Chapter 1: The Cursed Door in the Beginner Village
Active Skill: MorphHide [Lv.1]
Description: Transform your body into a random object.
Max disguise duration: 1 hourCooldown: 24 hours
Form selection: RandomNote: Upgrade this skill to reduce cooldown and choose the object form.
Hugo opened his eyes.Or rather... felt like he opened his eyes—because right now, he didn't have any.
"You have respawned in the Beginner Village."
The Beginner Village. The place where this game originally began. A village where all newbie players gathered to grow their characters.
"Ah… finally," he sighed in relief."If this really is a game, then the respawn point should be safe, right?"
"Current form: WORN-OUT WOODEN DOOR""Active cooldown: 23 hours 59 minutes"
"Why do I feel so stiff, man?"
"...Excuse me what the fu—"
"Why did I respawn as an old wooden door? What kind of notification is this?!"
Notification: Survive for 1 HourNote: If you die here, you will die in real life.Mission cooldown: 59:10Skill cooldown: 23 hours 58 minutes
"Damn it… so I'm supposed to survive by hiding for an hour or I'll die?!"
"aaa...AAAA"
"aaaa...what is this...**sh*t…fu—"
But before he could finish his swearing spree, a deep rumble shook the wooden house where his new body—the door—was installed.
Then, shouting from outside.
"ALL UNITS, FIND THE ANOMALY!""THE ANOMALY IS HERE!""IF YOU SEE A SUSPICIOUS OBJECT, DESTROY IT!"
Thud.
"Astaghfirullah... Don't curse, Hugo, control yourself."
"Fine. I'll just stay as this house's front door—wait... the voices are getting closer!"
SFX: Grakskgraks
Hugo, now a bedroom door in the house of a martial arts trainer NPC, trembled slightly.If doors could sweat, he'd be soaking in cold sweat.
"This… is the Beginner Village?"
"Why does it feel like hardcore horror survival mode? This is insane."
"Why is the herbalist granny carrying a flaming dagger? And why do her eyes look like she just chopped three trucks' worth of onions?!"
Footsteps approached. (Villain)
"Check every house! Don't overlook a single piece of furniture!""Remember, he can become anything! If you see something, scream!"
The house's front door creaked open.
A bulky man walked in. Hugo recognized the face—it was the martial arts trainer NPC.He used to teach punching rocks in the tutorial.Now? He looked like a starving lion ready to devour anything.
"If I were a cowardly anomaly," the man murmured,"I'd hide in something no one would suspect. Like… a door."
He stood right in front of Hugo.
Staring.
Silent.
"Stay calm… don't move… don't make a sound… don't fall off the hinges…"
"If I survive this one hour, I win… I survive…"
"Please… Don't let this turn into a bloody anime scene… Why's this trial so cursed—I just wanna go home."
The NPC raised his hand.
And touched Hugo's wooden surface.
"...Oak wood. Cracks on the right. Too old for a newly built house."
In Hugo's mind:
"This is your house, dumbass!"
Except… that wasn't just his inner voice.It actually came out of his wooden mouth.
Thud.
The martial arts trainer instantly screamed:
"IT'S HIM!! HEEEEEEE'S HEEEEEEREEEEEEE!!"
The scream exploded like a nuclear alarm.Hugo, in his rotten wooden door form, forced himself open from within—physics cried that day—and slapped the NPC with his hinges, flinging the bulky man backward into a dish rack that shattered into pieces.
"THE ANOMALY'S ON THE RUN!! THE DOOR IS THE ANOMALY!!"
The entire village went berserk.The herbalist granny hurled a magic explosive apple,the old fisherman whipped a barbed fishing rod,a kid blew a trumpet summoning flesh-eating slime with shark teeth.
Plates clanged: TING-TANG-PRANG!Like a traditional folk song with no rhythm.
Hugo didn't wait.Still in door form, he launched himself out of the house like an XL frisbee, rolling down the main road of what used to be a hopeful Beginner Village—now turned into an absurd warzone full of psycho villagers.
"THE ANOMALY'S ON THE RUN!! THE DOOR IS THE ANOMALY!!"
The villagers weren't afraid—they were thrilled to kill.
The herbalist granny screamed as she threw another apple:
"THIS IS FOR YOU, EVIL DOOR!!"
The apple exploded midair, releasing confetti… followed by laughing gas that made Hugo hiccup mid-run.
The old fisherman tossed his barbed rod like a retired kung fu master with a grudge against the world.He missed—but accidentally snatched off another NPC's wig.
"THE ANOMALY! I SAW IT PASSING THE FISH POND!"A little girl with an oversized ribbon blew her summoning trumpet.
From the earth rose a green slime with shark-like teeth, wearing a bib and holding plastic cutlery.
"HOUGAARRR!!" the slime roared, like it had a door buffet every Friday night.
Hugo, still bouncing like a desperate rabbit-door hybrid, tripped, rolled, stood up in a defensive X-shape like a "Do Not Enter" sign.
"WHAT EVEN IS THIS WORLD?? I JUST WANT TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE—NOT GET HUNTED DOWN AS DECORATIVE FURNITURE!!"
The villagers didn't care.A male NPC with a kitchen apron jumped off a roof holding a flying pan labeled:"Anti-ANOMALY SMACKDOWN 3000™"
"YOU GLITCH CREATURE! TASTE THIS!"
The pan missed and hit the trumpet girl.
"THE SYSTEM HAS BETRAYED ME!!" she screamed.
Meanwhile, Hugo—full panic mode—jumped onto the market table, crushing fried yam stalls, slipped on oil, and rolled like a slippery sandwich into the city's drainage pipe.
An old NPC lady at the clothing shop screamed,
"HE WENT INTO THE DRAIN!! CATCH HIM BEFORE HE BECOMES A SEWER PIPE!!"
Sliding through the pipes, Hugo groaned in his thoughts:
"...Why… out of all things… why a door?! This isn't an adventure game… this is a haunted house show starring random household items!"
The screen flickered:
Time Remaining: 00:02:45
Hugo summoned the last of his energy, headbutting the sewer lid with his entire door-body, and was launched behind a ramen shop.
There, a suspicious-looking NPC chicken stared at him.
The chicken crowed.
And the villagers snapped their heads.
"THE CHICKEN SAW IT! CHECK BEHIND THE RAMEN SHOP!"
With a chaotic mix of fear, embarrassment, hunger, and furniture-based trauma, Hugo dove into a pile of cardboard boxes.As the countdown hit 0:00, a virtual screen popped up in the air:
"Congratulations! You survived! XP +500. MorphHide Lv.2!""You can now choose 1 of 3 forms every activation."
Hugo turned back into his human body, breathing heavily, covered in oil stains and torn cardboard.
"Time's up. Hugo has survived."
XP +500
MorphHide skill leveled up to Lv.2
Cooldown reduced to 20 hours
New feature: Choose 1 of 3 random forms
Hugo took a long, exhausted breath.
"God… next time… just let me turn into a pillow. At least… it's soft."