It was a good day for fishing. The sun wasn't too bright, so I didn't have to worry about being burned alive, and the water was calm. Perfect. If luck was on my side, maybe I'd finally reel in a big one today.
Of course, fishing was always about trial and error. Maybe if I swapped out my bait—
But the moment I opened my tackle box, something strange caught my eye.
Inside, resting among the hooks and lures, was a tiny white gem.
I froze. I had never put anything like that in my tackle box. Still, it looked… familiar, though I couldn't quite place where I'd seen it before.
Curiosity won. I picked it up to get a better look—
A booming voice instantly rang out in my head.
"A new hand touches the beacon."
A sudden white flash blinded me, and a woman's voice echoed in my head. It was commanding, arrogant, yet carried an odd lightness.
"Listen. Hear me and obey. A foul darkness has seeped into my temple. You will destroy it. I shall guide you into the world and grant you my blessings as my champion."
And just as suddenly as it began, the light faded.
I staggered back, blinking. That was… weird. A hallucination? A trick of the light? I was about to convince myself of it when I noticed something even stranger.
I wasn't at the lake anymore.
The smell of salt and the sound of crashing waves surrounded me. The floor beneath my feet creaked with the motion of the sea. It was definitely a ship—but not a modern one. Wood, ropes, old construction. Ancient, almost.
My pulse quickened. Stay calm. Think this through. Don't panic.
The ship was eerily empty except for a few skeletons scattered across the deck. Definitely not a good sign. And then I saw it: a broken mirror nailed to the wall.
When I caught my reflection, I froze again.
The 45-year-old fisherman staring back at me was gone. Instead, I looked twenty years younger—early twenties, leaner, sharper.
"…What the hell?"
I pinched my arm. I kicked the wall. Pain shot through me both times. Nope, not a dream. This was real. Somehow.
Maybe I'd hit my head while fishing and was lying unconscious in a hospital bed right now. Yeah. That would be nice. But the pain told me otherwise.
If only there was someone I could ask…
Instead, my eyes landed on a chest tucked against the ship's wall. Out of options, I opened it.
Inside was the same white gem from before. Only now, it was bigger.
I hesitated. That thing was clearly responsible for dragging me into this mess. Touching it again was the worst idea possible. But… what choice did I have?
I touched it.
"You have touched my beacon and crossed the boundary of worlds with my blessings. Destroy the darkness in my temple, and you shall be my champion."
The voice again.
And that's when it finally clicked.
I knew this gem. I'd seen it before—twenty years ago, in Skyrim.
This was Meridia's Beacon.
Memories of countless frustrated players came rushing back. Of course. The one quest every Skyrim player hated.
"…Wait. Skyrim? No way. This can't be real." I muttered.
"So why me? I'm not even from Skyrim. I'm just some random guy who hasn't touched the game in decades. Why pick me?" I asked aloud, hoping the beacon would respond.
And it did.
"Who I choose does not matter. What matters is that you destroy the darkness within my temple."
"Yeah, I should've expected that kind of snark," I muttered. "Meridia, the arrogant Daedric Prince—"
"Princess!" she snapped. "I am no prince, foolish mortal!"
I blinked. "…Seriously? That's what bothers you?"
"Do not mock me! I hear your thoughts as long as you hold my beacon. You have incurred my wrath. Yet you will be forgiven once you purge my temple of its corruption."
Great. I had managed to irritate a god. Fantastic start.
"Look, even if I wanted to help, I can't. I'm just a fisherman. No combat training, no gear, no nothing. You do realize how strong the darkness in your temple is, right? I'd die instantly."
"Indeed, you are weak. But fret not. You have my blessings, and I shall grant you the means to fight."
"…Okay, and what does that mean exactly? You keep saying 'blessings,' but I don't see a sword or armor lying around here. If you mean Dawnbreaker, I'm supposed to retrieve that from your temple after killing the darkness. So what blessing are you even talking about?"
"You have been granted something greater than a weapon. A system—one that will allow you to grow stronger and become my champion."
At those words, something inside me stirred. My fear wavered, replaced with excitement.
A system?
Now that I could work with.