Something large cast a shadow upon the world it was a—
"Where am I?" a boy said as he sat up from the cold, hard, and wooden floor, his dull brown eyes waking up as if he had come out of a dream.
He blew a strand of hair from his face and looked around. "...am I dead?"
Certainly not. The boy was expressionless. Even his question didn't seem to come from fear, but confusion. The boy stood up and then looked around. He realised he was on a rowboat in what seemed to be a space like a sea with countless stars and celestial bodies around.
[Congratulations on awakening. You have been given a Revolver 0/10, Harpoon 0/10, Map 0/10, Compass 0/10, Void Boat 0/10, fishing rod 0/10. ]
On the rowboat floor, those items appear instantly.
Rowen, the boy, raised his brow and looked at the items on the floor before turning back to the old map like the panel in front of him. Aside from the notification, there was also a tutorial guide and some other features.
Without a hint of fear, Rowen clicked on the tutorial button.
[Hello, whoever finds this tool, my name is [Unknown], and I am here to describe to you the multiple functions of this tool and its uses. This tool is called the Void Travelling System, a tool used to enter other planets to explore... or plunder if you are that kind of person. Now you have been given basic survival gear, so I will tell you their uses. The fishing rod is used to simply fish in the void and take void fragments to sell them in the shop and you gain a currency called points with points you can buy a lot of useful things, anyways you can also fish out other stuff from the void other than void fragments like let's say a treasure chest or...a living creature.]
Rowen blinked, staring at the glowing words dancing faintly in front of his eyes. The wooden creak of the boat beneath him seemed to echo in the endless void, as though even sound didn't belong here. He rubbed his temple, reading on.
[The revolver is for self-defence. Though the void may appear empty, it is not harmless. Some things drift… things that hunger. Ammunition must be either crafted, purchased, or found through exploration. The harpoon is for anchoring your boat onto planets, wreckages, or leviathans if you are insane enough to try. The map allows you to chart your path and mark places of interest. The compass points not to north, but to… where you most need to go. The void boat, as you can guess, is your vessel. Take care of it, for if it is destroyed, so are you. And lastly—the fishing rod, which we discussed.]
The text paused. Then, a new line scrawled itself slowly as if someone were handwriting it across the air.
[Now then, this tool has some functions namely, Enhance which allows for the attachment slots of your item to increase, Attach which allows you to attach a component to your item, and fuse which allows you to fuse a property or another item to your item to bring about a new variation, Shop which is exactly as it sounds, allows you to exchange points for tools, upgrades, weapons, food, fuel, and… stranger things. Be warned, not every listing remains forever. Some fade away after a time, as if something else took it instead. Exploration is not only outward but inward. Every choice changes what you see next.]
Rowen leaned forward slightly, his dull eyes reflecting faint light off the panel. His hands, though steady, traced the edge of the revolver on the boat floor. Cold iron, simple shape. Ten empty slots. He looked back at the words.
[Most importantly: survival here is not about strength, but awareness. The void is filled with many and the most you should be wary of are three, [Ides], the beings that call themselves [Sectors] and finally other beings with a [Void Body] like you, i cannot tell you these as you will be eradicated by knowing such information]
Rowen's fingers froze as the last line etched itself in faint white strokes. The letters seemed to waver, almost as though the words themselves were afraid to exist too long.
He mouthed the terms quietly.
"…Ides. Sectors. Void Bodies."
The sound of them stirred nothing in him—no shiver, no rush of dread—just a still blankness. But his brow furrowed faintly. If knowing more meant eradication, then even the scraps given were dangerous.
[Now then, goodbye, and thanks for using my tool]
The message disappeared, and Rowan pondered. It seems this is a new life... but he does find something strange. "I can't remember what happened before I got here, I think i saw a large shadow and then poof I was here."
Rowan sighed, and for the first time since he got here, there was a bitter smile on his face. "I guess I'm alone once again."
Rowan took the fishing rod and skillfully cast it into the void. He sat down and patiently waited to get a catch.
The hook sank silently into the shimmering abyss — no splash, no ripple, no sound. The line stretched downward, disappearing into the black-glass reflection of infinity. Rowen rested his elbow on his knee, his chin on his hand, eyes vacant.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
Then—
Clink.
Something tugged. The fishing rod trembled.
"…already?" Rowen muttered, blinking as the line twitched again, harder this time. He gripped the handle with both hands and pulled.
The rod bent violently, the line creaking with strain as if something enormous was on the other end. It wasn't like normal water fishing—the resistance didn't feel like a creature thrashing, but like pulling against gravity itself.
Then it loosened.
Rowen reeled it back quickly, and from the void, something surfaced—glowing faintly, dripping not with water but with motes of light.
A fragment.
[You have obtained: Void Fragment (Rank F) – contains 1 point. Would you like to absorb?]
He stared at the words, then at the crystal shard hovering in front of him. It pulsed gently, like a heartbeat.
"Absorb."
