Chapter 3 - Message from a Friend

“Now let’s go to sleep. It’s already late, and we need to rest. Tomorrow is a big day.” Jonathan’s voice was filled with anticipation.

They both tried to sleep, but Jonathan was too excited to finally meet Paul, the advent he had waited for almost five years. Paul, on the other hand, was unsure if this was real or a dream. He was too mentally drained to think and tried to get some rest.

Paul slept deeply, unaware of the noise and rumblings around him. A few hours later, he woke up with a sharp pain in his neck and back.

“Owowowow, what happened… Did I sleep wrong?” He looked around, realizing he was on the ground under a massive tree whose top he couldn’t even see. He noticed he was all alone in the forest—no bed, no house, and no old man. Only a small bag with a note on it.

He picked up the note and began to read:

---

**From your friend Jonathan,**

I'm sorry I didn’t tell you everything yesterday. I didn’t want you to witness my death; it would have been a burden I didn’t want you to bear.

If you’re wondering why you were on the ground, it’s because the house is magical, and it vanishes if I leave. I left some food for you in that bag and gave you everything you need to reach the village alive.

Don’t be sad for me. As I said, I had a happy life, and now that I’ve fulfilled my promise to my savior, I have no regrets.

Be careful in this world; it’s full of danger, and I don’t mean just the monsters. People are even more dangerous. Be careful who you trust with your life, and never forget that there is more to life than fame. Fame brings friends and riches but also enemies and jealousy.

I’ve said everything I wanted to… now go and have as many adventures as you can.

So long, my final friend.

---

Paul finished reading the letter with a sad smile and whispered, “Thank you.” He stood up, absorbed the bag into his ring, and looked around.

“Everywhere I look, there are only trees. What kind of forest is this that even the sky isn’t visible…”

<<Map>> he thought, and a map appeared in his hand. He decided to head to the village.

*Rustle, rustle* He heard a noise and looked around to see what was making it. The noise came from a large bush. Suddenly, a horn appeared from the bushes. <<Don’t tell me it’s a unicorn!>>

Nope… It was a huge creature that looked like a large pig with a long horn on its head. The creature started stomping the ground and charging at Paul.

“What the heck is thiiiis?!!!!!” He started running as fast as he could through the forest, tripping and falling several times. Fortunately, the creature wasn’t very fast and had trouble changing directions.

Paul ran, hoping the creature would give up. When he looked back, he saw the creature’s face. “Did it just smirk at me? That stupid pig.”

The pig enjoyed the chase. Paul realized he couldn’t escape just by running and looked around for a tree to climb. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found one and climbed it faster than he expected.

From the tree, he saw that the pig-like creature had become more enraged and was charging at the tree. The tree didn’t budge, but the pig’s horn was stuck, preventing it from getting free.

“This is my chance!” Paul broke a branch the size of his arm and jumped onto the pig’s back, stabbing it in the neck.

The creature, feeling its life threatened, squirmed desperately, trying to throw Paul off. Paul took a deep breath and, with all his strength, stabbed again in the same spot.

The beast stopped moving and fell to the ground, its legs giving out. Its horn remained stuck in the tree. Paul, exhausted, climbed off the creature and stabbed it again to ensure it was dead, then fell to the ground on his back, breathing heavily.

After a few minutes, he tried to absorb the pig into his ring but couldn’t. He tried again with no success. He realized the horn was likely preventing absorption. After nearly an hour of struggling, he managed to remove the horn from the tree and then absorbed the pig into the ring.

“Finally, it worked. This ring probably can’t absorb things beyond a certain size…”

Paul decided it was time to eat and rest. He climbed back up the tree, found a suitable cavity, and took out some food from the bag.

As he ate, he remembered that the bracelet had been sending him small beeping notifications. “I wonder what that was…” Suddenly, windows began to appear in front of him.

**Stats Update**

Because of your actions since the last check, you increased the following stats:

+5 Agility

+1 Strength

+2 Intelligence

+2 Wisdom

**Skills Update**

Because of your actions since the last check, you acquired the following skills:

- Perception

- Running

- Climbing

- Naturas

“Wow… so this bracelet automatically tracks what I do, how I do it, and how I think. It’s a bit creepy but pretty useful.” Paul looked at his bracelet, eyes shining, grinning like someone who had lost his mind.

“STATUS”

Name: Paul Silver

Title: N/A

Guild Level: N/A

Guild Points: N/A

Health: 12

Mana: 24

Strength: 11

Agility: 10

Endurance: 3

Stamina: 10

Wisdom: 32

Intelligence: 38

Charisma: 5

Leadership: 0

Luck: 328

Fighting Spirit: 0

Fame: 0

**Skills**

- Humble Mask: -

- Aura Shift: Beginner LVL.1 (50%)

- Memos: -

- Identification: Beginner LVL.6 (0%)

- Mana Sight: Beginner LVL.6 (0%)

- Creature Tamer: Beginner LVL.7 (0%)

- Perception: Beginner LVL.1 (20%)

- Running: Beginner LVL.1 (50%)

- Climbing: Beginner LVL.1 (14%)

- Naturas: Beginner LVL.2 (21%)

“What are these skills… I recognize only a few.” Paul stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I wonder how I see what each skill does.” Suddenly, windows began appearing in front of him.

