"How the hell did I end up here?" Daniel grumbled, his hoarse voice slicing through the heavy silence of the forest. His warm breath condensed briefly in the cold air before vanishing.
The air was humid, dense, so thick each breath felt like physical labor. His clothes were soaked in saltwater — they should have dried hours ago — clinging to his skin and sending cold shivers up his spine. Towering trees stood like living pillars, disappearing into the haze crawling along the ground, slithering between massive roots.
He smelled wet earth and something else: an ancient, suffocating mold, like a basement locked for decades. His brow was furrowed. It felt like he had fallen straight into a nightmare, or a very bad dream at best.
"I remember surfing with the guys in New Smyrna Beach..." he muttered, trying to piece things together. His hand drifted to his right leg, feeling the ghost of sharp pain. "Fell off the board, felt a fucking stabbing pain in my leg... and then... blackout."
As he wiped a hand over his face, He felt cold sweat sliding along his temples and down his jaw.
Daniel shrugged, a gesture meant to look casual, but it was pure irony.
"Oh, great. Bet I died, right?" He glanced around, forcing a mocking smile. His lips were dry, the smile twitching like a nervous tic. "Probably a shark. Would be just like me to die doing exactly what everyone told me not to."
Daniel Black, twenty years old. If someone asked who he was, he'd say: the type of guy who lived on adrenaline and told common sense to go fuck itself. Jumped off bridges, climbed cliffs without ropes, surfed during storms, and filmed everything for YouTube. Comments split between "he's insane" and "he's a god" were his fuel.
He also enjoyed some weed to relax and decompress. Truth was, he was addicted to risk. Maybe that's why, looking around that surreal forest, he didn't feel fear. He felt... a tingle on his spine, a cold thrill.
Curiosity.
"Not a single damn tree with fruit... I'm starving already." He kicked a thick root that felt like solid rock under his boot. The dry thud vanished instantly into the dense air. No birds, no wind, nothing.
A kind of silence that made your ears itch, forcing the body into high tension. He could hear his own heartbeat — too slow and too steady for a real emergency.
After over an hour stumbling through the fog, he found something that made no sense: a perfect clearing where the mist recoiled, a concrete table in the center with two chairs.
It looked out of place, like someone put it there just to mess with him. The cold, rough texture of the concrete clashed violently with the soft, humid moss around it.
"This is very Black Mirror," he muttered, dragging one of the chairs with an irritating screech and dropping into it with a heavy sigh. The sharp noise made him flinch, as if he had broken some unspoken rule of the place.
Sitting down, he tried to organize his thoughts. "Okay, Daniel... you died, went to limbo, and now you're playing Survivor: Afterlife Edition."
He closed his eyes for a moment, the smell of mold intensifying, trying to laugh at his own misfortune. The best he managed was a rough exhale through his nose. Then the air vibrated. A metallic hum, sharp enough to make his ears throb. Like space itself was being torn open.
When he opened his eyes, the world had changed. A golden portal spun before him, spilling sparks that evaporated before hitting the ground. A muscular old man stepped out of it, white braided hair, bronzed skin, and eyes carrying the weight of a thousand eras.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Daniel jumped to his feet, the chair crashing behind him. His heart rate exploded, blood rushing violently through his veins. His fists clenched, knuckles turning white.
The old man only laughed — a deep, reassuring sound. He lifted a calming hand. "Relax, boy. I know this is strange, but I promise I'm not a ghost." His back cracked loudly as he stretched.
"Oh, wonderful. So it's official. I'm hallucinating." Daniel muttered, eventually calming down, crossing his arms defensively. His eyes narrowed. "Let me guess: I'm the chosen one, right? The hero of the prophecy who must save the multiverse before dinner?"
"Not exactly," the old man said, sitting across from him like it was the most normal thing in the world. With a small gesture, a jug of water and fresh fruit materialized on the table, a citrus scent causing Daniel's stomach to growl loudly. The man tapped bronze fingers on the cement.
Daniel hesitated, but curiosity began to win over disbelief. "Who are you?"
"Names lose meaning after some eras..." The old man's eyes gleamed like an ancient sunset. He placed his hands on the table. "But you may call me Kael."
Kael interlocked his fingers, watching Daniel with immortal patience. "Long ago, in a plane you cannot comprehend, a treasure powerful enough to destroy entire realities was created. Wars erupted over it. Gods, monsters, civilizations fought. And I... well, I was the one closest to the artifact."
With a slow, casual movement of his hand, images appeared in the humid air: shadows clashing, explosions of light, planets collapsing. Everything dissipated like cigarette smoke.
"Before it fell into the wrong hands, I bound the artifact to this isolated space. A refuge outside time. The trigger? The blood of a mortal."
"Let me guess..." Daniel said sarcastically. He leaned forward, palm pressed against the cold table. "I'm the idiot who spilled the blood, right? My last adrenaline stunt finally useful for something."
"Exactly." Kael nodded. He pointed at Daniel's chest. Only then did the young man notice the black stone wrapped in golden threads, resting against his skin, pulsing with strange warmth.
"A necklace I bought for twenty bucks at some random booth..." he grumbled, rolling the stone between his fingers. Smooth, cold texture — yet it radiated heat.
"So you're telling me I'm trapped in a Doctor Strange episode because of a knockoff Chinese souvenir?" he scoffed.
"That necklace is the seal. It pulled you here when your mortal body was about to die," Kael said calmly.
"So I didn't completely die?"
"Your physical body is beyond reach. But your soul... is alive. Welcome to limbo."
Daniel swallowed hard. The idea of being just a floating soul sent a wave of discomfort through him. "Great. So I give the necklace back, and you send me home, right? No hard feelings."
Kael's booming laughter shook the dry leaves around them. "Oh, boy, if only it were that simple... Your universe is more sealed than you think. Once someone leaves it, they can only return after reaching a certain level of power."
Daniel dragged a hand down his face. It sounded painfully cliché. Boredom almost outweighed shock. "Great. So what, I stay stuck here forever playing solitaire on this cement table?"
"Not necessarily." Kael lifted a golden artifact resembling a compass. It floated between his hands, the metal textured like it was alive. "I can send your soul to another world. Creating a new body, a new chance. The destination, however, will be random."
"Like... any world?" Daniel frowned in disbelief. "Even fictional ones? I could become a Hobbit, a Jedi, or... I don't know... an intern in Grey's Anatomy?"
"Even fictional ones," Kael confirmed with an enigmatic smile.
Daniel laughed nervously. "Amazing. So I could end up in Dark Souls, Attack on Titan... or a reality show world where the biggest threat is catching an STD. Lovely."
"Your fate is pure luck. But since you brought the artifact to me, I'll grant you something extra... a gift."
"A gift?" Daniel raised an eyebrow, expecting a magic sword or some busted power.
"A system. An interface to help you grow, survive, and adapt. Call it instinct, call it a game, call it a minor divinity. It will be... your guide."
Daniel's heart raced with wild excitement replacing the tension. "Like... an RPG system?"
"If that's how you prefer to see it."
The necklace glowed intensely, almost burning his skin. It floated away from his chest into Kael's hand. The stone went dark. Something awakened inside Daniel — a sudden heat on his left forearm, like molten iron carving into his skin.
Looking down, he saw the design: a massive black leafless tree tattooed on his arm.
"What is this tattoo supposed to be?" he asked, running his fingers over the design.