When I opened my eyes, the very first thing I saw was a big, clear blue sky.

A strange scent that smelled oddly of rain lingered in my nose, teasing my memories.

What happened? Wasn’t I just enjoying a cigarette on the bridge? Did I black out?

Wait, why do I feel…so wet and naked?

As I gingerly hauled myself up, I threw a glance at my body.

An impulsive chuckle tumbled out of my mouth.

Here, I was wondering why I felt off. There wasn’t a single article of clothing on my body. I was pretty much as naked as the day I was born. My back felt cold and wet because apparently, I seemed to have landed on some muddy ground.

I looked around me and all I could see was trees, trees that looked suspiciously taller and bigger that any trees I had ever remembered seeing before in my life.

I looked down at where I was. Underneath me was a floor of rotten and dead leaves.

So, it appears I am in some forest? maybe?

What the hell was I doing butt naked in the middle of some forest? Wasn’t I just at the bridge?

The city where I lived was pretty much a concrete jungle. To get any sense of some true nature, I would have to drive nearly 30 kilometers to arrive at the nearest national park.

Dazed and somewhat disoriented, I stood up. I wiped off the rotten leaves and mud off my naked body and decided to explore my surroundings.

The more I wandered around, the weirder things become. The sounds of the various wildlife echoing through the forest didn’t feel particularly familiar to my ears. The birds which I glimpsed perching some of the younger trees’ branches didn’t look like any birds I have ever seen in any wildlife documentary.

As I continued to explore, I stumbled on even stranger sights: weirdly shaped blue mushrooms that were as tall as trees, tiny little things that hovered in the air which seemed to be some fantastical mashup of a dragonfly and a hummingbird. The most bizarre sight however was those gigantic, yellow flowers which visibly inhaled and exhaled.

I really did have quite the detailed and vivid imagination, didn’t I?

Yes, it appears so. It seems I have totally descended into madness, losing all attachment to my physical reality. Too bad, all of those sessions with the psychiatrist ended up being meaningless.

Ah, well. No use crying over spilt milk, right?

For a moment, I put my head in my hands and just manically laughed.

As I was still processing the realization that I might have effectively lost my sanity, a dissonant, almost mechanical-like voice rang from somewhere above me.

[Invitation has been accepted]

[Assimilation completed]

[Welcome, Reader]

[Would you like to register your character’s name?]

Huh, reader? Character’s name? And what invitation is this voice talking about?

I unconsciously looked up and practically out of nowhere, a floating black ‘screen box’ with bold white font showed up in front of me. Stupefied, I just continued to dumbly stare at it for god knew how long.

Eventually, I just blinked and looked away.

Okay, this is getting even weirder.

I frowned, lost in thought. Just as I was seriously considering the option of cracking my head open against a tree so I could wake up, the voice decided to chime in once again.

[Reader, your first quest has been issued.]

[Please register your character’s name]

[Reward upon completion: One answer to any question you wish to ask.]

My gaze snapped back to the screen box.

An answer to any question I wished to ask?

I stood up in all my naked glory.

I said outloud to the voice which I had no idea where it was coming from, “Okay, I will do as you say.”

[Would you like to register your character’s name?]

“Yes.”

[Please type into the screen box the name of your character]

For a moment, I just stood there, my eyes boring into the blinking cursor on the screen box’s typing bar. Eventually I jolted myself awake from my stupor and typed ‘Serg’ short for my first name, Sergio.

A sound similar to a ringing of a bell echoed loudly and clearly against my ears. I unconsciously flinched, startled by it.

[‘Serg’ has been successfully registered.]

[Congratulations to Reader for fulfilling his very first quest]

[Please, as a reward, ask us any question]

Here it came, what I was looking for.

“How the fuck do I get--” I paused, rephrasing my question in politer terms, “How do I return to my reality?”

[The reader needs to fulfill a chain of quests which will eventually lead him to the main and final quest. Once the final quest is fulfilled, any wish the reader has will be granted.]

So that means as long as I follow along and do as this voice asks me eventually I would be granted the chance to have any wish I had granted?

Okay, this is reasonable. This is doable. As long as I go with the flow, I can get back to the ‘sane’ world. I mean how long could this chain of quests be?

As I was trying to convince myself to come to terms with what was going on around me, the voice spoke up again.

[The reader’s second quest has been issued]

[Please register your character’s origin and race.]

[Reward upon completion: Class-generated weapon x1]

Getting a weapon would be worthwhile. I needed something to defend myself with in any case scenario, right? This was a sensible way to think, wasn’t it?

But what does it mean by origin? Does it want me to type where I was born?

I typed the name of my hometown into the bar but unexpectedly, an additional error screen popped up.‌

[All names associated with places and locations must exist within the Twilight Realm.]

Twilight Realm? Why does that name sound familiar?

