The first thing I felt was an intense pain, a pain so strong it ran through every inch of my body. If I had to compare it to something, I'd say it's like when you stub your little toe, but multiplied by a hundred. And if that's not enough to describe it, imagine the pain comes with a macabre smile to make it even worse.
I tried to scream, but I couldn't. I tried to move, but I felt nothing. I was trapped in a kind of nightmare. After what seemed like hours of suffering, I finally fainted.
When I woke up, I was lying on the ground. It took my vision a moment to adjust, but when it did, I realized I was in a forest. The tree branches moved slowly with the wind, and the sound of birds in the sky was perfectly audible. The air... God, the air was incredibly clean, with smells I couldn't identify but which, strangely, were pleasant.
I sat up and something felt weird: I felt different. When I stood, I noticed my perspective had changed. I looked at my hands and they weren't mine. They were thinner, paler. I brought my fingers to my hair and was surprised to find it was long and silky, falling to my waist. Curious, I looked for a nearby puddle to see my reflection.
What I saw took my breath away.
A teenager of about fifteen looked back at me. Silver hair that shone in the sunlight, eyes the color of molten silver, skin white as porcelain. My features were delicate but clearly masculine, and although my build was slim, it looked healthy.
I touched my face in disbelief. This wasn't my body. Definitely not my body.
But before panic could set in, I felt something strange on my left wrist. I looked down and saw a kind of glowing watch embedded in my skin, with numbers changing in real-time.
00:00:00:00 — Days:Hours:Minutes:Seconds
0 Months
7000 B.C.
"What the hell?" I murmured, my voice sounding younger than I remembered.
As soon as I finished speaking, the "watch" flashed and a blue screen appeared before me, as if it were part of my vision.
"System activated. Main function: Lifespan timer. Secondary functions available: Information search."
I blinked, confused. This didn't make sense. Or maybe it did. After all, I had read enough stories about reincarnations, alternate worlds, and magical creatures to know that eventually, I'd end up being the protagonist of one of them. But this... this was different.
Before I could process what was happening, I noticed something on the ground, stuck to my clothes. A letter.
I bent down to pick it up. I was wearing a white leather tunic, with a rope tied around my waist. The tunic was clean, almost new. The letter, on the other hand, looked ancient, with yellowish paper and elegant handwriting.
I opened it with trembling hands.
---
"Dear recipient, I'll be brief. Due to a failure in an experiment on a new quantum engine, we struck your reality, more specifically your house, disintegrating you instantly. As compensation, we decided to bring you back to life. But don't get too excited; we will only grant you a system. But don't expect missions, rewards, or dimensional storage. The only thing you'll have is a universal translator that will let you speak any language. Writing and reading will depend on your effort. Additionally, we've upgraded your brain, since... well, it wasn't exactly top-notch.
Because of our mistake, we sent you to the world of High School DxD, since we know it's what you watched the most in your life. However, a calculation error sent you 7,000 years into the past, and for you to survive, we granted you immortality. So, happy immortal life! Also, we gave you a new appearance due to another error, but that's being investigated.
Oh, and your name will be Sunny Evermore, so you won't be recognized too quickly.
Sincerely, The Emperor of the Universe."
"P.S.: Good luck in your immortal life."
---
"Wait a minute!" I exclaimed after reading the letter. "Are you serious? This isn't right! This is chaos!"
At first, I was completely stunned. This wasn't like those stories where someone reincarnates just before the big events of a series. No, no. I was here, at the very beginning of everything, at the dawn of humanity!
Seven thousand years before Christ. Seven thousand freaking years before anything I recognized would happen. The events of High School DxD would occur thousands of years later. I would be here, alone, for millennia.
And the worst part... I'm immortal! I'm going to watch everyone die while I'm still here, young and eternal! Even the sun will explode someday, and I'll still be floating around out there.
But, thinking about it... it wasn't so bad. I could do so many things. Maybe I'll meet important characters, maybe I'll have a chat with historical figures, or even learn magic from the first sorcerers. The possibilities were endless.
I looked again at the watch on my wrist. The seconds kept increasing.
00:00:05:32 — Five minutes and thirty-two seconds of life.
I smiled ironically. My new life had just begun.
