Warning! Unknown organism is closing in on host’s position. Host is advised to wake up.

Ugh, what happened? Unknown organism? Where am I? I open my eyes and look around just to find myself surrounded by huge trees, probably in a forest. They bear close resemblance to fir tree, but are somewhat different. In the distance I can spot a very tall mountain, at least 5kilomeaters high from where I’m standing.

I turn my view back to myself and try to understand the situation. I’m in my protection suit, but the helmet was blown off and its fabric seems greatly weakened. Last thing I remember, hmm, I was launching my greatest pro…

My thoughts are interrupted as I see a huge grey wolf charging towards me at unbelievable speed, I swear I’m seeing electric sparks left in its wake. I panic and only manage to raise my left hand just in time to prevent my head from being bitten off.

Argh, its teeth sink into my arm and I feel a sudden jolt of electricity. The hell?! I try to fling it off my arm, but the thing’s clutch is too strong. Calm down! If I continue like this, it will rip my arm apart. What’s the best course of action I can take?

Ok, my enhanced constitution prevents me already having lost my arm, but it won’t be able to for much longer. This thing resembles a wolf, but it’s bigger, stronger and faster. Even so, it should still share a normal one’s physiology. This means that its most exposed weak point should be either its eyes or …

I use my other hand to punch its vulnerable neck. According to my expectations, its clutch loosens, allowing me to retract my arm, then kick it off me with my whole strength. As I thought, the neck is the better choice as robbing it of its sight would give it a disadvantage, but its nose and ears would easily make up for it.

The creature twists in the air for 10 meters until it hits a tree. What is happening here? What is that tree made off? The force it was hit by should have cracked it in half. And how’s that fucking monster still alive?! It struggles to stand up, but fails. At least the impact made it unable to properly control its lower legs.

Looking at the wolf and tree, it’s like someone is trying to create enhanced animals and plants, similar to what I’m doing for humans. While as a fellow researcher I respect his endeavor, I completely fail to see his goal in doing so. Anyway, if this experiment is allowed to recover it will pose a future threat to me.

I collect myself and stand up. My left arm hurts like hell, that monster’s teeth almost reached the bone, but it shouldn’t be a life threatening wound. My self-regeneration should be able to take care of it in 30-45 minutes as long as I close it. But first, I must finish off this creature.

As I get close, in a last ditch effort, the wolf lunges at me with all its strength. When its teeth almost reach my waist, I knee it in the side of its head. Now stunned and defenseless on the ground, I step on its neck to quickly end its live.

You have killed a Dire Lightning Wolf! You have earned 3.3 stat points!

What the fuck? Why is there a blue screen on the corner of my view? I focus on it and it zooms in until it’s in front of my eyes. And now it disappears as I will it. Ok, let’s take it slowly and figure out what’s happening here. The first thing I should address is my left hand.

Now that the suit’s arm has bite marks on it, I can use it to create a bandage. I expected some resistance, even in its weakened state, but it tore away like paper. The rest of the suit is also like that, so I get rid of it as its weight only works to impede me. I use a part of it to dress the wound and leave the rest to my enhanced regeneration.

Now I have 2 issues more. Where am I? And what was that blue screen? The message from the latter would suggest that I’m in some kind of VR game, but that would make no sense. I remember the quantum reactor starting well, but then the fissure got too big. I was going to close it, but then we were pulled inside the crack.

-Tell me all relevant events that happened after entering the rift until I regained consciousness.

Unknown direct connection with the host brain is being established.

Forced closure failed.

Host’s body is undergoing modifications.

Process result: no changes detected. A more detailed inspection is required to determine the actual effect.

Host’s brain is undergoing modifications.

Process result: new ability developed: host’s brain now generates and stores an unknown type of energy, no other changes detected.

Host is affected by a gravitational force. Host is advised to prepare for landing.

Host’s body is being infused with an undetermined substance.

Process result: determined to be a small increase in host’s abilities. Further investigation and experimentation needed to determine the whole effect. No apparent side effects.

Host’s right arm is broken. Auto-regeneration starting. Estimated heal time: 4minutes 3seconds Command not recognized.

Considering what happened until now, this isn’t Earth anymore. It’s probably not even the same dimension anymore, considering the parallel universes theory was Project’s End Game starting point. I can only assume this blue screen is this new connection that was established when I was floating in the inter-dimensional space.

Now, let’s decide my goals and set up a list of priorities. First of all, I must survive and to do that, while not urgent, I must find shelter, food and water. I must understand this new world and how many of my old world’s principles apply here.

This new world is a lot more dangerous, but it seems like it can provide me with new research opportunities. Alas, for that I need a lot of equipment and other resources, so it must wait quite a bit. For now I should try and get in touch with Mirida. If she’s also here, teaming up with her should speed up the process.

