"Another cold morning," he muttered, his breath fogging the air. No matter how many heaters they installed, the chill always crept its way through.

  "It may be fitting," he thought. "Comfort isn't meant for people like me."

  "Three more years, only three more years." It was a mantra at this point, a number slowly growing closer. Was he ready, though? Did he ever deserve to leave?

  He shook off the thought and started down the corridor.

  The walls were rough and cold, slick with moisture. For all Hunter knew, this place was underground. They now used white LED lights throughout the complex, which messed up his circadian rhythm, but that was just another part of being here.

  Hunter sighed again. He approached the heavy door leading to the much larger room and stopped. He waited for the buzzing sound before the door slid out of the way.

  He stood there a few moments before walking in, but something happened on his first step. Did he start to feel warmth? "Yes," he thought as it sparked in his chest, a foreign sensation making him freeze.

  The warmth steadily increased until it seared through him like thermite.

  His body convulsed, the flames tearing through him.

  White flames engulfed his vision. His eyes burned with smoke as his screams echoed back at him off stone walls.

  His skin crackled, and a horrible smell of burning flesh overwhelmed him.

  Falling to the ground hard, he barely felt it.

  Screaming, laughing, was it coming from him? Others? There was running, but only one thought entered his mind.

  "I deserved this. I have always deserved this."

  Yet, as he felt the fire consume him, some small, defiant part of him whispered:

  "Not like this."

  Some people say they see a light when they come close to death. Others talk about glimpsing heaven. One guy said he met an angry, dwarf-like creature who warned him to change his life. None of that happened to Hunter.

  Before he woke up, his mind was… empty, not in a bad way—just a vast, endless expanse where even he didn't seem to exist. Then something changed. He tried to open his eyes.

  Or at least, he thought so.

  At first, thoughts trickled into Hunter's head, sluggish and sticky, like honey pouring from a jar. Every effort to think felt exhausting. But he could think. That much was certain.

  Prying his eyes open, darkness was his only company, an oppressive, suffocating void. He tried moving his arms, but they felt impossibly heavy, like being submerged in thick molasses.

  Slowly, Hunter forced them upward, each movement a monumental struggle.

  "Giving up would be so much easier," he thought. Then, it would be over. Somehow, he knew that.

  A small part of him struggled with leaving the darkness. In the darkness, the guilt didn't hurt so much; there, he could just go back to that emptiness, go back, and be done with it all.

  Closing his eyes to give in, something caught his attention. In the nearly complete darkness, he thought something was there, a dim light, but not the artificial kind; it was warm like the sun.

  Focusing on the light took everything he had. But he was determined; he needed to see it—even just a glimpse of what he'd lost so long ago.

  Hunter waited moments for the light to reappear, but when nothing happened, he slowly reached out to it.

  Again, his arms felt heavy; he struggled, and then there it was again.

  A dim light, some warmth.

  Inching his arms further allowed him to see more light; Hunter felt resistance. He was pushing against something. A thick material was all around him, cocooning him.

  Hunter never liked tight spaces; this reminded him of how spiders would entrap their prey.

  Heart quickening, he focused on his breathing.

  He opened his mouth and took in long, measured breaths: In…Out….In. It wasn't easy to breathe, and something wasn't right. The air was heavy as if breathing a liquid.

  A horrible thought passed his mind, and he moved his arms around again. To his horror, it seemed that between him and the edge of the material was a liquid of some kind, and he was breathing it.

  Hunter's heart pounded harder, and his breathing came in quick bursts, but with the new realization, it only felt like he was choking; Hunter started coughing out the liquid, only for it to be replaced by more.

  Panicking, he reached for the material again, desperate to rip it.

  Even with his arm fully stretched out.

  It was a fingertip out of touch.

  Sputtering the coughing was getting worse.

  Sharp pain echoed in his head. The walls felt like they were starting to crush him.

  Holding his breath, he pushed out with his legs as if on his tippy toes and reached above him;

  Hunter could feel it now.

  It felt rough, but the liquid made it hard to latch on.

