The sounds of the wild—peculiar birdsong in the distance, the creaking of branches swaying under the wind—but also many noises whose tones disrupted this delicate melody. The ears of the man currently dozing at the foot of one of the trees picked up these peculiar sounds all too well.
Because while the sounds of nature—the singing of birds or the rustling of trees—were something normal and familiar to him, after all, he lived in a small agricultural town, a few repeating noises clearly did not fit into the everyday, monotonous rhythm of nature.
These sounds somewhat reminded him of the whimpers of a beaten dog, yet with a hint of a bear or some other massive creature. There were also noises resembling the croaking of frogs, but with a slightly more aggressive tone.
And it was this sensory abnormality that was enough for the young man, who had been dozing beneath one of the trees, to suddenly snap his eyes open with visible unease. Within a few seconds, that unease transformed into fear—in its raw, primal form.
"Where the fuck am I?"
The man sprang to his feet and, in a slightly stiff posture, looked around in panic, yet the sight before him seemed just as alien as it was terrifying.
Surrounding him was a dense forest—many deciduous trees, dark, grainy soil with very little greenery, which only made the forest seem even more ominous and unknowable.
However, despite the panic, his mind seemed to register certain elements that deviated from what he considered natural and normal. Some of the trees had thorns like roses, and their color seemed to be something between green and brown.
Some trees didn't even have bark, but instead had slightly purple wood and a slick surface. That peculiar appearance alone was deeply unsettling, and any thoughts of touching such a tree vanished from his mind as quickly as they appeared.
And as if the trees themselves weren't frightening enough, with their cursed-forest atmosphere—leafless, growing densely, many of them bearing strange and dangerous shapes and colors—
The small number of lesser plants growing from the ground, including the one less than a meter away from him, seemed to add even more of a dark, almost Halloween-like atmosphere to this peculiar forest.
The plant growing at the base of the tree seemed to intrigue him greatly and, oddly enough, began to calm his mood, replacing his fear with a more composed, yet less cautious state of mind.
The man approached the plant with a steady step and crouched down on one knee.
"What are you?"
The plant—or rather, the fungus—had an extremely thin stem of a very pale white-gray color. However, the cap seemed just as intriguing as it was dangerous. It was shaped like a human skull, with green fluorescent algae filling the eye sockets, slightly darker in color than the stem.
He assumed the plant was undoubtedly poisonous, yet his thoughts were no longer focused on the fungus, even though his gaze didn't seem to leave it for even a second.
Such a plant shouldn't exist—not just it, but also the purple trees and those with thorns like roses. The sounds of animals, whose croaks and calls were still echoing somewhere in the distance.
"Either I'm in a truly tropical forest, or… or… There's no way I was transported from Poland to a tropical forest… so… hehe… This is really happening."
And as if to confirm his theory, right next to the peculiar fungus, a small window appeared—semi-transparent, with a slightly whitish tint.
-----------------------
Name: Bone Skullshroom
Type: Mutagenic FungusSubtype: Necroflora
Element: Darkness / Necro
Description:An organism resembling a mushroom with an unusually thin, pale gray-white stem. Its cap takes the form of a human skull. Green fluorescent algae grow in its eye sockets, emitting a faint light.
Properties:• ????
------------------------------
Although the content displayed in the system window seemed fairly simple, even it did not seem important to him at the moment.
Based on the system window alone—not even mentioning the surrounding fauna—he understood one thing: somehow he had been transmigrated. Even though he tried to look for more rational explanations, the sight of the system window seemed undeniable to him.
Just a few moments earlier he had been sleeping comfortably in his bed, only to now appear in a haunted forest with a system.
Honestly, he had dreamed about this for a long time, although he would have preferred a different starting location than a Haunted Forest. However, that was not the most important thing—he knew that this new reality might not be as easy as in his fantasies.
He didn't know whether some kind of monster might jump out at him at any moment, so he stood up straight and looked around again, but he didn't see any creature or monster, not even a small squirrel or anything that could explain those peculiar sounds accompanying the rustling of the trees.
This forest was dangerous. The mere presence of the Skullshroom clearly made him realize that the forest he had found himself in was not an ordinary old forest. And considering the system and the flora of that forest, which could quite easily be classified as fantasy, staying in this place for too long was not a good idea.
So after looking in all directions and seeing nothing but peculiar trees and occasional Skullshrooms growing at the base of individual trees, he decided to move forward, look around, and in the meantime examine the system.
"Status… Profile… Open Status…"
╔══════════════════════〔 STATUS 〕══════════════════════╗
Name: Krystian FirebonesRace: HumanGender: MaleAge: 25
Level: 1Titles: NoneClass: NoneSubclass: NoneBloodline: Ordinary HumanInnate Talent: Moderate Alchemical Potential (D+)
MP: 150 / 150Status: Healthy
Attributes:Strength – 8 Endurance – 9 Agility – 14Intelligence – 17Perception – 13Will – 9
SP:0
Skill:
• Alchemist's Insight (D)
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
While the sight of his innate talent pleased him, the view of his stats, level, MP—everything—only made Krystian even less certain of his safety in this eerie forest.
