.
.
.
.
.
.
The young man woke up yawning, feeling something warm pressed against him.
Confused, he frowned—his room was always cold, never warm like this. Slowly, he opened his eyes and realized he wasn't in his room. Surprise and confusion flooded through him.
He looked around and saw tall trees, their trunks thick and rough, stretching up endlessly—high as clouds—with wide, leafy canopies swaying gently in the breeze. These towering trees, along with smaller trees and thick bushes, stood about half a kilometer away from where he lay—where the ground was fully sand, soft and pale, meeting calm blue water that lapped quietly against the shore.
He sat up in silence, adjusting the glasses slipping down his nose, taking in his strange surroundings.
But the quiet was suddenly shattered by a deafening roar.
His eyes snapped open wider, heart lurching in his chest. He shot upright and scanned his surroundings, head whipping left and right—but nothing.
Then he saw them.
Bird-like creatures—each standing about four to five feet tall—burst from the smaller trees and bushes near the towering forest half a kilometer away, sprinting toward the beach in a frenzied panic. One after another, they stumbled over each other, chirping as they ran across the sandy stretch toward the water.
And then the reason why became clear.
A massive creature exploded from the dense forest behind them.
It was large and fierce-looking, with shimmering green and burnt orange scales. Its body was lean and muscular, tail whipping behind like a counterbalance as it sprinted, claws tearing through the earth. Its sickle-like talons glinted in the sunlight, and its cold, calculating eyes locked onto a fleeing bird-creature.
The creature stood at least six, maybe seven feet tall, easily towering over the smaller ones. With terrifying precision, it leapt and slammed down on one of them, pinning it to the ground. The air filled with panicked screeches… then silence.
The young man stood frozen.
Then instinct took over.
He turned and ran. His fat legs burned, his chest heaved, but he didn't dare stop. Whether the large creature hadn't seen him or was too distracted, he didn't care—he ran like death itself was behind him.
For thirty straight minutes, he sprinted along the beach, heart pounding, lungs screaming for air. Only when he could no longer see the creatures behind him did he glance back.
Nothing.
No creature.
No large predator.
He collapsed into the sand.
His chest rose and fell in heavy gasps, body trembling not just from the run but from the sheer panic coursing through him. Even as he lay there, his body remained alert—tense, ready to bolt again if it had to. Every muscle screamed. His mind swirled. But slowly, he began to relax.
After a while, he sat up again. Around him, the beach stretched endlessly, and the forest loomed like some prehistoric wall of green far behind. Everything was still… for now. He can finally think.
This wasn't Earth. Not with creatures like that. Not with trees that scraped the clouds and huge animals roaming the forests. And now that he thought of it... those bird-like creatures looked like dodo birds, only much bigger than any dodo skeletons he seen.
And that thing chasing them? That was a huge raptor. He blinked, shaking his head. "What the hell is going on…?"
He hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't hurt anyone. He didn't deserve this. He didn't even know where to begin.
He didn't know how to survive.
He wasn't some outdoorsman. And now he was stuck in this strange world.
An hour passed.
The waves kept crashing. The wind rustled the distant trees. Nothing came for him.
The young man finally sat up straighter and rubbed his eyes. He wasn't sure what to do next. His head was still spinning from the chase and the pounding in his chest. If this was some kind of other world—like in those novels or fanfics—maybe he had a system. Something that would explain all this… or help him survive.
"System," he muttered quietly, eyes closed, willing something to happen. Nothing.
"Status." Still nothing.
He tried more words under his breath, hoping for a sign or response, but nothing came. But when he said lvl. A screen appear in front of him.
[Lvl 0: 0/10]
He had well something, since he can level up he though of many ways people can level up, crafting, mining, killing, etc. But then he noticed something wriggling about thirty feet away in the sand.
It was a worm.
Thick—almost as wide as his wrist—and surprisingly long, its slimy body glistening in the sunlight as it slowly emerged from the sand.
He scanned around but had nothing—a weapon, tool, or even a sturdy stick—to defend himself. He thought about killing the worm to see if he could gain experience points, but without any weapon, he wasn't sure how he could manage it.
The worm began inching closer.
Then more worms appeared, emerging one after another from the sand.
Fear gripped him.
He turned and sprinted.
The worms gave chase, their thick bodies slithering quickly across the sand.
For thirty minutes, he ran until he could no longer see them behind him.
Collapsing onto the sand, the young man felt exhaustion seep into every fiber of his being.
His mind raced.
If this was how it started… how was he going to survive?
He stood up—not because he wanted to survive, but because his stomach growled. He realized he was hungry, but he didn't have any food on him. He didn't know how to hunt. Even if he had something to kill with, everything here looked bigger and stronger than him.
Looking around, he saw some rocks nearby. Maybe, if he found one sharp enough, he could use it as a weapon. For almost an hour, he searched, finally finding what seemed like the sharpest rock. He tried to sharpen it more, but it didn't work the way he expected. Still, it was better than nothing. Now he had something to attack with, but he wasn't sure it would do much damage.
After searching around for a while and finding nothing, he gave up and sat on a rock. Then he laughed—loud and sudden. Not because anything was funny, but because the whole thing felt ridiculous. As he laughed, a few tears slowly formed in his eyes, gathering quietly without him noticing.
He pulled his knees in and hugged them, resting his chin on top. More tears welled up—gentle, quiet ones that didn't fall, just stayed there, blurring his vision slightly. He sat there like that for a while. He knew he needed to survive, but he wasn't even trying. Could he really do this? Could someone like him actually make it out here?
He didn't want to live like this. He'd thought about ending it all before. He'd tried before. But even that, he couldn't do.
After a while, he stood back up and started walking slowly along the beach. That's when he saw it—a fish flopping near the edge of the water. It was big, struggling to get back into the ocean. But he wasn't about to let it escape.
Something got over him.
He rushed forward, heart pounding, and jumped onto the fish. He stabbed it in the eye with his rock—again and again. He didn't even use the sharp side—just kept stabbing, his arms moving on their own until the fish stopped struggling.
Suddenly, a sound echoed in his ears—ding.
A screen appeared in front of him. His level bar was full, and a small "+" sign hovered next to it. He tapped it, and the number jumped from 0 to 1.
Then he felt it—energy rushing throughout his body.
His limbs felt lighter. His glasses started to blur, so he took them off—and his vision was clear. Stronger. Sharper.
His body felt stronger too. His mind clearer. He could remember things better, like old memories had just been dusted off. The warmth from the energy ran through him like a wave, and he sat there, breathing heavy.
He smiled, just a little. He leveled up. He had food.
But he stared at the fish for a long while.
"I can't eat this raw," he muttered.
Then he paused.
Maybe… maybe he could remember how to start a fire. He'd watched so many videos, so many survival tips online. Maybe something would come back to him.
Maybe