CHAPTER 6: LOST AND FOUND
Benji’s breath caught in his throat as he landed hard on a cold, gravel floor. Darkness surrounded him, so thick it felt like a physical presence. He scrambled to his feet, heart pounding in his chest, and instinctively reached out into the void. His fingers met nothing but the rough surface beneath him. The unease that had clung to him ever since he’d traversed The Crown back home, now roared back to life.
Before him, faintly illuminating the pitch-black room, a narrow corridor stretched into the distance lit by flickering torches mounted high on the walls. The flames danced against the darkness, almost in vain. Benji’s skin prickled. This place felt wrong— ancient, hostile, and utterly foreign.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, something on the ground, not far ahead, caught his attention. A glint of metal. Benji’s pulse quickened as he scrambled toward the object. It was a bronze bracelet. Is it an ancient artifact? Am I into the ruins?
He hesitated for a second but then picked it up— his fingers brushed against it. It was thin but sturdy, with intricate wave-like carvings flowing across its surface. There was something strange about it, something ancient, but also comforting. He hesitated, but curiosity overwhelmed his fear, and he closed his fingers around it. It vibrated, and it felt alive in his hands.
The dizziness hit him like a wave, fierce and overwhelming. His muscles seized, and for a moment, he couldn’t move, couldn’t think, only feel, as the pain wracked him from head to toe. His vision blurred, and his head pounded as if his skull was being split in two. Voices— dozens of them— whispered, screamed, and murmured inside his mind. Frantic. Disjointed. Unfamiliar words merged together into a cacophony of sound, but none of it made sense. His heartbeat accelerated. What’s happening?
Then, a single voice cut through the chaos; a deep, steady male voice. It echoed inside his mind, chilling in its calmness. And then he saw it, even if briefly— text appearing in his vision, like something out of a video game. It read:
[Assimilation Process Initiation]
Before Benji could even comprehend the message, a jolt of pain, beginning from the hand holding the bracelet, surged through his body, so intense that he felt like he was being ripped apart. His vision blackened as his nerves screamed in agony, every muscle locking up in shock. It was like being struck by lightning, a sharp, electric pain that paralyzed every fiber of his being.
And then, silence. Nothingness.
—
The first thing Benji became aware of was the noise. Distant at first, muffled by the ringing in his ears. The chirping of birds. The rustle of leaves in the wind. His own ragged breathing.
He opened his eyes.
Above him, numerous conifer trees stretched endlessly, their branches swaying softly against a cloudy sky. Lying on his back, began realizing that he was in a dense, unfamiliar forest. The air was thick. The scent of damp earth and pine held a nostalgic aura. For a moment, he didn’t move, couldn’t move. His body ached, every limb heavy as if he’d been tossed about like a ragdoll. His chest rose and fell unevenly as his mind struggled to process… everything.
Yes, the forest was alive with the sounds and smells of nature, but suddenly he remembered something that made him freeze. Had I seen a digital interface? Had I heard a voice inside my head?
This realization brought him no comfort. If anything, it only deepened his unease. How had he gotten here? One moment he was underground, touching that cursed bracelet, and the next… this. It felt as though he had been violently stripped from his world and thrust into another. A chill ran down his spine at the thought. Is this an Isekai? The thought equally frightened and excited him.
He pushed himself up onto his elbows, groaning as his muscles protested. Everything hurt; his head, his arms, his legs. It was as though the pain from his fall had lingered, leaving his body weak and exhausted. But he forced himself to sit up, to take in his surroundings. What exactly was the assimilation process?
He sighed as scanned the landscape with his vision. The forest was dense, the trees towered above with trunks as thick as ancient pillars. The soft ground beneath him had a deep brown hue, covered in a thick layer of blue and yellow leaves. The lush underbrush felt unknown to him, even alien. The unfamiliar, colorful ferns and shrubs brushed against his legs as he slowly got to his feet. He felt disoriented, and understandably so. He couldn’t recognize this place no matter how hard he tried — further fueling his unease.
With his mind becoming alive by the minute, more questions piled up. What happened? Where am I? And why? He couldn’t shake the memory of John’s smirk right before the ground had crumbled beneath him. Had it been intentional? Was he somehow responsible for this? The thought made his blood run cold. John had seemed… strange, but this? Benji hadn’t thought he was capable of something so sinister.
He glanced down at his hand, half-expecting to see the bracelet still there, inside his palm, but it was empty. Yet, some of the effects of it still lingered. The dizziness had passed, but an abnormal sense of hollowness crept inside him; a feeling that he was no longer entirely himself.
A light breeze passed through the underbrush, and along with a pile of leaves, it drifted away his thoughts. He needed to get back—to find his father, to figure out what had happened. But where was he supposed to start? This forest could be anywhere, and there was no sign of the labyrinth, no hint of how to return.
He paused, leaning against the rough bark of a tree. He heard a rustle, and he thought he saw movement. He tried to steady his breathing. Panic wouldn’t help him now. His legs were still shaky and weak. Every direction looked the same—an endless sea of trees, no path, no landmarks. He turned in a slow circle, trying to orientate.
“What do I do now?” His voice sounded small in his ears..
As he stumbled forward, he internally admitted what was either way obvious: He was lost. Utterly and completely lost, in a place that felt both impossibly real and disturbingly unreal at the same time. But his determination was affixed; this turn of events made him feel more alive.
The dense canopy filtered the sunlight, as he walked onward with the notion that he would eventually stumble upon something useful.
