Chapter 1: Arrival

*Chirp *Chirp *Chirp

The sound of birds chirping from a distance is audible into his head. There is only darkness a while ago not until he opened his eyes. His golden yellow eyes that look calm as he slowly opens them. The light rays from the sun are being reflected to it as if it's made from polished citrine gemstone. His dark blue hair sways slowly as the wind blows. His pale skin is similar to that of white snow, as if he was born as the prince of glaciers. He gives off the aura of divine. He who had just woke up from slumber.

The young man stood up while trying to process everything. He scans his surroundings. A sea of trees is everywhere. The sun shines so bright and penetrates his skin. It's warm. And the breeze is cool. He doesn't know what had happened or where he is now. His head hurts as he tries to recap everything as if it was all a dream. 

Judging from the countless of trees that surrounded him, he's in the middle of a forest. He can see all their evergreen foliage from the above and as well as the birds that passes through the sky. This  suggest that he must be in a high ground. He holds his head while attempting to recall his memories. Then, there it is. He felt a surge of some kind in his head which made it hurt even more. Though, it did not actually last that long. As far as he knows, he was in his room playing his favorite video game. He, then recalled the sudden flickers of light and lost his consciousness after. Everything went black. Not until these sea of trees and blue skies are revealed before his eyes not a while ago.

Why did he end up in the middle of a forest? Also, he never heard of Tokyo having a vast forest at all. What's going on? He doesn't know. He thought of it as he contemplate of what he should do now. He cannot seem to find answers in his questions. Then, he inspected his clothes. He should be wearing his pajama and his favorite t-shirt. But all he saw is an oversized and loose clothing. A coat of some sort. Dirty white in color with various designs and symbols he's unfamiliar of.

"This, have I seen this coat somewhere before?"

He also felt something on his head. Some kind of cloth is worn above his head though it did not actually cover the entirety of it. A headband with accessories at the end of it in the back of his head and a star-shaped accessory just a little above his right ear. He wanted to take it off but he can't as if it's sewn into his hair. It seems familiar to him.

"Eh? What? Could it be..."

It seems he had made assumptions already. Then, at the corner of his eye, he spotted something. A long river that seems endless as he cannot see where it ends. It's actually far from where he is now. Perhaps it would take few hours to get there if he walk. He got the urge to get moving. And he thought he might be able get something in there even though he's not hungry or thirsty at all. He quickly sprint to where the river is as fast he could before the sun reaches its peak. At least that's what he thought. There it is, the river. But something's off.

"Eh? What's going on?"

The man looked at where he came from before. He saw the small cliff up ahead. Then he shifted his focus to the river nearby. It should take him at least two hours to get there. Yet, he can hear the running water from the river. It's nearby. It should only take him a few minutes now if he walk. But it was just only a few minutes that had passed ever since he left the place where he woke up. He tried to process everything as he looked back.

"Now that I think of it, I felt strong breeze as I run. It should be normal right? I also felt that feeling of floating in the air."

" Could it be? My speed --- did I just run at quick speed?"

He was shocked. It shouldn't be possible for him since he is just a normal person. But he surely felt something was off when he sprinted from where he came from and then the sight of the river nearby immediately flashed into his view. There's no other explanation other than that.

"I have powers? Like super speed or something? But how?"

Something as crazy as that can only happen on movies and anime he had watched before. Yet he felt it's real. He's thinking hard. Then he shivers as he sensed something coming at him at full speed.

"Woah, there!"

A kind of beast jumped into the man but he unconsciously dodged out of the way. He was surprised to see a huge dog with protruding fangs in its mouth. It's a wolf. More than that, it's too big for a wolf. He had never seen such a huge wolf in his life before, not even in documentaries he watched except on fictional movies, of course.

"GRRRR!!!"

The wolf snarls while continuously drooling. Its saliva falling to the ground like a tap water from a partially closed faucet. Wolves don't wander alone. They are usually seen in pack yet this one is all by itself. Well, he's thankful it's only one. If it's the whole pack, he would have been attacked from different directions. What's weird though is that he actually sensed its hostility towards him. He actually foresaw it would jump at him and when it did, it was so slow. As if everything had been set at 0.25x speed if it was in a video.  After that, his body suddenly dodged out of the way on its own. It's kind of like instincts. There's no way it's like that. But he felt a deja vu as if he had already experience this before. However, he was snapped back to reality.

