Author's note:

English is not my main language, I am writing as a complete amateur this story that I imagined a long time ago in order to improve my vocabulary (and my writing while I am at it although it's not the main goal).

I have never written a story before, maybe it's super bad and uninteresting but I hope it is at the very least readable. My style might be strange, I'm sorry if there are mistakes or unclear sentences and for the lack of vocabulary.

 

Chapter 1: Transported to another planet

 

I'm currently in a desert, well, more like a city covered in sand for most parts, and I'm being chased by some big guys who apparently want me dead.

How did it come to this ?

Let's go back to some time earlier, like a day before all this, has it even been a day ?

 

Anyways, It all started on a day like any other, I was reading some novel, or maybe it was a webtoon. I love reading this kind of stuff so let's not bother remembering which it was.

Just escaping reality after being betrayed again. I say that but it all happened in an online game I had been playing for years.

Guess my personality wasn't meant for an online game community, I helped a lot of people get through hard content, for free, just to be insulted after they got stronger than me, classic.

 

Worst part being that I had helped before on another hard content just for the same result. I learned my lesson now though and resolved myself to follow a new guide line in the game: "Don't trust nor help anyone, being alone is the best".

At least those were my thoughts at the moment.

 

Late that evening, I received a weird message on my phone "Come to the roof."

hum ? Why the roof ? I live on the 6th floor but have never been on the roof of the building, how do I even go there ...

Wait. The sender's number, It's not registered in my phone so who sent this ?

 

I can't seem to remember the number, it's like it's blurred in my memory. Well, my eyes were really bad, like I couldn't read a book when I was further than 10 cm away from the text, pretty inconvenient in life.

Wear glasses, you say ? Sadly glasses couldn't do anything for me, I was untreatable with current technology.

I'm not sure why, but I went to the roof anyway. Guess I had nothing to lose as I was bored and had time before going to sleep.

 

It was really dark up there and kind of cold. When I looked ahead, I could see two people having an argument of some sort, close to the edge.

Is this why I was called to the roof ? They were talking but for some reason, I have no idea what they were saying, it all sounded like a foreign language I had never heard before.

Now what ? Should I call the police or something ? Nop, I resolved myself to not help others. Why should I ? Let's just watch, wait and not care, the world won't change over this. I was still salty over that game like an idiot.

 

Maybe what happened to me next was a consequence of my new way of thinking. One of the guys was shot, it was a strange shot though, I remember it emitted some unusual light, whatever.

The shooter turned his head looking right at me, I couldn't see his face 'cause it was too far and too dark but I remember his eyes were somewhat glowing.

For a second there I thought it was a werewolf or some supernatural creature but with a gun ? No way, I just watched too many stupid teen series in my life.

 

After that, well, I remember seeing a bright light, like really bright, totally blinding me and then ...

I woke up in the middle of ... A freaking desert ?!

Yep, sand all the way to the horizon. Is this my punishment ? Hell ? Limbo ? Am I dead or alive ? I can feel the heat, I’m probably alive …

 

Well, better start moving before melting here, panicking won't change my situation, I must remain calm if I want to survive whatever this is.
There was a dune blocking the view on my right so I thought I'd climb it to see further, maybe there's some oasis ahead ? One can dream.

The climb was easier than I thought it would be, I usually get tired very fast but for some reason after reaching the top, I still had plenty of energy.

I stared ahead, there seemed to be something resembling man made structures in the distance, like houses maybe, so I decided to just walk that way.

 

Hum ? Something definitely isn't right, how was I able to see that far ? It seems my eyesight is good now, how ?

Well, it's not like anyone would answer so let's not think about it and keep going.

But one more thing wasn't right, the sky was reddish but the sun, also reddish, still high, not dawn or dusk, more like noon. Again, let's not think about it and laugh it off.

 

After walking for a while, I stumbled into a ball. A ball ? Yes, it's a ball, a perfectly round ball, made of sand. What is that thing doing here ?

There is no way it's natural. I stared at it, refrained from kicking into it after remembering those sport manga kids training in the sand to raise the difficulty level. I'd totally just fall and miss it right ?

I just took the ball in my hands, it didn't crumble, remained as a ball for some inexplicable reason and I'd even say that I felt refreshed after taking it.

 

I mean I wasn't feeling hot anymore nor hungry or thirsty, it was like the effects of the desert had been removed, even the fatigue was gone.

Suddenly I could see some loading icon in the up left and corner of my field of vision, you know, like when your computer goes on an update, there's that circle thing, it was just that.

It went away though, maybe I just hallucinated something ? For a second here I thought I'd get that classic cheat thing in novels but guess not.

 

Anyways, the ball was big and heavy, so I put it back on the ground and kept walking.

It seems what I saw earlier from the top of the dune was actually a town with high buildings and all, maybe even a big city but some buildings were kind of off, like that tower in Italy, not straight, I wonder why.

While thinking about it, I suddenly felt something knocking at my leg, I turned back quickly and got surprised to see the sandball from earlier.

The ball ? Wait, It can move ? On its own ?