  Hunter felt the world slowly wobble and spin around him; a loud ringing was in his ears.

  Weakness started taking hold.

  His mind wanted to give up.

  Then, he felt it.

  His right hand had a small pinch of the material.

  "I did it! I grabbed some," he thought.

  It almost slipped, but he held on like a lifeline.

  Using the pain to fuel his adrenaline, he slowly reached over with his other hand.

  Hunter felt like he would lose his grip on it at any moment.

  Gaining purchase with his other hand, he pulled the material closer and got a proper hold.

  He couldn't hold his breath for too much longer, and his arms felt weak.

  He didn't care. Hunter found some energy reserve he didn't know was there and pulled his arms apart as hard as possible.

  The material stretched.

  He pulled harder, desperate not to die someplace like this.

  More light gave way, and slowly, a small tear started to form.

  A ripping sound filled his ears as the material popped.

  The liquid around him made a loud, squelching sound as it slowly ran outwards, free from its balloon prison.

  Finally, he tried to breathe, but his lungs felt full as if he had already taken a large breath. Then, his body tried to expel the air, leaving only liquid in his lungs, and he started coughing it up.

  The liquid didn't want to leave, though. It slowly oozed out of Hunter's nose and mouth as he continued to heave. Coughing repeatedly, Hunter's vision started to darken.

  Finally, air made it to his lungs. Short gasps of air were all he could manage around the continued coughs.

  After a moment's reprieve, he looked around; his cocoon prison was replaced with a dark, jagged stone far above him, a ray of light filtering in from an opening far away.

  Nothing was being expelled anymore. As Hunter coughed, his vision finally started clearing.

  The heaviness in his chest continued to lower. His coughing subsided as he took short, shallow breaths, just thankful to be alive.

  His whole body shook, a sharp pain paired with a headache; although he had the pain, his head felt clearer than ever.

  Gripping his legs with his eyes closed, Hunter sat there, trying to regain himself.

  Minutes passed, and Hunter opened his eyes, seeing the liquid draining somewhere near him.

  Following the path of the liquid, he looked around for the drain, which seemed to be right beneath him.

  Scooting out of the way, Hunter was surprised to still feel so heavy, as if the liquid wanted to cling to him. He glanced back at the spot where he had been sitting, but the fluid was no longer draining there; instead, it still appeared to be pooling underneath him.

  Hesitantly Hunter tried to stand, it felt like he was trying to lift the ocean with him, and he immediately fell back to his butt.

  Then a realization struck him: He could now almost breathe fully. "I know that the body can remove liquids from the lungs, but it usually takes an immense amount of time, so does that mean I am absorbing this liquid?" he thought.

  Hunter felt curious at that thought and looked down. He saw his skin where he was sitting, almost vibrating. He hesitantly touched it; it felt like pudding under his skin.

  When he focused on his skin, he could feel pressure, like the liquid had to filter through it. A tingling sensation, like static electricity, followed wherever the liquid was being absorbed.

  Now, without fear of death, Hunter could take a good look at himself. He was still hunched over.

  Hunter's skin was as white as paper, almost as if the sun had never touched him.

  He touched his right arm, a sharp pain shooting deep into his arm.

  Closing his eyes, he dug into his arm with his fingertips, waiting for the phantom pain to pass. The scar had been a memory of what he had done.

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  The scar—gone. Hunter used to run his thumb over it every night when sleep wouldn't come.

  Fear and curiosity broke him from his memories. Hunter looked down at his body.

  He looked lean. Hunter hadn't been in the best shape before, but had considerable muscles. This new body seemed small, with no fat or muscles.

  His hands shook, a pit growing in his stomach as he ran a hand through his hair. It was long, about shoulder-length.

  He had never grown it out before, so it felt odd.

  Reaching up, Hunter pulled on it, feeling a sharp pain from his efforts. He brushed some hair in front of his eyes. His new hair was a reddish brown.

  Brushing his hair back, he mumbled. "What is going on?" The voice was alien to his ears.

