15Have you ever seen something that has not only shook you to your very core but was also something truly beautiful at the same time? An event that couldn't be described even if you were to try your hardest to. Something that fills you with feelings that are contradictions of each other.
These are the thoughts that are currently running through the fresh college graduate, Dale Stevens, as he stood on his apartments' balcony. His gaze was fixated on the sun since something was horribly wrong with it. Instead of the usual bright yellow shine that would illuminate the planet, there was a black star in its place. This was only brought to Dales' attention a few minutes prior as the bickering and screaming caused him to see what the commotion was about. The atmosphere outside felt completely different than what it's supposed to be. The clouds turned a blood red that sent chills down Dales' spine.
People down on the streets below got out of their cars to make sure that what they were seeing was real. Many voices tried to talk over each other, some asking questions, most screaming in fear.
Dale quickly pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and began to dial the only phone number he could immediately think of. The phone only rang for a second before someone picked up, "Mom!? Are you okay? Are you seeing what's going on?" the panic in Dales' voice was obvious. Dales' parents lived across town from him, so this was the fastest way to check up and see if they were okay.
"Dale? Thank god, you're okay! Your Father and I are watching the news right now!' Dales' Mother is equally as panicked as Dale himself is, that's never a good sign, "They're saying to remain in our home and to make sure all of the doors are locked. Where are you right now?"
"I-I'm at my apartment. I was just on my computer before this started to happen and I don't know what to do!" Dale began to pace back and forth on his balcony. It took a few seconds for his Mother to respond.
"When it's safe to leave, please come home!" His Mother begged.
Before Dale even had a chance to respond, the Earth began to shake. Dale would've fallen off of the balcony if he didn't have an iron grip on the handrails. He could hear his Mother try to say something over the phone, but couldn't make out what she wanted to say.
Suddenly, a bright bolt of lightning struck the Earth with a loud thunderclap that could almost make a man go deaf. Dale closed his eyes out of fear and to shield himself from the blinding light. When his vision returned he quickly realised that the entire city had fallen silent.
"Hello?" Dale tried to talk to his Mother over the phone, "Hello! Mom! Are you okay?!" Dale was beginning to worry about his Mothers' well being. The pit in his stomach slowly began to grow as there was no more response coming from the phone. Dale then began to look down at the street again to see why everyone has fallen silent. His eyes widened as he discovered that no one was on the street anymore, almost as if the lightning blast had completely vaporized them.
"What the fuck is happening!" Dale yelled into the now dark blue sky.
Suddenly, Dale was lifted from his balcony by a strong force and began to slowly fly towards the black sun in the sky. Fear enveloped him as he flew higher and higher above the city. Just when he thought that his life officially began as he graduated college, it slowly began to seem like it was coming to an end already. Why was this happening to him? Was this some benevolent god getting their revenge on mankind for their ignorance? Did we cause this from being too careless with the planet? Dale would never find the answers to these questions as he shielded his eyes with his arms and braced for impact...
When Dale regained consciousness he was no longer floating towards the black sun; he was now in a white room that seemed to stretch on forever. Dale was in too much of a haze to say or do anything. This room felt peaceful and calming.
"Show me your soul..." An almighty voice echo's throughout Dales' head, "I see... You have no desired reality you wish to create..."
"Desired reality?" Dale groggily thought to himself. What could this voice mean by that?
"Very well... I shall send you to someone else's reality..." Dale loses consciousness once again as the voice fades into the back of his mind.
Dale slowly opens his eyes once to be greeted by a stone ceiling. He quickly sits up on the bed he was previously laying on and looks around. Dale was in a dark, stone room that looked like a dungeon from the medieval era, the gate was wide open.
"What happened..." Dale rubbed his head slowly, "Wait, where am I? Where is everyone? Didn't I..." Dale slowly stops speaking as he remembers the events that just transpired. He quickly felt his stomach violently churn. Dale leaned over the bedside and vomited onto the stone floor.
"Was what just happened the end of the world? Then how did I survive?" Dale thought as he wiped his mouth with his black jacket sleeve. Dale hears a beeping noise coming from his left arm. Once he looks over he sees something that wasn't there before, there's a white arm brace on his jacket. It's a bit bulky and has a screen on it. The screen is flashing in time with the beeps. Dale stands on the stone floor and holds his arm up to his face to look at the screen. He cautiously taps the screen to see what will happen.
The screen emits a holographic display of a black box with white text on it.
Name: Dale Stevens
Level: 1
HP: 50/50
MP: 20/20
Status
Strength (Physical Attack power and how much you can lift) 2
Magic (Magic casting efficiency and maximum MP) 2
Vitality (Maximum HP, Physical Defence, Magic Defence, and Stamina) 5
Agility (Speed, Acrobatic ability, and Accuracy) 3
Luck (Item drop rate, Status Ailment hit rate, Negotiation success rate) 1
EXP: 0/20
App Points: 0
Current Alignment: Neutral
Class
Blank Slate: Has the ability to learn any type of skill from any Element and is defaulted to the "Neutral Alignment"
Skills
N/A
Equipment
Casual Clothes
Function Currently Unavailable
Function Currently Unavailable
Function Currently Unavailable
Function Currently Unavailable (Available at Level 3)
Dale scrolled through the holographic display with a look of awe on his face. He had no idea what to make of any of this; the screen was structured like one of the video games he played back at home when he was younger. Many questions began to form in his mind: What were App Points? What was the deal with "Neutral Alignment" and why was it important? But the biggest question of all was "Why is this happening?"
