At first, I just paused and looked around.

I seemed to be in the middle of the same forest that I had seen just a few moments before, at the center of the blue orb of light.

There were huge trees stretching out all around me, which were far bigger than any of the trees that I had seen back on Earth… and there were all sorts of ferns and shrubs along the ground as well, with some broken tree branches just scattered across the floor.

It was hard to make out anything more than that, because it was very dark out, and my eyes were still adjusting to the light. But even still, I could tell that there wasn’t anyone else out here at the moment... and I had the distinct impression that I was a very long way away from any sort of settlement or town – if those sorts of things existed in this world at all.

For a little while after that, I just stood in place, and tried to get my bearings.

And then, I began to hear a kind of... “pinging” sound, I guess that you could say.

It sounded almost as if it was coming from inside of me.

I was pretty confused by that. But then, I noticed that a small blue screen had appeared right in the bottom-left corner of my field of vision.

As I looked towards it, I saw that it said:

“You have five new notifications. Touch to display.”

Then, without thinking too hard about what was going on, I just reached out and touched the place where the blue screen was located.

Afterwards, I heard another pinging sound, as the first small blue screen vanished, and five more screens appeared right in the center of my field of vision. Together, they read:

“Welcome to your new world, William. To learn more about your powers, and your abilities, just think about what you would like to know.”

“You have been summoned here.”

“You have been summoned here by Kalia.”

“You have been given a blessing by Kalia.”

“You have earned the Achievement: ‘Newcomer.’ You have been given one statistic point to spend.”

And then, after I had finished reading each of those messages, I saw them vanish from my sight, as my vision returned to how it had been before.

For a long while, I just kind of stood there, as I tried to figure out what was going on.

I was so confused and disoriented that I didn’t even begin to know how to feel.

Part of me was kind of scared that I was going crazy, and part of me was worried that this was all just some sort of weird and fevered dream.

But still… for the moment at least, I was just barely able to believe that all of this might actually be happening to me.

And yet, even if it was taking place, I still didn't really know how to even begin to make sense of it all.

The… “system,” I guess that you would call it, had said that I had been summoned here by Kalia. That was what the voice in my prison cell had called herself as well, just before I had stepped in through the blue orb of light, and been transported to this world.

But… who, or what was "Kalia" exactly? And why had she brought me here?

More importantly than that… why hadn’t she said anything more to me after I had arrived?

Something about her voice had seemed very gentle somehow, and very reassuring. So it seemed strange to me that she had just left me alone out here, in this great and darkened forest, without any sort of explanation, or any advice about what to do.

Part of me was still hoping that she might contact me again, and give me a bit of guidance.

But, instead… there was just an eerie, and a deep silence, all throughout the woods.

Then, I tried to ask the system about this world, and about who had brought me here…

… but the system didn’t respond to me at all… and that same deep silence just continued to spread out all around me.

And then, I really started to understand just how alone I was in these dark, and empty woods.

I could hear the air whistling through the trees... and from somewhere far off in the distance, I could hear something large and heavy moving slowly through the forest.

And then, I felt my heart beginning to beat a lot more quickly, as I started to feel a wave of fear washing over me.

At the same time, I felt a simple but powerful thought echoing through my mind.

I don't want to die.

That was enough for me to know how to feel right then - and how to act.

For now, I just wanted to try to get myself out of these woods as quickly as I could.

Once I had done that, then I could start to figure out what was going on, and why I had been brought here.

And so for the moment, I just started to think about what my options were, and how I would be able to get out of this place.

I took a moment to examine myself, and to see what I could use to survive.

I was dressed in nothing but an orange jumpsuit. I didn’t have a weapon, or anything that I could use for self-defense.

Looking around, all that I saw were a few broken tree branches.

That wasn’t much, but it was the best that I could do for now. I reached down, and picked up a branch that was about as large as my arm.

Then, I swung it once or twice, and lowered it down to my side.

Alright. What else, I thought.

I remembered that the system had also said that I had received a blessing from Kalia. That seemed like it could be useful, so I would want to know what that did as soon as I could.

And so, I asked the system –

What blessing was I given by Kalia?

Almost at once, a new message appeared in the center of my field of vision.

“The Blessing of Kalia increases the amount of HP that you regenerate every minute by 10% of your Max HP.”

I didn’t know what “HP” were – I hadn’t played all that many games growing up – but the system quickly informed me about that too.

I spent a few moments reading through the explanation of what "HP" were, before I arrived at the final line: "if your HP drop down to 0 or below, then you will die - without the possibility of resurrection."

That thought made me shudder quite a bit… but I just took in all of that information as quickly as I could, and tried to make sense of it.

For now, that left me with just one more question before I began to make my way ahead.

System, I thought, what is a "statistic point"?

“A statistic point can be used to increase any of your statistics by one.”

What are my statistics?

Instantly, a new screen appeared in front of me. This screen was much larger than any of the screens that I had read before. It said:

Level: 1 Affected By: Blessing of Kalia

HP (Hit Points): 70/70 HP Regeneration: 7.7 HP / min MP (Magic Points): 25/25 MP Regeneration: 0.15 MP / min Strength: 6 Intelligence: 8 Dexterity: 7 Wisdom: 5 Agility: 10 Luck: 3 Vitality: 7 Insight: 6

There was more information here than I could really make sense of right now. But even still, I was able to notice that part about “magic points” just about at once. And so, I asked the system -

Are there any spells that I can use?

“You are not currently able to cast any spells at this time.”

So much for that.

That just left me with the question of what to do with my stat point.

I could have saved it for later… but right then, I really just wanted to do everything that I could to get a bit stronger for the night ahead.

And so, I started to quickly look over each of the different attributes once more.

Strength probably wouldn’t be that useful unless I got into a fight - and that was exactly what I didn't want to do right now.

 Dexterity didn’t seem like it would help me out that much either.

Vitality did sound useful, but I wasn’t sure if a little bit of extra health would do all that much to help me to survive, if I got cornered and attacked.

Intelligence, and Wisdom – I think that I needed something just a little bit more physical for now.

Luck…

I smiled half-heartedly. Of course “Luck” was my lowest stat. That explained quite a bit, actually.

Insight…

I paused.

That was odd.

How was “Insight” any different from Intelligence, and from Wisdom, exactly?

At any rate, that didn’t sound too useful for now either. So, I passed that attribute by as well, without giving it the attention that it deserved.

That left…

Invest a point into Agility.

“Your Agility has increased by 1! You have become quicker in your movements, actions, and reflexes.”

For now, that seemed like the best choice. Until I was a little stronger, my only real tactic for getting out of danger would be to try to escape it. And even if it wasn’t much, an extra point into my Agility would make that tactic just a little bit more likely to succeed, which would give me a bit better of a chance of making it out of this place alive.

Then, I looked away from the screen, and started to think about what to do next.

As soon as the system sensed that I was finished, it closed down the status screen, and left me with a clear sight of the forest that stood in front of me.

I could still feel my heart continuing to race. But I knew that I wasn’t going to get anywhere by panicking, or by giving up.

So… with as much courage, and as much determination as I could muster, I just held onto the tree branch as tightly as I could, and began to make my way slowly on ahead.

I could still hear the sound of something large, and strong, moving out in the distance… but I tried to do my best to stay calm, and focused – as I moved silently, and carefully through the dark, and eerie woods.