The man thought this must be really a dream. But he can clearly sensed the killing intent of the beast, the breeze, the hustling of trees, and so on. These are all real. This is not dream. But he set them aside for now. He have to deal first with this beast in front of him which is just 6 meters away from him. If he dodged the attack earlier, then, he can do it again, probably. The wolf started to run towards him with its predatory look eyeing on him. It seemed that the wolf had just found its prey and it doesn't look like it would allow it to slip away. It charged and jumped again.

"Not so fast."

The man just kept on dodging the wolf's attempts of attacking him. It's too agile for a wolf. It's not like he had fought a wolf before. That's crazy. The huge wolf closes in and seems to be trying to take a bite at his small body. Unfortunately for the beast, it can't because the man is dodging flawlessly like a wind.

He remembered it now. It was just like in the game he played, Neferia Online. It's a popular full-dive VRMMORPG. There, he fought a lot of monsters along with his guild mates. His avatar is a wizard. In the game, he can use almost all types of spell with high magic damage and penetration. In fact, he was in the top 10 of the most powerful players in the server. His avatar --- yes, that's it. He remembered this coat he's wearing. This is the last armor he equipped before he log out. It's a light armor but it provides the highest defense power. It's a black star-grade equipment after all. That's also the same with the headband he's wearing too. And his boots which he just remembered he's also wearing right now. It was so light that you cannot feel you're wearing it. And the bracelets in his wrists are also with him. For some reason, he felt safety and confidence now. Most likely, the avatar is his current appearance now. He will look at it later.

Now that he thought of it, this huge wolf is just like a monster in the game. Which would mean he's still in a game.

"But that's not right. Everything here is real. What I'm feeling right now is real which never happened in the game."

So it means he's not in the game. There is a forest map in the game but it's actually different than this place. Which would support his claim. He is a pro player in Neferia Online. He started playing that game ever since it was released. He had never seen a monster like this in the game. Sure there's a huge wolf in the game but it's actually different in appearance and this one here in front of him is super weak compared to that of the game. He can only think of one explanation that would explain all these absurdness. He thought he was transported in another world where monsters and powers exist. Now, he's starting to connect the dots as he continuosly dodged the beast while his hands are placed on his back. There's nothing that could explain all these things other than what he thought just now. This could only happen on stories, but he didn't think it can happen in real life.

He shakes his head setting aside his thoughts for now. His focus now is on the huge wolf before him. Surprisingly, it didn't even manage to land a scratch on him.

"What? Tired already? Aren't you gonna eat me, doggie?", he teases.

If this is some kind of supernatural world like in games and stories, then, magic should exist here too. He thought of this as he tries to slowly process everything he came up with.

"I didn't felt tired even after all that dodging. But I have something to try though, mind if I show it to you?"

The wolf looks tired after its failed attempts of attacking its prey. Though it still doesn't stop drooling and growling as if it's already at its limit. Meanwhile, the man had remained still on his place and closed his eyes. He was finding something at the back of his head. There, as if he already got what he's seeking for. He, then, raised his right hand at the direction of where the huge beast is.

"Activate 2nd level-magic: Fire Bolt!", he shouted.

Not a second has passed when a red glow appeared at the center of the palm of the man's right hand that he raised. Then, a sound of boom was heard followed by a blazing pillar travelling in a straight and horizontal line. The wolf stopped in his place as all-consuming flames turned its body into nothing in mere second upon contact. Nothing was left behind, literally. The smell of burnt woods reached the man's nose. He also look surprised of what had just happened.

"Was that really magic? Like a real one? And was it really a second level? It even burned nearby trees. It wasn't powerful like that in the game though. Woah, this is dangerous and at the same time...cool.",

His words are filled with surprise and awe of what he did. He was sure now. He was really transported in another world where magic exist like in fairy tales and games. He couldn't explain his feeling. There's a mixture of fear, confusion, excitement, nervousness, and so on.

From that day, the man has learned at least quite a bit of what situation he's in now. He swear he had to be careful and learn everything as much as possible if he wanted to survive in this unknown world.