2024-08-23 20:31:57Eric was innocently waiting on the platform for a subway when a hooded guy rushed past him straight onto the tracks.
Eric pulled him back by instinct, but … at the last moment, the guy pivoted, flung Eric off. The strength added to Eric’s already forward motion and unstable stance, throwing Eric on the tracks, the hooded guy stood stably on the platform, watching Eric.
Eric’s reflexes are still online. He got up immediately, made to climb onto the platform …
He looked with wide eyes at the train rushing straight at him. The train is too near to stop.
White filled up his vision.
🟆✧✦
Then, he woke up in a sterile white room.
[ Welcome to the isekai transfer station ]
[ Reading transferee’s preferences. ]
You want to live leisurely, having all the luxuries of the current world, but none of the responsibilities !
[ Searching for a world matching user’s preferences … ]
.
..
…
[ unable to find a perfect match. ]
Eric, who had been waiting for hours and hours and hours together, finally made a decision.
“ Send me back to my world ! I don’t need any special abilities, so just send me back to my world. Any time will do, even the time when I failed the college entrance exam ! “ he told the system. It was a black period in his life. He had to repeat the college entrance examination four times to get into his dream university, each year the baseline climbed up.
[ Condition accepted. ]
[ Transfer initiated. ]
[ 1 % … ]
[ 43 % … ]
[ 100 % … ]
[ Transferred successfully. ]
After reading those words on the black screen, the cursor blinked twice, Then, his vision went black.
Eric woke up with a start beside the railway tracks. This area was near a bridge, right at the location where the railway line bends. The base is very slanted reinforced concrete. As soon as he tried to get up, he rolled down again, landing on the patch of grass beside the railway track.
Blood dripped from his hand, sinking into the ground.
[ BEEP ]
[ Player Initiated ]
[ Main task activated. ]
[ DO NOT DIE ]
[ Main Scenario activated. ]
[ In all of the land, there are no secrets from Terra.]
[ Find the land server seed, Terra. ]
[ Quest acceptance reward : Digitize (S) skill. ]
[ As long as you die on land, you will resurrect. ]
[ Quest completion reward : ownership of Terra. ]
[ Accept Quest : ]
[ Yes ] [ No ]
Eric accepted. The quest has no time limit. Doesn’t that mean he is getting the skill to resurrect for free ?
This is better than nothing.
Where was he ?
After some walking, he found shops. He recognized this location. However, five years ago, this place had been re-developed. All these mom and pop stores have gone away !
Looking at the newspaper dates, Eric realized with a shock, he seems to be in the past !
That white room really sent him back in time ?
.
..
…
At this time, his family was still intact. His mother did not die from stomach cancer. His father did not wallow in drinks from the real estate scam. Their family is not rich, but they still lived their days happily, working hard for a better future every day !
Eric opened the door to their condo panting like an ox.
It was like golden light shining from the heavens above. There his mother was, cooking like she did every day, humming a song.
“ Mom ! “
Eric rushed to hug her, crying like a child.
His greatest regret in his life was not seeing his mother through her last moments. He vowed he will drag his mother to hospital kicking or screaming, and make sure she gets her usual physical done no matter what.
“ I love you mom ! “ he started being cringey right away.
“ Yes, yes, I know. What did you do ? Did you break something ? “ His mother glared at him.
Eric laughed among the tears hearing the ever so typical response from his mother.
“ What did you break ? front window glass ? the herb planter ? “ His mother questioned suspiciously.
“ Mother dearest ! How could you have such little faith in your own son ? How could he, who has never done anything wrong in his life, break something ! It is but providence that something is broken. “ He quibbed, his tears subsiding slowly.
“ hmm.. You seem to have returned to normal. Your rank is not low. As long as you stay near home, mom is happy. “ his mother told him.
Eric wiped his tears, nodded with a new found determination.
After the emotional reunion, he opened his phone as usual. First, he checked his college selection site, chose the nearest college he could attend from his own home. He chose the unpopular civil engineering. It’s not the discipline that is unpopular, but it is this particular university that is ranked too low when it comes to engineering.
However, this time around, he is determined to stay with his family. After his first choice, he applied to two more colleges, one for business, another a computers both for diploma rather than a degree. One of them should accept him.
“ Mom ! If you want to go to my grandmother's home, I will accompany you. “ Eric promised his mother.
Eric’s father worked as a technician. Both his mother and father were only children. His father was born in a city, while his mother was from a village. Now that both his grandparents have reached their dotage, it was not easy for his father to supplement two aging families and pay for the education of two young children.
