Billions Transported

DING!!

Welcome player to Evergreen!

You are one of billions of people who were transported to the world of Evergreen!

You are now Human Lord # 135,671,995.

You have acquired a 100 meter radius for your territory.

You have acquired a City hall!

You have acquired a Summoning hall!

You have acquired a Hut!

You have acquired a City Wall!

Please survive and make your territory prosperous!

Warning: You only have 10 days for your newbie shield to be deactivated!

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Luis gasped as his eyes snapped open.

One second, he'd been walking home from another failed job interview,. He'd spent the whole day going from one office to another, submitting applications and answering questions that felt like they were meant to test his patience more than his skills.

When he'd finally walked out of the last place, the sun was already setting, and he felt more tired and hopeless than ever before. All he'd wanted to do was get home, lie down on his old mattress, close his eyes, and forget for a little while that life had been so unfair to him lately.

The next moment, everything had spun violently. His head felt like it was stuffed full of thick cotton, making it hard to think or breathe properly.

His vision blurred, and the sounds of the busy street, the honking cars, and the chatter of people around him all faded away until they were nothing but distant whispers. When the dizziness finally began to clear and his sight stabilized, he found himself staring straight up at a sky so bright and vividly blue that it looked like something out of a painting he had never seen before.

There were no clouds, no signs of pollution, and the light was so clear and pure that it almost hurt his eyes.

"What the hell?" He scrambled backward quickly, his palms scraping against rough, dry earth until his back hit something solid and rough, like the trunk of a tree or a heavy stone wall. He pushed himself up, shaking his head hard, trying to make sense of what was happening.

He looked around wildly, and his heart sank immediately. This was definitely not his tiny, cramped apartment room that he had called home for years. This was nowhere he recognized at all.

He stood atop a low, gentle hill, and all around him stretched endless flat land, stretching as far as his eyes could see. The ground was barren and desolate, covered in cracked, dusty soil that looked as if it hadn't seen rain in decades.

Not a single blade of grass, not a single green weed, not even a dead twig lay scattered across the dry earth. The air felt thin, warm, and carried a strange, heavy silence, like the entire world was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

It was quiet, but not the comfortable kind of quiet. It was the kind of quiet that made you feel like you were completely alone, and that anything could be hiding just out of your sight.

Then, the sound rang in his ears again, sharp and clear, cutting through the heavy silence like a bell.

DING!!

This time, a translucent blue screen materialized right before his eyes, glowing with a soft, steady light that made the text easy to read even under the harsh brightness of the sun. Words scrolled across it smoothly, burning themselves into his mind so that he could not look away or forget what he was reading.

"Evergreen? Transported? Human Lord? One hundred thirty-five million?" Luis rubbed his eyes hard with the back of his hand, hoping that the strange image would vanish and he would wake up back in his own bed.

When he opened them again, the panel remained exactly where it had been, clear and bright as ever.

"This isn't possible. This has to be a nightmare. Or maybe I collapsed from hunger and exhaustion on the way home. Yeah, that's it. I'm just hallucinating from being tired and hungry. That must be it."

He stood up shakily, trying to get his bearings and figure out where he was. Encircling the area he stood in was a low but sturdy wall built from sharpened wooden stakes that had been driven deep into the ground.

It wasn't very high, maybe only chest-height on him, but it formed a clear boundary that separated this small plot of land from the rest of the world outside. Inside this perimeter, the ground had been flattened and cleared, and three distinct structures stood out clearly against the empty landscape.

To his left was a sturdy building made of rough stone blocks and dried mud, square-shaped with a flat roof that looked simple but solid. Floating above it, glowing faintly with a warm light, were the words: CITY HALL.

It looked like the center of whatever place this was, the main building where decisions would be made and things would be managed.

Beside the Town Hall lay very dilapidated structire made of mud, wood and hay as the roof: HUT

To his right stood a grander structure, long, wide, and open, supported by thick wooden pillars that reached all the way up to the sloped roof. The wood looked strong and well-crafted, and the sign hanging above the entrance read: SUMMONING HALL.

This building looked different from the others, as if it held some special power or purpose that the ordinary buildings did not.

