Chapter 3: This Place Is Far Too Dangerous

The ability called Evolution gave Mamadou a glimmer of hope.

I didn’t have the confidence necessary to survive.

After all, what do they expect from a man who lived in an era dominated by AI? I only have superficial knowledge, no advanced scientific knowledge, no survival skills. I was basically condemned to death.

But now that his cheat had appeared, Mamadou felt much better and began thinking about the future and setting goals for himself.

First of all, his stats.

He didn’t know how much they were worth, but it was fairly easy to tell that they weren’t worth much. He needed to find a way to improve them.

Thinking about it, he sighed.

He didn’t even know where to start.

HP, I assume those are my Health Points? Something like Life Point ? What happens if they reach zero? Will I die?

If the mechanics are like those in games, then that’s probably the case.

The way he had died the first time was still fresh in his memory, and Mamadou shuddered at the thought of dying again.

This time, it might truly be the end.

Well, enough of that. I assume SP stands for Skill Points, so I need to be careful. It’s possible that I won’t be able to use my skills once those points are depleted.

No, that’s almost certainly how it works.

Just like my HP, I currently have 100 of them.

By deduction, Points are used to unlock skills, and Skill Points are used to activate them.

But what bothers me is the Mana stat.

Just like my name, it’s empty.

Don’t tell me I’m a non-magical creature in a fantasy world.

That’s sucks.

If it weren’t for this Evolution ability, I’d probably find a place to lie down and die.

After thinking through his stats and everything he had available to survive, he concluded that his greatest assets were primarily his ability to evolve, the fact that he was also classified as a Human—which meant his thought process was more advanced than that of ordinary monkeys ? And finally his stats.

Since they were represented by numbers, it meant he could become stronger.

As for his Human class, that was the only thing he didn’t understand.

Was it because he had once been human?

What were the advantages of this class?

Since the System did not answer commands at will, he did not dwell on it any further.

There was no point thinking into the void.

Mamadou took a deep breath once again.

He needed to calm his nerves.

"First, I need to find a way out of this forest. Then I need to find a way to become human again. And finally, I need to find a way to return home."

If he could just return, he was certain everything would work itself out.

Finding the people behind his assassination would be child’s play.

"Once I find them..."

The hatred Mamadou felt toward those people was so immense that it became the driving force allowing him to keep going without even realizing it.

Judging by the expression on his face, anyone who claimed he would not leave the matter to the justice system alone would be absolutely right.

Suddenly, Mamadou’s fur stood on end.

Lost in thought, he had forgotten that he was in an unknown place and that he had wandered far away from the group.

What the...

The moment he turned around, it was already too late.

His body trembled before collapsing to the ground.

It was a snake.

A snake had bitten him deeply in the shoulder.

Looking at his status window, Mamadou saw his HP decrease.

The snake began wrapping itself around him.

Without trying to understand anything, while his arms were restrained by the snake’s coils, Mamadou bit it back before he could be completely suffocated.

He bit down with all his strength.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it. I really hope my Strength actually means something," he muttered.

I won’t let myself die like this.

Not like this.

He bit the snake so violently that it stopped biting him.

Argh, that hurts, bastard.

The snake’s head moved close to Mamadou’s face.

For a moment, Mamadou thought the snake was judging him.

Or staring at him as if it could not believe what it was seeing.

A hint of disbelief could be perceived in the snake’s eyes.

Mamadou immediately grabbed the snake with all four of his limbs.

The snake had slightly loosened its grip.

He then bit directly into its head.

One might wonder which of the two was actually the snake.

Ignoring the pain in his jaw, he bit the snake’s head again.

And again.

And again.

The snake quickly became unrecognizable and immediately stopped moving.

Mamadou instantly rolled to the side and checked his HP.

95.

For something so insignificant, he had lost five Health Points.

He struggled to remain optimistic.

If twenty snakes attacked him at once, wouldn’t he simply die?

"My Health Points aren’t continuing to decrease. So it wasn’t a venomous snake."

"At least that’s lucky. If I had been poisoned, I have no idea how I would have detoxified myself."

"What should I do now?"

[Skill Acquired: Pain Resistance.]

"Oh, my first skill."

"Though I wonder if that’s actually a good thing. Ignoring pain doesn’t bring only advantages."

"But then again, who cares?"

"I just need to build a body capable of overcoming the disadvantages."

The pain Mamadou felt had lessened considerably.

Although the snake itself was gone, he had the feeling that its bite had been unusual.

The wound in his shoulder had caused him intense pain.

Now that it had diminished, that was all for the better.

In the end, what exactly was that snake?

Don’t I have a skill that lets me evaluate things?

Otherwise this thing would be terribly designed.

[Would you like to acquire the Skill Evaluation?

Required Points: 50.]

[Y/N]

Maybe I should stop disrespecting this System.

But seriously, fifty points?

No discount?

I still don’t completely understand how Points work.

I can’t just spend them recklessly.

"Nothing?"

The mechanical voice did not respond.

Mamadou sighed and accepted the transaction.

[Skill Acquired: Evaluation.]

"This place is far too dangerous. Being able to evaluate threats is a huge advantage."

"I wonder if it can also evaluate my skills."

The moment he thought about it, his skill was evaluated.

[Pain Resistance Level 1.]

"Of course."

Now he could see the level of his skill.

"Anyway, let’s test it on this snake."

[Snake]

Three imaginary question marks seemed to appear above Mamadou’s head because of the absurdity of the situation.

Huh?