The wolf kept trying to climb the tree with the determination of a politician trying to justify a pay raise. Santiago, meanwhile, stared at the floating window that had appeared before him as if it were a McDonald's menu at three in the morning: confused, a little scared, but unable to look away.
[SYSTEM STARTED]
[WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD]
[PLAYER: SANTIAGO HERRERA CRUZ]
[LEVEL: 1]
[CLASS: NOT ASSIGNED]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 50/50]
" Player?" Santiago muttered . "HP? MP? What is this, a fucking isekai ?"
The window flickered, as if it had heard his question, and new lines of text appeared:
[TUTORIAL ACTIVATED]
[DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED WITH BASIC ORIENTATION?]
[BUT]
Santiago considered his options. He looked at the wolf, which was now trying to bite the tree trunk, its teeth leaving steaming marks on the wood. He looked back at the window.
"Yes," he said aloud. "Of course, you son of a bitch. Give me all the information you have."
[TUTORIAL STARTED]
[WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD, SANTIAGO HERRERA CRUZ. YOU HAVE BEEN TRANSPORTED FROM YOUR ORIGINAL REALITY TO A PLANE OF EXISTENCE WHERE MAGIC, MONSTERS, AND FANTASTIC RACES ARE REAL.]
"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Santiago murmured. "The giant wolf with radioactive saliva had already given me a clue."
[THIS WORLD OPERATES UNDER A LEVEL SYSTEM SIMILAR TO ROLE-PLAYING GAMES. YOUR STRENGTH, SKILLS, AND SURVIVAL WILL DEPEND ON YOUR ABILITY TO ADAPT AND GROW.]
[AS A LEVEL 1 PLAYER, YOUR BASE STATS ARE MINIMAL. EXTREME CAUTION IS ADVISED.]
" Extreme caution?" Santiago let out a hysterical laugh. "Hey, I'm up in a tree being stalked by Cujo, Dark version ." Souls . I'm already being extremely cautious.
The wolf growled below, as if in agreement with him.
[CURRENT STATISTICS:]
[STRENGTH: 8]
[AGILITY: 12]
[VITALITY: 10]
[INTELLIGENCE: 15]
[WISDOM: 7]
[CHARISMA: 14]
[LUCK: 3]
Santiago looked at the issue of Wisdom and frowned.
— Seven? SEVEN? Are you kidding me? I have a university degree, idiot.
[WISDOM MEASURES THE ABILITY TO MAKE SENSIBLE DECISIONS AND LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE.]
—Ah, okay . Yes, that seven makes sense then.
[YOUR LUCK STATISTIC IS PARTICULARLY LOW. THIS WILL AFFECT YOUR RANDOM ENCOUNTERS, ITEM DROPS, AND OVERALL SUCCESS PROBABILITIES.]
Santiago looked at the sour wolf.
—Really ? Three lucky ones? You don't say. I never would have guessed that.
[SPECIAL ABILITY DETECTED:]
[SENSE OF ORIENTATION: CATASTROPHIC]
[DESCRIPTION: THE PLAYER POSSESSES AN ALMOST SUPERNATURAL INABILITY TO NAVIGATE PHYSICAL SPACES. THIS "ABILITY" HAS BEEN INTEGRATED INTO THE SYSTEM.]
[EFFECT: +50% PROBABILITY OF ENDING UP IN UNEXPECTED PLACES. +25% PROBABILITY OF ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERING SECRET LOCATIONS. -75% PROBABILITY OF REACHING YOUR DESIRED DESTINATION.]
"Wait a minute," Santiago straightened up on the branch, almost losing his balance. "Are you telling me that my ability to get lost is so legendarily bad that the system recognized it as a skill?"
[CORRECT.]
—And you set the level to "Catastrophic"?
[IT'S AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION.]
—The fucking system.
[CONTINUING WITH THE TUTORIAL...]
But before he could read any further, the tree shook violently. Santiago clung to the branch as the wolf, having abandoned subtlety, simply rammed its massive head into the trunk. The wood creaked ominously.
"No, no, no," Santiago looked around desperately. "System, don't you have anything useful? Like a weapon? A spell? A fucking combat tutorial?"
[LEVEL 1 PLAYER DOES NOT POSSESS COMBAT SKILLS.]
[AVAILABLE OPTIONS:]
[1. ESCAPE]
[2. NEGOTIATE]
[3. CREATIVE IMPROVISATION]
" Negotiate?" Santiago looked at the wolf in disbelief. " You want me to negotiate with a wolf?"
[YOUR CHARISMA STATISTIC IS RELATIVELY HIGH. THERE IS A SMALL PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS.]
—System, I don't know if you noticed, but that bug doesn't seem like the kind you can sit down with and have a mate and discuss things civilly.
The tree creaked again, louder this time. Santiago saw a crack forming in the trunk.
—The hell with it.
He looked around the tree. The branches stretched in various directions, some reaching almost to other nearby trees. If only he could jump...
" Okay , " he took a deep breath. "Okay , Santiago. You're a city kid. You don't know how to climb trees. You don't know how to swing from branch to branch like some fucking Tarzan . But you also don't know how half the things that happen to you work, and here you are."
