Vol. 1 Chapter 2 - Choosing Skills

 

(Ugh, where is this?)

 

I woke up again—or at least, my consciousness became clear. However, I couldn’t see anything around me because, being moss, I had no eyes. I could vaguely sense the presence of the wind and water, but my inability to see was expected for moss. As I regained my consciousness, my memories began to return. It seemed I had been deceived by the swindling goddess Astaltina and truly reincarnated in another world, most likely as moss.

 

Moss didn’t have eyes, so it was natural not to see anything. But I could sense the presence of the wind and water somehow. Being able to think meant that I wasn’t in an environment where I’d be eaten or wither immediately, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was safe.

 

I didn’t know how long this situation would last, so I had to prepare to survive.

 

(Status Open!)

 

I concentrated as I was taught by the goddess. Moss probably didn’t have a head, so maybe I was just thinking in my mind.

 

A semi-transparent window, like the one I saw in the pure white space, appeared in my mind. It displayed…

 

Race: Moss

Name: None

Rank: G

Level: 1

Health: 5/5

Mana: 5/5

Attack: 0

Defense: 1

Magic Attack: 1

Magic Defense: 1

Agility: 0

 

Skills:

– Photosynthesis Lv1

 

Titles:

– Reincarnator

 

Even with my limited knowledge, I could tell that this status was dire. If I didn’t do something, I’d die right away.

 

Anyway, I couldn’t relax in this situation. The only way to break through this predicament was to obtain the “skills” that the goddess mentioned. I focused on the words “Reincarnator’s Perk” at the upper right of the window, and a list of available skills appeared. There were an enormous number of skills…

 

(So many! If I check each one of them, it’ll take an eternity. I need to quickly choose the skills necessary for survival.)

 

I began scanning the extensive list for useful skills. However, merely focusing on the names didn’t provide descriptions of their effects. That meant I had to judge the effects based on the names. If I acquired a skill with an unexpected effect… Even with 15 slots, there was no room for wasted skills. I couldn’t take my time to choose, but I couldn’t afford to choose carelessly either. What should I do?

 

Panic began to set in as I desperately searched for useful skills. Then, one skill caught my eye: “Appraisal.”

 

(This is it! I’ll get this first, and if I appraise the skill names, I might figure out their effects!)

 

With this thought in mind, I quickly selected “Appraisal.” A sense of achievement filled my heart, and the “Appraisal” skill appeared in my status, reassuring me that I was on the right track.

 

(Alright! With this, I should be able to understand the effects of the skills.)

 

I promptly selected and appraised skills with names that were not immediately clear.

 

“Thought Acceleration” = Speeds up thoughts. The acceleration time is Lv × 10 seconds.

 

Oh, this is a lucky find! Speeding up thoughts means that even at Lv1, I could make one second in the real world feel like ten seconds in my mind. Since I choose skills in my mind, this should give me more time to decide!

 

I quickly added “Thought Acceleration” to my list of skills.

 

(Great, even though I can’t sense the surroundings, I feel like my thoughts are accelerating. By the way, I just noticed, the unit of time in this world is also seconds.)

 

As I used “Appraisal” to gather information from the results, I made further skill selections with “Thought Acceleration” and “Appraisal.” After a few minutes, I felt like I had the skills I needed.

 

Alright, I have selected the necessary skills for now. Status Open!

 

Race: Moss

Name: None

Rank: G

Level: 1

Health: 5/5

Mana: 5/5

Attack: 0

Defense: 1

Magic Attack: 1

Magic Defense: 1

Agility: 0

 

Skills:

– Photosynthesis Lv1

– Appraisal Lv1 (New!)

– Thought Acceleration Lv1 (New!)

– Life Detection Lv1 (New!)

– Mana Detection Lv1 (New!)

– Hostility Detection Lv1 (New!)

– Health Auto-Recovery Lv1 (New!)

– Mana Auto-Recovery Lv1 (New!)

 

Titles:

– Reincarnator

 

With “Life Detection” and “Mana Detection,” I now had a vague sense of my surroundings. “Hostility Detection” also assured me that there were no natural enemies nearby. I didn’t know the exact range of Lv1, but at the very least, I was lucky not to be placed in a location where I’d die immediately.

