A sharp, jagged breath tore through Blue Kurogane's lungs as his body jolted awake. His chest heaved, muscles tight with the sudden panic of finding himself on cold, damp earth. The chill of the ground seeped into his bones, and his limbs were stiff, as if his very body had forgotten how to move. His fingers dug into the dirt as he forced himself upright, every motion feeling like it fought against the heaviness in his head.
The air smelled thick, with moss clinging to the trees and the earth's moist scent pressing against him. His gaze flickered around, the towering trees looming like silent sentinels. Moonlight barely broke through the canopy, casting dim shadows across the forest floor. Silence clung to the woods, a strange, unnatural stillness, only disturbed by the occasional rustling in the underbrush.
Something—something big—was moving in the distance.
His heart slammed against his ribs. He wasn't in his room. He wasn't anywhere familiar.
Blue's mind raced, struggling to piece together what had happened. His body still felt like it was caught in a haze—his senses sluggish and distorted. He reached for his phone, but his hand closed around empty air. No device. No connection to the world he knew.
System Activated.
A voice, cold and mechanical, echoed inside his head. The sudden intrusion made him freeze, his body stiff with confusion and something darker—fear.
Welcome, Blue Kurogane. System Initialization Complete.
The words rang in his mind, surreal. His breath caught in his throat, and he froze, unable to do anything but listen to the strange voice.
"What… what is this?"
His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. The thought of the situation didn't make sense—it couldn't.
System Online. Assessing User's Status…
Frustration clawed at him, rising like a storm. A steady pulse of panic, too insistent to ignore. He had to focus. This couldn't be real. None of this could be real.
"Where the hell am I?"
His voice was sharper now, an edge of panic threading through the words.
Location: Forest of the Lost. Danger Level: High.
Blue's breath hitched. His gut twisted with a sudden, visceral dread. High danger? The words alone were enough to set his pulse racing, his mind scrabbling for clarity. What did that even mean? What was he supposed to do here?
"High danger level? What does that mean?" he muttered, turning his gaze nervously toward the rustling sound in the distance.
It wasn't the wind. Whatever it was, it wasn't just the trees shifting.
His heart pounded in his chest as his eyes darted across the shadows, searching for what lurked just beyond his sight.
His fingers twitched. He wasn't alone.
"No… no, no, no…"
His breath quickened. His body reacted before his mind could fully catch up. Every instinct screamed at him to move—to get out of here. But his feet stayed glued to the spot, fear locking his legs in place.
System: Escape Options Are Limited.
The voice was disturbingly calm, too matter-of-fact for the chaotic pulse pounding through his veins.
However…
The pause in the voice felt like it dragged on forever, and when it finally spoke again, the words felt almost… intimate.
User Blue Kurogane Possesses the Ability to Edit the World.
The world tilted. His stomach dropped to the ground. His hand went slack around the dirt, as if the very air around him had shifted.
"Edit?"
His voice was barely a whisper, swallowed by the oppressive quiet of the forest. "What do you mean—edit?"
User Can Modify the Properties of Inanimate Objects.
His mind raced, the words barely registering. Modify the world? No way. This couldn't be happening.
His eyes flicked downward, scanning the forest floor. A small, thin stick lay at his feet, an insignificant piece of debris. Could he really change it?
His hand twitched again, the desire to do something—anything—rising like a tide. He bent down, fingers curling around the rough bark of the stick. It was almost laughable. How could such a simple thing…?
"System."
He inhaled deeply, trying to steady his breathing. "Can I give this stick a skill?"
Affirmative. Define Skill.
The words were simple, mechanical. And yet, they felt real. His pulse spiked with a sudden surge of adrenaline. It was insane. It was impossible. But what choice did he have?
"Teleportation," he whispered, the word foreign and heavy on his tongue.
He didn't even know how it would work, but if there was a chance—just a chance—that he could escape this…
He gripped the stick harder. "I want this stick to teleport me. Anywhere. Out of here. Now."
The moment he spoke, the stick trembled in his hand. A pulse of faint, electric blue light danced along its length, swirling in intricate patterns, and then just as quickly… it was gone.
The air around him didn't feel any different, but something was different. Something had changed.
Skill 'Teleportation' Added to Object: Stick.
He could feel the weight of his breath, the pounding of his heart in his throat. A tremor ran through him, and without giving himself another moment to second-guess it, he lifted the stick high, his heart hammering in his chest.
"Teleport."
The world shattered.
There was no sound. No feeling. Just an overwhelming sensation of being ripped apart, torn into a thousand pieces, flung through time and space as his body felt weightless—utterly untethered.
And then—bang—his vision blurred and snapped back into focus. He was no longer in the forest.
He was somewhere… else.
A barren, empty landscape stretched before him, its starkness almost suffocating. No trees, no creatures, nothing. Just a vast, open clearing beneath a sky littered with unfamiliar stars.
He staggered, barely catching himself as he landed on solid ground. His breath came in ragged gasps, his chest heaving as he struggled to steady his pulse.
"I did it," he muttered, disbelief mingling with a rising tide of something darker, something unsettling.
His voice sounded hollow, the words disconnected from the shaking of his hands.
"I actually teleported."
The weight of it hit him like a stone.
He was in control now. He had power here. And not just any power.
He could shape reality.
His fingers tightened around the stick, its surface warm against his skin.
A dangerous thought swirled in his mind—what else could he change? What else could he do?
The implications of this were dizzying, terrifying, and thrilling all at once.
He had escaped the monsters in the forest.
But that didn't mean he was safe. Not yet.
And in this world, where danger loomed at every corner, he needed every ounce of that power to survive.
He was alone now.
But if he could shape this world…
Nothing would stop him.