He slowly stood up on the branch, using the trunk for balance. The branch beneath his feet felt surprisingly solid, but his heart was still pounding like a football drum.
"Creative improvisation," he murmured. "Go for it, system. Let's do it."
[SKILL: CREATIVE IMPROVISATION ACTIVATED]
[DUE TO YOUR INTELLIGENCE AND CHARISMA STATISTICS, YOU MAY ATTEMPT UNCONVENTIONAL SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS. SUCCESS NOT GUARANTEED.]
—It's never guaranteed, dude. That's just my life.
Santiago looked at the nearest branch of the neighboring tree. It was about two meters away. Two meters. It wasn't much. People jumped two meters all the time. Athletes, parkour athletes , kids running from the police...
"Well, you 're none of those things ," his brain helpfully reminded him.
— Shut up , brain. You're not helping .
He took three deep breaths. On the third breath, the tree creaked so loudly that small splinters began to fall. The wolf had managed to create a considerable notch in the trunk.
-Now or never.
Santiago ran.
It wasn't a graceful run. It was more of a controlled stumble along the branch, his arms flailing like windmill blades as he tried to maintain his balance. The branch bent beneath his weight, giving him a little extra momentum as he reached the end.
Leap.
For a glorious and terrifying moment, he was flying. The air of this strange world whistled in his ears. The two moons watched him like spectators in a circus waiting for the acrobatic act.
His hands struck the branch of the other tree.
He clung on.
And the branch broke.
—MOTHERFUCKER !
Santiago fell, but his instincts (or his pathetic luck stats having a moment of charity) made him grab onto another branch lower down. It held. Barely. He was left hanging like laundry, his feet pedaling in the air, searching for support.
The wolf, who had been focused on the previous tree, raised his head. He saw Santiago in the new tree.
And he looked annoyed .
"Hey, man," Santiago panted as he tried to climb the branch, "that's it, forget it. It's not worth it. I'm probably not even good-looking. Just barbecue and beer. Full of toxins."
The wolf growled and began walking toward the new tree with slow, deliberate steps, like a hitman in a Tarantino movie.
Santiago finally managed to climb onto the branch and looked around frantically. This tree was taller, the branches denser. He could keep leaping from tree to tree like a clumsy urban monkey, or...
His eyes fell on something that glittered among the branches above. Something metallic.
—What the hell is that?
He climbed higher, faster now that he had gotten the hang of it. The wolf reached the base of the tree and resumed his ramming attack with renewed vigor.
Santiago reached the shiny object and almost fell over from the shock.
It was a sword.
A real sword, one of the old kind, with a leather hilt wrapped around the handle and a blade that, although old and a little rusty at the edges, still looked like it could do harm. It was stuck in the tree trunk, as if someone had left it there a long time ago.
[OBJECT DISCOVERED: ABANDONED IRON SWORD]
[QUALITY: COMMON]
[DAMAGE: 15-22]
[DURABILITY: 45/100]
[DESCRIPTION: A SWORD THAT BELONGED TO AN ADVENTURER WHO, LIKE YOU, IS PROBABLY LOST.]
—That comment was unnecessary, system.
Santiago gripped the hilt with both hands and pulled. The sword didn't budge. He pulled harder. Nothing. He braced one foot against the tree trunk and pulled with all his might, grunting as if he were in the gym (which he hadn't been to since 2019).
The sword shot out suddenly, so fast that Santiago almost fell backward. He teetered precariously on the branch, flailing his arms (and the sword) to keep his balance.
The wolf growled below, now even angrier.
Santiago looked at the sword in his hands. It was heavy. Much heavier than he expected. Swords in anime always seemed so light; the characters wielded them with one hand as if they were sticks.
" So what am I supposed to do with this now?" he asked the sword. "I don't know how to use a sword. The only time I've ever held anything like this was a Tramontina knife at a barbecue."
[BASIC SKILL UNLOCKED: MELEE WEAPONS HANDLING - LEVEL 1]
[Since you now possess a weapon, the system has granted you basic knowledge of its use. Do not expect miracles.]
Suddenly, the sword felt... different in his hands. Not lighter, but more right . As if his hands knew where to grip it, how to hold it. It wasn't the instinct of a fencing master, but it was better than nothing.
The tree shook violently. The wolf had learned from the previous tree and was attacking with everything it had.
—Well—Santiago looked down—. I guess it's time for the dumbest part of tonight.
He began to descend the tree, branch by branch, his sword dangling awkwardly from his belt. The wolf saw him coming and took a step back, its red eyes gleaming with what Santiago swore was anticipation.
When Santiago reached the lowest branch, he stood there, sword in hand, looking at the wolf that was looking at him.
" Okay , you little shit, " he said, his voice trembling only slightly. "I don't want to do this. You don't want to do this either. We can each go our separate ways. I'll find a city, you find a sheep, and that's it."
The wolf growled.
—I'm going to take that as a no.
[COMBAT STARTED]
[ENEMY: ACID WOLF LEVEL 8]
[HP: 250/250]
" Level eight?" Santiago shouted . "I'm level one! That's not even fair!"
