Dalvin woke up and felt a surge of pain all over his body that made him hiss. Lord in heaven, he had never felt this terrible even when he overdid it within the gym on his first few days and tore some muscles.
He simply lay still while the pain coursed through him, hoping it would go away. While he remained like this, he finally had time to pay attention to his surroundings and was left confused by his location.
He realized he was lying on the floor of some sort of cell, his back prevented from touching the filthy cobblestone floor by a bundle of foul-smelling hay. Above him was a ceiling made of the same material as the floor, and to his right was a rotting bed that not even the most tolerant person would dare to sleep on.
Dalvin immediately felt alarm that transcended the pain he was feeling and caused him to sit up quickly, which neatly had the effect of exacerbating said pain. However, he couldn't care less as the young man realized that something had gone very wrong.
'Either I'm hallucinating severely… or something supernatural has occurred to me.' He thought to himself grimly.
He did not take any hallucinogenic substances at all, whether for medical reasons or recreational purposes, and he still remembered the weird phenomenon that happened to his phone, but not what came after.
Speaking of it, Dalvin checked around his body for the contraption, for a short bit of logic told him that much like dealing with the poison of a snake, it was best to rely on the source of the affliction to form the solution.
The phone and the game were the likely culprits of this situation, so they would be his best bet at understanding it… if Dalvin could actually find the damned thing!
He began to search with increasing alarm around him, moving the hay about and not caring that some damp yellow muck was appearing on his palms from the low-quality situation of this cell's 'carpeting'.
Dalvin stopped and began breathing a bit heavily. He stopped looking around and closed his eyes to calm down and try to think.
'Okay, so I am not at home, that much is obvious. I have been taken to somewhere either on earth or not on earth, and I cannot find my phone. However, I am not dead yet, and that is a good sign, so I need to settle down and find out more information about where I am specifically.'
Dalvin forcibly beat back the rising panic and fear with forced logic and then opened his eyes once more, showing a tough and resolute look. However, when he pushed himself to his feet, his shaking legs betrayed the true state of his emotions and mind.
Dalvin glanced at the bars of his cell and only saw another cell opposite his, one that was decorated similarly to his own, but was fundamentally empty. He initially wanted to go near the bars to see if he could squeeze his head out and get a view of the corridor, but immediately chastised himself.
Visions of himself getting his face cut in half by some sword-wielding guard hiding in the blindspot of the cell's exit pervaded his mind, causing him to feel a chill on his back. In the end, he rather took a step away from the bars and glanced behind him.
It was a plain yet pockmarked wall full of holes that looked like they were created by fists. Dalvin was immediately distracted by this and walked over to the holes, analyzing them one by one and drawing up an image in his head.
As an artist by trade, his visualization ability was quite spectacular, so he could recreate the scene almost frame by frame of a burly indistinct male-like creature punching the wall in a horse stance.
Huh? Was the person… practicing a martial art?
Dalvin had an epiphany at this moment as he finally focused properly and cleared his mind. He realized that if this current situation was brought about by the game, which was of an Eastern Fantasy style, then of course there would be martial arts.
In fact, wasn't the main theme immortal cultivation?
Immortal cultivation… the ability to fly on swords, throw out ethereal giant palms from above, and obtain extremely long lifespans…
The more Dalvin remembered about the stuff he had seen in fiction, the more amazed he was. Was he truly in a world where such things could be done? It was far-fetched to assume such a thing without seeing any evidence.
In fact, the more he calmed down, the more he began to disbelieve his current situation. A part of his mind that was in denial was forcefully coming up with theories to deny the plausible reality of his situation, telling him he was in some sort of failed prank or social media skit or something.
However, it was impossible for that part of his mind to find any real purchase in the long run, because Dalvin was fully enraptured by the thought of being able to acquire superhuman power for himself.
And so, rather than hope it was a prank, he rather truly hoped he had been taken into a fantastical world like those functional web comics.
But…
Dalvin looked around at his current situation and smiled bitterly.
He was not in any position to lust for power. If this world was based on the game he had been about to play, then he ought to remember what he knew about it to be able to understand what actions he could take.
He remembered he had chosen the human race, who were favored by the heavens and could dual cultivate martial arts and immortal arts. Dalvin looked behind himself to the holes in the wall, and his eyes flickered with intention.
'One day, I will also be able to do that.' He thought greedily.
Dalvin then focused. 'Okay, if it's a game-like world or is a real world linked by a game, then there should be an interface, right?'
Dalvin thought of the various monikers he had seen in fiction, whether it was system, interface, character screen, menu, or status. None of them responded to him, making him feel slightly grim because without some form of guidance, Dalvin did not believe he had the skills nor intelligence to navigate this dangerous situation on his own.
He tried again, this time thinking about more specific terms like "status window of Tianzi," "immortal system," "Tianzi system," and finally, "iPhone system."
Luckily, one of them seemed to pick, and Dalvin was almost scared by a relatively large black and white screen that was stylish, bearing modern UI elements while being fully opaque, meaning he could not see past it.
To Dalvin's surprise, it did not immediately display his various details and rather began to seemingly address him personally.
[Detected that the player is within the boundaries of the Tianzi Cultivation World. Connecting to the will of heaven to gather necessary information…]
[Complete. Detecting player's status, location, and current abilities… complete.]
The screen disappeared for a split second before returning once more, this time being far more detailed and containing a lot of neatly packed words containing a wealth of information that Dalvin needed.