I maintain my best “WTF” face as I stare at the air in front of me. I move my head side to side, try fully turning in other directions, yet this text box stays floating in my direct line of sight. Level 1 Human? What does that even mean? Levels like in video games? How is this even possible?

  It seems a trigger to remove the text box is paying attention to it, because once I fully process what I’m reading it disappears. But surely I should be higher than level 1 at my age! That’s not the point, I know, but being a level 1 human at 23 years old sounds pathetic! Either this is in my head, and I’m looking down on myself, or this is something from this world and whatever gods or wizards or whatever rule here are looking down on me. Both options suck.

  With a huff, I finally stand up, dust myself off, and straighten my dress. Now that my vision is clear, and the excitement is over, I begin to really take in my surroundings. Most of this forest looks like the ones I know and love, green and brown, brown and green. The differences are more in the shape of things, the leaves of the plants and trees are shaped more like flowers, and what are obviously bugs on the ground are ones I don’t recognize.

  “Well,” I say, speaking out loud to myself as I look up and down the road. “I guess I just have to pick a direction and start walking.” So I do just that.

  This road is apparently very long, I haven’t seen any people, and my many new blisters made me realize I have to go barefoot.

  “I’m a rambler and a gambler and a long ways from home,” I belt the song into the void, my high heels swinging from one hand. A rustling in some bushes a few yards ahead of me makes me pause. Crawling out from the overgrowth is this creature, maybe a foot tall, that looks how I imagine opossum look hairless, just slightly bigger. The hairless aspect really destroys any cuteness opossum normally have.

  When I tilt my body for a better view to stare at the thing, it appears to notice me for the first time and hisses like it can tell I thought it was ugly. I jump at the sound, and the sight of its insane teeth, and that just makes everything worse. The opossum leaps into the air, flying at my face.

  “Ahhh!” I scream as I throw my hands up to cover my head, dropping my shoes to the ground. The little fucker bites me, clamping tight onto my left forearm. I try to yank it off, but I don’t exactly work out, and I swear this thing has one of those locking jaws or something. I start practically spinning in circles, still screaming, whipping my arm back and forth, trying to make it release me. “Just let go!” It feels like I’m going to lose a chunk out of my arm if I don’t stop, so I throw myself to the ground. While I’m on my hands and knees, the possum laying on the ground with my arm still firmly in its mouth, I glance around quickly. That’s when I notice my heels lying next to me. I grab one with my free hand, quickly try to position it right in the air, and slam my hand down.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  The stiletto stabs the creature in the side. It doesn’t pierce, I have no experience stabbing anything, but the opossum does scream in pain, finally letting me go. I hesitate for just a second now that I’m free, but I’ve already seen this thing jump faster than I can react, let alone run.

  “Die you rabies infested ankle biter!” I yell as I start repeatedly stabbing down. This time I throw all my strength and my body into the motion, and the stiletto sinks properly. I’m not aiming very well, so the hits are all over the place, but I know when it dies because another text box startles the crap out of me as it pops in front of my face.

  As soon as I finish reading it, another immediately takes its place.

  I fall back to sit on my butt, staring at the text box until it disappears like the other. Then I stare at the dead I guess Saber-Rat. Then I stare at my bloody arm. I pick up the second shoe from next to me and hold them both to my chest, staring at nothing and thinking of nothing for a long time.

  After a while I feel a little less shocked about everything and can actually think. That’s when I notice that, through the blood, the wound on my arm actually looks better than before. I hesitantly touch the spot with my other hand, but it feels perfectly fine. XP I could explain away as something in my head, but I know that arm was torn up. Levels, experience points, and inhumanly fast healing.. This world really is like a video game.

  Oh, I am not the right person for this, I am the most casual of video game player. I think about all the farming/dating games I’ve played and try to figure out what mechanics might apply here. I know there’s an inventory in all of them, but how would I find mine if I have one? I didn’t have to think long, because as soon as I thought about my inventory a…screen, I guess it could be called, pops up. Of course, mine is empty. Zero stuff, zero money. But how do I use this thing? I stare at one of my shoes and try to think about it disappearing into my inventory. Nothing happens, and I feel a little silly, but then I look at the inventory screen again and have one more idea to try. I kind of just stick the shoe into the screen while thinking about placing it in there, and then my hand is empty. There’s a little icon of my shoe in one of the inventory slots now, and when I focus on it, it’s labeled “Clubbing Shoes”. I laugh for the first time since meeting the Saber-Rat.

  I really need to get moving, and I’m starting to become hungry, so I try one last thing before getting up. Remembering the other common thing from my games, I try thinking “Character Profile”, but nothing happens. That is so weird, I feel like every game has a character profile.

  I walk for a while longer, and the exhaustion has fully set. My body aches in places I didn’t know were involved in walking, and my brain just has static playing. Thankfully, I don’t run into any other animals that feel the need to attack on sight.

  Eventually, I make it out of the woods and the road now cuts through a small field before dipping into a valley. Once I reach that dip, I let out a little screech of happiness. Down below is my first sign of civilization, it appears to be a small village, and it looks just out of a fantasy novel.

  Standing here, at the top of a hill, looming over a town, I feel like the first zombie the main characters see in movies. I know my rainbow highlighted blonde hair is in the shape of a rat’s nest, my feet are muddy, and my arm is bloody. Not to mention, based off the architecture of this town, I just have a feeling that nobody here has seen a mini dress before.