When I woke up, I found myself in a forest glade, leaning next to a tall tree with rays of sunlight peeking through its leaves. The foliage was similar to the gardens and parks I had frequented on Neptune Colony, but I immediately realized I had been transported to a planet when I saw a vast mountain range jutting out past the forest in front of me. Tracing my eyes along its valleys and peaks, the jagged earth was tinged white by atmospheric light as it lunged into a distant horizon.

Chirp. Chirp.

Birds chortled in the distance and a couple of deer passed through the greenery in front of me. I was stunned. They looked exactly like the ones I had seen in zoos and documentaries of Earth.

Have I been sent back in time?

I instinctively reached my hand out, eager to feel the warmth of life on my fingertips.

I can move my body again.

Looking down, I noticed that my hospital gown had been replaced with a set of medieval clothes made of roughly stitched wool. A sheathed short-sword was attached to my belt, along with several bottles of pink liquid and a sack of silver coins.

I stood up to explore my surroundings and was immediately startled by a foreign but friendly voice inside my head.

Tutorial: Say the phrase "Status Window" to view your character information.

I was taken aback by how mundane this revelation was. Tutorial? Character information? Am I in some kind of virtual reality role-playing game? It can't be... Sera said real lives were at stake.

"S-status window," I blurted out with apprehension. A translucent blue frame appeared in front of me that looked strangely similar to the holo-displays that were projected by the artificial assistants of Neptune Colony.

[Your Status Window]

Name: ??? [Please declare your name to a resident of the world]

Level: 1

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Class: Adventurer

Condition: Healthy

Special Ability: Human Existence

I had played a few VR games when I was a kid, so the idea of a character profile wasn't completely alien to me. However, I was surprised by how barren it was. The last line also seemed strange.

Human existence? What kind of ability is that?

Just then, a second, smaller window appeared in front of the first.

Human Existence: Your existence as a human is undeniable.

I looked at it blankly. It seemed like a completely useless ability. Surely this is some kind of joke. Aren't I supposed to be blessed with godly powers in situations such as this? This better not be the gift that Sera was talking about.

I waved my hand at the windows to try and swat them away as if they were flies. They instantly disappeared, but the courteous voice from earlier entered my head once more.

Tutorial: Say the phrase "Quest Window" to view information about your current quest.

"Quest window."

[Your Current Quest]

Observe the inhabitants of this world. Any method is appropriate, but you must have a meaningful conversation with at least one person every day.

"Huh?" I blurted out loud. I was expecting it to say something along the lines of 'Fight an Evil Dragon' or 'Stop an Army of Undead'.

Or at the very least, let me rescue a damsel in distress. How are meaningful conversations going to save trillions of lives?

I waved the window away and scratched my head.

I want you to observe some lives that are not too different from your own.

Remembering Sera's words, I found a little solace in the fact that I was at least in the right place. Her powers to manipulate reality probably also extended to this world, seeing as how she was able to hand me a quest through this game-like system.

But what is her ultimate goal? If she's that powerful, surely my help isn't needed to save the people that she and that Eternal Caretaker of hers were concerned about.

My attempts to make sense of the current situation only resulted in confusion, so I changed my focus to my surroundings instead. It was a beautiful world, and part of me was excited to explore it in my now functional body. With hope that this strange scenario would make sense with time, I took the first step of my journey in this dazzling alien realm.