RPG: Endless Potential

They said that getting transported or reincarnated to another world would be awesome. It would be filled with adventure, joy, and just overall freedom from everything that made life stressful. From work, school, and generally just life. But… that wasn't true.

A young man huddled on the cold stone floor of a small cave, a flickering bonfire his only companion. He wrapped his ragged brown cloak tightly around himself, trying to ward off the biting night chill. His long, black hair, now unkempt and reaching his neck, and the scruffy beard he hadn't shaved in weeks added to his worn appearance. His once vibrant sky-blue eyes, a striking feature in his old life, now seemed dulled by shadows.

This is Asahi Rin, or Rin Asahi in western terms. A lonely man in a chaotic world.

"Has it been 7 months?" He thought while staring at the blazing embers of the bonfire, "I miss it. I miss being able to get my food easily, I miss playing video games, I miss watching game shows late at night, I miss my god forsaken workplace! Why was I even transported to this place…? Am I just here to suffer?"

7 months ago, Rin was just a college student who worked at a convenience store to pay off his expenses. He would wake up, eat, take a bath, go to school, then work, eat, go home, take a bath, play video games or watch tv shows, then sleep. It was an endless cycle, and even though it was dull, that was his life. Back then, he didn't appreciate that but now, he missed it more than ever.

People from the modern world who thought reincarnating into a fantasy world would be great are masochists of the highest level, or just don't know what it means to be in this world. 

When he first got here, the first thing he did was go to a nearby town or city. Fortunately, he found it quite easily as the high walls of the city can be spotted from miles away. Things were going great for him, at least at first.

Then it came to the gate of the city, where they asked him for personal information. IDs, bank card, or any proof that he existed.

And he could not give any. 

He was promptly kicked out with the guards giving him the 'stink eye', and telling him to f*ck off somewhere .

And soon, here he was. Penniless, living off of scavenging, hunting creatures that at least resembled the ones back in his home world, and in hiding. Specifically, he was hiding from monsters.

It would've been impossible for him to survive 'till now but he did have one advantage; he can level up. He thought he would've been overpowered, so he decided to live in a monster-infested forest to "grind" for exp and come back out OP. But he was oh, so, so wrong.

He is currently level 10, and that is after months of killing smaller monsters. In his defense, most monsters in this forest can one-shot him, and he did not have the courage to take the risk of attacking a big monster, only to get flicked away and die an embarrassing death. 

A big reason he managed to survive until now was also because of one skill, Less Presence. 

[Skill Name: Less Presence]

[Skill Type: Fixed/Passive]

[Description - 40% reduced presence from other living beings]

When he turned Level 5, he was given a choice between 3 first skills. 2 Active Skills and 1 Passive Skill. He chose the passive skill as it gave him much more options for survival. The 2 active skills were indeed strong but he knew he wasn't strong enough to use them continuously, for them to become something he can use for survival. 

While Less Presence is a fixed skill, which means that it cannot be leveled up, it is the most useful thing he's gotten since his beginning in this world, not including his leveling powers.

A bit bored, he decided to look at his stats, a habit he has gained after some time. It made his anxiousness go down a bit every single time.

{Status}

{Name: Rin Asahi}

{Raze: Human}

{Level: 10} {EXP Needed - [4594/9000]}

{Strength - 8.8}

{Dexterity - 5.1}

{Charisma - 1.5}

{Endurance - 5.6}

{Intelligence - 4.3}

{Mana - 0}

{Status Point - 0}

{Skills} - {Less Presence}

He has grown since then, after all. His starting stats were atrocious, he managed to fix it after some time. Right now, he is at least 7 to 8 times stronger than the average male adult back in his old world. At least he thinks so because his Strength stats were like 0.8 before he leveled it up. His charisma was the lowest though, and still is, which is something he doesn't want to look at.

He put 1 stat point in it but he regrets it now. Having good looks won't save himself in the wilderness, after all. Every level only gives him 2 stat points, so wasting that 1 stat point could probably give him trouble in the nearby future.

After one more look at his status, he decided to rest for the night. He has a big day tomorrow, and he cannot miss this opportunity.

While he is worried something might creep up on him in his slumber, he's confident that nothing would enter his cave while he sleeps because of how hidden it is, since even he only managed to find it due to sheer dumb luck.

As he slowly lost consciousness, his last thoughts before completely falling asleep was, "I miss you, mom."

....

"Did you know? You are the brightest among the children around you!"

A vibrant smile, filled with genuine joy. Her striking blue-eyes kept him entranced, losing himself over her. Her long, raven hair completely blocked the sun from him, shielding him from the heat. Her bigger body gave him so much comfort as he lay down on her lap.

"Why is that, mom?" His voice sounded young but he paid no heed to it, awaiting his mother's answer.

She answered, just like back then, smiling and content, "Because you are my son, Rin. You are my light."

It was always her answer, and for him at the time, it was enough.

As he lay there in his mother's warm embrace, he felt it. He saw it. A slight flicker in reality that made him feel despair and emptiness, darkness that he felt has always been by his side, yet he could not, for the life of him, remember any of it. 

In a room suffused with dim light, the walls bore the scars of dirtiness, their surfaces marred by streaks of grime and peeling paint. A bloodied carpet lay beneath, its fibers stained with crimson, while a flickering television cast eerie shadows across the unmoving figure at its center, yet still a smile on its face.

So suddenly, he felt an excruciating headache, and then… his eyes opened to a new light.