So, upon first awakening, I found myself in a fantasy world. Why have I been summoned? And most importantly, who called upon me?

With a dry throat and a rumbling stomach, Arturo sat on a curb step staring into the void.

He had to survive; if his body wasn't nourished within a certain time frame, his HP would decrease enough to cause him to collapse. And certainly, apples weren't enough to satisfy his hunger.

Suddenly, a thunderous shout snapped Arturo out of his thoughts.

He looked up to see a man plummeting from the sky, only to fall face-first on the ground right at his feet. The fighter lost consciousness, his sword lying beside him.

As Arturo glanced to his right, he saw a shirtless, well-built man approaching.

The area was uproar due to the crowd, chanting in unison, cheering for the great Petro.

"Petro! Petro! Petro!"

They continued to praise his name, no one in the village dared to meet his gaze.

Whispers filled the crowd.

"Unbelievable, he sent him flying with just one punch!"

"Yeah, who knows, maybe one day, someone will manage to defeat the great Petro!"

What a mess! This better not be a fight. Better stay out of it!

Arturo stood up from the step and hurriedly turned the corner, but before he could take another step, a shrill voice called out to him.

"You!"

"Eh?!"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Damn!"

Arturo turned back, meeting the gaze of the man, the great Petro motioned for him to come closer. Petro cracked a nasty smile, cracking his knuckles.

"I mean you, with the hood. Show yourself!"

"C-can we do this later? I'm kind of busy right now!"

"Eh?! Don't you even have the guts to compete with me? Pff... coward!"

Who the heck is this guy? Seriously, looks like just another villager, only more buff.

"You can use any weapon, let's see if you can scratch my skin as hard as steel!"

Who is this clown?

"If I do it, then what happens?"

Petro flashed a cocky smile. "If you do it, you win a hefty pile of coins!"

Arturo picked up the sword from the ground and gripped it. His eyes gleamed with a blinding light, thinking this was the perfect opportunity to stash away some coins.

He was accustomed to such duels in games; he certainly hadn't been caught off-guard. He pointed it at his opponent.

Suddenly, an interface appeared:

You are fighting against: Petro, the village inhabitant.

Level: 2

Spell: Super Strength.

Arturo waved his hand in the air trying to touch the interface, but realized it was a figment of his mind, a very realistic interface, one might say.

Petro was serious; to uphold a fight, he didn't need a weapon but relied solely on his fists. Surely, he had been influenced by some spell.

Since it was a game, Arturo was willing to accept the challenge; after all, he was fighting a fictional character. Petro gritted his teeth and charged at Arturo like a lion.

He threw a punch so swift it tore through the air, a blow that Arturo took full in the face, sending him crashing against the facade of a house.

At that moment, a recent phrase from his teacher came back to him.

The only thing he could do in a hostile situation was to take the hit. What could he possibly do against someone stronger than him? He wasn't up to it. Maybe in video games, he was unbeatable, but in reality, he was clearly the opposite.

HP: 30%

"Shit! Did he hit me that hard?"

Arturo got up with a bent back and picked up the sword again. He staggered forward, his eyes tight and blurred, seeing Petro approaching.

"Do you give up?"

Arturo took it as a taunt, gripped the sword tightly, and looked at him defiantly.

"I-I can't give up! How else am I supposed to earn that money!"

"Why don't you lower your hood? So I can see who I'm teaching a lesson!"

"Teach your mother a lesson!"

"My mother? What's my mother got to do with this!"

Petro clenched his teeth in anger.

"You're quite a mystery, how do you know my mother!"

"Dude, it was just a taunt..."

Petro rushed at Arturo, his fists grazing his face before striking him down.

Each blow fell on Arturo's face like a hammer, bent under the weight of the hits, he didn't even have time to breathe.

"TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!!!" The great Petro was unstoppable, he would continue endlessly until he was dazed or even killed.

"S-stop!" Arturo tried to speak.

"TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!"

His arms became like machine-gun fire, not giving Arturo even a moment to breathe.

"I-I surrender!"

"Eh? I didn't hear you?" Petro chuckled.

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"I surrender!"

"EH??! I can't hear you! Yell louder!"

