Ryan watched in astonishment as his and Sasha's forms rapidly reassembled from scattered fragments of glowing digits, perfectly restored in an instant.
"Awwooo~" Sasha let out a howl before dashing away.
It was only then that Ryan realized—he was no longer in his room. Instead, he was sitting on an open stretch of land.
The heavy cloak of night blanketed the surroundings.
His eyes followed Sasha as the husky ran ahead, and in the distance, he could make out the faint outlines of streets and buildings.
"So... what the hell was going on?
Was this some kind of next-level VR simulation?
Or... had he actually been transported to another world?"
He looked down at himself and noticed he was wearing a tattered rough-spun linen tunic.
A simple leather belt cinched it at the waist, and on his feet were a pair of scuffed leather boots.
He rolled up his long sleeve and glanced at his forearm.
The countdown was still there, but now a few words had appeared before it:
Survive to Return 00:58:44
—Survive?
Ryan swallowed hard, forcing himself to stay calm. If he could last an hour, he could go back.But what now? Where should he go?
"What…?"
A strange sensation stirred in his lower body. For a moment, he was dazed—it had been so long since he had felt anything there.
Bracing his hands against the ground, testing the strength in his legs,to his utter disbelief,he rose steadily to his feet.
"I can stand!"
A wave of disbelief and joy washed over him, as if every nerve in his body was cheering. He took a deep breath, calming the storm of emotions within him, and slowly took one step, then two, then three…
Tentatively, he bounced on his feet twice. The overwhelming urge to yell in excitement nearly consumed him, but he forced himself to stay calm. Now was not the time to lose control.
After steadying himself, Ryan began to survey his surroundings, taking in the environment with a careful eye.
He looked up. A massive red moon hung high in the sky, glowing like a blood-red gem embedded in the darkness. Its cold light spilled across the barren land, casting everything in an ominous hue.
His gaze followed Sasha's path into the distance, where he could just barely make out the silhouette of a town. Behind him, however, stood something far more imposing—a towering city wall.
The wall towered at least six stories high, stretching endlessly into the darkness on either side—like a silent beast lurking in the night.
Torches flickered along the wall, spaced roughly ten meters apart. Each one stood before a guard, their armor catching the firelight, casting long shadows against the stone. The air was thick with tension—a silent warning to any who dared approach.
"Such heavy defenses…Did Sasha's barking just now alert them?"A flicker of unease crossed Ryan's mind.
In this unknown environment, running into the guards could mean trouble. Ryan moved cautiously, making as little noise as possible. His priority was to find Sasha—a loose dog here could easily be caught… or worse.
He had barely taken a few steps when a figure emerged from the shadows ahead, walking toward him.
Ryan halted, instantly on guard.
As the man approached, Ryan got a clearer look—a tall, broad-shouldered young man, around six feet tall, clad in a sleeveless rough linen shirt. His muscular arms were exposed, his physique solid and powerful. With his fair skin, golden hair, and piercing blue eyes, he was unmistakably Western.
The man sized Ryan up before breaking into a grin.
"Hey,buddy, you look new around here."
The man spoke in English—so there wouldn't be any language barriers in this strange world.
But Ryan had no idea how to respond.
The man continued, "First time on the job?"
Uh… buddy! Can you at least tell me what job you're talking about?
Ryan cursed inwardly. How was he supposed to answer that? Forced to think on his feet, he settled for a polite smile.
"Relax." The man clapped him on the shoulder with enough force to rattle his bones. "Name's Hank Stone,and I've got your back from now on!"
Ryan winced but kept his smile. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ryan."
"If I stay on this guy's good side, I might be able to learn more about this strange world," Ryan thought.
CLANG!
A deep, resonant bell rang out from the distant city wall, shattering the stillness of the night.
What was happening? Did guards spot me?
Ryan's face paled, his heart tightening as he glanced around, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
To his surprise, Hank's face lit up with excitement.
"Work's up! Let's go!"
With a single stride, he took off along the city wall, sprinting toward the source of the bell.
Ryan hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and giving chase. He ran as fast as he could, but no matter how fast he ran, Hank only pulled farther ahead.
Just as Ryan was starting to feel frustrated, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the wall above. He looked up to see four guards racing along the battlements, quickly overtaking him.
Jesus! Does everyone here run like Olympic sprinters?
Ryan cursed inwardly, forcing himself to keep up. His legs burned like jelly, and his breath came in ragged gasps. Just when he thought he couldn't take another step, he finally caught up to Hank, who had stopped near a section of the wall.
Gasping for air, Ryan staggered to Hank's side and looked up. Five soldiers stood atop the wall—four patrolmen who had just raced past, plus a stationed guard by the torches.
Before Ryan could make sense of the situation, another figure came sprinting along the base of the wall from the opposite direction.
"Heh, Jeb, you're late. Looks like there's nothing left for you," Hank said with a teasing grin, eyeing the skinny old man who had just arrived.
The old man gave Hank an annoyed look but didn't say a word, simply stepping aside.
"Any scavengers down there?" one of the guards atop the wall suddenly called out.
"Yeah!" Hank hollered back without hesitation.
Wait… scavengers?
Ryan was completely baffled. This was the "job" Hank had mentioned—scavenging?
They'd been urgently summoned by a bell in the middle of the night… just to go scavenging outside the walls?
This was beyond ridiculous!