1 Welcome, Dungeon Master
"Where am I?" Akira muttered as he looked around the dark, empty place. He had no idea how long he had been walking, but the darkness seemed endless.
He couldn't remember anything about his past life except for his name.
"It's completely empty." He thought to himself.
Finally, he decided to sit down and contemplate his situation after an unmeasurable amount of time.
The absence of day and night exhausts his body and mind.
As he sat there a faint crimson glow appeared above his head, and he caught it in his hand.
As soon as he touched it, the scenery around him transformed.
He was now surrounded by majestic mountain ranges reaching into the clouds.
"Where am I now?" he wondered.
Across from him, a field displayed a variety of beautifully cultivated crops, from the lush green corn to the vibrant yellow sunflowers, creating a captivating summer scene, and the golden brown wheat added to the majestic view.
Akira turned around and discovered a lush area with thriving Oak, Plum, and Weeping Willow Trees.
The sunlight filtered through the foliage, creating a beautiful display. "This is like a scene from a prized painting, a picturesque," Akira thought and frowned afterward. "Picturesque?"
However, he struggled to remember what the picturesque meant. It was all blurry and confusing.
With a final confused glance, Akira sat on a log just beside him, closing his eyes to relax and adjust to the new surroundings.
When he opened his eyes, he found the open field more welcoming than the darkness and isolation.
The wheat in the field is cultivated magnificently, indicating the soil in this place is rich enough to grow different crops.
Now, the question is: who planted those crops? Although crops can thrive on their own in the proper location with the correct temperature, the way these crops grow must have been planted by someone nearby.
From his elevated location, Akira could see that there were no houses nearby.
To confirm, he decided to explore the area. He looked for a stick that he could use for self-defense in case of any unexpected events.
As he took the first step, he noticed something in his left hand. Opening his palm, he found an oak tree fruit. Acorn?
He frowned and wondered if this was the light that brought him out from the Empty. Why did he know it was an acorn?
Unable to put the feeling into words, Akira looked for a stick.
Once he found one, he headed downhill, holding the acorn in his left hand and gripping the stick tightly with his right hand.
After searching the field's perimeter for nearly an hour and venturing a few hundred meters away, he found no signs of a house or any human habitation.
Akira decided to take ownership of the field and build a small cabin for himself.
He carefully inspected the crops, focusing on the corn and wheat, and realized they were ready for harvest. However, the challenge now was finding a place to store them.
Constructing a storage facility was not as simple as he thought, and the lack of necessary tools made it even more difficult.
"I only have my clothes and this acorn. I can't build a cabin yet. I'll have to make a tent for the night," He stopped and shook his head. "It's strange to know so much but not remember where I learned it," Akira said, looking for materials.
As Akira gathered useful items, he couldn't shake the feeling of confusion about where he was and how he ended up in the Empty.
The lack of guidance and explanation left him feeling frustrated and lost, unsure of his purpose or what he was supposed to do. He longed for some direction and understanding in this unfamiliar place.
After collecting wood sticks, Akira grouped them by length and then searched for Yucca leaves to use as ropes.
He quickly found the leaves and scraped off the green and fleshy parts, leaving only the fibers to make into a cord.
He also fashioned a stone with a sharp end and a stick into a weapon and set up temporary traps with berries as bait that he found while exploring the forest for sticks.
Aside from berries, he also found coconut fruits.
Akira frowned, feeling like he was going crazy with these familiar yet distant thoughts. He could create something even without knowing and couldn't pinpoint its origin, but a mystifying feeling crept up and lingered in his mind.
He gazed at the fruit and decided it was safe to eat after finishing his shelter at dusk.
Akira wiped the sweat off his face and felt his stomach growl.
"I hope the trap caught something, but I really hope it's not a rat," Akira mumbled, his face scrunched up in concern.
"It's still strange to me. I understand every word and instinctively know them, but I can't visualize them."
As he made his way back, Akira hoped it wasn't a rat caught in the trap.
