Ren sat upside down on a floating rock, hair dangling toward nothing, eyes glued to his screen.
He'd been watching the humans for hours now. Four of them. Two in the woods, two near the plains. The forest pair—Kobb and Lira—were the most fun. They were adapting fast. Shelter, tools, even hunting. It wasn't expert-level survival, but it was better than starving to death and crying in the mud.
Ren liked them. They had grit.
Still, something was missing. The world was too calm. Too safe. Life wasn't interesting without friction.
He opened the shop again. Skimmed past terrain and weather and animals. Then hovered over the Mythical Creatures tab.
"Hmm…"
He tapped it. Rows of options appeared—dragons, spirits, elementals, hydras, demons. Way too much. Way too strong.
"I'm not trying to start a massacre," he mumbled, flipping pages. "Just need something simple."
Then he saw it.
[Goblins – Tier 0]
Small, weak. Live in packs. Scavenge. Primitive. Evolve with time.
It cost 8 coins. He had 29 now from past quests.
"Goblins," he said aloud. "Classic."
He hesitated. "Wait—is that gonna kill them?"
Silence. Just the hum of the system.
He clicked the little "info" bubble.
Balance Tip: Adding low-tier monsters provides early conflict. Humans may evolve through hardship. Progress requires risk.
He nodded to himself. "Cool. Let's screw things up."
He hit Confirm.
Small motes of green light scattered across the map, mostly in empty caves and deep forest zones. The system placed goblins in natural terrain, hidden but close enough to bump into.
Perfect.
A new popup appeared right after:
New Quest: Add XP System To World
Reward: 40 Coins
Bonus: Loot Table Unlock
Ren didn't even hesitate.
He clicked Yes.
Another screen bloomed open.
He selected the humans. Enabled visible XP gains on creature kills. Added a floating notification. Then built a basic interface—Inventory, Status, Skills, and Home.
He grinned.
"This is getting good."
Kobb and Lira – Forest Outskirts
"Alright, pull!"
"I am pulling."
"Then pull harder!"
"I'm gonna break my arm, not the tree!"
They wrestled with a thick vine wrapped around a branch. The tree didn't budge, but the vine finally snapped and sent both of them flying into a bush.
Lira groaned. "Well, that sucked."
Kobb spat leaves. "We're getting better at sucking less."
It had been nearly a week since they woke up here, and somehow, they hadn't died yet. Their hut was now three branches away from being called a small house. Their tools were sharp enough to cut rabbits. They even smoked meat now. Like, actual smoked meat. With rocks and fire.
It was hard. But doable.
Every morning they scouted. Every afternoon they hunted. Nights were cold, but manageable.
Sometimes they talked about home. Earth. Phones. Microwave popcorn.
Sometimes they didn't.
This morning, they were tracking boar near a river when they saw something weird.
It wasn't an animal.
It was green. Humanoid. About half their size. Its ears were pointy. Its skin looked like wet moss. It had a stone knife and a sharp grin.
It stared at them from behind a tree.
Kobb froze. "Lira."
"I see it."
"Is that…?"
They didn't finish the sentence. Because the thing hissed and rushed them.
Kobb raised his crude spear. Lira ducked behind a tree and grabbed a sharp stick.
The goblin didn't think twice. It lunged. Wild and fast. But sloppy.
Kobb jabbed forward and caught it in the side. It screeched. Lira hit it from the back with a rock. It dropped.
Blood pooled into the leaves. Not much. The thing twitched, then stilled.
They both stood there, breathing hard.
Lira wiped her face. "What the hell was that?"
Kobb stared. "A goblin?"
She blinked. "Like, from games?"
He nodded slowly. "That looked exactly like one."
They knelt closer.
Its knife was real. Skin was warm. Teeth were sharp.
"Okay," Lira said. "So this is definitely not Earth."
Kobb touched its arm. "You think there's more?"
As if answering, the trees behind them rustled.
They didn't wait.
They ran.
They got back to their hut panting, eyes wide, hands still clutching weapons.
Neither spoke for a minute.
Then—ding.
Both of them heard it. At the same time. Like a chime right in their ears.
A floating message blinked in front of them.
System: You get 10 XP.
They stared at it.
Kobb reached out to touch it. It didn't vanish.
"Did you get that?" he asked.
"Yeah," Lira said. "I… what?"
Another icon blinked beside it: Home Menu.
They tapped it.
A small, simple interface opened in their vision. Like a video game. Four tabs: Status, Inventory, Skills, Settings.
They tapped Status.
Name: Kobb
Level: 1
XP: 10/100
Class: None
Skills: None
HP: 100
Lira's screen was almost identical.
They sat down slowly on a rock beside their hut.
"This is a game," Kobb said. "This whole world. It's a game."
Lira shook her head. "No. That doesn't make sense."
He pointed at the screen. "XP, levels, stats? It's a game system."
"But we're not in VR. We didn't log in. I remember walking home from work, then waking up here."
"Same. But it's the only thing that fits now. Fictional monsters? Game UI? XP?"
She looked up at the sky. "So what—this is some fantasy world? Or we got pulled into a simulation?"
Kobb scratched his head. "Either way… we're in it. Might as well play."
Ren – Watching, Chewing on a Stick of Bamboo
He laughed so hard he fell off the rock.
"THEY GOT IT!" he yelled. "They figured it out!"
He replayed the moment ten times. The fight. The XP message. The dumbfounded expressions.
That was peak comedy.
He floated back up and hit Log View.
Their screens had synced perfectly. No bugs. Combat XP triggered fine. Their interface was clean.
He opened the new tab: Loot Tables
Unlocked by the fire quest earlier.
He began setting up simple drops:
Goblin Fang – Junk
Crude Dagger – Weapon
Leather Pouch – Holds 5 coins
Goblin Ear – Quest Item (unassigned)
He also added: Small XP Boost for First Kill
"Let's gamify this."
Another ping sounded.
New Quest Unlocked
Introduce a Hidden Dungeon
Reward: 50 Coins
Bonus: Unlock Passive Skills
He rubbed his hands. "It begins."
Back at the hut
Kobb was pacing now. "We can level up. Probably get stronger. Learn magic maybe?"
Lira sat near the fire, staring at her screen. "We're at 10 XP. That's it."
"Yeah but—what if we hunt more goblins?"
She looked uneasy. "They were intelligent. Tools. Eyes like ours."
He stopped pacing.
"Yeah," he said. "I noticed that too."
Lira spoke softer. "What if they evolve? What if they aren't just… things to kill?"
Kobb didn't answer right away.
Then finally: "Then we better evolve faster."
They didn't sleep much that night.
The forest was quiet again. But they knew now—somewhere out there—more were watching.