I raised my arm to block the sun blinding me as I stepped out of my car. I'd driven to the outdoor shooting range to test fire my brand new AK-47 I just got recently, my dream gun. Made in an Izhevsk factory, now named Kalashnikov Concern, the gun was a work of art.
Walnut wood furniture with a beautiful shine, and the metal sleek and smooth. Everything about it was in such perfect condition that you'd think it was straight from the factory. Most wouldn't expect it though to actually be over 70 years old. The thing was one of the few AK-47s built, most of the ones people know of nowadays actually being an AKM, which made this thing quite the collectors item. But that wasn't the best part about it though.
On the metal were letters in russian etched into it which read: Михаи́л Тимофе́евич Кала́шников, translated as Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov. This beauty was signed by its creator Kalashnikov himself.
My grandfather had served in Vietnam when he brought this thing back.
It apparently belonged to some kind of officer or whoever that he’d killed, and originally it’d had arctic birchwood furniture before swapping it out for walnut, I think he kept the birch in the basement or something. When he came back to the states he got a job working closely with Eugene Stoner, the creator of the AR-15. When Kalashnikov came to the US in the 90s and visited Stoner, my grandfather brought this Ak with him to ask him to sign it.
It'd become a sort of family heirloom and when my grandfather passed away it was given to me as my dad had no interest in guns (His loss). I remember there was an auction for a signed AK-47 a while back for something around several million dollars. Heh, this one is probably worth the same, maybe a bit more.
The sun's rays shine in my face again and I snap out of my thoughts back to reality. Right, I'm here to shoot this thing. I grab all my tactical gear and put it all on before heading over to the range. I know it's just shooting at the range to the gear may seem unnecessary to most, but I like having a 'realistic feel' when I practice shooting by wearing what a soldier typically would. Though people tend to give me an odd look every now and then, a few calling me a “tryhard” “wannabee” and other similar things.
I find an empty spot and go to set up, taking out a magazine and loading the AK. As I raise it and aim down the sights though there's a loud explosive noise.
BANG
Huh, that's weird. I didn't see anyone else here with any sort of large caliber gun to make that loud of a noise. What could that have been-
BOOM
CRACK
The sky began to darken as another loud bang sounded out, and this time I noticed it coming from overhead. People around me were shouting, some even looked frightened pointing up at the sky. As I looked up my mouth dropped open in shock.
There in the sky was a large swirling blue… well, something, some kind of energy. Sparks of lightning would arc out of it as the sky was quickly covered in dark clouds, soon beginning to rain.
"What in the fuck is happeni-"
Before I could finish speaking a beam of light came down from the blue swirl of energy and slammed into me, blinding my eyes.
"BLYAAAAAAAAAT!!"
I screamed out in pain. It felt like every nerve in my body was being shocked at once. I barely noticed, but I could feel myself lifting into the air and faintly hear people around me yelling. That didn't matter to me though as I was too focused on not passing out from the pain. As I got higher and higher in the air though the pain increased and it became harder to retain consciousness. And as soon as my body came into contact with the blue swirl in the sky everything went black.
----------------------
For a while all I could see was nothing, just black, and I couldn't feel anything either.
Am I dead? Hah, haha, nah that can't be. What happened at the range, I must've been high on something or whatever, there's no way that-
As I thought that though I finally felt something on my whole body. It was like air rushing past me, and a sense of weightlessness. Slowly and with effort I manage to open my eyes and-
"BLYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!"
Immediately scream at the sight below me. The sight very, very, far below me.
WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUUUUUUCK!
Below me was the surface of a planet, several miles down. At the edges of my vision the deep dark edges of space could be seen, though that quickly faded away into a blue sky.
As I plummeted towards the planet and continued screaming the ground began getting closer, and my mind began panicking even more.
Holy fuck, did that blue swirl bring me up here? How the hell is that even possib- NO! That's not important right now. What is important is the fact that I'm going to crash into the fucking planet and die!
