A Man in Death Valley

In a place sandwiched between two kingdoms. The Huntara Kingdom in the north and the Westya Kingdom in the west. There is a valley called the Death Valley.

The valley is a very large dense forest, where wild monsters live in it. Monsters from Rank One to Rank King were there.

There were even rumors that even monsters above the Rank King lived in the depths of the Death Valley.

For hundreds of years, the royal soldiers and adventurers have tried to conquer and make the Death Valley as part of their wealth and territory. But that hundreds of years of effort never paid off.

Death Valley is the most terrifying place on the Kastia Continent. A forbidden place where only madmen who are foolish enough dare to enter the deadly forest, just because they are desperate to get big fortunes.

And here, in a place where millions of lives have been lost, a man lies helplessly looking at the shady leaves that covered the sun, making the forest always covered in darkness for twenty-four hours.

The man lay with empty eyes, a dry mouth slightly gaping, and a pale, emaciated face as if he had not eaten in days.

The man was Cien Millard, a 43-year-old man who had been trapped in Death Valley for ten years.

Now Cien is no longer able to continue his life, the light in his eyes has disappeared. All his determination to meet his family had faded. Cien is just a human who has sunk into despair.

He had not eaten anything for more than ten days. Ever since he was attacked by a Rank Five monster ten days ago and managed to escape with both his legs broken. Cien could only lie down without being able to do anything.

He had been lying there for ten days and now he could feel that his life was only seconds away.

His breath was starting to sound faint, his eyes that were looking at the leaves without thinking about anything were getting blurry.

Nearing his death, all he regretted was his inability to meet his family. With his wife and daughter. Are they okay? What is their situation?

Are they still alive? Do they live happily? Did they forget him? Has her daughter become an adult?

All the questions ringing in his head as death picks him up. In the end, his ten years of hope surviving in Death Valley to see his family's smile, vanished.

Cien died leaving one teardrop filled with regret.

…

Bzzt!

Something suddenly vibrated from the pocket of Cien's pants which were tattered and dirty. An object that is like a talisman for him, so he always carries it everywhere.

Because it was the only thing that had been with him since he was abandoned as a baby, and left in front of the residence of Baron Millard of the Westya Kingdom.

Cien doesn't know who his real parents are, and that's the only thing that can make him a little connected to his real parents, who have abandoned him for unknown reasons until now.

A flat black square object with one side covered in clear crystal. Cien never knew what the function of the object was. So far he has only used it as a talisman.

And this is the moment, the moment where Cien's life has gone. The mysterious object suddenly vibrated and glowed brightly from inside his shabby pants.

In one part that is covered with crystal, the part is brightly lit like a lamp, there can be read an inscription.

[User's life is detected starting to rise to Nirvana.]

[Perform emergency procedures...]

[Reviving user...]

Bzzt!

Suddenly the black box object channeled a shockwave into Cien's body. His heart, which had stopped beating, slowly started to beat again.

The object continued to emit shockwaves, trying to prevent the grim reaper from lifting Cien's life to Nirvana.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

As time went on, Cien's body began to glow. Along with the release of the shockwave, the man's body seemed to be beating like a heart. Until finally a groan was heard.

"Ugggh…"

[Revival successful!]

[Starting the user's body recovery procedure…]

Cien, who had just regained consciousness, suddenly felt like his body was submerged in extremely cold water.

For some reason, the stamina that had disappeared in the last ten days is now back. Cien raised his right hand, and saw the small wounds on his hand magically begin to disappear by themselves.

"… W-What happened?"

Cien began to be confused. He pensively felt his body condition starting to return to prime condition, like all the wounds he had on him for the past ten years were a lie.

"!!!"

Cien was surprised, even his two legs that had been broken and paralyzed by the attack of the Rank Five monster could now be felt again.

With his energy back, Cien got up and sat, looking at his legs which were now back to normal. He can even move his legs without the slightest pain.

