Edited by: Piamo

After wailing and sulking about his ice cream, Atlas finally got off the ground. He brushed his dirty clothes and picked up the potato sack. He didn’t have any other belongings on him, so it didn’t hurt to use it as a blanket, a bag, or even something to sit on. 

“What should I do…? I don’t know how to survive in a forest,” Atlas mumbled as he looked around. 

Everything looked the same to him. It looked like a sea of trees. He couldn’t tell which way was north or south. He didn’t even know if this place rotated at the same speed or direction as Earth, so how could he tell by the positioning of the sun? 

What did people need to survive? Food, water, and shelter. He decided to focus on those three things before thinking about anything else. 

Atlas went to the nearest tree and did his best to climb up. It was the first time he had ever climbed a tree, so he wasn’t good at it. He slipped, grabbed the wrong branch, and hit the ground, but he didn’t give up. It wasn’t until the 4th try that he finally got to the top. His body was sore, but the pain disappeared when he saw the view at the top of the tree. 

From the top of the tree, he could see a sea of green. In the distance, there was one particularly massive tree that seemed to tower over the others. There wasn’t much else. He couldn’t see any towns or cities. There was a small mountain, but it looked so far away that he didn’t think he could get there even if he wanted to. 

He decided the massive tree was the best place for him to go to. He could use it as a marker point for when he got lost, and it could be his new home. With a tree that large, there was bound to be some kind of water source nearby. He was scared to see if anything was living by the giant tree though. What would happen if some large animal like a bear started chasing him around in the forest? It would be the end of him. 

The tree was in the direction of the mountain, maybe to the north of where he was. It was probably at the center of the forest. It only made sense for him for a tree that big to be at the center. 

Atlas slowly climbed down the tree, being careful not to fall again. His body was a little sore from falling and tumbling down the tree earlier. He walked in the direction that he saw the tree. Every time he felt he got lost, he would climb another tree, see he deviated a little, and then continue on his path. 

In the meantime, he kept his eyes and ears open for any bodies of water or a stream. 

Honestly, he wished he could use magic like those people who reincarnated into fantasy worlds. 

While resting on another tree branch, Atlas mumbled to himself, “If only I had a status like those protagonists.” 

The moment he said “status,” a holographic screen appeared in front of him, scaring him half to death. 

“GAH, wait! I really do have a status! How exciting. I wonder what mine has to say about me…” Atlas slowly read his information and felt taken aback. Luckily, it was in a language he could read. 

Name: Atlas 

Age: 8

Sex: Male

Body status: Not pregnant, no status ailments. Malnourished.

Titles: Lost Soul From Another World 

Blessings: Blessings of the Dragon God, Sohtris

Attributes: Fire (High), Lightning (Variant, High), Earth (Medium), Water (Low), Life (N/A)   

Skills: Fire Magic (Lvl: 1), Lightning Magic (Lvl: 1), Earth Magic (Lvl: 1), Water Magic (Lvl: 1), Life Magic (Lvl: N/A)

Unique Skills: Taming Magic (?), Dragon God’s Eye (?), Item Box (Infinite)      

The first thing he noticed was that he had the same name. Did his parents not give him a name in this world? His biological parents were so cruel, but it was no surprise. He had been shoved into a sack and tossed into the forest to die. His parents probably didn’t want him, seeing as they also gave him no name. He would just go by the name of Atlas even in this world. He decided not to use his last name because he didn’t know what kind of world this was. That was no problem to him. 

The second thing he noticed came as a surprise. Men could get pregnant in this world?! How in the hell could that happen? He would only be able to find out once he started talking to people. He would have to push that to the back of his mind until further notice. 

The third thing he noticed was his title. Actually, this was the thing that shocked him the most. He knew he was directionally challenged, but this was just too much. Even his soul was directionally challenged? Was there no hope for him in this world either? He thought maybe his sense of direction would get better now that he was in a new world, but to see that wasn’t possible made him want to vomit blood. 

“I know I’m prone to getting lost, but this is too much. If this tendency has followed me to this world, I will end up living in this forest for the rest of my life because I don’t know how to get out. This is too cruel. Where’s a GPS when I need one!?” 

Atlas held his head with his hands, seemingly done with himself. How could he get a sense of direction so he could at least get out of the forest? Even though he had the blessings of the Dragon God, they still couldn’t fix his directional sense. How cruel was reality? 

(In the divine realm, Sohtris felt someone was talking shit about her. She didn’t sneeze because she was a God, but it was still an unpleasant feeling. Avlios thought she was cold, so he patted her.) 

Atlas knew, even if he had a map, he couldn’t read the shit to save his life. GPS, come back to Atlas, he still needs you even in this new world! 

After calming himself down, Atlas went back to looking at his status board. 

In video games, light novels, and anime, didn’t they have HP (health points) and MP (mana points) being shown? Well, he didn’t have that. He wondered how people figured out how much MP they had. Maybe he could just feel it. But how did he activate magic? He wasn’t given a guide on how to do that. 

“Water!” Atlas excitedly shouted but nothing came out. 

“Well, that was embarrassing. Good thing I am the only one here,” he mumbled to himself as he looked around. 

How did other protagonists unleash magic? Wasn’t it by chants? He didn’t know any chants. How about imagination? He should try that first. 

Atlas closed his eyes and cupped out his hands. He thought about a bubble of water forming in his hands. If it was not in a bubble, it would leak out, so he thought it would be better if he could just drink the water bubble. 

“Water bubble…” Atlas mumbled when he finally got the image he wanted. 

He felt something smooth and cold forming in his hands. When he opened his eyes, a small water bubble the size of one of his palms was in his hands. 

