When I came to be, I noticed that I was inside some kind of forest with white trees as though it caught snow. Even grasses and bushes are covered in white color instead of your usual green. This is strange yet beautiful. As expected of the fantasy world.

"It's too quiet..." The first thing I noticed was how quiet the forest is. There's no sound. It's very weird. The forest being dyed white doesn't help much with my situation either. It instead adds to my anxiety.

I used both of my hands to push my body up, but immediately after that, I fell like my height is a bit shorter than usual and my body fell heavier in some area. I promptly lost my balance and fell on my butt.

"W-what?" My balance seems a bit off. Before I noticed anything strange with my body, my vision turned black again.

.

After an unknown time passed by, I regained my consciousness. The surrounding is filled with the same white forest. The only different thing is the location of the sun. It is now located right above my head.

I tried to stand up again, but this time, the strange sense of unfamiliarity that made me lost my balance earlier didn't happen. I could stand normally, though I struggled a bit when I moved forward a fill step.

That was because my speed was faster than usual!

"Is this the result of gaining the power of my game character?" I gazed at my hand and walked toward a huge rock, albeit slower and more cautiously.

I released my right punch and...

"Aww!"

The rock did break and my hand also did.

"What? The power of a maxed level character couldn't withstand the recoil of punching a rock?" I cursed out loud.

Apart from the pain in my hand, I also feel very disappointed. From my calculation, a character that could solo a boss who was called the King Of Heaven inside the game should have a strength comparable to that of a real god when its Stats were to be scaled into the real world.

I thought I was making a smart wish but it looks like I failed miserably.

God damn it. I should have wished for a normal cheat as most Isekai Protagonists do. Oh well, I could at least break rock at the cost of my hand. It's better than having nothing.

At that moment, I heard a similar voice, "Actually, you're supposed to be much more powerful than that."

I jumped in fright before recognizing the owner of the voice, so I heaved a sigh and took out the communication device, the refined ruby, "You almost made me die from a heart attack, please don't do that again."

Learenia giggled and said, "Next time I will knock the door before calling out to you."

Was that a joke or was she serious? I couldn't tell.

I decided to forget about it and be pertinent, "Miss Learenia, what did you mean by 'I'm supposed to be much more powerful'?"

She replied with a hint of surprise in her voice, "Did you just call me 'Miss'?"

I grinned and said mischievously, "Oh? Mrs.Learenia?"

Embarrassed by my word, her voice trembled a bit, "W-what? No! I'm single!"

She coughed and regained her composure, "N-nevermind that! Just call me whatever you want.

"A-anyways, what I mean by that was you just get nerfed to the ground!"

Learenia is surprisingly fond of using Earth's term. Should I be impressed by this? "Get nerfed?"

"Yes, what you have now is just a fraction of Raven's full strength."

"Why is that?"

"You already guessed it. Being maxed level inside the game is equal to being the absolute, not to mention that your character could kill gods in that world as well. Scaling it into the real world means that you're equal to or even above the Gods, including me."

I replied with a slightly annoyed tone, "That was a bit unfair. Didn't you tell me that I could choose anything?"

"Do you think the Gods will allow it if you wish for something like 'I want to have the power of God'?"

Well, she has a point... If I am a God, I wouldn't allow it either.

"I didn't mention this to you, but there's a certain rule in which you have to follow when wishing for something to bring along.

"Wishing to become a God is not allowed. Wishing to obtain someone else's power wouldn't work either."

Huh? Then why would I gain Raven's power if that's the case? Shouldn't it be restricted?

She answered me before I could question it.

"It's a loophole."

I tilted my head to the side, "A loophole?"

"Yes, just think carefully, why would Raven's be considered someone else's power?"

After hearing that, I could imagine a light bulb above my head, "Raven should be considered one of my identity so her power is already mine from the beginning!"

Learenia pleasantly replied, "Precisely!"

I nodded my head and continued, "So, you're afraid of my power rivaling the Gods. That's why you nerfed me?"

"...In actuality, retaining your full strength is beneficial for me, but other Gods wouldn't permit it. Instead of erasing your existence, they have to be bound by the rule of 'The Second Chance', so they nerfed you instead."

A cold shiver ran down my spine after the mentioning of 'erasing your existence' and I realized another possibility that could end my life, "I might be safe now, but they could still kill me by befalling this world with apocalypse just like my original world, right?"

I heard her giggles and then replied cheerfully, "No need to worry, the apocalypse of this world already happened decades ago. It is the reason why I chose this world for you."

Confused by her statement, I looked around but didn't see any sign of danger except for the extreme quietness in this serene forest.

Knowing what I thought about, Learenia cleared my bewilderment, "The apocalypse of this world is the 'Demon Race', guessing the rest shouldn't be too difficult for you."

I see, I now understand what she meant by 'Typical Isekai World' previously. The various races of this world must be currently at war with the Demon Race. It's a bit strange for an apocalypse though. Is it better than the flood? There's no way I could have known.

"Everything looks too peaceful. Does this mean the war against the Demon Race has already ended?"