Petro launched like lightning, aiming for Arturo's face. He couldn't dodge it; Arturo's legs were frozen, he had gotten too close. All he could do was wait for that punch to be hurled straight at his face until it took his life.

"I said I surrender!"

Suddenly, Arturo's interface appeared in front of him.

It was as if time had stopped. He no longer felt the presence of Petro or the village. It was just him.

Update: You have unlocked the skill; Shadow Movement.

Petro threw his final punch, confident he had hit Arturo. But he noticed his blow hadn't landed because there was nothing in front of him.

"Eh?"

He looked around to see where Arturo had escaped.

The villagers also murmured among themselves, not recalling seeing Arturo run away. Had he been so scared that he vanished at supersonic speed?

Yet when Petro looked under his feet, he saw a shadow, belonging to Arturo, though the shadow itself wasn't cast by anybody.

Arturo looked up from below at Petro's pronounced chin, which continuously turned angles, scanning the area.

What happened, where are my arms, my legs...

He thought about moving and managed to do so, dancing from one corner to another.

Petro saw a small spot on the ground that crawled until it reached under his sandals.

"I get it! You used some sorcery to become a shadow."

Petro punched the shadow hard enough to break the concrete, but he didn't hit the target at all. Because the shadow was still there, motionless.

Arturo's shadow extended to completely envelop Petro's. He even managed to grab his shadow, and as soon as he thought about wanting to squeeze it, he saw Petro wincing and writhing continuously, as if something had pierced his skin.

"My legs! They won't move!"

He squeezed so hard that Petro collapsed to the ground.

"Cool, I can become a shadow!"

The audience, speechless, witnessed Arturo's body re-emerge, returning to its tangible form as if he had come back to life from his buried coffin.

Arturo extended his hand to the challenger to help him up, but it seemed like Petro was rejecting his help, as despair was evident in his eyes.

"Do I get the prize?" said Arturo.

Silence fell.

Petro's expression remained firm and shocked, almost as if he had been petrified by lightning.

Arturo glanced at the ghostly stares of the villagers, who looked at him as if their worst nightmares had come to life. Their eyes were paralyzed with fear.

However, he didn't realize his hood had fallen, and everyone could see his face, the one who had brought the great Petro to his knees.

As soon as Petro met his gaze, he began to tremble and chatter his teeth, unable to articulate words clearly, but he stammered.

"D...demon!"

Intense murmurs swept through the crowd.

"A demon!"

"It's a demon!"

"Demon? What demon, I don't see any demon."

Arturo checked himself from every angle, yet the eyes of the villagers were fixed solely on him.

"His skin, it's so pale!"

"He looks like a ghost!"

"Look at his eyes, they're red!"

Arturo did the math.

"Wait! There's been a misunderstanding! I'm not a demon!"

Then, he heard the thunderous stomping of horses, and just one glance at the shiny swords in their sheaths made him retreat several steps, and then... vanish in a flash, running so fast that instead of seeing his body move, they saw only the dust cloud he had kicked up.

"He's run away!"

"Good heavens, now what?!"

"What's happening?!"

Instinct took over reason; no explanation or justification could calm the troubled spirits of the villagers.

A commotion took over the village. The knights on their horses had come to a sudden stop. The lead knight stepped forward with an intimidating look.

"What's this commotion about?!"

A villager prostrated in front of them, hands clasped in prayer.

"A-a demon appeared in the village!"

"A demon?!"

"Are you sure it was a demon, could it not have been a magical beast in human guise?"

"Yes, his eyes, they were red! Red as blood! Please, do something!"

"Did he harm you?"

"N...no, not yet, but if he roams the village, he'll devour the inhabitants!"

The villagers murmured loudly, now that there was a demon around, what would become of the village, would it claim more victims? It was outrageous for a knight to let a demon roam free to do as it pleased.

The knight turned to his followers, signaling them to advance along the path leading to the forest.

"March!" he commanded solemnly. "Let's hunt down this demon!"

In the past, many of these villages had been victims of total massacres when demons roamed the lands freely, pillaging and obeying their king's whims.

Arturo had already taken to the green path, pushing further, darting towards the forest.

