Humanity is a new species introduced to the multiverse few thousands years ago. The Human body is featured among the worst innate bodies. However its potential and Human’s quirky minds were deemed worthy by the Overlords. Three thousand years ago, the first human cultivators appeared on Earth. Earth’s energy deprived environment tremendously slowed Humans progress. Two thousand years ago, 4 smalls-sized realms were awarded to the four 3th-rank among them. Further contact is needed to actualize data. Estimated apparition of the first 6th rank human : five thousand years. - Overlords’ Heavenly Species Encyclopedia.

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Hayano, Fogmen Territory

A slightly tanned and lanky young man, sporting short ash brown hair and bright green eyes, was sitting on a jutting rock. He would have been inconspicuous if not for his tattooed arms which faintly glowed. And if not for the fact that he was alone in a foggy and deathly quiet forest. This young man was, of course, Sen.

“… What sort of prank is that ?” I only took a quick nap by the antique shop, how did I end up here ? Did someone drug me and abandoned me in that creepy forest ? As complaining would not make any difference, I took a closer look at the book apparently written by my grandfather. Who knew the geezer wrote books ?

Its thinness was not for show. It was only a series of misshapen drawings of sunsets in different places : forests, mountains, oceans, lakes, etc … As I was beginning to tear up because I missed the old man, I put the book down. After all, drawings would not get me out of here. I picked up the box. Inside, there were a sleek green stone and a short note reading Put it on your forehead kiddo, Aylan.

I always wondered whether Aylan was nuts. He could not stop rambling about the wonders of space. Strangely, him being involved in all of this does not really surprise me. He was always fooling around and doing absurd things. One day, he disguised himself as a beggar and waited for five hours for me and my grandfather to come out for a stroll, only to try scaring us. He miserably failed. Who in their right mind would think this was a good idea ?

Whatever. I picked up the stone. It was cool to the touch. As soon as it met my forehead, the stone instantly lit up. Once again, Sen eyes glazed over and Aylan’s voice resounded in his head.

Sup’ brat. If you are hearing this, it means that you survived the spatial transfer. Lucky you. You are not on Earth anymore. Firstly, you should know that if you had stayed on Earth you would have been killed in body and soul within 2 months. Your grandfather wanted you to live the life of a common mortal, but his enemies would not rest before utterly extinguishing his last kin. Right now, your strength is so pitiful that even one of their fart could kill you. He wanted to protect you from this unforgiving world because your innate talent for cultivation was bad.

Well, now it does not matter : you must grow fast or die trying. These are your only solutions. This jade will be your greatest asset. I have compiled every last bit of my knowledge in it, as your strength grows, you will be able to unlock more. For now, there is a meditation technique and some basic knowledge. The realm you are currently on is named Hayano. It is the Lost Realm.

Follow the arrow that will lit up on the jade. When it points towards the ground, dig. You will find a stash of 300 golds. By then, you should be seeing a city near there. Right now, you are in the Fogmen Forest : be quiet, move fast and do not get caught. If you do get caught, you will be eaten alive. This jade has a little hole : tie it up to your chain. You must not lose it. It will also double up as a 5 cubic meters spatial storage. Just think of what you want to store or withdraw. The local language and a meditation technique will be uploaded in your mind. That is going to hurt hahaha. Remember be quiet. I’ll be waiting on Earth for you.

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While Sen was busy listening to Aylan’s message and then writhing in pain on the ground, a group of five 2.5 meters tall blue humanoids wearing nothing more than a loincloth and armed with sticks was closing in on him. Their steps contrasted heavily with the quietness of the forest.

Gasping for breath, Sen finally regained consciousness. Heavy thumps resonated around him. Holy shit, is it those Fogmen ? An arrow lit up on the jade. Sen hastily put the stone on the book and the box. Internally, he screamed “ENTER !!!” Those objects transformed in motes of lights that floated towards the jade. In few seconds, the last mote entered the jade. Sen discovered that the stone weighted a bit more. He furiously clenched it in his hands and following the arrow, he ran like the wind.

In his fright, he produced a lot of noises. This immediately alerted the fogmen who also started sprinting in the direction of Sen.

“Holy fuck !” By looking behind him to see if anything was following him, the sprinting fogmen scared the living daylights out of Sen. He tried speeding up but failed : his running speed was average at best and his stamina was quite limited as he did not particularly like running. Nevertheless, he doubled up his efforts. However, his legs quickly burned and his vision swam. The warning of Aylan resounding in his mind, Sen could not stop for a single moment. And so Sen ran, ran and ran.

But he quickly despaired : the fog was thickening. After ten minutes of frantic running through the opaque forest, the fogmen were quickly catching up to him.

Suddenly, Sen emerged out of the fog. Wide stretches of green grass appeared in front of him. His eyes lit up in hope. Few hundred meters from him, the gates of a walled medieval town were wide opened. With five fogmen in tow, he rushed for them and hoarsely cried for help : “Please *huff huff* save me !”

The commotion instantly alerted the guards stationed by the gates. Five guards stepped forwards. They wore eye catching red leather uniform with golden flowing patterns on their sleeves and were equipped with a bundle of throwing spears. With an inhuman speed, each of them took a spear and threw it. The spears were sent whistling towards the fogmen : their head exploded like watermelons. Bloody head chunks flew around Sen. As the fogmen bodies collapsed on the ground, Sen tripped on a rock and fell face first on the ground.

~~~

Officer Caspian, a middle-aged leader of a small unit of 4 Phoenix city guards, frowned. He thought : “That young man emerged from the Mist Forest with fogmen chasing him”. Nothing unusual. But the ones who ventures in the Mist Forest are experienced adventurers risking their lives for riches. He had not even a ounce of energy. That was unusual. He also wore strange clothes : tight blue pants and a grey shirt. The cold snaps occuring in the Mist Forest are in most cases deadly for unprepared adventurers. However, even unprepared adventurers go in the Mist Forest with very thick fur jackets. Glancing down at the boy who finally grinded to a halt before Caspian feets, he said : “Kid, what were you doing in there ? Don’t you know how deadly the Mist Forest is ?”

Sen panicked. His first contact with the natives of this realm was a bitter failure. The frenetic run through the woods and his rolls on the ground had made him dirty, injured and exhausted. And he now had to answer the trickiest question of all. He could not tell them he was teleported from his home world to this realm in order to espace from a death chase he was not even aware of. His search for a stash of 300 golds in the forest was honestly an even worse answer. Who knows what greedy thoughts the guards would have if he told them that. But before he could answer anything, the guard sighted “Whatever. Be sure not to die. Someone’s probably waiting for your return at home.” His expression full of pity, he threw a gold coin at Sen and ushered him in the city.

Speechless, Sen found a bench to sit on. He reflected on what happened today : a short stop to rest during an errand became a teleportation to another world followed by a deadly chase with man-eating blue creatures. Finally he said out loud : "What a rough day.”