Eric paid for his own tuition while he repeated his college entrance examination. It was not an easy task. He remembered his grandmother’s house had an accident this summer. Thinking back, his mother’s sickness started at this time. Before, Eric hated going to his grandmother’s place, owing to the shabbiness of their home. Not that their own house is less shabby, but it’s still a house in the city with all the necessary internal fixtures.
Most important among them, the lightning fast wi-fi !
He had more objections to not having wi-fi than not having a proper toilet when he went to his grandfather’s home. The fishy smell on top of that, he hated that.
“ Oh, my son’s all grown up. Accompanying his mother home for holidays ! “ his mother said in a surprised and loving tone.
Eric smiled in response. They decided to talk to his father after he returned home at night. Eric’s mother returned to cooking, while Eric returned to his phone.
However, the phone could not hold his interest for long.
‘ digitize ‘ he flung his skill at the window.
[ Can not digitize attached fixtures part of an non-digitized base structure. ]
‘ Hey ! Does that mean he has to digitize the entire apartment building ? ‘
Fine..
For now, something smaller.
‘ digitize ‘ he threw at the books in his shelves.
On each of those books, a progress bar appeared. As soon as the progress bar is completed, the book name appears as an annotation.
Eric was stoked. He touched the book to see if he could place it in an inventory or something.
[ Player does not have an item box to store the item. ]
Eric did not play games as much as his peers, that is not to say he has never touched a game. He still has the basic idea. So, he immediately digitized a backpack. The moment he put the backpack on, it displayed on his panel.
He pointed his finger at the book, and tried to store it. The book vanished from his view. He felt the weight in his backpack.
‘ Oh my god ! I can live with this. ‘ he thought as he saw the effect.
After that, he went around the house, digitizing everything he could lay his hands on. He realized the rules of the game pretty fast. He can not digitize things that do not belong to him. However, this is loosely applicable. His text books and clothes, despite being bought by his father, are acknowledged as his own. The computer, TV, the locked cabinet where they keep the cash.. They are not acknowledged as his own. The planters, again, were digitized despite not being his own.
Loosely put, Items that people acknowledge as his undisputedly are digitized. Items considered worthless are digitized. Buildings can not be digitized without land being digitized. Land can not be digitized without the owner's permission. He was so desperate to check if he could digitize the land, he wanted to pack up and leave for his grandfather’s place tonight.
Just as he was getting bored, his father called.
“ Eric, Mimi’s school called. They need a guardian to escort the student to the planetarium. There’s a ticket in the cupboard under the TV. you accompany her. Use the subway, not taxi. “ His father warned him.
Eric would have grumbled if he was a teenager. Now, he is only too happy. He did not realize how cute his little sister was until she had actually grown up into an awkward emo teen.
He joined her on her foray into the stars. He is all too happy to lift her onto his shoulders to let her touch the star sample.
“ Look, this is a rock that has been in space just ten years ago ! Don’t you want to touch it ? Come now ! “ he lured her.
Mimi, who couldn’t be cuter in her little kindergarten uniform, and twin buns shook her head.
“ Dany said I would teleport to the moon. Then the grandmother on the moon will eat me ! “ Mimi shook her head.
Eric leaned down conspiratorially.
“ Mimi ! Do you want to know a secret ? “ he asked looking around.