With a weary look and shortness of breath, he looked back at the village from afar, seeing the knights galloping across the meadow; their charge was frantic and unstoppable. A few more kilometers, and they would have reached him, ready to kill.

He clenched his fists and looked at them in disbelief.

"Shit, shit, shit! What does all this mean?"

"Am I a demon?"

Arturo collapsed to the ground, his eyebrows performing strange acrobatics.

"What's going to happen to me? I've never harmed anyone! What do those knights want from me!"

He knew what awaited him; if he truly was a demon, they would certainly torture him in some dungeon. Indeed, he knew these methods well, considering he was the one hunting demons when playing his gamer role.

Before he could even dry his tears, a gust of wind ruffled his hair.

He looked through the dense trees embracing the forest, seeing wings flapping repeatedly, the rest of the body obscured by the trees.

This bird-like creature emerged so quickly that he didn't have time to see it fully. At first glance, like a flash, he seemed to see a purple figure resembling a bat, which with its sharp teeth, grabbed him by the hood and carried him into the air.

Arturo saw the view from above; the knights were like dots, scouring the entire path. The bat had arrived just in time, narrowly avoiding the capture of demon Arturo.

Arturo let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm safe, I think."

What a strange creature, arriving just in time, it deserved credit for sparing poor Arturo's life. What species was it? A dinosaur? A magical beast or perhaps a dragon?

In this simulated reality, Arturo could explore what he'd never see in his everyday life.

The bat flew low and settled near a cave. It released the grip on the hood, letting Arturo fall to the ground.

Without hesitation, Arturo jumped to his feet.

"Thanks for saving-"

When he saw it clearly, Arturo couldn't help but back away from the creature. On the face that mimicked a vampire, stood out eight eyes blinking in unison.

Characterized by purple fur covering its skin. It stood on eight legs, like a spider, moving them one after the other in a sinuous motion.

Arturo's eyes widened with terror as soon as the creature quickened its pace, slithering towards Arturo with its gleaming pupils.

"HAAAAAAaa!"

Arturo's legs sprang into action instantly, he dashed towards the trees and crossed the tall grass that made up the path. Any direction would do, the important thing was to get away from that horror. When he turned around, he saw he was already far from that being; it had remained immobile in the same spot.

The adrenaline coursing through Arturo's veins propelled him so far that he seemed to have reached another layer of the vast forest. That creature had fueled Arturo's imagination with scenarios of terror. His mind was shaken and paralyzed by revolting scenarios of those long and gigantic hairy legs, as big as a tree, grabbing him and holding him down, pressing his head against the ground.

Arturo's feet came to a halt. He tried to extend his stride further but couldn't even lift it. It was as if something was holding him back, it was sticky, almost like glue. He looked down and realized that the repulsive creature had already spread its webs across half the forest. He had fallen into the trap. He had escaped the knights, but now he was up against an even worse enemy. The knights would have been better...

"Shit!" What a misfortune, he couldn't tear off the web that immobilized him, despite desperately writhing and trying to lift his heel off the ground. It was useless because the web had stuck to him like glue. What could he do? Faced with a horrific creature like that.

Was he sure he hadn't ended up in a hell, rather than a heaven, as he had previously claimed? Steps, rather, thuds, echoed behind him, and when he twisted his torso, he saw that the being was a faded speck, and as soon as it became clearly visible, he saw it leap from tree to tree, pushing off with its legs and leaving traces of webs in the wind.

"Help! There's a monster! Knights, please, help me, knights!"

That dark creature had just jumped down from a tree and quickly approached, touching down on the grass. It moved swiftly, scuttling and positioning itself in front of Arturo. It spread its wings to the maximum level and then relaxed them; it was like a hungry beast, Arturo felt its breath crossing his face. Slowly it opened its mouth. Its teeth were sharp, and at its touch, it could grind even an elephant's flesh. Arturo already felt its breath crossing.

Arturo stood still, watching the monster advance with its long legs. Suddenly, the monster moved unpredictably, enveloping Arturo with its wings. The bat tightened Arturo between its scaly wings. The bat opened its mouth, showing a monstrous smile. Arturo closed his eyes, surrendering to total darkness.

"Is it going to eat me?!"