A fresh start

The annoyance of having the sun's rays hitting my face directly woke me up. I tried to turn around to avoid being bothered, but no matter how much I moved, the sunlight always bothered me. Didn't I close the curtains last night? Moreover, my bed feels harder than usual, and when I turned my face, something tickled my cheek. Definitely something was off. I sat up on the ground and opened my eyes, and I couldn't help but be amazed. A beautiful meadow stretched as far as the eye could see. The vibrant colors of the place were unlike anything I had seen before. Without a doubt, my encounter with that god wasn't a dream.

"So... is this another world?" I wondered aloud.

Recalling the skills that the god said I would have, I thought that something in me must have changed, but everything felt the same. Suddenly, a semi-transparent screen appeared in front of me, startling me. After a quick glance, I realized it was a character status screen, showing numerical data about life, strength, intelligence, and other attributes of a character. And more specifically, it was my own status screen. I started examining it closely.

"INFORMATION:

Name: Ray Age: 22 Race: Human Gender: Male

Level (LVL): 1 Experience (EXP): 0/50

Job: None Title: None

STATISTICS:

Health Points (HP): 20/20 Magic Points (MP): 25/25

Strength (STR): 5 Defense (DEF): 4 Speed (SPD): 8 Agility (AGI): 7

Intelligence (INT): 5 Resistance (RES): 2 Vitality (VIT): 4 Luck (LUK): 0

ABILITIES:

Language Comprehension - Level (LVL): Max (Passive)

Dark Pact - Level (LVL): 1

Tap any parameter or ability to get more information."

These stats are a bit low... not to mention my luck is zero. What the heck? Well, that's not really what matters. What caught my attention was that ability called "Dark Pact." It sounds like a card from a trading card game. But before diving into that, I'll read about what each statistic means.

"Job: Indicates your occupation in this world. Right now, you don't have one, just like in your own world. So, you better shape up." The darn god wrote this, right? I'm thinking about giving him a good punch the next time I see him. Anyway, let's continue.

"Title: Titles are achievements you earn in this world. They grant you some benefits. You don't have any. What a coincidence, you didn't achieve much in your world either. Poor you." I'll just ignore those comments. It seems like this is a game-like world for now. I guess the rest of the stats will be similar.

"HP: Numerically indicates your total life points and your current amount. If it reaches zero, it's game over." I suspected this. I guess there won't be any resurrection; I need to be careful.

"MP: Numerically indicates your total magical energy and your current amount. It allows you to cast skills, as most of them consume mana. Almost thirty and still a virgin; how about becoming a mage ahead of time?" I've never been a fan of being a mage in role-playing games, but I'll see how it goes in this world.

"STR: Numerically indicates your physical strength. The higher it is, the stronger your punches will be. But a skinny guy like you can only dream of having more strength." Suddenly, I feel like punching something.

"DEF: Numerically indicates your ability to withstand physical blows. Although with it so low, I doubt you can endure much." Ugh, could you stop calling me weak?

"SPD: Numerically indicates how fast you can move. Something you excel at; being late to university so often has finally paid off." I'm going to kill him.

"AGI: Numerically indicates how quickly you can react to things. It's pretty much linked with speed. Lucky you, having those both high for you." No point in cursing him from this point on.

"INT: Numerically indicates your brain's capacity to process information. In this world, it makes your spells stronger and increases your maximum mana capacity. But I think you can say goodbye to that." Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale...

"RES: Numerically indicates your body's ability to resist magical attacks. It also shows how much mental fatigue you can endure, as well as your resistance to mental ailments. Don't worry, everyone from your world has very low resistance; after all, there's no magic in your world." Well, at least that's a valid excuse.

"VIT: Numerically indicates your body's ability to withstand status ailments, such as poisoning and such. It also determines your maximum HP, as well as your stamina and how tired your body can get. With your low score, I bet you get sick quite often." That's none of your business.

"LUK: Numerically indicates the likelihood of, well, good things happening, winning in draws, and such. Unfortunately... it's better to stay away from dangerous stuff." But why the hell is my luck zero? Yes, I've had more bad luck than good in my life, but it's not that bad!

Well, that concludes all the stats. Now, let's get to the good part: my two abilities, starting with Language Comprehension.

