The lake was unnaturally deep. Unnaturally cold.
Lucien burst from the surface with a gasp, coughing and splashing, heart racing. His body screamed in confusion—lungs burning from the drop, nerves fried from the whiplash of adrenaline.
Trees. Jungle. Not concrete. Not chlorine. Not the shrieks of kids splashing in plastic pools, but the thick buzz of insects and the haunting calls of birds he didn't recognize.
Lucien stood chest-deep in dark, murky water, blinking rapidly. No sign of the waterpark. No slides. No screaming kids. No lifeguards.
"...Okay. That wasn't just a weird water-slide trip," he muttered, voice low and cautious. "This isn't Earth."
He dragged himself onto land, soaked through. His shirt clung to his chest, sneakers squelching in the mud. He turned slowly, taking it all in.
Urban Lucien lived nowhere near forests. No chance he sleepwalked here. No chance this was a dream. And definitely no water slide on Earth dropped you into a jungle with twin suns overhead.
He looked up. No planes. No satellites. Just an endless blue sky—and two blazing suns.
Yeah. Definitely not Earth.
Step One: Check for the system.
Lucien stood still, focusing his thoughts. If this was an isekai... maybe the system would activate.
"System," he said.
Nothing.
"Status. Menu. Guide. Tutorial. Interface."
Still nothing.
Then he raised his hands dramatically, anime-protagonist style."GOD, PLEASE HELP ME!"
Silence. Not even a dramatic gust of wind.
He sighed. "Figures."
He patted his pockets. No phone. No wallet. No snack bar. Just soaked clothes. With a grunt, he grabbed a long, sturdy stick from the forest floor—part walking cane, part potential weapon.
He examined his surroundings: claw marks in the bark, strange tracks in the mud, no paths, no signs of civilization. Something big had passed through recently—something bear-sized.
Climbing a nearby tree, the rough bark scraping his palms, Lucien managed to get a better view. To the northeast, he spotted a glint—water. A river.
He climbed back down, breath heavy.
At the spot where he arrived, he stacked three heavy stones. On the nearest tree, he carved a message with a sharp rock:
GAMERTAG: BashBoiX | Heading NE → River. Stay safe.
It wasn't much, but if Sebastian had landed here too, he might find it.
Lucien started moving northeast, slashing shallow marks into the trees along the way—leaving a trail.
As he walked, he repeated the basics to himself like a mantra:Water. Shelter. Food. Fire.
If this was an isekai, he needed to stay alive long enough to find the plot.
The sky blushed with the fading gold of late afternoon, shadows stretching long across the quiet hillside.
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Two figures stood apart from the world, unseen, untouched.
"The pieces are moving…" the Architect said, his gaze fixed on the horizon. "But Lucien doesn't know he's on the board."
The Veilmaker tilted her head slightly, the light catching the edge of her veil—but she remained silent.
The moment passed like a breath. Distant bells rang. And the suns kept sinking.