*The Beginning
One day, in a modest apartment, two brothers, Rize and Furan, shared their lives. Their parents had divorced, and they chose to live together, just the two of them.
Rize, the older brother, was the backbone of their small household, covering all daily expenses. Besides working as an office employee, he spent his spare time at home writing light novels as a side income.
That afternoon, as usual, they were each engrossed in their activities—Rize was typing away at his computer, while Furan was playing games on his phone.
"Brother… what are you doing?" Furan asked, his voice curious as he watched his brother, who seemed intensely focused on the screen.
"Writing a novel," Rize replied casually.
Furan walked over and stood behind Rize's chair, closely observing the story his brother was creating.
"Brother… these words don't fit quite right," Furan started to say.
"It should be…" Before Furan could finish his sentence, Rize interrupted, "It's meant to be like that, just like in typical novels—wuxia, xianxia, and xuanhuan style."
Furan, who was used to reading manhua, manhwa, and manga, felt something off after glancing at the phrases in his brother's story.
"Why don't you just change it? The words seem off," Furan said firmly, his tone almost insistent.
Rize, surprised by his brother's reaction, chuckled softly.
"I've read hundreds, even thousands, of Chinese-style novels, little brother. Look at this," Rize said, pulling up a website filled with countless Chinese-style stories.
Not stopping there, Rize showed Furan the analytics and reader feedback for the novel he was working on.
"It's how it is, see? The number of readers and the response is decent…"
"Did you know, little brother, that a novel writer is like a god who can change the story as they wish?" Rize added with a playful tone.
But Furan's stubbornness was evident from his frown and discontented expression. Seeing this, an idea formed in Rize's mind.
"How about this, little brother? Why don't you try writing a novel yourself? I'll post it on my account so you can see firsthand that writing a story isn't as easy as you think!"
Furan thought for a moment. After a pause, he nodded, considering his brother's words.
"That's true… I might as well write a story I like," he said softly, a smile forming on his face.
"Brother, I'll give it a shot. But what kind of story should I write?" Furan asked, slightly puzzled, as he'd never written before.
"Write whatever you like. Try to make it as interesting as possible. Once you're done, I'll help edit it," Rize said.
"Okay, brother…" Furan agreed, nodding, and started brainstorming ideas and plotlines for his story.
After a while, he returned to his game, unaware of how quickly time passed.
"Whoa… it's already late. It's eleven o'clock."
"Since I'm not sleepy yet, I might as well start writing," Furan thought to himself.
The clock struck 11:30 p.m.
Furan gathered his supplies—pencil, eraser, and paper—and sat at his study desk.
"What kind of story should I write? Reading too many comics is making it hard for me to decide on a plot," he muttered quietly, thinking.
In the tranquility of the night, Furan glanced out the window at the dark sky, void of stars, obscured by the city's pollution. He opened a few comics to find inspiration.
"There are so many stories now with overpowered main characters and swordsmen… Maybe I'll create a protagonist who doesn't use a sword but has unique skills and powerful talents?" he said, half-questioning himself.
The clock struck 11:55 p.m.
After moments of silent contemplation in the quiet night, a wild thought crossed Furan's mind: what if a writer entered their unfinished story?
"Can an author change the story from within?" he wondered aloud, feeling an unfamiliar drowsiness taking over as he rested his head on the desk and drifted off to sleep.
The clock struck 11:59 p.m.
Suddenly, Furan jolted awake.
"Did I fall asleep? Ugh…"
A sharp pain surged through his head, and everything in his vision turned grayscale and wavered. Cracks, pixel-like and digital, began appearing around him. Before he could react, as the confusion of sleep still clung to him, objects grew larger, and his body seemed to shrink and fade.
"Brother… brother… brother, help me!" Furan screamed as loud as he could, fear gripping him.
"What's happening? Why does my head hurt so much? Why isn't my brother coming? Why is my body see-through? Why…?"
Rize, deep in sleep, heard nothing. The silence was only broken by the soft ticking of the clock.
Tick… tick… tick… tick…
In the stillness, Furan's panic was indescribable. His screams were silent, the pain unbearable. He couldn't move, and his body continued to disappear.