The shard dissolved into faint mist and sank into his chest.
[+1 Point]
He exhaled softly. "So it works."
He glanced at the other tools on the deck—the revolver, harpoon, map, compass—each dull, lifeless, waiting. His gaze drifted back to the void sea. Endless, starless horizons, and occasional flickers far, far away, as if other boats were moving too.
Or watching.
Rowen looked up, his eyes glaring a little. "Why...why does this loneliness feel so familiar..."
The rod twitched again.
Rowen blinked and glanced down at it. "...that was fast."
The second tug was weaker — but longer. A strange humming sound rippled through the line, vibrating against his palm like something whispering. He slowly began to reel it in.
The line came back slowly, but something was wrong this time. The shimmer beneath the surface wasn't light — it was eyes.
Dozens of faint blue eyes blinking in sequence, staring up at him through the void.
Rowen's breath caught for the first time. The boat groaned slightly, creaking under a phantom weight.
Then the system flickered.
[Warning: Unknown Entity Detected.]
[Classification: ????????????]
[Recommended Action: Release the Line.]
He hesitated. "Release? Why would I—"
The eyes blinked again, and the world tilted.
For a heartbeat, Rowen wasn't in the boat — he was falling, through endless mirrors reflecting his own face, each one whispering something he couldn't quite hear.
He gasped and jerked the rod backward instinctively. The line snapped with a faint crack, and he slammed backward into the deck. The boat rocked, threatening to capsize before settling again.
[Line Severed.]
[Integrity -3%]
Rowen sat there for a long time, chest heaving faintly, until the sound of his own breathing reminded him he was still alive.
[Congratulations, You have fished a Strange Egg.]
[Do you wish to keep it or sell it for over 1 trillion points.]
Rowan propped himself up and stared at the strange egg, it was the size of an adult man's palm and was coloured with a faint dark and blue colour that was continously shifting.
Rowan paused for a moment then picked the egg up. "So small yet you cost so much...I wonder what you are."
The egg vibrated in his palm a little before it stopped moving, Rowan tilted his head but didn't question it. "Should I sell you?."
The egg began vibrating frantically as if it was denying the choice of it being sold. Rowan smiled gently, the strange egg seemed to have a personality despite it not yet hatched. "I mean you did break my fishing rod...well a bit so why shouldn't i sell you?."
The egg went still once more, then began to glow a brilliant, unsettling sapphire blue. The light was so intense Rowen had to squint, momentarily losing sight of the void around him.
A new system notification flashed violently:
[Warning: Entity Evolving.]
[Warning: Possibility of Cataclysmic Event Detected.]
[Recommended Action: Throw the Egg into the Void Immediately!]
Rowen's eyes widened fractionally. He didn't move. Instead, he watched the small, pulsing object in his hand. The feeling of the fishing rod snapping, the momentary terror of the endless mirrors—it was all sharp and fresh. This egg had been the cause.
But the desperate, almost panicked tone of the system's warning struck a chord of morbid curiosity deeper than the survival instinct it tried to trigger.
"Cataclysmic, huh?" he murmured, his voice a low, dry whisper in the expanse. His lips twitched into a genuine, if brief, smile—a flicker of life in his otherwise dull features. "You're interesting."
He closed his fingers around the egg, shielding the intense light slightly. The vibrations within his palm increased, not frantically now, but steadily, like a drumbeat anticipating a crescendo.
"I won't sell you," Rowen decided, the words a simple statement of fact. "If you're worth a trillion points, then whatever you become must be worth more than that. And I'm not throwing away the only thing that's shown any personality around here."
As if understanding, the intense blue light dimmed, settling into a deep, swirling vortex of dark blue and faint silver lines. The shifting colors solidified, giving the egg the appearance of a tiny, trapped nebula.
[Evolution Halted.]
[Entity Status: Latent.]
Rowen settled back against the creaking wooden seat, placing the now-stable egg carefully into his lap. He looked at the fishing rod, or what was left of it—the top half had splintered and snapped clean off where the line broke.
[Fishing Rod Integrity: 12%]
[Repair Cost: 5 Points]
He looked at his Point total. [+1 Point].
"Well, that's going to be a problem," he noted blandly. "Need more points to repair the tool I use to get points."
"Can I get points another way?." Rowan asked with curiosity as he looked in front of him.
[Note:You can buy bait and throw it into the void so a Void creature can come out and you can hunt it for points, an F rank bait costs one point and can attract F rank Void creature which cost 2 points, You can only buy Five Baits per day.]
"Convenient." He said as he opened the shop tab.
As the system said, the bait was 1 point and the rest of the items...well, his price range was enough for him not to mention them.
He placed the egg inside the rowboat and bought the bait.
On his palm, a dark purple pulsating piece of...flesh appeared in the size of a small marble.
Rowen stared at it for a moment as if contemplating if he wasted a point on such a small thing. He sighed and tossed the bait into the Void.
Upon touching it, the Void rippled before the bait dissolved.