Lucy Bertrand stared at the kid. The kid looked barely older than ten, with blond hair and brown eyes, with slight Asiatic features. Mixed ethnicity, he supposed. The clothes were just basic garments, though well-worn, and made from wool. They were simple but practical. If you were living in the bloody dark ages.

The problem Lucy was having, was that the kid looked all too real, and not the colorful, digital world he should have been in.

The kid stared back, eyes wide. Then screamed, nearly blowing out his ears, and ran.

Lucy stared after the kid, as he escaped deeper into the woods. His eyes then fell to his hands, and unconsciously brushed the curtain of his hair. They were the colour of silver.

His skin tone was a shade of caramel brown.

This is the body of the main character Eo, of the Vengence of the Phoenix Lord. A powerful phoenix lord, cast down to the material world by the Gods. Forced to take a human form, Eo eventually married and had children, content to live an idle life. Until circumstances forced the Gods to murder his wife and children.

Eo wanted vengeance. A brilliant progression of the storyline throughout the game.

Lucy's breathing was calm, his heartbeat steady, and his skin felt unusually warm. Lucy felt better than he ever had in his entire life. He wasn't panicking when he should by all rights screaming in panic. No, wait. He did panic. But that passed just as quickly. His thoughts churning, analyzing everything that had happened.

"Exit."

Nothing. Not even a notification.

"Inventory? Skills? Okay, nothing."

Lucy groaned.

"Oh... I just know mum's going to kill me," His heart picked up speed. "What the fuck is going on...?"

It was odd, thought Lucy. His mind felt clearer, less cluttered, better able to comprehend just as fast as he thought it. And Lucy now apparently had the body of a game character... speaking of which...

Almost instinctively, Lucy snapped his finger. A small candle flame flared to life atop the tip of his index finger. He could feel it, the control, the purity of the fire. It wasn't normal fire, but supernaturally divine.

There were a dozen classes Lucy could choose from, or you can mix and match from all of them. And though choosing the latter option was not a good idea, as it would never lead to optimized character stats, it would make the gameplay that much harder for the player. Lucy, however, was only a casual player. He barely even gave the game the hours it deserved, having far more interest in mingling with friends at house parties.

So, what could he do now?"

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The only thing he had on him was the beige shorts and a clean light blue shirt, halfway buttoned up to show some of his skin. The sandals he wore was made with some very comfortable black leather.

"Wait a minute," Lucy lifted his shirt and poked at his stomach. "Jeez... those abs are really unfair..."

His own mother won't even recognize him, despite the avatar being slightly modeled after himself. Just... a better version of himself."

What was he doing before he got here? Right. There was supposed to be an event happening, and Lucy emptied everything the character had and deposited it into the bank before arriving at the beach for the event.

And then nothing.

Lucy was here.

The noise reached him before they did.

"Boy, are you sure you saw a monster?"

"Yes, father! I'm sure of it! He had wings of dancing fire!"

Wings of what? Lucy looked over his shoulder and there it was, literal wings made of red light... but not actual wings. They were just strands of ethereal red light almost in the shape of wings.

Lucy blinked. He had that instinctive feeling again, that if he could fly, all he had to do was jump.

"Uh-huh. Boy, you gonna explain to your mama about making up stories again."

Lucy panicked, then froze.

Wait a minute. How did he understand the language? It was certainly no language he had come across, and thanks to his eidetic memory. Also, how the hell did he know how to speak it?

The branches moved aside, and a skinny man arrived with the boy. Surprised, the man gaped at him.

"Well, I'll be damned. You do have wings for fire."

"See! I told you!"

Lucy grimaced. "Yeah, sorry about that. I just got... lost."

"I'm a fisherman. The name is Fan Huo, and this boy here is Fan Charlie," The man, Huo, was an older fellow, with pepper hair cut short, and a strong figure for a man in his late forties. "What is a stranger like you doing on our island?"

"I'm Lucy Bertrand," He then frowned. "Island?"

The boy and his father exchanged a glance. "Well, I mean, there are several islands connected to this main one. It's hard to miss if you were out in the sea..."

How the hell did he end up on an island, stunned Lucy.

Silence followed, stretching uncomfortably long.

"If you like, you are welcome to join my family for tea?" The man offered. There was a genuine offer of help behind that smile.

"I would like that, thank you."

As the father and the son led the stranger back to the village, Charlie spoke up. "By the way, how in the name of the ascended did you get those wings?!"

"Boy, don't be disrespectful of our guest," A light smack followed. "I apologize for my son's behavior. The boy's only excited about having visitors from off the islands."

"Do you not get many visitors, or... erm, traders-... merchants to trade with?"

The man sighed. "It's an old story, but our people escaped the tyranny of the noble masters three centuries ago. We could not fight them, no matter how hard we tried. We are but peasants, with little training. And the nobility and their retainers are masters of their martial craft."

"But you and your people escaped."

"Heh, yes. While we are nothing worthy in the eyes of our former masters, we are many. Servants, farmers, masons...," Huo sends him a sharp grin. "Our ancestors prepared for twenty years to escape, and when we did, a golden opportunity came. The noble family and most of his retainers were invited to the heart of the empire, and it was simply easy to poison the waters and the wine to ensure the guards were asleep."

"And then!" Charlie started. "Our ancestors stole everything not nailed to the wall from the noble palace, grabbed a few ships, and went to the furthest ocean ever!"

Lucy whistled appreciatively. "I can't imagine the nobles are happy about that."

"Hmm, picture an empty city, and the surrounding farms burnt and salted. Their centuries of accumulated and prized martial scrolls, riches... everything up and disappeared." Huo brushed past the last tree branches to an incredible view of the blue ocean. "And our ancestors found paradise.

Welcome to the Heavily Golden Islands."