Thunder crashed around us, but it was the screams that cut through me the most.

  Emergency lights flared red in the cabin, and the captain’s broken warning over the speakers told me the truth—our plane was going down, and none of us were going to make it.

  Beside me, my sister clutched the armrest so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her wide eyes held a kind of fear I’d never seen before. I reached out and took her hand; a storm of emotions flickered across her face—shock, denial, anger—until it all settled into quiet, aching sadness.

  Then came the light. Bright, blue, blinding. And then… darkness.

  Pain. A groan tore out of me as agony ripped through every inch of my body—burning, mocking, unrelenting. My head throbbed like someone was drilling straight through it. My chest ached, my limbs felt like they’d been smashed by a truck.

  But… pain was good.

  Pain meant I was alive.

  Somewhere beyond, I heard the sound of wind passing through leaves. Birds called overhead, their cries sharp and unfamiliar. Slowly, cautiously, I pried my eyes open.

  I was not in the plane anymore—that much was clear.

  Instead, I was in a cave. Small, barely enough room to stretch out in. In the center sat a pedestal with a faintly glowing orb. And just beyond the cave mouth… trees.

  Palm trees. Pines. Maples. Birch.

  All of them, side by side.

  A forest stitched together out of different climates.

  When I looked down at myself, though, I got the biggest shock, actually yelping in surprise.

  I was naked.

  But that wasn’t what made me yelp — it was what I’d become.

  I had always been tall, healthy—never a bodybuilder, but strong.

  Now? I had to be close to seven feet tall, if not more. My skin, once pale, was now an ash-grey shade.

  And then there were the markings.

  I had always liked the idea of tattoos, but never gone through with it.

  Now my entire body was covered in them—lines of ancient runes etched into my flesh, glowing faintly in shifting colors: deep red, bright blue, earthy browns, steely greys.

  For a moment, panic took over. My breathing came short and fast, heart pounding in my chest—until, suddenly, something inside me clicked.

  The panic vanished, replaced by an unnatural calm.

  I took a few slow breaths and stood, careful not to crack my head against the cave ceiling.

  At least I fit. Barely.

  My gaze wandered until it settled on the orb in the center of the room.

  It was shining brighter now, almost… calling to me.

  Like a moth drawn to flame, I reached out—

  and touched it.

  Static exploded through my mind. Pain followed—sharp, blinding, endless. The runes carved into my skin flared to life, glowing a searing white that filled the cave with light.

  Then, just as suddenly as it started—it stopped.

  I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air, my heart pounding like a drum. That’s when I noticed it.

  A faint beeping echoed in my head—soft, repetitive, almost like the sound of a new email notification.

  The moment I focused on it, a translucent screen blinked into existence before my eyes, glowing faintly in the dim cave light.

  [Greetings, Herald. Congratulations on awakening your Core.]

  [Kingdom Core Unlocked — Level 01.]

  [New Options Available.]

  Information flooded my mind—images, concepts, words I didn’t understand but somehow did. My vision blurred for a moment before the screen shifted again, this time displaying several new tabs.

  [Inventory | Resources | Summoning | Kingdom Management | Marketplace]

  It opened by default to the Inventory screen.

  Right now, it was nothing but a grid of empty slots… except for one.

  Sitting in the very first box was a single object shaped like a gift—wrapped in shimmering silver, a faint glow pulsing beneath the ribbon.

  For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to do.

  “This… this is crazy,” I said, letting out a shaky laugh. The sound that came out of my mouth made me freeze—rougher, deeper, not the voice I remembered.

  With a thought, I opened the box.

  A flash of light burst from the screen—brief but blinding—and when I blinked my eyes open again, new icons filled the empty slots in my inventory.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  [2x Beginners Short Sword | 2x Beginners Short Bow | 1x Beginners Leather Tunic | 1x Commoners Clothing]

  The gift box was gone, replaced by the new items.

  Each one was pretty self-explanatory… though I couldn’t help but wonder why I had multiples of some.

  “Is there some way to bring these out for viewing…?” I muttered, curiosity edging into my voice.

  It seemed my question was answered for me.

  With a loud pop, one of the swords shot out from the orb in the center of the cave, spinning once before clattering against the stone floor.

  I leaned down, picking up the sword, staring at it like it might break.

  [Beginners Short Sword | Common - A standard sword used by beginner adventurers. Can be equipped by humanoid creatures to give them a bonus to attack.]

  I frowned at the description, then shrugged.

  “Guess that makes sense,” I muttered, setting the sword down and leaning it against the wall.

  “Now, how do I get it back in the—”

  Another pop. The blade vanished before I even finished the thought.

  “Guess that explains that,” I turned to the next tab on the new screen.

  [Lumber: 500 | Stone: 300 | Soul Essence: 100.]

  Lumber and stone were obvious enough, but Soul Essence caught my eye.

  [Soul Essence - Used by the Herald for a variety of things: summoning monsters, unlocking new zones, or reshaping the landscape.]

  “Huh… interesting.” I frowned slightly, glancing toward the orb. “So I’ll be using this stuff to summon things, huh?”

  I bypassed Summoning for now and tapped the Kingdom Management screen instead.