He sighed in relief when he saw that it was actually a dead rabbit. "So this is a rabbit, huh? I'll just ignore any other strange thoughts that come up."
Akira returned with the cleaned rabbit to his shelter and quickly built a fire. Within thirty minutes, he had a bonfire going and started cooking the meat. After an hour, he was full.
"Ah, I almost forgot about you," Akira said as he retrieved the acorn from his pants pocket.
He returned to the area filled with oak trees and carefully planted the acorn in the soil using a makeshift tool he made earlier.
Afterward, he watered it with a coconut shell filled with water from a nearby pond. "I don't know why you turned into an acorn, but I believe you're something magical. Grow strong and bring me good luck," Akira whispered to the acorn, convinced that it held the key to his transportation from the Empty.
Sitting in a shelter with three walls and no door, he looked out at the field and the mountains.
Akira was mesmerized by the beauty of the night sky, with its picturesque postcard-like scenery.
It all felt surreal.
He had been on the Empty earlier and now found himself in an unfamiliar place with no memory except for his name and some strange words.
With a bonfire nearby, a blunt weapon at his side, and a shelter providing a roof over his head, he had everything he needed for a head start.
As drowsiness overtook him, his eyelids closed.
While Akira was fast asleep.
The acorn seed he planted cracked open, and a root began to grow, digging deeper into the soil. It continued to expand uncontrollably, crushing the soil and rock below, creating a wider and deeper space.
The root extends like tentacles, penetrating the rock to access a large water reservoir. However, the water flow is blocked by thicker roots.
The root continues to dig deeper into the ground, increasing its speed tenfold every second.
Nothing happened above ground as the acorn roots were angrily excavated.
After an hour, the acorn had created a vast, airtight pit that was 500 miles long and wide.
The movement from below the ground stopped briefly as the cupule of the acorn fell into the deepest part of the space.
Rock formations materialized, creating steps, walls, and other wonders until they reached the spot where Akira had dug the soil.
The ground opened, and miraculous events continued, expanding the space to 500 square meters.
Similar to Akira's shelter, three walls were erected without doors, with an arched tip resembling a ziggurat and two tall obelisks on both sides.
All of this occurred without waking Akira, but nearby beasts and powerful individuals across the land felt a sudden and unimaginable fluctuation of Spiritual Qi for hours, startling them and keeping them awake until dawn.
As Akira dozed off, a large continent with many Kingdoms, Clans, and Sects was sent into an uproar.
As the gentle morning sunlight touched his face, Akira slowly opened his eyes to the sound of birds chirping.
A cool breeze prompted him to sit up and stretch, and he yawned before getting up.
The refreshing morning breeze blew past Akira as he made his way back to the nearby pond with his coconut cup and blunt weapon.
He hesitated to drink the crystal-clear water, knowing that ponds and rivers can still contain bacteria and parasites. "I hope my body can fight them off," he mumbled.
Sighed.
"I should have used the Yucca cords to set a net and trap fog drip, which contains less bacteria as it is produced through the atmosphere, and boil it later," Akira lamented, before setting the coconut shell aside.
Akira undressed and took a refreshing bath in the clear pond, observing the fish swimming around.
Afterward, he decided to make a pike or net using the Yucca cord for fishing.
As he returned to the shelter, he noticed a strange, towering structure with impressive architecture that hadn't been there before.
Surprised, he dropped his blunt weapon and coconut cup.
Akira had to look up to see the top of the structure, with two obelisks standing on each side at the same height. "It's too high. Was it the same height or higher than the..." He stopped himself from describing the red bone-like structure he was familiar with.
Akira focused on the entrance, which had no door, and thought deeply. "Odd. This is where I planted the Acorn. Is this a coincidence or the result of planting that magical Acorn?"
Akira cautiously stepped forward, gripping his weapon tightly. As he passed the towering obelisk, a translucent text appeared in front of him. Before he could read it, a voice resounded, [Welcome, Dungeon Master.]