LIFE IS RARELY FAIR.
—I don't need philosophy lessons from a video game system!
The wolf pounced.
Santiago, acting purely on instinct and out of terror, jumped from the branch. Not toward the wolf, God no, that would have been suicidal. He jumped to the side, rolling on the clearing floor and feeling every pebble dig into his back through his shirt.
The wolf flew past where he had been standing, its jaws snapping shut in midair with an unpleasant sound.
Santiago stood up, sword raised. His hands trembled. His whole body trembled. But the sword was there, and the wolf was there, and there was no way out of this except forward.
The wolf landed, turned around, and charged again.
This time Santiago didn't dodge. This time, with a cry that was half fury, half absolute terror, he moved the sword.
It wasn't an elegant move. It wasn't the perfect technique I'd seen in a thousand anime. It was more of a wild swing that relied more on luck than skill.
But it connected.
The blade struck the wolf's side, slicing through its dark fur. The creature howled, a sound that sent birds in nearby trees flying in panic.
[CRITICAL HIT]
[DAMAGE: 35]
[ACID WOLF HP: 215/250]
" HA!" Santiago shouted, surprised. "I GOT HIM! I GOT THE SON OF A BITCH!"
His celebration lasted approximately two seconds, which was when the wolf recovered and swiped at him, sending him flying.
Santiago crashed into another tree, all the air rushing out of his lungs. Stars danced in his vision.
[DAMAGE RECEIVED: 45]
[HP: 55/100]
"It hurts," he coughed. "Everything hurts."
The wolf advanced towards him, limping slightly because of the wound in its side but still very capable of killing him.
Santiago forced himself to stand, using the tree for support. The sword had fallen a few meters away. Too far to reach before the wolf got to him.
" Think , Santiago, think ," he murmured, his brain racing. " You're smart. Fifteen out of ten. Use it ."
His eyes scanned the clearing frantically. Trees. Glistening grass. Rocks. The wolf approaching.
The rocks.
Without thinking twice, Santiago bent down and picked up a stone the size of his fist. The wolf was five meters away. Santiago threw the stone.
It failed completely.
—Holy shit.
He grabbed another one. Four meters. He shot.
She hit the wolf on the snout.
The wolf stopped, blinking in surprise. As if no one had ever had the guts to throw a rock at him in his life as a giant, acid-spiky wolf.
[DAMAGE: 2]
[ACID WOLF HP: 213/250]
[THE WOLF IS CONFUSED]
Santiago took advantage of the opportunity. He ran towards the sword, grabbed it, and turned around just as the wolf emerged from its confusion and charged again.
This time, Santiago didn't try to be elegant. He didn't try to pull off an anime move. He simply planted his feet, held the sword with both hands pointing forward, and let the wolf's momentum do the rest.
The sword pierced the creature's chest.
The wolf howled, but the sound was cut short. Its weight pushed Santiago back, but he held the sword steady, feeling the horrible vibration as the blade sliced through bone and muscle.
[FATAL CRITICAL BLOW]
[DAMAGE: 89]
[ACID WOLF HP: 124/250]
The wolf writhed, trying to break free. Its blood, which was also a little acidic, splattered onto Santiago's hands. It burned.
" I'm dead, you madman!" Santiago shouted, thrusting the sword deeper. "I'm dead, so leave me alone!"
And then, with a final shudder, the wolf stood still.
[ENEMY DEFEATED]
[EXP GAINED: 500]
[LEVEL UPGRADED: 1 → 3]
[HP RESTORED: 100/100]
The wolf's body dissolved into particles of light, leaving only a few objects on the ground: its skin, some fangs, and what appeared to be a small leather bag.
Santiago dropped to his knees, the sword still in his hands. He was covered in sweat, dirt, wolf blood, and probably a little of his own blood as well. Every muscle in his body screamed.
"I killed him," he whispered. "I killed a giant wolf with acidic saliva. Me. Santiago Herrera Cruz. The guy who once fell off a treadmill at the gym."
[CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST COMBAT VICTORY.]
[ITEMS OBTAINED:]
[ACID WOLF SKIN x1]
[ACID WOLF FANG x4]
[STARTER BAG x1]
Santiago opened the bag with trembling hands. Inside there was: a water canteen, something that looked like bread but definitely wasn't bread (it was too shiny), and a map.
A map.
" A map?" Santiago unfolded it reverently. "System, is this what I think it is?"
[BASIC MAP OF THE NEW WORLD. SHOWS YOUR CURRENT LOCATION AND NEARBY LANDMARKS.]
Santiago looked at the map. Then he looked at the sky. Then at the map again.
—I don't understand anything I'm seeing.
[THAT WAS PREDICTABLE.]
—System, I swear if you had a physical body, I would beat the crap out of you.
But despite the system's sarcastic comment, despite the pain, despite being covered in wolf fluids, Santiago smiled.
Because he had survived.
I was in another world, completely lost, with no idea where I was or how to get back home.
But he had survived.
And if a lifetime of getting lost in his own city had taught him anything, it was that eventually, he always ended up finding somewhere.
Even if it was never the side I was looking for.
[To be continued...]