Chained Soldier: Player One!

Chapter 1

The last thing Max remembered was the smell of overpriced espresso and the sight of a very slippery floor. He had been sprinting toward the university bookstore, desperate to snag the last copy of a rare, vintage wooden training sword-a piece of craftsmanship he'd spent three months' allowance on.
Then, a janitor's "Caution: Wet Floor" sign had proven too little, too late. Max's sneakers had lost their grip, his legs had performed a frantic, airborne dance, and his skull had met the edge of a marble pedestal with a sound like a coconut cracking open.

Darkness followed. Then, a voice. It didn't sound human; it sounded like a GPS navigation system having a nervous breakdown.

[Processing soul... ID Number: 0007109 - Rakai Maximus Montiguez. Destination: Dimensional Plane 01906 - Code Name: Mato... Status: Reincarnation sequence initiated... Loading physical vessel... Loading... Error 007!: Flesh Asset Not Found. Redirecting to the nearest available biological template... Error! Compatibility failure... Defaulting to 'Basic Structure' template...]

Max felt a strange sensation, as if he were being sucked through a straw. Then, a sudden, jarring thud.

He blinked. Or, he tried to blink. He realized he didn't feel eyelids. He didn't feel skin. He didn't even feel the wind on his face. Instead, there was a rhythmic, hollow clicking sound every time he moved.

"What the hell?" he tried to say.

What came out was a hoars voice mixed with rattling clatter of teeth. He looked down.

A grey, oversized hoodie draped over a ribcage. No chest. No stomach. Just white, polished bone and a void where his organs used to be. His hands were skeletal claws, the phalanges clicking against each other like dice in a cup.

"You have got to be kidding me," Max groaned, the sound vibrating through his jawbone.

A translucent blue screen flickered into existence before his empty eye sockets.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION!]
[Due to a critical synchronization error during the transit process, the user 0007109 - 'Max' has been spawned without a dermal, muscular, or visceral layer.]

[Current Race: Undead Skeleton (Glitch Variant)]
[Current Status: Naked (Technically).]

[Special Compensation has been issued as an apology to the Player!]
[Compensation Pack has been stored at the Player's Inventory!]

[Special Quest has been Issued!]
[Quest: To Be Alive!]
[Objective: Accumulate 'Essence' by defeating Shuuki to purchase the 'Human Restoration' Skill Or find other ways to Acquire A 'Restoration' Ability.]

Max stared at the screen. He reached up, feeling the fabric of his favorite hoodie, which had somehow survived the trip. He also felt the familiar weight of his precious wooden katana strapped to his waist.

"A glitch? I died because of a wet floor and now I'm a glitch?"

He looked around. The sky was full of Dark Clouds, a grim, chaotic atmosphere filled with floating debris, and around are glowing peach trees.

"This isn't the bookstore," Max muttered, his jaw clicking. "Anyways, let's look at the Compensation. I mean, they did *apologize*."

He focused on the shimmering blue screen. A new icon appeared, labeled 'Inventory'. He mentally clicked it, and a list unfurled.

[COMPENSATION PACK CONTENTS:]
[1. Wooden Katana (C-Rank)]
[2. Black Monkey's Ring (D-Rank)]
[3. Random Skill book (D-Rank)]

"Okay, so I got a new katana, a Ring, and a skill book," Max said, rattling his head side to side. "At least they gave me something useful, I guess. Though, a wooden katana, C-rank or not, Using it against a Shuuki feels a bit like bringing a spoon to a knife fight."

He felt a subtle shift, a faint hum, as the items appeared in his skeletal grasp. The new katana was indeed wooden, but it felt dense, heavier than his old training sword, and it shimmered with a faint, almost imperceptible green aura.