I swallowed, my throat sandpaper-dry. "Sarge... the front line? I drive a truck. I'm not trained to fight... whatever those pig-things in Roman armor are."
Sarge Miller slapped my shoulder, hard. The blow sent me staggering. "You've got a rifle, Rogers."
"I've never shot anything that wasn't paper!"
"Then pretend they're paper... angry, green paper that wants to eat your guts," Sarge barked. "Now, get to your Humvee. Load 50 crates of MREs—mostly the Chili Mac you love so much—10 crates of 5.56, and medical."
My gamer brain was processing... This wasn't just an 'Escort Quest.' This was a 'Suicide Delivery Quest.' My vehicle was a standard-issue, unarmored Humvee, not a magic-proof Main Battle Tank.
"And... uh... am I going alone?" I asked, hopeful.
Sarge smiled again. "Of course! We need the real soldiers to guard this side of the portal. You... you just drive straight, don't stop, don't talk to the pig-men... and do not scratch my Humvee."
I wanted to argue that I wasn't a Main Tank... I was Support. I healed and buffed from the back line!
But all I did was nod dumbly. "Yes, Sarge."
...
Fifteen minutes later, I was behind the wheel, my hands shaking slightly. I turned the key. The V8 engine roared to life—the only 'normal' sound in this whole, insane world.
I drove past the chaos of the base. Combat Engineers were setting up M2 Browning (.50 Cal) heavy machine gun nests in a perimeter, all aimed at the Anomaly.
The closer I got... the more terrifying it looked. It wasn't just a 'gate.' It was a wound in reality. It shimmered, like TV static mixed with an oil slick. It was silent, but I could 'hear' a low thrum in my head. My radio was just static.
This is it... the loading screen, I thought. A real-life loading screen... probably leading to a hell-server.
A soldier at the last checkpoint waved me through, his eyes wide with a fear that matched my own.
I gripped the wheel. "Okay, Kyle... no Leeroy Jenkins... slow and steady..."
I hit the gas. The Humvee's grille hit the shimmering wall.
The first sensation was... cold. Bone-chilling cold. The second was vertigo, like I was falling. Total darkness... for a second that felt like an eternity... a million whispers in my head.
A status effect? I thought. 'Dimensional Sickness' debuff? Great.
THUMP.
The Humvee burst through the other side. Light, so bright I had to squint.
The first thing that hit me was the smell. It wasn't the dry dust of Nevada. This was damp earth, pine, and a thick, heavy, fungal odor.
I slammed the brakes, my jaw dropping.
This wasn't Nevada. This place was... green. Green everywhere. Giant trees, like Redwoods, but twisted into strange, alien shapes. The air was heavy and humid.
I looked up at the sky. It wasn't blue. It was a sick, greenish-purple. And... There were... two moons. Two massive moons, both clearly visible... in the middle of the day.
Okay... I gulped. New map. Graphics are insane. And definitely not the tutorial area anymore.
I saw a dirt track, freshly made (thank God), leading into the forest. The tracks of other Humvees were ahead of me.
I heard it... The sound of metal on metal... the sound of roars (not dragons... something else)... and the sound I knew best...
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
A heavy machine gun!
I floored the accelerator, following the tracks, and burst through a line of bushes... and I saw the FOP (Forward Observation Post). It was just a circle of sandbags, razor wire, and a few other Humvees parked in a perimeter.
The second I parked, a Lieutenant ran over, his face pale. He was covered in mud and... some kind of thick, green... gunk (Orc blood?).
"About time, Logistics!" he yelled over the gunfire. "We're almost out of 5.56! These things won't stay down!"
I killed the engine, grabbed my own (unfired) rifle, and peeked over the sandbags.
I saw them. The Legionnaires were disciplined. They were forming a "Shield Wall" tactic... But the green "pig-things" (Orcs)... they were a wave of pure chaos, slamming themselves against the sandbag line over and over.
My Gamer Logic kicked in instantly.
"Okay... The Romans are the 'Tanks'... The Orcs are the 'Melee DPS'..." I muttered to myself.
"...And I... I just delivered the Mana Potions."