The surface of the planet grew closer and closer, until eventually I could see the trees of a forest below, what looked like a mountain range to the north of it and what was probably a large grassy plain with a river between them.
I didn't have much time to ponder on that though as I was about to slam into the ground.
Oh fuck, this is seriously how I die? God If I knew I was going to die today then I would have tried harder to date someone or even just make a frien-
As my body finally fell past the tops of the trees I squeezed my eyes shut, expecting immense pain or immediate death. Much to my confusion and surprise though neither happens. I still feel the same sense of weightlessness and open my eyes and gasp in surprise then sigh in a sense of relief. I'm floating mid air just above the ground, having come to a stop before crashing into it.
I suddenly fall face first into the dirt with a small *oof* and lay there, feeling a bit disoriented and mentally exhausted from what just happened. I eventually get up and dust myself off, checking my surroundings.
Ok, I don't know how but somehow I'm alive. Scared as hell, but alive.
Like I saw on my way down I seem to be in a forest, trees all around me. I can hear what is probably some wildlife in the distance and what sounds like rushing water.
That's probably the river I saw, I must be at the edge of the forest then.
I look down to inspect myself. I look and feel fine, no noticeable injuries or bruises or anything, and as I take them off to look them over and make sure it’s all still there my gear seems to be fine too.
Alright everything looks undamaged but let's make sure I still have everything. Got my Polish OLV vest and Steel Altyn helmet, it and the armor plates in the vest both rated as level 3 being able to stop 5.56, 5.45, and up to 7.62 (though a 7.62 hitting my chest would still hurt like a bitch and probably leave some bruises, and any hitting the helmet would probably make my neck sore like hell if not outright injure it).
Got my military backpack with plenty of wet and dry rations, a couple canteens of water, water purifying tablets and a water filter. Flashlight, rope, a small axe for wood, etc. i got pretty much everything I’d need to live out in the wilderness.
Packing it all back up I put back on my backpack as I go to lift my AK-
I stop moving as I notice the AK was no longer on the ground.
"Where the hell is my AK?"
I look around frantically, but I can't see it anywhere on the ground. I look up and down but can’t find it.
God dammit, where the hell is-
As I raise my hands in frustration though there's a gold flash of light in them, and I feel a familiar weight in my hands. I bring them back down to see my AK. A feeling of relief washes over me as I hug the gun to my chest.
"Ohhhh my dear baby, please don't ever disappear on me like that ever again. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost yo-"
A ruffling noise sounds from the bushes and I freeze, slowly turning towards it. I slowly brace my AK and aim at a bush in the direction of the noise, waiting for whatever caused it to come out.
Grrrrrrr
There's a growl from behind the bushes and I feel goosebumps all over. I keep aiming and try to back away but as soon as I do whatever it is jumps out.
ROOAAAARR
And I finally see it, a terrifying monster leaping through the air. It looks like a giant wolf, dark green fur with its body covered in several plates of wooden looking armor, razor sharp claws and teeth the size of knives. Fear runs through my body as it's eyes look at me with hunger in them.
"AAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
And as soon as it lands on the ground in front of me and before it can even take another step,
BANG BANG BANG
I scream as I fire into its head, punching holes into it and causing it to immediately drop dead. Adrenaline is coursing through me though and I don't stop firing, and having noticed it's not a normal animal I keep firing not knowing how much it would take to kill it even though it was already long since dead.
Eventually I finally stop, panting and trying to catch my breath and my shoulder a little sore from the constant firing.
Is it dead?
I look at it and it's head is literally gone, pulverized into mush and spread over the forest floor, with the body having several holes out the back as well.
Juuust to make sure I fire another shot, making another hole and the body unsurprisingly not moving.
Well, a bit overkill but at least It's dead.
As I look over it closer though I become confused.
Wait a minute, that's like- 1, 2, 7, 12, 24, 36…. God damn how many bullet holes are there? That, that can't be possible. There's more holes in it than bullets the magazine can hold.
