《Resetting Life - To the New World》 Chapter 1: Prologue An unfamiliar, yet soothing scent, the smell of what I would describe as damp earth mixed with old fallen leaves. A cool breeze brushing against my skin while being coated by the warmth of the sun. As I awaken, my fingers are the first to react, slightly twitching as I could begin to feel the soft grass beneath them. I wearily open my eyes as I struggle to move. It was quite difficult, my mind and body felt disconnected, as the movements I made were slow and clumsy. Instinctively, I raised my hand to block the sun as I blinked several times before finally adjusting my sight to the brightness. As I managed to stand, I was in awe to the scene before me. I was standing upon a hill, overlooking a lush, vast plain covered with tall blades of grass wavering at the touch of the wind. Perhaps it would''ve been an exhilarating sight to behold had it been under any other circumstances, but right now, I was trying to comprehend what had happened and the beauty of what I was witnessing had completely escaped me. I began frantically searching for wounds, but none were found. Although the blood were still stained on my clothing. ''Wha...this...this doesn''t make sense. I was shot, I should be dead..'' Confusion swept my mind as I tried to make sense of everything. My chest tightened and my breathing became erratic. I strained every muscle in my brain to retrace the events prior. My memories were gradually taking form as I played them back in my mind. --------- Flashback ---------- Just like any other day, I was on a gaming binge comfortably situated facing a 40'' TV. The house was small and old. The wallpaper had long lost its color as the floor was littered with empty soda bottles and half eaten snacks. The game I was fixated on was called Elder Scrolls, an RPG in which I played a character skilled in swordsmanship and magic. To the world, I was a hero who wasn''t confined to the laws of man. A dark avenger who punished those responsible for evil acts. My alignment was what avid RPG fans would describe as Chaotic Good. Although I would use any methods necessary to accomplish my goals, I generally had good intentions. Reality was quite different however. In reality, the world didn''t even know I existed. My mother died soon after I was born and my father raised me on his own. My father had a very ''special'' skill set, that allowed him to resolve difficult issues for dangerous people who were often involved in national level conspiracies. Obviously, this presented a certain degree of danger for him and myself. We were constantly moving from one place to another and due to the suspicious nature of my father and his desire to protect me, I was strictly forbidden to leave the vicinity of the safe house for any reason. To allow me to fend for myself if the situation called for it, my father trained me in various martial arts and taught me several crafts of survival since a very young age. I was deeply immersed in my game until I heard faint rustling notices from outside that broke my concentration. I dropped my controller and reach beneath the seat to withdraw a set of throwing knives, 3 smoke grenades and a machete. I fastened the weapons onto my belt. And put on some goggles that were secured in a small leather briefcase. I walked over to the corner of the room where a set of small screens showed the scene unfolding outside. As we did with every safe house we would always setup surveillance cameras in the surrounding area. I calmly counted the number of assailants. 40 in all splitting into two squads. Half approached the front door, the one closest began making gestures with their hand, signaling the others to take their positions. The other half approached the back door after climbing the fence. ''Their armed but not in uniform. Good, at least their not the authorities.'' I thought, as I positioned myself near the entrance of the kitchen. It was the only place that presented strategic value in the small house. Being hidden away from outside view, you also had to cross through to make it to the living area from the front entrance. Slipping on the goggles, I slowed my breathing to calm my nerves and conceal my presence. BANG! The sound of the front door being blown apart resonated throughout the house. In a matter of seconds the backdoor followed suit but this triggered a trap, igniting small explosives that went off like series of fireworks. This caught the group advancing through the front off guard and I took the opportunity to release the smoke grenade in my hand. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.I pressed a button on the side frame of the goggles to activate one of its functions, Heat Sensory. Having visibility through the smoke I ran forward and transitioned into a slide between my enemies. As I moved past the first three, I cut their legs causing them to kneel down. As they were frantically try to pinpoint where I was, I drew the throwing knives and launched them at the men kneeling. One of the men was able to make out my body in the thick smoke but I had anticipated this and moved before he could. I jumped up into the air throwing my legs forward as I trapped his head between them and with a tug of my body twisted his neck throwing his body to floor. I didn''t let myself stay stagnant, as soon as I gained footing I dexterously moved about making it difficult for them pinpoint my general direction. At this point, they were panicking as they were firing randomly hitting their own men. I kept my stance low and cutting at them with the dagger as I dashed between the ones left standing. I swiped my leg and tripped one of them, even before his face connected to the floor, I had already cut his throat as he was falling. The numbers dwindled instantly, what was 20 strong was now less than 5. I knew I had to end this quickly as the smoke screen was dissipating. I charged my shoulder at full force and shoved one of the men through the window. I quickly followed by twisting my body and shifting my balance towards my right hand as I grabbed the man nearby and shoved his head into the wall. Using my left hand I threw a knife at another piercing into his skull before he could take aim. There was only one left. He was firing at me as I leaped over the kitchen table and in mid air pivoted my body allowing me launch a knife at the last man standing before I fell to the ground. The knife cut into his arm and briefly interrupted his firing. Without missing a beat, I lightly kicked up one of the chairs off the ground into the air and positioned my other foot in a winding position like a batter ready to hit a baseball. Drawing all the strength I had, I kicked the chair towards the direction of the man, The impact was enough to knock him off his feet, I rolled out and kicked away his gun before he could reach it and wrapped one leg around the length of his arm to his shoulder and his head in between my arm pit. I applied pressure and easily broke his arm, with more pressure this time focused where his head was, I broke his neck. It was over. In exactly 2.4 min I took out all 20, not counting the other half who triggered the trap towards the back of the house. The smell of the dreary house was now filled with the smell of gunpowder. I stood up, as I looked at my surroundings I was quite disheartened. There was so much I wanted to do today in Elder Scrolls. I wanted to go hunt a dragon, propose to the tavern girl I have been courting for hours and maybe even buy a house if I didn''t already spend all my gold on gifts. I reasoned with myself that it was OK, I just had to dispose the bodies, the rest of the cleanup could wait. If I was fast enough I could finish this in 3 hours or less. I knelt down and began to move the bodies towards the back of the house. Some of them had larger statures and I had to pull their bodies with both my hands and drag them across the floor. While I was in the midst of ''cleaning up'' I heard gunshots fired. As if a knee jerk reaction I turned my head around and saw the man whom I had thrown out the window aiming a gun at me. The smoke residue could still be seen from the tip. Probably because I was so focused on finishing quickly, I had forgotten a very important step, to make sure they were all actually dead. A careless mistake and a very stupid one at that. I looked down as I fell to my knees. Blood had soaked my shirt, I acknowledged that I had been shot but I didn''t feel any pain. Possibly because of the shock, the only thing was the difficulty of breathing as blood filled my lungs. I finally collapsed to the floor. I was living the last moments of my life... ''This really sucks....to die like this...I have so many regrets...'' ''I wish it was different...I wish I had another chance...to live how I wanted...'' As thoughts of regret raced through my mind, a prompt similar to my RPG games popped up at the center. "Do you wish to live? To resurrect in a world of swords and magic?" ''How lame is this... even at my death I''m hallucinating about games.'' Despite the disdain for myself, with the last of my energy I weakly raised my hand and pressed ''Yes'' as my consciousness slipped away. Chapter 2: Learning the System
Damien Lv. 1 Health: 140 Stamina: 95
''Is this...for real?'' A health and stamina bar with my name and level above it could be clearly seen at the corner of my eye. I was finally understanding what had happened. ''The prompt...it wasn''t a hallucination..it was real.'' My anxieties were suddenly replaced with a growing excitement and disbelief. I tried many things to navigate the interface or lack there of. I finally began to touch the surface after several blind trials. Basic interfaces such as Status, Inventory etc, could be pulled up through telepathic commands. Storing and retrieving items from Inventory worked in the same way, simply using cognitive commands and envisioning the items. It really was quite nifty. Currently in my inventory, all I had was a short dagger and the blood stained clothes I was wearing before. ''A Leveling system with Class and Skills incorporated. Quite traditional.'' I was relieved for this fact, as it was something I was familiar with. When I looked at my Skill List, the only skill I had was:
Inspect Active Skill Analyze an enemy target to identify their strength.