A sinking feeling of suspicion started to form at the back of my head.‌

[Would the Reader like us to provide suggestions?]

“Okay.”

You do that.

A second later, six options popped out in front of me.

[Please Reader, select one of the following six options as your origin's backstory.]

As I browsed through those options, I took a double take. That ominous suspicion that crept in my mind started to solidify.‌

[Option 1: Orphan of the Brogarian Frozenlands]

(Starting bonuses: +10 to strength stat, +10 to Stamina stat, +20 to Vitality stat, 50% Cold Resistance, 90% potential to become a Legend-ranked Warrior.)

[Option 2: Orphan of the Savar Empire.]

(Starting bonuses: +10 to Agility stat, +10 to Perception Stat, 20% Movement Speed, 50% Poison Resistance, 90% potential to become a Legend-ranked Assassin.)

[Option 3: Orphan of the Deras Kingdom.]

(Starting bonuses: +10 to Perception Stat, + 20 to Intelligence Stat, 20% Spell Casting Speed, 50% Elemental Magic Resistance, 90% potential to become a Legend-ranked Mage.)

[Option 4: Orphan of the Ameris Kingdom.‌]

(Starting bonuses : +10 to Charm stat, +20 to Intelligence stat, 20% Physical and Mental Rejuvenation Speed, 50% Holy Magic and Dark Magic Resistance, 90% potential to become a Legend-ranked Priest.)

[Option 5 : Orphan of the Wailing Woodlands]

(Starting Bonuses : +10 Perception to Stat, +20 to Agility Stat, +10 to Strength Stat, 20% Vision, 50% Wind and Earth Magic Resistance, 90% potential to become a Legend-ranked Archer.)

[Option 6: Orphan of the Ashmari Desert.‌]

(Starting bonuses: +10 to Intelligence stat, +10 to Perception Stat, +10 to Strength stat, +10 to Agility stat, 20% Level-up Speed, 50% Heat Resistance, 90% potential to become a Legend-ranked Hybrid Class.)

Warning: Each ‘origin’ scenario restricts your race choices later on.

Brogarian Frozenlands, Savar Empire, Ameris Kingdom, Ashmari Desert, Twilight Realm. No wonder why all those names sounded familiar to me.‌

They were all names of places I have read in the book. Which book you might ask? The very book which my nana left for me.

Why am I seeing seeing this? Did I by chance get myself sucked inside the book’s universe? How the hell does that happen? Why does this keep getting crazier and weirder by the minute?

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. A terrible headache was already ringing inside my skull and I had the ominous feeling that it might get worse.

Eventually, I decided to stop thinking all together.

Whether this is real or is not, it doesn’t matter now. I will just go along with this until I wake up at some point.

Resigned to my current fate, I swept another look at the options list. This time, I took my time, reading them through. The selection process felt awfully lot like the starter menu of an RPG character creation game. But then, if this was truly the book’s universe then I could be labeled as an RPG character in some way.

hmm, each origin scenario is your typical tragic orphan backstory, I guess it would be too much to ask for a parent or two.

Leaning against a tree. I titled my head as I went through what I knew from the book. In the Twilight Realm, the physical realm which encased the world of the book, people’s potentials were tightly linked to their upbringings. In other words, if I wished to obtain a class while I was this world, I needed to have an ‘origin’ story.

Okay. But, which one to choose?

If I remembered correctly, changing classes wasn’t a thing in the Twilight Realm. Your innate potential dictated what class you could ‘awaken’ as. And once you do awaken as said class, you would be stuck with it your entire lifetime. Meaning, whatever choice I went with in this moment would continue to haunt me for god knew how long this whole ‘chain of quests’ thing lasted.

It hadn’t been long since I read the book. The story and the worldbuilding were still quite fresh in my mind. So if my memory didn’t fail me, the main five cores classes were the same as mentioned in the options list.

Warrior, Assassin, Mage, Archer and lastly, Priest.

I snorted. can't get more cliche than that.

Besides those four core classes, there were four hybrid classes. Hybrid classes were known for their rarity in this book’s setting and usually, one in a one hundred thousand people could awaken as a hybrid class.

They were as follow.

Pathfinder, which was the hybrid combination between Assassin and Archer.

Shaman, which was the combination between Mage and Priest.

Paladin, which was the combination between Warrior and Priest.

And lastly, Arcane Pugilist which was the combination between Mage and Warrior.

I had no idea at which plot point I spawned into the story’s uninspiring fantasy world. It could be the beginning, it could be at the rising action or it could even be at the climax. All I knew is that all hell would break lose in the latter half of the story.

I didn’t know for how long this voice intended to keep me around in this world but if worse come to worst and I was still around by the latter half of the story then I might have no choice but to attain enough strength to withstand the ensuing disaster.

