Chapter 1: Welcome to New York, Mr. SystemAllen’s heart pounded like an errant piston as he took in the skyline before him. With every breath, the humid air tasted different—metallic, electric, and faintly of ozone. Towering skyscrapers loomed overhead, their gss facades reflecting a world he only thought he’d ever known through pixels and polygons.He gnced down at his hands. They trembled lightly, as though he’d just finished the most intense raid of his gaming life. But this was no raid. This was the real thing.A soft chime echoed in his ears. Allen froze, searching for the source. Behind him, hovering twenty centimeters above the cracked pavement, floated a rectangur panel of light:—= [Minecraft System v.1.0] =—

  ? Username: Allen_221? Level: 1? EXP: 0 / 100? Inventory: [Empty]? Skills Unlocked:  ? Pce Block  ? Break Block  ? View Stats? Quests:  ? Tutorial: Learn Basic Controls  ? First Task: Gather 64 Stone

  He blinked. Minecraft System? His brain whirred as if overclocked. Then came the realization: this was exactly like the mod he’d installed in his favorite sandbox game, only… living, breathing, real.“Pce Block,” Allen murmured. He stared at the panel, willing his fingers to move. With a whoosh of light, the inventory opened, revealing a glowing cursor hovering over “Pce Block.”He raised a hand, steeling himself. “Okay... let’s see.”A faint grid of translucent lines overid the world around him, snapping into pce on every surface. He pointed to a section of cracked asphalt. A quick click motion with his thumb and forefinger—and click—a perfect cube of cobblestone materialized where the pavement had been.Allen staggered back. “I did that,” he whispered, voice cracking. “I actually did that.”The system panel dinged again:+2 EXP Stone Collected: 1 / 64

  He gnced at the target count. “Gather 64 Stone.” This would take him back to his very first days of Minecraft—mining blocks, stacking resources, dreaming of building grand castles. But this time, stakes were higher. If he followed the tutorial, maybe he could unlock more powerful abilities.Allen crouched and broke the block: his knuckles struck the cobblestone, and the cube instantly popped into the air as a floating item. He reached out, grabbed it, and watched it transfer to his inventory with a satisfying clink. Two more clicks, two more blocks, and soon he’d collected five.A faint roar fractured the early morning calm. Sirens wailed in the distance. He looked up to see a sleek, bck drone hovering above the avenue, its automated guns swiveling toward civilians below. A girl screamed as an armed HYDRA agent darted between cars.Allen’s pulse spiked. Tutorial or not, the city’s in trouble.He tapped the system panel. “View Stats.”——= [Pyer Stats] =—

  ? HP: 100 / 100

  ? MP: 0 / 0

  ? Strength: 1

  ? Agility: 1

  ? Intelligence: 1

  No combat skills yet. But he had Pce Block and Break Block. He could improvise.He sprinted forward. Bullets buzzed past his ears. As the agent crouched behind a car hood and reloaded, Allen pced two cobblestone blocks side by side, creating a narrow wall in front of the agent’s gun. The agent cursed, bullets pinging harmlessly off the stone barrier. In that split second, Allen pced another block atop the first two, forming a crude tower, then vaulted over it, knocking the agent’s bance.The agent snarled and fired; Allen dived aside, the bullet shattering the second yer of stone. He pelted the shattered rubble back at the agent—three solid blocks smming the agent across the face. The agent went down in a heap.Arms bred. Civilians scrambled. Allen felt the system panel twitch with new notifications:+10 EXP Quest Update: “Tutorial: Learn Basic Controls” — Completed New Skill Unlocked: ? Sprint

  He inhaled sharply. That was too easy. Too exhirating.A voice crackled through a comm-link on Allen’s mental HUD. System: “New Quest Avaible: Defend Civilians in Midtown. Reward: 20 EXP, ‘Summon Mob’ Skill.”Allen stood atop his makeshift tower, surveying the chaos. On one side, a Hydra drone strafed pedestrians; on the other, a small patrol of armored troops advanced.He smiled—half grin, half dare. “Chaos or peace,” he thought. “Let’s see what mood I’m in today.”With a flick of his finger, he pced another block, roofed the patrol under a sudden cobblestone cage, and sprinted toward the drone. Bullets and fire traced his path, but with each block pced, each barrier erected, he carved a path forward.Allen had come to this universe as an outsider. A dead gamer reborn with pixel powers. But already, he felt at home—godlike, unstoppable, unbound.And so his first true quest began.