“I did it! How exciting!” Atlas’ eyes lit up and then he took a sip of the water. It was lukewarm, but it was still tasty. 

He was glad he didn’t have to worry about water. Even if he didn’t find a water source, he had water magic now. He also saw Life Magic listed on his status board, but he only had a vague idea of what it could be. In some novels, Life Magic could be used by everyone and it was used for daily things, like cleaning and cooking. He would need to try it out later. 

He pondered about Dragon God’s eye, and another screen popped up. It explained that it was an appraisal-type skill. With that, he could check to see if something was safe to eat, touch, and things like that. He could also see the names of monsters, animals, and plants. 

The most important thing about it was that it was able to see the stats of other people. He decided not to do that though because he felt it was a bit rude to look at someone’s private information without their permission.

He didn’t need an explanation for item boxes. That was the ultimate cheat of all cheats. He finally felt that he was not forsaken by the Gods of this world!

Atlas felt a bit more rested while he was looking through the rest of his status, so he decided to continue his journey to that giant tree. Before he could leave the tree, though, a large bear came out of the bushes.

The bear had a large scar going across its right eye, making it a lot scarier than it should be. There was a star pattern on its back. The fur was black, but the star was white. 

Atlas froze in his spot, stopping his breathing. He didn’t even need to use appraisal magic to know this bear was really strong. It was almost as tall as the branch he was sitting on. Luckily, the bear didn’t notice him, but it seemed to be looking around the area. He hoped it wasn’t looking for him. He didn’t want to be bear food. Atlas could only complain in his head. 

When he thought that the bear was finally going to leave, seeing as it started to walk in another direction, a flash of light covering his body blinded him. He didn’t know what the heck it was. At first, he thought he was being attacked, but his body just felt warm and fuzzy. 

Before he could process the light he just emitted, a roar pierced through his ears. Not only was he blinded, he felt like his eardrums popped! 

When he opened his eyes, he saw the black star bear staring at him with red eyes. 

SHIT! Atlas thought to himself and jumped off the tree. When he landed on the ground, he felt a breeze rush past him and the sound of something breaking behind him. 

When he turned around, he saw the bear had crushed the branch he was on with its bare (bear) hands. No pun intended. Anyway, Atlas pushed down all other thoughts and began running in a random direction. 

Fuck the giant tree! And fuck my shit sense of direction! I need to get away from this bear first before it eats meeee. 

Atlas didn’t want to be bear food on the first day he reincarnated! 

He ran as fast as he could, hoping the bear’s giant, cumbersome body would slow it down, but it was catching up to him. It was running toward him on all fours, eyes glowing red in the forest that was beginning to darken. It looked even scarier with all the shadows that moved around it. 

Atlas didn’t know if he could fight it! He never fought anyone in his entire life, let alone a bear. He wasn’t a badass bitch that would fight bears in the forest! He just wrote stories for video games. This was too much on his office body! 

Just when he thought the bear was going to crush him with its paws, Atlas tripped. Yeah, his clumsiness finally kicked in… in the time he needed to get away the most. 

He fell flat to the ground, slamming his face into the dirt. 

Because the bear was quite large and running on all fours, there was a gap between its belly and the ground. Much to Atlas’ luck, the bear didn’t crush him at all and even ran past him. 

Atlas slowly got up and saw the bear stop. It slowly turned around. It looked at him with its mouth slightly open, flashing its razor-sharp teeth. 

He knew he couldn’t outrun a bear with his tiny body, but he didn’t know if he could fight it. He did not have a weapon and his magic abilities were… well, almost nonexistent! He had magic, but he had no idea how to use it in combat. He was only able to use magic once before this final boss decided to show up at his door. 

This world was too cruel. He wanted to go back to his previous world. He didn’t want to be here anymore. 

Atlas decided he was going to just shoot magic hoping for the best. That was all he could do. Spam the shit like he was pressing the x button on a hack-and-slash game! 

He didn’t close his eyes, but he thought about lightning coming from the sky and striking the bear. He felt it would at least roast it or stun it, giving him time to run.

Atlas felt the warm mana leaving his core and building up in the sky above him. The hairs on his body began to rise, and the wind created by his power circled him. Leaves and dirt flew through the wind, occasionally brushing against his skin. Even though it was his magic, he felt goosebumps on his arms and back, as though to warn him that it was getting dangerous. He was draining his mana at a fast pace, but to him, it seemed like everything was going in slow motion.

As he got closer to unleashing his most powerful move, the mana that was leaving his body made him feel cold like he was sitting in an ice bath, but he didn’t care. 

He just needed to get rid of this bear before the bear could get rid of him. 

Dark gray clouds began to form in the sky above them, and sparks of lightning rumbled through them, flickering with power. The dark clouds created a circle above them, with loud crackling sounds. Sounds of thunder vibrated through the air, one after the other, as though it was trying to warn those on the ground that a strike of lightning was about to appear.  

The bear sensed the amount of magic Atlas was trying to use and began running toward him. 

Right when the bear got within a meter of Atlas, a powerful lightning strike shot out of the clouds that formed above them. It accurately targeted the bear, striking at the star pattern on its back. 

The bear had never felt magic as powerful as the lightning it was just hit with. It felt like its insides were roasting. A shock ran through its body multiple times. Then it lost consciousness. 

The bear died. 

Atlas saw the bear collapse to the ground. In relief, he too fell to the ground. His vision turned black and he couldn’t feel his body anymore. His last thought was that he knew he had fucked up. He had used too much mana. 

He fainted in the middle of the forest and the body of the bear disappeared, leaving a set of claws and some fur.