The morning sun broke lazily over the shattered skyline of the ruins, painting everything in hues of bronze and ash. Kairo rubbed his eyes and groaned, still half tangled in the hide-blanket he'd fashioned the night before.
"Another day in paradise…" he muttered, sitting up. His scavenger ghouls were already at their posts, silent and eerie, their milky eyes catching the light.
He pushed himself to his feet. "Alright. Yesterday was food. Today's walls. If a beast decides to rampage through here, I'm not about to let it chew through me like last night's roast."
He pulled up the Command Nexus, the transparent panel of shifting runes hovering before his eyes. Selecting Tier 1 Wall Blueprint made a crude schematic unfold, showing a circle of sharpened logs driven into the earth.
"Requires… wood. Lots of it," Kairo sighed. "Figures. This is gonna take forever."
He pointed to the squad of ghouls. "Alright, you undead lumberjacks, chop-chop. And I mean wood this time, not stone, not dirt. Wood."
The ghouls gave no reply, but shuffled toward the dead trees scattered across the ruins.
He left one behind—the ghoul that had managed to make fire on their first night. It lingered near the camp, staring forlornly at the pile of ash from last night's blaze.
"You again," Kairo smirked. " Stay here and keep the home flames burning."
The ghoul tilted its head as if it understood, then slouched back down by the hearth.
"You look sad about it," Kairo said with a laugh. "Don't worry, I'll bring you a medal later."
Hours stretched. One ghoul returned with an armful of sticks—half of which clattered to the ground every few steps.
"For crying out loud," Kairo pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're supposed to collect wood, not play a trail-marking game. Go back and pick those up."
Another ghoul wandered in, proudly dragging a chunk of crumbling ruin wall.
Kairo slapped his forehead. "That's stone, you brain-dead termite! We're building a wall, not… another wall!" He stomped over, spun the ghoul around, and shoved it toward the treeline. "Wood! Trees! Tall, leafy things! I swear, I'm babysitting corpses."
Still, progress trickled in. The Nexus blueprints guided the ghouls once they had the materials, and bit by bit, the frame of a primitive barricade began to take shape.
Foreshadowing
While supervising, Kairo kept opening the Map Function, watching the faint pulse of his territory core. Every so often, his eyes drifted to the edges. Tracks were appearing—strange grooves across the ground, like something heavy had slithered through the dirt.
"Snakes?" he muttered. "No… too wide. Looks like… wheels? No, that's—" He shook his head. "Not my problem yet. Focus on the wall, genius."
Still, unease gnawed at him.
By midday, Kairo was starving. He roasted some leftover meat with potatoes and sat cross-legged on a broken slab, chewing noisily. Out of boredom, he glanced at the Fire Manager ghoul.
"Want a bite?" he teased, holding out a skewer.
The ghoul only stared, jaw hanging slack.
Kairo chuckled. "Yeah, thought so. Not much of an eater, huh?"
The ghoul shifted uncomfortably, almost like it was irritated.
"You know… you're different from the rest. Smarter." Kairo leaned back, squinting. "Maybe you're the first one waking up. If that's true, well… I'll keep an eye on you."
The ghoul said nothing, but its blank stare lingered on him longer than usual.
By the time the sun dipped west, sweat ran down Kairo's forehead. His shirt was torn from hauling wood, and his muscles burned with exhaustion.
But a small portion of the wall now stood upright—rows of sharpened logs lashed together with scavenged vines. A crude wooden gate leaned crookedly in the center.
Kairo planted his hands on his hips and exhaled. "Looks like something straight out of a caveman's diary, but hey—it's mine. First step to civilization."
He collapsed near the fire as dusk set in, gnawing on another potato. "Boring day, but worth it."
That was when he saw movement.
A shadow crawled toward the half-built walls—slow, dragging, pitiful. Kairo tensed, hand tightening around the broken spear he'd salvaged before.
"Ghouls, on guard!" he barked.
The scavenger ghouls obeyed instantly, forming a semi-circle around the intruder.
The figure collapsed just before the gate. Dust swirled, revealing scales glinting faintly in the firelight. A humanoid form… with a serpent's lower body.
Kairo's eyes widened. "No Way...a Naga? Just like in the game"
The stranger's chest heaved raggedly, his body streaked with blood and ash. His hands clutched at nothing, trembling, before he fell still.
"Don't kill him!" Kairo snapped, rushing forward. He crouched over the naga, wary but curious. "He's not attacking. He's half-dead."
He glanced at his troops. "Pick him up. Gently. If you break him, you're fixing him."
The ghouls obeyed, lifting the naga's limp form with surprising care.
Kairo followed them back inside the walls, his mind racing. "Another intelligent being… finally. But who the hell is he? Friend? Foe? Or just another problem dumped in my lap?"
He stared down at the stranger, unease tightening his chest.
"Guess I'll find out soon enough," Kairo muttered.
The fire crackled. The night deepened. And for the first time since arriving in this world, Kairo realized he was no longer alone.