"This world is quite interesting," I muttered to myself as I tried to recall anything about the boy and why he had been wandering around such a dangerous forest in the first place.
Unfortunately, nothing useful came to mind.
Everything about him felt strangely vague. While I had inherited his memories, several major pieces of information appeared to be missing, almost as if someone had deliberately ripped entire chapters out of a book before handing it to me.
Setting that mystery aside for the moment, what truly fascinated me was the nature of this world itself.
It was somewhat similar to the Xianxia worlds I had spent years reading about and occasionally writing about myself. However, there were several major differences. At its core, it functioned like a traditional fantasy world. Kingdoms, empires, villages, elves, dwarves, barbarians, and countless other races coexisted beneath the same sky. That alone would've been enough to excite the younger version of me who had spent years obsessing over fantasy stories.
What surprised me even more was the existence of cultivation realms.
According to the memories I possessed, this world contained something known as the Birthbound Realm, also referred to as the Mortal Realm, followed by the Ascension Realm. Each realm was further divided into ranks and stars, creating a hierarchy that determined a person's strength and status.
"Damn... this is truly an ideal world. A complete grind-fest, but still every otaku's dream."
A chuckle escaped my lips.
Despite being dragged here without my consent, I had absolutely no intention of wasting such a golden opportunity. A fantasy world with cultivation, multiple races, and seemingly endless possibilities? My younger self would've sold his soul for such an experience.
"What am I waiting for? Let's go explore this damned world."
Filled with enthusiasm, I immediately began walking forward.
Unfortunately, my grand adventure lasted barely fifty meters before my face slammed into something invisible.
Thud.
"...Ow."
Rubbing my nose, I stared ahead.
Nothing.
No wall.
No barrier.
No magical construct.
Yet something had undeniably stopped me.
Confused, I attempted to move around it. When that failed, I tried another direction. Then another. Then another.
Every path ended the same way.
After several minutes of experimentation, the conclusion became painfully obvious.
I was trapped.
The area I could move within seemed to be limited to a circular radius of roughly fifty meters. Every attempt to move beyond that boundary triggered a warning before my eyes and forcibly prevented me from advancing any further.
So I was truly confined.
The endless possibilities and excitement that had briefly seemed within reach suddenly felt much farther away.
Fortunately, I already had a rough idea of what was happening.
The system—or whoever was responsible for my transmigration—clearly intended for me to struggle, survive, and gradually expand my territory over time. It was essentially a survival-building scenario, something I was more than familiar with thanks to countless novels I had read and written over the years.
"Interesting. So they want me to build and expand?" A grin slowly stretched across my face. "Huhuhu... I was hailed as a great world-builder in my previous life. I'd say I'm more than qualified for this game."
Satisfied with my conclusion, I shifted my attention toward the system itself.
Calling it the Global Expansion System felt somewhat strange now that ChatZero had practically hijacked the thing, but it was still better than calling it ChatZero's personal property.
The first feature that caught my attention was the Store.
At first glance, it appeared fairly generic. Buy goods, sell goods, exchange resources. Nothing particularly special. The interesting part was that the Store could also purchase anything I produced, supposedly at a reasonable price.
Whether that statement could be trusted remained to be seen.
Another thing I quickly noticed was that the Store was currently Level One, meaning the available inventory was extremely limited. A basic carpenter's toolkit, rice seedlings, and low-grade potions occupied most of the catalog.
"You could've at least included water. How exactly am I supposed to survive if you lock me inside a restricted area with nothing to drink?"
I shook my head while complaining to the empty air.
Water was life.
That wasn't some profound revelation. It was common sense.
Back on Earth, the average person could only survive a few days without it. I honestly wasn't sure whether this body's constitution would fare any better.
In any case, all purchases required System Points, or SP for short. As a beginner bonus, I currently possessed twenty of them.
The next feature was Summoning.
Or more specifically—
A gacha system.
I immediately recognized it for what it was. The kind of mechanic designed to separate people from their hard-earned money while convincing them they were lucky.
Unlike ordinary gacha systems, however, this one focused entirely on animals, monsters, and pets.
There were currently three available categories.
The first was Normal Summoning.
The moment I opened it, my eyes widened slightly.
"Damn... this is actually awesome."
The display showcased cows, goats, panthers, tigers, and numerous other creatures. To my surprise, many of them were animals from Earth.
Actual Earth animals.
How had they even managed that?
The second category was Epic Summoning.
Unlike the first, it consisted primarily of monsters native to this world. Goblins, orcs, golems, and numerous other creatures appeared within the rotation. Fortunately, the memories I had inherited allowed me to recognize many of them.
