Chapter 6
"Okay, any hope of me not being in the game has just been shattered," Zen muttered as he found himself standing in front of his shack.
His breath caught in his throat as he took in the village before him.
The ground was nothing but packed dirt, riddled with deep cracks and the occasional patch of withered grass. Flies buzzed lazily in the thick, humid air, as if even they were too tired to care.
The stench of rot and livestock waste hung heavy and so potent it felt like a physical force pressing against his face, clawing into his nostrils and refusing to let go.
The village stretched out in a loose sprawl of decay: crooked huts stitched together with splinters of wood, clumps of straw, and pure desperation. Most leaned at odd angles, like a stiff breeze could send them crashing down.
Roofs sagged under the weight of moldy thatch, and smoke curled weakly from makeshift chimneys, more soot than fire.
Children with hollow cheeks and dirt-streaked faces chased a rag-stuffed ball barefoot, their laughter brittle and strained, like echoes of a time when joy wasn't a luxury.
A few adults stood hunched around filthy water basins, scrubbing laundry with grim determination. Their clothes were just as torn and tattered as Zen's, barely clinging to dignity.
To the right, a rusted well groaned as a villager cranked up a bucket. The water sloshed over the sides, brown and murky, reeking of rust and rot.
Beside it, a rickety market stall stood abandoned with its wooden frame cracked, and its produce long since rotted into mushy, unrecognizable filth.
A hunched old man sat nearby on an overturned barrel, coughing violently into a blood-stained rag as he stared blankly into the distance like his soul had wandered off long ago.
Stray dogs with ribs poking out like piano keys sniffed through heaps of garbage dumped between the crooked homes. Their eyes were wild, desperate, and eerily human.
In the far distance, he could see what looked like a crude palisade—wooden spikes forming a shaky perimeter around the village.
But even that looked half-built, like whoever had started it gave up halfway through. It felt more symbolic than functional.
Beyond that, the forest loomed dark and menacing, thick with twisted trees that swayed and whispered with every gust of wind.
"It feels like this village was drawn by a six-year-old kid, because what the hell is this?" Zen facepalmed himself. "How can a village be this poverty-stricken?"
"Ouch." He yelped loudly as his pale hand smacked against his own forehead.
'I felt pain just from a facepalm? How weak is this damned body?!'
Zen sighed and was about to ignore everybody and go on his way. He had just taken a single step when the ground beneath him suddenly lit up white, making his heart skip a beat.
"Wh... what is going on? Others were walking just fine without anything lighting up, so what is this?" Zen asked himself, panic crawling up his spine.
The light continued to intensify, casting long shadows around him like the village itself was trying to reject his presence. Then, a notification flashed in front of his face.
{Error! Error! Error!}
{Bug found! The game has realized that the character is not supposed to be here. So the game has decided to do everything in its power to eliminate bug.}
"Wait. Me? A bug?" Zen barked in disbelief. "How absurd—and annoying—is this thing?" he hissed, his voice rising.
He nearly broke into a sob when another blinding light flared before him, its intensity sending a jolt of dread through his chest.
Tring!
{Ding! Integration starting…}
{Initializing…}
{Recognizing…}
{Binding…}
{Integration successful}
{Ding! Evolution System activated}
"Evolution System? What the hell is this? I really can't wrap my head around all these," Zen muttered, grabbing his head in confusion as the glowing screen changed once again.
---
{Status}
{Name: Zenixx}
{XP: 0/100}
{Level: 1}
{HP: 5/10} {STR: 3}
{AGI: 3} {INT: 5}
{NP: 0}
---
"Huh? A system?" Zen blinked, staring at the air in front of him in disbelief.
He had played enough games in his life to instantly recognize what this was. The hovering interface, the notification tones, and the classic RPG layout—it all screamed system. This was too familiar to be a coincidence.
From all the different games he'd spent sleepless nights playing, he could easily interpret the stats now blinking in front of him. And that only confirmed the terrifying truth:
He was inside a game.
"Wait a freaking second. Why the hell are my stats so low? Three points?" Zen scowled at the screen. "Based on my gaming knowledge, the average human stat should be around ten points. So why the hell is mine just three? Does this game have a personal vendetta against me or something?"
He narrowed his eyes at the screen, glaring hard enough to burn holes through it—when something clicked in his memory.
"Right! I'm hated by the game. It deems me an enemy… a bug that must be exterminated." Zen let out a tired sigh, shoulders slumping.
Tring!
{Skill tab is open}
{Shop is open}
"Skill tab?" His eyes lit up. "Now this is what I'm talking about. I remember ranting in my review that this trash game didn't even have a skill system or any decent cheat-like feature."
He grinned. "Did they finally listen to my complaints and fix that mess?"
But as soon as he said that, his grin faded. "Wait… that's not possible. It should've taken days—weeks, maybe even months—for them to roll out that kind of update. So how is it already here?"
He froze. "Hold up... has it already been months since I got transmigrated here?"
His head throbbed as questions piled up in his mind like bricks.
Just check the skill tab, he thought, forcing himself to focus. The screen shifted instantly.
---
{Skills}
{None.}
---
"None?" Zen's eye twitched. "Is this game really playing a sick joke on me right now?!"
He couldn't help it—he screamed, loud and frustrated, right into the air.
The villagers, who had been previously minding their own business, turned their heads at once. Some gasped. Others simply stared, muttering things under their breath.
They had already noticed him talking to himself earlier, and now he was screaming like a lunatic.
Zen ignored their judgmental stares, shrugging them off. He was too pissed to care.
Then the screen changed again.
Tring!
{Quest tab open}
[Main Quest Activated]
{Quest Details: Defy your fate. Defeat the Game Lord.
Only then shall the path home be unlocked.}
---
Objective:
Survive
Grow stronger
Locate the Game Lord's domain
Eliminate him
Reward:
Escape from this cursed world
Return to your reality
Failure:
Permanent deletion of soul data
Enjoy your new life as a decorative corpse
---
"Wait, what the freaking hell?!" Zen roared, staring at the quest details like it had personally insulted his ancestors.
He hadn't even finished processing the quest when the screen glitched suddenly.
{Error! Error! Error!}
{Bug found! The game has detected an unauthorized character.}
{The system has initiated a protocol to eliminate the intruder.}
Zen clenched his fists. "Huh? Again?!"
{First quest alert!}
{The game has labeled you an anomaly.}
{As a result, it will now do everything in its power to erase you.}
{Mission: Survive the beast encounter that is about to begin. If and this is a big IF you manage to slay the beast, rewards shall be granted.}
{Personal message from the system: I wish you luck, dear soon-to-be-dead NPC.}
Zen's heart skipped. "Wait… a beast attack?!"
He felt his throat go dry, a painful throb crawling up the back of his skull. His vision dimmed slightly, and then—
Screams.
Loud. Raw. Echoing.
They came from the villagers around him.
Zen turned toward the noise, eyes wide.
"Shit! It has started."
__
{A/N}
Liking the book so far? Kindly add to your library to enjoy this thrilling ride more.