Okay… what just happened?
I lay on my back against the cold stone of the cave, staring into darkness while my heartbeat slowly returned to something survivable. My muscles still trembled, but something felt… different.
Not stronger.
Sharper.
"I felt it," I whispered. "My body adapted."
The way I ran. The way I moved. Even the way I shouted—it hadn't been random. My actions had become cleaner, more efficient, like my body knew what to do before I finished thinking it.
"If I had to guess…" I muttered, voice echoing softly, "travelling through time should give me an ability, right? Or some kind of power."
I frowned.
"…Or maybe it's a system."
The thought barely finished forming when something clicked.
Not physically.
Mentally.
A translucent panel unfolded in my mind, clean and unmistakable.
[SYSTEM INTERFACE – ACTIVE]
I sucked in a sharp breath.
"No way…"
The panel shifted, responding to my focus.
Skills
Classification: Ordinary Class
Running – Lv 2
Voice – Lv 2
"…Fuck," I breathed.
I really did have a system.
Heart pounding again, I focused harder, instinctively clicking on the display with my mind.
Running (Ordinary Class)
Lower-limb movement optimized through friction management and surface contact to increase speed and balance.
My eyes widened.
"That explains it."
I shifted my attention.
Voice (Ordinary Class)
Control over sound pitch, rhythm, and frequency for improved projection and command.
A chill ran down my spine.
"This isn't random," I whispered.
The wording. The structure. The logic.
My chest tightened as realization hit me like a punch.
"…This is the bug."
The unfinished exploit I had been writing back home. The one meant to remove artificial caps. The one that broke skill systems by redefining them as functions instead of numbers.
"It became a system panel," I said slowly.
A laugh escaped me—quiet, disbelieving.
"So that's how I survived."
If this thing worked the way I thought it did, then skills weren't just talents.
They were mechanics.
Which meant one thing.
"I need a plan."
I sat up despite the exhaustion weighing down my limbs.
"First priority: my body." I counted quietly. "If I'm weak, no system will save me."
Second: food and water. Without those, levels meant nothing.
Third: weapons.
"At least something for self-defense," I muttered. A sharp rock. A stick. Anything.
The cave was still.
Outside, distant roars echoed across the land, reminders that this world would not wait for me to catch up.
My eyelids felt heavy.
"I'm exhausted," I admitted.
I leaned back against the stone, forcing myself to stay alert even as fatigue dragged me under.
"Tomorrow," I whispered into the darkness, "we survive."
The system panel dimmed.
The jungle watched.
And for the first time since my transmigration, I slept—not safely, not comfortably—but alive.