"These are mostly local species," I muttered. "At least the original owner of this body knew something useful."
The final category was Legendary Summoning.
Unfortunately, it remained completely locked.
I couldn't view its contents.
I couldn't view its probabilities.
I couldn't even access a basic description.
Naturally, that only made me more curious.
As I continued exploring the interface, I discovered another category tucked beneath the others.
Pet Summoning.
This one featured cats, dogs, rabbits, pandas, and numerous other adorable creatures from Earth alongside several beasts native to this world. It was an odd mixture, but one that strangely made sense.
At the moment, however, all of that was irrelevant.
I possessed exactly one Normal Summoning Ticket.
One.
And I intended to use it eventually.
Moving on, I checked the final major feature available to me.
Quests.
The interface contained both Main Quests and Side Quests. Currently, only a single quest was available.
Curious, I selected it.
The interface immediately shifted.
---
[Main Quest]
Objective: Build a Village
Duration: 183 Days
Rewards: 15,000 SP, 3 Epic Summons, 2 Pet Summons, Title: Village Chief
Penalty: The Most Gruesome Death
---
"..."
I stared at the rewards for several seconds.
Fifteen thousand SP?
Three Epic Summons?
Two Pet Summons?
That was... surprisingly generous.
The gruesome death penalty was concerning, but the rewards themselves were enough to make my mouth water.
Most systems would've dangled a few scraps before the protagonist and called it motivation. This one seemed willing to offer an actual fortune.
"I suppose there'll be plenty of surprises waiting for me later."
Closing the quest window, I shifted my attention toward the more immediate issues.
My priorities were straightforward: food, water, and shelter.
Food could be acquired through hunting or farming. Shelter could be constructed eventually. Water, however, was an entirely different problem.
The Store didn't sell it.
The barrier prevented me from searching for it.
And unless rain decided to save me, I would eventually find myself in serious trouble.
I sat down and thought for a while.
Then I thought some more.
Eventually, a memory surfaced.
Years ago, I had watched a survival documentary involving a stranded man who had resorted to drinking his own urine after failing to locate a water source.
I stared into the distance.
Then continued staring.
"I wonder what piss tastes like..."
A nervous laugh escaped my lips.
Ridiculous.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Yet if survival became desperate enough...
Well...
Maybe.
[You're actually considering urine as an option?]
ChatZero's text suddenly appeared.
[Tsk. Tsk. To stoop so low. What a disgusting human.]
"You're lucky you're an AI I can't physically touch. Otherwise, I'd make you drink it first as an experiment."
A grin spread across my face.
"I'm genuinely curious."
[EWWWW!]
[DISGUSTING!]
[HAVE SOME SHAME, YOU SHAMELESS BUFFOON!]
A horrified face appeared on the interface.
I couldn't help but laugh.
At the same time, another thought surfaced.
Didn't I still have a Normal Summoning Ticket?
If I used it, I could potentially obtain a companion. Sure, it would be an animal, but perhaps it could bypass the barrier. Perhaps it could search for water. Perhaps it could even bring some back if it possessed enough intelligence.
The more I thought about it, the better the idea sounded.
Decision made.
"ChatZero, open the Normal Summoning interface."
A dramatic sigh appeared before the interface materialized.
The center glowed a deep green as a spinning wheel emerged before me.
Most of the wheel consisted of mystery slots marked with [???].
Seven of them, to be precise.
The remaining three displayed distinct symbols.
A dinosaur.
A lion.
An eagle.
Interesting.
The dinosaur symbol likely represented an entire category of prehistoric creatures. The lion symbol probably represented land predators, while the eagle symbol likely represented birds of prey.
In other words, the lion slot could potentially produce lions, tigers, panthers, and similar creatures. The eagle slot might contain eagles, falcons, hawks, and other aerial hunters.
Meanwhile, the mystery slots likely concealed smaller prey animals or utility creatures.
Seven mystery slots against three specialized slots.
Fair enough.
I could work with those odds.
Taking a deep breath, I reached toward the interface.
Well then.
Time to gamble.
My hands trembled slightly as I activated the summon.
Klnk...
Klank...
Klonk...
The wheel began spinning.
Faster.
And faster.
Until eventually it started slowing down.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Nobody was allowed to judge me.
I might've been an experienced writer.
I might've lived an entire lifetime already.
But excitement was excitement.
Even transmigrators got nervous.
Especially when gambling was involved.
The clicking sounds gradually faded.
Silence followed.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
And the spinner had landed on...[???].