Circling the whole area was that wooden barrier wall, marked simply as CITY WALL.

It was simple, but it was there, meant to keep things inside and keep things out.

Beyond the wall, the desolate land stretched further into the distance. Far off, he spotted a few twisted, scraggly trees with brown, withered leaves that looked like they were dying. They stood alone, looking weak and sad against the empty horizon.

Even further out, dark, massive shapes moved slowly across the line where the sky met the land. They were forms too big to be any animal he had ever seen or heard of, moving with a heavy, slow gait that suggested they were powerful and dangerous.

He couldn't see them clearly from this distance, but the very sight of them sent a cold shiver running down his spine, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up straight.

Luis's heart began to hammer against his ribs so hard that he could feel it thumping in his ears. This felt far too real to be a dream. The heat of the sun on his skin, the dry dust sticking to his sweaty forehead and arms, the faint but terrifying roars and growls that carried on the wind from far away, none of this was something his imagination could make up.

He was really here, in this strange, empty world.

"Where am I?! What is this place?! Is this some sick joke someone is playing?!"

He yelled at the top of his lungs, turning in circles as if expecting someone to jump out from behind a tree or from one of the buildings and yell "Surprise!" and start laughing.

"Hey! Anybody there?! You had your fun! Ha-ha! Very funny! Okay, I get it! You can stop now! Let me go back! I didn't ask for this! I just wanted to go home!"

He ran back and forth along the inner side of the wooden wall, shouting until his throat felt raw and dry, but there was no answer.

No cameras, no crew members, no voices coming from hidden speakers. Only the sound of the wind whistling through the gaps between the wooden stakes, and the lonely, terrifying vastness of the empty world stretching out in every direction.

Panic began to rise in his chest, tight and heavy, making it hard to breathe.

Then he spotted a small thatched hut near the City Hall. It was crude and simple, walls made of mud and straw, a roof covered in dried grass that looked like it might fall apart at any moment, but it looked like shelter. It looked like somewhere he could be safe for a little while.

Without thinking twice, he sprinted across the open ground, pushed open the flimsy wooden door, and slammed it shut behind him, pressing his back against the rough wood as he tried to catch his breath.

The interior of the hut was as simple and basic as it could possibly be. There was a bed frame made of rough, unpolished wood, filled with dry straw that pricked his skin through his clothes. A single wobbly wooden chair and a small square table stood in the corner, with nothing else around them.

There were no windows, no decorations, no soft fabrics or comfortable furniture. But it was enclosed, and for the moment, it blocked out the sight of the endless wasteland outside and the dangerous shapes moving in the distance. That was enough.

He slid down the wall until he was sitting on the dusty earthen floor, his chest heaving as he tried to control his breathing. Slowly, the sharp edge of panic began to fade, replaced by a cold, sharp clarity that made his mind work faster than it had in a long time.

He remembered every single word that had appeared on that blue panel when he first opened his eyes. Transported to the world of Evergreen. One of billions of people. Human Lord # 135,671,995.

He thought about his life back home. He had no family waiting for him, no one who would be worried or looking for him. He had almost no friends, and the few people he had known had drifted away over time, leaving him alone.

His life had been quiet, difficult, and lonely, but it had been his life. It was all he had known, and he had wanted nothing more than to get back to it. Yet deep down, he already knew the truth.

This was not a prank, and he was not going back anytime soon. He was stuck here, in this strange new world, and he had to find a way to survive.

"Evergreen-" He whispered the name out loud, testing the sound of it on his tongue. He looked around the small hut, then through the thin walls at the empty land outside.

"They call this place Evergreen? It looks more like Ever-Dry or Ever-Dead. There's nothing green here. Nothing alive. It's just dust and rocks and silence."

He remembered the small yellow exclamation mark icon that had appeared in the corner of his vision when the message first showed up. He reached out and tapped the empty air right where he had seen it, curious to see what other information was waiting for him.

The blue panel expanded and shifted, new details appearing in clear, easy-to-read text.