  His head flicked around, looking for where it had come from. His hair flicked into his eyes, reminding him of his changed body.

  Freezing, Hunter whispered to himself, "Hello, I am Hunter. This is my voice."

  His voice before was lower, not crazy, but pretty deep. This voice he heard, no, not heard, had spoken was a good bit higher. It didn't sound feminine, but it was pretty high for a man.

  Hunter reached up and touched his face. Even that was different. The roundish face with the acne scars was gone, and left was a smooth diamond shape.

  Breath quickening, Hunter felt foreign in his body, shivers of fear and anticipation jolting through him.

  "I must be dreaming." He again heard that odd voice say.

  Calming down, Hunter thought of this as a dream, for now, beginning to look at his body again.

  Oblong Bumps were forming along his skin. The bumps were forming near where the liquid was getting absorbed and were slowly moving up to his chest.

  He poked one of the bumps; it felt soft, and the liquid gave way under his touch. He watched them move upwards in lines, getting closer to the top of his chest.

  Then he started to feel weird. His legs started to tingle as if they had fallen asleep. "Is this stuff absorbing me?!"

  Crying out, Hunter tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't even move.

  His arms started to feel numb.

  Hunter looked around, trying to find anything to use as a tourniquet.

  There was nothing but slick rocks.

  Using his hands, Hunter tried pressing down on the liquid, hoping to shove it down and out, but the liquid only seemed to be going quicker.

  Losing any kind of control over his spine, he fell over hard, hitting his head on the cold stone;

  Body tingling, Hunter could feel the liquid crawling its way up his neck.

  "This is it," he stammered, "I should have stayed asleep."

  Hunter closed his eyes, clenching them shut.

  His jaw burned, and opening it to cry out made it pop with a sharp pain for his effort.

  The silent cave disappeared for him as a loud ringing became his world.

  His ears ached, His blood pulse echoing endlessly through them.

  Waves of heat and electricity coursed through him every few moments.

  Then, his eyes; he had pink eye before, and he'd experienced someone throwing alcohol in his face. This feeling was much the same; his eyes itched and burned in tandem.

  Blinking rapidly, tears flowed. He slowly saw his vision caving as his thoughts became slower, and both his eyes and mind became dark.

  The pain was gone, his sight was gone, he could not feel anything, the only way he knew he was still alive was the loud ringing in his ears.

  It felt like he stayed that way forever, accompanied by a loud-pitched whine.

  A few times, he felt the start of a thought or what he thought was feeling coming back to him, but just as quickly as it had been there, it also vanished.

  Hunter didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually, even the ringing left him, leaving behind his slowly aching mind.

  Like an old engine turning over, Hunter felt his brain slowly working again. The thoughts came slowly but deliberately.

  "I'm...alive?"

  "Where...am I?"

  As expected, no one answered.

  Relief washed over him as he just enjoyed the feeling of being alive; however, as his mind thawed, he saw something white appear in his vision.

  A white outline of a rectangle-like box appeared in the middle of his vision.

  Trying to open his eyes, he shuddered. They were already open.

  He remembered the cave, but the white box didn't seem to illuminate it, so it wasn't really there.

  "Am I even in the cave anymore?" he asked himself.

  Fear started retaking hold; he tried thrashing his arms but couldn't feel anything, "Why can't I feel anything?" he asked, his anxiety mounting.

  His vision slowly started adjusting, bringing into focus that there were words written on the white box they read.

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  Incorporation complete…starting system…

  Complete…

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  With the white box disappearing, so did his anxiety; almost like a switch was flipped, it was gone.

  The white box reappeared with different words.

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  Stats:

  Inventory:

  Map:

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  Hunter stared at this screen for a long time. "What is going on? Am I alive? Maybe this is a dream of a game I played? " he thought, looking over the options.

  He stopped, allowing himself time to breathe. Eventually, centering himself again, he looked at the options. "Stats," he thought. What stats?"

  Hunter heard an auditory buzz sound as the stat screen opened.