As my mind races with such thoughts, my eyes automatically fell on the last option.

20% Level-up Speed.

I didn’t pay much attention to the stats because if I followed the generic logic of fantasy books like this one, then stats would naturally accumulate the more I leveled up. Growth speed, on the other hand, didn’t seem like something I would make up for with just grinding. The only possible way to obtain such a bonus would be to have it from the start, meaning to have it as an innate potential.

And since I was given the choice to choose my very own potential, I might as well go with it.

I hovered my index finger over the last option.

[Dear Reader, choosing your origin will not only determine your class but will also restrict your race choices. Are you sure you wish to go with option 6?]

Huh? This means I might not look the same? But does it really matter?

Deciding not to care, I just voiced, "Yes".

[Origin has been successfully registered]

Okay, so now what?

[In accordance with the origin setting chosen by Reader, please select of the three following options for your character's race]

A second later, another screen menu popped out.

Human :

[The staple race of the Twilight Realm, known for their adaptability and dexterity. Humans are capable of transcending the limits of their physical bodies. ]

Giant :

[One of the four ancient races of the Twilight Realm, known for their tremendous physical power and natural affinity with Earth Magic.]

Voidling :

[A mysterious race rumored to have originated from the stars, except for their shapeshifting abilities not much is known about them.]

I drummed my fingers against my knees as I continued to stare at the screen. As the various thoughts inside my head turned and tossed, a chilly breeze drifted through the air and brushed against my skin, reminding me of the fact that I was still stark naked.

What should do I do ? Should I go with obvious and pick human ?

My gaze tore away from the screen and swept through my surroundings. I had no idea where I was. It was quite clear that I was in some forest but which forest and in which territory? As suggested by the previous origin selection menu, there were several kingdoms and empires within the Twilight Realm. Each territory had its own culture, belief system and biases against 'certain' races. Humans didn't rule the world in this book's setting. So this meant I could be in the Wailing Woodlands for all I knew.

According to the story, the Wailing Woodlands was initially a collection of separate neighboring forests in the middle of the continent which with time merged into one, extremely massive forest. Its overall size exceeded that of the most expansive empire in the realm, the Savar Empire. It also served as a natural barrier cutting off the northern part of the realm from the south.

If I was indeed in the Wailing Woodlands, the good news would be that I was safe from any human scrutiny. The bad news however, would be that I was well and truly fucked.

The Wailing Woodlands was arguably one of the most dangerous places within the Twilight Realm. Why, you might ask? Well because it was the breeding ground of all sorts of monsters and races who didn't look kindly upon humans. Goblins, kobolds, undead, orges, trolls and every other cliche uninspiring monstrosity from any fantasy book you might have read roamed that place. The most dangerous thing in the Woodlands however wasn't any of those monstrosities.

It was in fact the one race that ruled supreme within that territory, the Elemental Spirits. They were one of the most ancient and highly intelligent races in the Twilight Realm. They wielded magic that defied all common sense and were known for being apathetic and unfeeling. If they felt like it, they could burn down the entire Wailing Woodlands and not feel a lick of remorse for it. They also disliked humans so, it wasn't a stretch to think that they might disintegrate me with one just look because they didn't like my face.

If this is the case and this forest is indeed part of the Wailing Woodlands then it might be better to go with the non-human options for my race.

The Giant race looks good in these circumstances.

The problem however was that the main setting of the book's story was the Ameris Kingdom. It was where the reader first got introduced to the protagonist, located in the eastern north part of the realm. I had this feeling that the 'chain of quests' the voice talked about might lead me sooner or later to the main plot, with the intention of involving me in it. This meant I might have to travel to the Ameris Kingdom at some point. But could I do that as a giant?

Giants, as the menu screen mentioned, were also one the four most ancient races in the Twilight Realm. In this sense, they weren't that far off from the Elemental Spirits. Giants were powerful, much more powerful than humans but with power came fear. Humans were terrified of the four ancient races and they avoided them as much as they could. If I went there as a giant, the Ameris Kingdom might think I wanted to invade it.

I can't be a human because I can't afford to be weak if I am in the Wailing Woodlands but I also can't be a giant if I wanted to got to Ameris and successfully reach the final quest. Fuck, what do I do?

My eyes unconsciously in the last and most ambiguous option.

Hmm, Voidling. I don't remember reading about this race in the story. It isn't one of the main races I recall. It also isn't one of the ancient races either. Is there possibly hidden lore in the book?

My gaze rested on the first part of its description. Shapeshifting abilities.

Weren't demons the only ones capable of this in the story? Demons could disguise themselves as humans if they wanted in the book's world. Didn't they cause some trouble for the hero because of this ability?

If this race, Voidling, can afford the disguise of being human without actually being human then, they would be the best option for me at the moment.

Deciding to go ahead with that thought, I touched the third option.