Day 3

My eyes snapped open, allowing light to blind me. I blinked several times, before groaning, pain washing over me like I was just beaten by thugs. Or at least how I’d expect that to feel like. All body parts ached and I could barely move. My face felt weird being on the hard smooth surface which made my neck hurt.

I decided to stand up. At first, I tried using my arms, but then I realized that I had wings for arms now, which complicated things a bit. I used my head to force myself up and sat down on my bum.

My eyes took in the whole view. I was on a river bank, crystal clear water flowing behind me. In front of me, huge trees stood mightily, piercing the sky… or at least to me they were. I wasn’t really big. I could hear the river gushing mightily and some insects making sounds as well as trees swaying, but other than that, it was eerily silent.

The weirdest part about this whole scenario was the dead stinky fish to my side. It had mossy green scales all around it. Its eyes were blank and its mouth was wide open with no teeth. It carried a stench that made me nauseous.

A screen popped up in front of my eye when I saw it, reminding me of one very important fact. I wasn’t on earth anymore.

 

[Name: []]

[Species: Rainbow Raid Splurt]

[Status: Dead]

[A creature that lives in powerful rivers that flow through Larm. They are known for their beautiful rainbow coloured scales that lure in its prey and possible predators to its nest and consumes them]

 

‘Eh… um. Sā sā. I didn’t need to see that!’

I thought. I would have to admit that the skill [Analyst] seemed very useful, but I really didn’t want to see that. It just confirmed all the more that I wasn’t just dreaming. I let out a depressed sigh. Out of boredom and hunger, I decided to check my status.

 

STATUS

[Name: Hinotori

[Species: Golden Chick   Level 1/15            

[Status: Hungry

[Age: 3 days                         

[Rank: F

[Race Rank: Tier 1

[Titles: [Newborn in a New World], [Rare Species], [Survivor]

[Blessings: |Blessings of the Ancient Goddess ****|, |Blessings of|

[Level: 1      Exp: 0/20  

[Health: 10/20       Stamina: 15/40      Strength: 5      Speed: 40     Defense: 7      Dexterity: 6     Intelligence: 10        Luck: 40

[Skills: [Evolver], [Analyst], [God's voice] [Adorable Wink], [Imprint], [Baby Chick Cry], [Aquatic Form]

 

‘Eh?!  My health is very low and my status says hungry. My stamina keeps dropping too.’ I noticed making my poor heart beat faster.

When I looked at my other stats though, I was a bit stunned. I still couldn’t believe that 2 higher beings decided to bless me though. I didn’t know whether to be grateful or bothered. Then there was my level. I was still level 1. That made sense though, considering I hadn’t gotten any experience points yet. That new title too. I was wondering how I acquired it.

<Title Name: Survivor>

<Ttitle description: You haven’t been fed for 3 days straight and you didn’t drown in the river. Keep it up!>

 

I was alarmed for a bit, then sighed. This wasn’t fair in the slightest. What did I do to have to be reincarnated, huh? I was just living my life, not being a bother to anyone other than my parents… probably. I looked at my status again, then I saw my species name again. |Golden Chick| sounded rare or special.

‘Maybe it’s some kind of super rare monster that gets overpowered and broken later. Or maybe some kind of pre-evolution of a phoenix in this world. Phoenix, huh? That sounds nice.’

I then got day dreams of me as a phoenix, flying through the air and shooting fireballs as I pleased. All round people would sing praises of the Phoenix called Akira… Hinotori now.

<Species: Golden Chick>

<One of the best delicacies in the world. A very rare species that is extinct in most of the world. Not much is known about them>

…                                                                       

‘What the hell? I didn’t sign up for this! I demand a refund! A reLife! Get me back home! I’m just poultry? Nothing special about me?! Damn it! I want to go back! Send me back!’ I demanded, but I got nothing back, but a wave of calm rush over me. I took in a deep breath then sat down again.

My stomach growled lightly then I looked at my status.

<Status: Hungry>

<Effect: The target is hungry. This will lead to the eventual loss of stamina then of health points, then death if not treated>

‘Eh… eh?! Death?! Again? No, but… what do I eat?’

My stomach grumbled again and my stamina went down by 1. My eye landed on the dead fish which wreaked of well… death.

‘… No… no way.’

I looked away, the scent repelling me. My stomach grumbled, louder than before and I started to feel dizzy. My eye fell on the fish again, meeting its eye. It seemed to say ‘Come on. You know you want to.’ , so I looked away again. However, after another grumble or two I found myself next to it. I didn’t know how to eat it for two major reasons.

1. I was now a bird and I could one hundred percent say that I had never eaten like one in my entire life.
2. Wasn’t I supposed to peel off the scales before I ate it?

