"Ughh, why is it so cold suddenly?..."
The man who was lying on the ground groaned, his voice was groggy, as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep.
"Umm? W...what?" as his eyes opened, he was shocked at his surroundings, although his senses weren't clear yet, nor was his mind focused, but even that was enough to register the strangeness of his surroundings.
"W...why am I on the ground... and in a forest? Shit, the forest looks really scary..." He muttered as he forced himself up and checked his surroundings.
His mind went into an overdrive almost instantly, his survival instincts and adrenaline flaring to push his mind instantly to it's peak condition... the situation was bad, very bad for someone like him, who was a borderline nerd.
"The trees here are massive... I am sure that there are no forests like these near my home, and judging by the approximate age of trees, this has to be an untouched forest...
By conservative estimates... I should be at least over a hundred kilometers away from home." He muttered, sure he did not have outdoor survival experience, but he was smart enough to ace his school and college without even trying.
He was certain that if he thought hard enough, he could figure out a way to survive and make it back home.
"Now... what should I do next? raising a smoke might help rescuers locate me... although it might also attract animals, but having fire in the wild is always better than not having it." hopefully, there are rescuers looking for him, the smoke would act as a beacon for them.
And fire was necessary for his safety. He started gathering dry leaves and sticks from the surroundings, and soon collected a small heap.
"Now, I don't have any tools... striking stones together creates sparks, hopefully it works." He sighed, and began to strike the stones close to the heap.
"Fuck... finally..." He gasped, his breath rising a bit, after over half an hour of striking stones like some caveman, he had finally managed to ignite the heap, creating fire.
Satisfied with his work, he slumped down next to the fire, relaxing himself. Now, with a sense of security, he finally started to think about what was important.
"Now... How the hell did I appear here?
First option, someone kidnapped me... but leaving me in the woods make no sense.
Second option, this is a dream, hopefully... but that too, is unlikely, considering the pain in my hands from striking the stones...
That leaves the last option, this is an isekai... it doesn't make much sense, but when all impossible options are removed, whatever remains, is the truth." He thought with a serious expression.
"Alright, let's first check everything from my memory, I am Sebastian Woods, final year college student.
The last memory I have is being at my room, going to sleep after binge watching Frieren.
Hmm, the memory checks out, there are no gaps, strange, transmigration or reincarnation often take place after dramatic events." Sebastian knew that his current situation was dangerous, especially if it was an isekai, for a forest this... intense, their might actually be monsters if it were an isekai.
"I need to search for food... then prepare a bed.
No, i can't stay here, I should make a bigger fire, and then search the perimeters, maybe the forest isn't as large as it looks, and there's way out." With a goal set, Sebastian forced his body to stand, he was somewhat lazy, but not lazy enough to not realize that this was a matter of life or death and he couldn't afford being lax.
GRAWWWLLLL!!!!
But, all his plans where dashed, as he heard a loud roar, his body went into alert mode, al his hair standing, ready to run away at an instant.
He picked up a large stick, and placed it over the fire, setting it on fire, ready to use it as a weapon.
It was a bear. But once his eyes landed upon the beast, his body went stiff, a cold chill filling him. Al the adrenaline seemed to fade instantly, replaced by pure, unadulterated fear.
Because, " W...why is the bear so massive... how is it possible..."
The bear, contrary to the ordinary bears back on earth, was over twenty feet tall, almost as large as a two-storey building.
Sebastian gulped out loud, and forced his body back to action, doing the most logical thing he could think of, run away.
The bear saw it's snack running and decided to give it a chase. Seeing the massive bear chasing him, Sebastian clenched his tooth and made a decision, pointing the firestick downwards, attempting to start a fire.
It could start a forest fire, but that could be dealt with later, otherwise, he would end up as bear poop very soon.
But, in the tense situation, the stick fell from his hand as it hit a shrub, thankfully, some flames spread, not enough to act as a wall of defense against the bear, but enough to stall him somewhat.
Now, the only thing needed to do was hide.
And, luckily, he saw a particularly massive tree with a cavity at the bottom nearby. Without a second thought, Sebastian ducked and slid through to the cavity, only to find there was a cave beneath it.
With a thud, he fell to the hard surface over twelve feet down.
"ARGHHH!!! shit..." Sebastian shouted clutching his left hand, the fall might be nothing to the people of this world, who probably possessed magic or something if they survived in this world, with the monster like that bear around.
But sadly, Sebastian was an ordinary earthling, his body was weak, weak enough that this small fall had caused a bone to break.
"It would seem... my survival is unlikely... in my peak health, I could have figured out something, but now, with one arm useless for the time being, death is almost certain." He sighed in dejection, he could still hear the growls of the bear outside, and no matter how calmly he tried to act, deep down, he was scared.
More scared than he had been his entire life.
Maybe, due to the fact that he had somewhat given up on his life, or because he realized, that his death was near, he felt some strange sort of confidence igniting within him.
If he was to die anyway, let's not die pathetically, sobbing in despair.
With this thought in mind, he stood up, and tried to navigate the cave, it was dark, very dark, with a single source of light being the cavity, roots of the massive trees were scattered around like pillars, as if supporting the cave.
Sebastian moved to the opposite direction of the cavity, until he reached the point where the light ended, with complete darkness ahead.
He used his right hand to scan the surroundings, as he slowly took a few steps forward, if he could find some fresh water, probably groundwater, with some fishes, he might be able to rest in here for a few days, until his left hand recovers enough to warrant his leave.
Suddenly, he noticed another flicker of light in the distance, like a fluttering firefly, far away, with a sigh, and a miniscule amount of hope in his heart, he moved towards the light, as if it were a beacon.
As he neared, more and more flickering lights appeared, it was rather enticing, even in his current predicament, he had to admit the beauty of the scene.
Finally, after a few minutes, he reached the source of the light.
"Wow..." Awe filled his heart as he watched the source, unlike anything he had expected, it was actually a tree, a tree with bioluminescence, with lights akin to floating stars all around it.
In the centre, there was a fruit, a very strange fruit, green coloured, shaped like a pear, with spiral patterns all over, and it was faintly glowing.
"That... has to be a devil fruit. So, this is the world of one piece... That explains the size of the bear. Shit, this world is a hell to live in if you are weak...
And judging by the fact that I broke a bone by that previous fall, it is safe to say that I am below even ordinary villagers at this moment in terms of strength." Sebastian muttered in realization, a few beads of cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
"This devil fruit... I do not recognize which one it is, I had seen the pictures of all known devil fruits, and this was not in it...
It is a gamble to eat this devil fruit now, since I don't know it's ability... But, I am certain that this fruit might be the only thing which might increase my chances of survival." Sebastian pondered, in the world of One piece, a person can only eat a single devil fruit unless they are special like Blackbeard.
And he was certain that with his body, he was special sure, but that specialty was probably having the weakest body in the world.
"Ughh, no need to think so much, it's either eat this or die, so better to eat and gamble." Although the statement that there are no weak devil fruits is nonsense, if he can awaken it or something, it is still very strong.
With that determination in his heart, he plucked the fruit, which ironically took his entire strength. And took a bite.
"Ughh!!! gag!" The vilest taste, which he couldn't even describe in words struck his senses, he was close to vomiting, but forcing himself, he swallowed it, and fell to the ground gagging.
"Shit... devil fruits truly are the vilest tasting thing there is." Sebastian sighed, then, a strange smile formed on his face.
"It would seem my luck isn't so bad, Logia Forest Forest fruit.
HAHAHAHAHA!!! It seems death won't be coming for me anytime soon."