Panic, rage, sorrow, fear, shock, confusion, pain, disappointment—all these emotions collided at once. His eyes turned white, and blood began trickling from them, as well as from his nose and ears. He collapsed, unconscious. All of it happened in just one minute.
The clock struck midnight, 12:00 a.m.
Furan's existence began to fade, piece by piece—photos on social media, framed pictures, certificates, names in books, even memories of him in the minds of those who knew him.
"Yawn… What time is it?" Rize yawned, heading to the bathroom and glancing at the wall clock.
"It's already midnight… Why are there writing supplies on this desk?" Rize asked, noticing the items laid out.
"They're not mine… but there's no name on them either. Oh well, I really need to go to the bathroom."
After finishing up, he felt an inexplicable sense of change but couldn't pinpoint what it was.
"Whose stuff is this? Yawn… I'll think about it tomorrow. I need to sleep since I have work in the morning," Rize mumbled, still drowsy, heading back to his room and slipping into bed.
Life on Earth continued as normal, unchanged, except for the absence of Furan.
Furan slowly opened his eyes and looked around. "Where am I... why am I in a forest?" He asked himself, confused. Furan wanted to move, but his body felt frozen and incredibly hard to move. Still, he refused to give up and forced himself to shift from where he lay.
Crack The sound of bones echoed through his body.
"Why does my whole body hurt... Argh..." Furan realized he couldn't move anymore, so he decided to stay put and hope for help.
He waited and kept waiting.
"It seems like it's already late afternoon. What if wild animals come out tonight?" Furan started to panic. Lying on the ground, he struggled even harder to move, driven by the fear gnawing at him.
"Argh... I have to move... No matter how much this pain hurts... I need to find a safe place...!"
With immense effort, he managed to get close to a large tree. Panting heavily, sweat dripping, and his heart pounding wildly, he leaned against the tree, ignoring the pain. Exhausted, he soon drifted into sleep.
Midnight, exactly at 00:00
A Bright Morning
The sun's rays streamed through the leaves and landed right on Furan's face, waking him up.
"Why am I here? Where is this place? The last thing I remember was being at home, planning to write a novel."
"Ouch, it hurts... This isn't a dream, is it? How did this happen to me?" He tried pinching his arm to check if he was dreaming, but before he could even manage that, the pain in his body made it clear this was all too real.
Crack "Ouch... Why does everything hurt so much... I need to find somewhere safe." Unable to move, he decided to shout as loud as he could.
"Help... Hello... Is there anyone here... Help...!!!" He yelled for a long time, but nobody came. Weary from shouting, he lay down again and soon fell asleep.
In a Dream
"Welcome to the world of LANDIA, my creation," a voice echoed from nowhere, startling Furan as he searched for its source.
"Who are you? Where is this? Why is it so dark... Wait, my body doesn't hurt anymore..." Furan asked, bewildered.
"Relax, this is a dream. Try to stay calm and focus so you can see me." It didn't take long for Furan to concentrate and slowly open his eyes.
"Wow," he gasped as a beautiful goddess with majestic white wings appeared before him. Her presence was breathtaking.
"Am I dead?" Furan asked jokingly.
"Of course not, you silly one. I am the goddess who created the world where you are now, the world of LANDIA."
"What? Why am I here? If I'm not dead, then how did I get here?" Furan asked, more confused than ever.
"I summoned you because I need you to do something for me. But before I explain, I need to tell you briefly about the world of LANDIA. This world consists of five levels, each with its own rules and civilization. To move to the next level, you must complete the main quest for each stage. Failure means the destruction of the world, forcing me to start from scratch and find a new candidate. Failure for you means death."
"Create the world again?... Death if I fail?... How many times have you remade LANDIA?" Furan asked, astonished.
"Not many... The world you are in now is the 1,516,224th iteration." The goddess's answer left Furan silent for a while, trying to comprehend the gravity of death and the repeated failure to complete the mission in a world that had been remade over a million times.
World 1,516,224
"Then... How can I get back to where I came from?" Furan asked.
"Return? There is no way back unless you become strong enough to alter the reality of this world and break free from the flow of fate! Even I may not be able to do that," the goddess said with a faint smile.
"Become strong? I'm just an ordinary person... How can I become strong... Are you going to give me some powerful skill or item?" Furan challenged.