‘Ah well, nothing to do about it.’

I just pecked at the fish’s scales and found myself going deep into it easily. I raised my head, only to see myself covered in some green goo.

Sucking up the urge to vomit, I decided to tear the meat of the fish and swallow it.

‘Bad! Bad! Bad! Horrible! Disgusting! Repulsive! Painful! It hurts!’

I spat it back out almost as quickly as I swallowed it. The ground where it landed begun to sizzle and bubble as the meat burned right through it.

My throat was on fire as a vile green gas left my beak.

 

[You have been poisoned]

[Your Health Points will go down by 1 every second]

 

‘Eh?! Eh?! N-no way! Wait… what happens if my health goes all the way down to zero? Do I restart from some check point?’

<<0 health is the equivalent of death>>

The agent so readily responded. I took a big gulp even though my tongue was steaming.              My heart started to race again. Time seemed to slow to a halt as questions flooded my head. Was I really going to die again? Just like that? So easily? What would happen if I died? Would I just reincarnate again? Was there a third chance? So many questions with just as many answers.

I didn’t know what to do. I felt like my mind was going to blow up from the amount of strenuous thinking I had been doing since I woke up. Then there it was again. That wave of calm from [Evolver], allowing me to focus on the new screen in front of me.

 

[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], you have started to develop a resistance to the poison]

[You have unlocked the skill [Poison Resistance]]

[The poison’s effects have been weakened]

[You will now lose 1 Health point after 2 seconds]

 

‘Eh? What? I-Isn’t that totally a cheat?! I get that having a unique skill is a cheat and all, but… Hmmm, mayb-‘

[You have lost 1 Health point]

A new screen popped up in front of me, alarming me. I looked at the dead fish again. It was starting to melt slowly. It was my only current source of food at the moment. If I didn’t eat it now, I didn’t know when another source would come and that would mean death. I didn’t want to die.

I gulped once again and walked towards the fish. It was twice my size, I didn’t need to eat it all before my stamina would go back to full.

I pecked at it once again, ignoring the putrid scent and weird texture which switched from extremely soft to hard, to gummy to watery. I tore and swallowed through the painful burning sensation. As I ate, my health kept on going down, but my resistance fought hard, until I gained complete resistance to it and was cured. I managed to eat it and raise my stamina to 25.

I fell on my butt and let out a deep sigh. To eat a single dead fish, I lost 4 health points.

‘What kind of trash world is this? I miss my burgers and fries please! I’ll never curse the spicy Chenala chips again! I swear! Just take me back home… please… whoever is out there listening.’

Before I knew it, I found myself in tears. I hated this life and world. Not even a complete day in and I wanted out. This wasn’t the way to welcome an Isekai protagonist. Where were the super cute girls and all the magical powers?

‘Wasn’t I supposed to have been born to some average poor folk then bless them with my powers and hope? This world is trash.’

While I was crying, I heard a loud hissing sound that made me jump around.

Slithering towards me with its white scales and big slender body was a huge snake. It had yellow eyes, white fangs and a black forked tongue. I began to walk back as the snake continued stalking me.

 

[Name: []

[Species: White Viper Level 8/20

[Status: Hungry

[Rank: E

[Race Rank: Tier 1

[Age: 20 days

[Title: |Of World|, |Survivor|, |Poison Maker|, |Heartless|

[Blessings: -

[Level: 8                 

[Skills: [White Viper Hiss], [Seismic Sense], [Taste Test], [Night Vision], [Poison Fang], [Poison Creation], [Hard Scales], [Poison Resistance]

[Health: 190/190       Strength: 50           Stamina: 200/300         Speed: 48        Defense: 54          Dexterity: 50         Intelligence: 40           Luck: 30

 

The white viper had way better stats than I did and it was a level 8, whereas I was a level 1. I get that we had the same number of skills, but why were its more attack proned and mine… adaptability-proned?

Its stamina and health point were far above mine. Running now would be suicide and attempting to fight back would also be suicide. I had no options left. I was going die again and this time, there was no way to avoid it. I wanted to run. What else could I do? I had done my best, right?

Just as I thought I was done for, salvation came to me in the form of a horrid screech. Both the snake and I looked up as a shadow loomed over us. A single black feather fell slowly towards us and landed right in front of me. A shadowy figure slowly descended, flapping its massive powerful wings like an angel from above, here to save me. I used [Analyst] to see who this kind soul was.

