Adam didn’t stop moving.
The forest seemed to breathe around him as he pushed deeper beneath the trees, the light thinning as branches knitted overhead. Every step carried the same unspoken rule he’d learned long ago—stay busy, or the world will decide what happens next for you.
The rain eased to a mist.
That’s when the howling started.
Low. Layered. Wrong.
Adam slowed, shoulders rolling as he flexed his aching hands. The pain was there now, constant and familiar—but manageable. Nothing like the screaming agony he’d lived with before.
“I can work with this,” he muttered.
The first wolf burst from the brush like a gray shadow.
Longer than any Earth wolf, ribs corded with muscle, eyes glowing amber beneath a ridged brow. Shades of black and grey streaked through its fur as small pieces shimmered like tiny stars in the night sky, Its muzzle split into a snarl that showed too many teeth.
Adam focused.
IDENTIFY – BASIC
Name: Duskwolf
Species: Night Predator (Beast)
Level: 2
Threat Rating: Moderate
The second one flanked right.
The third circled behind.
Adam exhaled and stepped forward. Knowing this was going to hurt.
The first Duskwolf lunged—and Adam met it head-on, driving a straight punch into its muzzle that snapped its head sideways. Pain flared through his knuckles as teeth raked across his forearm.
Damage Taken: Moderate laceration.
“Yeah, yeah now it decides to tell me i’m hurt,” Adam growled, ducking low as the second wolf leapt. He caught it mid-air, twisting, slamming it into a tree hard enough to drive the breath from it before finishing the job with a hammering elbow.
The third wolf caught him in the ribs.
Damage Taken: Bruising, shallow puncture wounds.
Adam barely noticed.
By the time the last wolf lay still, his breathing was heavy, blood streaking his arms and chest—but he was standing.
A faint pulse settled into his bones.
SKILL UNLOCKED – PAIN RESISTANCE (Lv.1) - Reduces pain impact and shock buildup during combat.
Adam blinked. “Took you long enough.”
He moved on.
Birds came next.
Not the peaceful kind.
Pigeons from hell looking like he forgot to bring bread to the park.
They dove from the canopy in shrieking swarms—razor-beaked scavengers with wings sharp enough to cut skin. Adam learned quickly to keep moving, to swat them from the air and roll with the cuts.
Damage Taken: Numerous minor lacerations.
“Great,” he muttered. “Flying knives.”
Spiders followed.
Big ones.
Forest spiders the size of dogs, chitinous bodies with green veins across it, clicking as they crawled from hollow logs and tree trunks. One got its fangs into his calf before he crushed its cephalothorax with both hands.
Damage Taken: Venom exposure (Low). Swelling and stiffness.
The chipmunks returned too—this time in pairs, then trios, then packs. Adam stopped counting after the fourth ambush.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
By the time dusk fully claimed the forest, his clothes were little more than shredded rags clinging to him by stubborn threads.
His fists told the story better than words.
Knuckles split. Forearms bruised. Muscles trembling from overuse.
And still, he moved forward.
With each fight, something shifted.
His footwork tightened. His punches shortened. He stopped wasting motion.
UNARMED COMBAT – Level Increased
Lv.2 → Lv.3 → Lv.4 → Lv.5
Adam paused at a small clearing, chest heaving, rain washing grime from his skin. He leaned against a tree and laughed—a low, breathless sound.
“Guess the gym memberships finally paid off.”
When the last creature fell and the tenth hunt completed, the System chimed again—clean, unmistakable.
QUEST COMPLETE – Hunt 10 Forest Creatures (x10)
Reward: 500 EXP
LEVEL UP!
Adam Commeree → Level 2
Warmth spread through him, deeper this time—less explosive, more stabilizing. His breathing evened out. His muscles steadied.
Adam looked down at himself.
“…Yeah. Can’t keep doing this naked.”
He gathered hides from the fallen—wolf pelts, thick spider chitin, tougher chipmunk leather—and worked by instinct, tearing, binding, knotting. It wasn’t pretty, but it held.
A crude chest wrap. Reinforced greaves. Arm guards stitched together with sinew and stubbornness.
SKILL UNLOCKED – BASIC ARMOR CRAFTING (Lv.1) - Allows creation of simple protective gear from raw materials.