His stats were low, or at least they seemed low. He didn't know whether he had been sent here with a clean slate—so clean that it might turn out to be dangerous.
After all, theoretically speaking, if even children were subject to the leveling system in this world, wouldn't they surpass him in almost every way? At the moment, aside from the obvious act of killing other creatures, no other methods of advancement came to his mind.
However, considering the fact that he possessed an innate talent, and seeing the disparity in stats, Krystian deduced that innate talent, as well as bloodline, class, titles, and especially level, must influence base statistics. So even a child who, for example, only threw stones at a neighbor's chickens—and theoretically, by accident, killed one or two instead of scaring them away—not only would have raised their level and gained a throwing skill, but if the requirements for a class were ridiculously low, that child might have gained a class as well. And if word of it spread, the child could easily gain some kind of title, along with its bonuses. So it was possible that his situation was truly bad.
Another thought also significantly confused Krystian: his Intelligence stat was 17, he was level one, and he had practically nothing besides his innate talent and a single skill. So why was his mind—his thinking—still able to analyze so many things at once, while simultaneously observing his surroundings and moving through the dark forest?
Apparently, the Intelligence stat did not affect his thinking or decision-making, so what it actually influenced remained a matter of speculation.
>Whaaarrrr....
Suddenly, the ground seemed to tremble beneath Krystian's feet, and before him emerged a sight straight out of a classic horror— from the earth in front of him, a bony skull began to claw its way out, accompanied by skeletal hands.
Despite his fear, Krystian tried to push through it and not wait for the skeleton to fully emerge from its earthen hiding place. However, even though he managed to kick the skull at the perfect moment with his bare foot, aside from dirtying both his foot and the skull itself, not even a scratch appeared on the round, bony head of his opponent.
"Fuck, what did I expect… A weapon… I need… "
But there was nothing around him. No matter where he looked, he saw nothing. The branches were high—too high. And the forest itself offered nothing that looked like a weapon.
Within a dozen or so seconds of this chaos, the skeleton managed to fully dig itself out of the ground and began to slowly advance in his direction.
"At least it's not fast… fuck… it's not that bad…"
The skeleton looked fairly basic—it resembled a normal human skeleton, without any unnecessary decorations on its body, no magical runes or anything mystical. The color of its bones was very dirty, slightly brownish. Though that was normal, considering it had just clawed its way out of the ground.
The only aspect giving it a supernatural presence—aside from the fact that it was moving toward him with clearly hostile intent—were the two green, glowing points in its eye sockets.
-----------------------
Name: None (formerly Jeremy)Race: SkeletonGender: MaleAge: 132
Level: 20Titles: Pervert (D), Drunkard (F), Village Troublemaker (D), Night Wanderer (E), King of Cheap Booze (D), Disgusting Guy (F)Class: FarmerSubclass: Field Worker (Hoe)
Bloodline: NoneInnate Talent: NoneStatus: Healthy
Attributes:Strength – 73Endurance – 43Agility – 5Intelligence – 5Perception – 7Will – 6
Skills:
-Hoe Swing (F)
-Deadly Persistence (D)
-Bone Grip (E)
-Deadly Instinct (D)
------------------------------
The first thing he noticed wasn't the extensive number of titles that the skeleton had retained despite its new nature of existence—but its stats: seven times greater strength and four times greater endurance.
Krystian remembered that in several portrayals in pop culture, skeletons—or rather, people who for some reason transformed into such creatures after death—lost half or even up to 20% of their stats. In the case of this skeleton, that theory would make a lot of sense, judging by the titles the undead creature had retained even after death.
At the moment, Krystian stepped back half a step to remain within the range of his skill, but also to stay outside the monster's reach.
Fortunately, the skeleton moved very slowly, and since it lacked a pickaxe or anything else in its hands—aside from its strikes—he knew he couldn't allow it to use "Bone Grip (E)" on him.
Unfortunately, despite his attempts, he couldn't see any information regarding any of its abilities. That was truly troublesome. However, using simple assumptions, he concluded that if the skeleton managed to grab him, it could end badly. The monster might drain life force, poison him, or apply other debuffs through mere touch.
Level 20 also didn't provide any clear information or point of reference. Krystian considered many theories, but the most probable one—based on the fact that skeletons, goblins, slimes, and several others are usually considered among the weakest monsters—was that this skeleton having such a level did not necessarily mean that it had exactly level 20 in life or at the moment of death. Skeletons might just as well start at level 1, or possess 20% of the level that the creature had in life.