"Language Comprehension: Ability that allows understanding and speaking various languages. At max level, you can fluently speak and understand any language you hear. Consider it an indispensable gift. Learning an unknown language in an unknown world is tough, you'll thank me later." Ugh, I know he's teasing me a lot, but this ability is really useful.

"Dark Pact: Ability that lets you form a pact with any creature, living or dead, and use their strength in battle. It will always succeed if the other party agrees, but can fail if the pact is against the creature's will. As the ability levels up, you can have more creatures under a pact, and the success rate increases. All creatures under a pact can communicate with you through telepathy, whether they can speak or not. Furthermore, half of your and the creature's statistics are shared, meaning you'll receive half of the combined total of the creatures you've formed a pact with, and vice versa. Quite a deal! Also, the experience you gain will be split evenly. This ability will cost you mana at first, but you'll get used to it.

Form Pact - Mana Cost 10

Number of Pacts Made/Available: 0/4

Current Experience: 0/1000

The spell's level will increase as it's used." ...I'm speechless, this is too strong! But to fully utilize it, I'll need to make a pact... which means battling a monster... I'm not sure I'm ready for that, so for now, I think I'll start moving. As soon as I stopped paying attention to the status window, the text on it changed.

"Remember, to see your own or a creature's stats under the effect of a pact, concentrate on it. Only you can see these stats; no one else can. Just as you can't see others' stats unless they have an ability to view others' statuses." Oh, that's interesting, I'll keep that in mind.

The status screen disappeared, and I got ready to start walking. I wonder what kinds of people and species are in this world. Honestly, I can't deny feeling excited and a bit nervous, even though I have no idea where to go. I stood up from the ground, and ahead of me, there was a vast meadow with scattered trees. Behind me, a dense forest was forming. I suppose I'll head toward the meadow; it should be easier to find a village or town there than in the forest. The first thing is to secure some food. Fortunately, the sun is still high, and I'm full of energy. So, let's start walking! But just as I was about to take the first step, the bushes behind me started rustling. I immediately got on guard. I don't know what could be there, but I don't expect it to be something good. A few seconds later, a sort of red jelly-like ball emerged from the bushes. It had two big round eyes and a mouth. It reminded me of a certain monster from a certain game. To my surprise, though, the red slime seemed tired, as if it had been fleeing from something. And when it saw me, it got scared and started trembling. Does it fear me? I crouched down to its level, which was challenging considering the slime was barely fifty centimeters tall, while I'm over 180 centimeters.

"Hey... is something wrong?" I'm talking to a jelly... Well, what have I got to lose? "I won't bite or anything. You can relax."

The slime stopped trembling and looked at me in surprise. Can it understand what I'm saying?

"Can you understand what I'm saying?"

The slime nodded. Max level of "Language Comprehension" is truly a blessing!

"What were you running from, little one?"

The slime looked back and suddenly jumped toward me, using its elastic body to slip under my clothes. Feeling its gelatinous and cold body beneath my shirt and pants tickled and gave me an uncomfortable sensation.

"Hey! Who gave you permission to do that?"

"Who's there?" A deep voice came from the forest.

And from among the bushes, a tall man in heavy armor emerged.

"A human?"

He beat me to my thoughts. He was a human in his thirties, taller than me, maybe around two meters tall. He had a long mustache on his face, pale skin, and brown eyes that looked at me in astonishment. I could hardly see his hair due to the silver helmet he wore, but judging from his mustache, it's probably light brown. He had a silver chestplate, a large shield, and a broadsword. He seemed to be a knight.

"Um... hello." Honestly, I don't know what to say.

"Alfred, what's happening?" A sweet voice of a woman came from the bushes.

"Did you find that special slime?" Another woman's voice, colder and more composed.

"We should catch it and sell it! We'll make a fortune!" A young and energetic male voice.

"No, actually, I found something else."

From the bushes emerged a woman who looked like she had just entered her twenties. She had long pastel pink hair, pale skin, and blue eyes that were curiously studying me. She wore what seemed to be brown leather armor and gray fitted pants. Despite the armor, her breasts seemed rather large, and her pants highlighted her waist's curves. She had a quiver of arrows on her back and held a bow in her left hand. She wore fingerless black gloves on both hands. She wasn't very tall, maybe around 160 centimeters. Next to her, a girl who seemed to be younger than twenty, with pink skin, short white hair, and blood-red eyes, and pointed ears... Wait, is she an elf? She must be about 150 centimeters tall. She wore a pointed gray hat that matched her long robe, which didn't reveal much about her body. She held a staff with what looked like a wooden snail at one end. She seemed to be a spellcaster. Lastly, a young man who couldn't be much older than twenty-three, blond with short hair, light blue eyes, and pink skin. He was a bit shorter than me, around 175 centimeters. He wore what seemed like a lighter silver chestplate, revealing a navy blue long-sleeved shirt underneath. His brown pants didn't seem to have any protection, but he wore gauntlets on his hands, implying he's a warrior.