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Related Chapters
Player Initiated 2 - Item Box
“ Brother is an alien. That grandmother on the moon ?! Brother evicted her long ago. “ he told her. “ Really ?! “ Mimi asked in shock. “ Really ! “ Eric nodded his head with his most innocent expression. Mimi still looked unwilling. “ If you are too scared, how about your brother touching the stone along with you ? Then, brother would be teleported with you. If there’s another baby-eating grandmother on the moon, brother will throw her out. “ Eric convinced her. Mimi nodded reluctantly. She wanted to touch that stone. She was really scared she would be teleported to the moon. Eric lifted her easily onto his shoulders, then, her hand was put on his own, they both slowly touched the stone. Eric was so shocked with the result, he almost threw his sister down. [ In the entire universe, there’s nothing unknown to Cosmo ] [ Find the space server seed, Cosmo] [ Discover the space server seed, Cosmo ] [ Quest acceptance reward : Infinite item box ] [ You can carry the world with yo
Player Initiated 3 - Sea shack
There are plenty of solar panels among the scraps. On top of them, he is going to buy new ones along with an inverter to power his grandfather’s house. From what he remembered, it is a very remote island. So much so, even these days, they had to live like primitive people. His grandmother and grandfather have electricity allowance. Getting an electricity station to their island is too expensive, so they were given an electricity subsidy by the government. Ofcourse, it is barely enough to buy and maintain a solar panel to keep a light bulb on. With what Eric had on his hand, he could probably light up their island like a christmas tree. Behind his grandmother’s back, his grandfather sent him his wishlist, along with cash. Eric noticed the machines his grandfather asked for all had something to do with his complaints last time he went. A mud crawler, so that they could drive on the mud flats easily. Iron mesh to keep out mosquitoes, and few odds and ends which are needed to repair th
Player Initiated 4 - Tent
There is a good reason that the filming crew chose the land besides his grandfather’s house to build their tents. The next plot was a fallen house, full of debris. After arranging rain catchers, Eric returned home, changed his clothes. When he came out, the filming crew could see his preparation. “ Grandson ! Are you going to an apocalyptic shoot out ? “ they asked humorously. “ It could very well be an apocalyptic shoot out. “ Eric answered, his voice muffled through the mask. He wore sturdy ranger boots, with leather overalls on a turtleneck. His nose is covered with a mask, his eyes are covered with sunglasses, his head is covered with a wide brim hat. The filming crew followed him. Eric first cut a giant fire break through the overgrown grass beside the fallen house. Just in time when he finished that, he retrieved water from the catchers. He poured it on the outer grass, leaving the inside dry. Then, he lit the inside on fire, stood at the entrance with the shovel and crowb
Player Initiated 5 - The new player
He found just the place where the volcano and the atoll meet each other. A small mesa formed here, creating a perfectly flat land. A bamboo grove on the right, a rocky beach under the volcano on the left. From the windows, you can see the endless sea, its white waves rolling. Both the sound of the sea, and the smell of the sea are quite muted here. The wind is blocked by the cliff face of the volcano.The only problem here was the long walk down the ridge. This path is very twisted. Thankfully, it’s still flat and walkable. With some effort, he could build a road. It would be enough for grandparents to drive down every day with an electric tricycle. The little nook is a divine location. The rock beach stood right underneath the umbrella like indent on the volcano. The precipitation collected in this indent. It comes down in short bursts of rain on the gravel beach. This drifted into the jungle forming a small stream. The bamboo grove is fertile, allowing for a small vegetable patch
Player Initiated 6 - Too Strong
A gigantic black mass emerged from the bush. There was a flash of purple, white and black, then pain exploded in his chest. He woke up on the ground, with his cellphone beside him. On the cellphone screen, the boar is stepping on his body. His bow and arrows laid a way off from the ground. Eric collected them into the pouch in the game. [ Malor ] [ A very powerful bow from an other worlder. ] [ This item has been gamified. ][ You can retrieve the item by taking revenge on the foe ] ‘ Damn it ! ‘ He thought too lightly of the hunt. Ancients are not wrong. Preparation is the key to winning. There is just something about that drum-like breathing sound behind his back, that rustling of bushes full of ‘popping’ sounds of branches breaking, that subtle tremor of the ground as the boar approaches that fills his heart and head with fear. Despite knowing it’s a game, he almost lost his wits ! ‘ I underestimated this task … ‘ Eric thought. However, if there is one merit to his charac
Player Initiated 7 - Hunt