Without raising another skeleton, there was no way to clearly determine how it worked. However, after those several minutes of analysis, Krystian came to the conclusion that continuing to retreat might result in another monster emerging from among the dark trees of this grim forest—and there was no guarantee it would be as slow as his current opponent.
,,Fuuuckkk....It hurts."
The first—or rather second—attack wasn't driven purely by foolish thinking, but was his first attempt at tactically striking the slow monster.
Taking advantage of the skeleton's sluggish nature, Krystian turned fully toward it and, for a few seconds, walked backward. Earlier, he had been moving more sideways, so that while watching the monster, he could still look out for other threats.
Knowing the skeleton's simple posture, with its bony hands hanging along its body as it advanced toward him, Krystian suddenly stopped and immediately rushed forward, slipping past it to its back, trying to knock it down.
However, the skeleton's reaction turned out to be unexpectedly fast. Even though it didn't hit Krystian directly, by swinging its left skeletal hand, it managed to scratch his right shoulder.
Krystian felt pain in his shoulder, but cursing under his breath, he didn't give up. Despite the sharp pain, he continued his action and, using all his strength, kicked the skeleton with the flat of his bare foot, striking its hip bone.
The skeleton fell, but the dull pain in his foot and the ache in his shoulder significantly dampened his excitement from knocking the monster down.
The skeleton didn't wait—it immediately tried to get back onto its bony feet, but another kick was enough to send it crashing back onto the earthy surface of the forest.
Deadly Persistence (D). By now, Krystian didn't even need the system's help to understand the function and significance of this peculiar passive skill. The skeleton didn't tire. It didn't matter to the monster that every attempt to rise to its feet was repeatedly thwarted by Krystian's light attacks. Those attacks might not have been enough to actually harm the undead, but they were sufficient to prevent it from standing up.
Thinking about what to do next was really difficult. Krystian wasn't a human anatomy expert, nor did he practice MMA or any other combat sport. But he tried to consider a few options. The first was attempting to twist the skeleton's head—but that seemed far too risky. Sitting on its spine to do so would theoretically put him within reach of its arms, and therefore its skills.
This wasn't an RPG game, where a creature has a limited set of programmed moves. Even though Krystian analyzed every movement of the skeleton, he still couldn't predict whether it might magically rotate its torso 180 degrees and attack him.
Although unlikely, the risk—or rather, the mere thought of such a scenario—was enough to significantly discourage Krystian.
So he opted for a somewhat more brutal—but at least effective—method to further restrict the skeleton's movements. Since he had to kick it anyway to keep it from rising, choosing this tactic—though potentially risky—was the only real way to deal any damage to the skeleton.
Seeing that the skeleton's position was nearly identical each time and knowing its weight was around 80 kg, Krystian took a risk: he jumped onto the middle of its spine, just below the ribs, and began to jump. Maintaining balance was difficult, but the skeleton kept falling the same way and didn't seem willing to change its strategy. Krystian's approach—focusing his full weight on a single point—slowly began to show results. The cartilage of its vertebrae seemed to shift slightly, as if the pressure was gradually forcing them apart.
Additionally, with each jump onto the skeleton's spine, its ribs struck the ground and, with every impact, seemed to crack at an incredibly slow pace.
Unfortunately, Krystian's feet had no even basic protection like socks, so each jump onto the spine, coupled with the collision with the ground, caused him unpleasant pain. The vertebrae also pressed uncomfortably against his feet.
And so a game of endurance was born. After several minutes, Krystian was slowly reaching his limit; the pain in his feet and shoulder was intensifying. He considered running away, but one thought still prevented him from making that decision.
Although his fear was slowly fading—mainly because he had the current fight fully under control—the thought of other monsters potentially lurking in the forest unsettled him greatly. Not to mention the common monsters, even low-ranking ones like goblins.
But considering the nature of this graveyard-like haunted forest, where undead surely reigned, encountering another type of undead—zombies, liches, or, worst of all, a horde of zombie squirrels—would be a death sentence. At the moment, even facing more than two skeletons would be a huge problem, and fleeing might be the only solution.
Krystian understood, then, that he had to destroy this skeleton and level up—even at the cost of sore legs, even if it later meant losing some speed.
>Crahhh…
The skeleton's spine finally cracked, after several minutes of continuous jumping.
Krystian stepped back and watched the monster. Its legs still seemed to move, as did the upper part of the skeleton. It appeared to keep trying to rise in the same way, but without its lower body, it was impossible.
At first, he thought the upper half of the skeleton would attack him by crawling toward him, which would have made sense. And perhaps it would have, if Krystian had been in front of the skeleton—but standing in its dead zone, as long as skeletons rely on their eye sockets…
The monster was now trapped in a loop of trying to stand and falling.
"How the hell do I kill you?"
