Bart's eyes popped open. He blinked, trying to figure out where the heck he was. Everything was blurry and dark. His head felt like it was going to explode.
Where am I? What's going on?
He pushed himself up, wincing at the ache in his muscles. As his vision cleared, he realized he was lying in a puddle on a dirty wooden floor. The air reeked of smoke and something way worse - a sickly-sweet smell that made him want to puke.
When he looked down at himself, he freaked out. His clothes were totally wrecked, all torn up and covered in dirt. But when he checked his body, there wasn't a scratch on him.
Weird...
He glanced at the puddle, expecting to see himself - you know, the 28-year-old accountant dude with messy brown hair and stubble. Instead, some kid with black hair and bright green eyes was staring back at him. The kid looked maybe twelve or thirteen.
What the actual hell? Bart jerked back, almost falling on his butt. He stared at his hands - they were smaller and smooth. That wasn't his face. These weren't his hands. This wasn't his body.
Am I dreaming? Did I fall into some kind of VR sim?
He pinched himself hard, wincing at the sharp pain. It felt real enough.
Bart stumbled forward, taking in his surroundings. He was in what looked like the burnt-out remains of a small house. Blackened beams hung overhead. Ash and debris littered the floor.
"Hello?" he called, his voice high-pitched and unfamiliar. "Mom? Dad?"
The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. He didn't have parents - at least, not ones he called "mom" and "dad." His own parents had died years ago.
Why…why did I say that? And whose body is this? Who am I?
Bart's head spun as he tried to make sense of the situation. He was a grown man, an accountant, not a child. He'd fallen asleep in his own bed after tucking in his son, Tommy.
Tommy...
The thought of his 8-year-old boy sent a pang of longing through Bart's heart. Where was Tommy now? Was he safe? Did he even exist in this strange place?
He shuffled forward, his bare feet leaving prints in the ash. As he moved deeper into the ruined house, he saw two large lumps on the floor ahead. His stomach churned as he realized what they were.
Bodies. Charred beyond recognition.
Bart stumbled back, bile rising in his throat.
Oh god. Oh god no.
Part of him wanted to run, to get as far away from this horror as possible. But another part - the part that felt like it belonged to this child's body - wanted to go to them. To see if by some miracle they were still alive.
In the end, Bart did neither. He stood frozen, staring at the bodies with a strange sense of detachment.
This can't be real. It has to be some kind of simulation. A nightmare. Something.
But even as he tried to convince himself, a creeping sense of dread told him otherwise. This felt too vivid, too visceral to be anything but reality.
Bart tore his eyes away from the bodies and stumbled towards what remained of the front door. He had to get out, had to see where he was.
As he stepped outside, his breath caught in his throat. The entire village was in ruins. Smoldering buildings stretched as far as he could see. Bodies littered the dirt streets.
"Hello?" Bart called, his voice shaking. "Is anyone alive?"
Silence.
He walked down what must have been the main street, trying to make sense of his surroundings. The buildings were simple wooden structures with thatched roofs - or what remained of them. No electricity lines. No cars. It looked like something out of a historical village.
Have I traveled back in time? Or to some other world entirely?
As he explored further, he saw farm tools and other implements that looked vaguely Chinese or Japanese in design, not that he would be able to tell the difference. But the important thing to note was that everything was so primitive. Medieval almost.
Bart passed by more bodies as he walked. Men, women, children - all showed signs of violent deaths. But there were no bullet wounds or signs of modern weapons. Just claw marks as though they were ravaged by beasts.
What happened here? Some kind of beast tide?
Bart felt a growing sense of unease. Whatever had done this might still be out there. And he was in the body of a child - defenseless and alone.
He needed to find shelter for the night. Somewhere to hide and try to figure out what was going on.
Spotting a house at the edge of the village that looked more intact than the others, Bart approached cautiously. He saw it had a cellar entrance on the side.
That could work. Underground, out of sight. Hopefully safer than being out in the open.
He made his way to the cellar doors, wincing at how loudly the rusted hinges creaked when he pulled them open. The space below was pitch black.
Bart hesitated at the entrance, peering into the darkness. Part of him wanted to run, to keep moving until he found somewhere that felt safe. But he knew that was unlikely in his current situation, not with his little legs.
Sometimes you have to choose between bad options.
Taking a deep breath, Bart descended into the cellar, pulling the doors closed behind him. The darkness was absolute.
"Okay," he whispered to himself. "Now what?"
