So far, nothing had gone wrong—aside from the fact that wherever I was, this world made absolutely no sense.

  Pines stood tall beside palm trees, which stood beside sakura and oaks.

  But stranger, more alien trees were mixed among them.

  One in particular made my Kobold companion steer clear like it carried the plague.

  It was tall, curved, a deep shade of purple, its bright pink leaves rustling in a nonexistent breeze.

  And then its tongue shot out—snatching a rabbit that had wandered too close, swallowing it whole like some demented, carnivorous venus flytrap.

  The sound it made as it chewed would probably haunt my dreams forever.

  Aside from that, though, we hadn’t seen any monsters. At least, not yet.

  I kept a sharp eye on my quest progression, and we’d only “explored” about ten percent of my total territory so far.

  Which told me those squares were very deceiving in size.

  Considering the one square barely covered the small cave I’d woken up in, it meant the others had to be at least ten times that—maybe more.

  We’d chosen to head west, and I discovered I could view my map and most of the menu screens no matter how far I got from the Core.

  The Kingdom Management tab, though, was greyed out—which, I supposed, made sense.

  It made me wonder if I could move the Core at all. The last thing I wanted was to hike back to that cave every time I wanted to change something.

  “Well, little buddy, this is a nice enough world and all,” I said conversationally, though I was still pretty sure the Kobold didn’t understand a word. “Quite peaceful, in fact. If it weren’t for the weird monster trees, I’d even say this place is—”

  I didn’t finish the sentence before I walked face-first into what felt like a brick wall and landed flat on my back with an oomph.

  The Kobold stopped just beyond the spot where I’d hit the “wall,” looking back at me in confusion.

  I rubbed my nose, stood, and reached out again.

  Yeah… there was definitely something there—smooth, solid, invisible.

  [Warning. The Herald cannot leave his territory. In order to explore more, expand your territory.]

  I stared at the message, then sighed in frustration.

  “’Course not,” I muttered, dismissing it.

  So this was as far west as I could go. Trees still surrounded us, and I could see more stretching endlessly ahead—just forest, as far as I could tell.

  “Ah well. Come on. South next, I guess,” I said, leading the way. The Kobold jogged to keep up with my longer strides.

  “Well now… that’s interesting.”

  We’d been walking for some time, still not finding much beyond endless trees, until we finally stumbled into a clearing.

  The clearing looked like a natural resting spot for the local monsters. A small lake glimmered in the center, its surface perfectly still, while one side was boxed in by a cliff face I hadn’t noticed on the map earlier. Most of that cliff extended into the part of the territory I didn’t own—maybe that was why it hadn’t shown up before.

  In the clearing itself were three creatures: slimes.

  Small, translucent green blobs wobbled with every sluggish bounce. They moved so slowly I swore they could compete with snails for speed.

  I glanced over at the Kobold, who was still looking at me like a lost puppy, and sighed.

  “Alright, little buddy, here’s what we’re going to do.”

  I pulled out the pair of short swords, the clothes, and the leather tunic, handing one of the blades to the Kobold.

  It promptly shook its head.

  “Uh… no?” I asked, confused. I tried again, and it still refused.

  Maybe it didn’t like swords?

  I put the blade away and pulled out the bow, which thankfully came with a quiver and a handful of arrows.

  This time, the Kobold eagerly accepted the weapon.

  I hummed under my breath. “If I’m right, that means one of those skills you’ve got is a bow skill, huh?”

  As if understanding me, it nodded and gave the bowstring a few testing pulls.

  “Alright then.” I turned back to the slimes. “Here’s the plan: I’ll rush in and fight them head-on, you hang back and pick them off from afar, okay?”

  The Kobold nodded once more and nocked an arrow, its yellow eyes narrowing as it focused on the nearest target.

  “Just don’t shoot me in the back,” I muttered—then charged in.

  The slimes were… just as slow up close as they’d looked from a distance.

  Unlike in the video games I used to play, they also weren’t particularly strong against weapons.

  One slice of the short sword, and the slime just collapsed in on itself—like I’d popped a water balloon.

  Honestly, it was kind of boring.

  That is, until one smacked me in the shin with a pseudopod-like fist.

  “Christ!” I hissed, stumbling back, wincing the moment I put weight on that leg.

  Before the other slime could reach me, there was a sharp twang of a bowstring from behind—and an arrow punched straight through it, bursting the creature into a puddle of goo.

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  That made the third one easy to deal with, and within moments of the fight starting… it was over.

  And yet, I was still breathing hard.

  “Christ,” I muttered again, wincing as I glanced down at my bare leg. A nasty bruise was already forming where I’d been hit.

  I’d definitely need to find some actual armor going forward—something better than this thin tunic, at least.

  A soft ping drew my attention to the system. New messages. I sat down near the edge of the pond and opened the screen, while the Kobold stood watch nearby.

  [The Herald has slain Slime (Lv. 1)! — +5 Soul Essence]

  [Skill Gained! — Swordsmanship (Lv. 1)]

  [Skill Gained! — Physical Resistance (Minor) (Lv. 1)]

  [Roderik has slain Slime (Lv. 1)! — +5 Soul Essence]

  [The Herald has slain Slime (Lv. 1)! — +5 Soul Essence]

  “Well, those should come in handy at least. And now I was up to twenty-five Essence.

  If I could find only sixteen more slimes, I’d have enough to summon another monster.”

  I made a small prayer to whatever god—or goddess—watched over this world that stronger monsters meant higher Soul Essence.

  “What about you, little guy? You get anything?” I asked the Kobold, who just looked at me, lost once more.

  I chuckled.

  “Alright, let’s keep moving. Still got a lot of forest to explore.”

