Deep within an ancient forest, the faint sounds of life drifted through the air, birds calling out in distant rhythms while leaves rustled in slow, irregular waves as the wind moved between towering trunks.
The forest itself was anything but ordinary.
Its trees rose with such unnatural scale that they dwarfed even the surrounding mountains, their massive trunks disappearing upward into layers of mist and cloud where their crowns could no longer be seen. It was the kind of place that instinctively warned any rational mind that the usual rules of the world did not apply here.
Above it all, the sky carried a heavy, muted darkness, as though the atmosphere itself was holding its breath.
Yet the most unsettling feature of this world was not the forest.
It was what hung above it.
Two moons drifted silently across the heavens.
One burned with a deep crimson glow, the other radiated a cold, pale blue light. Their combined presence cast a faint, shifting violet hue across the world below, giving everything an almost dreamlike unreality.
On one of the colossal branches near the upper canopy of a giant tree, a single figure lay motionless.
At first glance, it was impossible to tell whether he still lived.
Time passed without urgency. The wind moved through the branches. Leaves shifted and whispered against one another. Still, the figure did not move.
Then, without warning, something changed.
His fingers twitched faintly.
Slowly, his eyes opened.
"...Huh?"
The boy blinked, as if his consciousness had been dragged up from somewhere very far away.
"What... happened?"
His gaze moved unsteadily across the unfamiliar surroundings, trying to piece together meaning from shapes and shadows.
Then he looked downward.
The moment he registered the height, all remaining calm left him at once.
"Damn—what the hell?!"
His voice cracked through the silence as he clutched desperately at the branch beneath him, instincts taking over before rational thought could catch up.
It took several long seconds of panicked breathing before he managed to steady himself enough to stop shaking.
Only then did memory begin to return.
A snake. A bite. A truck. A completely absurd end that still felt unreal even now.
"Oh..."
Alden’s expression tightened into something between disbelief and irritation.
"That damn snake actually killed me."
His eyes scanned his surroundings more carefully this time.
Left. Right. Above. Below.
Everything was unfamiliar, and worse, nothing about it felt like any place he had ever known.
His heart gave an uneasy skip.
"No way..."
Then, almost despite himself, a dangerous spark of excitement began to form in his eyes.
"...Am I really in another world?"
His breathing subtly quickened as the thought settled into place, no longer a question but a possibility he could not easily dismiss.
When his gaze drifted upward again and caught sight of the two moons hanging in the sky, he froze for a moment.
Then that hesitation shattered completely.
"It’s real..."
His voice rose with growing certainty.
"There are two moons... this is definitely an isekai."
For a brief moment, he looked genuinely overwhelmed, as though years of impossible expectations had suddenly collided with reality at once.
Then, as quickly as it had come, caution crept in.
"...Unless this is some ridiculously elaborate prank."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"People really will do anything for content these days."
After a few seconds of suspicion, his attention shifted elsewhere, as though remembering something far more important.
If this truly was the kind of world he suspected, then there was one thing that should exist.
The System.
Alden straightened slightly on the branch, expression sharpening with focus.
"System."
Silence answered him.
"Panel."
Nothing changed.
"Status."
Still nothing.
His brows slowly furrowed.
That was not how it was supposed to work.
Every story he had ever read had made this part simple and immediate.
Refusing to accept reality so quickly, he tried again, voice growing slightly more determined.
"Aabra ka dabra."
Nothing.
"Gili gili simsim."
Silence.
"Open sesame."
Only the wind responded.
The forest remained unchanged, indifferent to his expectations.
The excitement that had been building inside him began to fade, replaced by a reluctant acceptance that this world did not seem interested in following familiar rules.
"...This is discrimination."
After a moment of silent mourning for what he assumed was a lost opportunity, Alden finally exhaled and shifted his focus back to survival.
"I should get down first."
He glanced toward the ground again, only now fully appreciating how far away it actually was.
"...Is this daytime or night?"
The twin moons made it difficult to tell, and the sky offered no easy answers.
Either way, staying up here was not an option.
Hunger was already beginning to creep in, and he had no intention of dying immediately after whatever ridiculous event had brought him here. That would have been far too humiliating even for him.
Carefully, he began descending, gripping bark and branches with growing caution as he made his way downward.
What followed was not a graceful descent but a slow, punishing struggle that tested muscles he did not know he had. His arms burned, his legs ached, and even his grip began to weaken at moments when fatigue caught up with him unexpectedly.
It took him nearly two hours before the ground finally came within reach.
Just as relief began to settle in, a sharp, violent pain suddenly surged through his head.
"Ah—!"
His vision blurred for an instant, and his grip slipped.
Before panic could fully return, something shifted inside his mind.
Lines of light appeared in front of his vision, one after another.
[ Soul Found ]
[ Host Detected ]
[ Synchronization Initiated ]
[ Error... ]
[ Error... ]
[ Host Identity Uncertain ]
[ Forcing Synchronization ]
[ System Fusion Beginning ]
[ Integrating with Host Soul ]
[ Activation Conditions Fulfilled ]
[ System Successfully Activated ]
The sensation lasted several minutes, like something deep within him being rewritten and stitched together at the same time, before finally fading away.
When it ended, Alden exhaled slowly.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
A familiar anticipation returned almost immediately.
"Status."
A blue screen unfolded before him.
NAME: ALDEN CROWE
TITLE: A BUG
ATTRIBUTES
Strength: 111
Agility: 148
Stamina: 122
Intelligence: 288
Vitality: 232
Mana: 256
Luck: Unpredictable (???)
Charm: 450
PHYSIQUE:
Apex Evolution Body
AFFINITIES:
Void: D
Ice: A-
For a long moment, Alden simply stared at the screen without blinking.
Then he stared again, as though expecting it to change if he looked at it long enough.
"...Not bad."
A slow grin formed on his face.
"Whoever this body belonged to wasn’t ordinary."
A faint sense of satisfaction replaced the earlier confusion. Whatever situation he had landed in, he was not starting from nothing.
That alone made things significantly more manageable.
Then his eyes drifted downward.
His expression paused.
"...A Bug?"
The grin faded slightly as curiosity took over.
Without hesitation, he focused on the title.
The screen shifted again.
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