[TERRITORY STATUS]

Name: Unnamed Territory

Owner: Human Lord # 135,671,995

Territory Size: 100 meter radius

Population: 0

Resources: None

Protection: Newbie Shield Active – 10 Days Remaining

OBJECTIVES:

1. Survive the initial period before protection ends

2. Gather resources and build infrastructure

3. Attract inhabitants and workers

4. Develop your territory into a thriving place

5. Reach prosperity and stability

WARNINGS:

- Outside territory boundaries: Unsafe area. Hostile creatures and unknown dangers present.

- No natural resources exist within your territory at this time. All necessary supplies and items must be obtained through special means.

- You may access your facilities to acquire what you need, but results are random.

- Be prepared for anything, as not all outcomes will be what you expect.

Luis stared at the glowing text, letting every word sink into his mind. Billions of people, so I'm not the only one. There are hundreds of millions of other people who were brought here too, all in the same situation as me.

He scratched his head, a bitter, hollow laugh escaping his lips as he realized how huge this all was.

Great. Just great. So many people, and we're all stuck in this empty, dangerous world. And what's more, getting things isn't like ordering or choosing. It's random. I could get anything at all, and I won't know what I'll receive until it happens.

That thought made him pause. It was scary, but it also meant there was hope. If it was random, then maybe he could get something good. Maybe he could get things that would help him build a home, get people to live with him, or even get power that would keep him safe.

But complaining wouldn't change anything. He had ten days of safety left before the shield protecting him vanished, and then whatever was out there would be able to reach him. He had to move fast. Survival had to come first, no matter what.

He stood up slowly, brushing the dust off his clothes, and walked out of the hut. The bright sunlight hit him again, but now he looked at the world around him with different eyes. He knew he had to use what he had, and the most important building here was the one marked SUMMONING HALL.

That was his key to getting anything at all!

He walked straight across the open ground, stepping over the dry earth until he reached the large wooden structure. The doors were wide open, leading into a spacious interior that looked simple but solid, with smooth floors and high ceilings that made it feel open and airy.

He stepped inside, and as soon as he crossed the threshold, a new interface appeared right in front of his eyes, different from the others but just as clear.

[SUMMONING HALL – LEVEL 1]

Description: Special facility capable of creating, generating, or acquiring items, structures, beings, or powers. Methods of acquisition are random. Results will be determined by chance.

Current Energy Reserve: 100 Units

Possible Categories of Results:

- Raw Materials

- Construction Blueprints

- Living Beings

- Special Abilities or Powers

- Miscellaneous Items

How it works:

- You may activate Summon once per level until the building is upgraded.

- Each Summon costs 100 Energy Units.

- After activation, results will appear immediately.

- Once used, the Hall will enter a locked state until it is upgraded to the next level.

Good Luck!

Luis read all the information carefully, making sure he understood every part. So he couldn't choose what to get. He couldn't pick materials or people or plans. Whatever came out would be decided by luck.

It could be something useful, or it could be something strange, or even something that seemed useless at first but turned out to be important later. And he only had one chance right now. If he used it, he wouldn't be able to use the Hall again until he built it up and made it better.

He thought about what he needed most. Right now, he had nothing. No wood, no stone, no food, no tools, no people. If he got materials, he could start building.

If he got blueprints, he could make better buildings. If he got people, he would have hands to work. If he got powers, he would have ways to protect himself. He needed all of these things, but he couldn't get them all at once.

It was all left to chance. Good luck indeed.

"Okay," he said out loud, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves.

"Whatever I get, I'll take it. I can't just sit here and do nothing. I have to try."

He focused his attention on the interface, his mind clear and ready. There was no way to change what would happen, so he just had to accept it and hope for the best.

[CONFIRM ACTIVATE SUMMON?]

Cost: 100 Energy Units

Results: Random

Luis reached out and tapped the word YES.

The moment his finger touched the screen, the whole building lit up with a bright, warm light that seemed to come from everywhere at once. The air around him began to tingle, like electricity was flowing through it, and the energy in his reserve began to drop quickly, counting down from 100.

100… 90… 80… 70… 60… 50… 40… 30… 20… 10… 5… 1…

DING!!

SUMMON COMPLETE!