Nathan stood frozen beneath the trees, the translucent countdown window hovering calmly in front of him as if it wasn't announcing the beginning of his probable death.
[Monster spawning will begin in: 8 hours, 8 minutes…]
The numbers ticked down with merciless precision.
Birds chirped in the distance.
Wind rustled leaves.
Sunlight painted warm patterns across the forest floor.
Everything looked peaceful.
Which somehow made it worse.
Nathan slowly lowered his gaze.
"…Monsters," he muttered.
The word felt heavier now, and it's not even funny.
But a real threat.
His mind began wandering despite himself.
What kind of monsters will spawn?
Zombies were the obvious answer — he did request them, after all — but what if the system interpreted that creatively?
Fast zombies?
Mutated zombies?
Exploding zombies?
"…Please not exploding zombies," he whispered.
His stomach dropped as cold realization hit him as hard as an isekai-ng truck-kun.
Can I actually fight them?
He looked down at his hands — slim and untrained, slightly trembling.
A shut-in boy with no combat experience whatsoever.
A boy who had spent the last five years bedridden in a hospital.
A boy who had literally celebrated his eighteenth birthday in his dying breath.
"…I don't even know how to throw a proper punch," he admitted quietly.
The image formed vividly in his mind — monsters rushing toward him, glinting teeth bared, sharp claws reaching, hunger burning in dead eyes.
Trying to kill him.
Breathing grew shallow just from the imagery alone, making his stomach twisted violently. A shrill sensation crawled through his entire body, like icy insects running beneath his skin.
Fear — pure, unadulterated fear.
But also — something strange.
Something he couldn't deny.
A faint electric sensation ran through his veins.
Warm like gentle sunlight, stinging like a licensed acupuncturist work.
Nathan blinked.
"…Huh?"
His lips slowly curled upward despite the tension gripping his shoulders.
A grin bloomed.
Small at first, then gradually widening.
He quickly raised his free hand to cover his mouth, startled by himself.
Why am I smiling?
His fingers brushed against his lips.
Yes. He's definitely smiling.
If all of this is real… I might get killed before even trying.
The logical response should have been terror; Panic, despair.
So why—
Was five years coiled into a hospital bed enough to twist someone's head like this?
Maybe he just wanted some thrill in life.
Maybe after years of staring at nothing but white ceilings and hearing machine beeps, even danger felt like liberation.
Or maybe—
"…Was I a masochist all along?" he muttered.
He honestly didn't know.
But one thing felt undeniably clear.
Deep down — he wanted this.
He had made that request to the goddess for a reason he'd unconsciously desire.
The realization settled quietly inside his chest.
Not loudly. Not dramatically — just… certain.
Nathan exhaled slowly.
Can I still smile when I actually see the monsters?
He looked toward the forest depths.
"I hope so," he whispered.
Because if that smile disappeared… fear might win instead.
He shook his head firmly.
"Alright. Enough existential crisis."
He opened the system again and navigated through the menus. He stopped at the [Daily Quest] panel.
[Gather Resources: 0 m³ / 50 m³]
Nathan frowned.
"…What resource?" He scratched his cheek. "What actually counts as gathering resources?"
Rocks? Sticks? Dirt? Dead leaves?
"And fifty cubic meters no less, that's… quite a lot," he added at last.
Do I need to become a survival Youtuber now?
Then something clicked in his memory.
"Oh." he snapped his fingers. "The storage function."
He navigated quickly until another window appeared.
—————————————
Storage
Stores items inside a limitless pocket dimension.
• To store: touch the object and verbally command — Store
• To retrieve: mental command
—————————————
Nathan stared.
"…Limitless?" He said slowly as gamer instincts activated instantly. "Okay. That sounds extremely broken."
He raised the pistol in his hand.
"Maybe, this?" He took a breath. "…Store!"
It vanished instantly.
No dramatic flash, no sound effect. It just… gone.
Nathan stared at his now-empty hand.
"…Oh."
He turned his palm over, then opened and closed his fingers.
"…That's illegal level of convenient." he blinked several times, still processing it. "It'll take some time to get used to this…"
He quickly opened the Storage inventory list.
[Handgun — The Revenant ×1]
[9×19mm Rounds ×30]
[Emergency Provisions ×3]
[1,000 ml Bottled Water ×2]
Nathan nodded approvingly.
"Good. It's there."
He focused mentally.
Take out the pistol.
It instantly reappeared in his palm. He nearly dropped it from surprise.
"…That's cool — super cool, if I'm being honest."
He straightened up and inhaled deeply, energy returned to his posture.
"Alright!" he declared to absolutely nobody. "Let's get to work."
He glanced at the countdown again.
"Still about eight hours before monsters start spawning anyway."
Plenty of time… hopefully.
His eyes drifted toward a nearby tree. Roughly five meters (16'1") tall, and two meters (6'5") in diameter. It had a thick trunk and healthy wood.
Nathan walked toward it cautiously.
"…If this works," he murmured, placing his hand against the bark, "resource gathering might be ridiculously easy."
He focused.
"Store!"
The world blinked, and the tree disappeared instantly.
No cutting needed, no effort whatsoever.
The tree just… vanished — including its roots. A hollow crater remained where it once stood.
Nathan froze.
His mouth slowly opened into a perfect 'O' shape.
Somewhere, a certain yellow electric monster famous for a move called 'One Hundred Million Volt' would have deeply approved of his expression.
"…N-no way."
He checked his storage again.
[Wood — 1.1 m³]
"Hmmm…" Nathan hummed thoughtfully. "So that's how that works."
He opened the daily quest window again.
[Gather Resources: 1.1 m³ / 50 m³]
His eyes lit up.
Then a massive grin spread across his face.
"Well," he said cheerfully, "this is going to be easy, for sure."
He spread his arms dramatically toward the forest.
"Let's commit massive deforestation!"
A pause.
"…Ethically questionable, but survival comes first… or perhaps… my daily quest."
He nodded firmly.
Then stopped.
"…But before that." He raised a finger. "For science."
He needed to test retrieval mechanics properly.
Nathan stretched his hand, palm facing forward before mentally command for the stored wood to come out.
Instantly — a massive wooden block appeared midair in front of his palm.
Roughly four meters (13'1") long, stretched from side to side. Half a meter (1'8") wide and tall.
A perfect rectangular shape.
It hung there for — probably — half a second.
Then gravity remembered its job.
*BOOM!!*
The block slammed into the ground only inches from his toe.
The impact shook the soil violently, driving dried leaves to burst upward.
Nathan stumbled backward onto his butt, with his heart nearly escaped his chest.
"Wh-w-w-what the fuck?!"