‘This…is weird. I remember going to sleep in my bed last night because I was extremely sick and now I am in a cave? It looks like the entrance caved in too and I’m trapped inside. Well, I just hope I haven’t been crushed by any rubble…why can’t I feel my legs, or my arms? Where are they?!’

  As soon as I finished that train of thought, I tried to look down at myself and immediately went into a third person view, or should I call it third locomotive view? That’s right, I seem to have become a train…a FRICKING STEAM TRAIN! Although, I wouldn’t really say I’m complaining. I was always a weak and sickly person constantly in the hospital for one reason or another and I guess this time I just didn’t wake up from my sleep. That weakness is honestly the main reason I joked so much online about identifying as a steam train, UP 4014 “Big Boy” to be precise. It is large, powerful, and sexy. It’s everything I always wanted to be, and I am now that very same locomotive! The only issue now is how am I to get out of this cave?

  Upon looking around I notice that there is a cave-in in front of me and behind me, luckily missing me and my 10 cars entirely. There is also a ray of sunlight barely coming through the front wall, so I’m definitely not that far from the outside, I just don’t know how thick the wall is. Hell, how am I even supposed to get out of here or even move?

“Alert: system activating!

System operating at 100%

  Welcome to the locomotive upgrade system. I am here to help you manage skills, upgrade yourself, add cars, and choose how you want to organize yourself and all your attachments. To get attachments and upgrade yourself you will need to earn points to be used in the store located in the top right corner of the status screen. Earn points by completing quests, killing monsters/enemies, and exploring new lands. To open the status page, say “status open” (can be said mentally). If you have questions at any time, say “help desk.”

Tutorial complete, have a good day.”

  ‘Well…that’s something. Although, what kind of skills would a train have? And what kinds of upgrades can I do if I’m already the most powerful steam locomotive in the world? Hmmm…’

“Status open”

  ‘That’s actually pretty cool, and I should be able to use telekinesis to move these rocks and get out of here. I just have to be careful to not cause another cave-in and end up hurting myself. Also, I wonder how powerful these skills will be when I level them up more, especially skill steal since that should come in handy at some point.’

“Alright, let’s see what this telekinesis can do.”

  As I started moving the smaller rocks out of the way, I noticed how easy it is to tire out from doing this. I estimate I can move rocks for at most 10 minutes before I need to rest.

  I kept doing this several days, constantly being able to do it longer and longer, leveling up the skill and even managing to move heavier rocks. By this point I can lift 10-pound rocks for up to an hour at a time and only need to rest for 5 minutes in between. My loco-sight has also leveled up and, according to the system, I can now see up to 100 feet around me. It seems to be a passive grind as long as I am trying to see what’s around me, like leveling up from keeping my eyes open. 

  And finally, I see something I can kill! Not like killing is something I enjoy doing, but sometimes it’s necessary. In this case, it will let me test out skill steal…I hope. It IS only a 10% chance, but it would be nice to actually get something good from it. But this creature is a hedgehog of some sort, not sure what I can get from it that could benefit me or be used by me. Oh well, might as well try.

*Squish!*

“Okay, ew. Note, it is not very pleasant to see a big rock squish a hedgehog into paste."

Alert: Poison Hedgehog killed; Skill obtained: Poison Dart Lv. 1

  Poison Dart: Shoot out 6-inch poisoned metal spikes from anywhere on your body. Spikes have moderate penetration effect. 3 spikes available per hour.

  "Awesome, I finally got a new skill! It's pretty useful too from the looks of it. Sadly, I don't have many shots, but it's better than nothing. I can't wait to see what it's like levelled up."

Looking around, there're no more enemies visible so all I can do is keep grinding my skills.

A/N: I am brand new to writing, so I apologize if it's rough or janky. I am open to constructive criticism and advice on how to approach the novel. I won't go along with everything people say, but I will at least read and consider everything you all bring to me as advice. Thank you for reading and I hope you stick around.