The first arrow missed. The second arrow pierced through the haunch. The third arrow shot straight through hind legs, at the perfect location on the hogs belly. The gigantic boar took a step, fell on spot. Eric did not wait for the herd to gather its wits. Immediately, he started shooting at the fastest speed. The second in command fell. The third .. fourth … [ Experience +30 ] [ Experience + 30 ] Soon, all the hogs fell. Eric did not let go of the piglets either. He killed them with a single arrow. [ Experience + 10 ] [ Level up ] [ Level up ] Eric opened the panel. He is now level three, needing just forty more points to go to level four. For level zero to one, it took five points. The rabbits provided that. Level one took twenty five, level two took one hundred and twenty five. Miscellaneous creatures that died in the fire he set up for the tent gave him twenty points of experience. Now, the wild boars alone gave him seven hundred and ten. He obtained two stats, both of
Player Initiated 8 - hairsbreadth
Eric’s mind is blank, but the muscle action is still active. Thus, despite being scared out of his wits, he kept scrambling up the rope. He spread his legs in the air, trying to avoid the dragon even as he scrambled up. The dragon horn passed right under his crotch, by a hair’s breadth distance. The rope slid sideways on the dragon. The horn headed straight for the cliff wall. Eric hoped the dragon would get stunned by it’s ramming the stone wall of the cliff, but the wall in front of the dragon was blasted into pieces like a mud wall. It seems there’s a cave in the cliff face. The dragon went sliding inside the cave, slowing down its momentum, leaving it without injuries. Eric, who watched the entire scene while hanging from a rope for his dear life, cursed the dragon. His reaction speed is still fast despite the curses. he twisted his foot on the rope, creating himself a rope foothold. He aimed the bow and became ready to shoot a piercing arrow. It seems the dragon was not id
Player Initiated 9 - Mermaid
As he watched, the water on the tail dried, slowly transforming into legs. Eric’s gaze automatically traveled up the legs. However, before he could reach that mysterious place, he himself covered his eyes. Then, slowly opened a small gap between them. He was too curious to be a gentleman at a time like this. Just a hint of it is visible through the gap between fingers. ‘ Blue ? ‘ he thought, thinking that is weird, only to realize a fish scale slit skirt covered the little girl from her knees up. Its cut is a little risque, but it still covers all the parts that need covering. It’s a good thing he has become an expert poker face at thirty, otherwise, his disappointment would have shown. “ Do not move. “ a raspy bass voice sounded. The voice belonged to a middle aged man, not a little girl. ‘ What the F**K ?! ‘ He was so shocked, he uncovered his hands. The little girl in front of him pointed a steampunk mobydick style rifle straight at his head. “ Who are you ? “ she asked hi
Latest Chapter
34 - Filming Closes
His return was as silent as his departure.However, that all changed when he brought out the treasure chests. “ How ? “ his grandmother breathed in, with wonder and disbelief on her face. “ The cove forming the bay is also raised in elevation, grandma. Water receded from their resting place. But … Do you know these chests ? “ he asked curiously. When he retrieved them, he thought they belonged to the game system that made him a player. “ We brought these chests with us when we escaped in the seventies. “ his grandmother told him. It seems his grandparents were residents of S-city, and they arrived here during the time of great dislocation… probably to avoid persecution. What’s even more surprising was that his grandfather retrieved a set of bronze keys from his pocket. He put it through the first chest, opened it cautiously. The entire chest was filled with pure gold bars. Eric’s eyes were dazzled. Even in the present day, gold has not depreciated much. His grandfather nonchala
33 - Dinner
Eric made the round trip to the dragon temple within an hour. [ Terra ] [ 98.4 % ] [ Aqua ] [ 23.7 % ] [ Skye ] [ 6.1 % ] [ Cosmos ] [ 2.9 % ] The status of server completion displayed on his onyx ring. When he held it up to the light, it looked like it’s full of runic symbols. “ What constitutes the server completion ? “ Eric mused. [ A server must have an inkling of F to A, and S level realms. ] “ An Inkling ? “ Eric pondered about the strange choice of words. [ As long as a player passed within 10 meter distance from the realm, the realm is registered in the server. ] [ As long as the realm coincides the digitized land for a millimeter, the realm is registered in the server. ] Eric climbed down after verifying the information. The realm must be something similar to the flood dungeon he entered. ‘ Never mind ! Return for now. I am living a slow life this time around ! ‘ he encouraged himself. When he returned, his mother finished cooking dinner, and
32 - Abyssal shard
That creature can not be killed by bullets or arrows. This much, Eric realized instinctively. The only way to kill should be the aura gun. However, an aura gun can not kill a creature of higher level than itself. Eric searched through his console with trembling fingers and increased urgency to find something, anything that could kill the creature rising in front of him. He had a bad feeling about this one. His bad feelings are rarely wrong ! [ Merge ] Finally he found a skill among the level skills he received. It was the reward for crossing level 90. He pointed at the aura gun box, and tried to merge. [ place three items of similar type to merge them to receive a higher or same level item ] ‘ The f*** ! ‘ ‘ It is a damned gachapon style merge ! ‘ But he was grasping at the straws. The creature would complete its arrival any minute now. The three petaled octopus could only be hurt when you shoot right in the center of their mouth when they are open. Everywhere else on their
