A soft breeze whispered through tall trees. The chirping of strange birds echoed in the distance. The air smelled of moss, fresh leaves, and something faintly metallic.
Kiin groaned.
"Why is my bed so... grassy?" He complained his back damp and itchy.
He sat up slowly, blinking in confusion. He was lying on a forest floor with tall trees around him, not like the soft warmth of his bed with the cosy wall of his room. A green sky peeking through thick canopies, and the distant growl of something definitely not a bird.
He looked down at himself. Black trousers. Red t-shirt. Denim jacket. Vans snickers. A black bag resting by his side.
"What the hell?!. What is this dream?"
Before he could stand up, a loud ding! nearly gave him a heart attack. A glowing blue screen floated in front of him like Windows Update had gained sentience. And a man's voice spoke,
"Welcome, Kiin. You have been transmigrated into the Trial World of Cultivation: Beast Realm Arc"
"Your current level: 0
• Power: Locked until first cultivation"
• Weakness: Unknown until level 1 gets unlocked"
Kiin stared at the screen. Confused and shocked. A dream or a reality?
"So these stories hunt me even in my dreams now? I can't even sleep well now because of these cultivation stories, let me sleep in peace will you! " Kiin complained as he tried getting back on the grass to sleep, thinking he might wake up in his real life because this is all just a big bad dream to him.
"Kiin this is not a dream, it is your new reality" The man's voice spoke again
Kiin shut his eyes tight, trying to get sleep but the sound of the strange birds made his eyes open up. He sat down, scanned his surroundings, it felt real, he pinched himself and felt pain.
"Ouch" his eyes widen as he realised this is not a dream but a real thing happening, he just got transmigrated into his worst nightmare.
"No. Nope. This isn't real. I was just reading that damned book out of curiosity. I just wanted romance and garlic chicken."
Another line appeared.
"Voice Guide Activated."
Then a smooth, ethereal female voice echoed in the air: "Welcome, traveler. You have been selected to experience the path of cultivation through cosmic beasts. Fight. Survive. Grow."
Kiin blinked slowly, deadpan.
"No lady, I don't want this experience, take me back home, to my home world. Or you can just shift me to a fantasy love story and I will be fine, but take me out of this nightmare. My colleagues James and Harry would love this kind of experience but not me, so TAKE ME BACK LADY."
There was no answer. Just the eerie rustle of bushes nearby.
And then something growled.
Kiin stood up slowly, clutching his bag like it could protect him from whatever beast just made that ungodly noise.
"Uh! System lady? Voice? Mysterious narrator guy? Anybody? This would be a great time to wake up now and tell me what to do."
Another growl echoed, this time closer. Heavy thuds rustled through the underbrush. Kiin turned to the direction of the sound, eyes wide.
Then the bushes burst open. Out stepped a creature the size of a buffalo, but shaped like a sabretooth tiger, only it had feathers instead of fur, and its eyes glowed like molten gold.
It stared at Kiin. And Kiin stared back.
"Nope. I'm done with this experience. Eat me. I'm not doing this."
The beast roared, and Kiin screamed, the kind of scream that would make a grown man proud to run in the opposite direction.
"RUNNING SYSTEM, PLEASE HELP! YOU BROUGHT ME HERE SO HELP ME!" he yelled as he turned and bolted to the other side of the forest while the beast chased him from behind.
And then, in front of his running form, another blue screen appeared, with the female voice saying what was written on the screen.
"Skill Unlocked: Basic Evasion Lv. 1"
"Lady! Are you kidding me? Y'all had this the whole time and didn't think to activate it earlier?! And why do you not respond when I ask, lady take me back home…"
The chase began.
Kiin's legs pumped like never before fueled by sheer panic, not cardio. The beast let out another guttural roar behind him, crushing shrubs and shaking trees in its pursuit.
Suddenly, his body jerked left.
"What the?!"
His foot narrowly missed a snake pit camouflaged beneath fallen leaves. A split-second shift in motion had saved him. It happened again, this time, a low-hanging branch should've taken his head off, but Kiin ducked without thinking.
"What is this, Matrix mode?! Lady say something, ah!" he gasped, stumbling over a rock but somehow landing on his feet.
The blue screen appeared again.
"Skill in effect: Basic Evasion Lv. 1.
• Automatically enhances reflexes by 10% in danger.
• Chance to narrowly avoid lethal hits: 30%."
"Thirty percent?! That's a failing grade in every country!"
A swipe of claws tore through the tree just beside him, showering bark over his shoulder. He screamed again.
"I am NOT a main character! I don't even have a damn weapon! And I am not even sweet you beast, I taste awfully bad."
He skidded around a slope, breath ragged. His legs were already protesting, his lungs felt like collapsing. Even during his Saturday soccer practices, he has never run like this, he was exhausted but the thought of being food gave her power to keep running.
"System Lady! You said survive. HOW?! Use your words! Open a portal! Call a sky Uber! Something!"
Silence.
He veered left. Bad idea. That led him straight into a dead end, a curved wall of thick moss-covered stone.
"Oh come ON. What is this, cinematic storytelling?!" He turned, cornered.
The beast prowled closer. Its feathered mane flared. It crouched, ready to pounce.
"Stop, do you even speak? I am not edible, so don't eat me. Lady say something for God's sake!"
Just then, the screen flickered.
"Hint: You have an item in your bag that may aid your survival."
"Now you respond?! I've been yelling for ten minutes!"
He fumbled open the bag, tossing out bread, a small water bottle, a weird glowing compass, and a metallic orb the size of an apple, humming faintly with purple energy.
"What is this lady?!"
"Item: Temporary Beast Repellent. One-time use. Throws off aggressive beasts for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 6 hours."
Kiin didn't wait. He clicked the orb and hurled it like a dodgeball. The orb cracked midair and exploded into a violet pulse. The beast howled, veering off course, shaking its head violently as if trying to shake off a hangover.
"Roar, roar "
Kiin didn't think twice. He sprinted past it, heart hammering, lungs on fire, sanity disintegrating. He didn't want to be food, he just wanted to go home.
"I hate this place! I hate this system! I just wanted garlic chicken and slow romance, not Pokémon meets Hunger Games!"
The trees began to thin. A clearing. He dove into a thick patch of ferns, rolled into a hollow beneath a log, chest heaving. Silence returned only the rustle of disturbed leaves behind him. The beast was gone. At least for now.
Kiin lay in the hollow, barely breathing, ears straining for any sound of pursuit. Nothing. Just his hammering heartbeat and the soft whistle of wind through leaves.
Then, ding!. A transparent blue screen blinked into existence over his head like a condescending trophy. With the female voice reading out everything written on the screen.
[System Notification]
"You have survived a life-threatening encounter."
• +1 Stat Point awarded.
• +3 XP earned.
• Total XP: 3/100
Title unlocked: "Professional Runner Lv. 1" (You have potential... in cardio.)"
Kiin blinked. Disbelief and confusion filling him.
"That's it?! Lady do you take me as a joke?"
He sat up, wheezing. "I just played hide-and-seek with a prehistoric turkey demon on steroids and you give me three experience points?! And on top of that, I need a hundred of these to level up?! At this rate, I'll die before I unlock Basic Breathing!"
He swiped the screen angrily, but it didn't budge. He jabbed at the XP bar. He paused.
"Also... what the hell is Professional Runner Lv. 1 supposed to mean?!"
The system replied with a soft chime.
"Title Effect: Slightly improved stamina when fleeing from enemies."
He slumped back. "So basically, I'm the world's most athletic coward. Great."