《I Only Level Up With Likes?!》 Day 0: The Greatest Gameshow on Earth! A world so very much like Earth. Filled with people just going about their day to day lives. On this day, a crack was heard around the world. And then it was over. All life died, snuffed out in an instant¡­ only to rise again. The sky turned black and pitless and a massive eye stared down. In its red gaze, miles were etched across the planet, as creatures with too many eyes and limbs, gnashing and biting, descended across the lands. Horrors beyond the mortal mind now lurk, stretching across reality. Eldritch creatures, zombies, and more! A world, destroyed in an instant. A woman¡¯s soft chuckle could be heard as another crack was heard. ******** ¡°Come on man, I¡¯m telling you, Rario sisters is the best game series.¡± ¡°It has nothing on Legend of Velda!¡± Rick just rolled his eyes and I couldn¡¯t suppress a smile. He was a good guy, my best friend, and was so stubborn I¡¯d never once convinced him of anything. If he wasn¡¯t such a fun person to be around outside of an argument, I probably would have gone crazy. ¡°So¡­¡± Rick started. ¡°You and Jessica huh?¡± ¡°Huh?! W-What do you mean?¡± ¡°What do you mean, what do I mean? I know you two went on a date! Finally asked her out huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that! We just¡­ you know¡­ it¡­ uh¡­¡± ¡°Matt, dude, come on. You¡¯ve known her since you were kids. Hell, we all have. It¡¯s about damn time. We¡¯ll be graduating college soon, time to look towards the future you know?¡± ¡°Rick¡­ come on it¡¯s just¡­¡± My whole body seemed to crumble at that moment. ¡°I don¡¯t know if she likes me like that. What if I¡¯m ¡®just a friend¡¯ to her?! I mean, you know, fine. That¡¯s fine. But it¡¯s also really not fine at all!¡± Rick just chuckled. The jerk. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll work out. Just keep going on dates. She said yes the first time right?¡± ¡°Well¡­ yeah¡­ but what if she just thought it was like, a friend date or something?!¡± Rick rolled his eyes yet again and the next few minutes passed with us going back and forth. It was a good day today and honestly, that date had gone pretty well too. Not long later, I waved goodbye to Rick, heading home. Home to only be attacked immediately as soon as I walked inside. ¡­by the cutest thing in the world. I was being covered in slobber. ¡°Ahh, Spot! Come here!¡± Spot, my new puppy. He was a cute little beagle with floppy ears and a single spot on his side. The name had been too perfect. Who could have resisted calling him that?! That cute little spot was adorable. No no, he was adorable. The best dog a person could ask for. Life was going well, I reflected. I had a best friend, maybe a potential¡­ girlfriend if I was really lucky, and a puppy. A smile blossomed over my face. Things were going well. And that was when life decided to shit on me. A sound like the breaking of glass, like a million different pieces of glass exploding one after the other, spread throughout my whole body. I couldn¡¯t even move, as it felt like my body was crumbling to pieces. Vaguely, I could hear spot barking in arms, struggling, but I couldn¡¯t release my grip either. I was frozen, as if I was being electrocuted but so, so much worse. My pupils shook, my heart stopped, and my body seemed to expand and shrink and crumble without ever actually breaking part. And then it was over and I was on the ground. I felt¡­ I don¡¯t know how I felt. Fine. I felt fine and that was wrong. I wasn¡¯t fine, my body, my body. What¡­ happened to me? ¡°Sorry contestant, that¡¯s just how the process goes! Be glad the pain and death and destruction was removed or you¡¯d be making an excellent Picasso right now!¡± Came a voice from above me. I scrambled to look up and my eyes widened. I wasn¡¯t in my room or in my home anymore. I was standing in the middle of a massive stage. All around me were red curtains, blocking sight of anywhere else. I¡¯d been¡­ teleported? ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± But then my eyes focused. That voice hadn¡¯t come from nowhere and I looked up, seeing one of the most beautiful women I¡¯ve ever laid eyes. She spun around in mid air and landed in front of me so gracefully that it seemed physically impossible. Long black hair¡­ and even longer legs. She wore a red and black¡­ latex outfit? Her whole outfit was beyond what I could explain but I was reminded of a bunny girl¡¯s outfit strangely, or a circus master¡¯s. My eyes were almost instantly drawn to a certain¡­ massive¡­ area, but I quickly looked up at her piercing blue gaze and sharp smile. ¡°W-Who? What? How?¡± I was blabbering but¡­ but what was going on?! What the fuck? Did I fall asleep or something? Was I currently dying of a stroke and imagining all of this? ¡°Nope!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You are perfectly fine. In fact, soon, you¡¯ll be better than fine. For I welcome you¡­ to the Greatest Game Show on Earth!¡± My eyes shook as a massive red light seemed to erupt behind her at those words. Like a massive red beam of sunlight had poured through a church¡¯s window and perfectly sculpted around her body and form. My breath quickened as I suddenly fully realized that¡­ none of this was normal or possible. This was¡­ insane. ¡°Rude. Well, I suppose it is just the greatest gameshow on your Earth. I¡¯m telling you, I once saw one that involved a cat and- Ah, well, it¡¯s better not to speak of my competitors. Now, Matt, we have a chunk of information to go over and while you being absolutely kerfluffled is positively adorable, I require your mind to be at least partially here. So in that vein, let us get to brass tacks.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Suddenly, the light around us seemed to dim and shadows seemed to creep around. My breath hitched and my heart beat like a drum, as fear swam through me. The piercing blue eyes and smile seemed to be all I could see for a second, staring at me as if my soul was bound to them, moments away from being pulled from my mortal coil. Death. Death was all around me. A single movement and I would die. I could feel it to the depths of my core. The words spoken next were like hammer blows ringing throughout my body. ¡°Listen well or you will die.¡± Then, like a mirage, everything went back to normal yet my eyes never left the woman¡¯s. I couldn¡¯t. I felt like I had been enraptured. ¡°So! Let¡¯s get under way! I first would like to welcome you Matt for being volunteered to participate in this great gameshow, by me of course! If you do well, you get to live! If not, well, I hear dying isn¡¯t so bad. There are worst fates after all.¡± She said, before shrugging. Alright, no, what? Think, think, think. Death, gameshow, teleportation. Death, gameshow, teleportation. Magic. Magic? ¡°Close.¡± The woman said and I suddenly realized she had been reading my mind. Her smile seemed to sharpen. ¡°Here is the game. You will be put into a new world, one destroyed in a particularly brutal apocalypse. Your goal is to survive and win. Last a year? Congratulations! You get to go home and keep your new powers. Oh, and they¡¯ll be powers. You¡¯ll get access to a [System] and many other things. You¡¯ll get stronger and stronger as you level up. Ah, but that¡¯s where the catch comes in. To level up¡­ you must appeal to the Gods and Goddesses. Only with their Likes, are you allowed to level up!¡± She stretched out her arms at the grand statement and I tried to pay attention but this, this was way too much! A new world? I was teleported. Gods and Goddesses?! There¡¯s magic. She can read my mind?! Where¡¯s Spot?! A headache was blooming and I felt like I had gone insane. ¡°Tch. Mortals. Fine, fine. I¡¯ll do you a tiny favor. I¡¯ll just say all the mechanics and shove them into that little head of yours, unable to be forgotten!