  I stood, stretched, and started leading the way again.

  At the rate we were going, we’d probably reach all four corners of my “domain” well before the three-hour time limit was up.

  Especially since, not far past the clearing, I slammed straight into that invisible barrier again.

  “God damnit,” I groaned, picking myself up off the ground.

  At this rate, I was going to develop a concussion before I expanded my first damn square.

  Heading directly east, we found nothing of note. But this far south, I could almost make out the beach through gaps in the trees.

  Good to know it was close.

  As we started making our way back north, though, a thought nagged at me—why was this part of the forest so… empty?

  Was it because it fell within my domain? Had the monsters cleared out?

  Or was there a village nearby that sent hunters in from time to time?

  If that was the case, would I have to worry about them in the future?

  Too many questions, and not nearly enough answers.

  You know,” I said, glancing down at the Kobold, “back home I was quite the studious person.”

  It just blinked at me—lost as always.

  I sighed. “Yeah, I know. You don’t understand a damn word I’m saying. But if I don’t talk, I’ll probably go insane.”

  At that, it almost laughed—a short, chuffing sound that made me frown before looking ahead again.

  Trees. Trees, and more trees.

  We avoided the strange ones easily enough, but it felt like there was no end to them. This would’ve been a nature conservationist’s wet dream.

  As we started to approach the final corner of my domain, we came across them.

  A group of people.

  Humans… and what I was pretty sure was an elf.

  They were dressed in worn leathers and shabby cloaks, each carrying a different weapon.

  The Kobold reacted instantly, snarling, and it took me a moment to drag it into the bushes with me.

  “Be quiet,” I hissed, eyes never leaving the group.

  I cocked an ear, listening closely as the group began to speak.

  But I couldn’t understand a damn word they were saying.

  A notification pinged, my screen automatically popping up.

  [Language Skill: Keldmerian — Level 1 Learned!]

  Interesting. I could learn languages just by hearing them.

  Still, all that did was throw in one random English word for every dozen of their native tongue.

  What I did catch were the words “Herald” and “Now.”

  Something told me they were hunting me.

  But how?

  How did they know I was here?

  Or… maybe they didn’t, and they were just guessing.

  Either way, I knew I had to avoid them for now.

  The elf alone looked deadly—he carried a massive halberd and wore plate armor made of some bluish metal.

  Two humans held staves: one in white robes that screamed cleric or bishop, the other in red.

  The final human was dressed like a noble, though I could see the glint of chain where his sleeves didn’t cover. One hand rested lightly on the hilt of a blade at his hip, and his eyes scanned the forest as warily as the elf’s.

  Their voices carried just enough for me to hear the anxiety in them. Every time someone said Herald, they froze, glancing around like frightened rabbits waiting for a wolf to leap from the trees.

  [Skill Level Up! — Language Skill: Keldmerian has reached Level 2!]

  Oh? That was fast.

  I began to pick up more words and relaxed slightly.

  From what I could piece together, they didn’t actually know if I was in this forest—they were only checking, just in case.

  If only they knew how right they were.

  I stayed low, waiting for them to pass.

  It was cowardly, sure—but it would also keep me and my little buddy alive.

  When their voices finally faded, I waited five more minutes just to be safe before moving again, letting out a long, quiet sigh.

  “That was close,” I muttered, mostly to myself.

  The Kobold perked up, tail giving a faint wag.

  I stood and glanced around before noticing the system pinging again. Confused, I opened it.

  [Achievement Unlocked!]

  [Title:] First Contact

  [Condition:] Encounter your first group of Verathen natives.

  [Rewards:] +200 Soul Essence | Blueprint Unlocked: Inn

  That was… a lot of Soul Essence.

  And apparently, I’d unlocked a blueprint.

  I frowned slightly. So the Core wasn’t just some summoning tool—it really was meant for kingdom building.

  “A kingdom of monsters, huh?” I muttered under my breath. “Guess that makes me the world’s strangest landlord.”

  Continuing our march back north, we found nothing else of note—besides more damned trees. If I had my way, I’d be changing some of this into something with fewer of them.

  With the corners mapped out, I figured heading for the center was all that was left.

  We’d just have to avoid those adventurers.

  Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

  Turns out it wasn’t too hard. We made it to the center of the woods without so much as a glimpse of those adventurers. I assumed they’d moved on elsewhere.

  The clearing that greeted us stopped me in my tracks.

  It was wide—much larger than the one in the northwestern corner of my domain. A lake sat in the middle, shimmering under shafts of sunlight that pierced the canopy. Dozens of animals lingered near it, drinking or grazing, utterly unbothered by my presence.

  Even when the Kobold shot one of the rabbits and began to feast on it, the rest didn’t scatter.

  Watching my little buddy eat made me realize something.

  I wasn’t hungry.

  Not even a little.

  We’d been walking for over an hour. It had been nearly two since I woke up.

  And the last human meal I’d eaten was… lunch.

  Before the plane crash.

  Maybe it was my new physiology. Or the system itself. Either way, before I could dwell on it, another notification blinked into view.

  [Quest Complete!]

  [Quest:] The Herald is Summoned

  [Type:] Main Quest

  [Objective:] Explore your new land with your Kobold companion, learn what you truly command, and find a place to build the foundations of your future Empire.

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

  Between that and the Soul Essence I’d earned from the earlier achievement, my total now sat just over four hundred.

  That was good.

  Real good.

  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to save up for a Standard summon or just bring in four more of the little guys.

  Probably the little ones.

  Better to overwhelm with numbers early on.

  [Current Day: 2]

  [Soul Essence: 398]

  [Kingdom Core: Level 1]

  [Domain Size: 1 Sector]

  [Active Quest: — None — ]