Mikeal slowly started to regain consciousness. His eyes felt heavy, and his whole body ached—sore everywhere. His memory was in shambles; for some reason, he couldn't quite remember what had actually happened. Little did he know where he even was.
He grunted, shifted—and fell off his bed, hitting the hard tiled floor.
"Ouch!"
Mikeal pulled himself up, confused. He wasn't even sure how the hell he ended up back in his small two-room apartment. His memory was a blur. Like most dreams—or nightmares—only bits and pieces came to him, but they all felt like fragments of something he couldn't quite grasp.
"What the hell happened to me? And why does my shoulder hurt so much?" Mikeal asked, trying to stretch it.
He wandered around his apartment, which was seriously messy for a sixteen-year-old. Clothes were strewn across the floor—trousers, shirts, boxers, mismatched socks, and misplaced shoes. His bed was unmade, and on it sat a large pizza box.
His stomach growled.
"Man, I'm hungry. It's like I haven't eaten in forever."
Then he saw the pizza on the bed. "Yummy, pizza—my favorite."
Without wasting a second, he lunged for it like it was the last slice on Earth. He tripped at first, scrambling up again before diving onto the bed.
The box was still sealed. He ripped it open with impatience and started to devour the untouched slices—four to six in total—all in one go.
He finished, but something felt off. He wasn't satisfied. In fact, the hunger was even worse now.
His stomach rumbled again, louder than before.
"Now that's new. By now, I should be stuffed... I guess running from Flash and his goons worked up one hell of an appetite."
He opened the fridge. It was stocked with food—not the healthy kind, but the junk a teenager might hoard when living alone.
Mikeal took a bite of everything inside... and paused. Everything tasted bitter, flavorless. Something was wrong. But he ignored it—he was starving.
Feeling like he couldn't stand the tastelessness anymore, he closed the fridge and looked at a torn, broken photo taped to the wall. Half of it was missing. The rest was crudely drawn in.
"Morning, Mom and Dad. I hope you guys are okay... wherever you are. And don't worry—I'm being taken care of."
He kissed the picture on the wall.
It was the last piece of a photo of his parents. The same day a Cannibal broke in and devoured them—right in front of him. They had all gone grocery shopping at the same mall where he was bitten... and he was just nine years old then.
When they returned, the house had been torn apart. And when the creature attacked, his mother pushed him in a moment of pure instinct. He smashed against a window, leaving the scar he still had on his eye. She locked him out to save him... and he watched, helpless, as they were eaten alive.
Every time he thought about that day, he reached up and touched the scar.
Feeling thirsty, Mikeal grabbed a can of soda on the counter and chugged it. He drank so fast and hard that he crushed the can in his hand.
Right after drinking it, something felt wrong. That uncomfortable sensation—like something was coming right back up.
Mikeal gagged and rushed to the toilet, throwing up everything he had eaten. It was disgusting.
His skin turned pale. He was weakening. His legs trembled, and he couldn't even stand properly.
"What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I suddenly so weak?"
Struggling to stay upright, Mikeal grabbed onto anything he could and staggered toward the bathroom sink. He drank water straight from the tap, hands shaking, gasping between gulps. It felt like he'd never stop.
He drank close to four liters—and finally started to feel a little better.
He splashed cold water on his face and looked in the mirror. His reflection stared back—pale, confused, and lost.
Then something strange happened.
A floating screen appeared in front of his eyes. A status window.
Mikeal yelped and fell backwards.
"Damn… I think I broke my ass bone—if I have one at that."
Lying on the floor, he looked up at the screen, still hovering in front of him.
---
[User: Mikeal Park]
[Species: Human]
[Level: 1]
[EXP: 0/100]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 25]
[Stamina: 30]
---
Mikeal blinked. Maybe he had hit his head. That had to be it. What he was seeing couldn't be real.
"I must've banged my head too many times… now I've lost it," he said, trying to laugh it off.
Then the screen shifted.
---
[Primary Skills Availability]
[Fighting: 5]
[Running: 10]
[Weapon Mastery: 0]
[Secondary Skills: Locked]
[Ultimate Skills: Locked]
---
He stared. That didn't help. If anything, it confused him even more. Then the screen changed again—to Abilities.
---
[All Abilities: Locked]
---
That's when it clicked.
Maybe… just maybe, he was inside a game. Mikeal was a gamer, after all—and he'd seen stuff like this in RPGs.
"Oh please no… please don't tell me I'm in a game simulation."
The screen changed again, this time to Quests.
---
[Main Quest]
- Reach Level: 5
[Daily Quest]
- Eat raw meat before the day's end
Reward: +5 EXP
---
Mikeal thought, Close. And the screen disappeared.
All of this felt surreal. He assumed maybe he had died and been reincarnated into some kind of game world.
He'd played enough of them to know what to expect.
But one thing he didn't realize… was that this wasn't a game.
This was reality.
"So I'm in a game, huh? Heck, I'm disappointed I didn't get the chance to find out if I got accepted into the academy."
A bit of hope returned to his face, and he smiled. If this was a game world, then maybe he had powers to unlock.
He spent the whole day testing everything he could.
"Maybe if I imagine myself holding a flame sword, it'll appear."
He closed his eyes, focused, and… nothing.
"Okay… maybe I have telekinesis or something. Let's try that."
He placed an empty soda can on the counter.
"Soda can… move! Float! Elevate! Fly!"
Still nothing.
He had wasted the entire morning. Now it was nearing afternoon—and hunger struck again.
"I guess it's time to eat."
He opened the fridge. What caught his eye was a wrapped sandwich. He was about to eat it—then remembered the quest.
Raw meat.
He opened the freezer and took out a raw, blood-red T-bone steak. It looked disgusting.
"Here goes nothing..."
He took a bite, eyes shut tight. He braced for the awful taste… but it didn't come.
Instead—it was delicious.
He devoured everything in the freezer.
---
[Daily Quest Complete: +5 EXP]
---
"Well, that went better than I expected." He licked his fingers clean.
Suddenly, someone banged loudly on the door. Mikeal opened it—and to his surprise, standing there was a girl he knew: Alexia Sky.
"Hello there, Scarface," Alexia said with a grin.
Behind her stood a muscular woman in military uniform—Lt. Ashley Grey.
"Hurry up, soldier! Pack your things, the bus is waiting! You have exactly five minutes! Little lady—stay and help him pack!" Lt. Grey saluted and marched off.
Mikeal stared at Alexia.
"Yep!" she said cheerfully. "We're going to the academy."