¡± Suddenly, I felt my body go still and my mouth become unable to open, as the woman began to talk. ¡°One. You may only level up after a certain amount of ''Likes''. For my fellow Gods and Goddesses, these are Follows, Rating, Reviews, and Patrons. All combined into one. For every 100 Likes, you gain 1 level. This won''t make sense to you Matt, but this also includes all Follows, Ratings, and Reviews on Scribblehub and Royalroad. By popular demand from certain Gods and Goddesses, comments will be partially included. Every 1000 comments = 1 like. You would be amazed how much the Divine like to talk Matt. ¡°Two. You can die. I want to impress upon you this. You, 100%, absolutely can die. There is no plot armor this time, no saving you. At certain points in time, those being: Every month, three months, six months, and year (Which for my fellow Gods and Goddesses is actual, real, time) you will face a challenge. If you are not strong enough by then, you will die. You can die any day before that as well to normal creatures if you are stupid Matt or don''t make the proper choices, but it''s just less. Those times will depend on you, but the challenges will not. Your life is not in your, or my, hands. So be entertaining for your lords above eh? ¡°Three. Matt, you gain 1 Qi point every day. One every, IRL, day. Sorry Matt, again, that''s for the Gods and Goddesses out there. Time isn''t always synced with mortals but this time, it is. You can spend these Qi Points on the store to buy you certain powers or things, or to simply enhance yourself directly. Raise those cultivation levels! But that will consume it. It''s a challenge... you may not survive the week if you don''t empower yourself but you may not survive the month if you don''t save up for that cool legendary weapon or armor. ¡°Four. The Gods and Goddesses can do more than simply Level you up. For all Patrons, the most Elite of Gods and Goddesses, they will get to make a daily choice of how to help... or harm you. It could be anything from a time loop reset to give you more time (although that would be prohibitively expensive), to turning you into a woman. Even Gacha''s are available. Only one choice may be selected every day. Most votes for the option wins. There needs to be enough voters to unlock the options though. (Time Loop does not become available till after 300 Patrons, for example.) ¡°Five. Freebies and challenges! At certain rare points in the world, you may find challenges Matt. They will give you more Qi points. But the danger is incredible... or not! Some will be easy, some won''t, some will be weird. Who knows! You won''t. That''s for sure. But look on the bright side, after every 10th level, you''ll get a reward as well! You can find it right next to the store. ¡°Six. Finally... have fun!¡± I felt like my brain had been hammered and yet, the words were like glue, as if I could never forget them even if I tried. There was other information there. Something, something was coming. Some word, it was like I couldn¡¯t, it was- ¡°Status.¡± I spoke, unable to stop myself. [Name: Matt Level: 0 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 0 Qi Rank: Uninitiated Achievements: N/A Titles: N/A Strength: 5 Speed: 5 Endurance: 5 Magic: 0 Mind: 5] I stared at the floating screen in front of me. That was the final straw, my brain felt like mush and now I couldn¡¯t even think. I had a status now. A status. That was¡­ no thoughts were in my head. ¡°Oh! Oh! Quickly, look at the store and milestones next!¡± Again, without me doing anything, the words were forced out of me. ¡°Store.¡± [Store: Supplies - 1 Qi Basic Weapon and Armor - 3 Qi +3 to all stats - 5 Qi Unlock a Skill - 10 Qi Rare Magical Item (Consumable OR Weapon OR Item) - 50 Qi +1 Extra Life - 500 Qi] ¡°Milestones.¡± [Milestones: 10th level: Class Selection 20th level: Best friend teleported to you. 30th level: Sub-Class unlocked 40th level: Soul Weapon System Unlocked 50th level: Race Evolution 60th level: Class Evolution 70th level: Sub Class Evolution 80th level: Childhood crush teleported to you. 90th level: Puppy set free and teleported to you. 100th level: Final Boss Option] Like coming out of a daze, my mind stared in horror at three options in particular. ¡°What?!¡± I said. ¡°Leave my friends and my dog out of this!¡± ¡°No! In fact¡­ for the first two, they¡¯ve already been teleported to the new world. Just without any system. Better level up fast or they¡¯ll die! As for the dog, well¡­¡± Suddenly, the room changed, as a cage was lowered hanging from the ceiling. A small cage, that I could barely see Spot in it. ¡°SPOT!¡± ¡°Haha! Now that you¡¯ve been properly motivated, have a fun trip!