“Fuck my life.”

The simple thoughts of 24 year-old Michael Shagger spewed out from his lips. He is journeying home from his epic quest of walking to a game store to order a game he wanted to play on his PlayStation. However, when he looked at what they had, it was not even on sale.

“Why the fuck do you not have Battle Fantasy 7 in stock? It’s a AAA game! Obviously everyone would buy the shit out of it! Did they just have only one copy or something?!”

Now ranting in his mind, Michael did not notice a little concrete bump on the way to a crosswalk. He was too preoccupied with his rants that he did not even see the thorny bush beyond. As he was walking, his left foot clashed with the hard concrete. The trauma from hitting his foot with the concrete should not have hurt much than it did, but his shoes were less than protective, and most of the impact went to his big toenail, which pushed back into his foot. He tripped, and landed onto the thorns of the bush.

“Yeoooooooowww!!! Fuuuuuuuuuuck!!!!!!”

The screams of Michael could be heard from what seemed to be the entirety of the United States, where he is currently living right now. People from across the street turned their heads and eyes to gawk at the source of all the noise that he is causing. Some even closed their ears. Others laughed and voiced out their thoughts of the scene, with their cameras recording the entire thing.

“What a pussy.”

“Dude seriously stubbed his toe that hard?”

“Pussy ass MC. Dropped.”

“Hey you! Shut the fuck up already!”

“Fuuuck, that hurts! If that guy had the same body as I do, he’d be screaming like a little bitch too! Asshole,” thought Michael.

He immediately stood up, walked aside the bush, and started to move forward, staggering on each step he took. Michael’s overall weakness took its toll on him. His stumbling suddenly knocked him off balance, and he fell on his back. The biggest problem was that he fell onto the road, where oncoming traffic was still blazing past. What he last saw was a truck blazing forward.

“Ah… Fuck...”

The last words Michael Shagger blurted, before his skull was shattered underneath the pressure, and his brain splattered all over the road. His blood rushed to escape from his head, staining beneath the wheel of the truck and the road below. One of his eyeballs popped out from his socket, landing inside a woman’s baby stroller. Screams from witnesses began to spread. More cameras began to pop out from people’s pockets. Social media was blowing up with videos and pictures. The cries of babies were heard among their confusion, but Michael never perceived any of them, as he was already dead.

You are dead.
>Continue?	Exit Simulation.

Michael’s conscious heard a monotone voice and noticed a menu-like object floating in front of him. He urged himself to want to continue. But how could he? He is already dead, is he not? Despite these thoughts, and the fact that he did not even know how he is still able to think what he is thinking despite death taking him, he chose to continue.

He saw a cloaked entity with a hood on. Its face being shadowed and featureless. Michael noticed the dark black robes it wore, and how it seemed to have no other shade, almost as if light could never touch it. He suddenly felt where his head was supposed to be at. Only to be surprised that it was intact, and not what he thought it would be shaped like.

Michael begun to notice that he was not on the road, where he died. Instead, the environment he is in lacked any sort of modernization that humanity has achieved. Actually, it lacked anything. No source of light, nothing. It was a void.

Michael swallowed nervously, and spoke. “H-hey, what is this? Wh… Where am I?” he asked, his voice quivering as he voiced his words.

“You are in the Astral Plane, Michael,” responded the Mysterious Entity in a monotone, and very deep but feminine tone.

Michael attempted to compose himself in front of what he knew would be something he would not want to trifle with. Slowly, he calmed his mental and physical state, and asked, “Shouldn’t I be… you know… dead?”

The Mysterious Entity floated silently in the black void, staring at nothing. Michael had the feeling that the being in front of his vision was staring back at him. Then, it started to speak. “You perished in your world, with the accident recorded for all to view.”

Michael dreaded on what the being meant by, ‘recorded for all to view.’ He had a feeling on what the being meant by that. “It’s probably on LiveLeak, huh. My head being crushed is on fucking LiveLeak, isn’t it?! People are fucking assholes nowadays! No no no, more like society is a goddamn dickhead to unfortunate people like me. I bet that someone out there is doing those stupid 3am challenges, trying to call me from beyond. I dare you motherfucker! I’ll bring you with me, bitch!”

The Mysterious Entity stared at Michael as he inwardly ranted about being disrespected even after his death. Eventually, Michael stopped, looked back at the being, and asked, “So, why am I here then? I should be going to some afterlife, right?”

“I have brought you here for your decision. As the messenger of the Council, they wished for you to make a decision: choose to go to the afterlife you have deserved, or be transported to the other world; a realm called Eternatus, as an apology for the mistake that he has done to your body. You were expected to die. However, what was unexpected is the massive disrespect that your corpse has befallen,” responded the Mysterious Entity. While it did seem like this 'Council' was apologetic, the being in front of him did not sound the same in the slightest. It did seem that it was actually entertained by the defilement of his corpse in the previous world.