From what I was understanding, it was a skill that had to be activated. Since I didn''t have a target, I couldn''t test my hypothesis. I had lost track of how many hours it had been until I finally decided it was time to start moving. I had so many questions that couldn''t be answered just sitting around, I had to find a town, a village, anything with people that could provide more insight. The warm sun that I had woken to had already set and dark skies and brightly lit moon filled it''s void. I looked for any signs of smoke, that could be a hint to the closest civilization but no luck, ultimately I had to pick a random direction. As I left the green fields I entered a dense forest, it was dark and ominous as I heard several wild animals crawling about. It was quite unfortunate as I no longer had my goggles to identify enemies through Heat Sensory, it would''ve been useful for this situation. However, the moon was full and illuminated brightly, enabling me to see the path immediately in front, but further away, shapes and figures were hard to make out. I had been walking for what seemed like an eternity, it was entirely possible that I was moving in circles. I was becoming irritated, but that didn''t last long as I was interrupted. I felt a killing intent coming from behind. I readied my dagger and took a battle stance. A shadowy figure raced towards me, I leaped to the side and rolled onto the floor as I dodged the critter¡¯s attack. It was difficult to see what it actually was, but it wasn''t human. It seemed to be the size of a dog and had a long horn that sparkled in the moonlight. ''Inspect'' I mentally called out. Above the creature appeared a health bar and in a bold, red font, its name and level. I was correct.
Horn Rabbit Lv. 1
The Horn Rabbit lowered the front half of its body and perked up its hind legs before it sprung forward charging its horn into my direction. This time, I didn''t dodge. Instead, I dived forward, with a dagger in hand I swiped in an upwards motion to parry the attack. The critter was forced into an awkward position after being deflected, as its entire body was now upside down in midair, falling head first. I drew the dagger backwards as I focused all my strength and with one leg stretched forward, I lunged, throwing my entire body into the charge. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Right before the attack connected, my weapon glowed and a string of text appeared before me.
Attack Skill: Piercing Strike Activated Damage +10% Critical Strike Chance +100%
''Skill activation? I didn''t see this on the skill list, did I just learn it?'' My dagger went straight through its body as it evaporated replaced with glowing particles that floated to the floor and took the form of rabbit skin and meat.
Congratulations! You have defeated Horn Rabbit. Rabbit Meat (x2) Received. Rabbit Skin (x2) Received. You¡¯ve gained 60 EXP. You have gained a Level. ATK increased by 2. DEF increased by 1. SPED increased by 3. INT increased by 1. Passive Skill: Dagger Mastery (Beginner) Learned. Passive Skill: Lightfoot (Beginner) Learned. Active Skill: Piercing Strike (Beginner) Learned.
I called up the Status screen. The stats seemed to be based off my actual physique, as my fighting style favored speed over strength. There were also the skills that I learned.
[Passive] Dagger Mastery (Beginner) You are proficient in the use of daggers. You gain a 5% increase to ATK in battle when equipped with a Dagger. [Passive] Lightfoot (Beginner) You are skilled in handling your body, allowing you easily dodge attacks. You gain a 5% chance to evade attacks. [Active] Piercing Strike (Beginner) An attack that focuses on piercing your enemies When used, you will gain a 10% increase to Damage output and 100% critical strike chance. Has a chance to destroy lower grade armor.
''So there''s Passive & Active skills... There all Beginner levels...does that mean I can level the skills separately by executing actions related to the skill..'' ''The Skill Piercing Strike, I learned it..no more accurately..I developed it? It was born from my attack earlier...does that mean I can develop more skills through battle?'' More questions were raised in my head as I carefully dissected the information before me. My extensive gaming knowledge made it less overwhelming to process. I wanted to dance simply from the things unraveling. The possibilities, I couldn''t even imagine. The joy I felt was indescribable. Not only did I win my first battle, but I leveled and learned new skills. I should be fatigued, no by all logic, I am tired, but the excitement I was feeling fueled me to keep going. I continued making my way through the forest, but kept a lookout for more Horn Rabbits, as there were still many things I wanted to test. There were monsters that were above level 1 that I avoided, I didn''t know if dying here meant the end or would there be a possibility of resurrecting...I wasn''t going to take the chance. I also learned that aside from ''Inspect'' active skills like ''Piercing Strike'' cost stamina per use but was refilled upon Leveling which is why I didn''t notice it before. By the time I finally left the forest, it was already morning and I had reached Level 3.