MTL - Darkness is Coming - Chapter 550 Danger (below)

Kai of the Sorcerer’s Tower is one of the last mages left, barely surviving in a world ruled by creatures of the dark — where the era of mages ended, and most of the lands got contaminated with dead mana. To save his world and fulfil his master’s last wish, he put himself through a forbidden ritual, risking his soul being ripped into pieces to make his way into the past. In an era with abundant mana — an era yet to enter the Golden Era of Magic. Things go wrong, of course, as they always do, and he finds himself thousands of years before the world fell to mana contamination — in the body of a young lord, Arzan. All is not well, though, as the young lord was murdered by someone right at the cusp of a beast wave threatening the territory, while larger threats loom on the horizon. There was a lot to do for Kai to regain his former strength in this time of primitive technology, but then again, he might just be able to change that.

Being sucked into a fantasy world that nobody leaves doesn't sound half bad to Cain. He was a high school dropout with a drinking problem, living off disability due to his poor health, so it's not like he had much to lose except a few faithful friends he didn't talk to enough.

After a long night of drinking, Cain wakes up looking at what he believes to be the character creation screen of one of his beloved virtual reality games, but with no recollection of having purchased it. His unwitting choice to use the Random Character Creation option, unaware that the choice would be irreversible, sends him into this new world as a Puppet Master, a Summoning based class nobody else in the starting zone has ever heard of.

But as he soon realizes, this is no game, him and hundreds of others have been brought to another world with no instructions, no clear goals and no way home. It's a second chance to live a good life, but what will Cain be able to make of it?

“For a long time, we humans have been like the chosen race, without any natural enemies, and have long been at the top of the food chain. Unfortunately, I have to tell you...” “When there is only one bird in a forest, then the forest is basically fake, and the bird was put there by someone...” “No matter how a fish swims, it can never meet any of its kind, which only means that the fish is kept in a fish tank...” “Yes, we are the birds in the forest and the fish in the tank.” “Yes, the world we live in is virtual!”