Despite that detail, Michael’s interest peaked as soon as he heard ‘another world.’ Did he raise a flag or something by dying to a truck? Sure, it is a very grim flag, but to be sent to another world? He would gladly jump into the front of a moving truck if he knew of this. He clasped his hands together, and let out a silent prayer.

“Mister Truck, thank you very much for this wonderful gift. Seriously, thank you.”

He never really believed in Jesus, but he sure believed in the trucks being a secret portal to another world. He just never wanted to find out if it was actually true.

“So, does that mean I get some cheat skill or something?” Michael asked in a cheerful tone. He was familiar with this sort of development. Die, get greeted by god or whatever, obtain a cheat skill, gain a harem, and live a fulfilling life. His face soon turned sorrowful, with the being’s response.

“No. However, you will not be sent there empty handed, so you will be offered a skill out of five you can choose.”

Although Michael’s mood turned, it still is held up high, since with the words that the being chose to respond with, he knew that the other world that he would be going to would be an RPG-like world.

“What are the skills that I can choose?” Michael asked in a polite fashion. A menu suddenly popped out, showing him five names. He assumed them to be the skill names that he could pick.

Choose your skill.

> Berserk Imagine Breaker Party Experience Boost Status Harvester Magic Affinity

Immediately, Michael took interest in the name, “Status Harvester.” He knew how important stats were in RPGs, and if he would be able to take them away, he knew that he would become the strongest in that world. No one would be able to stand against him, his desire for a slow life, and a harem on the side in the other world if he took it! He decided.

“I choose Status Harvester as the skill that I’ll take.”

The Mysterious Entity stared. Then it responded in the same monotone way, but seemed… amused? “Why do you choose Status Harvester, Michael?”

Michael, with confidence and arrogance, smirked in a way that would make anyone who would be looking his way now want to hit him in the face, hard.

“Sounds OP, so I took it.”

“Heh.”

He suddenly heard an ounce of laughter come from the Mysterious Entity. He felt a sense of dread after that, but attempted to suppress that. He will not have his confidence be brought down by some small laughter! He was already used to being mocked anyway. Something so minuscule shall not break him! He suddenly felt lighter than before. He looked at himself, and saw that he was disappearing. A light illuminated around him, indicating his transference. His vision started to fade into darkness.

“I have high hopes of you entertaining me with your journeys in Eternatus,” spoke the Mysterious Being. “Please, allow me to say this before you go.”

“Never conclude your thoughts recklessly, especially if you had never even experienced it beforehand.”

---

Michael suddenly gasped, and risen out from the ground he was laying on. He found himself on grass and fallen leaves. He looked around and saw many trees surrounding him. The leaves on the trees were not of green, but orange, brown, and red. “From the color of the leaves, it seems to be this world’s fall, or just the natural color.”

Michael found that his physique did not change at all. He is still slightly scrawny with little muscle on him, coupled with the clothes he was wearing before transferring. “You’d think that you would be getting other bonuses from transporting to another world. Maybe I should’ve brought my smartphone with me as well.”

As he stood up, Michael pondered on what the Mysterious Entity said to him before being transported. “What did it mean by that? It ain’t talking about the skill I chose, right? Never mind, I’ll just try and find a way out of the forest for now.”

As he wandered, trying to find a path, he spotted what seemed to be a rat, but around the size of a bulldog. “Sweet, a mob! Time to test out my Status Harvester!” Michael focused on the huge rat, and attempted to activate his skill.

Skill Activated: Status Harvester. Warning: Target has vitals present. Skill failed.

“What.”

Michael failed to process what happened. He did not feel any more powerful than he is, and neither is the huge rat dead.

“What?!”

Michael opened his menu to see if he can decipher what the Status Harvester can do. He aggressively selected Skills, and opened up the information of it

Skill Information
Skill Name:	Status Harvester
Skill Level:	1
Experience:	0/50000
MP Cost:	5 per use.
SP Cost:	0
Cooldown:	None
Description:	A skill that can forcefully rip out the status of anything, no matter what or who they are.
Advantages:	Can rip (1) point of attribute(s) in the duration of (60) seconds. Can rip (1) point of characteristic(s) in the duration of (180) seconds. Can rip (1) skill(s) and passive(s) in the duration of (600) seconds. Can rip (1) enchantment(s) in the duration of (3000) seconds. Can rip (1) level(s) in the duration of (3000) seconds.
Disadvantages:	Must pierce through a lock inside one’s status menu to use skill properly. Otherwise skill will fail. Target must have no vitals present. Otherwise skill will fail. Only limited to what object the status was ripped from. (Ex. Unable to give an item’s armor point to a person’s physical resistance attribute, or you cannot give a claw attack skill to a person with no claws.) Unable to level up beyond level 1. The user of Status Ripper cannot use the status ripped for themselves. Must transfer to another being or object in order to use effectively. For enchantments, the enchantment ripped from one item and given to another item must make sense. (Ex. Unable to give an intimidation bonus enchantment to a Cute Lollipop.)

