"Friend, that boy who just walked by."
"The tall one? With the curly hair?"
"That's the one."
"Wow... he is very handsome."
"Very. And he even smiled as he passed."
Galen was used to these kinds of comments. He didn't consider himself a model, but he knew his appearance drew more attention than average, something he had learned to ignore over time.
His thoughts were interrupted when someone called him.
"Galen, turning heads as always."
He turned and saw it was Luna, his travel friend. She looked to be in her early twenties and carried a vibrant energy, accentuated by her indigo hair tied in two high, messy buns. Her style was modern, eye-catching techwear: a short black jacket over a sports top, wide pants, and several silver chains and ribbons dangling from her waist, swaying with her confident stride.
"What can I say? With great power comes great responsibility," he said, giving a small smile.
"Modest as ever, I see," she replied, laughing at the joke. Then she continued, "So, shall we go to the restaurant? I'm starving."
"Let's go. I heard the food on this ship is really good."
After a short walk, they arrived at the Sea Pavilion. The ship's restaurant was spacious and surrounded by glass walls, offering a continuous view of the blue sea stretching to the horizon. Natural light illuminated the elegantly arranged tables, creating a calm and sophisticated atmosphere. Everything there conveyed comfort, as if the ocean were merely part of the décor.
"Wow, it's beautiful. It even looks a bit like the Titanic. I never imagined I'd be on a cruise," Luna said, marveling at the restaurant.
"Luna, don't say that. You know we're in the Atlantic Ocean right now," Galen gave a dry smile at her comparison.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Luna looked at him, confused.
"It has everything to do with it," Galen retorted, his voice dripping with irony. "Considering the Titanic sank exactly not..."
Before Galen could explain, the floor beneath their feet gave a violent jolt, sending silverware and crystal glasses flying into the air.
"What was that?!" Luna screamed, grabbing the table to keep from falling.
Galen instinctively looked toward the glass walls. What he saw made his blood run cold.
The tranquil blue of the ocean had vanished. The sky, once clear, was taken over by a vibrant purple hue, as if the atmosphere had been torn and bled violet light over the world. Black clouds swirled in unnatural spirals, lit by lightning of the same purple color.
"Hold on!" Galen roared, reaching out to try and grab Luna.
But the ocean was faster. A colossal wave, much larger than the ship, rose on the purple horizon, blocking all view.
The restaurant's glass walls, which offered a "continuous view," did not hold. With a deafening roar, they exploded inward under the water's pressure. Chaos ensued instantly. The screams were drowned out by the roar of the storm and the sound of water flooding the luxurious hall.
The ship listed brutally. Galen felt the floor disappear beneath his feet. He saw the shape of Luna, her techwear ribbons floating momentarily, trying to hold onto a pillar, but the force of the water pushed her away.
"Luna!"
The water hit him like a solid concrete wall. He was thrown against an overturned table, feeling a sharp pain in the side of his head. The purple glow of the sky was the last thing that burned in his vision, distorted through the saltwater and debris.
Galen awoke feeling something moving on his back. He reached back, trying to push away whatever it was, but when he touched what was on his back, he felt something bite his finger.
He jumped up from the ground and saw that what was gripping his finger was a crab.
"Ow! Let go, you hard-shelled demon!" Galen shook his hand frantically until the little aggressor flew in a perfect arc, landing in the soft sand a few meters away.
The crab quickly righted itself and raised its claws high, snapping them in a fighting pose, as if to say, 'Come at me, giant.'
"Great. I survived an apocalyptic storm only to almost lose a finger to dinner," he grumbled, massaging the reddened skin where the claw had pinched.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart, which was still pounding erratically from the scare. Galen finally looked up and absorbed the landscape around him.
The beach was vast, with fine white sand. Just beyond it rose a dense, tropical forest.
He looked at the sky. The terrifying purple had disappeared, replaced by a clear blue, but he felt something was wrong. The sun seemed much closer, perhaps a bit more golden than normal.
"The ship..." Galen murmured, the reality of the shipwreck returning like a punch to the gut.
He turned his body, scanning the maritime horizon for the huge cruise ship, lifeboats, anything. But the sea was empty.
"Luna!" The name escaped his throat, ragged and urgent. He began to spin in circles, desperately searching for the indigo hair buns or the neon glow of her clothes. "Luna! Can you hear me?"
His voice echoed across the deserted beach, swallowed by the sound of the waves and the rustling of the forest. The only answer he got was the rhythmic clack-clack of the crab, which still watched him, standing guard on its little patch of sand.
"This can't be the Atlantic," Galen whispered to himself, feeling a cold shiver run up his spine despite the sun's heat. "Where the hell have we ended up?"
"That's easy! Welcome most warmly to Dimensional Island number 74!"
The answer came from above, vibrant and cheerful, like that of a game show host announcing the grand prize.
Galen jerked his head up, searching for the source of all that joy, and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
Floating in the air a few meters away, cheerfully defying gravity, was a small wild boar piglet.
It had the brown fur with typical horizontal stripes of the species and short little legs that paddled in the air as if it were swimming in an invisible pool. It looked like the most adorable and harmless thing in the world, except for the fact that it was flying and, of course, the two small black horns sprouting proudly from its forehead.
The piglet did a pirouette in the air and stopped right in front of Galen's face, with an expression that could only be described as a radiant smile.
"Wait a minute," Galen stammered, trying to process the sight of the flying swine. "What do you mean, 'Dimensional Island'?"
"It's exactly what it seems!" the piglet replied, spinning in the air as if swimming on its back. "It's the connection point, the entry lobby, the great bridge to the New World!"
Galen frowned, the headache from the shipwreck starting to throb again. "I... I still don't understand anything. What New World? We were on a ship and..."
"Ah, details, details! You think too much," the wild boar piglet interrupted him, waving a little hoof dismissively. "Let's do this: if you pass the tutorial, I'll give you the right to ask me one question. Just one! Capiche?"
"Tutorial?" Galen blinked, confused. "But what tuto–"
Before he could finish the sentence, a translucent window materialized, floating right in front of his face.
[MAIN MISSION INITIATED]
Objective 1: Survive for 3 days on the Dimensional Island.
Objective 2: Form a group of at least 4 people.
Objective 3: Claim a territory on the island.
Galen read the glowing words, feeling his jaw drop. He slowly turned to the wild boar piglet, his face twisted into an expression of pure confusion and panic.
"But what the hell is..."
"Ah! Before I forget!" The boar interrupted him again, its voice fast and excited. "Take advantage that for the first 4 hours, the island is a Safe Zone. You cannot be attacked by anything or anyone!"
And with a pop, like a soap bubble bursting, the boar vanished into thin air.
Galen stood still on the white sand, alone, staring at the empty space where the animal had been and at the screen still hovering before his eyes. The sound of the waves continued, but now, the silence of his solitude felt much heavier. He had no idea what to do next.