A thought crossed Krystian's mind—to jump on the skeleton's skull. But even ignoring the risk of injuries, including those from the monster's skills, jumping on the skull—even if successfully destroying it—could horribly maim his feet.
He considered himself lucky that his bare feet were only badly bruised and not otherwise damaged from his previous feats. So he began scanning the area for anything that might help with this task.
However, options were extremely limited. The nearest branch suitable for a makeshift weapon was more than five meters high.
Krystian also saw many small stones, smaller than golf balls, but feeling the hardness of the bones with his feet, he doubted that even a hundred stones would be able to harm the skeleton.
After a while, Krystian started examining the second most common plant in the forest. The first, of course, were the trees. But Krystian's attention was drawn to the Skullshrooms.
There was no way to feed it to the skeleton, but that wasn't what caught Krystian's attention. The first Skullshroom he had seen had green algae in its eye sockets. But now, looking around, he saw many variations of this fungus. And while there weren't too many variations, a few really stood out.
One even emitted red light from its eye sockets, resembling a laser, though apart from the visual effect, it didn't harm anything it hit. Perhaps the effect of this light required specific conditions to test properly.
Krystian's attention was drawn to one particular variant of Skullshroom. Unlike the others, which only grew at the base of trees, this one was growing on a tree trunk.
And while at first glance it could be mistaken for the first Skullshroom he had encountered, this particular variant differed in a significant detail, aside from its unusual location.
This Skullshroom was crying—or rather, instead of the fluorescent green algae in its eye sockets, it secreted a greenish liquid that ran down the mushroom's cap and dripped directly onto the tree bark. That bark corroded; each drop seemed to melt it like acid.
The mushroom must have matured recently, as the indentation formed in this process wasn't very deep—perhaps only a few centimeters.
-----------------------
Name: Skullshroom of Liquid Despair
Type: Mutagenic FungusSubtype: Necroflora
Element: Darkness / Necro / Acid
Description:This mushroom has a cap resembling a deformed human skull. Its surface is pale, almost bone-colored, intersected by fine cracks resembling old, dried bones. In the eye sockets, a faintly fluorescent green stream of slime flows in thin rivulets over the cap's surface.
Properties:• The substance oozing from the mushroom has exceptionally strong corrosive properties.
------------------------------
"Touching this slime is stupid, but… fuck, there's no other choice."
Krystian grabbed the Skullshroom by its stem, adopting a rather cautious posture. As if, in case the stem had harmful properties, he could release the mushroom in an instant without risking being doused in a dangerous substance.
The stem, surprisingly, felt even pleasant to the touch—slightly sticky—but nothing indicated that it itself was harmful to humans. All the more reason Krystian checked his status to fully confirm that his health remained "healthy."
"Amazingly satisfying…"
The sticky substance, with just a slight tilt, slowly oozed onto the skeleton's skull.
The mushroom fascinated Krystian—perhaps his innate talent was influencing him—but he tried to pay attention to every detail. The liquid dripping from the Skullshroom had a consistency comparable to jelly or heavily packed gelatin. And the amount contained in the mushroom, judging visually, was roughly equivalent to half a regular glass.
That amount was more than enough to dissolve the skeleton's skull like cotton candy in water.
The very thought of potential harm if even a single drop fell on Krystian sent chills down his spine—especially since he was wearing a black T-shirt and short black running shorts. It wasn't ideal protective clothing for this kind of experiment, but it was enough to defeat a skeleton like this in under a dozen seconds.
"This system is either a beta version, or I really don't know how to use it."
The skeleton stopped moving; it was clearly dead. Yet no informational window appeared, so to see whether he had actually gained anything from defeating the undead, Krystian reopened his Status.
╔══════════════════════〔 STATUS〕══════════════════════╗
Name: Krystian FirebonesRace: HumanGender: MaleAge: 25
Level: 4Titles: NoneClass: NoneSubclass: NoneBloodline: Ordinary HumanInnate Talent: Moderate Alchemical Potential (D+)
MP: 150 / 150Status: Healthy
Attributes:Strength – 8 → 13Endurance – 9 → 13Agility – 14Intelligence – 17Perception – 13Will – 9
SP:9-->0
Skill:
• Alchemist's Insight (D)
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Doing some simple math, Krystian easily calculated that for each level he received 3 SP to allocate freely. A fairly straightforward mechanic, yet the physical sensation of increasing two stats—even by such a small amount—was noticeable.
His muscles tensed, and a wave of electricity ran through his body. It wasn't painful—quite the opposite; it was pleasurable, like a mild electric shock, yet distinctly felt throughout his own body.
But most importantly, leveling up healed his aching feet, and the fatigue from jumping on the skeleton's spine disappeared. He even felt better than before the fight with the undead.
"I feel better… not particularly stronger, but just… healthier… now, the question is, what next?"