Pain.

  That was Emery’s first sensation when she woke—muscles aching, throat raw, and her entire body feeling like it had been wrung out like a damp cloth.

  Her second sensation was cold.

  A shiver wracked her body as she curled into herself, the dampness of her clothes making everything worse. It took her a moment to remember why she was wet—oh, right. Almost drowned.

  She groaned, rolling onto her side.

  The stream gurgled beside her, deceptively peaceful. It had nearly killed her, and now it had the audacity to just exist, like it hadn’t tried to drag her under. Rude.

  She pushed herself upright, legs trembling as she sat up. She needed to get dry, or she’d freeze before she even had the chance to die from dehydration.

  Her gaze flicked to the forest, dense and unfamiliar. Everything about this place screamed dangerous, but she didn’t have the luxury of staying put.

  Her stomach growled, sharp and insistent.

  “Great,” she muttered, voice hoarse. “Food’s next on the list.”

  Water had nearly killed her, but at least it was drinkable. That was one problem solved.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Sort of.

  She still had no idea where she was.

  Or how she got here.

  Or what had spoken to her before she passed out.

  That last thought made her pause. Something had spoken to her. Not aloud, but in her head. A crisp, clear voice, entirely separate from her own thoughts.

  System detected.

  That’s what it had said, hadn’t it? And then…

  Welcome, Emery Vail. Your journey begins.

  She frowned, rubbing at her temples. A system? Like… a game?

  No, that was ridiculous.

  And yet—

  She wasn’t exactly in a normal situation. Waking up in a forest, nearly drowning, and having no memory of how she got here wasn’t normal either.

  There was one way to find out.

  She hesitated. Then, cautiously, she spoke aloud:

  “Uh… system?”

  Nothing.

  Well, that would have been too easy.

  Maybe she needed a specific command? If this was a system, there had to be a way to access it, right? What did games call it again? Status?

  She took a breath, feeling a little ridiculous.

  “Status?”

  A sharp ping echoed in her mind, and suddenly, words filled her vision.

  [STATUS]

  Name: Emery Vail

  Race: Human

  Level: 0

  Class: None

  Title: None

  Mana: Unawakened

  Attributes:

  ? Strength: 0

  ? Dexterity: 0

  ? Endurance: 0

  ? Intelligence: 0

  ? Perception: 0

  ? Willpower: 0

  Skills: None

  She blinked.

  Well. That was… underwhelming.

  Zero across the board. Not even a single point in anything.

  “Wow,” she muttered. “I’m pathetic.”

  She had been hoping for something—anything—that might give her an edge. Some kind of clue, at least. But no, the system had apparently decided to officially declare her weak and useless.

  Still, at least she knew for sure that she wasn’t hallucinating.

  This was real.

  Which meant that whatever had brought her here had given her this system for a reason.

  Emery’s gaze flicked back to the attributes section. Strength, dexterity, endurance… those made sense. But what about intelligence? Did that mean book smarts? Or something else? And willpower? Did that mean she could get stronger just by being stubborn?

  Because if that was the case, she was set.

  The mention of mana: unawakened caught her attention, too. Mana… like magic?

  Her heart leapt for a second, but she forced herself to be realistic. If she had zero in all attributes, she wasn’t about to start throwing fireballs anytime soon.

  She sighed, rubbing her face.

  At least she had something to work with. A starting point.

  And if she was going to survive, she needed to figure out how to improve those numbers.

  But first—

  Food.

  And warmth.

  She pushed herself to her feet, legs still shaky but holding. If this really was some kind of system, then survival probably meant getting stronger.

  She wasn’t sure how yet.

  But she’d figure it out.

  One step at a time.