I hold up my AK again and look at it once more, examining it for anything out of place. My eyes drift down to the mag well and my eyes widen. Around it was a glowing golden halo.
Is this the cause of the amount of shots I fired?
I pull out the magazine, the halo splitting into two and one now existing over both the well and the mag. Opening the chamber a bit I can still see a bullet inside.
Let's see if what I'm thinking about this is correct.
Holding up the ak I fire a single shot.
BANG
Alright it should be empty now, but if I'm right then…
BANG
I pull the trigger and another shot rings out. My heart pounds a little faster at this. I brace the gun against my shoulder and hold down the trigger.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
The air is filled with the thunder of full auto fire, my face breaking out into a massive grin at what I had just discovered.
"Hahahah, fuck yeaahhh!!!"
Holy shit holy shit, does my gun actually have infinite ammo?
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
I aim at a tree and start firing again, not letting up until much later when eventually the ground is covered in splinters as the tree creaks and groans and falls over with several holes in it.
Ok, yup, it definitely has infinite ammo. I should be more confused by this but god this is so awesome!
I look at my ak in amazement, my mind racing with possibilities and ideas of what I could now do with it.
A howl in the distance though breaks me out of my thoughts and I look at the sky. It was still mostly day but the sun looked like it was going to start going down soon.
Crap, I need to find shelter, and quickly.
Remembering the river I heard earlier I head in it's direction. I come up on it and on the other side of it are large mostly empty grassy plains, with the occasional tree and bush.
Well alright, if I follow the river maybe I can come across a town or village or something. Probably won't be until tomorrow though, I can’t see any signs of one in either direction.
I take out my binoculars and look in the distance to the left, seeing what looked to be a mountain range. Looking the opposite way where the river is flowing just shows more empty plains and forest.
Alright, there are mountains in that direction and more plains and forest in the other. If I remember correctly from history class, then it was common for large towns and even capital cities to be built near the ocean. And this river probably leads to an ocean.
Nodding to myself I follow the river away from the mountains, picking up the pace a bit and hoping to find a settlement before nightfall. It took a couple hours of walking, by which time the sky had begun to darken and I had begun to grow tired. But off in the distance I could see something gray jutting up out of the ground.
With sweaty palms I take out my binoculars again as I look at it and smile at the sight of a stone wall.
Fucking hell finally! I’ve been walking for what feels like forever I can almost get some rest. Place looks decently sized too, a population of a few thousand people maybe? But…
I look up at the sky, the blue just starting to fade into the dark starry black of space.
*Tch* dammit, I’m not going to make it there in time. I’ll need to find shelter for the night.
As I follow along the river I eventually come upon a cave. I approach it but then come to a stop when I hear a noise coming from inside. I aim my ak at the entrance, walking as slowly and quietly as I can. I peek around the mouth of the cave and I see a bundle of some kind of green fur moving around, a rather small one at that too.
Snap
As soon as I take a step to grow closer though I step on a twig, causing it to sit up and perk it’s ears.
God dammit.
I hold my finger on the trigger, just about to fire until the creature looks at me.
Wha-... holy it looks adorable as hell.
It looked just like a small puppy, maybe a few weeks old at the most and the same shape as an Alaskan Malamute, but with green fur and small bits and pieces of wood over its body.
Wait, wood?
Looking at it more closely and thinking back to the monster I shot earlier I finally notice the resemblance.
“Aww shit, are you the pup or something of that thing I killed earlier?”
It looks up at me with it’s puppy eyes, tilting its head to the side.
“Ahhh dammit.”
I lower my gun and walk over to it, crouching down in front of it. I take off my backpack and reach inside, pulling out a simple biscuit from my rations. It sniffs at it curiously, licking it before swallowing it all in one gulp.
“Man, you must be hungry huh?”
It barks at me and I smile as I take out another biscuit, scratching behind its ear as it wags its tail.