Suddenly, he felt a faint tingling on his wrist, accompanied by a low, steady hum that vibrated against his skin. Benji glanced down and froze. The bronze bracelet was back, fitting snugly around his wrist as though it had always been there. The intricate wave-like patterns seemed to shift slightly in the dim light; the metal warm to the touch despite the coolness of the air.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
As the hum grew louder, Benji’s pulse quickened. He wanted to rip the bracelet off, but something held him back— some instinct, some deep part of him that whispered it was more than just a piece of jewelry. It was a connection, a link to something beyond his perception.
Before he could act on the impulse, his vision blurred again, but this time it wasn’t dizziness. Instead, lines of glowing text began to appear in front of him, hovering in the air like holograms. His heart skipped a beat.
[System Interface Initialized]
The words hung in the air, pulsing gently with a soft blue light. Benji blinked, rubbing his eyes, but the text remained. It was real—or as real as anything else in this bizarre situation. More lines of text appeared, scrolling across his vision.
[Welcome, Initiate. Scanning The Environment]
Benji felt a chill run down his spine. Initiate? Is this some kind of a farce? The question repeated in his mind, but no answer came. The interface continued its scan, and Benji could do nothing but watch.
The text shifted again, and this time it displayed a [Basic Area Map] of his immediate surroundings, as indicated by the system. The forest was rendered in its most basic detail; paths, a narrow body of water, every slight elevation captured in a glowing outline. In the center of the map was a small blinking dot—him. Soon a new notification popped up.
[World of Arrival: Theria]
“So, I am indeed in another world”, he mumbled, now feeling dizzy, not by the bracelet’s effects, but from the realization of his situation.
Before he could process his thoughts, the map shrank to the corner of his vision, and new options appeared, each accompanied by a brief description. His eyes darted over the words, struggling to take it all in.
[Class Selection is Required to Proceed]
Four options materialized before him; each one easily recognizable due to the thousands of hours he spent gaming and reading:
1. Warrior: A path of strength and resilience, focused on survival through brute force.
2. Scholar: A path of knowledge and magic, focused on understanding the world’s mysteries.
3. Ranger: A path of agility and instinct, focused on survival through stealth and skill.
4. Artificer: A path of creation and technology, focused on crafting tools and devices.
Benji’s head spun. Class selection? Is this a game? It felt surreal, like he had somehow been sucked into a twisted version of one of his video games, but this was no game. The ache in his ribs, the cold sweat on his skin, the terror gnawing at his insides—this was all too real.
He tried to imagine the possibilities. Each choice seemed to offer a way to survive in this strange world, but the pressure of choosing now, when he could barely think straight, was too much. He needed more time. Time to figure out where he was, what was happening, and why.
“Postpone,” Benji whispered, barely aware that he had spoken out loud. He thought of it as a futile attempt to tweak the predetermined situation, either way he tried it, and to his surprise it worked.
The interface responded immediately, the class options fading away, replaced by a single line of text.
[Class Selection Postponed]
His joy proved short-lived though, as another System message appeared in his vision.
[Initiating Tutorial Mode]
He sighed. Shortly after, the glowing text faded from his vision, though the faint hum of the bracelet remained.
Trying to calm the storm inside his mind, he took a deep breath. His fingers brushed against the bracelet again, feeling the warmth of the metal; a question looming in the back of his mind: What if there is no way back?
—
As he waited for the system to come to life again, he reached out to touch a nearby tree, its bark rough and oddly warm under his fingers. There was something strange about it—the way the wood seemed to pulse slightly, as though it were alive in a way that trees back home were not. Suddenly, a notification arrived:
[Dark Olsterd Tree Detected]
[Description: The most common tree in the world of Theria. Its wood can be used in a variety of applications, and its aromatic bark can be used to create potions and other concoctions]
Intrigued, Benji leaned closer to the tree and sniffed. His eyes widened. It had a strong cinnamon-like scent with a resin undertone. He knew that cinnamon back on Earth was harvested from trees too. He found it fascinating that a similar concept of spice existed in this alien world too.
The flora was unlike anything he had ever seen. Some plants had broad leaves that glistened with moisture, while others had delicate, needle-like tendrils that seemed to twitch as he passed. One particularly strange plant caught his eye—a large flower with petals that shimmered in the light, shifting from blue to violet. Benji approached it cautiously, and as he neared, the flower seemed to turn toward him, its petals opening wider.
He recoiled, instinctively taking a step back. The flower’s sudden movement unsettled him. Was it dangerous? He couldn’t tell, but he wasn’t eager to find out. Willingly or not, the interface returned, its text overlaying his vision.
[Local Flora Detected. Bloom of the Eclipse]
[Warning: Potentially Dangerous. Proceed with Caution.]
[Description: The plant's poisonous leaves should be extracted with care. They can be used to create a variety of poisonous concoctions as well as magical artifacts imbued with the [Poison] affinity]
Benji’s heart pounded. He backed away from the flower, giving it a wide berth as he tried to take in the information. Potions, concoctions, artifacts, magic. This world seemed more and more like a video game, but his mind kept circling back to the same thoughts: Why am I here? How do I get out? The bracelet hummed in response, as if it were aware of his thoughts, but it offered no answers.
Suddenly, a low growl echoed from somewhere to his left. Benji froze. He turned slowly, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. The trees obscured his view, but the growl came again, closer this time. He scanned the area, but there was nothing; only shadows and the uneasy feeling that he was being watched.
Before he could do so much as prepare, the interface flashed again.
[Tutorial Initiation]
[Tutorial Quest Received: Kill the Hostile Creature or Escape its [Awareness Zone]]
[WARNING: HOSTILE CREATURE APPROACHING]
Benji’s heart leapt into his throat. He didn’t wait to see what the creature was—he bolted.