As soon as the battle ended, search and rescue teams rushed into the battlefield, scanning for injured or trapped individuals. Within five minutes of their entry, they had already found thirteen people—including Lenard.
"Hang in there, bud. You'll be fine. We'll get this thing off you in no time," a dark-skinned, bald, middle-aged man with brown eyes said gently, trying to comfort Lenard as he and his coworkers began cutting through a portion of the fallen building. While the group worked, the man continued, "What's your name?"
Slightly dazed, Lenard replied, "Lenard… my name is Lenard."
"Lenard, that's a wonderful name. How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three."
Slowly, the adrenaline began to fade.
Badump.
Lenard's face suddenly turned several shades paler as an unimaginable wave of pain surged through his body.
Taking a deep, deep breath, Lenard spoke in a slow, quiet voice—as if speaking any louder would send him into a screaming fit.
"Do you have a smoke on you?"
"Uh…" The man hesitated, then glanced at a paramedic nearby.
The paramedic gave a silent nod of consent.
Pulling out a cigarette pack and lighter from his breast pocket, the bald man lit one and handed it to Lenard.
As Lenard reached for the cigarette, his fingers trembling, he asked, "What about you? What's your name?"
"Ah, how rude of me. My name is Mark Smith. By the way, on a scale from one to ten, how would you rate your pain?"
Exhaling a puff of smoke, Lenard's mind wandered to the yelling, to something about pickles… or was it Piccolo? An amused smirk crept across his face, though it twisted into a grotesque grimace from the sheer agony.
"Over nine thousand," he croaked.
"Haha… hahahahahahaha!"
Perhaps thinking he'd said something funny, Lenard burst into a fit of wild laughter. Mark, the paramedic, and the rest of the team glanced at each other in confusion, then simultaneously gave Lenard a look of pity.
Sensing their stares, Lenard quickly tried to explain.
"No, like… the scanner… you know? It's over nine thousand! Hahaha!"
"…"
A brief, awkward silence followed, broken only by the steady sounds of rocks being shifted and rubble moved.
Hours later, inside a medical room, Lenard lay absentmindedly on a hospital bed while Dr. Ram, a grey-haired but middle-aged physician, spoke to him about his condition.
"…Seriously, it's truly remarkable how quickly you're recovering. Injuries like yours should have left you permanently disa—"
Lenard barely paid attention. Most of his focus was on the glowing inventory screen hovering in front of him, surrounded by dozens of notifications.
Ding!
Achievement Unlocked: Sleep During the Day
Reward: Fatigue Immunity
Ding!
Achievement Unlocked: Meet a Villager
Reward: Golden Apple Seeds
Ding!
Achievement Unlocked: Survive Zombie Encounter
Reward: T-Virus
Ding!
Achievement Unlocked: Taste the Sun
Reward: Bucket of Lava
Ding…
Ding…
Ding…
Lenard stared at the endless pop-ups, resembling spam ads from shady websites. He felt a strange mix of happiness and confusion.
"Survive from a zombie…?" he muttered.
Closing his eyes to gather his thoughts, he tried to piece everything together.
I was just playing Minecraft… I tried to create a new world, and then somehow I ended up in the middle of a city. A city that was immediately destroyed by—if I'm not mistaken—Piccolo, a character from Dragon Ball. And he seems to be fighting Goku… meaning this must be the Dragon Ball universe. Then there's the panel…
Lenard felt strength coursing through his body, especially his legs. He felt many times stronger than he ever had before.
The change started after the first achievement popped up. The panel claimed I'd been in a half-dead state for half a day, but it's barely been ten minutes. Maybe time here runs on Minecraft logic—twenty minutes equaling a full day.
And the power in my body—it must be like Superman's. The ability to absorb sunlight and gain strength. Photosynthesis. Let's hope this ability is permanent.
Then there are the panels. With certain actions, I seem to gain rewards. If these rewards can even occasionally grant powers like sunlight absorption, the possibilities of what my future holds are… heh.
That said, there's a flaw in the panel's logic. I don't remember zombies being part of the Dragon Ball universe. The closest thing would be the dead in the "Other World."
Could the panel be referring to Piccolo? Just because he's green? That's… quite a leap. But maybe there's a way to exploit this logic.
Lastly, it's in my best interest to act like I don't know the plot. The moment I entered this world, the timeline changed. The butterfly effect, as Edward Lorenz theorized…
Lenard let out an internal sigh.
"I just wanted to play some Minecraft on my one day off…"