BOOM
The clap of thunder could be heard outside, and soon after the pitter patter of rain drops. The pup whimpered and pawed at me, trying to jump into and hide between my back and backpack.
“Well, looks like I’m stuck here with you for the night. You stay right here, I’ll make this place a bit safer before we go to sleep.”
I grab a length of rope out of my bag and my e-tool then head out of the cave and run over to the forest some several dozen feet away. Looking around I see a few trees and some lying on the ground, thin enough to cut down but still thick and tall enough for helping to cover the cave entrance. After I gather enough I tie them together and haul it all back to the cave. Once I’m back at the cave the pup looks at me as I get to work.
Digging out a line in the dirt I prop up the trees in them to push against the roof of the cave then pack in dirt around the bottom, locking them firmly in place. After a few minutes I’ve created a sort of ‘wall’ of trees covering the cave entrance. Well, you could still see through it and frankly if anything were to come look it would still see me inside but it would at least keep anything out long enough for me to wake up and grab my gun.
As I look outside though I see yet another thing today that halts my thoughts as I stare at it.
There up in the night sky far to the left and right, were two visible planets in place of a moon and about the same size as the moon around earth. One was red like mars, but there were visible patches on it of seemingly glowing orange.
If I had to guess, maybe lava lakes?
The other one was odd though. It looked like an earth-like planet, but several areas were of varying colours as though they were all experiencing different seasons at the same time.
Man, weather patterns there must be hectic.
I keep staring up at the sky, finally no longer walking and having a chance to just relax, finally having time to just think to myself. I sit down and lean against the cave wall as I look back on todays events.
Geeze, what the hell even was today.
I think back to the gun range, being struck by that beam then sucked into the blue swirl. Afterwards screaming upon waking up as I sped down towards the surface of a planet before stopping just above the ground.
‘A’ planet huh, not earth but ‘a’ planet.
I look outside again at the two planets, seeing the distinct lack of earth's moon.
I’m really not on earth anymore. Heh, man this is like one of those Isekai stories. It’s odd though, you’d think I’d be more panicked or freaked out right. And yet… I feel rather calm, even a bit excited at all of this. I don’t seem to be feeling any sort of sorrow at the loss of no longer being on earth.
Usually most people in my situation would end up panicking, unable to calm down. Hell, a lot of people probably even would have ended up not reacting in time to that wolf I encountered and getting killed by it. Granted yeah I did still freak out a bit, screaming at the top of my lungs at seeing it and not noticing it was already dead when shooting it because of the adrenaline. But overall I think I did alright considering the circumstances.
I feel something crawl under my arm and lay on my lap, looking down and seeing the pup laying down and falling asleep on my legs. I smile and pat its head, its tail softly wagging as it yawns and closes its eyes.
Well, as crazy as this day was, I don't think I mind this all too much. If anything this is possibly one of the better things to have happened to me.
I didn’t have much if anything to miss back on earth, and nothing there to miss me either. My grandpa was already dead and my dad passed away not long after in a car accident earlier this year, and my mom died giving birth to me. And other than grandpa neither of my parents had any known living relatives.
I was about 20 when this all happened and still had yet to ever get a job, but luckily due to grandpa working for Eugene Stoner he’d gotten stocks in TRW, the company he owned, as a bonus for work and bought some other stocks in various other companies that later became hugely successful like Apple and Microsoft. And so from that was a crap ton of valuable stocks I inherited that I naturally immediately sold all of. Heh, grandpa was a boomer but even he could see tech was the future.
So yeah, all my known family was dead and while of course at first I was devastated and depressed, It didn’t take me forever to move on with my life and start enjoying things again, no doubt helped by the copious amount of wealth I suddenly found myself in possession of. I didn’t have any friends either but hey, who needs friends when you have guns? Only thing I’d needed and would use from then on to comfort myself was the sweet sweet sound of gunfire.
BANG
Thunder sounds outside and I’m reminded again that it’s getting late.