 

[Name: []

[Species: Black Wayne Level 10/15

[Status: [Tired], [Hungry], [Weak], [Poisoned], [Confused]

[Rank: E

[Race Rank: T 1

[Age: 5 months

[Titles: |Of World|, |Abandoned|, |Survivor|, |Nest Thief|, |Abandoned|, |Vulture|

[Blessings: -

[Level: 10  

[Health: 50/230     Stamina: 30/370     Mana: -    Strength: 60(72)   Speed: 70(76)   Defense: 52(70)    Dexterity: 65(73)   Intelligence: 2150     Luck: 41

[Skills: [Black Wayne Caw], [Night Vision], [Peck], [Razor Talons], [Flight], [Auto Mapping], [Terror], [Lightning Resistance]

 

Its stats were all weird. Why had it lost so much health and stamina? Its level was pretty high though. It also had no blessings, but its titles… I was sort of intrigued. It had the same number of skills as both the viper and I, but its stats were on a whole other league.

‘Why are some of the numbers in brackets though? Does that mean it is losing stats? Is that even possible?’

<<Affirmative>>

The black wayne pounced on the viper, saving me from death. The white snake hissed at the bird as it wriggled away. The two creatures then started staring each other down, the snake hissing and the wayne cawing. Both of them asserting their dominance over each other. It was starting to feel like something I would see on the Wildlife Channel.

The black wayne flapped its wings violently, probably as a way to scare off the snake, but it didn’t work. The snake jabbed at the wayne with its powerful tail, forcing the wayne to jump up. The impact from the tail hitting the ground where the wayne once stood sent a few of the pebbles flying in my direction.

‘Sa sa! Why do they look like boulders?!’

I jumped back to avoid one that almost crushed me. It clacked when it landed, but there was no time for me to take a breather. I had to jump to avoid another one. I kept on doing this until the pebbles were done and I was huffing for air. My stamina had gone down by 4 and that made my heart skip a beat.

My eye caught hold of the white fangs coming for my head at an insane speed, so I tried jumping out of the way, but I wasn’t going to make it. Yet again, for the hundredth time this day in this very same area, I was about to die. That didn’t lessen the horrid creeping feeling of death clawing at my heart.

With a loud flapping sound and feathers flying all about, sharp polished talons grabbed the viper by the neck, yanking it away from me. Black Wayne-kun was back. He grabbed the snake, yanking it away before I managed to land on the hard pebbles in a pathetic way. Soon, all I could hear was the struggle of two predators fighting. Bird versus snake. Who would come out on top? That much was obvious.

I managed to get a glimpse of the fight as I stood back on my two legs slowly. The snake struggled in the black wayne’s talons, twisting, hissing and snapping violently. It bit at the wayne several times, until it got one bite in. This seemed to enrage it however, as it begun to peck the viper violently. In addition to its talons that were already deep into its body. The fight soon turned into a bloody one, staining the ground on which they fought and scarring my eyes permanently.

Their bodies fused as the two beings clashed in a bloody mess. During this, a question came to mind.

Was this my fate? Was I going to become a savage beast that fought in bloody battles to get simple food? I didn’t want this. I did not want this kind of life. Reading manga and watching Isekai anime had me thinking that this was going to be epic with a few bumps along the way. It wasn’t. Those manga artistes and authors had no idea what they were writing about.

Thinking back on it, they must have known, because some of the characters are never happy. They cried a lot and carried some severe trauma throughout the entire story. They were usually my favorite kind of characters because they were the most human. They really suffered a lot.

THUD!

Interrupting my thought process, the black wayne dropped the viper on the ground, then stood next to it. It shook its feathers violently as it towered over the motionless snake like a champion. I was filled to the brim with so much joy and happiness that I started jumping about.

‘Yeah! That’s one for the avians and zero for snakes! Take that you stupid snake! You hear that? Never mess with birds! We stand at the top of the food chain! Woohoo! Isn’t that right, Black Wayne-kun? Black Wayne-kun?’

I looked at my big black feathered friend who was still huffing. I saw a ton of blood where it stood, accompanied by the bloody mess that was the snake. Its guts laid sprawled out on the ground.

Something felt off though. The Wayne slowly craned its neck at me, giving me a good view of its bloodied face and practically broken beak, littered with scars. My eye met its eye, which seemed to be in a lot of pain.

‘Black Wayne-kun? What’s wrong?’

[Analyst] activated, leaving me a bit stunned. The black wayne-kun now had 15 health points remaining and his stamina was now 10. It had two new status effects, those being [Weak Paralysis] and [Strong Poison]. The only good thing it got was probably its new [Poison Resistance] and I was certain that it wouldn’t be enough for a status effect like [Strong Poison].

My eyes then trailed back down to the white viper and with [Analyst] activated, I was left with my beak trembling. Then I saw the snake twitch. Its status showed [Weak] instead of the much more desired [Dead], which meant I was screwed.

The snake’s head raised up and it glared at me, sending shivers down my spine. It still had 30 health points and 40 stamina.

‘Sa sa! This isn’t fair!’