Imposter in Another World

Ch 1: Awakening

Every day is a mystery in life, I never really understood why that is, but I just accepted everything that came my direction like a fool. I'd been struggling recently, my mother was in poor health, I lost the crappy job that kept us living just slightly above the minimal means and I was designated as a caretaker for my mother since I was deemed useless in wartime.
I didn't have any regrets at any point to how I lived, I just lived and loved the people closest to me and when I say that, I mean that with all my being. War is stupid, real life is stupid. When were we ever given a great life? What about all the people that kept making fun of us? We just ignored them and acted natural, without caring what they think. Because they didn't deserve any of our time and we will not stand for this.
Oh in this one my classmate was too excited and ran without looking where he was going and dived head first through the door and knocked over the principal. The guy could be a menace at times so I was just a tiny bit glad that he got in trouble back then. Back then I was much younger and dumber, oh life is now just a bluurr *Fades out*

It is said that in the final moments in your life, before your soul is collected by the gods, you will have a little vision. Sort of like a hallucination. It's the act of the gods collecting your soul in an emergency, touch your soul to see what you have been up to and if it is time to collect you to the good place, you will be harvested by the gods and you will pass away. If you have been bad, however they will return you to where you were to give you another chance. Then, if you survive, you may have a side effect of the gods touching your soul in the form of remembering the hallucination - That is what they call a near death experience.
That is what the old folks passed on through Mama's stories at least.

I was transferred into the game with only that feeling in mind, I don't remember much else other than a vague feeling of the conversation I had with a god. It is a bit unreal, but I'm not one to deny facts visible from my own eyes: I'm laying in a bed made of mostly straw, the building looks pretty worn down and old. I know my apartment wasn't exactly in good shape either, but this and that are worlds apart, well if you pardon the pun. Most noticeably, there is a faint glimmer in the background. What looks to be an oil lantern hanging near the door, but there is nothing there, just a faint burning flame that feels like it's so warm and soft as if it were your best friend.

After observing my surroundings and gathering my thoughts, I decide to not get up yet.
The gods made me a resident of this world in an attempt to end this long war, but I know the reality is that even if one of the four kingdoms would win and end the war, there would be internal conflicts that the majority couldn't overcome. I don't really know what to do about it all, I don't know why the gods thought I was the most compatible for their last ditch effort, nor do I care. All I know is that's Mama would've wanted so I should at least try to resolve it if it's in my power.
However, I have been running jobs and errands and long hours with very minimal breaks or rest periods and to have even an illusion of free time in my old world, I escaped to some hours of gaming per day when I should have sleeping. Okay, perhaps more than I would like to admit to, but my point is, if I'm going on some sort of grand quest where I'm a resident instead of a player. At the very least I deserve a half an hour snooze for all my efforts in my previous life, right? Whatever happened to not disturbing the deceased? Yeah? That's what I thought..

Sorry, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. I am an introverted guy in my twenties and it is fairly hard for me to deal with some modern people as they are often way too eager to jump into confrontation and starting fights for no reason. The older generations I could get along with, especially the old man at my part time who was a kind guy and taught me a bunch of things. If anyone made me a bit more calm with interacting with people on edge, it would be him.

I know I can't do much in this world, I find it a bit worrying that the gods chose me, but I also know that it's a job that nobody else can do. The gods said so themselves. They said that because the 4 kingdoms had mostly forgotten their faith in them, and instead, recently relied on the power of demons to create this world to resolve the wars - they didn't have a lot of power left, and even if they were mostly forgotten, that didn't mean that they didn't have to do the right thing with the last of their powers.
So they revived me here with a skill of the right balance. Something basic that the demons would underestimate, but something that could light a spark so big that it shakes the whole world of Kasei. 
I'm feeling weak, I feel ill, I am so terrifyingly anxious on what is to come. All I've seen so far is the inside of this hut and I'm already feeling like I shouldn't start, but that is nothing new to me.
It's always been like this when needing to make a big change in my life, out of my comfort zone.

Okay Ren. Take a deep breath. You can picture it can't you? This will be a long game of poker. So put on your best poker face like your life depends on it. Take all of your gamer expertise across various genres, and try your best at this. You can do this. You got this, tiger.


As soon as I opened my eyes and got up, I was made aware of something, or well, perhaps I was aware of it all along without realizing it - I can't feel my legs.
Perhaps the gods didn't have enough power to fix any  long lasting issues caused by the headset frying my brain, or perhaps the demons decided to nerf me for having a leadership ability and the gods plan failed already.

*sigh*
I let out a heavy sigh.