"Not at all, the war is still on-going; however, it's probably the softest apocalyptic world. Furthermore, you're not the first one to be sent here. Keeps that in mind."

I nodded, "So that's why the original races of this world could hold on against the Demon's invasion. A typical summons of the Heroes to assist humanity."

After that, Learenia kept her silence for a while.

When I got a bit nervous and was about to ask her what's she up to, she said with a voice full of urgency, "You will know all about it when you reach the city. I don't have much time left so I will make it quick.

"Your current Stats are now comparable to a level 1 from Quintet of Symphony. You will recover your full strength when you reach the max level which is 200.

"However, the reason you could break the rock was that Raven's Fist Mastery Passive Skill is already at its peaks. Also, the reason your hand didn't become minced meat was because of increased defense from your other Passive Skills.

"Despite having a weaker body, Skills gained through experiences can't be changed. To put it simply, the only thing that got nerf is your current body, not your soul.

"We also gave you a new skill, allowing you to regain all of your strength temporarily. The durations and cooldowns depend on your current level.

"Raven used to be a game character so you will be able to access the Game Interface as well. Inventory, Quest Logs, Maps, Friendlist, Party, Object Identify, you named it.

"Oh, you could also translate and communicate with the native races by using your Language Setting inside the Options.

"That's all! Let's talk later, good luck!"

The refined ruby in my hand lost its light and became a normal stone.

I put the used-to-be-ruby inside my pocket and started to think.

That's a lot of information to take in and she seemed to panic at the end. She did tell me that the communication device is for me to communicate with her privately. I don't want to hasten my guess on the matter so I will wait for her to say it herself.

Now, my only concern is how do I open the Game Interface? Quintet of Symphony is not your advanced VR game, so every player has to play with keyboard and mouse as most nowadays PC games always do.

She also mentioned that my Skills didn't get nerf like my Stats. I should confirm that first before the Game Interface.

Who knows? I might have to fight with some random cliché bandits in about 1-2 minutes later. Better safe than sorry.

My right hand is still in pain from the recoil, so I will be using my left hand instead.

By sensing the pain which is unusual for a game character, a thought surfaced my mind, "Half of me is now a game character. Will I get resurrected at the nearest town after I die?" I said that but there's no way I would test it. Who would risk it anyway?

I shook off unnecessary thoughts and took a posture using my muscle memories. I don't even know if my posture is correct or not. All I did was emptying my mind and letting my body do the job.

It feels familiar yet distant. I feel adept at taking a fighting posture while knowing it's my first time doing so.

As if being possessed by my other self, Raven, I punched out naturally with my left fist and a shockwave was created.

The shockwave went straight into the white tree's trunk and annihilated the whole tree into small particles of sparkling sawdust.

I was shocked, but not because of the tree being destroyed.

"Arghhh!" With rising pain, I cursed out loud then fell on the ground.

"M-my hand!?? It hurts!" The color was drained from my face as my gaze head toward a spot where it used to be my left hand.

My left hand was annihilated along with the tree! I was too shocked and numb that I feel less pain than it was supposed to be. At least there was no blood flowing out or I might have already fainted.

"Shit!" I cursed and panicked. Despite knowing a game character has something called 'HP regeneration' so my hand would probably be regenerated in no time, I still couldn't withstand the sight of losing my hand.

"Inventory! Equipment! How do I use it!?" I started chanting the command to access my Inventory for the Potion to regrow my hand.

After countless attempts, I called out the right command, "Escape!"

The Options window popped up in front of me and I immediately know the reason. I quickly voiced out the keyword again, "Escape!

"I!"

As I expected, the Options windows closed down and the Inventory window showed itself. The command I have to use is the button I have to press while playing the game. 'I' button is the shortcut for 'Inventory' and 'ESC' or 'Escape' is for the Options.

"Potion. Potion!" I scanned through my Inventory and finally found a full recovery potion that could restore all 100% of my HP.

Needing to give my hand an immediate treatment, I don't feel any regret by using a highest-quality potion.

I used my right hand to pull it out from the Inventory then drank it.

"Cough!" The taste was very bitter, but I held myself from throwing up.

I gulped it all down my throat and threw the empty bottle down on the white grass field.

My left hand has fully regrown as if what happened earlier was a complete lie.

Seeing the result of me punching the rock without using any Skill, I should have already anticipated that something like this will happen when I use a Skill! It is certainly better to do some experiments before engaging in real combat, that's why I tried using it! If I knew my hand will be gone then I wouldn't even dare!

After checking thoroughly that nothing is wrong with my hand, I remind myself, "Until I increase my level further, I won't be using any Skills ever again! My current Stats couldn't even withstand the recoil of my lowest-tier Fist Skill!"

Then I realized something, "Oh wait.. what if I use a weapon? It will definitely break, but will the recoil still affect my hand?"

To practice my character movements without having to kill the monster and wasting my time finding a new one, I always carry multiple level 1 weapons of each type. So I have many of them idling inside my Inventory.

...what follows didn't end so well. I lost 3 more highest-quality potions along with a level 1 bow, a level 1 sword, and a level 1 spear.