2026-07-09 07:29:08“Gimme your lunch money, you… uhh. Really weird-looking kid.”
After the words, a fist found its way into my gut, knocking all the air from my lungs. This was the third fucking time this week. The punk-ass bullies had given me the same shakedown three goddamn times. This was what my life had become. I was tired of it - waking up every day just to deal with this bullshit. I wanted it all to just disappear. A second fist found its purchase square in the center of my gut, just to remind me where I was. Shaking off the pain, I wheezed, “Can you assholes… possibly fuck off, please?” I followed it up with a shit-eating grin. Not a chance, and I knew it. I closed my eyes and braced for the inevitable fist to find its connection, praying I’d just disappear forever. The seconds ticked away as my anxiety spiked. Maybe this time he’d mess me up badly enough that they’d get expelled. It never did, however. The silence stretched for what felt like forever. A soft breeze took its place, an unfamiliar sensation for where I was. Cracking my eyes open slowly, I was met with the vivid greens and bright blues of being outside. This wasn’t like anything I had seen before, though. “What the hell is happening?!” I raised my vision further, taking in more of what surrounded me. “Did I die? This has to be heaven, right… or Hell, maybe?! What the fuck!” “You did not die and go to heaven…” “What… Hello? Who was that?!” A bright, square panel blinked into existence in front of me. I watched as what looked like a computer boot-up screen played out. “Ahhh, FUCK! I’m dead! What the shit, dudes? I was only eighteen!” I continued to cry about my situation. “I never even had the chance to kiss a girl or get a job yet!” [ SYSTEM INITIATION ] [ 3… ] [ 2… ] [ 1… ] [ Mana Integration ] [ 25%, 42%, 79% ] [ DING! COMPLETE! ] [ Welcome to Gaia, a world of Sword and Magic ] [ Clint Voyer LVL: 1 EXP: 0/1000 ] [ RACE: Human/Outworlder ] [ CLASS: None ] [ JOB: None ] “What do you mean, ‘sword and magic’…” I pointed a hand toward a nearby tree. “Magic like this? FIREBALL!” The very moment the words left my mouth, a red aura grew around my hand, forming a flaming ball that rotated in place as it built in size. It released itself once it reached the size of a basketball. The flame rushed forward, landing square on the tree's surface. It blew bark away and left a large scorch mark in its place. “Holy sh—” [ Fire proficiency +1% ] [ Proficiency reduces overall mana usage ] “Please don’t destroy this forest; you literally just got here, dude…” a voice from within my head spoke. “Not very ‘we come in peace,’ is it?” “Okay, okay… first off, what the hell is going on? And secondly… where the actual hell are you? I can’t see you at all!” The panel in front of me changed, and on it was a face. Not a human face, a literal emoji face. “It’s me… I’m talking. I’m your personal system for this world's integration.” The face said, moving its lips like a terrible AI video. “You have been teleported to this world… though it seems something went astray.” I paused for a moment to mentally take in everything. My mind raced in circles with no noticeable turn-off point. I couldn’t find any logical explanation for this. “So yes… I did die. Great. What now…,” I said, looking around the area, trying to find some sign of other people. “Where do I go… what do I do?” A small map pulled up into my vision. Blue dots riddled the area. “You aren’t far from the capital city of Gaia. Maybe if you take a break from trying to burn the forest down… you could walk there.” The weird, uncanny head said. “The folks are nice and will be your best bet to not get a cold tonight.” “Can you set up a guide on the system panel?” I asked, looking over the mini-map. “Like in a video game? Wait, do you know what a video game is?” Without answering me, a faint golden aura appeared in my vision, a line in front of me leading forward. “Fuck yeah… this is perfect.” Leaning over, I tied my shoes, noticing the left one was already untied. Once I was done, I took off in a sprint toward the town. Thoughts raced to be at the front of my mind: Why am I here? More so, how? I found no answers as I ran, passing trees and running over a large stone bridge. It wasn’t long before lights could be seen in the sky. Stopping at a nearby fence to catch my breath, I looked down at the city. The view pulled the air from my lungs. “What a… Oh my god!” I looked further. “Everything is so bright… are those pools of water just floating through?” I let out another gasp as I spotted the most mind-blowing thing yet. “Is that a goddamn castle in the sky?!” In front of me, the city moved at an unreal pace. People crossed bridges made of shimmering blue light. Floating platforms drifted between towers, carrying passengers from one district to another. Streams of glowing water wound through the air like rivers torn free from gravity, weaving between rooftops before disappearing into massive crystal reservoirs. The entire city sparkled. Crystal lamps bathed the streets in soft gold light despite the sun still hanging overhead. Strange creatures circled the floating castle above while airships drifted lazily between its towers. Everywhere I looked, something impossible was happening. My brain had quit trying to explain things somewhere between launching fire from my hands and seeing the floating castle. I continued toward the city, noticing the cool, crisp air. The streets below were packed with people, yet nobody seemed angry. I moved toward the city, the air cool and crisp against my skin. Below me, the streets were a packed river of movement and color, yet something felt off. No one shouted. No one looked pissed off or in any particular hurry. Back home, everyone had that worn-out, clock-watching look, as if they were just counting the seconds until they could get the hell out of wherever they were stuck. Here, there was nothing like that. Just people. Living. It was the quietest, and by far the most unsettling, thing I had witnessed since arriving. Startling me and blocking my view the panel blinked back into existence. [ Welcome to Grand City ] The floating head appeared as well, still unsettling the second time. “That is Grand City, your one-stop shop for supplies, food, magic tools—” “Answers, maybe?” I interrupted. “You haven’t explained shit since I got here. You’ve just been unhelpful as fuck.” “Interrupt me again, and I will mute you.” As I began to argue back, a soft voice came from behind. “Hello? Who’s there?”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Loot, Levels and a New Quest
“CLIIIINNNNTTTT! Wake up!”Liza’s voice waking me from a pleasant dream about fishing off the coast of Australia, a place I can’t now, but never would have gone to anyways. The thought of fishing excited me however.I clumsily looked for my clothes, tossing them on as fast as I could. Food and friends were waiting on me. After getting dressed, the smells of breakfast invaded my room.“Smells great Celia, what have you made for us this morning?”“Boar meat, potates and eggs. I hope you brought your appetite.” She finished her sentence with a wide grin before returning to her cooking.Thomas sat at the table reading what looked to be a magical newspaper. Headlines shifted every few minutes, some news about a local farm flashed across it.“Liza, did we make the news?”“We sure did. John exaggerated just a tad, but he was so impressed he filed a report with the guild.”The warmth I felt in that moment was on another level. Finally I had found something that felt gratifying and rewarding.
