《The Hero Epidemic》


 Chapter 1

    Nathan was laying on the ground, presumably in the position he¡¯d died in. Pushing himself up, he glanced around. A perfectly flat floor stretched out farther than he could see, colored a brilliant, unchanging white. When the ground met with the horizon, it abruptly transformed into a complete black and filled the sky entirely.


    He knew that he was dead. There was a feeling, deep in his soul, that told him so. It was likely that this was the afterlife, or something related to it. And despite that, an unnatural calm, soothing feeling had lulled in his body. Still, he had no memory of how he had died. He knew who he was, where he grew up, and so on, but the last thing he remembered was attending one of his college chemistry lectures.


    While he was thinking, he reached down to feel, but was surprised when his fingers could not discern a texture in the white floor. It was hard, sure, but there was no grittiness, smoothness, or bumpiness. As he was pondering this, a new voice shocked him out of his introspection.


    ¡°How does the ground feel?¡± Nathan looked up. The melodious voice gave way to a stunningly beautiful young woman. Perfect blonde hair framed a perfect face, in which rested a set of deep blue eyes. Her curvaceous body was covered by a cloth that reminded Nathan of a toga.


    He shrugged in response, his eyes drifting downward gaze at her scantily-covered torso. ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel much like anything.¡±


    The woman smirked knowingly. ¡°Like what you see?¡±


    Nathan snorted and looked away, immediately disinterested. ¡°So? What are you here for?¡±


    ¡°Are you not even going to ask who I am?¡±


    ¡°Something tells me you wouldn¡¯t answer.¡±


    She laughed. ¡°Well, you¡¯re not wrong. I¡¯ve come to make you a deal.¡±


    Before she could say anything else, Nathan cut in. ¡°I refuse.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡ªwhat? You refuse? You haven¡¯t even heard what it is,¡± she protested, her voice going up an octave.


    He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m dead. I¡¯m not supposed to even exist right now. I¡¯m not about to make a deal with you. I know how these scenarios go, I¡¯ve read about them. Somehow, I¡¯ll end up selling my soul to you. So no thanks. I think I¡¯ll take my chances.¡±


    The woman stood there silently, her mouth hanging open. ¡°You¡¯re doing this because of a book?¡±


    ¡°Well, multiple books, but yes.¡±


    ¡°You idio¡ªdo you know who I am?¡±


    Nathan rolled his eyes. ¡°Of course not. You didn¡¯t tell me.¡±


    Her face went red and she glared at him for nearly a minute before talking. ¡°Whatever. I don¡¯t care. It doesn¡¯t even matter.¡± Waving her hand, she continued, ¡°Try not to die again.¡±


    He frowned. ¡°What? Die? I¡¯m already¡ª¡± he was cut off when his body stopped existing.


    ¡­


    Nathan groggily got up, his head pounding. Trees filled his surroundings, which surprised him until the memories of his death and interaction with the weird girl came back.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    He reached his hand out to one of the nearby trees, leaning on it to help get his feet under him. I imagine this is what that girl meant when she said ¡®try not to die again¡¯. I¡¯m alive.


    His body was the same¡ªblack hair, skinny limbs. All in all, pretty forgettable. Unlike most of the books written about reincarnation, though, he didn¡¯t work a dead-end job as a salaryman. He¡¯d barely started college.


    Nathan picked a direction and started walking. If he didn¡¯t find civilization soon, he was dead. Again. First world countries didn¡¯t exactly put survival skills high up in the ¡®necessary skills¡¯ list.


    The forest around him was similar in every direction, and thankfully, the weather was rather moderate. Still, it was only a matter of an hour before he started getting thirsty. He occupied himself by listening to the sounds of birds chirping and the wind blowing.


    It was pretty calming, despite the nagging fear that he wouldn¡¯t find his way out of the wilderness. He kept at it until he picked up something different from the edge of his hearing. Stopping his trek, he focused and realized that it probably came from a river.


    Well, I¡¯m not going to jump to any conclusions. Might as well follow the sound, though, just in case.


    At first, it was pretty difficult to determine the direction that the sound was coming from. At the distance he was at, he didn¡¯t know whether it was straight ahead or angled to the right or left.


    Waving a fly away, he walked around for another half hour before the sound was audible enough to reliably follow. And at that point, it was rather obvious that it was coming from a river.


    Soon enough, Nathan emerged onto the tiny riverbank and heaved a sigh. The air had been getting warmer as the sun rose, and he felt a deep sense of relief for finally making it to a source of water.


    And even better, the river was beautiful. It was rather small, but he could see directly through the crystal-clear water to the rocky bottom. I¡¯ll probably still die of dysentery, but at least I¡¯ll have my dignity.


