It was hot, the sun was beating down, turning the air into a firy haze and spreading harsh, golden light across the barren desert.
Among this nowhere, a young man in his late teens was lying half-dead on a sand dune, his lips cracked and void of moisture; it looked like he had not drunk in ages.
Suddenly, there was a movement in his fingers, and he groaned, probably due to the thirst and harshness his body was going through. "Why am I feeling this hot? Power cut, maybe?" he thought.
Today was supposed to be his first day of freedom after resigning from his toxic job, but the situation was not letting him have the sleep of his life.
He fluttered his eyes open, expecting to be in his room, but instead his eyes were brimmed with bright light, and he had to cover them. "What the hell, where am I?" After adjusting to the light, he opened his eyes again and found himself surrounded by golden dunes stretching endlessly in every direction.
He pushed himself and scooted upriright as he tried to make sense of where he had been.
"Sand. Nothing but sand, as far as I can see. Where is this place and how did I get here to begin with?" he murmured to himself, feeling anxious.
There were tens of questions in his mind; no matter how much he forced his brain, he could not remember how he got here.
The more he thought, the more anxious he was getting. He forced the questions down, swallowing the anxiety and embracing the change. "Freaking out wouldn't help," he told himself.
He needed to focus on the surroundings now and getting back home.
He stood up, dusted his clothes, and started walking, picking a direction at random, the sand shifting under his feet with every step.
Every now and then he would stop and look for signs of water or life.
"Water. First, I need water. There had to be something out there. A road, a village, some kind of civilization maybe; that could provide me water and shelter," he murmured to himself.
Every moment was exhausting; he could barely think clearly. The sun climbed higher, baking him alive. With every step, his legs were growing heavier. Adding to that, walking on sand made it even harder.
He walked for hours,
No matter how hard he tried, his body could not keep up with him. Then the world tilted. Darkness rushed in. "Am I dying?" he murmured while collapsing face first into the scorching sand. His body again lay motionless on the golden dunes, murmuring intangible words.
In the void of unconsciousness, a strange dream took hold. He was in front of a glowing interface—an online grocery store. With categories of snacks, beverages, food, household items. His cursor hovered over "beverages," and he selected a bottle of water. He then saw a water bottle appear in front of him. Then the dream reset, repeating the same sequence over and over.
Grrrr.
A deep, thunderous rumble shook the dream apart.
His eyes snapped open. The sun was lower now, but the heat still toasting him. He groaned, pushing himself up; then he froze.
Far in the distance, a massive, segmented creature burst from beneath the dunes, its body like a worm, a massive mouth filled with sharp, crystalline teeth. It arched into the air before plunging back into the sand, swallowing it with another earth shaking thud.
He was terrified, scrambled to his feet and ran, heart pounding harder than the speed of light. "What the hell was that? No time to think. Just run," he gasped to himself.
After running for sometimes senseless he found shade on the lee side of a dune and dropped low as his legs gave out; still panting, he closed his eyes.
Running was really a bad idea: first, the creature was really very far, and second, even if the creature wanted to devour him, there was no way he could escape it.
His throat screamed for water now, every breath like swallowing fire. As he steadied himself, fragments of the dream appeared in his mind: the glowing store interface, and the effortless bottle of water appearing. He laughed at the dream for mocking him in the face, but he couldn't help but think what a fantastic thing that would be if he could do that. But logic overpowered his fantasy, and he again started walking.
Soon desperation bred madness. He stopped and closed his eyes. "What if…" It was stupid. Ridiculous. But he was dying out here. "Am I getting mad?" he thought, "to think he was trusting a dream to save his life? But what if he is getting mad—he will die eventually. So what if he tries something that is ridiculous?" He was not going to die without a fight, no matter how ridiculous it would seem.
He resolved and then focused, just like in the dream. He pictured the online grocery shop, bracing himself to be ridiculed.
But to his shock, it appeared.
A translucent blue panel hovered in his vision, semi-transparent but undeniably real: System Grocery Store. Categories neatly listed: Foods, Liquids, Snacks, Daily Necessities. A coin balance in the corner: 0 Copper Coins in the wallet."""""""
Hallucination? Heatstroke? He blinked hard, but it remained.
Excitement overrode fear. His hands shook as he mentally navigated to "Liquids" > "Water." Dozens of options popped up—brands he vaguely recognized, sizes from small to large. Next to the basic bottled water: it was written that First 3 purchases free! And a small note: 1 Copper Coin required after.