As he finished, something else clicked—the way the ground sloped, the way the moss leaned, how the forest subtly guided movement.
SKILL UNLOCKED – PATHFINDER (Lv.1) - Improves navigation, terrain awareness, and route efficiency.
Adam straightened, adjusting his makeshift armor.
“Alright,” he said quietly. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
The forest felt less hostile now—not safe, but understood.
Another screen faded into view.
NEW QUEST UNLOCKED
Milestone Objective: Reach Level 5
Reward: Choose One Basic Spell
Adam stared at it, rain dripping from his chin.
“…Magic,” he said softly.
Adam let the rain run for a few more seconds before he finally said it.
“Status.”
The forest dimmed around him again, the sound of rain dulling as the familiar translucent glow unfolded in front of his vision. This time it felt… steadier. Less like something imposed on him and more like something responding.
STATUS – ADAM COMMEREE
Level: 2
Race: Human(D)
Affinity: None
Class: None
Profession: None
Titles:
- Reincarnator – Retains memories of a previous life. Increased adaptability to System mechanics.
Adam’s eyes flicked downward as the numbers resolved.
ATTRIBUTES
Strength: 9
Endurance: 14 (+3%)
Dexterity: 8
Perception: 10
Intelligence: 7
Luck: 5
He stared at the endurance line for a long moment.
“Of course luck doesn’t level,” he muttered. “Figures.”
Still, he could feel it. Not just toughness, but recovery. His breathing had steadied faster than it should have. The aches were still there, but they sat further back—like noise instead of pain.
Adam scrolled the display with a thought.
SKILLS
- Unarmed Combat (Lv.5)
Increases damage, efficiency, and control when fighting without weapons.
- Communication (N/A) – Ability to understand and speak native languages.
- Identify (N/A) – Ability to see the names, levels, and some basic information depending on other skills.
- Pain Resistance (Lv.1)
Reduces pain impact, shock buildup, and combat hesitation. - Extraction (Lv.1)
Allows recovery of materials and currency from defeated enemies. Efficiency increases with skill level. - Subspace Storage (N/A)
Grants access to a personal storage space unaffected by weight or decay. - Basic Armor Crafting (Lv.1)
Allows creation of simple protective gear from raw materials. - Pathfinder (Lv.1)
Improves navigation, terrain awareness, and route efficiency.
Adam leaned back against the tree, rain dripping from his hair as he let out a slow breath.
“No class,” he said quietly. “No bonuses. No shortcuts.”
The System didn’t argue.
“And still,” he added, rolling his shoulders, “I’m getting stronger.”
He focused again, this time pushing his awareness deeper.
“Inventory.”
The Subspace unfolded like a mental warehouse—clean, organized, impossibly larger than it had any right to be.
SUBSPACE INVENTORY – CONTENTS
Materials:
- Razorback Chipmunk Hide (x17)
- Duskwolf Pelt (x6)
- Spider Chitin Plates (x9)
- Fangs (x24)
- Claws (x11)
Food:
- Raw Meat (Various) (x38)
Currency – Seal-Minted Coinage:
- Bronze Seals: 92
- Silver Seals: 10
- Gold Seals: 0
- Platinum Seals: 0
Equipment:
- Makeshift Hide Chest Wrap
- Reinforced Greaves
- Improvised Arm Guards
Adam whistled softly.
“That’s… actually not bad.”
The coin symbols caught his eye again—the eagle, anchor, and trident stamped into every tier, from dull bronze to shining silver. The higher-tier coins carried more weight, more presence. He suspected gold and platinum would feel heavy just looking at it.
“Guess even the System knows what I used to wear,” he said dryly.
He dismissed the screen and pushed off the tree, testing his weight on his legs. The armor creaked but held. His stance felt solid. Balanced.
For the first time since arriving, he didn’t feel like prey.
Adam looked out through the trees, where the forest thinned just enough to hint at distance—maybe a road, maybe a river, maybe people.
Level five meant magic.
He flexed his hands, watching faint motes of light cling briefly to his knuckles before fading.
“Alright,” he said to the darkening woods. “Let’s see what kind of spell a boxer earns.”
And with that, Adam Commeree stepped forward—no class, no destiny, no safety net—just forward momentum and the quiet certainty that this time, he wasn’t done yet.