    Sitting down on one of the rocks nearby, Nathan thought about his next steps. Even if he had more knowledge of genocidal leaders than of survival skills, he knew that following the river was crucial.


    Unfortunately, he could see nothing but trees as far as the river was in view, right until it curved out of sight. Resigning himself to a long hike, he kneeled by the river to drink. That is, until a growl drew his attention.


    Almost instinctively, he pulled away and jumped to the left. Which, of course, was a horrible decision, because there was a boulder there. Yelping in pain, he whipped around to face his opponent.


    It was a, well...he didn¡¯t know. It had brown fur, but wasn¡¯t any animal he could think of. The beast came up to his knees, and its snout reminded him of a pig.


    It had also gone silent after he rammed his shoulder into a rock, which caused him to frown. ¡°How cliche is thi¡ª¡± he said, cutting himself off when the animal started growling again.


    It was small, but looked almost as vicious as a chihuahua. Unfortunately, Nathan had little confidence that he could fight off either.


    He backed away, closer to the river. ¡°Come on, buddy,¡± he laughed nervously. ¡°There¡¯s no need to escalate this.¡± As he made eye contact with it, his hand reached down to grab hold of a good-sized rock.


    The calm facade that he took pride in crumbled, and he felt his heart rate rise through the roof as his legs trembled.


    Running or turning away from it was a definite no-go, because it would catch up in a second and tear him apart. Maybe it didn¡¯t like loud noises? Everyone knew that bears didn¡¯t respond well to them.


    He took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs, but instead of acting hesitant, the beast moved forward and deepened its growl.


    Shit, Nathan cursed. But before he could think of anything else, the animal leapt forward. Even with the adrenaline soaring through his veins, he still couldn¡¯t move in time. With a sickening rip, it tore into his leg.


    Doing the only thing he could, Nathan brought the rock down on its head, harder than anything he¡¯d ever hit before. With the impact, its loosening jaws were squeezed back together, crunching further into the flesh of his calf. Disgust and terror mixed together, and he brought the rock back up to hit it again. And again. By the end of it, Nathan was screaming hoarsely while the animal rested slackly on the ground.


    As soon as his leg was released, he fell to the ground and scooted backward, trying to put as much distance between them as he possibly could. His breath was coming in short gasps and his arms shaking, but he managed to look back over at the beast. It was no longer moving, whether that be because it was dead or unconscious.


    A minute later, he was resting up against a boulder and holding his leg out in front of him. The pain hadn¡¯t set in yet, but the sight itself was enough to make him dizzy. Chunks of skin were gone, and pieces of bleeding muscle hung loosely.

 Chapter 2

    Nathan didn¡¯t know what to do. His thoughts were jumbled up, his leg was at the forefront of his mind. There was something wrong, something hard to comprehend about the injury. It was almost dreamlike.


    The numbness wore off quickly. He was expecting pain, but it still knocked him completely off guard. Waves of pure agony traveled up his leg. It was all he could do to even hold his thoughts together.


    Through the pain, faint movements caught his attention. Nathan struggled to fight off the dizziness he was feeling, and realized that the beast was still alive, struggling around on the ground. He must have damaged its brain severely, because it was unable to move even with its healthy legs.


    Nathan, meanwhile, was struggling to keep himself from passing out. If that happened, he¡¯d bleed to death or be killed by the beast, and he was not exactly fond of either. So, he gripped the rock he was still holding and crawled.


    His leg protested by sending ripples of raw pain up to his brain, but he managed to keep it down enough to focus. The distance to the beast was short, yet the journey seemed unending.


    As soon as he came within arms reach of the animal, he started smashing at it again. The sound of the river was overpowered by dirty squelches and grunting.


    It was exhausting work. Before long, the dizziness came back and demanded his attention. Nathan didn¡¯t want to listen, but he had no choice. With one last swing, he fell backwards onto his back.


    Right before he fell unconscious, a brilliant warmth enveloped him and chased the pain away. It was the most euphoric thing he¡¯d ever felt.


    ¡­


    Nathan awoke to a pulsing headache. As soon as he was lucid, he curled up into the fetal position and held his head like he was trying to hold together a cracked egg.


    Some time later, the pain had finally receded enough for him to bear the light. He looked around, momentarily confused at his surroundings before remembering everything that had happened.


    His eyes shot over to his leg, the one that had been torn apart.


    It was fixed. He wiggled his foot around, astonished at the change. His pants were still torn to threads, but all of the flesh underneath was completely intact.


    There was blood all over the sand and rocks, most of which was his. The beast was laying where he¡¯d left it, but the bloody mess made him turn his head away just as fast.


