The first thing Alex heard…
…was screaming.
Not the kind from dreams.
Not distant.
Not faded.
Real.
Raw.
Close.
His eyes snapped open.
The sky stretched above him—gray, heavy, suffocating.
"…Where am I?" he whispered.
The air smelled wrong.
Burnt.
Metallic.
Blood.
A thunderous explosion shook the ground.
Alex flinched.
BOOM.
A streak of blue light tore across the battlefield—then crashed into a group of soldiers.
Fire erupted.
Bodies flew.
"…Magic?" his voice cracked.
His heart began to race.
Slowly, he turned his head.
And what he saw—
…froze him.
Two armies.
Clashing.
Steel against steel.
Men screaming as blades tore through armor.
And behind them—
Figures in long robes, staffs raised, chanting.
Mages.
One lifted his staff high, flames spiraling around it like a living beast.
Another raised his hand—
—and the ground itself erupted, swallowing soldiers whole.
"This isn't…" Alex muttered.
But he couldn't finish the sentence.
Because deep down—
He already knew.
A loud roar cut through the chaos.
Not human.
Something massive leapt over the frontlines—
A beast.
Twice the size of a man.
Black fur, glowing red eyes, claws like blades.
It crashed into soldiers, tearing through them like paper.
"Hold the line! Don't let the beast through!" someone shouted.
But the line was already breaking.
Alex pushed himself up, his body shaking.
He looked down.
Armor.
Rough. Cheap. Bloodstained.
A foot soldier.
No name.
No rank.
Just… expendable.
"Move, idiot!" a voice yelled, shoving him forward.
A spear was forced into his hands.
"Stay in formation unless you want to die!"
Alex stared at the weapon.
A spear.
Simple.
Long.
Cold.
But as his fingers wrapped around it—
Something felt… strange.
Familiar.
A flicker.
A moment.
Like a memory that wasn't his.
A battlefield.
Silent.
Ancient.
A lone warrior stood surrounded by enemies—
Holding a spear.
Moving… differently.
Not like the others.
Not like soldiers.
Flowing.
Unpredictable.
Deadly.
Then—
It vanished.
"…What was that?" Alex whispered.
But there was no time to think.
Another explosion rang out.
Closer.
The ground shook violently.
A mage on the enemy side raised his staff again, gathering energy.
If that attack landed—
Their entire unit would be wiped out.
"Shields up!" someone shouted.
Too slow.
Too disorganized.
Fear was spreading.
Alex could see it clearly now.
The shaking hands.
The uneven line.
The hesitation.
They're going to lose.
Not because they were weaker.
But because they were already breaking.
A loud horn echoed across the field.
Retreat?
No.
Too late.
The enemy began advancing.
Fast.
Disciplined.
Confident.
Alex's chest tightened.
This is real.
No reset.
No second chance.
If he died here—
That was it.
His grip on the spear tightened.
His breathing slowed.
His eyes sharpened.
The chaos around him…
Started to slow.
The mage.
The beast.
The formations.
The weak points.
The fear.
"…There's a gap," he muttered.
No one heard him.
No one cared.
They were too busy panicking.
But Alex saw it.
A flaw in the enemy's advance.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But real.
His heart pounded.
If I stay here, I die.
If I run, I die.
Then—
A thought.
Clear.
Cold.
Different from before.
So I fight.
Not as the man who dreamed of another world.
But as someone who would survive it
The enemy charged
The beast roared
Magic lit the sky
And Alex
Stepped forward