A young man lay on a crude bed, his body bound in a cocoon of vines and wooden splints. His face was deathly pale, drained of vitality. Blood seeped from his left shoulder, and a smaller wound on his forehead was wrapped in stained bandages.
A lean, bearded physician named Harold examined him. The man's left shoulder and forehead were wrapped tightly, but the bleeding had yet to fully stop.
After checking the young man's pulse, Harold spoke in a measured voice. "It's a miracle he survived a charge from an Armored Boar. There's bleeding under the skin, but no skull fracture. However… his left shoulder is crushed. Multiple torn muscle tissues and bone fractures." He paused, his expression grim. "A simple physician like myself cannot fix this much damage. We must take him to the church and treat him with a healing spell. Otherwise, he is as good as dead."
A burly male hunter in the group, Doran, crossed his arms and scowled. "Hold on. Why would we waste silver on a healing spell for him? The fool just stood there frozen when that frenzied boar charged straight at him. He didn't even try to dodge. I say we abandon him here. The church won't provide healing spells for free, and I'm not giving a single copper from my pouch."
A few other hunters muttered in agreement.
Julia Reed, the busty woman in green leather armor, stepped forward with fire in her eyes. "I will cover the cost. Every last copper. Jake came on this hunt because I agreed to hire him. He carried our gear, and that boar was my miss." She turned to the group, her voice sharp. "We are bringing him to the cathedral immediately. No more debate."
Doran grunted but didn't argue further.
Turning her attention to the boy, Julia asked with concern in her voice, "Mr. Harold, how much time do we have before we bring him to the Cathedral? Honestly, we didn't expect that beast to charge at Jake. We only hired him to carry the hunting gear." Her voice tightened. "I have to save him. I'm the one who agreed to let him join the hunt."
Harold replied with a calm, measured tone. "I've stopped the excess bleeding and fed him Mendclove herb. He will live for the next forty minutes. I urge you all to hurry him to a healing spell before we lose him."
Julia thanked him, and the party—six men and two other women—carefully carried Jake onto a wooden horse-drawn cart.
Inside the cart, the young man named Jake twitched his fingers.
"Hmm… what happened to me? …So much pain… What a terrible headache. What a shitty game. I'm never playing those shitty games again."
He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt like they were weighed down by iron. His entire body ached, and it didn't respond the way he was used to. Having been a salted fish—lazy and unmoving—his entire previous life, he didn't bother fighting the weight. Instead, he relaxed and let himself drift for a while longer.
After some time, he regained partial control of his body. But when the full weight of the pain registered, he woke with a scream.
"Haaaahhhhhhhh! …What… what happened to me? …Where am I?"
Julia heard the scream and immediately climbed into the cart. Seeing him awake and panicked, she asked, "Jake, are you okay? Why did you scream just now? …Hang on, we're on our way to the cathedral to heal you."
Jake replied, his voice raw, "What? Who are you? What happened to me?"
Julia froze.
Harold, observing from nearby, said calmly, "It looks like he has temporary memory loss. He must have hit his head when the Armored Boar struck. Don't worry—in most cases, he'll recover after the head injury is treated. Speed up the cart. Get him to the cathedral."
Jake.
Upon hearing that name, his mind raced through a mental checklist. This wasn't a dream. He observed the cart, the surroundings, the medieval clothing and weapons. The conclusion struck him like a falling stone: he had transmigrated into a medieval fantasy world. A world with magic.
At first, he felt a thrill—one of his old life's fantasies made real. But then he saw the simple wooden cart, the ten companions with basic weapons and leather armor. No golden knights. No silver guardians waiting for him. Then, fragmented memories slowly organized in his mind, like a video playing at eight times speed.
So I wasn't born into a noble family or as a prince… Just a simple commoner with no magic affinity.
He recalled his last moments before dying.
---
In a single rented room, a community apartment.
William—Jake's former self—scrolled through his computer, looking for new games to pass the time. He had grown bored with all his previous ones.
Then he stopped at a new gaming ad launched that day. It promised that after reaching level ten, the player would be given a cheat to clear the rest of the game—but the target had to be reached within three days.
I'm fascinated by the idea of having a cheat ability while normal players work hard to clear the game, he thought. But on second thought… it's probably another clickbait ad. They always show something amazing in the trailer, but after downloading, the game looks nothing like that.
Let's try it anyway, he told himself.
He clicked the button.
[DOWNLOAD NOW]
He installed the game package, and it opened.
He selected his character. After killing some Goblins and Dire Wolves, he reached level five. Nothing special happened. But soon, tougher monsters appeared: Hobgoblins, Silver-Fanged Wolves with Speed abilities, Mutated Rabbits with Dash abilities etc. The number of monsters increased.
He reached level nine.
Then a red screen appeared, followed by a story: an Abyssal Demon invasion in the world. Goddess Yggdra—also known as Mother Yggdra, a sentient world consciousness—fought against the space rifts formed by the invasion. But the Abyssal creatures had already invaded, and the people of this world had begun fighting back.
The story ended. A hideous monster appeared—far more powerful than anything he had hunted before.
He fought it for a long time, using every skill he had.
Then the kill notification appeared on his screen.
He tapped the rewards section. Inside lay a golden crate containing a Mythical Rank item.
He chose to unlock it.
Information appeared in the description:
- Redeemable Ability [1/1] – D Rank
- Redeemable Talent [1/1] – B Rank
- Redeemable Body Trait – Evolve – S Rank
(Trait Evolve is a physical body trait where the user can evolve their skills, abilities, or even bloodline—if the requirements are met.)
A blinding light appeared. His vision distorted.
My PC must have exploded, he thought.
But when he opened his eyes, he was in another world altogether.