**Humble Mask (active)**

This skill is innate. It allows you to decrease any of your stats to any level you choose. After activation, you can lower any stats to zero. Lowering stats is equivalent to sealing your extra stats.

You will not receive new stats while this skill is active.

It activates and deactivates according to your will, just like your other skills.

Special: ????????????

Warning: This skill will not change no matter how much you use it. Mentioning this skill to anyone will result in severe punishment.

**AURA SHIFT (active) - Beginner LVL.1 (50%)**

This skill is innate. It allows you to emit an aura that influences how others perceive you through their instincts, rather than their eyes.

Special: ????????????

**Memos (active/passive)**

This skill is innate. It allows you to memorize everything you see, hear, smell, taste—everything you experience.

You can relive any experience from the past 24 hours.

You can learn languages faster.

Languages known: Human (100%)

Warning: This skill will not change no matter how much you use it.

**Identification (active) - Beginner LVL.6 (0%)**

You can identify items more easily and discover if they have special characteristics.

You can instantly identify common-grade items.

Identifying higher-grade items depends on luck.

**Mana Sight (active) - Beginner LVL.6 (0%)**

You can see the flow of mana in your own body and control it to a certain extent.

**Creature Tamer (active/passive) - Beginner LVL.7 (0%)**

Any creature that doesn’t perceive you as an enemy can be approached under certain conditions.

You can understand some basic words from certain creatures.

Any creature that considers you a friend can enter into a contract with you and become your pet.

Number of pets: 0

**Perception (active/passive) - Beginner LVL.1 (20%)**

Within a 5-meter range, all your senses increase by 20%.

You can see in the dark 20% better.

**Running (active) - Beginner LVL.1 (50%)**

You can run 10% faster and consume 10% less stamina.

On rough terrain, you won’t trip as easily.

**Climbing (active) - Beginner LVL.1 (14%)**

You can climb structures faster by identifying gripping points.

**Naturas (passive) - Beginner LVL.2 (21%)**

In non-populated areas, you get a boost of:

10% in speed

15% in sight

20% in hearing

5% in healing

5% in mana regeneration

Paul carefully studied the skills. “All these skills will definitely help me, but what is this Humble Mask…” He focused on the description and then tried using it. As described, he could control how low his stats would be.

He remembered that the kingdom was searching for him and that starting next week, he would need to use this skill to hide his luck if necessary.

“After all, I don’t think anyone has ever seen such a high luck stat.”

The bracelet alerted him again. “Hmm… +1 Wisdom.” He smiled briefly, then remembered that he couldn’t stay here forever.

Just as he was about to jump down, he saw three wolves sniffing the blood of the horned pig. One of them even began to mark the tree he was in. He covered his mouth, breathing slowly, and tried to sneak back into the tree to avoid detection.

<<Great, now I’m stuck here… Well, I need to think of a plan to reach the village safely and determine what I want to do in this world.>>

Paul closed his eyes and thought about everything that had happened and what he knew. Then he remembered, <<This is just like an RPG… So, I need to gather the skills I need to survive alone and learn as much as possible about everything. I need to become stronger before heading out again.>>

<<First things first…I need to get to the village safely. I don’t want to die like a loser in the middle of the forest. Then I need to go to the guild, learn about the city, who is who, where to find things, and find a place to sleep and eat while in town. I should try to improve my relations with the people by doing tasks for them so they will help me later. I need to learn some skills… If I’m right, there should be a blacksmith, a tailor, an alchemist, and someone to teach me how to fight. Finally, I need to find the library and see if they have books other than the ones in my ring. I want to read as many as possible.>>

After a few minutes, Paul opened his eyes slowly, and the bracelet sent him another window.

**New Skill Learned - FOCUS**

<<Show Skill Focus>>

**Focus (passive) - Beginner LVL.1 (80%)**

You can easily focus. Your mind works 10% faster.

In dangerous situations, you can make decisions faster.

<<Great, this will also help.>>

He climbed down as quietly as possible and activated his skills before starting to run toward the village. He needed to stop and rest every two hours.

After several hours, he took out his map and food. While eating, he noticed he was almost at the village—just a few hours away.

After finishing his meal, he put the map back into the ring and continued toward the village. After three hours, he reached the edge of the forest and felt something he had nearly forgotten: “Ahhhhh… the sun. I almost forgot how good it feels.” He lifted his head, smiling, closing his eyes, and spreading his arms to absorb the rays of pure bliss.

He saw the village in the distance—just a tall wooden fence was visible. He looked at himself and saw that his once plain clothes, which had seemed like a large piece of leather, were now ripped, scratched, and covered in blood. <<Stupid pig! I can’t go into the village like this.>>

He looked around and saw a stream of water near the forest. He ran as fast as he could, but ten meters before the river, he tripped and fell on his face. A window popped up in his mind informing him that he had lost 1 health.

He got up, a mix of embarrassment and anger on his face, and looked at the cause of his “accident.” Instantly, his anger and embarrassment dissipated, leaving only shock on his pale face.