Waking up in a clearing would have been the craziest thing that happened in his life, if not for the semi transparent screen floating in his view. Homing in on the screen, digesting each word with gusto, a smile crept on his face.

🎊Congratulations🎊

You have been given the honor to participate in the game.

'The chosen one,' a voice whispered in his head.

'The chosen one!' the same voice growled.

'THE CHOSEN ONE!' the voice permeated his whole body, making him vibrate in excitement. No, it wasn't just a voice, it was his voice.

He was laughing maniacally, heaving and grunting, finally voicing his thoughts: "I.. Am the chosen one!"

Minutes passed by, till he finally collected himself enough to swipe away the floating screen. While a smug grin crept up his face, he thought the word status.. - and another floating screen popped up, displaying numerical values.

Name Oswald Titles

None Stats Strength 2 Agility 2 Vitality 1 Intelligence 6 Wisdom 2 Magic 0 Free Stats 0 Traits

Knowledgeable (selective)

Your knowledge knows no bounds!

Some might call it weird to know exactly which color a fictive character's underwear was at a specific time and episode, but you know your truth!

*Raises chance of understanding very specific cues and hints.

Trait points 0

The smug grin never left his face, he just knew someone else would proudly pat his back for his amazing status. Everyone knew the chosen one would get an amazing cheat and unfair advantages at the start of their adventures in another world. Even the most ridiculous and bad-mouthed starting bonus turned out to be amazing! Of course that means the average stats of a human have to be 1. Slowly patting his bulging belly, he just knew the stats would work their magic and grant him double the strength, agility and wisdom of an average human.

"6 in intelligence, I'm already such a cheat.. But why is my magical power non-existent?" frowning, he thought about all the usual keywords to take advantage of his situation.

"Skills? Quests.. Inventory? Options!" he grumbled out loud. They didn't seem to be thought activated. Stingy system making him work harder for his cheats.

Noticing that saying them out loud changed nothing, he furrowed his brow, slight panic marring his features.

'It can't be, maybe I have to unlock my cheat! Or course! System, you should tell me easy things like this. A tutorial would be nice too!' he thought and waited.

The sound of leaves quietly rustling in the background was the only thing greeting him.

Swiping angrily at his status, he started looking around, taking a cursory glance towards his surroundings for the first time.

He stood upon a tiny hill, surrounded by trees. A few meters ahead he saw a clear river flowing ahead into the distance. Of course a chosen one like him would get a perfect starting position, easy access to loot, food and water.

Looking around the dense forest once more he noticed three small bags, made of brownish cloth lying on the ground. He smirked and turned towards them. His system must be a tsundere. Really making him work for his starting items. Maybe there was no inventory in his story? He'd make use of those three small bags to carry whatever thing he could find! Thank God they are only a few meters away.

Rushing like a cannonball through the grass, breaking twigs in his way, he was out of breath the moment he reached the three bags. Plopping down on the ground, he almost reverently opened the first bag. Surprise marred his face, nuts? Why was the bag filled with nuts?

He grabbed the other bags and opened them hastily to find some weird berries, all glinting in a beautiful scarlet and some mushrooms. The mushrooms looked like your run of the mill mushrooms you'd find on a funghi pizza.

His arms slightly shaking he touched his forehead and rubbed his eyes. Why would a chosen one start out with nuts, fruits and mushrooms? Was this a cruel joke? Of course it couldn't be. They must be some legendary items used to strengthen him!

Full of conviction he closed the bag of mushrooms and berries, putting them in his left pocket. He chose the nuts first. Grabbing a handful and eating them while walking towards the river for a quick drink in case they tasted weird.

At first he tasted a hint of walnut, which was slowly replaced by light numbness.

'Interesting taste!' he giddily thought, ’they must already be working.'

A trademark smug smirk found its way on his face again. He continued munching on the nuts till the whole bag was empty.

'A quick drink and then a nap sounds like a good plan. Not even the chosen should start an adventure without being at his full power!' he thought while cupping water into his mouth with his hands.

