1 Chapter One

Not long after I started my usual routine of jogging through the woods, I began panting and gasping for breath. I am exhausted far more than usual. I have been exercising and running the same route for close to a year now, and this is the first time in a long time that I have been exhausted.

It was like the first time I started exercising. Back then, I was a tad bit overweight. But now that I had lost that physique, I had completely transformed myself into a different person. So, to me, this was unexpected.

[I should rest.]

I thought to myself. Though I was trying to push myself a bit since it was my everyday routine and I had done it numerous times now with ease, the exhaustion was far worse than I could have imagined.

[Let me get myself to that clearing.]

Making my way to a clearing where I could take a minute to catch my breath, I began slowing myself down.

Immediately after sitting down and supporting myself with my hands as I leaned backward, the fatigue completely washed all over me, forcing me to lie down.

While generally it would be stupid and unsafe for me to lie down by myself out in the open like this, this is a place I am familiar with, and I know it like the back of my hand.

[I should lie down for a while.]

Attempting to revitalize myself, I lay on my back and began closing my eyes while taking deep breaths.

*Breathing in*

*Breathing out*

I slowly drift away.

~FEW MINUTES LATER~

*Splosh*

I could hear the faint sound of water sloshing around and feel the cool breeze brushing over me.

[Thats weird]

I thought to myself. The breeze was not unexpected since I had laid down in the woods and the place was elevated. It was not surprising for me to feel that way. But the sound of water where there aren't any water bodies close to it is what surprised me.

Immediately, I opened my eyes and sat up.

"What the..."

The scenery around me had completely changed since the time I had closed my eyes. I was now in a completely different place. A place that is foreign to me.

As far as my eyes could see, there was water except for a few tiny islets with one or two coconut trees on it, all the way to the horizon was the sea. And behind me was a deep, thick forest, not too far from the place where I had woken up.

All around me, I could see some kind of wreckage.

Though I panicked for a while, I quickly calmed myself down and began assessing my surroundings while trying to retrace my steps.

"I was jogging, and then I lay down to take a bit of rest."

I began to recall what had happened. After I kept on racking my brain for a while, I could not recollect what had happened while I had closed my eyes.

Since my effort bore no fruit, I moved on to assess my surroundings more thoroughly.

I see several wooden planks, a few wooden poles with ropes, and torn clothes hanging from them.

From all of these, I immediately realized that a ship had crashed, and these were the wreckage or what remains of the ship now.

Knowing this, I began looking for people from the ship who might have survived. Going through the rubble, I saw a wooden chest whose lock had been damaged, probably from the ordeal it had been through.

*Creak*

It made a creaking sound as I opened the chest to find what was inside.

"What is this?"

I said as I glanced at the contents of the chest.

Inside of it was some kind of spherical object, with a tiny twig protruding up from the top. The object was riddled with curvy lines, making its shape take an appearance similar to that of a tiny brain.

[Must be some kind of weird art piece that costs a lot]

I thought to myself.

Out of curiosity, I attempted to pick up and feel the object. As I began closing in on it, though it was almost negligible, I felt a kind of force pushing me away yet pulling me in at the same time.

Holding it in my hand, it feels organic and does not feel like an art piece created out of plastic or metal, or even wood.

I used my nails to confirm it. It went in without much resistance, confirming my suspicion.

[What kind of tree produces such a weird-looking fruit?]

I pondered

Bringing it closer to my nose, I took a whiff of the smell.

The smell was completely out of my expectations; it gave off an extremely alluring and extremely pleasant scent. That scent came off from where my nails had pierced the skin of the fruit.

The juice that was blood red in color, mixed with the scent of it became more alluring and tempting to gulp down and consume it.

*Grumbling*

It made my stomach grumble with hunger. While it was not surprising as I hadn't eaten after I had my breakfast in the morning. The temptation to consume was impossible for me to ignore.