Cold, cloying mud filled Alex Carter’s mouth before his consciousness fully returned. The taste was a bitter mixture of damp moss and metallic rot. He gagged, spitting out dirt, his lungs expanding in a dry cough. Air hit his throat like dry glass. He tried to sit up, but his limbs responded with a heavy lag, as if his nerve signals were traveling through thick syrup. "Where..." His voice rasped against his dried throat. He pushed his palms into the wet ground, straining to lift his chest. As his fingers dug into the soil, his field training kicked in. He expected topsoil, forest leaf litter, or clay. Instead, the grains beneath his fingernails felt unusually uniform. Alex blinked away the mud stuck to his eyelashes. Looking closer at the earth, he froze. The dirt flickered. Tiny, geometric pixels shimmered with a faint blue backlight before settling back into brown silt. It looked like digital noise forced into a physical state. Stratigraphy doesn't work this way, Alex thought, his heart rate rising. Soil takes centuries to form in layers. This was generated. He pushed himself up onto his knees, looking around. Towering trees with dark bark rose into a thick canopy that choked the sunlight, casting the damp forest in a dull green shade. The air smelled of sulfur and wet pine. “Welcome, Survivor #492.” The voice came from inside his head—a flat, synthetic tone that vibrated against his jaw. Alex scrambled backward, his boots sliding through the soil until his back hit the trunk of an ironwood tree. "Who's there?" “Initializing Eldergrove Wilderness protocol,” the synthetic voice continued. “System synchronization: 100%. Host vitality: Critical. Caloric reserve: Depleted.” A translucent blue pane materialized inches from Alex’s face. He flinched, swiping at it. His hand passed straight through the light like cold air. [STATUS WINDOW] Name: Alex Carter Designation: Survivor #492 Level: 1 (0/100 XP) HP: 45/100 Energy: 10/100 Active Deck: 0/3 Slots Equipped Storage Bag: 0/20 Stacks Current Objective: Survive Until Dawn (04:00:00) Alex stared at the text. Hours ago, he had been kneeling in the dust of the Peruvian Andes, cataloging stone artifacts in a newly opened tomb. He remembered the damp smell of stone, the shift in air pressure, a cave-in, and the dark stone tablet he had shoved into his pocket right before the ceiling fell. He was an archaeology student, not a gamer. He knew radiocarbon dating and pottery layers, not active interfaces. "Is this a medical simulation?" Alex muttered, pressing his palm to his forehead. "Am I in a hospital?" “This is Cardworld,” the voice replied. “The physical laws of your origin plane are inactive. Here, matter is processed through data constructs. Existence requires resource expenditure.” The floating screen flickered, shifting from blue to dark red. [ENVIRONMENTAL ALERT] Local Event: Nightfall in 03:59:12 Threat Assessment: High Survival Probability (Without Shelter): 0.00% "Zero percent?" Alex forced himself up, his knees shaking under his weight. "What happens when the timer runs out?" “The fauna of the Eldergrove hunt unanchored data cores during darkness,” Vera answered smoothly. “Look to your left. Your starter pouch has been deployed.” Nestled in the mud three feet away was a small pouch of pale white leather. Alex stepped forward and knelt. As his fingers touched the strap, a quiet chime sounded in his ears. [ITEM ACQUIRED: Novice Card Pouch] 1x [Tool: Basic Axe] 1x [Consumable: Coarse Bread] 1x [Tool: Clay Water Flask] Alex unbuckled the pouch. Inside were three glass-like cards, stiff and cool to the touch. He pulled out the card labeled [Basic Axe]. The face bore an illustration of a crude stone hatchet tied to a wooden handle with sinew. "How do I use this?" Alex asked. “Visualize the item. Spend Energy to manifest,” Vera instructed. Alex gripped the edges of the card. He focused on the weight, the grain of the wood, and the cold edge of knapped flint. A sudden wave of fatigue hit his chest, draining his stamina. [System Alert] Energy Spent: -2 | Current Energy: 8/100 The glass card dissolved into white sparks. The light hardened, and the heavy weight of a real stone axe dropped into his hands. Alex stumbled under the weight. The handle was rough, its splinters poking into his palm. The smell of fresh sap drifted off the wood. "It's real matter," Alex breathed, checking the lashings with a trained eye. "Simple sinew binding. It's compressed data taking physical form." He looked up. The dull daylight was fading quickly, shadows stretching long across the forest floor. He had less than four hours to gather materials and build a shelter before whatever lived in the dark came out.