The numbness was slowly engulfing his body so he just lied down, letting the magic nuts do what magical nuts do.

Looking at the man who resembled a cross of a pig and a walrus, Dave frowned.

'He ate the whole bag and just went to sleep? Do those nuts make people sleepy?'

Slowly getting out from a heap of leaves, a muscular but dirty man, resembling a hobo, slowly walked towards the man next to the river.

Getting closer he noticed the man wasn't moving. His eyes widened and he broke out into a light jog to try to get to him a little quicker.

Putting his hand in front of the nose of the sleeping man, he bit his lower lip.

'He stopped breathing.. Those nuts don't make you sleepy.. they paralyze your whole body? This is the second try already. Is there even anything edible here?' sighing, Dave sat down next to the now dead body of the chosen one.

He stared into the sky and started losing himself in memories. His eyes glazed over and his stomach reminded him with an angry gurgle about how empty it was. Two whole days without food and only water. He thanked God for his paranoid grandfather, teaching him to never trust anything, not even the most mundane things.

He laughed when his grandfather told him how the banana was secretly plotting his demise, waiting to get just a bit riper, a little bit sweeter. Just so his grandfather would fall into temptation and eat it. Then it would turn the situation around and cause him to suffocate!

"Don't trust the fruits Dave!! Let someone else try them and if you can't, heck! Throw them into a mixer! Do the unexpected! The banana would never expect... THIS!!" the angry old man shouted and tried to bodyslam a banana lying on the ground.

Shaking his head, Dave looked around the clearing, putting his full focus on listening.

'It's dangerous to lose focus' he groaned softly and stood up, patting down the big man for anything useful.

He took back his berry and mushroom bag, putting aside the empty nut bag to wash it after. Stripping off all the man's clothes, he found a functioning lighter and a chocolate bar.

Ripping off the packaging with his teeth, he ravished the chocolate bar like a wild beast. 'I will never take food for granted' he thought, rubbing his moist eyes and licking his lips to lap up every last bit of chocolate.

With the setting sun as his background he finally reached his makeshift burrow and cave combo.

Dave put down his haul of the day and looked over his base.

Multiple pieces of cloth and a few more small bags filled with plants, berries, nuts and mushrooms littered the ground haphazardly. His trusty water bottle, filled to the brim with river water, laid next to some sharpened sticks and broken stone with a slightly sharp edge.

'I have shelter and an easily accessible route to fresh water. The cloth keeps me warm at night and those sharpened sticks should help me protect myself.. If only there was a sign of any bigger animals around. I can hear the birds singing and the insects buzzing from here, maybe I should try my luck and dig through some earth for some worms? Worms can't be poisonous right?' Dave collected his thoughts and thought about the plans for the coming day. He couldn't just sit around and wait for something to happen.

Using other people as guinea pigs for the different foods he had found worked like a charm, but that didn't mean he should continue putting his hopes on the stupidity of others.

He had to widen his search radius tomorrow, maybe climb a tree or find a hill and look for any sign of civilization. Dave knew he couldn't put his trust in anyone, not before gathering more information and finding out what the game is.

'Status.'

Name

Dave

Titles

None Stats Strength 8 Agility 6 Vitality 9 Intelligence 7 Wisdom 8 Magic 1 Free Stats 1 Traits

Overthinking

Anything that could happen you thought about. You are prepared.

*Lowers the chance of getting surprised

Daydreamer

Following some strain of thought further than usual.

*Higher chance of finding what you search for.

Sturdy

Some people are just built differently.

*Lesser usage of stamina during physical exertion.

*Faster gain of power through physical exertion

*Slower loss of power during longer bodily inactivity

*Higher endurance to physical trauma

Nimble Hands

Your body might not be ready, but your hands are.

*Higher success in crafting, building, trapping, anything that uses hands.

(potential) Paranoia

You are prepared against anything, because deep down you know everyone and everything is out to get you.

*Impossible to get ambushed, poisoned, assassinated.

Trait points 1