Ragnar's eyes snapped open to a wall of green.
No hut. No fire. No familiar smell of smoked venison and damp hides.
Only endless trees, their branches clawing at a sky he did not remember. His heart slammed against his ribs like a war drum.
'Where, where am I?'
A low rustle answered him.
From the thicket burst a boar the size of a small pony, black bristles standing like spears, two curved horns gleaming yellow in the slanted light.
It charged without sound, only the thunder of hooves and the wet tear of leaves.
Ragnar's body moved before his mind caught up.
He threw himself sideways. The horns whistled past his ear, close enough to slice the air.
He hit the ground rolling, came up on one knee. The boar skidded, spun, eyes small and red and furious.
'Gods, it's huge. One graze and I'm dead.'
Run? The thought flashed and died. He could already picture the beast catching him from behind, horns punching through his spine.
Instead he scrambled for the nearest pine, leaped, and caught the lowest branch. Bark scraped his palms raw.
The boar's head snapped up. It saw him. It lowered its horns and thundered forward.
Ragnar's legs locked. Every muscle screamed.
The beast slammed into the trunk. The whole tree shuddered.
Both horns punched deep into the wood and stuck.
For one heartbeat the forest was silent except for the boar's enraged squeals and the frantic scrape of hooves trying to free itself.
Ragnar's blood roared in his ears.
He dropped from the branch, snatched a fallen limb thick as his wrist, and ran straight at the trapped animal.
"Stay down!" he shouted, voice cracking like a boy's.
He swung. Once. Twice. The third blow landed with a wet crunch between the eyes.
The boar gave a final, almost pitiful grunt and collapsed, horns still wedged in the pine.
Ragnar stood over the body, chest heaving, blood and sweat stinging his eyes. The stick slipped from his numb fingers.
A calm, genderless voice spoke inside his skull.
"Delivery System initializing."
Ragnar jerked as if slapped. "Who said that? Who's there?"
Silence.
His fear spiked higher, sharper. "Answer me!"
Nothing.
Then pain, white, blinding, exploded behind his eyes.
He dropped to his knees, clutching his skull.
Memories that were not his flooded in: the smoke-filled longhouse, the laughter of bigger boys, the sting of their fists.
The way they called him "Ragnar the Rat" because he was always the smallest, the weakest, the one who hid behind his mother's skirts.
He saw himself, small, bruised, eyes wet, watching the stronger warriors receive their first Evolution, bodies swelling with new power while he stayed thin and trembling.
The pain ebbed. Ragnar stayed on his knees among the pine needles, breathing hard.
"I… I should change it," he whispered to the empty woods, voice raw. "I have to change it."
A glowing panel shimmered into existence in front of him, letters of pale blue light hovering in the air.
Finished installing the Delivery System!
[First Delivery Mission Generated]
Deliver 30 Valva to the nearby Goblin Clan
Rewards:
1 Evolution Chance
Deadline: 3 days.
Penalty: Death + war with the goblin tribe.
Ragnar stared. His mouth went dry.
From the memories he now carried, he knew exactly what this meant. Humans and goblins did not talk.
They killed each other. If he walked into their camp they would gut him before he could even open his mouth.
Yet his traitor heart gave one wild flutter at the words Evolution Chance.
Every tribesman dreamed of that single word. One Evolution doubled strength, doubled speed, doubled life.
One Evolution could turn the Rat into something the others feared.
Ragnar swallowed, throat clicking.
He looked at the dead boar, at his own shaking hands, at the impossible quest floating in front of him.
A long, broken sigh left his chest.
"The system doesn't care what I want," he muttered. "Three days… or I die, and my people burn because of me."
He pressed his forehead to the cool earth, eyes squeezed shut, the weight of two worlds, old and new, settling on his narrow shoulders.
For the first time in either life, Ragnar the weakest felt something hotter than fear.
It tasted like fury.
Ragnar made his way toward the tribe, his mind focused on a single goal: completing the system quest.
As he walked, he noticed blood trails in the woods, and a sense of unease began to grow in his heart.