About two hours had passed since Mark realized that, somehow, he had 'reincarnated' into one of the many worlds he had designed.
It was still hard for him to fully process it, but the system left little room to deny it.
From what he had gathered from the system, he was a few months away from when the main story would begin.
That detail gave him some leeway, though not as much as he would have liked.
'I didn't even finish that novel…' he thought bitterly.
He barely had the story advanced, so only up to a certain point could he rely on what he knew.
Everything that came after was unknown territory, even for him.
"Does Luke exist?" he asked the system.
Luke was the MC of his novel. He was insanely powerful—or rather, he became strong over time, after going through some pretty harsh situations.
[Answer: Yes. The young Luke exists in this world. But he is not the protagonist.]
"How is he not? If this world is the one I wrote, he should be the center, shouldn't he?" he complained calmly to the system, without taking his eyes off the road he was walking along.
[Answer: The MC you wrote is now just an ordinary character. With your arrival, the role of Protagonist was given to you.]
'Huh? You're fucking with me, right?' he thought, swallowing nervously.
Of all the worlds he had written, this was the only one where he didn't want to be the MC, precisely because of how dangerous and cruel it could become.
[Query: Why do you reject being the center of this world?]
Mark opened his eyes slightly, surprised that the system reacted with doubt to his opinion.
"Isn't it obvious? This world is full of challenges and monstrous beings of all kinds… I don't even trust you. First of all, what the hell are you? And how did you put me into my own story?" he shot back.
[Answer: The system did not bring you to this world to be humiliated or killed. Once you manage to leave the forest, the system will begin with low-level missions.]
[Answer: You still do not have the power necessary to demand answers from the system…]
"Tsk, great…" he muttered.
He turned his attention back to the road. The only good thing the system had told him was that, about 15 km to the east, there was a small village in the kingdom of Kaldor.
'I should be about thirty minutes away already… for some reason I get tired way too fast.' he thought, feeling his legs grow heavier by the second.
***
"Mom! There's a man coming out of the forest!" a little girl shouted when she saw Mark appear, completely drenched in sweat, his legs tired and aching.
'I heard you all the way over here… brat.' he thought, annoyed more by the exhaustion than by the shout.
When he reached the village, he saw the girl's parents, who apologized for the way their daughter had pointed him out.
However, when they noticed the blood on his clothes and saw that, despite that, he seemed to be in a 'perfect' state, they ran back to their house without saying anything else.
[Advice: You should change your clothes.]
'Oh, really?' he thought sarcastically. The problem was that he had no idea how he was going to get a change of clothes.
[Author System]
[Notice: First Mission!]
"Great, now a mission… what will it be?"
[Information: Go to the Great Tree on the hill, about 800 meters from the village, and rescue a cat and bring it to its owner.]
[Reward: A change of clothes and information]
Mark glanced to the left. Ever since he had left the forest, he had seen the enormous tree standing out in the distance.
'The change of clothes will be useful… but won't you give me all the information I need?' he thought doubtfully.
[Answer: It's good to do things on your own…]
"Ah, fine…" he scowled at the screen and headed straight for the tree.
***
When he arrived, he was surprised by the vast views that stretched out from that small hill. The village looked peaceful from above, and the forest seemed endless.
'I really am in another world…' he thought with excitement.
Meow!
Mark turned toward the sound and saw a fat, old cat calmly approaching him.
"That was easy," he admitted as he picked the cat up in his arms. 'Now… who's your owner, little guy?'
***
He walked through the village with the cat in his arms, hoping its owner would recognize it.
However, all he got were curious looks from the villagers.
Even so, Mark ignored that and focused on the mission. He was already used to receiving discriminatory looks.
'A little help?' he thought, hoping the system would respond, but he got nothing.
In the end, he wandered around the village for several minutes, until he saw an elderly woman slowly approaching him.
'Could it be her?' he thought, moving closer carefully, just in case.
Out of nowhere, the cat jumped from his arms and ran straight into the woman's.
"Siesta! Where have you been all this time?" the woman demanded of the cat, which only growled and yawned.
"I found it in that tree," Mark replied, stepping closer and pointing toward the hill.
"Oh…?" the woman replied, looking him up and down. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"No… um… I—I was attacked by some bandits while I was traveling… and I ended up in the forest."
he improvised quickly, hoping the lie would work.
In the end, it did. The woman offered him a change of clothes and some food, an offer Mark did not refuse.
"And where are you from, young Mark?" she asked calmly as she poured a cup of what looked like green tea.
"Huh… um…?" He didn't know how to answer. He couldn't say he was from Fitoa, the neighboring country, since the two were in a sort of war over the 'Border Forest'.
Nor did he know the names of the secondary villages in his work, only the most important ones.
"Sorry, you must be exhausted from walking so much and without being able to eat. You can spend the night here if you want." The woman offered that without hesitation.
An offer Mark did not refuse.
[Author System]
[Information: Mission completed.]
[Reward: You have obtained a change of clothes and tomorrow you will obtain valuable information.]