Refusing the Call
“You’re joking right? How can I be a hero…”The idea of me being a hero was insane. I wasn’t anybody special, hell less than special if you asked anybody.“No way…”“It’s true Clint, the Kingdom of Nexis, the heart of this continent. They are responsible for bringing you here…”A shadow moved behind the king, morphing into a woman who resembled an Assassin from an RPG video game.Settling slowly next to the king, she looked at me from head to toe.“This is Valyria, an assassin from the kingdom. She’s been following you for the past few days.”“What?” I looked at the woman again, I hadn’t seen her once or even remotely noticed. “She is very good at her job,” King Jordan said with a relaxed smile. He waved a hand to dismiss my panic. “don’t worry. Valyria was not there to hurt you. She was there to figure out how a kid from Earth ended up in my city instead of the Nexis capital.”“Nexis?” I echoed. My brain struggled to catch up. “You said they brought me here?”“Nexis is a powerful ki
Meeting the King
They had given me until sunrise the next morning, allowing me to spend the evening with Liza and her parents. We spent part of the time trying to rationalize why I had been called but never quite came to an answer.Dinner was a bit more quiet than the previous nights. The shock kept all of our minds too busy to talk. Morning came far too quickly, bringing my anxiety back along with the quiet sound of the town coming back to life. Kids could be heard playing as I laid in bed, dreading my meeting with the King. Finally I brought myself to get out of bed at the smell of Liza’s Mother cooking, hoping that a good meal could calm my tied up stomach. Ham and Eggs were sat in generous portions on four plates on the dining room table. A sight I had grown accustomed to in my time here in Gaia. “Clint, did you ever come up with a reason the King would ask for you specifically?” Celia asked while pouring me a glass of water. “None that I could think of…” I replied, afraid to talk about the th
When Boars Attack
The ground beneath my boots stopped rumbling and started violently bucking. It was a rhythmic, heavy pounding that rattled the teeth in my skull as half a dozen massive boars appeared from the dense treeline.These weren’t cute little wild pigs from the nature channels back on Earth. They were the size of compact cars with thick slabs of dense muscle shifting under their coarse black bristly fur. They were living, breathing battering rams, tearing up chunks of dirt as they charged.John dropped his wooden hammer. He scrambled backward in a pure panic, but the massive beasts didn’t even glance his way. They locked their beady black eyes onto the remaining vegetable patches and accelerated.Liza moved before I could even begin to think about the situation. Blue lightning wrapped around her legs, and she closed the distance in a literal flash.I stood frozen by the shattered fence, fully expecting her to carve them into bacon. She had practically dissected that toxic weasel monster back
Giving Back
For a while, we walked in comfortable silence.It was strange. Normally, silence around other people felt awkward, like I was supposed to be filling it with something. Here, it just existed.The quiet didn’t feel empty, either. It carried the distant rumble of the city, the splashes of water fountains somewhere beyond the buildings, and the now-familiar rhythm of our footsteps. For once, I didn’t feel any pressure to say something. I was content just being there.As we crossed a narrow bridge over one of the district’s canals, the water below reflected the early morning light in beautiful orange and blue ribbons.Beyond the rooftops, I could still make out the taller buildings of the Central District where we’d spent most of the day yesterday. We weren’t far from it, just far enough that the noise had died out.“You seem happier today,” Liza said, stepping around a cart parked beside the road.The comment caught me off guard.“Happier?” I glanced away from the canal and toward her. “H
Experiments and Our First Quest
After the excitement that took place at dinner, we rested for the night. Liza showed me to a spare bedroom and gave me a tour of the rest of the house.They had a bath. Liza’s mom used some kind of water magic to fill it, and her father set the kindling underneath on fire. Before I knew it, the bathroom was filled with steam.Once they left the room, I stripped down to nothing and called for my system’s panel once I was in the water.“Holy cow, dude… what did you do? The last time you had the panels disappear, my voice did as well,” my personal emoji assistant said. “Do it again, and I’ll make you regret it!”The face had changed from the standard human emoji to the angry, crying one. The sight made me want to laugh and also hide any future kin from that gaze.“Sorry… I wasn’t sure if Liza could see you, or even if she could possibly hear you.”“Well, she CAN’T! Only you can see or hear me, jerk. :P”The box flashed, revealing a list of skills.[ Status ][ Name: Clint Harper ][ Leve
You may also like
The Trillionaire System
Tyqun Nla47.2K viewsGod of System Analysis
NFA81.7K viewsBecame a billionaire with system
Dee Hwang 43.4K viewsFrom A Useless Cripple To An Almighty Boss
Sweet savage39.8K viewsSUPER DOCTOR REVENGE
Saranghae295 viewsThe Janitor of War
Aria53 viewsThe Broke Billionaire's System: Spend to Survive
Putri Arsyila302 viewsThe Last Billionaire Candidate
V9 views