 

Was this ball actually alive ? Should I try talking to it ?

"Ahem, hello, ball, do you, eh, need something from me ?" I asked that super hesitantly pausing between my words.

...

No response, maybe it doesn't understand or maybe this thing is like a car with tiny people in it ?

Yeah no, no way but now I feel like I understand that guy who came on Earth for the first time and tried shaking hands with cars because he thought they owned the place.

I laughed it off, as usual when there's something odd happening, and kept walking but it seemed the ball wanted to follow me.

 

To be honest, I'd take it with me in my pocket if it were smaller, I didn't have a bag with me, I was in casual clothes.

I wished whoever transported me here would've given me better clothes and some water or provisions or anything useful in fact !

While venting my anger, the ball knocked on my leg again.

"What ?" "Huh ?" It was smaller, the ball made itself smaller, did it read my mind or something ?

"Alright, I'll pick you up." I put it in my pocket and kept going.

 

The night was falling, or so I thought ...

As soon as that red sun went out of sight, a yellow one showed up, the sky became blue.

It felt normal as if I were home again but let's be honest, this is definitely another planet right ?

Let's not think about how I'm casually breathing, walking around and other stuff.
I must’ve gotten some cheat to make it possible, probably …

I had reached the town. "Exploration time !" I shouted happily running on a sand-covered road.

 

Well, the excitement fell short, this place was wrecked, as if some guy, coincidently named Ralph, passed by.

I was probably around the center area of the town with those big and shiny buildings around but their windows were all broken into pieces. When I said shiny, I literally meant it, some buildings looked new in terms of materials but just wrecked.

It was like some super storm from a catastrophe movie came by right after the building was completed.

Everything was in that state around here, it gave off a scary vibe so I decided to get away from what seemed to be a main street.

Better find some supermarket with provisions and clothes.

 

Unfortunately, most structures that resembled a supermarket were empty, like nothing left on the shelves and lots of sand inside.

I ended up finding a shop which had not been touched at all, glass windows still intact and not a grain of sand inside.

The door easily opened but some strange force was forbidding me to enter. Well, more like forbidding the thing in my pocket to go in 'cause my body could get in but my pocket was stuck in the air.

Basically, the sandball couldn't go in so I left it at the entrance of the shop and oh miracle ! Now I could explore it.

 

I was a bit taken aback because most clothes here were winter clothes, warm stuff like scarves and gloves even.

Could it be that the weather was much colder around here before ?

I found a mirror and gasped looking at my reflection. Well I was expecting it to some extent, I looked younger than my real age.

I mean I'm a 27 years-old woman but this reflection looked like me as a teenager.

Unless the mirror takes away 10 years from people who look at it but no, I knew this was real because it explained why I was still energetic after climbing that dune some time earlier.

 

I don't know how or why this happened but as I said to every mysterious thing happening, let's not think about it and laugh it off.

Time to pick up some clothes. I took a blue windbreaker, yes the desert was windy, it had a hood, both press studs and zipper. I liked press studs, I could just use those around the neck and leave the rest open, making the mantle into some sort of cape.

I tend to be cold in the neck area when there is a lot of wind so I packed a scarf in a back-pack I found.

Warm clothes in a desert, I know it's strange but ever since I took the ball with me, I don't really feel that warm anymore so it's ok I guess.

I took a second look at the gloves, something felt strange but I couldn't put my finger on it so I just left the shop.

 

The wind outside pushed the hood on my head naturally as I was picking up the sandball to put it in my bag.

That's when some people showed up. People ? God I'm not alone around here, maybe they can tell me what this place is and how to get home.

They approached me and started talking but I couldn't understand a word they were saying.

A strange message appeared in front of me, you know, like in those game system stories.

[Installation Completed ! Enjoy the Network.]

 

Yes, ok, network, gotcha. No I don't get it, what's this now ?

The wind blew my hood away letting the people see my face.

 

"You ... Royalty ?"

Oh, I can understand now, a big black guy said that, Royalty ? What now ?

I looked at them, they seemed angry, and another guy opened his mouth to shout "Get her and kill her !"

 

I start running. But holy sh*t ! Why ? What did I do to them ? 

They didn't look like they would listen even if I tried to talk this out.

Anyways, now I'm in this dire situation, running for my life.

 

Well, it wasn't that dire because I actually outran them easily, too easily even. How did I run this fast and on sand at that ?

I found myself in some dark alley to catch my breath but I wasn't really out of breath. What's going on ?

Thinking about it, didn't I get some classic cheat earlier ?

Ok, how does it work, hmm, "Status window"

...

Nothing, Okkkk… Wait, I think it said ‘Network’, right ?

 

Just thinking about the name and it popped up in front of my eyes, some welcome page like when you start your computer.

Lots of options but no 'status' thing, looks like this thing isn't a cheat but the equivalent of the internet with more options.

For instance you can check your ID, like an ID card but more sophisticated.

 

[Name: To be set

Age: 17/27/UNKNOWN

Job: UNKNOWN

Race: Humanoid (Planet Earth)

Address: UNKNOWN

.