¡± The sound of breaking glass happened again and my puppy whimpering was the last sight I saw. ¡°Oh and don¡¯t mind the mind probe! It just makes things more fun!¡± Day 1: A Chocolately Forecast I opened my eyes and everything was wrong. It was dark like night but the sun was clearly out¡­ except there were clouds above in the sky so dark that it might as well have been a particularly well lit moon than anything else. The air tasted foul, like rot and death and poison. It hurt breathing it in. I felt like I had been taken to a cemetery, no, a tomb full of ritual sacrifices. And those were just my first impressions. When my mind caught up¡­ ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT! WHAT?! WHAT IS GOING ON?!¡± My lungs hurt from the air, my heart was beating so fast I felt like I was having a heart attack or a stroke, my mind was a mess, and my friends- Spot-! ¡°MILESTONES!¡± I screamed into the empty air. Suddenly, like a horrifying piece of magic, a list of stuff appeared in front of me. [Milestones: 10th level: Class Selection 20th level: Best friend teleported to you. 30th level: Sub-Class unlocked 40th level: Soul Weapon System Unlocked 50th level: Race Evolution 60th level: Class Evolution 70th level: Sub Class Evolution 80th level: Childhood crush teleported to you. 90th level: Puppy set free and teleported to you. 100th level: Final Boss Option] [20th level: Best friend teleported to you.] [80th level: Childhood crush teleported to you.] [90th level: Puppy set free and teleported to you.] My head felt like it was going to burst. I had a migraine and everything felt like I was going crazy. My friends, no, magic, no gods?! Goddesses?! A system, qi, what, what what what what- ¡°AHHH!¡± I breathed deep and heavy, feeling my body tingle as if it was going numb. Or as if I was going to faint. I felt light headed. I was actually going to even more crazy at this rate. Break it down. Break it down. Break it down. Break it down. I collapsed to the ground, shoving my head in my hands. What was going on? Where do I start? My head was a mess. The beginning. The beginning was always the best place to start. Go slow, pull it apart, pull it apart slowly. Come on Matt, you can do this. Think. ¡°Teleported. I was teleported. That, that happened. That¡­ teleportation is a thing. No¡­ not just that! There¡¯s-¡± Slower. Slower. Gotta, gotta go slower. ¡°I was teleported. By a¡­ Goddess?¡± My mind spun to a stop. She had read my mind, she had summoned me, she had thrown me into another world. Isn¡¯t¡­ isn¡¯t that just like one of those popular animes? ¡°Anime is real¡­¡± My voice said in horrified awe, before I snapped out of it. ¡°Alright. Alright okay. Alright, okay. Alright. Don¡¯t, don¡¯t break down. A¡­ Goddess summoned me. Teleported me.¡± That was all my brain could handle. I chewed on that, not letting the fear and panic and terror and oh my god where am I- No. No no no. Just, one thing at a time. We can do this. Don¡¯t have a panic attack, don¡¯t have a panic attack. Suddenly, a box appeared and it said something horrible about my mental state that I barely even flinched at it. Don¡¯t break down. Okay. Okay, so you were¡­ summoned by a Goddess? But, but not to save a world¡­ right? No. No¡­ it was for a- ¡°Gameshow.¡± My mind blanked, the realization fully hitting me, as I stared up into the sky and shuddered. I was being watched. No¡­ no, even more than that. Hadn¡¯t she said something about a mind- ¡°Don¡¯t think about it. Don¡¯t think about it. Slowly. Slowly.¡± I felt my nerves calming down, the information mass that had been shoved into my brain¡­ that had literally been shoved into my brain, slowly ease itself. I couldn¡¯t, I needed- Deep breaths Matt. Deep breaths. ¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­. I don¡¯t know how long it had been. Maybe an hour. Maybe two. But I just sat there, my mind trying to, trying to keep it together. But I had¡­ I understand. I get it. I¡¯m¡­ ¡°I¡¯m¡­ a¡­ contestant on a show?