“…”

Michael’s face contorted into one of shock, despair, anger, and depression in one. As soon as he saw the “advantages” that the skill gave, he already knew that the disadvantages would not be any better.

“WHAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!”

A shout pierced through the heavens for miles on end. The skies split, and the birds flew in fear of the noise that Michael made. Many creatures in the forest fled in terror of the noise. Sadly for Michael himself, one creature did not flee, as it was already staring at him before he screamed a generic word that many who watch anime know of. However, being at the center of the scream did take its toll.

Amorsus has been stunned!

Michael noticed the menu pop up showing what he did. Quickly, he reacted to the situation, and scoured the area for anything he could use as a weapon, as he did not have one on him. He settled for a small but sturdy stick that he found underneath a thin pile of leaves.

You have found Hard Wood!
Name:	Hard Wood
Weapon Type:	Club
Damage Type:	100% Blunt
Damage:	10
Durability:	100
Weapon Level:	1
STR Required:	1
DEX Required:	0
INT Required:	0
FTH Required:	0
Scaling:	STR: E DEX: None INT: None FTH: None
Rarity Rank:	F
Refinement Rank:	None
Description:	A stick made from the wood of a common tree. An extremely abundant weapon. Great for beginning warriors. Not durable enough to take extensive damage. Does not cost much.
Do you wish to equip Hard Wood?
>Yes	No

“The fuck is this? That’s a lot to take in for picking up a damn weapon. Is someone trying to drown me in info dumps or something? This isn’t Dark Souls. I’m not gonna have a bad time now, right? Also, what kind of name is Hard Wood? Fuck it, just equip the damn thing!”

Michael equipped his newly obtained weapon and readied himself to fight the Amorsus, which had just worn off its stun duration. The Amorsus immediately struck Michael with its fangs. Michael did his best to defend from it with his Hard Wood, grasping it in front of him tightly.

The impact of the Amorsus' attack struck the stick, but Michael still took most of the damage, only reducing around a third of it. However, Michael saw that the huge rat creature staggered backwards after he blocked its bite. Seeing the opportunity to counterattack, Michael swinged his Hard Wood wildly. He missed some attacks, as he swung with reckless abandon. He was able to heavily injure the wild rat with the attacks that did land.

Michael laughed, and taunted at the wild animal, smirking cockily as he did so. “Come at me motherfucker! I shagged your mom last night when your dad was away, you little fuck. I'm your daddy now!" Michael’s left hand gestured the Amorsus towards him. Failing to realize that he was talking to a non-sapient creature that could not even understand what he was saying, the Amorsus was visibly, and understandably confused when Michael said that to it.

The Amorsus looked to be weakened from the amount of hits that it endured. “Alright! Just one more hit,” thought Michael.

Michael went in for the final blow, but the Amorsus managed to evade its attack. “What the fuck?!” Throwing the attack also made him vulnerable to a counterattack, which the Amorsus took full advantage of. Michael was not able to defend that well. However, he noticed that the rat did not hit as hard as it did before, and he did not even block as well as he did the last time. Michael attempted to strike as quickly as he could despite his tired state. He thrusted his Hard Wood into the Amorsus as fast as he could.

Gained +14 EXP. Moved to Harvester Storage. Looted: Amorsus Corpse, 15 Gregs, Tiny HP Potion

Michael took interest in the monster dropping an HP Potion instead of the EXP moving to the storage. “I guess that this is one of those types of RPGs that have the monsters you kill drop any kind of loot, no matter if it’s realistic or not,” he thought.

Michael took everything with him. Seeing as how the Status Harvester only worked on inanimate objects and dead things, he would begin to rip everything from the Amorsus as soon as he starts to rest.

“I wonder how much health I have left after the battle.” Michael opened his status menu. What he saw made him trickle his pants.

Status Menu
Information		Main Attributes		Characteristics
Name:	Michael	Name	Amt/Limit	Name	Amt/Limit
Surname:	Shagger	HP	1.75/30	STR	2/10
Age:	24 Years	STA	12.20/30	END	4/10
Sex:	Male	MP	50/50	VIT	2/10
Race:	Human	HP REG	0.25/0.5 per sec.	DEX	6/10
Subspecies:	Otherworlder	STA REG	0.40/0.8 per sec.	AGI	1/10
Height:	83 zei	MP REG	1.5/3 per sec.	INT	10/10
Affiliation:	None	ACC	25/25	CHA	1/1
Class:	None	EVA	30/30	WIS	7/10
Level	1	PHY RES	10/10	FTH	1/10
Max Level:	1	MAG RES	30/30	LCK	1/10
		EXP	0/0	PERC	7/10
				PERS	1/1

“One… One HP?! Yeah, I think I’ll just stop and rest now… Maybe I’ll start ripping the Amorsus…”

“So long, Harem Life…”

Obtaining an “overpowered” skill, in the middle of a forest in another world, how will Michael Shagger survive Eternatus and the challenges brought forth?