LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 1: Chapter 1
After experiencing an intense fever, I woke up in my sweat-soaked bed. I stared at the icy ceiling, dizziness clouding my head. My body shivered from the cold. Despite being a native of the South Pole and having high resistance to the cold, it was the first time in my life I couldn't bear it, even though I was inside my warm ice house.
'When did I get sick?'
A jolt of pain shot through my brain. Although I was alone, I heard a sound. I turned my head left and right, trying to locate where it was coming from.
[The System has been installed.]
[You may now start playing in Game Mode.]
As I heard the strange robotic voice, I wondered when I had ever known the word "robotic."
That word didn't belong to this world... wait a minute, I didn't belong to this world either. A rush of memories from my previous life flashed before me.
'All my life has been a lie. My name is Josh, and my previous life was on Earth. This world is nothing but a cartoon show?'
I thought about the last thing I remembered. I was at work when I got an email—a game survey asking me to help create a game. A world of my choice... I had chosen the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and requested that everyone be adults for the sake of fan service... or research.
'But none of that matters. After I filled out that survey, I transmigrated, lost my memories, and spent 17 years in this world...'
I looked at my tanned skin. In my previous life, it had been white.
It seems I can say "You" in Korean.
But there was no one I could say it to.
I touched my hair. It was smooth, held in braids. But it didn't feel unfamiliar. Living without my memories for 17 years helped me accept my transmigration so easily that I didn't miss anything from my previous life. I didn't feel the loss of everything. There wasn't much to mourn. All I had in my previous life was a job, and with the rising cost of living, I could no longer afford leisure. I lived only to pay bills, rent, and buy groceries. So, losing everything didn't seem like a big deal—I had nothing worth keeping.
'So, I guess there's no identity crisis. I'm Josh, and I'm Ryuk. One is my previous life, and the other is my current life, the one I remember.'
'Now for the important stuff.'
I sat up. The fever had passed, and I felt better.
I decided to summon the game-like interface. But it was strange.
There were no character levels or stats. There was a storage slot and a skills slot.
You gain experience by practicing your skills in a certain way. You accumulate experience when defeating someone, and this experience could be used to level up skills without actually practicing them, or to fill the storage.
I knew all of this the moment the system was installed in my head. I believed it was designed to help my brain and body instantly master skills when leveling them up, making it game-like. But so what? Was that it? Could I just gain skills? I'd never be able to stop an army by myself, or be as strong as the Avatar. Or would I?
Anyway, I rubbed my chin.
Thinking about the Avatar, although Katara and Sokka were 17 and 18 years old, I had never met Aang. They never talked about him.
At the same time, there was no sign of the Fire Nation army.
This left me with two possibilities.
One, the Avatar hadn't appeared, and the Fire Nation had succeeded in taking over the Earth Kingdom. Now, they were probably busy invading the North Pole.
The second possibility was what I hoped for.
This universe was an alternative reality where everyone was a bit older, and events would unfold as they did in the canon.
Either possibility could ruin my life.
I needed to gather information, or else I'd be filled with anxiety.
Before leaving my house, I glanced at my stats window.
[Name: Ryuk
Tree Skills: Waterbending - 1 Chi Bending - 1
Skills: Fishing - 2
Accumulated Experience: 0]
For this world's standards, if printed, this would look like the worst CV imaginable.
But on the bright side, there was some good news.
I had the Waterbending skill.
This makes me wonder. Did my choices in the survey turn into reality? Or is this just some coincidence or lame excuse some robot used to entertain themselves?
As for whether this world was the first possibility or the second, I could figure something out. The only way to get the right answers was to ask the right questions.
It would be better to ask the elders and women, who hadn't been drafted into the resistance against the Fire Nation—an enemy we hadn't heard about for nearly a decade.
After leaving my tent, I faced the endless white landscape. It was nothing but ocean, snow, ice, and a few tents and ice houses.
Inside them were mostly elderly people and very young children.
As I walked around, a couple of kids, with tanned skin and blue eyes, ran by.
"Hey, have you seen Sokka or Katara?" I asked the children.
One of them answered, "They saw you had a fever, so they went off to gather food on their own. They must be preparing for the boats."
I rubbed the back of my head. The food reserves must be running low if Sokka and Katara had to hunt in this cold.
Anyway, I had a few questions for them, and since I was impatient for their return, I decided to follow.
"Thanks, kids. Don't stray too far from the tribe," I advised before setting off in the direction they had gone. At this pace, I should catch up before they sailed out.
