Far From Vanilla: Modded Game Reincarnation

 “Fuck…” I laid on the cotton sack, my arm underneath my neck like a pillow since there wasn’t one.

 I stared at the skill tree panel.

 [ You have unlocked: ‘Scholar’ Profession! ] [ You have unlocked: ‘Civilian’ Profession! ] [ You have unlocked: ‘Adventurer’ Profession! ]

 The three icons flashed with a twinkle and the lines that connected them to the center icon extended from them. It looked like a seed that had just sprouted its first roots.

 [ You have unlocked: ‘Knowledgeable’ trait from ‘Scholar!’ ] [ Intelligence has been increased by Two Points! ] [ You have unlocked: ‘Literate’ skill from ‘Scholar!’ ] [ Wisdom has increased by two points! ]

 [ You have unlocked: ‘Survivalist’ trait from ‘Adventurer!’ ] [ Strength and Constitution has been increased by Two points! ] [ Wisdom has been increased by One point! ] [ You have unlocked: ‘Enduring’ trait from ‘Adventurer!’] [ Strength and Stamina has been increased by One point! ] 

 [ You have unlocked: ‘Common Knowledge’ trait from ‘Civilian!’ ] [ Wisdom has been increased by Two points! ] [ You have unlocked: ‘Language’ from ‘Civilian!’ ] 

 “Civilian, huh?” I hummed somewhat annoyed. “It didn’t even get me anything, so was it worth the two points?"

I was worse than a novice at the moment, so I need everything that I can get. I Do  still have the experience of playing this game for ten years, however unreliable it may be. ‘Profile.’

[ Profile: Hyun / Race: Demon / Profession: Adventurer, Scholar, Civilian / Level: 1 ] [ Skills: None ] 

[Strength: 10 (+3) / Speed: 10 / Constitution: 10 (+2) / Intelligence: 20 (+2) / Wisdom: 20 (+4)]

 “But… my base status isn’t half bad, but it seems as though only my brain is useful at the moment.”

 I wasn’t very Knowledgeable about Role-playing-game systems because I played a survival sandbox for most of my free time, but I know that having a base stat double even your average was nothing to scoff at least. 

Even so, I had two of those.

 The only explanation I could come up with was that I was very attuned to many things about the world, not that I knew what I was able to understand.

 I closed my eyes to think, but when I did, exhaustion claimed me and so I slept instead

 Crumble! Break! Crack!

 Sudden noises in the middle of the night started to echo. My eyes shot open and I rolled off my bed to grab one of the four spears. 

I stood tensely in front of the trapdoor with the spears in my hands.

 I did not know what was going to happen, but since I had somewhat planned what to do, I was efficient in preparing myself.

But I did not speak a single word, despite my body desiring to scream.

 Because I was afraid.

 Damn it, stop shaking!

 I closed my eyes and slowly began to breathe. I was holding my breath it seems. 

I could hear something. The pounding of something.

 It wasn’t a fist against wood, but it was just my heart. My blood was pumping inside my ears.

 What was out there?

 I know the monsters came out at night, but my curiosity slowly began to chip away at my fear.

 Damn it, I knew that curiosity would often lead to unsavory knowledge, but it beat being a coward.

I felt afraid not because I was incapable of facing death. 

I was afraid of dying meaninglessly.

 I did not want to end my second life, letting my wish of another chance of playing this game go to waste. 

So against my better judgment, I put down the spear and unsheathed one of the longswords. 

I struggled a little bit, since the blade was rusted over in some places, but the tip and a few inches from it was still sharp. It made sense since it was the furthest away from the hilt, the opening of the sheathe.

 I held the sword in my left hand, tilting my body to the left so that the tip faced the stairs as I slowly made my way upwards. 

Although the monsters appeared from the darkness of the night, it isn’t strange to think that they’ll spawn in dark buildings made by man.

 The fourth floor was clear and so was the fifth floor.

 But I couldn’t leave them with a sigh of relief. Because the moment my head touched the chilly air, my ears caught the sounds of them. 

Brwuhhh! Creak! Hissss!

 Groaning, mindless-rumbling of the throat, the clatter of bones, and the snake-like noise that escaped quadrupedal monsters. 

Zombies of all colors, sizes, and varying states of decay were circling the tower, and skeleton archers stood still in place like sentries.

 My body dropped low to a crouch and my hand covered my mouth.

 I felt like screaming.

 There were hundreds of them, but they were all unaware of my existence.

 To further add to my dismay and fear, the monsters that instilled the greatest fear in me, were by no means plentiful, but a handful of them would certainly make quick work of my refuge.

We called them ‘Stalkers.’ They walked on four legs and were tall as an adult human male. They were monsters born from poisonous fungi that clumped together corpses, reanimating them into amalgamations. 

They weren’t fast by any means, but they were infamous for something else. 

Each one of those creatures was capable of producing a blast akin to that of a cubic meter of plastic Explosives. 

If even one of the five spotted me in my tower…

 I was as good as dead.

I looked at my sword. If worse turns into the worst, it would be much preferable to just die by suicide than by the hordes of the undead.

I did not fall asleep again.

 All I could do was sit in my tower, hidden away from them, left alone with only my thoughts.