As if in response to his question, a flicker of blue light caught his eye. He blinked, thinking he'd imagined it. But there it was again - a faint blue glow hovering in the air in front of him.
Bart reached out to touch it, his hand passing right through. As soon as his fingers made contact, a series of glowing blue screens popped into existence all around him, illuminating the cellar.
"What the-" Bart stumbled back in shock, nearly tripping over debris on the floor.
The screens were semi-transparent, filled with scrolling text and numbers. They looked like computer displays, but floating in mid-air with no visible hardware.
At the top of the main screen, large text proclaimed:
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
[System Initializing...]
[New User Detected]
[Assigning Class: Programmer]
[Assigning skill: Debug Reality]
Bart blinked rapidly, but the text remained.
"Programmer?" he muttered, confused. "But I'm not... I mean, I took a class years ago in high school, but..."
More text appeared:
[Welcome, User. You have been granted the class of Programmer. Your primary method of advancement will be through absorbing Code Essence.]
"Code Essence?" Bart called out, his voice echoing slightly in the enclosed space. "I don't understand. I'm an accountant, not a programmer. I can barely remember how to write a 'Hello World' program!"
The system responded:
[You will need to draw in Code Essence from the environment and refine it within your body to enter the first stage of cultivation – Script Initiation. As you progress, you will gain greater ability to affect the world around you.]
"Cultivation?" Bart muttered. The term tickled something in his memory. Where had he heard that before?
Then it hit him - xianxia novels. Those Chinese fantasy stories about cultivators who trained to become immortals. He'd read a few out of curiosity. But in those stories, cultivation was all about absorbing spiritual energy and ascending to godhood. It had nothing to do with coding.
Is this some kind of mashup? Cultivation meets programming?
He shook his head, trying to clear it. This was insane. None of this could be real.
"System," he called out, his voice shaky, "is... is this world real? Tell me I’m dreaming."
There was a moment of silence, then text appeared on the floating screen:
[This world is real, User. You have been transported from your original world to this one, a process commonly referred to as 'isekai' in certain fictional contexts.]
The confirmation hit Bart like a physical blow. He staggered back, bumping into the cellar wall.
"No," he whispered, "no, no, no. This can't be happening."
The full weight of his situation came crashing down on him. He wasn't dreaming. He wasn't in a simulation. Somehow, he had been transported to another world - one where reality itself operated on principles of code.
And he was trapped in the body of a child, hiding in a dark cellar in a destroyed village.
Panic gripped him. His breathing came in short gasps as he struggled to process everything. Thoughts of his son, Tommy, flashed through his mind. Would he ever see him again?
"System," he said, his child's voice trembling, "I don't understand any of this. How am I supposed to use these... abilities? I'm not cut out for this. I just want to go home to my son."
[Do not be discouraged, User. You will be guided through the basics. In this reality, the fundamental forces that govern existence can be accessed and manipulated through what your mind perceives as Code Essence.]
[Your class, Programmer, gives you a natural affinity for understanding and manipulating Code Essence. As you progress through the Script Initiation stage, you will be able to use basic commands to enhance your physical abilities and perform simple self-healing.]
"But…why was I brought here? Why was I... isekaid?"
[You are one of the Chosen, User.]
Bart's eyes widened. "One of the Chosen? Wait, does that mean... there are others like me?"
[Affirmative. You are not the only one who has been transported to this world.]
A mix of relief and apprehension washed over Bart. He wasn't alone in this strange situation, but that also meant there might be competition or conflict with other transported individuals.
"Chosen by who? And for what purpose?"
The system's response was frustratingly vague:
[I am not at liberty to disclose that information.]
Bart frowned, "What exactly are you? Some kind of AI? A god?"
[I am the Administrator. I will assign you a helper, who will assist you in succeeding.]
"Succeeding at what?" Bart asked, exasperated.
The system remained silent, offering no response to his question.
Bart had read enough stories to know what was probably expected of him. He was likely chosen to become some kind of hero, to save this world from probably an even greater threat than whatever had destroyed this village.
"But I'm not a hero," he thought desperately. "I'm just... me. An accountant. A single dad. I can't do this."
Bart took a deep breath. He thought of Tommy, probably scared and alone without his dad. He had to find a way back, and if learning this strange new skill was the key, then he'd have to try. He looked at his small hands, clenching them into fists.
