Chapter 1

Henry left his client’s Central London office with a spring in his step. He had just finished his final meeting and handed over the software. He had some free time now, with no new project lined up just yet.

It had rained earlier. The pavement was still wet, but the sky had almost cleared up. Checking his phone, he saw he had ten minutes until the bus arrived, so he was in no hurry. He used his umbrella as a walking stick, swinging it out and planting it on the ground with every other step.

Henry crossed the street and could already see the bus stop in the distance. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He hooked the umbrella over his right arm, took out the phone and looked at the screen. A notification titled “System” was showing at the top. His first thought was Spam, but he checked it anyway, just to be sure.

Relegation period completed.

Interface activated.

Transferring to agreed re-entry point.

He stared at his phone, frowning. He had no idea what the message was talking about. Relegation? Football, maybe? His thumb was moving towards the Delete button when his hand was, suddenly, empty.

There was no flash, no queasy feeling. One moment Henry was in the middle of London, phone in hand; the next he was somewhere else.

He looked around.

He stood on a packed dirt road, next to a small, tear-shaped stone. Maybe a mile marker. On both sides of the road were flooded fields, rice paddies, at a guess. Off in the distance was a forest of some kind of conifer, and ahead, what seemed like the outskirts of a small town or village.

The buildings were timber-framed, with white plaster walls and thatched roofs. They reminded him of old Chinese houses.

“OK, what just happened?” Henry asked himself.

He looked down. His umbrella was gone, just like his phone. Instead of his tailored overcoat, he was now wearing a kind of heavy purple silk robe with gold embroidery. The sleeves hung wide. Again, it reminded him of something he had seen in a Chinese costume drama. A hanfu, if he remembered the name correctly.

A computer window appeared in front of his eyes, jolting him out of his contemplation. The message in the window read like the “System” notification on his phone.

Transfer complete.

Basic equipment granted based on attributes and history.

Foreign currency converted to 20 copper pieces.
Superfluous equipment converted to 3 silver pieces, 135 copper pieces.

Is this a dream? Henry thought. Unlikely, unless I have undiagnosed instant-onset narcolepsy. A stroke? Maybe, but no family history or prior health concerns. He pinched the back of his hand just in case. It hurt, and he didn’t wake up. Am I in a video game? No buttons or controls, so how do I use this “interface”? Just go with it for now, I suppose. He shrugged.

“Status,” he said. A new window opened. A character sheet.

Ornu, Level 1

STR 2
DEX 3
INT 5
SPI 4
CON 2
CHA 5

HP: 20/20
MP: 10/10

EP: 0/100

Class: None

Skills: None

It looked like a typical character sheet. The name was wrong. “Ornu,” he tried aloud. Strangely, he liked the sound of it. It fitted.

He checked his stats. They were mostly what he would have expected from a role-playing game. Intelligence and Charisma at five. Smart and pretty. Nice. The rest was fair, although he didn’t know what SPI – Spirit, he guessed – entailed.

Now where is that “basic equipment” it talked about? He looked for the pockets of his robe and, after a short, confused search, found them in the folds of his sleeves. They were empty. “Inventory?” he asked the air.

As if on cue, a new window appeared in his vision.

Inventory

• Oakwood Rod (Common)

“And the money?” he asked out loud again.

Purse

0 ap
0 gp
3 sp
155 cp

The “interface” seemed to react to voice commands, or perhaps the intent behind his words. With nothing to lose and multiple windows already beginning to clutter his vision, he mentally focused on the “Purse” and thought close. The window closed. A dismiss on the notification and the character sheet did the same.

Retrieve Oakwood Rod, Henry thought. A stick materialised in his left hand. He closed the inventory with another thought and looked at his weapon. It was about a metre long, made from light-coloured wood: oak, according to the name. He would have preferred a longer staff, having done some staff forms years ago, when he was in his martial-arts phase.

As he inspected the stick, two new windows opened.

Skill gained: Inspection

Examine a creature or object to gain a small insight.

Oakwood Rod (Common)

A rod made of oak, about 90 cm long. Used as a magical focus and, at a pinch, as a blunt weapon.

Henry’s ears pricked up at the mention of magic. He dismissed the windows, swung the rod forward and shouted, “Fireball!” It was mostly in jest, but a warm feeling built up in his chest and moved towards his outstretched arm. It coalesced in his hand, passed into the rod and – nothing happened.

Skill gained: Mana Manipulation

You can feel and manipulate the mana inherent to you.

OK, something had clearly happened. I’m basically a wizard now, he thought and grinned like an idiot.

The mana had come from him and gone into the rod. He reached for that feeling in his chest again. When he found it, he moved it to his hand, the way it had moved before. He poured it into the tip of the rod and tried to hold it there. The rod slowly began to glow with a warm light.

Spell created: Torch

Enchant an object to emit a torch-like glow. Lasts for eight hours or until dispelled.

[Enchantment] [Light] [Touch]

 

100 EP gained.

Level 2 reached.

STR grew by 1.
DEX grew by 1.
INT grew by 1.
SPI grew by 1.
CON grew by 1.
CHA grew by 1.

Henry hadn’t expected a level-up so soon. He checked his status window.

Ornu, Level 2

STR 3
DEX 4
INT 6
SPI 5
CON 3
CHA 6

HP: 25/25
MP: 10/11

EP: 100/600

Class: None

Skills: Inspection (Rank 1), Mana Manipulation (Rank 1)

Just as Henry was wondering what to do next, yet another window appeared. He sighed. This was nearly as bad as pop-up ads.

New Quest

Find a safe place for the night.

Reward: 25 EP, 50 cp

He looked the quest over. Free experience and money for something he was going to do anyway. OK, maybe not as bad as pop-ups, he thought. He had been standing around the mile marker for perhaps ten minutes and hadn’t seen anyone else on the road in that time. He supposed the settlement in the distance wasn’t very large, or that the road didn’t see much traffic. He inspected the stone next to the road for good measure.

Road Marker

A tear-shaped stone marking a stretch of road. It is carved with a plum blossom and the number 5.

Right, Henry thought, Plum Blossom Road, mile five – or something.

He looked towards the town, nervous and, to his own surprise, rather excited about whatever came next. A nerd awakens in a new world and becomes the strongest wizard, he mused with a grin. “Too much anime, Henry,” he said out loud, and was off.