The morning air in the Mist World didn't just feel fresh; it felt heavy with potential. Marcus stood by the reinforced wooden window of his new home, watching the silent, rhythmic pacing of the pack outside.
There were fifteen of them now. These weren't the scrawny coyotes he'd seen back in Florida. These were Gray Wolves, but the name felt like an understatement. They were built like heavy-weight wrestlers, their fur a thick, matted slate-gray that seemed to ripple with corded muscle. Their yellow eyes didn't just reflect the light; they projected a predatory hunger that felt like a physical weight against the barrier.
Every few seconds, a younger, more impulsive male would lunge.
Bzzzt.
Blue sparks, smelling of ozone and ancient magic, would erupt from the air, hurls the beast backward with a sharp yelp. The wolf would shake its head, snarl at the shimmering air, and go right back to pacing.
Marcus rubbed the stubble on his chin, a habit from long shifts at the warehouse. "They're persistent. I'll give 'em that."
Beside him, Lyrielle was a study in lethal stillness. Her longbow was already strung, the wood a pale, flexible limb that looked like it had grown rather than been crafted. She moved with a terrifyingly quiet grace—each step calculated, each breath controlled. She had already nocked an arrow, the fletching resting against her cheek like a lover's touch.
"These are Gray Wolves, my Lord," she said, her voice a calm melody against the backdrop of low growls. "In the hierarchy of the Mist, they are the scouts. Individually, they are a nuisance. In a pack of fifteen? They are a death sentence for a lone traveler."
Marcus grinned, the thrill of the "isekai" logic finally overriding his lingering shock. "So, in gamer terms... they're basically the level one starter mobs."
Lyrielle tilted her head, her sharp elven ears twitching. "I am unfamiliar with 'gamer terms,' my Lord. But if you mean they are meant to be overcome to grow stronger, then yes. They are the first test."
Marcus turned toward the heavy oak door. Lyrielle's hand tightened on her bow. "My Lord... the Protection Barrier is absolute for seven days. You could stay inside and I could thin their ranks from the windows. If you step out—"
"I know," Marcus interrupted, stretching his arms until his joints popped. "Seven days of safety is a trap, Lyrielle. If I sit here for a week eating bread and watching the grass grow, whatever is out there in that mist is going to be ten times stronger by the time the wall drops."
He looked at his hands—the hands of a man who spent his life moving the world's weight for someone else's profit. Not anymore.
"Besides," he added, his grin widening into something reckless. "I really want to see if the universe has a sense of irony."
He pushed the door open.
The transition was immediate. The moment Marcus stepped onto the porch, the atmosphere shifted. The wolves froze. Fifteen pairs of glowing yellow eyes snapped toward him in perfect unison. The growling stopped, replaced by a silence so heavy it made the air feel thick.
Lyrielle stepped out behind him, her bow half-drawn. "Stay close to the threshold, my Lord."
Marcus didn't stay close. He walked right down the steps and stopped three feet from the shimmering blue boundary. He raised his right hand, palm toward the sapphire sky.
"Okay, Lucy," he whispered. "Let's see if your 'apology' actually packs a punch."
He closed his eyes and reached for that sun-like heat in his chest. He didn't just activate a skill; he grabbed hold of a celestial tether.
[Skill Activated: S Rank — Meteor]
[Target Acquired: Alpha Gray Wolf]
For a heartbeat, the world held its breath.
Then, high above—so high it seemed to come from the heart of the sun itself—a needle of white light appeared. It wasn't a slow descent. It was a scream of atmospheric friction.
WHOOOOSH.
A golf-ball-sized fragment of celestial iron, wreathed in a tail of blue-white plasma, tore through the sky. It hit the lead wolf with the precision of a surgeon and the force of a freight train.
BOOM.
The impact wasn't a massive explosion, but a concentrated burst of kinetic energy. Dirt, scorched grass, and wolf fur erupted in a five-foot radius. The wolf didn't just die; it was deleted from existence, leaving nothing but a smoking indentation in the earth.
Marcus stared at the crater. Then, he started to laugh. It wasn't a hero's laugh; it was the laugh of a man who had just seen the funniest joke in the universe.
"Oh my god," he wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. "I literally killed it the same way I died. That is cold, Lucy. That is stone cold."
Lyrielle blinked, her usual elven composure momentarily shattered. Her bow lowered an inch. "...That was... a display of overwhelming authority, my Lord. I have seen mages chant for minutes to summon a pebble from the sky. You did it with a thought."
Suddenly, the air around the crater began to shimmer. Items began to manifest, popping into existence like bubbles rising to the surface of water.
[Gray Wolf Defeated — Level 1]
[SSS Talent: 100% Drop Rate Activated]
Marcus stared as the grass was suddenly covered in a ridiculous pile of loot.
"Wait," Marcus blinked. "Spirit Shards... Wolf Meat... Wolf Fur... Water Essence... Weapon Card? Armor Card? Another weapon card?"
He walked over, crossing the barrier safely since the wolves were too stunned to move. He picked up a crystal-clear card from the pile. It depicted a sturdy iron sword.
Lyrielle walked up behind him, her eyes wide as she scanned the loot. "My Lord... this is impossible."
"What? Is the sword bad?"
"No," she whispered, pointing at the pile. "A single Gray Wolf might drop a scrap of fur. If you are blessed by the gods, perhaps a single shard of spirit energy. But this... you have obtained the entire essence of the beast. Its meat, its hide, its soul, and even the treasures it hadn't even found yet."
Marcus grinned, holding up the D Rank Weapon Card. "That's because my talent is completely broken, Lyrielle. I don't do 'chance.' I do 'guaranteed'."
The remaining fourteen wolves finally shook off their shock. Their alpha was gone, replaced by a smoking hole, and their prey was laughing at them. With a collective snarl that sounded like tearing metal, they charged the barrier.
BZZZT.
They slammed into the energy wall, teeth bared.
Marcus cracked his neck. "Alright. Round two. Lyrielle, let's see that 'Precision Archery' in action."
"With pleasure, my Lord."
She moved like a blur. Thrum-thrum-thrum. Three arrows, three streaks of silver light. They took three wolves in the throat before the beasts could even recoil from the barrier.
As each wolf fell, a geyser of loot exploded onto the lawn.
Marcus raised both hands now. "Let's rain on 'em."
High above, the sky began to flicker with multiple streaks of fire. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. Meteors fell like orbital strikes, turning the area just outside the fence into a chaotic zone of fire and falling stone. Marcus walked along the inside of the fence, casually watching as wolf after wolf was struck down by the very thing that had ended his life.
Within ten minutes, the clearing was silent again. The forest was scorched, the mist in the distance seemed to have recoiled from the heat, and the entire front yard was literally carpeted in glowing items.
[Level Up! Marcus Hale — Level 2]
[Level Up! Lyrielle — Level 2]
Marcus stepped out and began scooping up the loot. His inventory was filling up fast. He reached the center of the largest pile and stopped.
There, glowing with a soft, ethereal light, were three cards. They weren't weapons or armor. They depicted the very wolves he had just killed, but these looked... noble. Loyal.
[Unit Card — Gray Wolf (3)]
Marcus picked them up, the crystal cool in his palm. He looked at Lyrielle, who was currently nocking her bow to check the treeline.
"Hey, Lyrielle?"
"Yes, my Lord?"
Marcus held up the three cards with a wide, predatory grin. "I think I just found out how we're going to guard the perimeter while we sleep."
He looked at the cards, then back at the dark forest beyond. The unluckiest man in the universe was gone. The man who owned the sky had arrived.
"I think I just recruited an army."