation process seals it or pushes it to the depth of the soul. And only one with great knowledge of the soul could find a way to access them.

- What about ghosts?

Since ghosts are souls that have prevented their own re-incarnation process, they might have been able to avoid the erasure or sealing of the memories. And the strength of soul would impact the stability of such an existence that isn't tethered to the physical realm.

- What about the brain?

The brain is known to have memories. Or rather information. Because I now know soul is a real thing then it could be said the soul is the seat of experience and consciousness. The brain might have just been a medium for the soul to express itself in the physical world. But that still doesn't explain some things in novels. It is common for artifact spirits to be a thing. How could a brain be compared to a piece of metal? Maybe when the soul meets certain requirements it has greater freedom in the physical world? That would explain things.

- So, we have the mind, the brain, the soul, consciousness. Wtf? An ignorant person would say they are just a bunch of synonyms. But novels make it all wishy washy.

...

I love my theory crafting time. I probably do it more than authors that spend time writing harem plots or revenge plots instead of making their world rich and making their magic system and science work together. But now I have the possibility of finding the truths for real instead of shoddy guess work. I am exhilarated at them prospects and shit.

I am not really interested in going back to society so soon. I am loner at heart. And surviving in the forest was my dream. How can I avoid the opportunity and run back to the horrors of the monster den called society? The only reason I want to go back is to learn about the world. The Author did promise me I won't get railroaded into 'adventuring' like usual MCs. I will neither have plot-armor nor plot hooks.

So, my goal for now is to relax and focus on strengthening my foundations. There are still many little skills I can create. I also want to experiment with things.

Rational thinking, Visualization, various martial arts in my memories and more. If you really think about it many skills have overlaps. They are not isolated, nor can they be isolated. If you are really good at Rational thinking, Visualization and perception then your skills in martial arts will grow really fast.

...

[... time skip ...]

It's been a week. At the beginning I was worried of monsters and such. But it didn't seem like there were any nearby. I wonder what kind of world I got transported to. There were a pack of hunting dogs that were hunting some bulls.

That was a sight to see. By that time, I learned how to hide my smell and other aspects of my presence. I was able to do that due to skills created from some knowledge I had before and some I gained in the forest.

On other hand, I have been focusing more on my yogic cultivation. I experimented quite a bit, because my knowledge and experience were not so in depth. I was just a yoga nerd that practiced it for a few years but not too advanced.

It doesn't give me superpowers or superhuman strength. Rather, it feels like I am in harmony. To be specific, it feels like my body, soul and mind are in harmony. It's only my speculation but I feel like I am right. The asanas and yoga exercises made my body really fit and flexible. Instead of bulky muscles, it's like my muscles are made of carbon fiber. They are compact and full of strength and really efficient.

I know, "it's only been a week. How can you improve so fast?". It's my goldy. I was able to easily detect my mistakes. And doing yoga made my senses sharper and with sharper senses I was able to detect more mistakes. So, it was a healthy cycle.

I started to feel like I had a knowledge bottleneck. Don't get me wrong. If I focus on experimenting, I can make up for it. But I felt I should go back to society and steal ... ahem borrow all the knowledge I can.

I wonder if this is a cultivation world or a world where science exists. I have a feeling it's the latter. Because there weren't any monsters so far. And things have been ... normal. It might be worlds like harry potter where there is both science and magic. I don't know where I spawned but I would not go out of my way to Britain and solve their problems for them. The dark lord and prophecy cuck can fight among themselves.

There are other fantasy worlds where there is both science and magic. But I never got into them too much.

Anyways, I make my way back to society. I found that my PranaForge skill (yogic cultivation skill name) made my body more efficient. I can survive for a week without eating or drinking as long as I keep my activities low.

I also figured out simple crafting. I made a pull-cart that I can throw stuff in and drag around. Also knitted some clothes and bags. They were simple skills, and I had enough knowledge, and I was dexterous enough to do it very well and quick now.

...

A journey towards a den of monsters that lord over the planet and call themselves "humans" as if they were not just another intelligent monster. Their egos and moral virtues know no bounds and shame. They slave their heroes and get deceived by their villains. They live a short life. The come together to fight common enemies and in the absence of a villain they target their swords at each other.

These creatures are quite cunning. Beware of their deceit as it's sharper than the claw of red wolfs that will cut through your back while you smile. Beware of their kindness for its softer than quicksand making you drown in your desire to reciprocate.