Path of Dragons - Chapter 3Book 1: : Castaway

Ethan's head throbbed violently as he opened his eyes, his vision hazy and unfocused. A dull ringing filled his ears, drowning out his thoughts.“What’s happening…?” he thought, his mind sluggish, struggling to catch up with reality. One moment, he was asleep—or at least, he thought he was—and the next, searing pain forced him awake.His vision swam, shapes blurring together in a disorienting mess. But then, muffled noises filtered through the haze—frantic, panicked sounds. Someone was trying to scream, their voice smothered, choked by something.A cold shiver ran down his spine.As his sight gradually sharpened, Ethan's breath hitched.He was on all fours, looming over someone. A girl.Her body twisted and writhed beneath him, ropes biting into her wrists and ankles. Her mouth was gagged, muffling her cries. Her wide brown eyes, brimming with fear and fury, glared up at him.Ethan's body locked in place, his blood running cold.“What the…?” His mind reeled, thoughts slamming into each other in chaotic disarray. “What kind of bizarre dream is this?”Panic clawed at his chest. His breath came in ragged, uneven gasps as he scrambled backward, only to realize his limbs felt sluggish, uncooperative, like they didn’t belong to him.“Is this… is this some kind of twisted fantasy I never knew I had?” A sickening thought slithered through his mind, making his stomach churn.The girl's frantic squirming slowed for a moment, her gaze flickering with confusion as she took in his expression—his trembling hands, his wide, horrified eyes. But the fear returned just as quickly. She struggled harder, her body arching, her muffled screams rising in pitch.Ethan wanted to speak, to say something, anything, but before he could force out a word, a glowing blue window materialized before his eyes.His breath caught.A translucent, hovering screen?“What…?”Lines of glowing text scrolled across its surface.---[System Activated…][Host Confirmed.][Simulating Previous Data…]Ethan awakens in a mysterious world, shackled by a curse that clouds his judgment and drives him toward choices he never wished to make. Burdened by guilt and responsibility, he must navigate the fallout of his actions while unraveling the truth behind the curse—and his place in this enigmatic new reality.

Felix's life on Earth had become a series of dead-end jobs, ruined relationships, and rotating apartments smaller than most postage stamps. By all accounts, even his own, he was a coward. Too afraid to move forward, to take risks. Yet when given the chance to choose between risking his life or walking away from a deadly encounter, he didn't hesitate.Moments before his untimely demise, Felix was snatched from earth and thrust into a magical world known only as ‘The Continent’. Empowered by the ‘System,' he learns that he can strengthen himself through combat and dedication. To survive he'll have to push himself beyond his limits, or else fall to the monsters all around him.Levels, stats, and magic. Death is the start of a terrible fate, but if he lives…who knows what he will become.

Lin Mu was pushed down the cliff, but he did not die and arrived to a magical world instead.

A huge python with wings and can fly, alright, just think it as the legendary Mayan Snake God;

A gigantic centipede that can fly in the sky, alright, he kinda seen it before in ‘Journey to the West’;

A mighty big wolf with a body as humongous as an elephant, en, just think it as a mutant;

….

Although the animals in front of him were a little strange, they are still animals but why did all of you suddenly turned into humans? Coming across wild beasts, Lin Mu still can accept it, but coming across ‘*yaojins’, Lin Mu became . . . . . . excited instead. What? You guys are the infamous drifter beastmen? I don’t know anything about that. You guys did a lot of heinous crimes? I don’t see that either.

And so, Lin Mu began a hard but satisfying life of building a home in a another world.

*Yaojin/妖精 doesn’t have a proper English equivalent word. The nearest meaning would be supernatural being or Yokai (Japanese).

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