Ray Tanaka had never believed his life was meant for anything greater than survival. He was twenty-one, tired, and broke—just another cog in the vast machinery of modern society.
His job at the distribution warehouse was as dull as it was punishing, with ten-hour shifts, minimum wage, and a supervisor who treated everyone like disposable parts.
Every day, he packed boxes until his arms ached and his mind numbed into silence. Nights were spent staring at the peeling paint of his one-room apartment ceiling, wondering if this was all life had to offer. He didn't hate it, not exactly. He had simply stopped expecting more.
The storm came without warning.
It was a Tuesday—Ray remembered because his paycheck had just hit his account, and he was debating whether to spend a little on something warm or keep eating instant noodles.
The sky had been unusually clear that morning, a rare slice of blue in an otherwise gray city. But by noon, the clouds had twisted into a dense spiral, black and violet, rumbling with unnatural energy.
Everyone in the warehouse had paused, looking through the skylights as lightning danced without thunder, spiderwebbing across the firmament in strange, circular patterns.
Then, the light fell.
It wasn't lightning. Not exactly. It was more like a spotlight from heaven, a pillar of searing white that burst down from the sky and struck the center of the warehouse.
There was no time to scream, no time to run. The air burned. Ray's skin felt like it had been peeled away, his bones turned to dust—and then, suddenly, everything went still.
He was no longer in the warehouse.
He was floating in nothingness, suspended in a space devoid of light, sound, or form. Yet he remained aware—he could feel his heart beating, fast and uncertain, even though he no longer had a body to feel with. In that vast silence, a voice spoke—not from outside, but inside his mind. It was calm, ancient, and utterly without emotion.
> [System Detected: Soul Structure Compatible]
[Transference to Target World Initiated]
[WARNING: No System Users Active in Target World—You Are Alone]
The words echoed through his thoughts like bells tolling in an empty cathedral. He tried to speak, to protest, to ask what the hell was going on—but no sound came. Only thought. Only the endless, pulsing voice that had become his only companion.
> [Welcome, Ray Tanaka.]
[System Installation: 0.2%...]
The world snapped into place.
He awoke gasping, lying on his back in a field of tall, silver-blue grass. Above him stretched a sky of twin suns and drifting green clouds. The air was crisp and fragrant, carrying the scent of something wild and ancient.
Trees with black trunks and golden leaves loomed in the distance, and somewhere nearby, a river bubbled over crystal-clear stones. Ray sat up slowly, his entire body sore but whole, dressed in the same warehouse uniform he had died in. Except… he wasn't dead.
Not exactly.
He stared at his hands, flexing his fingers in disbelief. The grass rustled under his weight. Birds he didn't recognize—small things with bright plumage and three wings—darted overhead, chirping melodic notes that echoed through the valley.
He wasn't hallucinating. He wasn't dreaming. This was real, impossibly real, and he was completely alone in a world that wasn't his own.
Then came the message.
It blinked into existence in front of his eyes, a floating pane of blue light with crisp silver borders. No one else could see it—of that he was somehow certain.
---
[System Interface Activated]
Synchronization: 0.8%
User: Ray Tanaka
Class: Undetermined (Analyzing...)
World: Aeloria Prime (Restricted)
Note: System presence unknown to native inhabitants. Maintain secrecy at all costs.
---
Ray stood slowly, brushing the grass from his legs as he stared at the message. He reached out instinctively, and the interface followed his vision, not his hand.
It wasn't holographic—it was mental. It moved with thought, responded to focus, and could be dismissed with intent alone. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and focused on one word.
"Status."
---
[Status Screen]
Name: Ray Tanaka
Race: Human (Foreign Entity)
Level: 0
Synchronization: 0.8%
Core Trait: Unknown
Available Actions: None
Note: Growth potential determined by world interaction and personal decisions.
---
Level 0.
Of course he was.
No weapons. No magic. No map. No guidance. Just a system that seemed unfinished and a landscape straight out of a fantasy novel.
Ray couldn't decide if he'd been chosen or cursed—but he knew one thing: no one else had this system.
The message had been clear. He was the only one. That meant he couldn't rely on anyone. He had to figure this out himself, slowly, quietly, or he wouldn't survive long.
The grass rustled nearby.
He spun instinctively, crouching low. A beast—roughly the size of a wolf but with scales instead of fur and tusks curling from its jaw—emerged from the tree line. Its eyes were a pale gold, unblinking and hungry.
Ray froze, unsure whether to run or fight. He had no skills. No strength. Nothing.
But the system responded.
---
[Danger Proximity Detected]
Temporary Skill Activated: Reactive Insight Lv. 1
Effect: Slow motion perception for 3 seconds
Cooldown: 24 hours
---
The world blurred.
The creature lunged—but to Ray, it moved as though swimming through syrup. His instincts kicked in. He dove left, barely missing the beast's snapping jaws.
He grabbed a loose rock and hurled it. It hit the beast's eye. The monster howled and staggered back, blood pouring from the wound. Ray didn't wait. He turned and ran, heart hammering as the adrenaline roared through him.
He ran until his lungs burned, until the forest swallowed the clearing and the sunlight thinned beneath the thick golden canopy. Only then did he stop, panting, and fall to his knees. The system blinked again.
---
[Synchronization: 1.5%]
Survival Threshold Reached
Trait Unlocked: Will of the Stray
> "In unfamiliar lands, the unknown becomes your weapon."
Effect: +5% resistance to fear, +2% bonus experience from environmental exploration.
Passive.
---
Ray read the screen twice, then laughed bitterly. Of course. In this world, even staying alive was something to be rewarded.
But he had learned something important: the system responded not to commands—but to actions. It watched. It evaluated. And it grew stronger the more he pushed himself.
He lay back against the roots of a thick tree and stared through the canopy at the twin suns above. His body ached, his mind spun with unanswered questions, but beneath the fear was something else—something he hadn't felt in years.
Excitement.
He didn't know what this world held. He didn't know why he had been chosen or where to go. But for the first time in his life, Ray wasn't just surviving.
He was becoming something more.
And the world had no idea what was coming.
---