He gulped, mouth drier than ever, and selected a standard bottle. As soon as he selected the water bottle, the price said Free water bottles: 2 remaining.
A soft flash of light sparkled in the air before him. Then, with a plop, a real, cold around-500ml bottle of water materialized, dropping into the sand at his feet.
He snatched it up, twisting the cap off with fumbling fingers. The first gulp was heavenly, perfect cool temperature. He chugged half in seconds, with water spilling down his chin.
"Hallucination or not," he gasped between swallows, "I don't care. I'm not thirsty anymore."
Refreshed and quenched, he capped the bottle and started walking again.
The sun dipped toward the horizon, painting the dunes in bloody oranges. Night in the desert meant cold and dangerous creatures swarming around, he needed shelter, shade, anything before darkness fell. By now he had long since realised that the interface was real and he could buy things, which made him super excited; it was nothing less than magic in this strange world—he at least had something to rely upon. "But most of the categories are locked, and I do not know how to unlock. For now only beverages and food is unlocked, but none of the items were free except the water bottle for two more times. I need to find a way to get out of this strange world before the free supply runs out," he thought.
Was he stuck in a game world like Jumanji or something like the world of Narnia? He couldn't tell. He was not used to watching anime; otherwise he would tell at a glance that he was going through what the nerds call an Isekai moment. Soon he spotted a glint in the distance, something reflecting the dying light.
He veered toward it, walking as fast as he could. As he closed in, the shape resolved from the blur. It was a metal flask, half buried in the sand. And beside it… there was a body.
Seemed to be a girl's body lying face-down and unmoving.
He approached cautiously and knelt, gently rolling her over.
His breath caught.
She was breathtaking. Late teens, maybe early twenties. Slim build wrapped in a tattered leather dress that clung to her curves. Bob cut, black hair. And atop her head… cat ears. Real ones, furred, twitching faintly, perched naturally. A cat folk—or rather, a cat girl. In a desert. All alone. He gulped again.
He shook off the absurdity and focused. Her lips were cracked, skin flushed from heat exhaustion. Dehydrated, just like he'd been.
Carefully, he lifted her head onto his lap. Up close, she was even more stunning—even though her face looked dry, but she still had delicate features, rosy lips, a beauty that hit even in her weakened state. Her chest rose and fell, letting him know that she was still alive, and her protruding chest was so sexy he couldn't help but gulp; she had a very beautiful smell to her even in this desolate land. Her body was so soft that his fingers were digging into it. She was making it so hard for him to think straight even in this situation.
Swallowing hard, he summoned the interface again. He selected another free water bottle and caught it before it fell to the ground.
He uncapped the bottle and gently pressed it to her lips, tilting slowly. A few drops trickled in. He couldn't help but think of tasting the water droplets that were on her lips. "This is not a time for you to lust over a helpless girl, Eren," he reprimanded himself.
Soon she stirred. A soft whimper escaped her throat. Her blue eyes fluttered open.
For a moment she was confused and kept staring at his face, dazed. But she soon got hold of the situation and realised that she was being held by a young man, and she jerked, trying to get hold of her dagger lying beside her, weak arms pushing at the sand.
Eren got panicked; he did not want to start a fight with this lady in this strange world. "Hey, hey, hey, easy!" he said quickly, hands raised. "I don't have any ill intention. I swear. You were out cold, and I just gave you some water. You were dehydrated and unconscious."
She froze, chest heaving, those cat ears flattening against her head. Her gaze darted over him—wary, frightened… but exhausted. She didn't have the strength to defend herself and was at his mercy. He kept his voice soft, steady. "I don't have any ill intentions. Really. I just want to help you."
On a second glance he seemed fine, and his eyes were telling her that she didn't have to be on guard against him. Being a catfolk, she trusted her instincts more than anything else.
Seeing her calm a little, he smiled and said, "My name is Eren, and I don't have any ill intentions. You were passed out from the heat. I gave you water. That's all."
Seeing him lower his stance, she softened her eyes. "My name is Mia" she said with a little purr to her voice, but her voice felt mature and resolute. "Who are you, and how did you find me?"
"I don't know," he lied. "I woke up in the desert this morning. I don't remember anything. You can call me Eren."
She again looked into his eyes, searching for any ill intentions but couldn't find any. She blew out a cold breath, relaxing herself. "We are on the 19th floor of the Volden Dungeon of the city of Volden."
Eren's mouth fell open, and he cried out loud, "What the hell? We are in a dungeon?"