¡± That was¡­ I¡¯d been summoned to another world with¡­ powers. It didn¡¯t matter about the, the powers right now. That was what was important. I was¡­ on a gameshow. A divine godly gameshow, run by Gods. Who want to¡­ watch me. Like I was free entertainment for them. The shock must not have worn off fully. But¡­ I needed to move on. I couldn¡¯t, I couldn¡¯t linger on that. Rick, Jessica, Spot. They were in danger! I had to level up to save them. How do I- ¡°One. You may only level up after a certain amount of ''Likes''. For my fellow Gods and Goddesses, these are Follows, Rating, Reviews and Patrons. All combined into one. For every 100 Likes, you gain 1 level. This won''t make sense to you Matt, but this also includes all Follows, Ratings, and Reviews on Scribblehub and Royalroad. By popular demand from certain Gods and Goddesses, comments will be partially included. Every 1000 comments = 1 like. You would be amazed how much the Divine like to talk Matt.¡± The words were like a brick but it gave me a task, something to focus on. I ¡®read¡¯ the words carefully in my mind, going over everyone, while my headache only seemed to increase rapidly. Ratings like¡­ a TV show? Reviews and follows¡­ I really was on a game show. A lightbulb went off. ¡°Oh my god, I¡¯m in the hunger games.¡± I opened my eyes and finally took in my actual surroundings. This world looked like earth¡­ there was a gas station not far away, some buildings nearby, large stretches of land¡­ I seemed to be in a small town somewhere. Except there was no people. No lights. No sounds. And everything was dark. The sun only giving as much illumination as a moon. I felt my heart rate begin to speed back up as fear began to grip me. The second thing the¡­ the Goddess? Said hit me even harder than the first. ¡°Two. You can die. I want to impress upon you this. You, 100%, absolutely can die. There is no plot armor this time, no saving you. At certain points in time, those being: Every month, three months, six months, and year (Which for my fellow Gods and Goddesses is actual, real, time) you will face a challenge. If you are not strong enough by then, you will die. You can die any day before that as well to normal creatures if you are stupid Matt or don''t make the proper choices, but it''s just less. Those times will depend on you, but the challenges will not. Your life is not in your, or my, hands. So be entertaining for your lords above eh?¡± I can die. This world, she said this world had suffered an apocalypse. She never said what kind. Normal creatures. Creatures. With challenges every certain period of months? My mind flit to the movie of the hunger games, how entertaining I¡¯d found it at the time. I imagined being a contestant on it, dying to what some of the contestants had died to. I felt my terror go up a notch. Survive. My instincts began to scream at me, I felt like I was going to die, every dark corner suddenly seemed more ominous, I felt like I could hear a strange rustling on the winds. Survive. Survive. I needed to survive. ¡°Three. Matt, you gain 1 Qi point every day-¡± I slammed the brakes there, because something moved. I looked towards the gas station and- My terror broke out of me so hard that I screamed. What is the scariest thing in the world? What terrifies people the most? What games people wet the bed in fear? Only one thing. Their own personal phobia¡¯s. But there are things humans are naturally afraid of and things they aren¡¯t. Spiders, the dark, the unknown, snakes, common fears. Almost genetics based. Every human had to fear them. But there was another. Something that we¡¯d made a joke of. Something we liked to use simply because it gave good action scenes in movies. But it was never ¡®truly¡¯ scary. Not until right now. I felt the same as the first human seeing the first spider. Felt a primal terror down into my DNA. I have no idea what our ancestors faced in their battle up the evolutionary chain¡­ but I felt my animalistic primal self go into a frenzy as that thing walked towards me. A zombie. ¡®Just¡¯ a Zombie. Slow moving, dead, rotting, unalive, dull eyes, peeling skin, grey skin, mouth slightly hanging open. Movies had gotten them almost right. But there was nothing there. No malice, no intentions, no emotions, no hunger. It slowly walked towards me, not stumbling, not limping, walked, arms outstretched slightly. It was¡­ there is no human word for it. Wrong? Unnatural? Disturbing? It bypassed all of