"No... There are no shortcuts. But don't worry, because you come from another world, you have potential that cannot be measured by the standards of LANDIA. Your very existence is a taboo that shouldn't be here, but while you may be less restricted by the rules, the path will not be easy. For now, I will bestow a blessing upon you—do your best," she said as she touched Furan's head.
The moment she finished speaking, a brilliant light emitted from her hand, turning everything around them a blinding white, even brighter than snow. Furan instinctively closed his eyes, shielding himself from the light.
"What blessing? What are you doing? I can't see," he said, his voice trailing off.
"It's time for us to part. We will meet again when the time comes," the goddess's voice faded away.
"Wait, Goddess, please explain... (What mission were you talking about?)" Before Furan could finish, he slowly opened his eyes again.
(!) AN UNEXPECTED MEETING IN THE FOREST
"Hey... Wake up... What are you doing here?" a young girl's unfamiliar voice called out.
("//What's happening? Someone's shaking me, whose voice is that?//") Furan wondered as he regained consciousness. The goddess's voice was replaced by that of a child. Opening his eyes, he saw a small girl with wolf-like ears, bright blue eyes, white hair, and a soft, childlike voice. She was just over a meter tall.
"Wh-Who are you?" Furan exclaimed in surprise, his voice louder than he intended. The girl jumped back, frightened.
Seeing the girl's distressed, tearful face and trembling form, Furan softened his voice to comfort her. "Hey, come here. I won't hurt you... Why are you scared? What's your name?"
Cautiously, the girl stepped forward, still keeping her distance.
"M-My name is... Anori... Anori didn't take anything, so please don't hit Anori," she said, her body shaking and voice wavering.
Realizing she must have experienced something terrible, Furan decided to ask simple questions to distract her: her name, what kind of tree they were under, the time of day, and why her ears were different from his. He asked these questions to make Anori feel more at ease. Although she didn't answer at first, she gradually stopped trembling.
"Anori, come closer," Furan said softly.
Without a word, Anori stepped closer to where Furan lay. He smiled warmly.
"Anori, my name is Furan. It's nice to meet you," he said.
Anori smiled and giggled a bit, moving even closer until she was sitting beside him.
"Anori, too," she whispered. Furan wanted to understand why this small girl was in the forest alone and whether their meeting was fate.
"Anori, what are you doing here alone? Aren't you afraid of the forest?" he asked.
"Anori has lived here for a long time... Anori is afraid of the city... Too many bad people... Anori likes the forest better... No bad people here," she answered in a small voice.
"Bad people? Why are there so many bad people?" Furan asked, confused.
"Yes... Anori was hungry... no money... took food... people got mad... they hit Anori... threw stones," she said sadly.
"Anori, that's called stealing... We mustn't steal. Back where I come from, if someone steals, they get locked in a room with metal bars, unable to escape, and aren't released for a long time. They even have to work every day without getting paid. Do you want to be caught and locked up?" Furan explained briefly.
"Anori doesn't want to be locked up... Anori wants to be free," she said quickly.
"Anori... Who do you live with in this forest?" Furan asked, intrigued.
"Anori is alone... Mother... Father... are gone." Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, though she didn't sob aloud. Furan's heart ached for her, understanding the loneliness and pain she must have endured. He tried to comfort her.
Furan mustered all his strength to move his right arm. The pain intensified as he forced his body to respond. Determined, he pushed past the excruciating ache and managed to lift his hand to pat Anori's head gently.
(Even though he felt unbearable pain in his right arm)
"Anori, don't be sad... From now on, come with me. I'll take care of you and protect you... If bad people come, I'll fight them off... If anyone tries to hurt you, I'll make them regret it."
Anori's tears turned into full-blown sobs. She clung to Furan, crying uncontrollably and gripping his shirt tightly. Furan understood her relief and continued to stroke her head softly as she let out all her bottled-up emotions.
The girl cried for a long time, releasing her sadness, fear, and loneliness. For the first time, she felt the warmth of someone who wouldn't leave her or hurt her. Slowly, the sound of her sobs grew quieter until they faded away, and she fell asleep.
"Maybe she's tired and exhausted after crying and releasing all that bitterness. Let her rest; it seems I'm starting to feel sleepy too. A short nap sounds like a good idea," Furan thought to himself.