  ————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

  First-time integration….

  measuring competencies…

  Complete…

  Hello Hunter, here is a breakdown of what your last life meant and how much of an impact you had on it…

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  A giant list appeared before him, taking up all his vision. It started scrolling, not waiting for him to be ready.

  Hunter was still grappling with the whole situation, but knew this may be important, so he muttered to himself, trying to focus on one thing at a time.

  "Silent but deadly level 6, Cleaning glasses level 7, Cooking level 3."

  All these skills were deemed worthless and categorized as "Useless," but he eventually reached skills classified as "Transferable skills." When he did, the page stopped scrolling, allowing him to scroll for himself.

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  Transferable skills

  Sloth: You were a part of the introverts; you liked staying home when all your friends were out doing actual stuff. Wait, did you even have friends? -1 agility.

  ————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

  Hunter mentally took a step back as he reread the message. "I had friends," he thought at the message, feeling the need to defend himself. "Also, why does that give me less agility?"

  The message didn't respond.

  A new skill popped up next.

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  Daydreamer: Imagine a reality where you could only be if you were slightly better; this is you, a daydreamer. +1 wisdom and +1 intelligence.

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  "Rude…" He thought and looked over the gains, trying to parse them, "Wisdom and intelligence, this feels like a game." A new skill again replaced the last.

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  Forgetful: this skill is for those who need to go grab a glass of water and then, on their way to the kitchen, start thinking about a dumb joke and ask themselves, "Why did I come in here again?" -1 luck.

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  He shook his head at the skill. "Why are most of my skills bad?" he asked.

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  Hard worker: you showed a consistent effort to improve yourself. +1 to all stats, but luck.

  Good liar: How would someone be a good liar? Well, you may get this from telling white lies, or maybe you tricked others into allowing you to steal that promotion all your work friends were going for. +1 intelligence.

  Cat obsession: This is given to those who adore cats, but unlike normal people, you never got a cat of your own. Do you feel bad now that you will never get that chance? Creatures are slightly less likely to want to murder you.

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  He found the last one odd, especially since it gave a Buff. "Is that the right word?" he asked himself. Eventually, a new screen replaced the rest.

  ————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

  Stats:

  Strength:

  3+1=(Hard-worker)

  Durability:

  4+1=(Hard-worker)

  Agility:

  4+0=(-1 Sloth +1 Hard-worker)

  Intelligence:

  6+3=(+1 Hard-worker +1 Good Liar +1 Daydreamer)

  Wisdom:

  5+2(+1 Hard-worker +1 Daydreamer)

  Level 1

  XP 0

  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————

  Hunter looked at the list, confused for a few moments.

  To him, this resembled many games he used to play, but his stat screen didn't show everything. He tried to think of the Forgetful stat, and it appeared again.

  Just like he thought -1 luck, but there were no mentions of luck in his stats, he thought of the last one, cat obsession. It said something about creatures being less likely to harm him.

  Hunter always felt like his neck was on fire when he got stressed, and he was starting to feel like that now. "Having a negative in luck may come back to hurt me; I guess that's only if I had a low luck stat to begin with."

  To that extent, he tried to think back on his previous life. It wasn't like he had ever won a raffle or a Powerball, but he never considered himself unlucky.

  Pushing those thoughts away, he looked at the bottom of the screen. "Level 1, at least I can increase my skills. I'm a little behind if 5 is the average for skills, but I will have to work hard if it's something like 10."

  Hunter's vision, feeling, and hearing came back all at once; fear overwhelmed him, sending shivers and pain through his body.

  The fear tapered off to a steady hum in his mind.

  His overwhelming senses—the cave's smell, the cave floor's coldness, and the sun shining on him—slowly became normal again.

  "The sun?" he thought. It was so nice to see the sun; he hadn't seen it in years. He smiled at the warm light radiating from what must have been the cave entrance and stood up.

  Trying to stand up, his legs wobbled, and he fell back to the ground. The cold stone on his backside made him look down. "No pants?" he questioned

  Again, he was surprised at this person's scrawny build and white skin. He just sat there looking at himself for a few moments before scooting over to the side of the cave wall and pushing up with his legs and arms.

