Derrick was absolutely sure of one thing.
He had definitely gone to sleep in his tiny college dorm room.
So why the hell was he lying on cold grass right now?
"...What?"
He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the sky above him.
Blue.
Very blue.
Too blue.
The kind of blue sky you only see in anime backgrounds.
Derrick blinked.
Then he blinked again.
"Okay," he muttered. "Either I died, or someone finally invented a hyper-realistic VR game and forgot to tell me."
He sat up.
Tall grass surrounded him, swaying gently in the wind. In the distance, a massive mountain range stretched across the horizon like the spine of some ancient beast.
The air was cool and fresh.
Too fresh.
This definitely wasn't the polluted city air he was used to.
Derrick rubbed his face.
"Right. Let's think," he muttered.
"Last thing I remember… I finished my shift at the café, went back to the dorm, watched two episodes of an anime, argued with some guy online about military tactics…"
He paused.
"...and then I went to sleep."
Silence.
Birds chirped somewhere in the distance.
Derrick sighed.
"Yep. Definitely isekai."
Just as he said that—
A strange mechanical voice echoed inside his mind.
[World System Initializing…]
Derrick froze.
"...Okay."
He slowly looked around.
"That wasn't my imagination."
[Initialization Complete.]
[Welcome to the Lord World.]
A translucent blue screen appeared in front of him.
Derrick nearly fell over.
"...Oh my god, it actually worked."
He slowly waved his hand through the screen.
It stayed there.
Floating.
Glowing.
The panel displayed several lines of text.
[All humans from Earth have been summoned to the world of Eryndor.]
[Each individual has been assigned a territory.]
[You are now a Lord.]
[Your objective: Survive, expand, conquer.]
Derrick stared at the words.
Then he read them again.
Then a third time.
"...So basically," he said slowly, "I got dropped into a strategy game."
The panel flickered again.
[Every Lord begins with a Territory Core.]
[Protect your core. If the core is destroyed, you will die.]
Derrick immediately stood up.
"Wait, die die?"
No response.
"Right. Of course."
He looked around.
It didn't take long to spot it.
About twenty meters away stood a strange stone pedestal.
On top of it floated a glowing crystal the size of a basketball.
Derrick slowly walked toward it.
The crystal pulsed gently with light.
The moment he got close—
[Territory Core Detected.]
[Binding Territory…]
The crystal flashed.
A new system panel appeared.
[Territory Established.]
Lord: Derrick
World: Eryndor
Territory Rank: Basic Camp
Population: 1
Army: 0
Derrick scratched his head.
"...Population one."
He looked around the empty grassland.
"Wow. Truly a thriving civilization."
Another message appeared.
[New Lord Protection Activated.]
[Protection Duration: 7 Days.]
[During this period, your territory cannot be invaded by other Lords.]
Derrick nodded slowly.
"Okay… tutorial shield."
That made sense.
No game would throw players into PvP immediately.
Hopefully.
Another system panel appeared.
[All Lords have received a communication channel.]
A new tab opened.
[World Chat]
Curious, Derrick tapped it.
The screen instantly exploded with messages.
"WHERE AM I??"
"HELLO?? CAN ANYONE SEE THIS?"
"I THINK WE GOT ISEKAI'D."
"This feels like one of those webnovels."
"I FOUND A MONSTER OH GOD—"
"Bro I swear if I die here I'm suing someone."
Messages were flying so fast Derrick couldn't keep up.
He leaned back.
"So… it's not just me."
Millions of humans had apparently been dragged into this world called Eryndor.
And now everyone was a Lord.
Each with their own territory.
"...Yeah," Derrick muttered.
"This is going to turn into a war eventually."
He closed the chat.
Better focus on surviving first.
He opened another tab.
[Territory Interface]
Resources:
Food — 100
Wood — 50
Stone — 50
Army: None
Buildings: None
Derrick frowned.
"So basically I have nothing."
Great start.
Just as he was thinking about what to do—
The system displayed another message.
[New Lords receive one basic summoning structure.]
[Building Generated: Giant Altar.]
The ground trembled.
About thirty meters away, stone began rising from the earth.
Derrick blinked.
"...Oh."
Within seconds a massive circular stone platform formed.
Ancient carvings covered the entire surface.
The carvings looked enormous.
Almost as if they were made for creatures much bigger than humans.
Derrick slowly approached it.
The moment he stepped onto the platform—
[Giant Altar Activated.]
A new system panel appeared.
[Summoning Cost: 5 Low Rank Mana Stones]
[Daily Summon Limit: 2 Giants]
Derrick froze.
"...Giants?"
He looked at himself.
5'10.
Average human.
Then he looked back at the altar.
"...You know what?"
A slow grin appeared on his face.
"I think I won the starter lottery."
The system flickered again.
[New Lord Bonus Detected.]
[Lucky Summon Activated.]
Derrick's eyes widened.
"...Wait."
[First Summon Reward: 5 Units.]
The altar began glowing.
Ancient runes lit up across its surface.
Derrick quickly stepped back.
"Okay… this is either going to be amazing…"
The ground shook.
Heavy footsteps echoed from the glowing platform.
"...or very bad."
A massive shadow appeared inside the light.
Then another.
And another.
Derrick slowly tilted his head upward.
Higher.
Higher.
And higher.
"...Holy—"
Five enormous figures stepped out of the light.
Each one stood over eight meters tall.
Their bodies were massive and muscular.
They wore crude armor made of leather and bone, and each carried a weapon larger than Derrick himself.
One held a giant axe.
Another carried a stone hammer.
The largest giant stepped forward.
The ground trembled with each step.
Then suddenly—
All five giants knelt.
Their deep voices echoed across the grassland.
"Lord."
Derrick stared at them.
Then he slowly rubbed his face.
"...Right."
He looked up at the towering giants.
Then he laughed.
"Okay."
"This is officially the best isekai start ever."
But just as he said that—
A deep roar echoed from the mountain forest nearby.
The trees shook violently.
The giants instantly turned their heads toward the sound.
Derrick slowly looked in the same direction.
Something big was moving through the forest.
Very big.
A system notification appeared.
[Warning.]
[Hostile Creature Detected Near Territory.]
Derrick sighed.
"...Of course."
He cracked his neck.
"Tutorial boss already?"
Then he pointed toward the forest.
"Alright boys."
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"Let's see what giants can do."
-----------
A/N -
Heyy fellas, I am not that great of a writer, and am also trying to imporve my skills as the story goes on. Wish me luck.
Regards.