    And it was after that, after he came back to his senses, that it decided to show up.


    [Acknowledge this message to choose your primary trait.]


    ¡°The fuck?¡± He curiously waved his hand around and shook his head, but the text immediately followed. It¡¯s like a dog, Nathan thought. Or one of those eye floater things.


    He decided to take the progression at face value, just like he¡¯d been taking everything else. The thing had probably been, in at least some part, responsible for his sudden recovery.


    ¡°Now, how do I acknowledge it?¡± he mused. ¡°And why is it seeking validation from me? That¡¯s not healthy.¡± As soon as he said that, the message blipped out of existence, and another popped up in its absence.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    [Proposed primary traits are based on combat preference.


    Smasher (99% match)


    Tank (81% match)


    Weapon Maniac (34% match)


    Assassin (27% match)


    Only the four highest matches are listed. Acknowledge a trait to proceed.]


    Nathan scanned the options. Smasher? Seriously? What kind of name is that?


    ¡°Can I get some more information?¡±


    [Smasher: Development will increase kinetic capabilities tremendously, although highest bonuses are only rewarded when using blunt weapons.


    Tank: Boosts endurance and vitality for heavily increased survivability.


    Weapon Maniac: The master of unconventional weaponry. Increased learning speed and bonuses for all objects used as weapons.


    Assassin: Increased learning speed for all assassin-related skills. Physical damage done while hidden and/or targeting a vital spot will receive a heavy bonus.]


    He read everything over and frowned. ¡°Why are all of these based on combat?¡± No answer came, so he shook his head and tried to figure out which one he wanted to pick.


    Assassin was the first one that he crossed off. It was safe to assume that he wouldn¡¯t have the drop on someone, at least in the forest. It seemed completely impractical. While it may increase his stealth, it probably wouldn''t fool any predators that wanted him.


    Weapon maniac was a good choice if he was going to fight anything again, although it seemed like more of a jack-of-all type.


    Tank seemed somewhat useful. If something attacked him, it wouldn¡¯t be able to chew him up easily, but on the other hand, it didn¡¯t increase his other capabilities at all. He definitely didn¡¯t want to use his leg as a distraction again.


    Smasher was the weirdest of them all. It had an awkward name, but its description was rather vague. Since none of the others seemed to include any survival benefits, he was more than a little intrigued. Fighting other things didn''t exactly appeal to him.


    Ten minutes later, he was still running through the options in his head. The sun was starting to set, which meant that he had slept for at least around six hours.


    ¡°Well, nobody likes indecision.¡± With that, he focused all his thoughts on Smasher. The text in front of him melted apart and dissipated.


    He waited a minute, but nothing else happened. Is...is that it? He was expecting another message, at the very least, but he got nothing.


    Maybe I have to actually try it out? He picked up a rock and swung it at one of the huge boulders by the river, and it impacted with a weak thump.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t feel any harder.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Whatever. I need to figure out what I¡¯m going to do tonight.¡± Nathan hadn¡¯t been able to find any signs of civilization that day, so he had to modify his plan.


    Thankfully, after waking up, he wasn¡¯t hungry or thirsty at all. He attributed that to the...well, whatever had happened while he was asleep. It was beyond useful, and would surely increase his chances of survival.


    Finding a place to stay the night was easier than he thought. If the messages he¡¯d gotten were anything to go by, he had found himself in a place where violence was everywhere. So, it was pretty obvious that he didn¡¯t want to stay on the ground overnight. Especially since he didn¡¯t even know how to make any sort of fire or shelter.


    That night, he slept in a tree, only a couple dozen feet from the river. It was incredibly uncomfortable, but that was a small price to pay for life.


    Like with most things, what had happened that day only hit him when he was preparing to sleep. Everything that was unbelievable, that he had brushed aside or ignored, came back to hammer at his sanity.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure this is a different world, though,¡± he mumbled to himself. ¡°That¡¯s cool.¡±


    Nathan prided himself on his mental fortitude. He had gone through most of life alone, and that wasn¡¯t any different now. Oddly enough, that thought brought him a sense of satisfaction.


    He fell asleep quickly, and most of the night passed uneventfully. Periodically, he would wake to a cramp and instinctively turn to the side, nearly tumbling out of the tree. It scared him half to death a couple times, and further, while he was conscious, he heard consistent howling off in the distance.

 Chapter 3

    The next morning, Nathan forced his sore body down from the tree and made his way back over to the river. He splashed water over his face and legs to get rid of the grime, then cupped his hands and drank.


    Hunger was starting to set in, but what was he going to do? Hunting was out of the question. For one, he didn¡¯t even know how, and two, he hadn¡¯t seen any animals around to hunt.