 

From “Life Detection” and “Mana Detection,” it appeared I was in the middle of a small pond surrounded by trees. I learned that I was growing on a large rock in the middle of the pond.

 

For now, I seemed to have time to choose the remaining skills.

 

While activating the photosynthesis skill that moss naturally had, I decided to take my time selecting the remaining eight skills.

 

The skills I chose with more consideration than before were as follows:

 

– Special Evolution: There’s a possibility of evolving into a higher species or a different race when the species level reaches its maximum.

– Light Magic: Enables the use of light magic.

– Water Magic: Enables the use of water magic.

– Space-Time Magic: Enables the use of space-time magic.

– Gravity Magic: Enables the use of gravity magic.

– Chant Abolishment: Enables the use of magic without chanting.

– Item Box: Allows storing non-living things in a subspace.

– Language Comprehension: Understands and can speak or write in any language.

 

I chose “Special Evolution” as a skill that I found by scrolling through the window, taking into account the lessons learned from my previous encounter. If I had this skill, I might be able to escape from being moss.

 

I selected “Light Magic” and “Water Magic” because I thought they might allow me to generate light and water, both essential for moss growth.

 

Time-Space Magic and Gravity Magic seemed like powerful choices, so I decided to select them. However, at this stage, it appeared I couldn’t use them as they weren’t displayed in the magic list. Although I felt like I made a mistake in my selection, I hoped that I might be able to use them in the future.

 

Chant Abolishment was chosen because I realized that moss couldn’t chant after taking four other skills. What did I realize? Moss can’t cast spells.

 

I chose Item Box based on a faint memory from a light novel I had read, which said it was very useful. I thought it could be handy in the future when I could move around, and being able to store non-living things meant I might be able to protect myself by storing projectiles like stones if they were ever thrown at me.

 

Lastly, Language Comprehension was selected with the idea that if I could evolve from moss and move around in the future, I might be able to go to the human world. At that time, understanding language would be helpful for various reasons. It should also be useful in searching for other reincarnators.

 

Finally, my status looked like this:

 

Race: Moss

Name: None

Rank: G

Level: 1

Health: 5/5

Mana: 5/5

Attack: 0

Defense: 1

Magic Attack: 1

Magic Defense: 1

Agility: 0

 

Skills:

– Special Evolution (New!)

– Language Comprehension (New!)

– Chant Abolishment (New!)

– Item Box Lv1 (New!)

– Appraisal Lv1

– Thought Acceleration Lv1

– Life Detection Lv1

– Mana Detection Lv1

– Hostility Detection Lv1

– Health Auto-Recovery Lv1

– Mana Auto-Recovery Lv1

– Light Magic Lv1 (New!)

– Water Magic Lv1 (New!)

– Time-Space Magic Lv1 (New!)

– Gravity Magic Lv1 (New!)

– Photosynthesis Lv1

 

Titles:

– Reincarnator

– Skill Collector (New!)

 

The Skill Collector title appeared after acquiring the 15th skill. It was supposed to make acquiring skills easier. In other words, apart from the reincarnator bonus, there was a possibility of acquiring skills independently. I had thoroughly looked at and memorized the skills when choosing them, so I planned to aim for the acquisition of various skills to improve my chances of survival.

 

In reality, I had a bit of a collecting habit before my reincarnation. Since I didn’t have much money, I collected things like bottle caps and pretty stones. When I saw the list of skills in this world after my reincarnation, I couldn’t help but want to collect as many skills as possible.

 

I still had a very weak sense of reality, and I felt like I had been deceived, but if this were indeed reality, I was grateful for being able to reincarnate. Even as moss, I had a purpose to live. So, at this point, the things I wanted to do were:

 

– Evolve and survive

– Collect many skills

– Find other reincarnators

– Eventually lead a slow life

 

For now, I decided to focus on these four goals and enjoy life in this new world.

 

First, while conducting photosynthesis, I started contemplating my future actions.