Liam woke up feeling empty.
Not emotionally. Physically.
His stomach hurt the moment he opened his eyes. It wasn't sharp pain, just a constant tight feeling that made it hard to focus. He stayed still for a few seconds, staring at the broken stone above him, listening to the wind move through the ruins.
He pushed himself up slowly. His body felt weaker than yesterday. His legs shook for a moment before he steadied himself against the wall.
The ruins looked the same. Cracked stone. Old weeds. Dust in the corners. No footprints. No signs of movement. Whatever lived in this land had not come close during the night.
That should have made him feel safer.
Instead, it reminded him that he was alone.
He walked to the edge of the ruins and looked out across the open ground. The grass moved gently in the wind. The forest still stood far away, dark and quiet. The stream reflected the light of the morning sun.
Water was the only thing he had plenty of.
Food was becoming a serious problem.
He went to the stream again, knelt, and drank slowly. The cold helped clear his head a little, but it didn't stop the hunger. When he stood, the system text appeared in his vision.
[LORD SYSTEM]
Registered Players: 46
Equipment Delivered: 8
Eligible for Summon: 8
Liam stared at the numbers without moving.
They were higher than yesterday.
He already understood what they meant now.
Registered players were people who had signed up for the game. Equipment delivered meant boxes had reached real homes. Eligible for summon meant the system could pull them into this world at any moment.
Eight people were already close enough.
"That's too many," he muttered.
He sat down on a broken block of stone and rubbed his hands together. His fingers felt cold, even in the morning light.
Eight people appearing here right now would be chaos. Eight confused strangers with no food, no weapons, no shelter beyond broken walls. Eight people looking at him for answers he didn't have.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
"I'm not doing that," he said quietly.
The word Summon hovered at the edge of his vision. He ignored it.
The memory of his first night here came back clearly. The silence. The fear. The way every sound had felt dangerous. He would not force someone to experience that alone.
One person would panic.
Two or three would argue.
A small group would fall apart quickly.
If people were coming here, they needed numbers. Enough people to distract themselves. Enough to laugh it off. Enough to tell each other it was still just a game.
He opened his eyes and looked at the system again.
"One hundred," he said out loud.
Saying it made his chest tighten, but it also settled something in his mind.
"One hundred. Not before."
It wasn't a perfect plan. It wasn't even a good one. But it was the choice he could live with.
—
On Earth, the boxes kept arriving.
They appeared in apartment hallways, outside suburban homes, in dormitory lobbies. Each one had a printed label with a full name and address. No company logo. No return address.
Inside every box was the same set of equipment.
A smooth black headset.
A fitted suit that felt heavier than it looked.
A strange connector designed to rest against the skin.
There were no manuals. No safety warnings. Just a small card placed on top.
Put on equipment. Say "Log in."
People stared at the contents in disbelief.
Some laughed and filmed themselves opening the boxes. Others sat in silence, checking the label again and again to make sure it really had their name on it. A few tried to contact support and found nothing but automated replies.
Online discussions exploded.
"This is insane."
"Mine just arrived too."
"Is anyone else nervous about this?"
Most people convinced themselves it was fine. That it had to be fake. That no real company would do something dangerous.
Believing that made it easier to smile.
—
In Gaia, Liam forced himself to stay active.
Sitting still made the hunger worse. He searched the ruins again, more carefully this time. He checked behind fallen stones, inside collapsed corners, anywhere something might have been stored long ago.
He found nothing useful.
No tools. No containers. No food.
The ruins had been empty long before he arrived.
He pulled at grass near the walls and dug up roots. He chewed them slowly, hating the bitter taste, but needing something in his stomach. It barely helped.
The system appeared again when he straightened up.
Eligible for Summon: 12
He let out a slow breath.
"It's speeding up," he said.
More equipment was being delivered. More people were becoming eligible. He had no control over that part.
He checked again later, after trying to rearrange stones to make the sleeping area safer.
Eligible for Summon: 19
His jaw tightened.
He focused on the system, trying to think clearly. He imagined selecting fewer people. Imagined limiting the number. Imagined delaying eligibility.
The system did nothing.
No response. No error. No acknowledgment.
He understood the message clearly.
He could summon.
He could not manage.
The hunger returned stronger than before. His hands shook as he leaned against the wall. He slid down and sat on the ground, breathing slowly until the dizziness passed.
Waiting until one hundred was costing him strength.
But summoning now would cost other people something worse.
—
Earth moved forward without him.
More people registered. More boxes arrived. Some tried on the suits and laughed at how real they felt. How tightly they fit. How strange it was that there were no instructions beyond two words.
Log in.
A few people hesitated.
Most didn't.
—
By late afternoon, Liam felt exhausted.
He checked the system again.
Eligible for Summon: 27
The number made his chest feel heavy.
Twenty-seven people were already close enough to be pulled here. Twenty-seven lives that could be changed forever with a single decision.
He pressed his back against a stone wall and closed his eyes.
"If I summon now," he said quietly, "I get help."
More hands. More ideas. Maybe someone who knew how to hunt. Someone who could build tools. Someone who could take charge.
The thought tempted him.
Then he imagined twenty-seven faces turning toward him at once. Questions. Fear. Trust he hadn't earned.
He opened his eyes.
"No," he said. "Not yet."
Changing his mind now would mean admitting that he didn't really believe in the rule he had set. And if he didn't believe in it, then it had never mattered in the first place.
—
As evening came, the air grew colder.
Liam dragged loose stones closer together, making the sleeping area tighter and harder to approach. His movements were slow. His arms felt weak. Every task took more effort than it should have.
The system updated again.
Eligible for Summon: 34
He laughed quietly, a dry sound.
"Please slow down," he said, knowing it wouldn't.
—
On Earth, someone finally said the words out loud.
"Log in."
—
Night fell again in Gaia.
Liam lay against the stone, staring at the dark sky beyond the broken walls. Hunger gnawed at him constantly now. Sleep came in short pieces, broken by discomfort and uneasy thoughts.
He dreamed of doors opening. Of people stepping through confidently, smiling, only to freeze when they realized there was no way back.
When he woke, the system was already there.
Eligible for Summon: 41
He stared at the number without reacting at first.
Forty-one.
Not even halfway.
He pushed himself up slowly, ignoring the way his vision swam for a moment. He walked to the edge of the ruins and looked out across the land again.
"If I make it to one hundred," he said softly, "then I'll do it."
He didn't know who he was speaking to. The system. Himself. The world.
None of them answered.
The number stayed where it was.
For now.
[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
Registered Players: 83
Equipment Delivered: 41
Eligible for Summon: 41
Total Population: 0
Players:
Active: 0
Disconnected: 0
────────────────────────
Resources (Estimated)
────────────────────────
Food: None
Water: Low
Wood: None
Stone: Low
Metal: None
────────────────────────
Important Individuals
────────────────────────
Detected: 0
────────────────────────
User
────────────────────────
Name: Liam Richard
Rank: Rank 0
Warrior Energy: 0