When I woke up, the first thing I saw wasn't a ceiling, or my bedroom, or even the cracked plaster in my grandma's old house.
It was… text. Floating. Right in front of my face.
Not like on a phone screen. Not like AR goggles either. No, this was inside my eyes, as if someone had written on my brain. The letters were glowing blue, clean and perfect, and each one burned into my vision like they belonged there.
[Welcome, User: Aiden Cross]
[Initializing System…]
[Loading Starter Package…]
[ERROR_004: Missing Data Detected]
[WARNING: Do not trust me.]
I blinked. "Wait, what?"
The text didn't fade. The last line started flashing red like an emergency alarm in some sci-fi movie.
Do not trust me.
Who even says that to someone they're introducing themselves to? It's like meeting a stranger on the street and having them yell, 'Hey! Don't believe a word I say!'
Before I could ask… well, anything, the red text glitched out and vanished.
I sat up so fast my head spun. My hands immediately went to my sides. My phone wasn't there. My bag wasn't there. My bed wasn't there.
Grass. That's what I was lying on. Short, soft grass that smelled too fresh, like the air had been scrubbed clean of every bad smell on Earth. Above me was a sky so bright blue it looked fake. I was in the middle of some open field, but the grass ended not far away where a small forest began.
My school uniform was gone, replaced with leather armor.
A belt hugged my waist, with a short sword hanging from it. There was also a small pouch tied to my hip. The pouch jingled faintly, like it had coins inside.
I touched the sword's handle. It was warm. Not "sun-hot" warm — more like the way a person's hand feels after holding something for a while.
I didn't even remember grabbing it.
"Okay…" I muttered. "Dream? VR? …abduction?"
A deep bell rang somewhere far away. Not a tiny ding like a shop bell, but a huge, cathedral kind of bell. The sound rolled through the air, making my chest vibrate like I was standing next to a giant speaker at a concert.
More glowing text appeared in my vision:
[Main Quest Unlocked: Kill 3 Slimes]
[Reward: 50 EXP, 10 Copper, Starter Skill Unlock]
Slimes. Really? The most generic starter monster in every video game ever. Except, I wasn't in a game. I had no controller, no logout button, and no idea where I was.
Just for fun, I tried saying: "Decline quest."
[ERROR: Declining starter quest will result in forced termination.]
I froze.
Termination? That didn't sound like a harmless 'game over.'
"Alright, fine," I muttered. "Slimes it is."
A little compass arrow appeared in the corner of my vision, glowing faintly, pointing toward the forest.
I started walking. At first, it felt like any normal stroll — except my steps made no sound. The grass didn't crunch or swish. The air was weirdly still, no wind, no bugs, no bird chirps.
That's when I saw it.
A green blob bounced gently down the dirt path ahead, like a happy piece of jelly enjoying its best life.
The System pinged it:
[SLIME — LVL 1 — HP: 20/20]
It looked harmless.
Until it turned toward me.
Its surface rippled, and for half a second, I could swear I saw a shape inside.
A human face.
I stumbled back. "What the hell—"
The slime lunged.
It moved faster than I thought something that jiggly could move. I barely got my sword up in time. The blade sank into it with almost no resistance, like stabbing pudding.
The thing split in two.
Instead of dying, both halves quivered angrily, then bounced at me.
[TIP: Enemies may multiply when damaged.]
[Additional TIP: This information should have been given earlier.]
"Oh, NOW you tell me?!" I yelled, slashing at one half while the other smacked into my chest like a cold, wet punching bag.
The leather armor absorbed most of the impact, but the slime's body was icy. It sucked the warmth right out of me. My teeth clenched as I shoved it away and stabbed it. The slime exploded into goo, which evaporated into green smoke before it could even drip onto the ground.
The other one tried to hop away toward the forest, but I sprinted after it and cut it down.
[1/3 Slimes killed]
[Loot: 1 Copper, Slimy Residue (Junk)]
I sat on a flat rock to catch my breath. My hands were shaking. Not just from the fight — from what I'd seen. That face inside the slime… was I imagining it?
The arrow in my vision blinked, urging me deeper into the trees.
The forest was stranger up close. The trees had smooth, pale bark, almost silver, and their leaves were bright gold, glowing faintly like lanterns. I found the second slime near a pond that reflected the light like molten metal.
This one didn't have a face. Thank every god for that.
I stabbed it quick, and it popped into smoke.
[2/3 Slimes killed]
The last slime, though… was different.
Bigger. Darker.
Its HP bar read: LVL 5 — HP: 60/60.
"Yeah, that's not fair," I muttered.
The slime gurgled, then bounced forward so fast I barely saw the movement.
I dodged, but it clipped my leg, knocking me sideways into the dirt.
[WARNING: HP 85%]
The System flashed another line:
[TIP: Use Starter Skill.]
[Skill Unlocked: Truthless Speech — LVL 1]
I didn't even know how to use it, but somehow, the words came to me.
I said: "You're too slow."
It wasn't true — the slime was insanely fast. But as soon as I spoke, reality flickered like a broken video feed, and the slime actually slowed down.
I didn't wait. I lunged, stabbing my sword right into the glowing core at its center. The slime trembled, then burst apart into smoke.
[3/3 Slimes killed]
[Reward: 50 EXP, 10 Copper, Skill Upgrade Available]
I exhaled hard. My whole body was buzzing from adrenaline. But before I could even feel proud of myself, the text changed.
[Secondary Quest Unlocked: Kill the Villager in the Red Cloak.]
I blinked. "…Excuse me?"
The arrow spun in my vision, now pointing toward the village beyond the trees. Smoke rose from chimneys there, and faint voices floated on the still air.
[WARNING: Quest refusal will result in forced termination.]
My hands went cold. This wasn't a monster. This was a person.
Through the trees, I saw him — a man in a red cloak, walking slowly down a dirt road, carrying a basket. He looked completely normal.
I gripped my sword, my mind screaming at me not to.
Then the man saw me. He smiled politely at first. But when his eyes fell on my weapon, his smile shattered.
He dropped the basket.
Then he ran.
The System didn't need to say anything.
I already knew.
This wasn't a game.
And whatever this "System" was, it wasn't on my side.