System
Name: Hayden Droven
Title: None
Class: None
Race: Human
Level: 0 | 0.00%
Attributes
Strength: 1 (1 to 2 damage)
Vitality: 1 (10/10 health points, 100 years of lifespan per point)
Intelligence: 2 (20/20 mana)
Wisdom: 1 (1 mana regeneration per minute)
Agility: 2 (7 mph)
Stamina: 0.5 (50/50 stamina)
Health Regeneration: 0.5 per minute
Stamina Regeneration: 0.5 per minute
Skills
Appraisal: Level 0 | 19%
{I need to think about what's most important right now. It's already getting late, even though it feels like only a short time ago it was morning. Either I was knocked out for most of the day and dragged here, which seems unlikely considering all the weird plants, or I've somehow ended up in some sort of fucked-up reality.}
Hayden looked around at his surroundings.
He appeared to be standing in a small clearing, surrounded by several metres of relatively open ground before the dense jungle began. Compared to the strange plants beyond it, the clearing almost looked safe.
Almost.
{First things first. I need to work out where I am and take care of my basic needs.}
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter. It was almost empty, but there was still a little fuel left.
{I should collect some firewood before it gets dark. I don't need to light a fire yet, but I'd rather have one ready. That's what all those survival programmes on television recommend, anyway. I don't fancy freezing my balls off when it's time to sleep.}
With that decided, Hayden cautiously approached the edge of the clearing.
He stepped into the jungle, keeping a close eye on the plants around him. Some had sharp edges that looked more than capable of slicing through his skin, while others had thorns several inches long.
One plant in particular caught his attention.
It looked disturbingly similar to a Venus flytrap, except it was roughly the size of his head.
Hayden stopped and stared at it.
"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere near that fucking thing."
He carefully walked around it.
{I'm looking for water first. A river would be ideal, but even a puddle would do for now. Not that I have the first clue how to find water in a place like this.}
He glanced at the strange plants growing around him.
{My main goal is to use Appraisal on as much as possible. If I can get more information about the plants, maybe I'll find something edible without poisoning myself. I might as well collect some firewood while I'm at it.}
Hayden began gathering fallen branches, occasionally stopping to examine the strange vegetation around him.
Every now and then, he opened his status screen to check his Appraisal progress.
He was so focused on the task that he failed to notice the patch of purple grass beneath his feet.
At first, nothing happened.
Then the grass moved.
Thin strands slowly curled around Hayden's ankle, creeping upwards as he bent down to collect another branch.
He didn't notice until the grass tightened around his leg.
"What the fuck?"
He looked down.
The purple blades had wrapped themselves around his lower leg, gripping him like a handful of tiny fingers.
"Get off me! GET OFF!"
Hayden kicked wildly with his other foot, trying to tear the grass away.
For a moment, it seemed to work.
Then the grass changed.
The edges of the purple blades turned a shiny silver colour. They sharpened before his eyes, and the strands tightened around his leg.
Pain shot through his skin.
"FUCK! LET GO!"
He tried to pull his leg free, but the grass held on tightly. Worse still, it had begun dragging him towards the undergrowth.
Hayden's heart pounded as he struggled to keep his balance.
{What the fuck is this shit?! It's grass! How the hell is grass trying to kill me?!}
He grabbed at the strands with his hands, but the sharp edges cut into his fingers.
He immediately pulled them away.
"SHIT!"
The grass tightened again, slicing deeper into his leg.
Hayden panicked.
He had no weapon, no idea what the plant was doing, and absolutely no intention of finding out what happened if it managed to drag him into the undergrowth.
He scrambled around, desperately searching for something he could use.
His fingers brushed against a stone.
He grabbed it and swung down at the grass wrapped around his ankle.
The first strike did little more than make the strands twitch.
He hit it again.
And again.
"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"
On the fourth strike, several strands snapped.
Hayden immediately pulled his leg backwards, scraping it against the ground as he tore himself free.
He scrambled away from the patch of grass, clutching his injured leg.
For a few seconds, he could do nothing but stare at the cuts.
Blood trickled down his skin.
There were several deep slashes across his lower leg, and every movement sent another burst of pain through it.
"Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck."
He forced himself to his feet.
The moment he put weight on his injured leg, pain shot through it.
Hayden nearly collapsed again.
He looked back at the purple grass.
The strands were already settling back into place, as if nothing had happened.
He wasn't going to stick around to see whether they wanted a second helping.
Hayden turned and ran.
Well, he tried to run.
His injured leg made that difficult, and he ended up stumbling through the clearing in a miserable, uneven limp. Tears streamed down his face as he struggled to get away from the dangerous vegetation.
{What the fuck?! None of this makes any sense! My leg hurts, dammit! I need to get out of here!}
He kept moving until he finally reached the small clearing where he had first appeared.