  He could feel the pressure of his form on each joint. His body lacked calluses, so each step on the uneven stones felt sharp. He slowly took each step while guiding himself along the wall with one hand.

  Following the light, Hunter had to squint as he approached the edge of the cave. He let his eyes adjust and then took in the view.

  He was in a cave on the side of a mountain. He could see rolling hills below him and a vast forest to his far left.

  A gust of wind blew in the smell of pine and water from a river somewhere out of sight, the corresponding sound of wind greeting his ears; he sighed deeply; it was beautiful.

  The mountain had a 35-degree angle, with old trees and boulders jutting out randomly. Sharp rocks dotted the side.

  Leaning out of the cave, Hunter looked up. He was about halfway up the mountain, and similar dangers were above him.

  He looked up and down a few times, trying to decide, but then he heard the first signs of life other than himself in this world: a bleat came from his left.

  "A goat?" he heard himself say, looking to his left. Sure enough, there was a goat. The goat had dirty brown fur, stood around three feet tall, and had horns that twisted in small circles until they came to impossible sharp points.

  He and the goat looked at each other as the goat chewed the cud. Only a few moments passed before he saw the goat swallow and turn its head upwards, letting out a high-pitched BLEAT!

  Covering his ears, Hunter felt his headache take on a new hold.

  The goat wasn't done there. However, it narrowed its eyes and charged at Hunter; this charge was more of small hops as it found footing closer and closer to him,

  Hunter finally removed his hands from his ears and looked around again for anything; not seeing much, he was left with a choice. "Fight the goat barehanded, try and hide in the cave, or run."

  He chose to run. With his limited agility, he decided to try to go down the mountain at a side angle to his right.

  Hunter would step on a rock or piece of wood every few steps and feel a new cut or bruise.

  Hunter gritted his teeth with the pain.

  Sparing a look behind him. He saw the goat gaining and kept running.

  His legs wobbled, still not used to the new body. "What happens if you fall? Do I die?"

  He could hear the goat now; it was getting louder, and its four legs were finding much better traction than his.

  Hunter's heart throbbed in his chest as he kept running, pumping his legs even harder through the pain.

  The goat was getting closer,

  He slipped righting himself just in time.

  "I have to do something." He thought

  A new sound itched at his ears, and he locked onto it like a lifeline, trying to find his way.

  Hunter ran with all his might towards the sound but wasn't fast enough.

  Hunter felt a sharp stinging from his side and back as the goat ran past him,

  Blood dripped off its horn.

  His back felt warm, blood flowing.

  Hunter's vision started swimming. He was losing blood;

  Running at full speed, the goat turned widely, starting to turn toward him again.

  With a flash of Anger, Hunter ran right at it.

  He only had one chance.

  He counted himself down, 3…2…1… Hunter put out his left arm to try and guide the goat's horn out of his path,

  It worked, mostly. A gape in Hunter's palm flowed fresh blood.

  He clenched his fist and kept running, knowing the goat would be back. The sound was roaring now, and he knew he had to be getting close.

  The goat made another terrible bleating sound, and the earth seemed to tremble as it started racing toward him.

  He was only a few steps away.

  A loose rock slipped out from under his leg.

  Hunter felt aches over his whole body, his heart pounded even harder, and sweat poured down him quicker than rapids.

  Pushing to his feet, he slipped again, his feet slick with blood.

  Hunter clawed his way closer, desperate to escape.

  He was so close.

  His arm was almost within reach.

  Thundering like an avalanche was coming closer and closer, moments till he would be skewered.

  He reached the edge and fell.

  Everything slowed

  His body twisted as he fell, and Hunter watched the goat pass right over him.

  The goat now had glowing red eyes, and its brown fur glowed a light red underneath.

  He started to pick up speed. Hunter knew this was a stupid plan but had to do it.

  A light mist of water started lightly pattering on his body. Hunter felt blood flowing from him like a river, his vision growing dark.

  "This might have been a bad idea." He thought right before he impacted the water.