Bang still felt nervous as he observed the ocean for signs. It did not comfort him that the once active ocean now became eerily still. It was a bad omen that signaled danger for Bang and a warning to start running in the other direction.

Bang felt the heat of the sands in his now barefoot feet. He felt as slow as a turtle trying to maneuver through the white sands of this beach. It was like one of those dreams where you couldn’t run properly no matter how hard you tried.

Like all dreams, some of them turns into nightmares. This was exactly what Bang felt as he saw a giant crab reveal itself from the shallow waters.

‘Is that even a fxxxing crab????? How can it walk on land??? This is just getting more absurd by the minute!’

He did not look back again at the sea, afraid of the result he would inevitably see. He could only penetrate the dark and damp forest packed with trees and vines on all sides for a chance at a refuge.

As he stepped into the dimly lit forest, the first thing he could feel was the discomfort in his feet. He had forgotten that he had thrown off his shoes to save himself from being caught.

He looked down and saw that his right foot was directly standing on a sharp piece of stone.

He wondered why his foot wasn’t bleeding from stepping on this stone. In his previous life, stepping on legos would definitely be a painful experience for him. Now his foot was almost pierced by this stone but he only felt a little discomfort?

He looked at his feet and he saw that it was filled with callouses. This will save him from pain throughout his journey in the forest.

He could only thank the previous owner of this body in his heart. He could only wonder at how the previous guy lived his life and how he got these scars.

He only had a moment of luxury to contemplate on the man who predated him because out of the corner of his eye, he saw the crab. It was now standing on the sand and looking around for Bang.

As Bang was about to move, he locked eyes with the crab. Seeing this awkward situation, Bang could only raise his right hand up as a greeting.

“H——hi and goodbye”

He had dashed even before he finished the sentence. He did not wait for the reply since talking to a crab would be crazy. It is normal for people to talk to their pets but once they start replying, things would not be okay. He did not want to be thought of as a crazy person, thought the man talking to himself.

He ran through the forest ignoring the pain in his foot all thanks to his armor/callouses. He had hoped that the crab would forgive him for injuring it’s eyes and just stop chasing him. He had hoped that the crab would not go through all this trouble just to catch him, but it did.

‘Why is it even chasing me? It’s not like we have a lifelong grudge... I didn’t even steal his girl...... oh right the essence........THE ESSENCE!’

For a second he forgot he even had the essence. He quickly searched his body frantically, afraid that it got lost somewhere in the forest.

Thankfully, he saw the essence tucked in his left armpit, still glowing through it’s opaque coating. He felt that this essence was very similar to a pearl from Earth. The only difference was that the essence was bigger than his fists and that it looked more ethereal and otherworldly.

He was running for his life when he noticed an area more exposed to sunlight. This part of the forest let the sun seep through because there was not much trees to dampen it.

He saw trees and branches all over the place. They were all shredded and cut in half as if someone had a grudge on the trees. The trunks of the broken trees all had splinters that acted as spikes in their bark.

‘I would suggest owner to go hide in that area’

The annoying voice came again in his head. He had followed the commands of his system and nothing had gone wrong for now. Except for the maniac crab that was chasing him.

‘What?!?!?! How could I hide in there?? I would be totally exposed!! Do you want to feed me to the beast?? Do you want to die??’

Although complaining with an annoyed expression, Bang still ran in the direction that the system was pointing. He was like a kid who had just thrown a tantrum and still had to go to bed early.

He maneuvered through the broken trees and made sure to avoid the splinters. He stood right in the middle of the bald area of the forest. Anyone in a 100 meter radius could see him standing there, vulnerable and alone.

Seeing that it’s meal had presented it’s own like a beacon in the night, the crab strolled through the forest. Just as it was about to cross the threshold of the bald area, it suddenly stopped. It was like an invisible barrier prevented it from letting the crab go inside. No, it was more like the crab didn’t want to go inside.

Whatever prevented it from entering superseded it’s desire to capture Bang and settled to walk away.

Seeing that the crab has finally decided to back off, he sighed in relief. He didn’t even acknowledge the reason why it suddenly backed away. He just wanted to enjoy this peaceful moment.

‘You have gained 10 wisdom points for surviving with the essence.’

‘Your total is now 10 wisdom points.’

‘Congratulations, you are now able to access the shop. Please shop wisely.’

Before Bang could even retort, he suddenly saw a vision of a screen pop up in his mind. It looked like those virtual reality games that was starting to get popular back on Earth. It was a very weird feeling as if microcomputers were implanted on his brain that was able to let him ‘see’ the screen.

He did not literally see it but it felt like it. It had bypassed the need for sight and the information is just stored in his brain. He could recall any information about the store in his mind as if it was a memory.

‘STORE

CURRENT WP - 10 wp

-Self

   •mini map : 5 wp

   •past self : 5 wp

   •*locked*

-Crew

   •unlock a crew member : 100 wp

   •power up : 100 wp

   •*locked*

-*locked*

   •*locked*

Please follow my instructions to earn more wisdom and unlock more options in the store.’

Well, this was an easy decision. So easy in fact that the system decided for him.

‘Why the fxxx did you even show me the other choices?! You should have just bypassed me and unlocked it yourself if you were gonna limit my choices. Where’s the free will? Where’s my liberty?!’

‘Please follow my instructions to earn more wisdom and unlock more options in the store.’

This was the only response he got which infuriated Bang even more. The system was so nonchalant in it’s unhelpfulness that it was hard to take seriously.

‘Fine, free will is overrated anyway’

Bang then focused on the mini map portion of the store and unlocked it. He suddenly felt a light blinding him as he closed his eyes.

He suddenly noticed a that in his mind, he could now ‘see’ a very faint outline of the top view of his surroundings. It was only the general shape of the objects he could see but it still gave him an advantage as an aerial view is OP in large scale combat.

‘This could be very useful in the future hahahahaha. I don’t need to spy on my enemies if I have this map that could see......................a 2 meter radius from my position.’

His hope of finally getting some use out of his system was suddenly broken down. He was the one at fault for even expecting that the system would help him. It would not be useful since seeing with his own eyes would be more accurate and could see further.

‘Well, might as well spend my wisdom points since all of it is useless anyway’

Bang said that dejectedly and just shrugged to himself. Although he wouldn’t admit it, there was a slight bit of hope in his eyes. He then focused on the past self portion of the store and unlocked it.

He then all of a sudden got very vague memories about himself and the town he was living on. Before he took over this body, the previous owner was running away from the muscle heads. Bang did not know the reason why this chase started no matter how hard he tried to remember. It was like that part of the memory was blocked.

There were only mentions of some groups that governed the town, the names of which he could not remember but he was sure that he would recognize it if it was spoken.

‘Yup......useless like always’

With nothing left to do, he headed towards the town. He followed the memories that was in his mind and came upon a stone road. He followed this road to where he believes would lead to the town.

He walked for nearly an hour and finally saw the faint figure of the town. Excited at the mystery and wonder of this new town he was going to see, he confidently walked forward.

It was then that he suddenly heard a resounding slap which echoed throughout and reached Bang’s ears. He looked at his right and saw the cause of the sound.

It was two men, wearing the same attire ganging up on a teen who was now in the ground.

‘Surprise quest activated. Potential crew member spotted.’

‘QUEST

-Main Quest

   • Save your future crew member

      # Dismantle the fight by talking to the parties involved