---
The first thing I noticed while exploring my new abilities was that the system was surprisingly simple. Besides the timer that tracked my age with obsessive precision — minutes, hours, days, months, and years — it had a search function. It wasn't much different from Google: I'd type a question and get a detailed answer.
"System, search: how do I start a campfire?"
The answer came instantly, with step-by-step instructions. Perfect.
I followed the instructions to the letter. I gathered dry leaves, small branches, and a suitable rock to create sparks. Everything was going according to plan... until a spark flew farther than expected.
The ground was dry. Very dry.
Within seconds, the flames spread through the leaf litter. I tried to put them out with my hands, stomping on the fire, but it was too late. The wind fanned the flames, and the fire began to spread to the nearby bushes.
"No, no, no, no, no!"
I ran to one side, but the fire was already out of control. The trees began to burn, smoke rose into the sky, and I could only stand there, horrified, as my first act in this world resulted in humanity's first forest fire.
"I screwed up!" I yelled as I ran away. "I screwed up horribly and monumentally!"
I ran as fast as I could, getting away from the disaster. My speed surprised me; I was probably running almost as fast as an adult horse. Branches whipped my face as I fled, feeling the heat of the fire at my back.
And then, something strange happened.
The sky, which seconds before had been completely clear, became covered with black clouds in a matter of minutes. The wind changed direction, and without further ado, it began to rain.
It wasn't a light drizzle. It was a deluge. Drops thick as coins fell from the sky with a fury that didn't seem natural. The fire, which was already spreading threateningly, began to diminish under the torrent.
I stopped under the rain, panting, soaked to the bone. I looked at the sky, confused.
"What the hell was that?"
The rain continued for hours. When it finally stopped, the fire had been completely extinguished. I cautiously returned to the place where it had all started, finding only ashes and burnt wood.
If I had to guess, I'd say this had something to do with some supernatural creature, maybe a Quetzalcoatl or something similar. Who else would have the power to control the weather so... effectively? I just hoped, in their generosity, they wouldn't send me more sudden storms with lightning that would turn me into a human lightning rod.
Lesson learned: don't make campfires in flammable places, or at least make sure you're not the first human to cause a massive inferno.
---
A week has passed since I arrived in this world, and honestly, I have to say it's a disaster.
Seriously, everything is horrible. The insects are unbearable, especially the damn mosquitoes. Those bugs are as big as grains of rice! I don't know if it's me or if there's something weird about this world, but every time I try to rest, it's like a band of mosquitoes is looking for me on purpose!
And don't get me started on the wild animals. Snakes... they are a real headache! For some reason, it seems like anacondas hold an annual convention in this place. Why are there so many? No idea, but I'm sure they're organized, conspiring among themselves to scare me at every step. I just want to survive, but they seem to have other plans.
In short, life here isn't exactly a walk in the park. I'm dealing with giant insects, snakes that seem to have some personal agenda against me, and supernatural creatures with weather control. And I just want to find some peace to build a decent cabin! But of course, if I ever manage it, I'll be the first human who has to fight an entire ecosystem just to have his own space!
Anyway, leaving aside the fact that the whole world seems to be conspiring against me, I have made some important progress. And by progress, I mean that I finally started to understand how this strange immortality they gave me works.
The first thing I discovered is that my body doesn't have some of the biological needs you'd expect from a normal human being. For starters, I don't have to defecate. Yes, you read that right. I don't need to. It's a luxury! Imagine how convenient it is not to have to worry about the bathroom, especially in the middle of a forest full of giant bugs that just want to make your life miserable. Also, I don't feel tired. I can run, jump, and do whatever I want for hours on end, and my body stays as fresh as a daisy. I guess this has to do with immortality... since, well, death isn't something I'll have to worry about anytime soon.
As for immortality, I discovered it's even weirder than I thought. Instead of simply being invincible or immortal in the classic way, it seems I possess extreme regeneration. It's like my body heals at an absurd speed, similar to what would happen if a superhero had the ability to heal in seconds. To be honest, I'm not complaining at all. Although what worries me is that I also have a degree of invulnerability, but I don't know to what extent it's true, and I don't really feel like testing it... at least not until I face something other than a bear.