I'm not off to a good start, but I know myself, I know how badly I'd sink if I let hopelessness in my head right now. So my only option, while I'm still reasonably sane, is to proceed with faith in the gods and blindly following that their plan is still correct and the way for me to go in these blind and daring times. Which feels a bit weird since I never really considered myself a religious person.
With strong beliefs I decided to make my way out of the old worn building, even if it meant crawling on all fours.
I made it past the door until I knocked over a couple simplistic old hand tools and some wood. I didn't see anyone in the nearby vicinity and noticed my vision wasn't the greatest.
I decided that since I can't do anything with my skill if there's nobody here. I would find a way to go to someone - anyone at all.
I decided to go for something simple for now, mostly to try and test if there's any restrictions in the game. I crawled around the building to find anything useful and think what I can do with them.
I found rope, some sturdy looking long wood poles and some pieces of leather and a vial of a foul smelling chemical.
I had a a couple very simplistic tools used for woodworking like a saw and hammer. It was a bit difficult to work on things with no legs, but I made do with what I had going on for me. 
eventually I pulled myself up from the walls, held on tight, and climbed on to my arm stilts.
It wasn't the greatest solution, they are useful if you have at least 1 somewhat functional leg. But it was still better than nothing as the terrain is full of a bunch of sharp rocks and crawling on the ground would leave me with fatal cuts in no time. 

If what I had to do to survive was to play like a challenge focused nutcase. Playing things without wearing armor or things like that - then so be it. I have never done anything like that myself, but challenge accepted.

Before I managed to even think of anything else, I realized it has been a while, and I was starting to get hungry. With no food nearby, I made my way out into the wild - one uncertain step at a time.
it felt like a lot of time passed and a lot of distance travelled, but considering I was only able to go a fifth of a normal person's speed - maybe it wasn't that long after all.

I went past various mushrooms and berries that I didn't recognize, I decided to follow the old wise teaching of not to eat wild plants if you don't know what they are, and while I did have that one suspicious vial that I would say is a local antidote - I'm not certain that's what it is and even if I am correct, I have no way of knowing how old it is, or how recent it is. I wouldn't want to bet my life on an unknown vial to fight poison unless it was a last ditch emergency. I continued my travels until eventually I found a big wild cat. I didn't know species of this world, this cat didn't closely resemble our species well enough for me to say. It was definitely big, and definitely wild. Normally this encounter would probably mean that I am now dead. The cat was laying down next to a berry bush. There's evidence that it ate some berries and they were indeed bad to eat. The juices flowing on it's mouth hadn't even dried out yet, and it looked like it was in pain.

I decided that if I am to make a miracle happen and take over this world to fulfill the gods plan, I need to fool every single living being of this world that crosses my path.
I needed to fool this cat. This cat was the perfect test subject. Although a bit cruel, I had no choice. We had no choice.
I couldn't travel back to town, I was too weak and hungry for that.
And the cat couldn't live for long, it was on it's last legs.
In that one moment, I realized what I had to do. I waddled closer to the cat in my crutches and came to the ground to reach the cat, knowing full well that I couldn't get back up quickly enough if things went wrong.
I didn't say anything, I just felt sad for the poor cat in front of me. I pet it's head a bit, it was resisting my presence but was too weak to move away. I whispered in a soft, but a little shaky voice: I'm sorry.
with my last strength I crawled a bit closer, and made the cat drink the suspicious vial.
The cat seemed displeased and I knew what I had to do.
Now with a more firm voice I said: Nice meet you, I have used my powers to cast a spell on you. If you wish to live, all you have to do is trust your fighting instincts and you should recover.

I wasn't sure if the cat understood any of this, I knew it probably wouldn't understand language, so I tried to use my tone of voice to my advantage to try to convey emotions at least.
Surely it would sense that I mean no hostility at least.
Soon after, I passed out from hunger next to the cat.

When I woke up, the cat had woken up and protected me from threats in the area. 
 I got up, pet the cat one last time and got up to my arm stilts and started to continue my journey with the cat apparently following me.
He didn't seem to be angry, if anything a bit shocked. Some puny human came, healed him and just waddled away. I'd probably be shocked too.
He was a big cat, but I doubt he was big enough to carry me without me damaging his back. Even if he was, I doubt that I would manage to stay on his back if I even attempted to ride it.
It was an awkward and long journey. The cat helped me stay safe, he even helped me with hunting for small prey. I had found some simple primitive tools to start fires with, even if it wasn't unreliable. I cooked some of the meat, and left some for my feline travel companion. 
He did occasionally come keep me warmer with his fur during the colder nights when I couldn't manage to light a fire and sometimes I couldn't get enough wood to keep the fire going so It went out too fast. 
We traveled like that for about a week while I was trying to piece together my surroundings.
I thought maybe the demons put me so far from civilization on purpose. That maybe I was given a hard start to counter my abilities. I mean, why else would I start paralyzed in a random old house in the middle of nowhere, with no other houses nearby and nobody near but a random cat in the distance. 
I was imagining what to do when I did manage to find a village the whole time.
Until a week later finally I saw something resembling what I was looking for in the distance. 
While still far away I thanked the cat for coming along all this way to support me. That now he has a choice to make. Should he wish to leave back to his home, he has my support to do so, or if he wishes to continue and join me, he is more than welcome to join, and while I can't guarantee that people won't be afraid of him, I would do my best to protect him from harm.
I pet his head one last time, and he dashed into the distance.
I looked at him become nothing but a blurry blob in the hazy distance, it seems my vision isn't as good as it used to after all. Perhaps this as well is from the damage I suffered.
With no alternative, I waddled myself towards the village to see what my future had in store for me.