"Maybe if I play along with this, I'll find the answer..." Dale thought to himself as he closed the menu. The screen on the arm brace displays Dales' current HP and MP, it made him wonder if this place is at all dangerous. Dale never got into any sort of trouble when he was growing up, he'd try his hardest to not make anyone angry or annoyed with him in fear of getting his lights knocked out. As a result, he never got into any fights; his stats showed it too...
Dale cautiously left the dungeon cell, making sure no one was around looking for a fight, "This is crazy!" Dale thought to himself, "I need to find my way out of here so I can at least gauge where I am," Dale used this alone time to think about what exactly has happened. He managed to come up with a very confusing explanation, "If the Earth no longer exists due to that black star that was in the sky... Then maybe... that voice that was telling me that I didn't have a desired reality actually sent me into someone else's? Maybe this is all some sort of realistic feeling nightmare? Maybe this is real..." Dale began to believe that what he was experiencing was real while he ran through the dark corridors, "If this is someones desired reality, that would explain why there are status menus and skills. It's probably a reality modelled off of a video game. That would mean at least one person from Earth is here, but I have no idea where to even begin looking for them..."
Suddenly, the arm brace began beeping while flashing red. Before Dale even had time to react, a strange creature that he has never seen before leapt into his vision.
"What the fuck is that!?" Dale questioned in fear. The monster was in the shape of a wolf but was made out of tree branches and twigs. As the wolf snarled at Dale, tree sap dripped from its bark mouth. Instead of fur, the monster had moss growing from the wood that made up its body. The worst part about the monster that ambushed Dale, was the bright green eyes that worked well at intimidating Dale.
Dales' arm brace once again produced a hologram
Timberwolf
HP: 30/30
MP: 0
Skills
(Unkown)
Would you like to know what Actions you can take?
(Yes)
or
(No)
Dale looked around his hologram to see what the monster was doing, to his surprise it was just standing there, "Maybe this is supposed to be some sort of tutorial? If I'm going to survive here, I should learn how to this 'game' works. Hell, it'll at least buy me some time." Dale taps "yes" on the screen.
Actions
Fight (Use all of your skills and might to defeat the enemy. Earn EXP and Items for doing so.)
Talk (Attempt to communicate with the enemy. Depending on what you say, you can convince the enemy to give you an Item, give you Money, leave you alone, or you can convince them to join your Party. Talking requires you to understand what your enemy wants, as well as your luck playing in your favour. Be careful, as an enemy may try to scam you out of your Items or attempt to kill you anyways.)
Run (If your speed stat is higher than your enemy's you may attempt to flee the battle)
Dale thought over his choices carefully. He knew that trying to run away would be a bad idea, he wasn't sure if he was fast enough and the way out was to pass the 'Timberwolf' so he decided to try to talk to the monster.
"Uh... Hey, little... guy?" Dale said awkwardly to the monster, "Do you think you can let me go on my way, I didn't mean to disturb your... lovely home," The monster only snarled in response, "I think that only made it angrier!" Dale thought in a panic.
The Timberwolf lunged at Dale, attempting to bite him. Dale quickly raised his arms to guard his face, and the monster bit down on his right arm. A red number appeared in front of Dale as he yelled in pain.
-7HP
Dale retaliated by throwing the Timberwolf off of him and directly into a wall. The Timberwolf whimpered in pain as its back collided with the stone. A red number appeared above its head.
-5HP
Dale then ran up to the Timberwolf and kicked it directly in the face, causing the creature to explode into bits and pieces.
-28HP Critical!
Dale stood in silence trying to catch his breath as his experience bar began to fill up completely from that one battle. He knew he should be worried about more of those monsters, but the thrill of the fight sent him into overdrive, it felt really good to him. The arm brace began to beep once again.
Level Up!
Level: 2
You've earned 3 stat points! Please chose what stats you wish to improve!
App Points: 10
Dale had to think about this for a moment. He knew that putting anything into magic right now would be a waste of points since he didn't have any. Rather than relying on a dice roll to talk to any monsters, he would come across, Dale decided the best course of action would be placing two points into Strength and one into Vitality since he may need to defend himself more before he comes across civilization. After adding his points into the stats, he felt his body surge with energy. Dale felt much better than he did a second ago, so he decided to check his arm brace.
Name: Dale Stevens
Level: 2
HP: 55/55
MP: 20/20
"It looks like levelling up completely healed me," Dale said aloud.
Dale continued down the path he was taking before and eventually came across a balcony; it reminded him of his home before the apocalypse. Dale looked over the horizon in awe, the sun was only just rising up and the scenery was breathtaking. Trees covered the valley as far as the eye could see, but there was an ending to this supposedly never-ending forest. Far off into the distance was a small town, Dale could barely see it from where he was. It looked like a medieval town, matching the setting of the castle. Could it be that he was in a medieval-themed RPG of some sort?
"Looks like I found the place. Maybe if the person who created this world arrived in the same spot as me, they also went to that town... It's the only lead I've got. Do they even know that they created this world, or was it a subconscious effort?" Dale was asking himself these questions as he descended down the balcony with the ladder that was to his left.
His journey was only just beginning, Dale thought he'd seen the worst of this world already, but he was in for another surprise once he'll reach the distant town...
