"Huh... I’m alive?" was the first question to escape his mouth as his eyes fluttered open in an unfamiliar room.
The last thing Ragnar remembered was tripping over a banana peel and cracking his head on his desk while trying to slot the CD of Kingdom-building Online—the world’s first fully immersive kingdom-building RPG—into his computer.
Kingdom-building Online had just debuted in the gaming world and taken it by storm—its intricate world background and truly immersive kingdom-building storyline had rocked the gaming community, quickly making it one of the most sought-after video games.
Ragnar was so enthusiastic about playing the game that he forgot to clean his room and ended up falling to his demise.
"I’m alive, but where am I? This room doesn’t look like any I’ve seen before..."
The room was fairly dark and quiet, as it was nighttime. The only illumination was the faint crescent light of the moon that escaped into the room from the wide-open window.
However, with this faint illumination, the details of the room lay bare and strange before Ragnar’s eyes.
It was tiny, and the walls were rough and appeared to be made out of mud—resembling structures that could only be found on the outskirts of a remote desert hamlet.
Ragnar lifted his head, and his eyes settled on the poor ceiling—made of nothing but straw. Crescent light filtered through its gaps, permeating the room with a pale glow.
The room was unfamiliar not only in appearance but also in smell—a strong smell filled the air, its origin unknown but possessing a rotten and stomach-churning stench.
Ragnar was confused. His mind troubled with questions about his whereabouts.
Several conclusions appeared in his head. Considering what transpired before he blacked out, he imagined that he had somehow entered a new world.
|| Soul transfer complete. Transmigration successful! ||
|| System activation complete! ||
|| Loading system component... 1%... 2% (remaining time: 3 minutes) ||
He was still in the process of understanding his situation when three intricate holographic panels appeared in his vision.
A confused frown took over his visage as he studied the glowing texts displayed on the floating windows.
And then the realization dawned on him—"I have transmigrated!?"
Ragnar was shaken by this realization but at the same time relieved.
As an avid reader of fantasy novels, transmigrating was nothing short of a second chance at the mysterious game of life.
But at the same time, so many questions remained unanswered in his mind.
His eyes traced back to the floating window detailing the countdown to his system’s final activation.
Time went by gradually, and the countdown finally ended.
|| System component loaded successfully ||
|| Character status loaded completely ||
|| Mission details loaded completely ||
|| Welcome to the Sacrifice System. I’m Onyx, your virtual assistant—feel free to ask me anything that’s on your mind. ||
Ragnar patiently scanned the floating text with a calm expression on his face. "I have a lot of questions," he began. "First—what exactly is the Sacrifice System, and how does it work?"
|| The Sacrifice System is an ancient magic-matrix that lets you offer any "valuable" resource to gain random rewards in return. Rewards are drawn from a broad pool—skills, abilities, upgraded materials, information, and more—based on the quality and quantity of what you sacrifice. ||
"This is different," Ragnar murmured. He’d read countless novels with hundreds of unique cheats and systems, but never seen one .
The uniqueness itself created a stronger urge within Ragnar to explore the system and understand how to use it to his advantage.
But at the same time, he needed to understand where he was.
"Onyx, what is the name of this world?"
|| You’re currently in a small Hamlet in the world of Leah. ||
"Leah?" Ragnar’s eyes widened as he repeated the name.
Leah is the name of the world of Kingdom-building Online. Leah is a world of danger and prosperity, a world where magic and divinity blossomed.
The setting of Leah was one of the major reasons Kingdom-building Online became popular. Its unique structure made millions of players obsessed barely a week after beginning the game.
Thus, realizing that he had miraculously transmigrated into this world filled Ragnar with awe.
Ragnar’s mind went back to a few minutes ago when the system first appeared, he recalled seeing something pertaining to a mission that the system spoke nothing of afterward.
"That explains it..."
Ragnar thought the reason he had been sent into this world was to complete a quest just like the protagonists of novels he had read.
Without wasting time, he asked Onyx about the mission.
|| Your mission will be revealed in 3... 2 ||
BRIEFING: XX has grown bored with the sorry state and passive nature of the world of Leah and now seeks some entertainment. To that end, XX grants you a unique mission and a formidable magic-matrix to aid your journey.
MISSION: Build The Strongest Territory In Leah
REWARD: Immortality | Two Wishes Will Be Granted | XX
Ragnar studied the lengthy text with a serious expression on his face.
"Build the strongest territory?" Ragnar repeated.
Although the mission sounded quite ambitious and almost impossible to attain, Ragnar was confident that he could make it happen.
Also, the rewards were nothing short of captivating—who wouldn’t want immortality and a chance to fulfill two wishes? Also, there was the strange XX that appeared quite a lot in the mission briefing.
Curious and confused, he questioned Onyx about them.
|| XX marks secrets and information that can’t be known to the host at the current stage. ||
"The cliché plot line of hiding the name of the system creator and a mysterious reward. Not bad," Ragnar murmured.
Ragnar did not bother to dig further about the significance of the unnamed items. Instead, he asked Onyx a lot of important questions, gathering as much basic information as he could from his virtual assistant.
Fortunately, Onyx did not ignore his questions as she answered all his questions as detailed as they could be.
With her detailed information, Ragnar believed he could actually make things work with the Sacrifice System.
But before beginning anything, he asked for his character status.
HOST: Ragnar Yellowwood
RANK: FF (Next rank at Lvl 10)
INNATE SKILL: Sacrifice Lvl 1
Note: The average attributes of an ordinary young human are 1 point.
⤷ 10th Hamlet (FF) ▶ Details
COMBINED TERRITORY RATING: FF
[🎒 Inventory] [📜 Quests ]
Ragnar clicked for more territory details without hesitation.
Yet before they appeared, a bloodcurdling scream erupted from outside the room.