31 - Flood dungeon
Digger is far too slow. Eric racked his brain for options… Can he make a whirlpool with water manipulation ? Wait ! For that he needs talent from Ursula. If talent sharing is working, then isn’t it better to share the mud manipulation talent from his grandmother ? He immediately opened the console. To check if the talent share is available. [ Talent share outsourcing ( level 0 ) ][ You can chose up to 1 talent, which will work at (N) percent reduction in strength. ] [ Water manipulation ( 90% ) from Ursula ] [ Mud manipulation ( 90% ) from Dolly ] [ Water manipulation ( 90% ) from Mimi ] [ Blade work ( 10% ) from Song Tu ] [ Chef’s domain ( 95% ) from Song Anxia ] [ Plant growth ( 50% ) from Stevia Mangrove ] Eric expected water manipulation to be heavily debuffed. He was surprised that his grandfathers’ talent has such little penalty, and his mother’s domain has such a high penalty ! Do I have seedlings ? Eric mused. Just as he was about to open the inventory, he paused
30 - lots of crowd
He came up in a village. There are hundreds of people around him, in a small village congregation type area.“ Heroes ! Please help. The mountain floods are about to arrive any moment now. We need to raise the embankment height ! “ The village chief is shouting.[ Mission ][ Save the village from flooding ][ Failure penalty : passive debuff title unreliable ][ Success Reward : Quest Altar blueprint ]( accept ) ( deny )Eric looked at the person beside him. It was a girl in hot pants, with a tight black T-shirt. Has knee high boots with p
29 - Grand discovery
As Eric watched the eternal lightning that connected their island to the sky, he finally gave up on convincing his grandfather. Sometimes, you just have to wait for people to realize facts on their own. Worse yet, at his grandfather’s age, with valid reasons, he is more stubborn. Since they made their decision, Eric could only equip them with as many skills needed for survival as possible. The lightning made their continuing stay here uncomfortable, but they can’t go down just now. First, he needs to initiate them as players. Now that he has server chat activated, it is best if they are initiated as players. Their current talents being enhanced is more than enough to guarantee their survival and safety for the time being. It is just as well there is a tunnel from here to the dragon temple they could use. Eric took his mother down the tunnel first. Followed by mimi, and his grandparents. He first touched the dragon statue to make sure the electricity was not flowing through the stat
28 - Person of interest
The night has fallen like a wet blanket of darkness. In the deep darkness, a man is skating at top speed on sunglasses. He avoided all the obstacles easily, and made it to the only place in a fence with a hole in it. He effortlessly slipped through the fence, then entered an apartment through the backdoor. It’s Peter Ho’s apartment building. ◆◇◆A dark balloon reflecting the night sky flitted through the sky, gently sliding through the air. It arrived at the rooftop of a skyscraper, then came to a slow stop. A little girl in hot pants and a fitted black shirt jumped down from the balloon. There are holsters on her thighs, daggers on knee high boots, twin blades on her back and extendable claws on her elbows. She moved with the grace of a cat, jumping down from the building top, going floor by floor, she jumped into the third apartment from the top, and rolled into a stop, holding her gun at the ready. She looked all around, making sure no targets showed up in her map, then walked
27 - Silver lining
“ What ? “ Eric thought he’s hearing auditory hallucinations. All soil on the island has been washed away ! The pier has been crushed into fertilizer , the fishing boat they have had for a mere month is twisted into a churro … they barely have a bag of rice left ! In such a scenario, the old man still wanted to live on the island ? Eric was dumbfounded. “ Grandfather, I think you do not understand ! There is no soil on the island, not even sand ! Before, we drove an ATV to ride up to the house on the plateau. Now, the same drive is impossible. The bay is still open, but … the pier is broken. The ramp we use to tow the boats through has become a cliff ! Just how do you plan to live on this island ? “ Eric was pissed. “ The bamboo grove is fine. I see it from here. “ His grandfather retorted. “ Do you want to be a panda, eating only bamboo ? In that case, sorry ! No chance ! The bamboo roots are rotting. Don’t forget, the grove has been soaked in salt water. It may look alive now,
26 - no land for an old man
It was still raining heavily. Eric set up a tent one more time. A bigger and sturdier one - whose only disadvantage is being ugly. It’s not even cute ugly like a pug, it’s plain ugly like a plastic boat. Yet, it’s rain resistance is top notch, it came with a dry flooring of about a palm tall. Eric set up a water collector on one side, collecting the rainwater. At this height, they can drink it directly. His mother started cooking right away. Eric fiddled in the corner with setting up a diesel generator. His grandfather has gotten through to the old man on the island town, and informed them that they won’t need a rescue. All the same, the government is sending a medical team to check up on them. They still wore the oxygen nebulizers, but removed their life jackets. Mimi has long since came out of her child bag, and she is fast asleep in her own little bed. They all changed their clothes, had a bath, then, drank warming medicine brewed by his grandmother. The generator was up and r
