Owen pulled himself together, still dazed by the memories that had crashed over him. The forest around them rustled softly, leaves whispering in a light breeze, as if the fantasy world itself were trying to soothe them after the chaos of battle. Laura stood there, her eyes red from recent tears, her makeshift staff still clenched in her trembling hand. She looked fragile in her torn clothes, a brutal reminder of the goblin attack.
"What are you doing here too?" he asked, his voice gentler than he meant it to be, tinged with a concern he could not hide.
Laura shook her head, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.
"I don't know… I couldn't see anything, I couldn't speak. Then a voice spoke to me in the dark, and… here I am. Just like you, I guess."
Owen nodded, his mind racing. The "God" he had met still echoed in his memory, along with that cryptic line: "You will resist more than the others, but at what cost?" He pushed the thought aside and focused on the present.
"We don't know much yet. I say we follow North, like that entity said. If we're in the South group, that probably means three people per cardinal direction. At least."
Laura's eyes widened, surprised by his quick deduction.
"What? It's not just the two of us? How do you know there are others?"
"The system said it: the South group is the first to finish the tutorial. That implies other groups. And we're missing someone in ours. We should search the area; if the third person is here, they can't be far."
Laura looked at him with a flicker of admiration in her eyes. How can he be so calm? So quick to analyze? she thought. I ruined everything between us. That night with that other guy… If only I hadn't been so stupid. She bit her lip, pushing down the guilt that had been eating at her for months. Then she stood up, determined not to be a burden, and followed Owen deeper into the forest.
They walked in silence for three minutes, the ground crunching under their feet, the air thick with a damp, woody scent. Owen stopped abruptly, and Laura bumped into his back, her heart racing at the unexpected contact. He turned sharply, placing a hand over her eyes to keep her from looking.
"Don't look that way," he murmured tensely. "We're going to find a village…"
Laura flushed, confused, but obeyed. Owen turned to change direction, his expression frozen.
"Go hide behind a tree and wait for me. I've got something to take care of."
"What? What do you mean? Please, don't leave me alone! If this is about what happened last year, I'm so sorry…"
Tears streamed down her cheeks again, her voice cracking.
"Please, don't abandon me."
Owen froze, taken aback by the intensity of her distress. He stepped closer, gently resting a hand on her head with a forced smile, trying to reassure her like he would a sister – or a friend he'd lost.
"Hey, calm down. I'm not going to abandon you. I'll protect you until we're back in our world. After that… we'll go back to our lives. Me with Maddie, and you with… whoever you love."
The words left a bitter taste in his mouth. He turned away and disappeared into the undergrowth. In front of him lay a mutilated corpse, half-eaten. One arm torn off, goblin bite marks covering the exposed flesh, dried blood pooling in a dark stain on the ground. The stench of decay hit him like a wall, twisting his stomach. Who is this? A villager? Another chosen? he thought, horror gripping him.
He knelt and dug a shallow grave with his bare hands, dirt grinding under his nails. After several minutes of rough effort, he laid the body in the hole, covered it, and whispered a silent prayer. Rest in peace, whoever you are. This world is merciless.
He came back to Laura, trying to put on a neutral expression, but his hand was still trembling. She noticed immediately and took his hand in hers.
"What happened?"
Owen pulled his hand away, shoving it into his pocket.
"Nothing… Don't worry about it."
She didn't press further, but a shadow of doubt settled between them. They resumed walking, the silence hanging over them like a veil.
Suddenly, a system message flashed in Owen's mind.
[The North group has just completed the tutorial. Their rewards will be granted in a few seconds.]
At the same time, a private message from Mike came through the communication.
[Mike: You're here too, nice. I'm in the North group. We just finished the tutorial – goblins. If you haven't finished yet, head north.]
Owen replied immediately, his mental fingers flying across the invisible interface.
[Owen: South group here, we're the first ones. Let's meet at the capital in the center. If you go south, you should find it.]
[Mike: How do you know? Eh, whatever. See you at the capital.]
More notifications followed in rapid succession.
[The West group has just completed the tutorial. Rewards incoming.]
[The East group has just completed the tutorial. Rewards incoming.]
[The tutorial is now complete for all. The shop is now accessible. Know that everything can be purchased there: your return to Earth, a Devil Fruit from One Piece, anything you can imagine.]
[Personal message to Owen Smith: Your reward is being prepared. It will be delivered shortly.]
[Reward: 10 stat points, 100 shop points, and a shop map (value: 10 shop points).]
A holographic map appeared in the corner of his vision, displaying their position and the surrounding area. A village was marked nearby, nestled by a river. Owen zoomed in mentally.
[Map: Displays your position and nearby towns/villages. (Value: 10 shop points). Add-ons available.]
[Add-ons: Monster locations (20 points), Dungeon locations (75 points), Treasure locations (150 points)…]
He closed the interface and turned to Laura.
"Laura, you should allocate your stat points. It'll make you stronger."
"Okay, I'll do it."
Owen summoned the shop mentally, filtering by "Scan," sorted from cheapest to most expensive.
[1. Rare Eye (allows scanning certain elements, F— non-evolvable): 1 point]
[2. Vision Hat (scans magical traps, +1 magic defense, F— non-evolvable): 2 points]
[…]
[7. Skill 'Scan' (scan items, humans, monsters… F– evolvable): 15 points]
He bought the skill "Scan" and tested it on his fire magic.
[Fire Magic: Manipulation of fire for creation and control. Allows various uses. Rank D+. Evolvable.]
[Skill Scan rises from F– to F+.]
Not bad, he thought, satisfied. Then he pulled up his stats.
[Class: Mage]
[Level 1]
[Health: 37] [Mana: 30]
[Defense: 13] [Physical Attack: 17]
[Speed: 17] [Magic Attack: 21]
[Intelligence: 19] [Luck: 7]
[Stat points: 10] [Shop points: 115]
[Skills: Scan]
[Magic: Fire]
(1 point = +10 Health/Mana; or +1 to all stats.)
He distributed: 3 into Luck, 3 into Physical Attack, 2 into Mana, 1 into Defense, 1 into Magic Attack. A wave of energy surged through him, reinforcing his body.
"I'm done," said Laura. "By the way, I bought a class for 10 points."
"So cheap? Which class?"
"Mage, like you. I've got an affinity for water."
"Perfect. Let's go, there's a village nearby."
They set off again, talking to keep the fear at bay. Laura spoke about her memories from Earth – a "blurry memory" of a voice in the dark before the coma, that didn't quite match Owen's experience. He made a mental note of that detail, intrigued. After an hour of walking, they reached the gates of a rustic village, its wooden walls reinforced with stakes. A guard, spear in hand, watched over the entrance.
"He's watching the gate," Laura whispered.
"Yeah, but we've got nothing to hide. We're not criminals."
The guard stopped them with a gesture.
"Who are you?"
"We got lost in the forest, we lost everything," Owen replied calmly.
The guard looked them over, suspicious.
"Yeah, I can see that. No one leaves without weapons. Go in, head to the guild for a new card."
Owen discreetly scanned the guard.
[Class: Thief (Guard for now)]
[Level: 4]
[Health: 21] [Mana: 5]
[Defense: 10] [Physical Attack: 13]
[Speed: 17] [Magic Attack: 0]
[Intelligence: 15] [Luck: 3]
[Skills: Sword Handling E+, Steal C-]
[Magic: None]
[Feelings: About to assault a young woman]
"WHAT?!"
Owen spun around, alerted by a noise behind them…