Only then did he stop.
Hayden dropped onto the ground and pulled his injured leg towards him.
"Fuck... fuck..."
He took several shaky breaths before examining the damage.
There were three deep cuts across his lower leg, each roughly two centimetres deep.
He stared at them in horror.
"How the hell am I supposed to deal with this?"
He wasn't a doctor. He wasn't a survival expert. The closest he'd ever come to dealing with a serious injury was watching somebody get hurt on television.
His eyes drifted towards the lighter in his pocket.
An idea came to him.
A terrible idea.
{I can't let this get infected. Maybe I should cauterise the wounds with my lighter.}
He pulled the lighter out and stared at it.
"Please work. Just this once, don't be a useless piece of shit."
He flicked the switch.
A small flame appeared.
Hayden swallowed nervously.
He knew this was going to hurt.
He just hadn't realised how badly.
With a shaking hand, he moved the flame towards one of the cuts.
The moment it touched his skin, he screamed.
"FUCKING HELL!"
He jerked his hand away, nearly dropping the lighter.
His leg throbbed painfully, and tears streamed down his face.
"AHHH! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"
He tried again, forcing himself to keep the flame near the wound for a moment longer.
The pain was unbearable.
His hand shook so badly that he accidentally burned the surrounding skin as well.
He pulled away, panting heavily.
"SHIT! THAT WAS A FUCKING STUPID IDEA!"
He stared at his leg, breathing through clenched teeth.
The wounds still looked terrible, and now the surrounding skin was burned too.
He had no idea whether he'd helped himself or made things worse.
After waiting for the pain to settle slightly, Hayden opened his status screen.
System
Name: Hayden Droven
Title: None
Class: None
Race: Human
Level: 0 | 0.50%
Attributes
Strength: 1 (1 to 2 damage)
Vitality: 1 (6/10 health points, 100 years of lifespan per point)
Intelligence: 2 (20/20 mana)
Wisdom: 1 (1 mana regeneration per minute)
Agility: 2 (7 mph)
Stamina: 0.5 (42/50 stamina)
Health Regeneration: 0.5 + 0.2 per minute (due to cauterisation)
Stamina Regeneration: 0.5 per minute
Injuries
Leg laceration: Minor
Movement speed reduced by 10% until healed.
Skills
Appraisal: Level 0 | 97.6%
Hayden stared at the screen.
Then he read it again.
"My health is down to six?"
He looked at his leg.
"Yeah, no shit."
His eyes moved towards the injury section.
At least the system had recognised the damage. His movement speed was reduced, and his health regeneration had increased slightly.
He wasn't sure what the system meant by the injury being minor when he had three deep cuts in his leg, but he wasn't about to complain about the extra regeneration.
{I almost died to purple grass. Purple fucking grass!}
He looked towards the edge of the clearing.
{At least my health is regenerating. I need to stay close to this clearing and stop wandering around like an idiot. I'll collect whatever wood I can find on the ground instead of risking another encounter with something that wants to eat me.}
Hayden carefully stood up.
His injured leg protested immediately, forcing him to lean against a nearby tree for support.
"Right. Slow and steady."
He limped around the edges of the clearing, collecting broken branches and fallen sticks. Every time he spotted a strange plant, he gave it a wide berth.
He wasn't taking any chances.
After several trips, he had gathered a decent pile of wood in the middle of the clearing.
Hayden sat down beside it and examined his work.
"Not bad."
He glanced at the surrounding ground.
"Now I just need some stones to keep the fire contained. Assuming I can actually get the bastard lit."
He began gathering stones from the clearing and arranging them in a rough circle around the pile of wood.
He was just placing the last stone when a blue screen suddenly appeared in front of his face.
Hayden flinched so violently that he nearly fell backwards.
"STOP DOING THAT, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
He glared at the floating screen.
Then he noticed the message displayed on it.
Appraisal Level 1: 0.03%
Can show very basic information.
Hayden blinked.
He read the message again.
"Wait. I've levelled up?"
He opened his status screen and checked his skills.
Sure enough, Appraisal had reached Level 1.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
{Great! This could actually be useful for once.}
He looked towards the strange berry bush he'd noticed earlier, the one with the green berries covered in pink spots.
"All right, let's see what you can tell me now."
Hayden focused on one of the berries and used Appraisal.
A new message appeared.
Ku'it Berry
Edible
Unknown effect: Not yet discovered
Hayden stared at the screen.
Then he looked at the berry.
Then back at the screen.
"Edible, huh?"
He scratched his chin.
"Well, that's a start."
His stomach rumbled.
Hayden looked at the berry bush again.
"Still not eating one of you bastards until I know what that unknown effect is."