Being careful to target only the A.I. chip connection this time, and not this new connection that I can’t close to, I order it to establish a connection with my assistant. I wait a few seconds until I get an unfortunate reply.

No feedback received. Target outside the 10km radius or not responding to the local connection. Unable to find any mobile network or any other satellite connection, long-range connection cannot be established.

This means that Mirida, if she made it, landed in a different spot. I should search for her, but it can’t be a priority for now. Also no satellite connection means that this world is more different from ours than I initially thought. Either I am outside the satellites’ range, there isn’t any satellite, or they use a different system from that on Earth.

Going back to my list of goals, if I lean on a tree to take a 30-40minutes nap every 12hours or so, I should be able to last for a few weeks without any deep sleep. The A.I. should wake me up if there’s any danger. In this time I should be able to find some form of civilization and even if I don’t I will, at the least, identify the dangers and how to avoid them, so finding shelter is not priority for now.

I’m currently in what seems to be a forest, so, hopefully, if this world has any semblance to Earth, I should be able to find a drinkable water source before I start getting dehydrated. My safest bet would be a stream or a small river, as I’m not sure if my old protection suit or my shirt can be used to filter water.

This leaves me only with finding food. My first option, and probably the safest one, is foraging. It’s late summer on Earth and while it’s probably not the same here, the temperature indicates that I shouldn’t fear a food shortage. Even if I can’t find wild fruits or the like, I can resort to hunting.

Speaking of which, this thing is a lightning wolf, huh? A wolf able to generate electricity… where the hell did I end up?! Is it even safe to eat? I’d like to exclude the possibility that everything here is poisonous to me. I have no knowledge of this new world and I suppose the only way to get some answers is interacting with that blue screen.

While I can’t trust it completely, it doesn’t seem like it holds ill will towards me as it had many chances to act against me. Getting information from it is probably the fastest way to make sense of the situation and maybe I can even find out about its goals.

-A.I. chip, display all messages received through the new connection.

Integration complete. You are now compatible with the System. You can use the ‘status’ command for additional information. Welcome to Planet Ludon! User headed towards Planet Ludon, under the System’s influence. Beginning integration. You have obtained the title ‘Otherworlder’. All base stats increased by 5 permanently. You have obtained [Basic Appraisal Lv1] common skill. You have received 10 Path Points. You have obtained the title ‘Outsider’. Your common skill [Basic Appraisal Lv1] upgraded to rare skill [Basic Long-range Appraisal Lv1]. You have obtained the [Fake Status Lv1] rare skill. You have obtained a 10% permanent bonus to all stats. Your lightning affinity is over 95%. You have obtained the ‘Lightningborn’ perk. Your lightning resistance is increased by 80%. You have obtained the [Lightning Conversion Lv1] rare skill. Due to being used, pre-integration [Quantum A.I. Processor Lv27] personal skill is now displayed in your status. You have obtained the ‘A.I. chip’ perk. Your mental affinity increased by 50%. Your mental resistance increased by 30%. Due to being used, pre-integration common skill [Basic Self-Regeneration Lv.8] is now displayed in your status. You have killed a Dire Lighting Wolf! You have earned 3.3 stat points! Command not recognized.

Ok, let’s ignore the first thought that someone is playing a bad joke… Skills, titles, stat points, any way I look at it, it is seems like I’m in some kind of video game. As much as I want to stop dealing with bullshit right now, I can extract some information from here.

First of all, arriving to this Planet Ludon, forced integration with the System. If I am to trust what it said, the planet is under its influence, so the natives should be connected to it as well. I can also assume that this integration is the unknown modifications identified by the A.I. chip.

And as much as I would like to deny it, I’ve felt some improvements in my strength and speed, small but noticeable. It goes along with this 10% stats boost. Also now that I think about it, the wolf’s bite hurt a lot more than the electric current afterwards. Let’s go along with this for now and do as advised. Status.

Identity

Stats

Active Paths

Name

Avitus Volten

STR

224

[246.4]

VIT

146

[160.6]

Human

0.4%

Race

Human

AGI

285

[313.5]

PER

367

[403.7]

Sex

Male

DEX

312

[343.2]

INT

348

[382.8]

Age

47

CON

186

[204.6]

WIS

94

[103.4]

Title

END

96

[105.6]

TLN

6

[6.6]

Affinities

Resistances

Titles Earned

Perks

Lightning

96%

Lightning

90%

Otherworlder

Lightningborn

A.I. Chip

Mental

82%

Pain

72%

Outsider

Shadow

53%

Mental

55%

Fire

38%

Poison

52%

Spatial

8%

Spatial

25%

Temporal

2%

Skills

Common

Rare

Personal

Basic Self-Regeneration Lv8

Fake Status Lv1

Quantum A.I. Processor Lv27

Basic Long-range Appraisal Lv1

Lightning Conversion Lv1

You have 3.3 unspent stat points and 10 unspent path points.