Speaking of bears, I had a little "encounter" with one of those once. A black bear appeared and, apparently, thought it was a good idea to attack me. Its claws scratched and cut my skin, but the funny thing was that, although I felt the pain like any normal person, my wounds closed instantly. It was so surreal that the bear, after realizing its attacks were useless, just gave up and left. It's almost as if my body is a magnet for useless attacks.
Then, there was another interesting situation. I slipped down a small cliff and fell onto a pile of sharp rocks. I didn't suffer serious damage, but I felt tremendous pain all over my body. Despite not being torn to shreds, the sensation of physical pain was still there, although it seems I don't have a clear limit on what I can endure. It all comes down to the fact that regeneration doesn't seem to make me immune to pain... it just takes it all away, as if it were a kind of magic trick, where everything that happens to me is repaired instantly.
In short, it seems my immortality isn't just a gift; it's also a bit of a mystery. I don't know how invulnerable I really am, and I don't really want to test it recklessly. Although, I can take advantage of this while I figure out how to deal with the thousands of strange creatures surrounding me.
I looked at my timer system.
Day: 7
Month: 1
Year: 7000 B.C.
"One week," I murmured. "One week and I almost caused an apocalypse."
---
While moving through the forest, I decided to create a hunting tool. Using the system, I looked up the best way to make a stone spearhead. What I found was pretty good.
After selecting a limestone rock, I decided to turn it into a spear point. I started striking it against a harder rock, but the process wasn't simple. At first, the rock didn't give way as I expected, and my first attempt resulted in a crude, not very functional shape. I had to repeat the process several times, and along the way, I cut my hands more than once. Fortunately, the wounds closed immediately, which allowed me to continue without major complications.
After two days of effort and multiple attempts, I finally managed to get a sharp point strong enough to pierce a deer's hide. It wasn't perfect, but it served its purpose. With the point ready, I set out to find a suitable branch for the spear's shaft. I found one that, although irregular, seemed robust enough. Patiently, I worked on it until I removed the bumps and left it more or less smooth.
Using pieces of my tunic, already worn and torn, I managed to tie the point to the shaft. It wasn't a perfect join, but it was firm enough not to come loose easily. With the spear finished, I decided to test it.
My first target was a jaguar. It wasn't a deliberate choice, but the result of a fortuitous encounter. The feline attacked me by surprise, taking advantage of a moment of distraction. Thanks to my reflexes, I managed to dodge its charge, although I couldn't prevent its claws from cutting my chest. The wound closed immediately, but the situation was critical.
The jaguar, now more cautious, positioned itself to attack. I, holding the spear firmly, pointed it at him. The feline didn't take long to move, running towards me with speed and agility. I tried to thrust, but the jaguar dodged it easily. Then it leaped to the side and attacked me with its claws ready to tear. I managed to block its swipe with the wooden shaft, although it broke under the force of the impact.
In an act of determination, I plunged the spear into the jaguar's stomach, piercing it completely. The animal shrieked and roared for a few minutes before finally dying. I felt uncomfortable at the idea of killing another living being, but I had no choice. It was kill or be killed, and in this case, my immortal condition left me with no alternatives.
Looking at the lifeless body of the jaguar, I wondered what to do with it. I couldn't eat it, as its meat was too tough and I had no tools to prepare it. However, its skin would be useful to make some pants. My tunic was destroyed, and I didn't want to go naked through the jungle. Although there was no one for dozens of kilometers around, the idea of being without clothes didn't appeal to me.
Using the system, I looked up the best way to prepare an animal's hide. According to the information, I had to separate the skin from the body, remove the remaining flesh, soak it in water for a day, scrape it, stretch it, and let it dry. Carefully following the process, I obtained my first hide. If I had hunted a deer, it would have been better quality, but I had to make do with what I had.
After two days, the hide was ready. With the spear point, I cut it to make some makeshift pants. I used the shreds of my tunic as thread and a rope as a belt to keep everything in place. I also made myself some shoes from the remaining hide.
Once finished, I continued my journey through the Amazon. Walking for days was exhausting, especially without distractions. There was no option to listen to music on the system, so boredom became my constant companion. Still, I had no choice but to keep going.
I looked at my wrist once more.
Day: 9
Months: 1
Year: 7000 B.C.
"Nine days," I sighed. "Just about... two million, six hundred thousand more days until something interesting happens?"