"A human?" The woman with pink hair said.

"He doesn't seem to have any weapons or armor," the elf continued with her companion's sentence.

"Do you want to get yourself killed?" Now the guy, ugh, I really don't like being lectured by people I just met.

"I'm sorry... I didn't think this place was dangerous."

"It is, lad, it is," Alfred spoke. "Lately, the Sunveil Forest has become very dangerous. Besides, we're quite far from the city of Fayen. For someone without equipment like you, this is practically suicide."

I'm not sure how to react to that, honestly.

"You seem really confused," the Archer approached me. "Are you okay?"

I think it's best to hide the fact that I come from another world.

"I'm physically fine, but I've lost my memory... The only thing I remember is my name."

"Amnesia..." Now the blonde guy. "Were you attacked and left here? Though it's true that you don't seem injured."

"It could be due to a curse," the sorceress looked me up and down. "What's your name?"

"Ray, that's my name."

"Ray and nothing else?" Alfred was surprised. "You don't remember your last name?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"It's going to be tough figuring out who you are..." The redhead placed a hand on her chin, lost in thought.

"Gosh!" The blonde guy exclaimed. "How thoughtless of us to ask your name without even introducing ourselves. I'm Rowen, Rowen Mintred. Pleasure to meet you!" The blonde began shaking my hand up and down excessively.

"Alfred Ostrew," the knight added, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Nice to meet you."

"Chihaia Nostramus," the spellcaster bowed slightly, then turned to her companion, "Kureha, your turn."

The pink-haired woman remained lost in thought. Chihaia tapped her head with her staff to snap her out of it, and the archer immediately reacted.

"Hey, that hurts!" The archer rubbed her head.

"It's rude not to introduce ourselves after someone has given us their name," Chihaia's calm and unchanging voice persisted.

"I know, I know," the archer extended her hand for me to shake. When we shook hands, she introduced herself, "I'm Kureha Highwind. Pleasure to meet you, Ray."

"Likewise. Even though you just met me, you're being quite kind," I noted, finding this all a bit strange.

"That's because we're adventurers," Rowen chimed in. "Adventurers help those in need."

Adventurers...

"Anyway, we don't have much time to spare," Chihaia said. "We need to find that red slime."

Rowen and Kureha reacted excitedly.

"That's right!"

"But we can't leave Ray to his own devices," Alfred said.

"Sorry, but... What's a red slime?"

Chihaia came closer to me, quite close actually. Is this girl unfamiliar with personal space? The poor red slime was trembling on my back. I can't hold back my laughter much longer.

"A red slime is a rare type of slime," she began her explanation. "There are very few known specimens, but their material is highly valuable, not to mention the experience they grant is very substantial. We were on a mission around here when we found it. We've been chasing it all morning."

When she finished her explanation, I moved away from her.

"I understand, I understand. I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anything like that."

"Huh?" Alfred looked puzzled. "I was sure I saw it run in this direction."

"Anyway, we don't have much time to waste," Chihaia said, walking over to Rowen and taking him by the arm. "Let's go, Rowen, we need to find it."

"Right!"

"But we can't leave Ray to his own devices," Alfred interjected.

"Don't worry, Alfred," Kureha assured him. "I'll escort Ray to Fayen."

"Are you sure? You're missing out on quite the catch."

"Don't worry, I'm a bit tired, and we're low on supplies. I'll return to the guild, buy some food, and cook for you guys when you're back. Sounds good?"

"Not bad, we'll be back around noon, so don't worry. We'd never miss one of your meals."

"Good luck!"

"And you, be careful."

Alfred disappeared into the forest to follow his two companions. Now, Kureha, the slime, and I were alone.

"Shall we go? The city is about half an hour from here."

"Sure thing, and thanks for accompanying me."

"No problem, man. Like Rowen would say, 'An adventurer always helps those in need.'"