    While there were some berry bushes around, there was no telling if they were poisonous.


    With nothing to remedy his situation, Nathan decided to continue traveling down the river. It was much smoother than picking his way through the woods, and he could refresh himself whenever he wanted.


    There were times when he heard rustling past the treeline, but nothing ever came out to confront him. By the time the sun was directly over him, he decided to take a break and rest his sore legs.


    After that, he set back to the monotonous task of hiking down the river. The rest of the day was exhausting, boring work, and he had nothing to occupy himself with besides his thoughts. For that reason, he mentally reviewed the ¡®Smasher¡¯ trait and managed to come up with a few ideas.


    That night, as he was sitting in another tree, he decided to ask the...thing some questions.


    ¡°Hey, buddy,¡± he started, ¡°I was wondering if you could answer a couple of my questions?¡± There was no response, but he didn¡¯t expect one.


    ¡°Cool. Can I have more information about my ¡®Smasher¡¯ trait?¡± To Nathan¡¯s excitement, a message popped into existence, but when he started reading, he realized that it was the same thing that he¡¯d gotten last time.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s cool and all, but I don¡¯t really know how to use it. Are there any directions that you could guide me to? Pal?¡±


    Bingo. A second message took the last one¡¯s place, although it was even shorter, much to his chagrin.


    [Displaying Smasher guide:


    To utilize the Smasher¡¯s power, direct specialized qi to preferred location. This trait becomes more powerful as primary essence is absorbed from other beings. More information at higher stages of enlightenment.]


    Nathan¡¯s head perked up in the middle of reading the text. ¡°Wait, qi? Like in cultivation books?¡± He¡¯d read some chinese and japanese fiction that centered around qi cultivation during his misspent youth. And, though he wouldn¡¯t admit it to anyone, he¡¯d tried to do it himself.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Although he wasn¡¯t eager to make a fool out of himself for the second time, Nathan was spurred on by the message still floating in front of him. He squeezed his eyes shut and adopted a meditative position, then tried to focus in on his dantian.


    While he was far from an expert, he knew the basics of cultivation. A major part of it was taking energy from a place below his belly button and rotating it around his body through pathways called the meridian system.


    When he tried cultivating on Earth, nothing happened. He couldn¡¯t feel his dantian or pathways, and after going through his phase, he wrote the whole thing off as pseudo-science.


    Here, though, as soon as he moved his consciousness and ¡®looked¡¯ below his navel, a wave of energy filled his mind. It was electrifying, potent, and amazing. Tendrils of invisible energy twisted around, moving through the tiny pocket of space that was his dantian.


    It was euphoric to simply watch and immerse himself inside, and he felt energized just focusing on it.


    When he managed to calm himself down, Nathan felt an instinctive understanding about the energy. He grasped at it and tried forcing it through the pores that surrounded the bubble-like environment, but was disappointed to find that the tendrils did not want to obey.


    It took a few more tries, but eventually, he realized that he wasn¡¯t supposed to force the energy. It was part of him. All he needed to do was command it, coax it, and it would follow his direction.


    As soon as the first couple tendrils seeped through the pores, Nathan was shocked at how difficult it was to keep hold of them. They still obeyed, but it was clear that they wished to go back to the dantian. Outside was dirty and impure.


    It was clear that it was going to take a while, but the one thing Nathan had was time. He had no idea how long he was focused for, but by the end of it, his brain felt sore, almost like after cramming a huge amount of information for a test.


    When he finally opened his eyes, he was shocked to see that it was sunrise. Beyond the treeline, he could faintly make out the orange-red horizon and was astonished at how much time had passed.


    Shrugging, Nathan clambered down the tree and winced when he felt the hunger in his stomach. It was getting more and more painful, and he didn¡¯t know how much longer he¡¯d last.


    His pace was noticeably slower, but by noon, the trees had thinned out and he could make out a field in the distance. The river had also gotten marginally larger, from connecting creeks and springs.


    The forest transitioned into rolling hills, and he could make out some herds of animals. It was an hour later that he discovered the first sign of civilization.


    A lone fence, rotten and falling apart, stood in the middle of an overgrown field. It was clear that it had been there for years, and there were no buildings or people around.


    When he came to a dirt path that stretched left and right as far as he could see, his legs were trembling. Even so, he knew that he couldn¡¯t rest. The path looked well-traveled, or at the very least, well-maintained. If he weren¡¯t so weak and light-headed, he would have been excited.


    It occurred to him a little later that he was going to die if he didn¡¯t do anything, so he decided to eat whatever berries came his way.


    Unfortunately, the field that he was on was much sparser than the forest. There was nothing for him to eat.