“Alright little guy, time for us to get some shut eye.”
I move us both over to the back of the cave, looking out at the planets and stars outside once more before closing my eyes and finally falling asleep.
____________________________________________________________
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The sun rises over the horizon as the first rays of sunlight peek into the cave and stir me from my sleep. I stretch my arms out with a yawn, the pup on my lap doing the same.
“Hmm, I can’t just keep thinking of you as pup all the time. You’re gonna need a name.”
It looks up at me quizzically while pawing at my backpack, likely trying to get another biscuit.
“Alright alright, let’s have breakfast first then.”
I reach into my back pack and pull out a couple russian MREs, one for the pup and one for me.
“God, I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.”
A bit excited to finally get some grub, I grab some leftover wood to help with heating them. But as I go to light it I see something to the side of the cave that wasn’t visible in the dark last night, something that makes me yell.
“Cyka blyat!”
I jump back as I see a mostly bones skeleton against the opposite wall. I take a moment to calm down, breathing in before I look at it more closely. It’s wearing leather armor that’s mostly rotted and falling off, and in it’s hand is a sword still in its sheath.
Poor dude, looks like he couldn’t draw his weapon in time.
I move close and pick up the sword, drawing it and surprised to see there’s no rust on it and at what type of sword it was.
What the heck, a Shashka saber? And it’s in perfect condition too, not a speck of rust on it. And the blade still looks sharp too, it’s like this thing only just left the smithy.
I stand up and give it a few swings, liking the weight and feel of it.
Well of course my AK is still gonna be my best weapon, but this would still be better than just the utility knife I have.
Looking the skeleton over once more I find a small leather purse. Picking it up and looking inside I see several copper and silver coins and a single golden one.
Well, got some of the local currency so that hopefully won’t be a problem anymore.
Looking at the skeleton once more I give a silent thanks in my mind.
I’m not sure what the funeral rites are around here, but I’ll be sure to bury you before leaving.
I go to tie the saber to my belt but as I do, it and the sword disappears in a flash of golden light.
“BLYAT!”
I look around frantically, not able to see it anywhere.
“Dammit, where the hell did it go-, wait, where is my ak?!”
As I panic even more there’s another golden flash of light. I hold my arms to my face to block it but then soon feel two weights in my hands. Bringing them down I find myself holding the saber and my gun.
“What the hell is going on-, no, hold on a minute.”
Focusing on the two items I think about the light and they both disappear again in a golden flash. Focusing again they both reappear in my hands instantly. With my heart beating faster I run over to my backpack and hold it up. Sure enough as I focus on it it flashes with a gold light and disappears. I spend the next several minutes with it and my gun, saber, and backpack, doing the same with the coin purse as well and just making them disappear and reappear over and over again.
“Holy shit holy shit holy shit!”
My arms reach out as I try to keep myself from yelling out too much in excitement.
“Hahahaha! I have a fucking magic inventory!”
Something nudges my leg and I look down to see the wolf pup pawing at me.
“Ah crap right, sorry, breakfast.”
I get back to lighting the fire and set some tins over top of it. A while later I take them off and open them to reveal a meat filled inside.
“Alright, here you go buddy.”
Handing the pup theirs I dig into mine, savoring the taste and smell.
“Mmm, it’s not restaurant food, but it’s still good.”
Looking at the pup again I think to myself.
“Hmm, a name. What to name you, I can't think of a good Russian name buuut… Oh! I know, how about ‘Sköll; He who Hungers’ ? Since you seem to like my rations so much. It’s a Norse name rather than Russian, but it’s still cool, one of Fenrir's children in Norse mythology if I remember right. ”
The pup looks up with me with a meat covered face and gives a happy ‘bark!’ before returning to his food.
“Alright, Sköll it is then.”
I give them a pat before returning to my food. Soon we both finish eating and I go to pack up. I go to grab my backpack before stopping myself.
“Oh, I almost forgot about that.”
Instead of putting it on, I hold it and it disappears with a flash.
