Liam Richard clicked the button without thinking.
He had just gotten home from work, dropped his bag by the door, and collapsed onto the couch. His day had been long and boring in the usual way. Meetings that went nowhere. Numbers that didn't matter. People pretending to care.
To shut his brain off, he opened a game on his phone.
That was when the ad appeared.
It slid over the screen, bright and annoying, blocking part of the game.
Do you want to become a Lord?
Two buttons sat under the text.
Accept.
Decline.
Liam frowned. "What kind of stupid ad is this?"
He didn't even read it properly. Ads had been getting worse lately. Fake games. Fake promises. He tapped Accept just to make it disappear.
The moment his thumb touched the screen, everything went wrong.
There was no warning. No countdown. No light.
The world simply vanished.
One second he was on his couch. The next, his knees slammed into the ground, pain shooting through them as his palms scraped over dirt and stone.
He gasped and pushed himself up, heart racing.
Cold air hit his face. Real cold. Not air-conditioning. Not a breeze from an open window.
He looked around.
Trees surrounded him on all sides. Tall, old trees with thick trunks and dark leaves. The ground was uneven, covered in grass, roots, and rocks. There were no buildings. No roads. No lights. Just wilderness.
"What the hell…?" he whispered.
He scrambled to his feet and spun in a slow circle. The sky above was wrong. The sun hung low, pale and distant, and the color of the sky didn't match anything he remembered. It felt wider somehow.
His phone was gone.
He checked his pockets again, faster this time. Empty. No phone. No wallet. No keys. Even his jacket and shoes were missing. He looked down at himself and froze.
He was barefoot.
His clothes were different too. Simple. Light. Not what he had worn to work that day.
A wave of panic surged up his chest.
"No. No, no, no," he muttered.
This had to be a dream. Or a prank. Or some kind of VR stunt. That ad. It had to be connected.
"Log out," he said, louder.
Nothing happened.
The forest stayed silent.
Liam forced himself to breathe slowly. Panicking wouldn't help. He needed to think.
If this was a game, there would be rules. Systems. Something.
As if responding to the thought, faint text appeared in his vision.
It didn't block his sight. It floated in front of him, semi-transparent, calm, and cold.
[LORD SYSTEM]
Status: Active
World: Gaia
System Energy: 1000
Free Summons Remaining: 100
Population:
Citizens: 0
Players: 0
Liam stared at the words.
"What is this supposed to mean?"
He waved a hand through the text. His fingers passed through it like smoke. The words didn't move. Didn't react. There was no sound. No explanation. No help message.
Just information.
His stomach twisted.
This didn't feel like a normal game interface. There was no tutorial. No welcome screen. No controls. It wasn't trying to help him at all.
He tried focusing harder on the text, like willing it to respond.
Nothing changed.
"Great," he said quietly. "Just great."
He looked away from the text and scanned the area again, forcing himself to stay calm. If he was stuck here, panicking would only get him killed.
He noticed things more carefully now.
To the east, the land sloped downward. He could hear water there, faint but steady. A stream, maybe. Water meant survival.
To the west, the ground rose into rocky hills. Harder to climb. Maybe safer, maybe not.
South was thick forest. Dark. Dense. He didn't like that direction at all.
North was more open. Tall grass, scattered stones, fewer trees. Better visibility.
He took a cautious step forward and winced. Bare feet on rough ground hurt more than he expected. Every pebble sent a sharp reminder that this felt too real.
He headed toward the sound of water first.
The stream was shallow and clear, running over smooth stones. He knelt beside it, checking for movement, then dipped his hands in. The cold shocked him, but he didn't pull away. He drank slowly, carefully.
As he did, he caught his reflection in the water.
It was his face.
But cleaner. Younger. He touched his chin and felt smooth skin. The small scar he'd had since childhood was gone.
His breath caught.
That wasn't graphics. That wasn't lighting.
He stood quickly, heart pounding. This was not something a normal game did.
He backed away from the stream and sat on a rock, pressing his hands into his knees. His thoughts raced.
If this wasn't a game, then he was in real trouble.
If it was a game, then it was the most extreme one ever made.
Either way, standing still wouldn't help.
He needed a place to stay before night came.
He moved north, choosing the open ground over the forest. As he walked, he noticed shapes rising from the grass ahead. Stone. Old stone.
Ruins.
Broken walls. Collapsed corners. Foundations half-swallowed by earth. Whatever had once stood here had fallen long ago.
His instincts told him to stay away. Ruins meant danger. But they also meant shelter.
He walked around the area carefully, staying alert. There were no signs of recent use. No footprints. No smoke. No movement.
The stones were thick and solid. A low hill nearby gave a clear view of the surrounding land. The stream was close enough to reach. The soil looked dark and rich.
This place wasn't perfect.
But it was survivable.
He sat on a fallen block and looked around. The system words floated quietly at the edge of his vision, unchanged.
"If this is real," he said softly, "then this place matters."
That thought scared him more than anything else so far.
Night came faster than he expected.
The air grew colder. Sounds changed. Insects grew louder. Something far away howled once, then went silent.
Liam gathered dry grass and leaves, piling them against a stone wall. He didn't know how to make fire, but the act of preparing helped calm his nerves.
He lay down with his back against stone, eyes open, listening to every sound.
He thought about the word Lord. About the number 100 beside Free Summons. About what would happen when he finally used it.
He didn't feel ready.
Sleep came in short, broken pieces.
When he woke, pale morning light washed over the ruins. Nothing had attacked him. Nothing had changed.
Except him.
He stood slowly, body stiff, and looked around with clearer eyes. He had survived the night.
That mattered.
The system text appeared again, simple and emotionless.
[LORD SYSTEM]
Territory Status: Unregistered
Liam stared at the words, then looked at the ruins, the land, the water.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I figured."
He took a deep breath.
This was where he would start.
—
[LORD SYSTEM]
Status: Active
World: Gaia
────────────────────────
System Energy
────────────────────────
Reserve: 1000
Starter Pack:
Free Summons Remaining: 100
Summon:
Available
Cost: 75
Cooldown: Ready
────────────────────────
Territory
────────────────────────
Territory Name: Unregistered
Development Level: None
Settlement Status: None
────────────────────────
Population
────────────────────────
Citizens (Gaia): 0
Players (Earth): 0
Total Population: 0
Players:
Active: 0
Disconnected: 0
────────────────────────
Resources (Estimated)
────────────────────────
Food: None
Water: None
Wood: None
Stone: None
Metal: None
────────────────────────
Important Individuals
────────────────────────
Detected: 0
────────────────────────
User
────────────────────────
Name: Liam Richard
Rank: Rank 0
Warrior Energy: 0