"This… what really happened? Shouldn't I be dead?"

Cien really didn't understand. And it was at this moment, he saw his shabby trouser pocket light up. His eyes were wide open, he knew very well what was in his pocket.

Immediately he reached into his pocket, and took out the object that had accompanied him all his life.

Cien was surprised when he saw that one side of the object was brightly lit with unfamiliar letters emblazoned on the lit side.

Cien tried to observe the mysterious object, questioning what really happened. His instincts told him that this mysterious talisman was what brought him back to life and made his body healthy again.

[Body state recovery success!]

[Starting the procedure of restoring the owner's memory in the previous life...]

Cien saw the unfamiliar writing change, he frowned, feeling that the change might trigger another reaction. Because for him, every action there must be a reaction.

Cien waited for a reaction to the change in the writing on the glowing side.

And sure enough, it didn't take long before he could feel his head like being squeezed hard by someone.

"ARGGHH!!!"

Cien dropped his beloved mysterious talisman. He winced in pain with his hands on the head.

An unimaginable pain makes his head want to burst. Accompanying the pain, a forgotten memory came back at once.

Memories of him being a human from Earth. The place where he lived in the age of technology and died in 2020 due to a virus pandemic.

About ten minutes later, Cien who had remembered everything from his previous life on Earth, was now lying limp on the ground.

His whole body was drenched in sweat from enduring the pain. The light in the eyes that had been gone before was now starting to come back to life.

"Haa… haa… haa…"

His breath was heavy, his chest seemed to be moving up and down quickly. Cien then searched the ground on his left side where he had dropped his favorite talisman.

The talisman that made him smile stiffly, because now that his memory had returned, he knew very well what the thing that had become his talisman was.

"Seriously… a smartphone? For over 40 years, I carried a smartphone in a world full of magic and monsters. Heh."

Cien laughed dryly in his heart. His eyes looked at the screen, which he could now read, because the writing used the English alphabet. Not using the Kastia character which is commonly used in the world he now lives in.

[Memory restore success!]

[Starting applications lucky draw for users…]

'App?'

Cien was confused to see the writing on the screen, because he didn't understand why his cellphone suddenly mentioned the application.

The screen changed and now he could see a roulette board plastered on the screen. There are various types of genres on the board, from RPG, gacha, casual, action, horror, simulation, and so on.

The needle on the roulette table began to spin rapidly, and under the board was a panel message that ordered him to press the screen to stop the needle.

Seeing how fast the needle was, Cien wasn't sure if he could stop the needle where he wanted.

The thing he most wanted was of course a role-playing game. Cien focused, even though he wasn't sure, it didn't mean he had to give up.

He estimated the possibility of the needle stopping where he wanted it to. Then, press the screen quickly.

With a fairly pounding heart, he saw the needle slowly stop and show the column that is right on the side of the role-playing game.

'Simulation…'

Seeing the column selected, Cien was a bit disappointed, but he had to get rid of that disappointment as soon as the needle stopped. Because the screen changed again, now on the screen there are ten hanging ropes.

[Pull a rope by sliding it down!]

Seeing the order, Cien didn't bother to choose, he randomly chose the third rope from the right and pulled it. As the rope was pulled, a cloth with writing began to appear.

'Store Owner app…'

Ding!

[Congratulations! The app selected by the user is the Store Owner's game!]

[Starting installing the game app…]

Cien looks at his phone which automatically installs the app. The Store Owner, Cien had no idea why his cell phone suddenly told him to do the draw, and now that he knew the app he got, he didn't even know what to do with the game.

Did he have to play mobile games in the midst of this horrible Death Valley?

[Installation complete!]

Ding!

[Please register your shop name!]

[Name : … ]

Cien saw a blinking cursor screen in the column he had to provide the name of the shop. Since then, he's been trying to press the back button, options button, home, and volume. But all those buttons didn't work!

Cien could only do what his cell phone instructed him to do.

'What does this phone really want?'