Unlike the awful climate of the northern mountains, this place was simply… different.
The air was more humid, the atmosphere calmer, and the sound of the wind weaving through the trees was almost relaxing.
In the middle of an enormous forest lay Mark, unconscious, sprawled on the ground, still wearing clothes stained with blood and torn apart.
His body did not move; it was as if he were completely disconnected from the world.
A small animal approached him out of curiosity. After circling him a couple of times, it ended up climbing onto his face, unknowingly covering his nose and mouth.
"H-mm…" a small babble escaped his lips, followed by more muffled sounds.
Until Mark's eyes snapped open and he sat up abruptly. The small animal was sent flying by the sudden movement and vanished into the underbrush.
"W-what…?" he muttered, completely confused. His heart was pounding at full speed, and he felt a tight knot in his chest.
The last thing he could remember was falling from the mountain and… that dragon.
"..." he swallowed nervously. 'W-was that a real dragon? Like in the novels I write?'
It was impossible to believe. Maybe he had seen it wrong, or maybe he had hit his head during the fall.
'Yeah… that must be it. I hope…' he thought, uneasy.
Then he felt something strange, something different in his body. He lowered his gaze and began to look at his hands, which had been injured and dirty before.
Now they were in perfect condition.
Not only that. The clothes that should have been huge on him were only a little loose now.
"W-what happened…?" The more questions that arose in his mind, the more nervous he became.
That was when he caught sight of something strange out of the corner of his eye, a blue figure floating in front of him. When he lifted his gaze, there it was.
That screen that had frightened him and made him fall before. His reaction was immediate: he scrambled backward out of pure shock.
But a tree prevented him from retreating any farther.
"W-what— what is that thing!?"
The system screen repositioned itself in front of him, now only a few centimeters away.
Mark pushed his head back, trying to get away, but ended up hitting the back of his head against the tree trunk.
"Aghh…" he groaned in pain. 'Damn it.'
This time he opened his eyes slowly, breathing more calmly, trying not to panic.
The screen was still there, displaying the same message as before.
[Author System]
[Information: The User: 'Mark' has been successfully teleported.]
[Notice: Do you wish to complete the soul-linking with the System?]
[Yes / No]
Mark spent several seconds rereading the text over and over again. He could not tell whether it was real or if his mind was playing tricks on him.
'It—it's like most of the systems that appear in web novels…' he thought, astonished.
He was a somewhat well-known writer in the world of web novels, so he was perfectly familiar with that theme.
'Have I reincarnated?... No, that can't be it.' He had appeared here together with Lucas, so he dismissed that idea almost immediately.
Knowing he would not get answers just by imagining theories, he carefully decided to press [Yes].
[Author System]
[Report: Update Initiated…]
[Status: 50%... 76%... 99%]
[Report: Update Completed.]
[Notice: The user's soul is now completely linked to the System. You may now access it fully.]
[Any questions?]
It was easier and faster than he had expected. He did not feel anything strange in his body, which gave him a bit of reassurance.
"Um…" he murmured, unsure of what to ask first. He had far too many doubts.
'Tsk, I'm an idiot,' he thought.
"Where am I?" He needed to know first whether this place was safe.
[Answer: You are in the "Borderline Forest."]
'What a vague answer… I need to be more specific, it seems.'
"Is this place safe? Why did I appear here in the first place, and were you the one who pulled me out of those mountains and kept me from falling?"
He decided to ask everything at once. He needed answers now.
[Answer: YES! You are safe. There are no dangerous creatures in the entire area. The forest is used as a commercial passage between the Kingdom of Fitoa and Kaldor.]
[Answer: The system saved you before you died from that accident in your world and brought you here. However, due to a soul synchronization error, you ended up in the northern mountains. Home of the dragons…]
Mark stayed there, processing the information more calmly. Now that he thought about it more carefully…
When he fell from the balcony together with Lucas, he remembered seeing a strong light beneath him, reflected for an instant.
'Could it have been some kind of portal?' More than a question, it sounded like a confirmation.
"Wait!" he exclaimed, pushing himself away from the tree trunk. 'Did you just say Borderline Forest? And also Fitoa and Kaldor?'
They were names he himself had used in his most famous novel to date.
'I-it must be a coincidence, right?' he thought, refusing to accept it. It couldn't be possible that he had appeared in the fantasy world he had created.
[Answer: That's right! You are in: "Destined to Be Loved and Hated by the Crazy Villainesses."]
'No, no, no… you've got to be kidding me.'
The novel with one of the worst worlds he had ever created…