"Nature lover," a term used for those who love plants, animals, beautiful landscapes, and all the wonders nature has to offer.
Damian Cole was one of them, and the cool breezes were one of his favourites. That's why he always left the window in his room open. He adored the cool morning breeze that passed through him, acting as an alarm clock, gently waking him up. Today, however, was different.
The breeze that usually passed through his head to his blanket-wrapped body passed through his "everything." The mischievous breeze fluttering over the "private part" of his body jolted him awake. The moment his eyes opened they widened.
What greeted his eyes wasn't the familiar roof of his 10*7 square foot room or the window with a view of the buildings hiding the rising sun. The roof of the blue sky greeted him, across which the rising sun cast a rosy hue. Golden fingers of sunlight lit up the scene.
The beautiful but unfamiliar roof made Damian sit up in a hurry, bringing his eyes to the walls. Trees crowned with lush green leaves rooted on the ground with short shrubs and beautiful herbs welcomed him with a flutter.
Looking around, Damian deduced that he was in a clearing in some forest. Thinking of the clearing, he lowered his eyes. Seeing the soft grasses poking his lower body and private parts, he finally came to terms with the fact that he... was naked!
Involuntarily, his hands reached for his privates, covering them. He looked around making sure that no one was nearby, at least not in his line of sight. This observation, however, did little to soothe his anxious heart, as fear of the unknown enveloped him.
'Where am I? How did I get here? Is this a case of kidnapping?' Questions began to rise in Damian's mind, clouding his reasoning.
"Ok, calm down, Damian. Calm down. Take deep breaths... " Damian told himself as he drew deep breaths.
"One..." *Phew* "Two..." *Phew*
Counting his breaths, he tried to calm his racing heart.
As someone who has some serious anger issues, meditation was something absolute for him. His mother was a Yoga instructor. She had taught him mediation when he was 5. Now that he had been meditating every day for 14 years, he could proudly proclaim that he had perfected the art of mediation.
'Wait, was I even kidnapped? What if this is one of the pranks of my dear sister?' Thinking of the devil in the name of his younger sister, Damian shook his head. She was mischievous, but she knew her limits, which she constantly crossed... "No! no! Her pranks aren't on such a grand scale."
'Nothing would be known by sitting here.' putting a halt to the revision that was raising his concern, Damian stood up, not forgetting to cover his prized privates.
*Ding! *
As if some kind of timing was fixed, the moment he stood on his feet, a blue translucent screen appeared to the left of his vision.
« Welcome to 'Serus' »
At the appearance of the screen, Damian's first reaction was to move his hand from behind him and rub his eyes... The screen remained.
His second reaction was to move closer to the screen, but... the screen followed his eyes, always remaining at the same distance and height, providing him with the same 2D view from all directions.
His third reaction was to try to touch it, but his fingers went right through it.
His fourth reaction was to think of removing it, and then... it vanished! With another thought of viewing it... it reappeared!
His fifth action was: "Ha! Haha! Hahaha!" laughing hysterically.
"Dad, you were right. Yoga really can drive people insane." His father was a fantastic doctor, and being a well-paid professional, he gained one of the unique characteristics of rich people: "Fat"!
To his strict mother, he was a disgrace to her name, so she decided to exercise him every morning. Tired and panting from the 'hell' of exercise, his father always looked fearfully at the sweet girl he married, saying, "Yoga can make people crazy."
*Ding!*
Done with the futile attempt to wash away the tension, Damian looked at the second screen that had popped in front of the first one.
«Installation of the System: 1%»
As someone who had read many web novels and fiction, Damian was all too familiar with the legendary "System" wet dream of every Otaku. With a bit of excitement and reluctance to accept these fantasy-like incidents, he waited for the installation.
Even after minutes of waiting, the progress continued at a snail's pace, increasing to a meagre 5%. Damian decided that the wait was a waste of time and got up to look around.
*Rustle* *Rustle*
He had yet to move when the shrubs behind him began to shake.
With his guard up, Damian stepped back. As the rustling became more intense, he prayed to all the gods that whatever came out would be friendly.
The rustle continued, and under the anticipating eyes of Damian, two rats crept out of the shrub. They were in the midst of their fight. As soon as they saw him, they fled back to the shrub.
'They were just rats.' There was nothing supernatural about it; those were just regular household rats. Damian wondered if this was the same world he knew.
*Sigh!*
Breathing a sigh of relief, Damian's whole body tingled with fright as a hot breath matched the timing of his sigh, brushing his naked body from behind.
Terrified, Damian turned his head, and the moment he did...
"Uaaaah!" a terrified yelp escaped his lips as his body fell to the ground.
With a body as big as an adult elephant and fur as dark as the night sky, the lioness looked down at the stunned Damian with her blood-red eyes. Red sparks flashed across her black fur as she approached the fallen human.
*Roar*
Damian's last hope that this was his old world was shattered when the lioness let out a small roar.
As the creature approached, he looked out of the corner of his eye.
«Installation of the System: 28%»
Looking at the rectangular screen, Damian couldn't help but wonder...
How was a man supposed to survive in the middle of a forest in an unknown world with nothing but his birth suit and fright, with his cheats yet to arrive?