These days, transmigration stories are everywhere. Readers getting sucked into novels, games, ancient worlds—it had become its own genre.
Not that I had paid much attention to them.
Heroes and Demon Kings were more my style.
"..."
Now, perched in a tree in some unknown forest with pathetic stats glowing on my wrist, I wished I had done more than just skip past those stories in my reading list.
The status screen offered a strange sort of comfort, though. In the few transmigration stories I had skimmed, system interfaces usually helped the protagonist survive.
They were tools for advancement, not instruments of torture.
Usually.
'But am I even in a web novel?'
The stars above looked wrong—too bright, too numerous, forming constellations I'd never heard of before.
This could be anything: another world, a parallel dimension, or just a very elaborate dream my tired brain had conjured up at 3 AM.
'Like hell it is...'
Even I couldn't convince myself of that last one. The throbbing pain from my fall, the rough bark digging into my palms, the wind cutting through my thin pajamas—it was all too vivid to be a dream.
"So cold."
The words came out in a visible puff of air, driving home just how real this all was.
Swaa—
The tree swayed beneath me as another gust of wind tore through the forest.
Now that the initial panic had subsided and adrenaline was wearing off, the temperature felt beyond just cold—it was the kind of chill that seeped into your bones.
I stuffed my shirt and pants with dried leaves, remembering something about insulation from a survival show I'd half-watched once.
They didn't help much, but the act of doing something, anything, kept the creeping despair at bay.
'At least the growling had stopped.'
That was the only blessing I received in this situation. Though, around the same time, that one precious bar of signal had vanished too.
Right.
...I was finally disconnected.
Completely and utterly alone.
Gulp…
'What am I supposed to do?'
Until now, I'd somehow kept myself together through sheer shock and disbelief. But as the reality of my situation sank in, I felt something crack inside me.
Even with a status screen, I didn't feel like a protagonist.
Actually, that thought sparked a bitter laugh. I'd always disliked transmigration stories precisely because they sold such obvious lies. Their protagonists were always these perfect adaptors—edgelords who could handle anything thrown at them. Modern people who'd step into a medieval fantasy world and immediately be fine with killing, with violence, with the brutal reality of a world without modern comforts.
Come on. Be more realistic than that.
Sure, I enjoyed my fantasy novels. But at least those protagonists made sense in their own worlds. They weren't supposed to be regular people like me, thrust into impossible situations.
'Do I really have no other choice than this?'
I looked at my phone again. Its glowing screen was my only light source in the darkness—even the flashlight app had disappeared in that strange update.
The battery hadn't drained even a percent despite my constant fidgeting with it to check my surroundings. For my old model phone with its worn-out 4000 mAh battery, that was impossible.
'Is it… because of the update?'
Had to be. Nothing else made sense.
Then again, nothing about this situation made sense.
"OH! IT'S BAC—!"
I caught myself mid-exclamation and quickly lowered my voice. Making noise in a dark forest filled with who-knows-what probably wasn't the smartest idea. But it was hard to contain my excitement—my only lifeline had returned.
The signal bar was back.
Sure, I couldn't make calls anymore—that feature had vanished along with most of my apps. But I could still use
'Well, if anything can tell me where I am... it's this.'
With trembling fingers, I tapped the
Loading...
The interface that opened was nothing like I remembered. No street view. No satellite option. Just a simple search bar.
I typed in the most basic question I could think of: Where am I?
Loading again.
Gurrr... Gurrr...
The growls returned, as if the signal had attracted them. They were distant, but in the absolute silence of the forest, even far-off sounds carried clearly. I tried to focus on my phone, on the loading screen that kept spinning, anything but those sounds in the darkness.
Finally, a map appeared. Not of cities or streets, but of kingdoms—multiple territories spread across the screen, their borders marked in faint lines.
A blue dot pulsed in one of them—'Vargos'.
"...!"
My heart stopped. I knew that name.
'The first kingdom that fell in
How... how is that even possible?!
I couldn't believe my eyes.
Frantically, I tried to zoom in—needed to see more, to confirm what part of Vargos I was in.
⟨Insufficient Network. Try again.⟩
'What now?!'
Even though I'd half-expected to be in some webnovel—it was practically a cliché to fall into the last story you were reading— but having it confirmed was something else entirely.
Expecting something and having it actually happen were worlds apart.
Literally, in this case.
'I… I'm in
Goosebumps raced across my skin as the full implications hit me.
"How the fuck am I supposed to survive in here?!"
The words burst out before I could stop them, anxiety overwhelming my common sense.
Gurrr.... Gurr...
'Shit! Did it hear me?!'
I ducked behind the branches, fingers fumbling to turn off my phone. Even its dim light felt like a beacon now.
GURR... GURRR...
Either the beast was growling louder, or it was getting closer.
Please let it be the first one.
'Ah, fuck... why am I such a dumbass.'
Why did I shout out loud?
Tsk...
I pressed myself against the tree trunk, trying to become one with the shadows. Of all the novels to fall into, why did it have to be this one? A story where entire kingdoms fell, where everyone died, where the Hero's presence was basically a death sentence...
The night stretched on endlessly.