So, I started reading a new novel and something hits me. Why do all the MC Isekai go on journeys and adventures? I mean wouldn’t your first impulse be. Is to find a base nearby and observe. Why do they always try to get out of the forest and head down some road. Especially with strangers they just met. I know. I know. The reason is probably because it would be boring otherwise. But still is that realistic. One of the few novels that somewhat went that direction was “The Man Picked up by the Gods”. Even than there was a few time skips, but still spending a few years alone doesn’t seem that bad. Especially when your life maybe at stake. What do you guys think?
I think the major reason why someone would start walking down the road is to get to civilization, since being in a perpetual survival situation sucks and most people don't want to go for that. The only times that I've seen them stay in their place is when the MC has everything conveniently there for them and has no reason to look around for anything else.
I would hole up in a magical castle and use said magical castle to move down the road. I would also embed a wolf spirit inside the walls so that i can call it The Moving Castle that Howls
Because that is their vacation, and they are going on a food tour. For most normal people, they would find civilization first, then settle down and learn the best they can. Unless there is some reason they can't settle down. (like they aren't welcome in the area or they are constantly under attack and etc) Yes, journeying in a world you don't even know the common sense of is pretty much suicide. So even if you were the journey kind of person, you would still take a few years of learning before you would venture out.
I probably wouldn't be able to last even a week on the wilds on my own, so... Searching for civilization would be my first goal. I mean, what are the worst things that could happen? I could be killed for any reason I'm unaware of, or I could be turned into a slave or something... Both options are better than dying from hunger in the middle of a nowhere, and those are the worst options possible, so... To me seeking civilization would be a real no-brainer. ... I would never join an adventurer's guild and go killing monsters to earn a living though, I'm not suicideal. I'd find some other way to survive instead, even if that meant working at a brothel.
Whether hermit or adventurer, it's the solo life for me. Played too many team games, both online and irl - I've learned that teammates will definitely screw you over. Which leads into my decision - what skills and resources are there to support whichever path I choose? I'll go for the safe and cozy hermit life if I get the skills to support it, e.g. the mc in The Man Picked Up By The Gods. If I get isekai'd with a convenient base like that chap living in a house in a magic power spot, or that chap in hikineet, I'll also go with the hermit life. If I end up in a temporary "base" like the mc in Hachinan or Clearing an Isekai With a Zero Believer Goddess, there's probably no choice but to gear up for the adventurer life. There's also the "demon king" route like that mc in Returner or Death Mage doesn't want to die a 4th time. If shit really strikes the fan, like some of the side characters in Otoko Aruji or Spider, then all I can do is die. Ofc, if the skills I get are for adventuring, then that's what I'll go with. It sure beats trying to live as a peasant. There's no way to make a living in town without a trade or the right connections.
I agree. Like some of the main characters are typically the "stay at home" type, the "non athletic type" and maybe the type "to buy conbini food" before the transportation by truck-kun and then bam their whole personality changes and they become they type to go camping, can picks fights with monsters and can some how make godly Japanese food. And it's all thanks to these "cheats" by kami sama or goddess sama. I think the mentality of isekai stories has turned from A) surviving from unknown terrors (ie. Cage of Eden, Terra Formers...) to a B) let's have a "RPG" vacation in a world that treats Japanese people like saints. (Current Isekai). In A situtation, I would differently choose to create my base for survival and settle down in one spot. In B situtation, hey its a vacation. You don't stay in one hotel when traveling the world. You go to the next Airbnb and move along. A western comparison would be A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and the Wizard of Oz.
isolation is a killer people are good, its better than being alone in the woods when you have zero survival skills ngl also quarantine drive me nuts, need people, not gunna try more than a few days alone in woods.
I would make a secure base first. Procure food and other recources, overall safety. I would like to explore the world of course, but only if I would be able to defend myself well. After all, I love going around to explore stuffs, being in a countryside village and all. I use go to the mountains and hills just beyond our village to "adventure". I don't see why I won't do the same if I suddenly got isekai-ed