To survive, I need to get stronger. And in this world, that means learning to cultivate - to initiate scripts. Maybe... maybe if I get strong enough, I can find a way back to Tommy.
“Is there... is there a way for me to return to my old world? To get back to my son?"
The silence continued and Bart thought the system would no longer answer but then, new text appeared:
[Anything is possible if you have the power, User. The ability to traverse worlds is not beyond the realm of possibility for those who have transcended. However, such feats require a level of skill and understanding far beyond your current capabilities.]
Transcension…
Bart's heart raced at this revelation. It wasn't a guarantee, but it was hope - a goal to strive for.
"Then that's what I'll do," he said, his voice growing stronger. "I'll learn. I'll get stronger. I'll master this Code Essence, no matter what it takes. And then I'll find my way back to my boy."
But how do I actually do it? I don't see how I can find a computer in this world. Or can I just think the commands?
"System, how exactly do I enter the Script Initiation realm?"
[Through your skill Debug Reality]
[This skill allows you to perceive the underlying code of objects and phenomena in the world around you.]
[To activate Debug Reality, focus your intent and say or think "Debug" while looking at your target.]
Bart blinked, trying to process this information. "Okay, so I just... think 'Debug' at something?"
[Correct. Try it on a nearby object.]
Bart looked around the dimly lit cellar. His eyes fell on an old wooden crate in the corner. Taking a deep breath, he focused on it and thought, Debug.
Suddenly, lines of glowing text overlaid his vision of the crate:
class WoodenCrate {
int age = 15;
boolean isRotten = false;
String material = "oak";
float durability = 0.75f;
void decay() {
// Gradual decomposition logic
}
boolean openLid() {
// Logic for opening the crate
}
}
Bart's eyes widened. "Whoa," he whispered. "I can see... code? But I don't understand most of it. What does all this mean?"
[I will explain each part of the code you're seeing. Note that this is a simplified representation of reality, designed to be comprehensible to your current level of understanding.]
[class WoodenCrate { }: This defines the object you're looking at. Everything inside the curly braces describes properties and behaviors of the wooden crate.]
[int age = 15;: This is an integer property representing the approximate age of the crate in years. Currently, it's 15 years old.]
[boolean isRotten = false;: This is a true/false property. 'false' means the crate is not rotten. However, note that this is a simplified representation of a complex, gradual process]
[String material = "oak";: This property defines the type of wood the crate is made from, in this case, oak.]
[float durability = 0.75f;: This represents the crate's durability on a scale from 0 to 1. 0.75 means it's at 75% of its original strength.]
[void decay() { }: This is a function that would handle how the crate deteriorates over time. The actual logic isn't visible here.]
[boolean openLid() { }: This function would handle the process of opening the crate's lid. It returns true or false, likely indicating whether the attempt to open was successful.]
Bart nodded slowly, trying to absorb all this information. "So... this code basically defines what the crate is and what it can do?"
[Correct. The code you see represents a simplified model of the crate's current state and its potential behaviors. Reality is far more complex, but this representation allows you to interact with it more easily.]
"And if I could change this code, I could change the crate itself?"
[Theoretically, yes. With sufficient Code Essence and skill, you could alter these properties or even add new ones.]
“So, I could make it newer by changing the age? Or maybe make it more durable?"
[Correct. However, manipulating reality requires Code Essence, which you have not yet begun to cultivate.]
Bart's face fell slightly. "Oh. So how do I get this Code Essence?"
[To begin absorbing Code Essence, you must enter the first stage of cultivation: Script Initiation. Would you like to begin this process?]
Bart took a deep breath, thinking of his son and the long journey ahead. "Yes," he said firmly. "Show me how to start." Then, remembering something the system had mentioned earlier, he added, "But wait, you mentioned I would be given a helper. What did you mean by that?"
As if in response to his question, the blue text on the floating screens began to swirl. The words spun faster and faster, coalescing into a glowing blue tornado in the center of the cellar.
The whirlwind of text grew denser, taking on a more solid form. Bart's jaw dropped as he realized it was shaping itself into a human figure - a small one, about his current size.
With a final flash of blue light, the transformation was complete. Standing before Bart was an exact replica of his new body - a young boy with black hair and bright green eyes.
"What... what is this?" Bart stammered, taking a step back.
The boy blinked, his bright green eyes wide with fear and confusion. He looked around wildly, his gaze finally settling on Bart.
"Who... who are you?" the boy asked, his voice shaky. "Why do you look like me?”