Height: 1.68 m

.

Localisation: Planet Crystal (%$@°~)

.]

 

This is quite detailed but why is my name 'to be set' when it says 'UNKNOWN' in many other categories ? It knows a lot but not my name ? Or can I set it as I please ?

Well, at least, it seems one mystery is solved, this planet is called 'Crystal' but it doesn’t give any more detail or maybe it is part of the unreadable symbols.

In the 'Skills' category, I have 'auto-translation'. That's why I could suddenly understand those people back then but it’s strange that it doesn’t translate the symbols.

 

Unfortunately it seems all the options relating to communication between people are broken and I can't even look up past community posts or anything.

It always shows this message:

[Unable to sustain for communication purposes, please contact the staff through the emergency channel or proceed with a manual reboot]

And of course, nobody answers in this ‘emergency channel’. Manual reboot seems out of reach as I have no idea how this thing works.

 

The skill category is packed with the most ordinary stuff like simple 'Walking' or 'Cooking'. It’s like anything you can do is automatically listed as a skill.

There are also special skills like 'Protection in the sandash desert'

This skill basically says that as long as I'm in the desert, I can't die, yes it's totally overkill and probably involves some magical setting.

 

[The core of Sandash desert gives you its protection:

-You will be immune to the downsides of the desert (thirst/hunger/heat/burn/fatigue)

-Your body will be assimilated to sandash and thus cannot be destroyed by non magical objects

-All of your basic physical abilities and skills will be enhanced ('Strengh' 'Eyesight' 'Walking' 'Running' ...)

-If you leave the desert, all protection will be removed and it may cause strain on your body, do not forget to eat and rest, if the core judges you will face instant death by leaving, it will forcibly keep you in the desert

.]

 

That last line is scary, no wonder the skill is OP. Guess I should get some rest and find stuff to eat even though I don't feel hungry …

I wandered again around town, this time avoiding those people, wishing I had some detection or camouflage skill or at least a map but well, enhanced senses was good enough of a skill already.

There were some people in front of a shop, maybe there's food there but I must wait for them to go away.

 

Are the people of this planet all black or dark skinned ? Is this why they chased after me ?

I mean, I'm a white girl, blue eyes, blond hair, typical European traits, maybe there's discrimination on white people here ?

But the big guy earlier said something about 'Royalty' ... Ok let's not think about it and observe.

 

I looked at those guys from some faraway alley, enjoying my good eyesight because I never had that before.

The hands of these people ... Now I know why I had a strange feeling earlier looking at gloves, why didn't I see it ?

They had 6 fingers, yes 6, this really is another planet, with different features. The guy with really almost pitch-black skin had 2 thumbs, one on each side of the hand while the others had only one but still 6 fingers.

Some other guy showed up, he had pointy ears, not long like an elf though, just pointy and his main trait was that... He was green ?

No I mean green skin, dark green, that's new, I wonder what he is, give me appraisal skill please !

 

I couldn't hear what they were talking about, I hope they are not looking for me.

Once they went away, I entered the shop. Bingo ! Cans and bottles, lucky !

But wait, is this edible for me ? I'm used to reading the label and composition of everything I buy. Yes, I'm one of those annoying people who like transparency but know it's all a lie.

Never believe labels ! But, here I don't have much of a choice, hopefully the translation skill will be helpful.

Suddenly some pop-up window showed up.

 

[The sandash core has granted you 'Danger Detection']

 

Hum ? What now ? Let's see...

 

[An alert pop-up will show whenever you are in a life-threatening situation.]

 

Ok, why not, that can only be useful right ? But why now ? Thinking about it, maybe this 'core' thing could be the ball, you know, that ball I picked up, it totally gives the vibe of a strong magical being right ? Maybe not, I'll put it back on the 'let's not think about it' list.

Still, thank you master core for looking after me. I was like making some solemn prayer to this 'core' thing.

 

I tried opening some cans and bottles randomly, whenever I'm about to eat or drink something that is dangerous according to the label, this danger alert skill pops up. That's nice, no need to read labels anymore I guess.

The food wasn't bad but it wasn't really good either, well, no kitchen around, let's be glad to have something and pray it'll get better later somehow.

After this very long day, I'd really like to close my eyes in peace for a while, I wonder if the danger alert thing works when I'm asleep. I hope it does.

I went back to the clothing shop. I assumed that since it was untouched, it meant that for some reason, people would not enter it so I should be fine there.

 

I had to leave the ball outside as it could not go in, it wanted to follow me though.

I tried explaining, unsure it would comprehend me but it stoped following me so I guess it understood to some extent.

I went to the back of the shop, far from the entrance so I would not be seen from the outside, covered myself in clothes and prepared to sleep.

 

I looked at the network window, the protection of the core seemed deactivated in here. Is this why the ball can't come in ? And the reason why this particular shop is untouched ?

Well, let's not think about it anymore. I felt suddenly really tired so I closed my eyes and rapidly fell asleep.