"This world is quite interesting," I muttered to myself as I tried to recall things about the boy and why he had been in such a dangerous forest to begin with.
However, nothing came to mind.
Everything about him was vague.
I had inherited his memories, but for some reason, several major key points were missing.
Setting that aside, what was truly intriguing was that this world was somewhat similar to the Xianxia worlds I had read about and occasionally written about myself.
But there were major differences.
How should I put it?
It operated much like a typical fantasy world... kingdoms, empires, villages, elves, barbarians, dwarves, and many other species were present.
Which was dreamy in its own way, but what surprised me further was that it also had cultivation realms.
As far as the boy's memories held, I could clearly recall that this world had a realm called the Birthbound Realm, also known as the Mortal Realm, followed by the Ascension Realm .. each divided into ranks and a star system.
"Damn! This is truly an ideal yet grind-heavy world ... every otaku's dream for sure!"
I couldn't help but chuckle at the endless possibilities that awaited me.
Even though I had been transmigrated without my consent, I had no intention of wasting this golden opportunity.
"What am I waiting for? Let's go and explore this damned world!"
I walked forward. What felt like fifty meters from where I had been standing and instantly hit an invisible barrier.
It confused me for a while. I tried to navigate around it, break through it...but nothing worked. So I changed direction, and it seemed every direction was blocked.
I was trapped inside a 50-meter radius space.
It appeared that the system, or whoever stood behind my transmigration, had confined me to a restricted zone.
Whenever I attempted to leave the area, a restriction warning flashed before my eyes, forcing me to retreat immediately.
So I was truly stuck here ... robbed of the endless possibilities and excitement that had briefly felt within reach.
I already had an inkling of the situation.
It seemed the system wanted me to struggle and gradually expand my area limitations, much like the survival-type novel tropes I was familiar with.
"Interesting. So they want me to build and expand? Huhuhu ...I was hailed as a great world-builder in my previous life. I'd say I'm more than suitable for this game!"
Satisfied with my conclusion, I skimmed through the Global Expansion System and, surprisingly, found several useful functions.
Calling it "GES" felt strange after ChatZero had taken it over..but it was still better than calling it ChatZero's very own GES.
The first function that caught my attention was the store feature.
Generic store stuff ...buy and sell goods at varying rates. However, my store could also purchase any goods I produced at a reasonable price, or so the description claimed.
Another interesting detail was that my store was currently Level 1, meaning what I could buy was limited to a basic carpenter's set, rice seedlings, and low-grade potions.
"You should have at least added water. How am I supposed to survive if you enclose me in a restricted area with nothing to drink?"
I shook my head in disbelief as I complained to the empty air.
Water is life. Every living being needed it, in almost every world imaginable.
Back on Earth, it was common knowledge that a normal person could survive without water for roughly three to four days.
I wondered how many days I would manage to last here.
Anyway, goods could be purchased using System Points, and as a starting bonus, I had been granted 20 SP.
Then came the Summoning feature.
It was more like a gacha pull system .. the kind of game wealthy people played, where you had to spend thousands just to obtain a decent character.
Unlike typical gacha systems, mine featured animals, monsters, or pets.
There were three types of gacha pulls.
The first was Normal Summoning.
My eyes widened briefly at what I saw from that pull.
"Damn… this is awesome. How did they add animals from Earth?"
It was a shocking revelation. The spinning surface of the gacha displayed cows, goats, panthers, and tigers. Looking closely, I could clearly recognize animals I was familiar with.
Then there was the Epic-tier gacha pull. It consisted mostly of monsters .. goblins, orcs, golems, and many other fantasy creatures, beings I wasn't familiar with.
"These are mostly monsters of this world," I realized. "The boy's memories hold many of their identities, given that he was a native."
Lastly, the Legendary gacha pull.
Disappointingly, it was locked. I couldn't access any information about it at all.
How mysterious.
As I continued skimming through the interface, I discovered another gacha pull..a sub-category labeled as Pet Summoning. Surprisingly, this one contained cats, dogs, pandas, and other cute animals from Earth, alongside creatures that clearly belonged to this world.
Some of them felt familiar thanks to the boy's memories.
Anyway, as of now, I only had one Normal Summoning Ticket, which I intended to use later.
And finally, the Quest feature.
It had two types: Main Quests and Side Quests.
After exploring a little further, I found that only one quest was currently pending in the interface.
Without thinking too much, I pressed it, and the display immediately changed.
Main Quest
Objective: Build a village
Duration: 183 days
Rewards: 300 SP, 3 Epic Summons, Title: Village Chief
Penalty: The most gruesome death
It was surprisingly simple .. though the death threat was undeniably terrifying.
Most cliché novels would have turned a main quest like this into something grandiose, but thankfully, this wasn't one of them.
"I guess I can expect a few surprises as I progress," I muttered softly, finally closing the system window.
My first concern was, of course, food and water ..followed by shelter.
Food could be secured through hunting or by purchasing seedlings and cultivating them. Water, however, was an entirely different problem.
Sadly, the system didn't sell water, and leaving the restricted area to search for a source wasn't an option.
How was I supposed to find water?
I thought hard until a vague memory surfaced ... it was of a man I had once seen on the internet who had been in a similar situation. Strangely enough, he had resorted to drinking his own urine when he couldn't find water.
I chuckled nervously at the thought. It sounded ridiculous in theory, but if survival ever became truly desperate, I knew I might have to consider it seriously.
"I wonder what piss tastes like… haha."
[You're actually considering urine as an option? Tsk, tsk. To stoop so low… what a disgusting human.]
"You're lucky you're an AI I can't touch. Otherwise, I'd make you drink it as an experiment, I'm genuinely curious how it tastes!" I said with a slight grin.
[Ewwww! Disgusting!! Have some shame, you shameless buffoon!]
ChatZero drew a visibly disgusted face on its interface, which made me laugh inwardly.
At the same time, an idea sparked in my mind.
Didn't I have one Normal Summoning Ticket?
If I used it, I could potentially gain a companion. Sure, it would be an animal but maybe it could slip past the restriction zone and search for water, perhaps even bring some back if it was intelligent enough.
Decision made.
"ChatZero… open the Normal Summoning Gacha interface."
With a dramatic sigh, ChatZero reluctantly activated it. The center glowed a deep green as the spinner locked onto a "??" mystery slot.
The mystery slots alone occupied seven spaces, while the remaining three bore distinct insignias: a dinosaur, a lion, and an eagle.
The dinosaur slot likely allowed selection from that entire group if it landed there. The lion and eagle slots represented their respective species families .. land predators and birds of prey.
To break it down:
Land predator slot → lion, tiger, or panther
Bird of prey slot → eagle, falcon, or hawk
Mystery → smaller, lower-tier prey animals
Seven mystery slots seemed like a fair balance.
Well, time to spin.
Hands shaking and eyes squeezed shut, I pressed the gacha pull.
Klnk… klank… klonk!
When the sounds finally faded, I slowly opened my eyes.
None can judge me. Even an experienced transmigrator and a writer who could predict plots still got nervous and excited sometimes.
And when my eyes fully opened ..
The spinner had landed on…