[Congrats! You've been selected as a traveler!]
[Number of travelers: 1,000,000/1,000,000]
*Ding!
[A quest has been given]
[Quest: Survive
Description: Survive for 30 days. You will be transported back once the quest is completed. Rewards will be distributed based on your accumulated Achievement Points..]
[Achievement Points: 0/1,000,000]
The hum of an unfamiliar energy thrummed in their heads. And then, as if summoned from thin air, the screen appeared before them.
Twenty humans furrowed their brows at their new reality. Each of them stared, blinking in disbelief.
Just moments ago, they were immersed in their daily routines on Earth. Now, in the blink of an eye, they found themselves standing in a desolate landscape with this bizarre interface following their gaze wherever they looked.
'What the hell is this?!", barked a man, his irritation evident as he waved his hands in a futile attempt to swat the screen away. Though transparent, the screen was intrusive, blocking his view.
Punching the screen as if to put it off, a rather calm voice of a young man interrupted him.
"Just think of the word System", the young man advised simply.
Reluctantly, the man complied.
"This?!... it worked!", he exclaimed as the screen vanished. His excitement spread to the others, who quickly followed suit.
Turning to the source of the suggestion, the man scrutinized the young figure at the edge of the group. Slim and clad in worn, hand-me-down clothes, the young man exuded an unassuming yet approachable demeanor. His face, marked by a mole near his sharp nose and lips tinged with dryness, spoke of a life of hardship.
Freed from the obstruction of the translucent screens, the group stood stunned, absorbing the scene around them.
A sprawling wasteland greeted their gaze—shattered ruins of buildings interspersed with towering trees and thick moss that clung to every surface. Nature had claimed the remnants of a once-thriving city, whispering of countless years gone by.
Moving cautiously, he stepped over debris, heading toward a massive tree nearby. Its broad trunk and towering height felt familiar to him.
'A Narra tree... The kind I used to climb back home... But this one—this one's different.', the young man, Arvyn, thought, recognizing the native Philippine species.
Peering through the towering tree that seemed to pierce the sky, shafts of morning light peered through the gaps in the canopy that danced in harmony with the morning breeze.
For a brief moment, Arvyn found serenity in this desolate cityscape.
Closing his eyes, he allowed the wind to caress his skin, a soft smile gracing his face. But the serenity was short-lived.
The sharp sound of rushed footsteps and panicked screams shattered his moment of peace.
"M…monsters!", a trembling old woman cried as she collapsed to her knees. Her wide eyes were fixed on the forest's depth, where grotesque creatures began to emerge.
Arvyn's gaze followed hers, and his breath caught. The entity slithering out of the shadows was unlike anything he'd ever seen.
A sleek, sinuous body covered in obsidian-like scales that shimmer with faint, molten cracks emitting a fiery glow. Its dragon-like head with six eyes arranged symmetrically, glowed a deep crimson under the shade of the trees in the deep forest.
More eyes began appearing in the gloom as additional creatures emerged, their collective presence radiating an overwhelming aura of dread.
A putrid scent lingered in the air as the first wyrm slithered from the shadows, its scales glistening like dark glass. The sickening hiss of its breath seemed to freeze the very air around them.
Arvyn nearly forgot that they were transported to a foreign land. He loathed himself for letting the second sense of serenity entice him.
Looking ahead, the monsters were slithering prudently along the rubbles, seemingly enjoying the dreadful reactions of the group.
Its maw, lined with layered, needle-like fangs, dripped with venom so potent it liquefies anything organic on contact.
Arvyn heaved a deep breath as his mind was filled with chaos. Several emotions swarmed his body, dismissing his reason to devise a plan.
He couldn't stay coherent.
'I cannot move my body!', his mind raced. Arvyn couldn't budge an inch as fear seemed to consume him.
However, scanning the other people through his peripheral vision, no one was in any favorable situation.
Yellowish fluid dripped down an old lady's dress as she remained locked in her position. Her body shook in every slithering sound that pricked her ears.
Having scanned everyone his peripheral vision could cover, Arvyn brushed off his earlier idea.
'No, it is not that we cannot move because of fear, but rather we just cannot', Arvyn pondered as he seemed to have lost control of his body.
'It is some sort of skill? Or something else?', he pondered, barely calming his thoughts
As a fantasy novel extremist back on Earth, Arvyn had a little familiarization with this setting. He might have stopped reading 5 years ago, prioritizing his study and then came work, but his thousand novels read made him theoretically familiar with the system, giving him a fleeting edge.
It was for this reason that he was able to put off the translucent screen earlier.
Given that he could organize his thoughts, albeit barely, Arvyn believed that fear hadn't overwhelmed him to the extent that he couldn't budge an inch.
The weight of fear had a physical presence, suffocating him. His limbs refused to obey, as if something unseen held him in place. It wasn't fear alone. Something was controlling him, keeping him from moving, from fighting
'It must have been a skill. Shit!', Arvyn couldn't find a way to break out of the petrification.
Dozens of wyrms slithered, dripping venoms from their excited maws as their eyes glowed fiercely. The group, unable to move, was forced to witness their death closing in, helpless.
'Is there anything we can do?!', Arvyn grew desperate, being on the edge of the group and closest to the wyrms.
He tried calling for the system over and over only to be met by blatant disappointments as notifications from earlier solely filled his sight.
With options running out and time running thin for Arvyn, the life he lived in seemed to flash before his eyes.
His daily routine of searching for decent work, met with belittling rejections because of his unfinished educational degree, grappling to make end's meet with his earnings from part-time jobs, Arvyn's life was nothing but tedious and repetitive.
His heart raced with fear and reluctance - reluctant to live that repetitive life.
And now this foreign land offers him a new chance. A chance to start over on the same starting point as others.
However, with just a second of solace, his yearning was met with demise.
'I don't want to die… not like this.', desperation ran wild inside Arvyn.
And at that moment, a familiar chime cut through the ominous hiss by the wyrms.
[Ding!]
[You have awakened!]
[You may now access your system interface]
A surge of light flickered across the group as the notification appeared before them all.
Faced with death and desperation, the group awakened altogether.
'Awaken? I now have power?!', Arvyn thought as he then pulled out the notification.
With this newfound hope, light surged through his chest, filling the void of dread. His mind cleared in an instant, and the sensation of control flooded back to his limbs, albeit diminutive.
But that clarity faltered as his gaze fell on the terrifying creature before him.
Atop its head, a translucent screen resided.
[Abyssal Wyrm: Level 80]
'It… it is a level 80 monster'
Thread of hope snipped as terrified and helplessness forecast the group. It was clear that everyone had seen the screen floating atop the monster's head.
'It's over'
However, just as everyone succumbed to their demise, another gust of wind way stronger than before flew above them. Rubbles were pulverized, billowing dust in the area.
Arvyn could only close his eyes as dust rushed in the air then came the eerie sound of the monsters screeching. Reeling pain evident in their intensifying screeches.
A moment later, Arvyn could feel that he had regained control of his body. His arms hastily blocked the dust preying his eyes.
Then, a voice like thunder echoed through the ruins.
"You can now open your eyes. You are safe - for now"
Rubbing his eyes off dust, Arvyn saw a young girl, no older than nine, looking at them. As the dust cleared, Arvyn's eyes widened in disbelief.
Under her feet, severed bodies of a dozen level 80 abyssal wyrm formed a mountain.
With a piercing gaze, she spoke with resonance.
"'I am Hiraya of the Banuar Clan", she said, her voice unwavering.
'Which clan do you belong to?'"