[System binding in progress.
Assisting host with transmigration…] [Selecting target universe…] [Language module loading…] [ERROR!!] [Warning!
Timeline anomaly detected…
No human civilization found.
Attempting correction… Correction failed…] [Activating backup protocol.
Constructing compensation package… Compensation confirmed…] [Compensation complete!] “Cough… cough…” “Ugh…” Adam opened his eyes inside a plain wooden cabin and rubbed his head.
He pushed himself upright with some effort.
The room felt completely unfamiliar.
Roughly fifty square meters.
One bed, one table, a few chairs, and a large crate shoved into the corner.
Everything was wood.
It looked like something a medieval farmer might live in.
“Did I… get isekai’d?” He glanced around, piecing the situation together as best he could.
Not long ago he had been an ordinary office worker on Earth.
On his way to work a dump truck had slammed into him and sent him somewhere else.
In that hazy in-between moment the system had asked if he had any wishes for the world he was about to enter.
He’d answered offhandedly: “Don’t make it too boring.
Keep it interesting…
throw in a few surprises now and then.
But nothing too lethal.
No Lovecraft stuff, no SCP Foundation scenarios…” “And give me a cheat with real growth potential.
Something that can eventually reach universal or even multiverse scale would be ideal…” The system had seemed surprisingly reasonable and agreed.
So he’d been looking forward to whatever world he’d landed in.
“Where am I?” “The future.
Earth, year 2260 AD.” A flat mechanical voice replied in his mind.
“Huh?” Adam blinked.
“People in the twenty-third century live in wooden houses?” “This isn’t what I imagined at all.” He sat up fully and looked around again.
No electronics.
Nothing that even hinted at advanced technology.
The big crate in the corner held bags of rice and flour, dehydrated vegetables, bottled water, a few packets of seeds, and basic medical supplies.
Forget the twenty-third century…
this looked more like the thirteenth.
He opened the door.
A cold wind swept in.
Absolute silence.
No sign of human activity whatsoever.
All around and in the distance lay nothing but broken walls and rubble.
The remaining buildings were so ruined he couldn’t tell what they had originally been.
Plants had overtaken the streets.
Dust drifted through the air.
A full-blown post-apocalyptic wasteland.
“What the hell happened?
World War III?!” He squinted into the distance.
Judging by the scraps of architecture that remained, he was somewhere on the outskirts of a European city.
“Human civilization on this timeline went extinct thirty years ago.” “Confirmed.
Aside from you, there are no human survivors left on this planet.” The system’s voice was calm.
“What?” A string of question marks practically floated over Adam’s head.
This wasn’t a pleasant surprise.
This was a nightmare.
[Apologies.
An unknown bug during transmigration caused a timeline error.] [Humanity on this world-line is already extinct.
Host’s original [Chase the Stars] system cannot load.] [As compensation, the [Civilization System] has been loaded instead.
Host’s mental strength and physical compatibility have been significantly enhanced.] The cold mechanical voice echoed inside his mind.
“Hold on.” Adam was stunned.
“Humanity is completely wiped out?!” “And what’s this Civilization System supposed to do?” [This system will assist the host in rebuilding, from zero, a trans-dimensional civilization spanning the multiverse.] [Host may freely travel between other worlds, recruit companions, claim rewards, and raise your civilization to the peak of the multiverse.] “…” “Fine.” Adam wasn’t as shocked as he might have been.
Being the last human survivor and rebuilding civilization from scratch was still a monumental undertaking.
He shook his head and opened the status panel.
[Civilization Overview] [Civilization Type: Technological] [Tech Level: Stone Age] [Members: 1] [Species: Human] [Territory: 60 square meters (surface)] The little wooden cabin…
those sixty square meters…
was apparently the full extent of his domain.
As for civilization type, the system’s classification was straightforward.
Across the countless worlds, civilizations roughly fell into two categories: those that used technology and those that used magic.
Standard human civilizations, the Trisolarans, Cybertron, the Stellaris-style empires…
those were technological.
Otherworldly magical girls, Teyvat, Chaldea and the like might have some tech mixed in, but they were primarily magical.
Hybrid cases existed too, of course.
Then he noticed the real problem.
“My tech level is Stone Age?
So I’m a caveman now?!” “I at least went to university, you know!” Adam felt the system’s assessment was seriously broken.
[A civilization’s level is measured by the technologies it has mastered and the tools it can produce.] [Although you come from a pre-space-age civilization, right now everything must start from zero.] The system continued.
[Stone Age humans had already mastered polished stone tools, pottery, and simple agriculture and animal husbandry.] “You consider yourself a modern person.
Do you understand high-energy physics and celestial mechanics?” “No.
I studied civil engineering in college.” Adam shook his head.
“Do you know organic chemistry and automation?” “No.” “Can you build a steam engine?” “No materials.” “Do you know animal husbandry?” “Uh… does walking dogs and petting cats count…?” “It does not.
Regrettably, by technological standards, you are a primitive.
Please work hard to raise your civilization’s level.” “Damn.” Adam had to admit the answer actually made a certain amount of sense.