[Julian, wake up! They are talking trash about you, Julian!]

Back in Julian's new tiny apartment, MEGAN was currently screaming in his unconscious mind.

MEGAN is a highly advanced AI that was programmed to be extremely life-like, and Julian had given her all the permissions she would ever need on her behalf – Julian doesn't even call her 'it'.

And with all of those permissions, MEGAN could dive through the internet all on her own. And right now, of course, she was watching Julian's livestream – she was the very first in the chat. But soon, however, thousands of people flooded.

Of course, they would.

The Otherworld Project is not just any virtual reality game – it wasn't virtual, and it wasn't a game at all. But the reason why many watch it is because no normal people could actually afford it – 1,500,000 credits, that was enough to buy a small house in the Sky Net area.

Otherworld Project only has less than 7,000 total Players, and the Streamers are around half of that.

And so, every new player automatically and initially gets thousands and thousands of views. And right now…

…people were on Julian's stream.

[What the!? Who's the fatso!?] MEGAN was seething as she read some of the comments; immediately registering for an account as she joined the chat.

And without even any hesitation, she started attacking everyone who insulted Julian. And also almost immediately… she got banned because of death threats.

[What!? What kind of AI is that!? They're the ones trashing Julian! Ban them! Ban them, I say!]

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

And while MEGAN was currently contesting her account being restricted, Julian continued to explore the extremely unfamiliar world around him – touching everything so that he could identify what they were.

And right now, he was watching the pod that brought him to Artemia open up – merging with the ground before sprouting flowers and grass, becoming completely unnoticeable.

"Interesting…" Julian whispered before he walked toward the trees.

"...The trees all look different from each other, I thought they would all be the same," Julian whispered to himself since he was still used to MEGAN replying to him. He continued to walk around the forest, completely leaving the area where he was asked to stay by the scientists – it did not really matter to him, he was truly just here to explore…

…and explore he did.

If only Julian could hear the people chatting on his livestream, he would probably know to turn around now – but alas. But even if he was hearing them, he probably still wouldn't turn around as he was too caught up in touching everything in the forest.

"Dried leaves," he whispered as soon as the leaf crumbled from his hands, "...Very interesting."

"...I don't know what this is," Julian crouched down as he saw a mushroom; he tried to feel it, but it was not really something he had felt before, "It feels like… cheese…? This doesn't seem like–Hm?"

And before Julian could place the mushroom closer to his nose so he could isolate its smell from the rest of the forest, he heard a faint rustling sound nearby… his heightened senses catching the subtle movement of leaves. He paused, tilting his shoulder in the direction of the noise.

"...People?" Julian turned toward the sound as he recognized them as footsteps, his hands brushing against the rough bark of the trees as he lifted himself and walked toward the noise.

"Hello?" He called out, assuming it was another human, or perhaps a hyum. But as he stepped into a small clearing, his heart skipped a beat.

There, standing hunched with grotesque figures…

…were Goblins—small, green-skinned creatures with twisted faces and jagged teeth.

They chattered among themselves in a language Julian couldn't understand, but their intent was clear by the wicked glint in their eyes…

…well, their intent was clear for normal people, but not for Julian. The reason why his heart skipped a beat wasn't because they looked scary – Julian had no concept of that just yet. The reason why his heart skipped a beat… was because of the things they were holding.

Instead, Julian smiled and greeted them, completely oblivious to the danger as he approached them.

"Hello," he said, his voice calm, his hand raised in a friendly gesture. He still couldn't fully make out their features and, but since they looked completely different from the scientists in the space station… he could really only think of them as Hyums, the humanoid natives of Artemia.

And soon, his gaze strayed toward their hands as he was finally able to recognize something without even touching them.

Some of them were holding a sword—a crude, rusted blade. Julian's heart started to race. Even though he had never seen a sword in his life, he knew instantly what it was. There was something familiar, almost instinctual, about the way it gleamed.

"That's a sword, I know it is..." He hasn't even touched it, but he knows what it was by looking at it. It was almost as if it was calling to him. And very soon, excitement swelled inside him as an almost maniacal smile crawled on his face.

"!!!" Unfortunately for Julian, one of the goblins snarled and lunged at him, driving a rusty blade straight into his leg.

"Kh…" Julian gasped, slightly stumbling backward. The pain was immediate and sharp, blood pouring from the wound—but instead of screaming in agony or howling in pain…

"Ha… Hahahaha!" Julian…

…Julian let out breaths filled with laughter; his teeth showing and his face slightly flushed,

"A sword… a sword is inside me?"