I stepped outside, the cool evening air brushing against my skin. The meadow looked a whole lot different now, bathed in the soft glow of dusk. The trees cast long shadows across the grass, and the lake shimmered with reflected starlight. It was beautiful, sure, but also a little creepy as hell. "Okay, Sam," I muttered to myself. "Get it together. You've played enough survival games for this."

I circled the hut, peering for anything useful. No outhouse. Great. As I rounded the back, I saw a small vegetable garden. Looks like someone has tended it recently. At least I won't starve on bread alone.

The lake again drew my attention. Clean water, perhaps. I approached carefully, half-expecting some monster to leap out and drag me under. But the surface remained still. I cupped my hands and took a sip. It tasted.normal. No magical properties were stirring, no sudden enlightenment. Just water.

As night fell, the forest came alive with sounds. Chirping, rustling, and. was that a howl? My heart began to gallop in my chest. "Nope, nope, nope," I whispered and hastily returned back inside the hut.

Inside, I barricaded the door with the chair. It wasn't much of a protection, but at least that helped ease my tension somewhat. I settled onto the bed, clutching the scroll like a security blanket.

"Some kind of chosen one I am," I said, scoffing. "Can't even spend one night outside without freaking out."

I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Exhaustion finally won. The weight of my eyelids became too much, and though I fought it, sleep took me.

I dreamed of home, of my boring life, of all the things that I had taken for granted. I woke and for a moment, I thought that it was all it had been: a dream. But then the unfamiliar surroundings shattered that illusion pretty quickly.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the inside of the hut. I groaned, rubbing my eyes. "Day two in fantasy land. Let's see what fresh hell awaits."

I unrolled the scroll once more, squinting in a painful attempt to make out what little marks were visible. A map, this was the worst I'd ever seen. No labels, no clear landmarks; just a mess of confusing lines and symbols.

"Fat lot of good you are," I grumbled, tossing it aside.

My belly rumbled, reminding me of more pressing matters. Another chunk of bread was my reward as I stepped outside, nibbling on it thoughtfully.

It looked a lot less threatening in daylight, but no less weird. I still half-expected to see some sort of quest marker floating above my head or a mini-map up in the corner of my vision. There was nothing. Just me, alone in this weird world.

"Alright," I said aloud to nobody in particular. "Time to level up or whatever."

I started off to the edge of the clearing, my eyes looping around the treeline for any sign of a path or marker. The forest pressed forward, dense and intimidating. Every rustle in the undergrowth made me flinch.

"Come on, Sam," I muttered. "You have faced scarier things in video games."

But from the first steps into the woods, for the first time, I knew this wasn't a game at all. There was the smell of damp earth and rotting leaves in my nostrils, branches tearing at my clothes, while unseen roots similarly threatened to trip me up with every step.

I pressed on, trying to continue in as straight a line as possible. The last thing I needed was to get lost in this maze of trees. With every step I took, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. Eyes seemed to follow me from the shadows, but every time I whirled around, there was nothing.

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After what felt like hours of aimless wandering, I fell into another clearing. Smaller this time, and dead center of it was a weathered stone pillar covered in strange symbols.

"Well, about time something interesting showed up," I said, approaching the pillar. Symbols looked vaguely familiar; maybe something from some fantasy movie or game, or maybe not.

I reached a hand out to touch the pillar, half-expecting it to glow or initiate some kind of magical event. Nothing happened. It was just a stone.

"Seriously?" I groaned. "No quest update? No magical powers unlocked? What kind of lame fantasy world is this?"

As if in response, a twig snapped behind me. I whirled around, my heart pounding in my chest, to find myself facing something I'd only ever read about. It was upright on two legs like a man, its body shrouded in tangles of fur. Its snout was long and tusked, full of teeth. Yellow eyes glowed in the dark.

"Oh, shit," I whispered, slowly taking a step back. "Nice doggy. or whatever you are."

It growled low, a menacing sound. Great, this was it. This was how I died, mauled by some fantasy world mutt because I was too stupid to stay in the safety of the hut.

As the beast lunged, I closed my eyes and threw up my hands in a pathetic attempt to shield myself. I waited for the pain, for the feeling of teeth tearing into my flesh.

But it never came.

One eye cracked open, and I saw it, frozen in mid-air, seemingly stuck suspended by some kind of invisible force. A soft, blue glow was emanating from my outstretched hands.

"What the." I gasped, staring at my hands in utter disbelief. The creature whimpered, held in place still it seemed by whatever power I had unleashed-quite unknowingly.

In the blink of a moment, as sudden as its appearance, the blue glow was gone. The beast fell to its feet and then gave me one last terrified glance before turning and bounding into the forest.

I stood there, panting in ragged gasps, trying to make sense of what had happened. My hands tingled, as if releasing leftover energy, and I flexed them in disbelief. "Holy crap," I whispered. "Did I just. cast magic?"

It hit me like a ton of bricks. It was real, all of it. The weird world, the cryptic warnings, and now. powers? I could feel my head spinning as I tried to make sense of it all.

I stared at my hands, willing the blue glow to return. Nothing happened.

"Come on," I growled in frustration. "Work, damn it!"

Still nothing. Whatever I'd done, it seemed I was unable to control. Great. Some Chosen One I was turning out to be.

The adrenaline was starting to wear off now, and that left me feeling drained and shaking. I slumped back against the stone pillar, sliding down until I sat on the forest floor.

"What now?" I asked the empty clearing. "Do I get a tutorial? A quest log? Anything?"

The only response I could muster was silence. I closed my eyes, willing the chaos of my mind to still. This was crazy. I was just some regular guy. How was I to save a world I barely understood?

Sitting there, feeling very sorry for myself indeed, another noise drew my attention. Footsteps. Light and quick, from the direction I'd entered the clearing.

I scrambled to my feet, heart pounding once more. Another monster? Or that woman from the hut, coming to give me more indecipherable advice?

"Hello?" I called out, hating how my voice shook. "Is someone there?"

The footsteps stopped. For a moment, all I could hear was the rustling of leaves in the breeze. Then, a voice:

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

A form came out from behind the tree. It wasn't the woman from before; neither did I find myself pursued by some sort of monster-my mind might have cooked up. He was a young man, probably my age, with unruly red hair and a mischievous grin.

"You must be the new chosen one," he said, looking me up and down. "Gotta say, I'm not impressed."

I bristled at his tone. "Yeah? Well, I didn't exactly ask for this gig."

He laughed-a sharp, barking sound that echoed through the clearing. "None of us did, mate. But here we are."

"Us?" I asked, confusion replacing my irritation. "There are more of you?"

The stranger's grin widened. "Oh, you've got a lot to learn, newbie. Name's Finn. I'm here to bring you in."

"Bring me in where?" I asked suspiciously. "And why should I trust you?"

Finn shrugged. "You probably shouldn't. But unless you want to keep wandering around this forest until something eats you, you might want to come with me."

I hesitated, weighing my options. On one hand, following a stranger into the unknown seemed like a terrible idea. On the other hand, I had no clue where I was or what I was doing. And I'd just narrowly escaped being mauled by some kind of monster.

"Fine," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "Lead the way."

Finn's grin broadened. "Smart choice, newbie. Follow me and try not to trip over your feet.