About 15 minutes later, I arrived. I was out of breath from sprinting, but my body seemed fine, considering it wasn't the first time I had done it.
'I must have quite an athletic physique,' I thought to myself, smiling as I saw the siblings preparing the boat.
They seemed to notice me. I looked at them. They were the same as in the show, but different at the same time.
Sokka looked to be in his late teens, tall and skinny, with the same hairstyle as in the show.
Katara, on the other hand, seemed more mature. She was of average height, with long hair and blue eyes. Although she wore a blue coat to cover her body, it couldn't hide her curves. Her hips were wide, and her chest was full.
"Ryuk? Shouldn't you be resting? You were in bad shape when I left you," remarked Sokka.
I forced a smile and replied, "The fever's gone. I'm not sure why it happened, but I'm fine now. Since I had some time, I decided to catch up."
"You shouldn't have pushed yourself," Katara said, eyeing me with concern. "It's not like the tribe is starving or anything."
"No, it's fine. I'm just doing my duty," I said. Now that we were talking, I decided to strike up a conversation about bending. If this world was the first possibility, she'd be the best bender in the world. I wanted to know how things were going in this timeline. Was Aang still trapped under the ice? Had he appeared a few years ago and died miserably in a battle—which was very unlikely considering his Avatar state?
"By the way, how far have you progressed with your bending, Katara?" I asked.
Katara twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. Looking slightly embarrassed, she replied, "Not much. I can make simple waves and pulls. I can do ice, but no matter how hard I try, without a proper teacher, I can't seem to progress."
"I told her she should practice while washing clothes," Sokka whispered, "but I just got my face sprayed instead."
"Anyway, why are you suddenly so interested?" Katara asked. "It's not like you care about anything other than when someone will take you into battle."
"Well, I just woke up and was curious," I said. "How's the Avatar, by the way? Has he decided to join the fight?"
"What Avatar?" Sokka replied. "Grandma says it's been almost a hundred years since he last appeared."
Bingo. Almost a hundred years. That meant there was still some time before Sozin's Comet. Also, this was an alternative universe, where everyone was a bit older.
"How much time has passed since the Avatar disappeared?" I asked, wanting to confirm my guess.
If my instincts were right, we were about one or two years away from Sozin's Comet.
And if the Avatar never appeared... we were all screwed. The Fire Nation would dominate the Earth Kingdom and force its way to the North and South Poles, taking over the world.
The person who would suffer the most would be me. You see, as a growing nation, the Fire Nation would need more resources. The poor South had nothing to offer but labor. I didn't want to end up a slave to another nation, so I had to act.
"I don't know. Nearly a hundred years. I never paid attention to those details," Sokka shrugged.
"Interesting." I rubbed my chin.
"Okay, Ryuk, you've been acting weird. Why are you suddenly interested in bending, the Avatar, and everything?" Katara asked.
Apparently, when I regained my memories from my past life, there was a conflict between the personas of both lives. My personality shifted slightly.
Seeing Katara's suspicious gaze, I knew I couldn't tell her that their lives were a comic from my previous life.
So, I ended up saying, "You see, I discovered I can bend."
"Did you have vivid dreams while you had the fever?" Sokka asked. "You've never been able to bend, and benders don't show ability at your age."
"I agree with Sokka," Katara nodded.
Sighing, I squatted down and stretched my hands toward the sea, hoping something impressive would happen to shut them up.
Nothing happened.
I stood up and tried again, pushing my hands toward the sea. Again, nothing.
Katara, with a half-serious tone, remarked, "You know, you have to move your hands as if you're making waves in the water."
"Oh, you mean like this?" I said, waving my arm through the air, imagining I was pushing water.
A fist-sized jet of water shot from the sea and flew in another direction, catching me by surprise. I pulled, and the water headed back toward me.
[Waterbending +2 XP]
The water splashed on my face, reminding me how cold the sea was.
Sokka looked at me in astonishment.
"Since when?" he asked.
On the other hand, Katara was confused at first, then she got excited. "I'm not the only one!"
Sokka turned toward the sea and began waving his hand, as if expecting something to happen. But nothing did. "Come on, man."
"I just discovered it after the fever," I smiled. "The spirits have blessed me."
It seemed their focus had shifted from my sudden interest in the Avatar and the war. But I was starting to feel anxious. With the Avatar still asleep, and the Sozin Comet getting closer, the narcissistic Fire Nation would come from across the world just to make my life hell for their own satisfaction.