Leo could barely hear his own heart pounding wildly. He couldn't see anything; everything was pitch black, but he felt his body turn ice-cold from the terror of dying.
In the end, it turned out he really had died…
'Is this for real? No, no, no. God, my family, my mom, my dad, my siblings. God…'
He felt a crushing pressure slam into his chest as despair washed over him at the thought of never seeing his family again. There were still so many things he wanted to share with them.
He wanted to cry, to scream, even to hit something, but he couldn't. He couldn't move at all. It was as if he were floating in empty space, completely unable to control his body the way he wanted.
'Is this the afterlife?'
He had never been religious, but like anyone else, he'd always been curious about what came after death.
Still, this was a hell of a lot better than being tortured in hell for all eternity.
Just thinking about it sent a shiver through him.
In the end, he had no idea how much time passed. Hours? Days? Weeks? Or had it only been seconds since he arrived?
But just before he could lose himself completely in that endless darkness, a strange light began to emerge a few meters away from him.
Leo stared at it in awe. One thought that crossed his mind was that maybe he was about to be reborn as a baby. That would explain the light at the end of the tunnel.
'I hope I'm born into a rich family' he joked to himself.
Truth be told, if he had the choice, he would pick his own family without a second thought.
After a few seconds, the mysterious light began to fade until all that remained was a kind of blue screen floating in front of him.
[Supremacy System]
[Notice: Host located… Loading…]
When Leo read that, only one thing went through his mind: a system. Just like the ones that appeared in the web novels he read from time to time.
The mere idea of having a system in a fantasy world filled him with excitement. Who wouldn't want that?
[Notice: Final synchronization complete]
[The system has self-configured into a state that benefits the host]
[Loading…]
[Hello, Leo. I can see you're excited to meet me]
For some reason, that actually made Leo chuckle, and it seemed like his wishes were about to come true.
"Am I going to reincarnate in another world?" he asked, barely able to contain his excitement.
[Of course! But not in the usual way. You will be transmigrated into a new body]
[You will keep your current name and all your memories. Once you arrive in the new world, we will begin synchronizing the new body's memories with you]
Leo swallowed hard, nerves and excitement mixing together, and nodded repeatedly. He wasn't about to waste this chance.
"So you're saying the stuff in web novels is real?"
[I'm not familiar with what you mean by "web novels"… The system did not wish to invade your privacy, but let's just say yes. Ready to go to: Ziora?]
[Yes / No]
'Ziora, huh?'
Before accepting, he paused to think about everything that had happened. If that truck hadn't hit him, right now he'd be back home with his family. But no. Now he was here, on the verge of being sent to another world.
It made him feel… strange? He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
It didn't seem like he had any other option to return to life.
And without wasting any more time, he said goodbye one last time to the people he loved and accepted.
✦✦✦
Leo had no idea what happened next. It was as if he lost consciousness for an instant.
When he came to, he found himself in the middle of a… forest?
The good news was that it was daytime and he could see his surroundings clearly.
'Okay, but where the hell am I exactly?'
The system had brought him here, so he figured it would know.
And as if responding to his thoughts, the system appeared again.
[Supremacy System]
[Notice: Transmigration completed successfully]
[Report: An unexpected error caused the arrival to occur in an undesired location]
[Danger level: High]
[The host is in high danger!]
'Excuse me?'
Leo felt the blood drain from his face. He desperately hoped this was just a sick joke, but apparently it wasn't.
The system began displaying messages about searching for a way out and other things he didn't even want to read.
He focused his attention on his surroundings, praying he wouldn't see anything dangerous.
But then he felt an overwhelmingly heavy presence deep within the forest. Instinctively, he turned and looked up, stunned.
A massive mountain he hadn't noticed before loomed in front of him. It was imposing—so enormous he couldn't even see the peak. A kind of cloud or mist obscured the upper part.
At that moment the atmosphere shifted from sunny to dark, accompanied by the same thick mist that made it hard to see anything.
"Uh… System?" he muttered nervously.
When he looked at the screen, he felt bitterness rise in his throat.
[Notice: You must leave this place RIGHT NOW! Run south without looking back and without stopping]
[Notice: Attempting to teleport the user to the previously designated location… Loading…]
Leo panicked instantly. He could feel something watching him from behind the trees.
"And where the hell is south?"
He looked in every direction. Orienting himself was damn near impossible. Then he heard an unsettling sound behind him.
He didn't even dare look back. He just started running in the opposite direction.
'Who cares if this is south or not—I'm getting the fuck out of here!'
He ran as fast as he could, eyes fixed straight ahead and on the ground to avoid tripping over anything.
[Report: Teleportation is being interfered with by an unknown source…]
[Notice: Time remaining until teleportation completion: 05:00]
[Objective: Survive that time]
As he sprinted at full speed, his stomach twisted into knots.
'Survive what the fuck?'
He wasn't about to stop and find out. He just kept running.
He had no idea how long he'd been running. He didn't want to look at the system screen and risk tripping—that would be fatal.
To his right, he began hearing clear sounds of some kind of wild animal.
Unfortunately, it burst out of its hiding spot straight toward him.
Leo was terrified the second he saw it. It was an enormous wolf with glowing red eyes and fangs and claws that would shred him to pieces if they touched him.
He tried to brake, but ended up tripping and crashing to the ground, rolling several meters.
Lying on the dirt, Leo saw the massive wolf just inches away from him.
He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his head with his arms, bracing for the impact.
But it never came.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw that the wolf was gone.
Confused, he looked the other way. The wolf was running off without looking back. It had completely ignored him.
The relief he felt was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.
'T-that was close' he thought, breathing heavily as he pushed himself up and dusted off his clothes.
But he spoke too soon.
Something enormous passed overhead through the treetops, creating such a violent gust that it knocked him back to the ground.
"What the fuck?" he shouted, staring up at the sky.
All he could see was a massive tail disappearing into the clouds.
He swallowed hard and glanced at the screen one last time before breaking into another run.
[Notice: Time remaining until teleportation completion: 02:48]
Barely two minutes had passed and he'd almost died.
Without thinking too much about it, he started running again. He could feel the fall had scraped his legs, but it didn't matter. He just wanted out of this damned forest already.
✦✦✦
When he reached what looked like the end of the path, he nearly fell.
It turned out he was standing at the edge of a cliff, and he had almost plummeted into a huge lake below. From up here, he could see several jagged, very unfriendly stone spikes rising from the water.
"T-that was close…" he muttered.
But once again, he spoke too soon. Another powerful gust nearly sent him over the edge.
He clung desperately to the nearest tree.
He wanted to look and see what was causing the wind, but all he could make out was swirling dust and… was that a bird?
It was unbelievably huge and descending from the sky.
As soon as it came within several meters, the gust tore several trees up by the roots.
Leo gripped the tree even tighter, but it was useless.
He was dragged backward, falling into the void along with the tree he was clinging to.
[Notice: Time remaining until teleportation completion: 00:05]
The screen appeared in front of him, but five seconds suddenly felt like an eternity.
He looked down and saw the stone spikes rushing closer.
He closed his eyes, not wanting to watch his death again.
[Notice: Time remaining until teleportation completion: 00:03]
[00:02]
[00:01]
[Notice: Teleportation completed]