“Man, it’s gonna take some time to get used to that. Well at least it won’t weigh me down anymore.”
I do the same with the Saber and AK, then pick up Sköll and put him on my shoulder with a bark. I move a few of the tree logs to head outside but then notice claw marks on them.
What the- oh shit, something tried to get in and I didnt even wake up? Dammit, I need to be more careful next time.
Shivering at the thought that I was likely very close to dying in my sleep, I looked ahead in the direction I saw the stonewall before.
Well alright, It’s still early morning and I should be able to get there before afternoon hopefully.
Before leaving, with a flash of light I take out my e-tool and dig out a grave. Taking the skeleton from the cave and burying it and placing some shorter trees to mark the grave. I grasp my hands together and offer a silent prayer for the dead adventurer to whatever god or gods of this world there were.
May your next life be better than how this one ended.
I start walking in the direction of the wall, the scenery not really changing much. Though I do occasionally see some odd looking animals. Like a green moss covered looking deer, and dark grass green squirrels and, a stone coloured turtle? Actually it might’ve just been a rock, but I could’ve sworn it moved.
Eventually I get close enough to be able to see the stone wall without the binoculars, and even what I think are buildings peeking over the top behind it. I come upon a dirt road leading to it and pick up the pace with a bit of excitement. As I get closer though I see two separate giant lines in front of it full of different kinds of people. Ranging from what looked like peasants in basic linen clothes, people wearing mismatched pieces of armor and weapons, a couple with bows wearing all green and brown and some of very short height with axes. There were a few wagons and what looked to be a caravan, even what looked like a noble's escort as well.
Ah geez, this is gonna take a while. Well I guess I can wait, not really in a rush.
It takes a while for the line to move forward, a bit of yelling here and there at the gate, and a few of the people in line looked quizzically at me and what I was wearing, some looking confused or surprised at the sight of Sköll on my shoulder. But eventually after nearly an hour I finally reached it, by which time plenty more people had come down the road and lined up behind me.
There were guards lining both sides of the road a short distance with two at the gates managing the lines with several patrolling atop the wall. All of them were wearing leather armor with several metal plates over it and wielding spears.
Huh, they have a surprising amount of metal armor on them for just gate guards. The metallurgy of this world must be pretty good then.
I’d seen them asking the people some things and taking metal rectangles that I guessed were probably identification cards of some sort. That was when I realised I didn't have one.
Crap, I don't have a card. Hopefully that isn’t too much of a problem.
As I approach the guard he yawns, leaning on his spear as he tiredly looks at me.
“Карта?” (Card?)
I look at him with a surprised face, not having expected what I heard.
The hell, did he just speak russian?
The guard seeing my confused look clears his throat.
“Ahem, sorry about that. I keep slipping to my home language sometimes. Anyways, your identification card?”
I look at him and decide I’d speak back the same way.
"Извините, у меня его нет. Потерял в лесу." (Sorry, I don't have one on me. Lost it in the forest.)
"Какого черта, ты тоже это говоришь? (What the, you speak it too?) Uh well, then you can just pay a silver coin for entry. Just be sure to get a new one down at the adventurer guild otherwise you’ll need to pay again.”
I reach underneath my vest to hide the gold flash as I pull out the needed silver coin and pay but he looks at Sköll, shock covering his face.
“What the hell? Is that a woodland wolf pup?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, this is Sköll. I picked him up on my way here into the forest.”
“Well, then you’ll need to get a tag for him as well, otherwise people will try to take him from you.”
“Ah, good to know.”
“Ah right, before I can let you through I'll need your name for the ledger.”
I look at him as I stop for a moment and think.
I know this isn’t super important but like, I’m in a new world and stuff. Do I give him my real name? Or should I come up with a new one? A new one to mark a new life here might help make sure I don't stay too attached to earth and miss it too much. Yeah, a new name it is then.
I look at him as I nod to myself, finally having an answer.
“My name is…”