Raddan crashed into the ground, sending dust and debris all around him.
[Warning! Quest timer has begun!]
[Failure to complete the quest within allocated time frame will result in the system being revoked.]
[48:00:00]
[47:59:59]
He took a moment to collect himself. After all, it was a shocking thing to immediately regain one's senses right after death, even for him.
'I'd been so sure that the afterlife was a myth created by those who feared death,' he thought to himself, trying to move. 'But it seems I was wrong.'
After a few seconds, Raddan realized two things. First, he had no eyes, limbs, or human body for that matter. And secondly, he was a small rock, big enough to carry with one hand.
"Stand back!"
"Wait for the wardens to inspect!"
The shouts came from beyond the screen of dust that was still settling around his body.
'No eyes, yet I see. No ears, yet I hear. No lungs, yet I breathe,' Raddan thought excitedly. These were questions waiting to be answered. Knowledge unexplored.
A figure appeared beside him. It was a small creature, about the size of a dog or a dwarf. Its body was made of stone, and two glowing red dots stared down at him.
"What are you?" the creature asked, its voice sweet and hollow, like a siren's echoed laughter.
"Hey, you!"
"What are you doing there!"
The creature quickly picked Raddan up and dropped him into one of the crevices that joined its arms to its main body.
[Quest Complete!]
[Metal traces of iron have been discovered.]
[Processing...]
A human guard appeared a moment after, dressed in what appeared to be military gear. "We told you to wait!" the woman guard shouted, lifting the creature by its arm.
Raddan shook within the crevice, barely kept from falling out by a tiny protrusion within the creature's body.
"I was lost. Couldn't see," the creature responded.
The guard scoffed at that, and tossed the creature aside, before inspecting the crater that Raddan had left behind.
The creature took this chance to escape and ran to a small crowd waiting on the sidelines. Similar creatures stood waiting, carrying pickaxes and shovels as they stared at the debris.
"You'll be deactivated if you keep angering the humans," one of the creatures warned, not taking their eyes off the smoke screen.
"You waste your energy with that one," another whispered. "Number 7s are always like that."
Number 7 shrugged at their warnings. "The humans will not deactivate another. Not this cycle. I overheard the quota is being increased."
The other creatures scoffed at that, and stood away.
"Spying on the humans. He'll get us all killed," one of them whispered.
'Qouta? It seems that this is a mine of some sort,' Raddan thought, still trying to figure out where he was.
'This certainly isn't the world I know. It's more advanced, or perhaps differently advanced,' he surmised, based on the fact that they were using golem-like creatures as their labor force.
Number 7 rested its head against its shoulder. "Don't speak. The humans will take you away if they find out," it said.
However, that was not a problem for Raddan. He had already discovered that this body could not produce sound.
『Processing complete!』
[Skill tree has been unlocked!]
With that, a translucent screen appeared in 'view'. It showed a single glowing node at the center of a blank space.
'And this strange voice that speaks inside my head. I doubt that anyone else can hear it, since this creature didn't react.'
Raddan tried interacting with it, and found that thought alone was enough to click on the node.
『☼Iron Series Ev.1☼』—『User has been granted low-level control over magnetic properties. 』
A wave of satisfaction washed over him as he read that. Whatever was happening was more exciting than anything he had ever experienced in his past life.
'Control over magnetic properties? How much control?' Raddan thought, trying to figure out how to use it. However, even after trying to will it to fruition, nothing happened.
'Okay, I need to calm down. I'm overlooking things,' he thought, realizing he had gotten too excited.
'First thing's first. I need to analyze all the information I have.'
"Clear!"
"It must've been an explosion set off by the mining!" a guard shouted.
"All golems back to work!"
With that, Number 7 picked up a shovel, and followed a group toward one of the walls of this small-scale mine.
'So I know I'm in a mine. That means whatever world I'm in has some level of technology and science,' he surmised as Number 7 struck a piece of rock.
'That's good. But it doesn't explain the fact that I'm now a rock,' he thought, trying to peak at what Number 7 was mining. 'Or the fact that I'm getting powers from a floating screen.'
He thought over it for a few more seconds. 'The logical conclusion for now is that I was transported to another world. One with different physical laws and norms.'
After all, that was the only way he could explain having senses, without any organs.
'But what do I do from here?'
Just then, Number 7s pickaxe made a hollow cracking sound.
"Iron!" it shouted. A group of other golems gathered around it and began striking. Soon a piece of black metal emerged from the rock face, glowing brighter with every strike.
Something tugged at Raddan, as if pulling him towards it. Like strings, wrapped all around his body.
He nearly ignored it, trying instead to organize his thoughts. But just then he remembered something. This tug was a familiar sensation.
He reached out towards the 'strings' that pulled at him, and pulled back.
Number 7 lurched forward, nearly crashing face-first into the iron.
"Bastard! Don't trip. The mages are still on break, no one will be able to fix you," one of the golems shouted angrily, moving Number 7 aside and continuing with its work.
"Sorry," Number 7 whispered, looking down at Raddan before carrying on with its work as well.
'I knew it. Magnetism. I really can control it at will.' If Raddan could smile, a grin would devour his entire face.
He tried tugging at the iron again, this time using different intensities. Each attempt made Number 7 jerk forward, and soon the other golems became visibly annoyed.
"Defect!" one of them shouted, shoving it back.
Number 7 shook its head. "I'm not defected. I can still work!"
However, the guard that was approaching did not seem to care.
"That's the seventh one this week," the guard whispered, before grabbing number 7 by the arm.
"Take this one to the others," he ordered, and a larger golem, about the size of a grown man, picked Number 7 up, and hauled it away.
Despite all that was happening, Raddan couldn't care less. He had just discovered that his new life had also granted him a first-class ticket to exploring one of the fundamental forces of nature.
'Oh what a glorious, wonderous world this is,' he thought excitedly, tugging at all the iron that his rock body could reach.