  The display shifted, giving me an almost three-dimensional view of my surroundings. The entire screen was covered in a grid, two squares highlighted in green—the spot where the cave and Core sat, and the immediate area directly in front of it.

  Surrounding those were countless grey squares. Some showed the dense forest outside, others stretched as far as the shoreline I could hear but not see.

  Each square looked big at first—maybe the size of a neighborhood or two, although the cave square was just the size of the cave—but not massive.

  Unsure what else I could do, I selected one of the grey tiles.

  [Expand Domain - 500 Soul Essence]

  “Holy shit…” I muttered. That was a lot of Soul Essence, considering I only had a hundred. I wondered just how hard it would be to earn more of it.

  Frowning, I selected one of the squares I already owned.

  [Change Terrain?]

  I selected Yes, and an entire list of options appeared—each one more expensive than the last, ranging anywhere from five hundred to a million Soul Essence. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head at that.

  It was good to know, but definitely something I’d have to come back to later.

  When I opened the Marketplace tab, a new message appeared:

  [Marketplace Unavailable - Requirements not met]

  I sighed and moved on to the next tab—Summoning.

  [Welcome to the Summoning Tab.]

  [To begin, you are only able to summon Minion-level and Standard-level Monsters.

  As your territory expands, or you meet certain criteria, additional monster ranks will become available for summoning.]

  That was interesting. So I could only summon a couple types of monsters right now… but it seemed I’d be able to unlock stronger ones later.

  Well… realistically, with only a hundred Soul Essence to my name, I could afford just one Minion-level summon. The Standard-tier monsters cost five hundred Soul Essence each—definitely out of my price range for now.

  With nothing else to it, I selected Minion Summon and confirmed the prompt.

  A bright flash of light erupted from the Core, forcing me to shield my eyes. When it faded—

  A small, dog-like humanoid stood in front of me, barely three feet tall, staring up at me with wide curiosity.

  It had snow-white fur and bright yellow eyes. Its face was distinctly canine, but it stood upright, with lean limbs, opposable thumbs, and a surprising hint of intelligence behind those eyes.

  [Summon Complete. Summoned 1x Kobold.]

  A Kobold.

  That actually made sense. I’d seen Kobolds like this in games before—dog-faced scavengers, clever and loyal when they wanted to be.

  As I focused on it, new information flashed across my vision.

  [Roderik - Kobold Level 1]

  [Average Stats: 2.5]

  [Average Skill Level: 1]

  [Number of Skills: 2]

  Okay… not a lot of detail, but it was something.

  “Um… hi there,” I said, looking down at the little creature.

  It cocked its head, confusion clear in its bright eyes. No words, no understanding—just curiosity.

  I sighed.

  “Just…hang out in the corner or something for now,” I ordered, waving it off dismissively.

  To my surprise, it listened. The little Kobold padded over to a corner of the cave, sat down, and waited.

  So it understood some things, at least.

  I glanced back at my resources—and blinked. My Soul Essence was at one, not zero like I expected.

  [Soul Essence can be gained in a number of ways, including passively. The Rate at which the Herald gains Soul Essence passively is determined by the size of their territory.]

  [Current Passive Rate: 1/10 Minutes.]

  Interesting. So realistically, I could just sit here doing nothing and eventually have enough to summon another monster. But at a rate of one every ten minutes… it’d take nearly a full day to get there.

  “Alright, what else can I do to gain this Soul Essence?” I asked aloud.

  [Soul Essence can be earned through the deaths of monsters, or adventurer’s, within your territory, as well as through completing various quests and achievements.]

  Quests? Achievements? I hadn’t seen any tabs for those when I—

  [New Tabs Unlocked! Achievement Tab | Quest Tab]

  I just stared at the translucent screen, expression flat.

  “Are you for real,” I muttered aloud, before opening the main menu again.

  Sure enough, there they were now, sitting neatly between the Marketplace and Kingdom Management tabs.

  [Inventory | Resources | Summoning | Kingdom Management | Quests | Achievements |

  Marketplace]

  It was like the system was actively testing my patience.

  The Quest tab was blinking, so I selected it with a thought.

  [New Quest Acquired!]

  [Quest: The Herald is Summoned]

  [Type:] Main Quest

  [Objective:] Explore your new land with your Kobold companion, learn the extent of your territory, and find a location to establish the first foundation of your Empire.

  [Time Limit:] 3 Hours

  [Rewards:] 1 Small Resource Gift Box | +200 Soul Essence

  [Failure:] The Herald will die, and the awakening will end in ruin.

  I nearly choked on air when I read the last line.

  “What the hell kind of penalty is that?” I exclaimed.

  I had three hours to “explore” my new land?

  Or else I would just..die?

  “That’s Bullshit!”

  The Kobold jumped at my outburst, startled, and rushed over, snarling at the empty air in front of us as if there were something there to guard against.

  I sighed.

  “Well… I guess now’s as good a time as any to go for a walk,” I muttered, glancing toward the cave’s mouth.

  Trees. Sunlight. Strange calls from unseen animals.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  [Current Day: 1]

  [Soul Essence: 0]

  [Kingdom Core: Level 1]

  [Domain Size: 1 Sector]

  [Active Quest: The Herald is Summoned — 3 Hours Remaining]