A place is shown—completely barren land. The ground stretches far into the distance, rough and uneven. There is silence and heat everywhere.
Suddenly, a portal appears.
From inside it, Yuki is thrown out, as if someone pushed him from the other side. He hits the ground and rolls forward before stopping. The portal disappears instantly.
"Aah…? Hm… where am I…?"
After falling, he feels pain, but slowly stands up.
Yuki looks around.
All he can see is a deserted, broken land. There are no trees, no grass—only cracked ground everywhere.
Suddenly, a screen appears in mid-air right in front of his face.
"Whoa…!!"
Yuki is shocked and takes a step back.
He stares at the screen carefully and says,
"What is this…?"
His tone is not playful—it is serious and cautious.
He reads what is written on the screen.
"MISSION LIST…?"
At the top center, "MISSION LIST" is written, and below it, missions are listed in numbers.
He reads a few of them:
No. 1 – Find a village
No. 2 – Kill 20 werewolves
No. 3 – Achieve Grand Warden title
There are more missions written below.
"…There are more missions…!!"
Yuki scrolls down the screen and keeps going until the end.
"What the hell?! There are 100 missions?!"
On the side, it shows: 0/100
"And I haven't completed any… well, I just got here, so how could I…?"
Yuki leans his face back slightly and says in a confused tone,
"…Okay… so how do I make this disappear?"
"Disappear."
As soon as he says it, the screen vanishes.
"…Huh?!"
Yuki becomes completely confused for a moment, then his expression slowly changes as if he understands something.
"…Okay, so if I say 'disappear', it disappears… then the opposite—appear."
"Appear."
The screen appears again.
"Oh… okay…! Disappear."
The screen vanishes again.
Yuki looks around the area and says,
"So my first task is to find a village."
He stays silent for a moment, then says,
"But where am I supposed to find a village in this barren land?!"
Suddenly, he remembers something.
"Oh wait!! Didn't Precious say he made a world just for my kema core training…?! He… he really did it… I can't believe it!"
He covers his mouth in shock and looks around again.
"But still… the question is, where do I go? Where can I find a place to stay?"
Suddenly—
The ground starts shaking.
Yuki steadies himself, confused and shocked.
Cracks spread across the ground, and from beneath it, several giant snakes emerge—each about 3 to 5 meters long, their color blending with the land.
Yuki looks at them and counts,
"1, 2, 3… there are 10 snakes… or whatever these things are called here!"
He prepares to fight and reaches for his sword—
"…What the—?!"
Then he realizes.
"Oh right… I left my sword in the classroom…"
Cut to the classroom—his sword is still lying beside his bench.
Back to Yuki—
"…Damn! I had to forget my sword today of all days?!"
Yuki immediately does a backflip and starts running.
The snakes chase after him.
"AAAAAA!! Someone help me!!"
He runs across the barren land as fast as he can.
He looks back—the snakes are getting closer.
He turns forward again and runs even faster.
Suddenly, he spots a tree ahead.
He gathers more strength and runs toward it—
But suddenly—
A snake bites his leg.
"Sssp!"
"AAAH!!"
Blood starts flowing from the bite, but Yuki keeps running as fast as he can.
"Damn it! Damn it! Just run, you bastard!!"
He pushes himself harder and finally reaches the tree.
He breaks off a branch and points it toward the snakes.
The leg that was bitten slowly starts turning purple, and he can barely stand properly.
Still, he says,
"…At least I'll damage one or two… then I'll run again…!"
The snakes surround him from the front.
Yuki breaks another branch and throws it at one of them. It causes some scratches, but the snake is still fine.
Two snakes jump at him.
"Ssss!"
"Hyaa!!"
In one swing, Yuki hits both of them with the branch, sending them a short distance away. But they quickly start moving toward him again.
His face is filled with tension and fear.
"…Am I going to die here… this soon…?"
The snakes surround him completely and prepare to attack.
Suddenly—
An arrow strikes one of the snakes, killing it instantly.
Yuki is shocked and looks in the direction the arrow came from.
Two archers are standing there.
Relief appears on Yuki's face.
But suddenly—
One snake attacks his leg again.
Yuki notices it in time, pulls his leg back, and hits the snake with full force using the branch, sending it flying into the air before it crashes to the ground, bleeding heavily—but it still tries to move.
The archers shoot arrows and kill it.
The remaining snakes leave Yuki and rush toward the archers, but the archers kill all of them.
"It's over," one of them says.
But suddenly—
From behind the same archer, the ground cracks open, and another snake appears, biting his back.
"NO!!"
The second archer immediately cuts off the snake's head, but its fangs remain stuck in the first archer's back.
He pulls it out with his hand, and blood starts pouring out.
"AAAAA—!!"
The first archer screams in pain.
The second archer quickly opens a pouch tied to his leg, takes out a small glass bottle, and makes him drink it.
"…Ah… ah…"
"Are you okay now?"
"…Y-yes…"
The second archer exhales in relief.
"…Thank God…"
Meanwhile, Yuki is watching all this near the tree—
But suddenly—
He collapses.
Thud.
Hearing the sound, the second archer turns in shock.
"Hey! Kid, are you okay?!"
He runs to Yuki and tries to wake him by shaking him, but Yuki gives no response. His breathing becomes unstable.
The archer notices blood coming from Yuki's leg.
When he turns the leg, he sees the snake bite marks.
"…Damn…!!"
He rushes back, grabs another bottle from the first archer's pouch, and runs back to Yuki.
He opens it and makes Yuki drink it.
After a short time, Yuki's breathing becomes normal again.
"…Thank God… he's still alive somehow."
The archer looks at him carefully and says,
"But what is he doing in this deserted land…? And how did he survive a rattlesnake bite for so long…? Who is he…?"
He gently places Yuki's head on the ground.
"…Let him wake up. Then I'll ask."