that. Those were childish words to describe the absolute horror I was witnessing. It was¡­ evil. It was the uncanny valley on the highest level possible. It was like seeing your baby torn apart in front of your very eyes. It was like having needles full of chemicals stabbed into your skin and mess with your hormones. I would feel less horrified if I was plunged into darkness and covered in spiders while something grabbed at me in the dark. It felt¡­ like sacrilege. It felt like the human race itself had been forced to suffer sacrilege. The depths and strength of my emotions surprised me, somewhere in the mix, but I was too busy screaming. ¡°GET AWAY! GET AWAY!¡± Survival, survival, survival, survival. The box. Too far, too far. Control. Control. Survive. Survive. Survive. ¡°STATUS!¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. [Name: Matt Level: 0 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 1 Qi Rank: Uninitiated Achievements: N/A Titles: N/A Strength: 5 Speed: 5 Endurance: 5 Magic: 0 Mind: 5] ¡°QI POINT! QI POINT!¡± [Would you like to-] ¡°YES!¡± Suddenly I felt a wave wash over me. I felt like, I felt like for the first time in what felt like an eternity, I had a grip on my mind. Just a slight edge. I grabbed that small thread of sanity for all it was worth and brought it down like a hammer. It was like trying to hold onto a small rock in an ocean while a hurricane is going on. ¡°It¡¯s. Okay. It¡¯s. Okay.¡± The Zom- Nope. Nope. Can¡¯t think it¡¯s name. The thing was¡­ moving slowly. It wasn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t a. It wasn¡¯t a threat. My words were true but I couldn¡¯t believe them. I needed help. I wasn¡¯t, I wasn¡¯t going to remain sane for much longer. My emotions, I looked around before seeing the box. I ran, the Zom- it turned to follow me. I grabbed the box and my mind twisted and turned. I was an Ape. An ape with a weapon. I ran towards the Zombie. ¡°AHHHHH!!!!!!!¡± My feet slammed onto the ground, my arms swung with terror fueled adrenaline, and the box was solid. It hit the zombie and it¡­ fell over. My ape mind had lost all higher functions. I slammed down, box in hand, on top of it¡¯s head. Over and over and over and over and over again. And again. And again. At some point, my arms gave out and the body below me no longer had a head. There was just¡­ a bloody mess below me. The most horrifying part was just how relieving that felt. I felt, more than saw, that my [Status] was¡­ ¡®blinking¡¯. Right. Right. Gameshow. Save friends. I blinked at that. Right. Right. I needed to save my friends. Imagining Rick or Jessica facing one of those- I nearly had a heart attack. No. A panic attack. That thought¡­ that thought nearly sent the small scrap of sanity I had into turmoil. I needed, I needed to focus on something else. ¡°Status.¡± I blurted out and then, everything changed. [Achievements unlocked!] [Welcome to The Gameshow: Become part of a Divine Gameshow! +1 Magic] [The Royal Road: You¡¯ve begun your quest to immortality and embarked on the first stage of Qi Condensation! +1 Magic] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear: You¡¯ve overcome Humanity''s original fear and killed it! +1 Mind] [Creative Care: You didn¡¯t just kill something with any old weapon, you killed it with a Divine Care Package! How Creative! +1 Mind] I had been too far gone to notice my stat gain before but now I was very aware. It felt like something I¡¯d never known my whole life was rushing into me, like I was deeply connected to the whole entire universe. Like I was a single thread, a single dot, in the tapestry of an entire existence. A part of a whole that was all of reality. And my mind, my mind had been overloaded to the point of bursting, going completely insane and feral not moments ago. But now it felt refreshed like, I¡¯d gone into a pool of tranquility. I stood up, getting off the corpse, and gently sat down nearby. I felt so¡­ relaxed. At peace. Wow. ¡°Status.¡± I said simply. [Name: Matt Level: 0 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 0 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 1 Achievements: N/A Titles: N/A Strength: 6 Speed: 6 Endurance: 6 Magic: 3 Mind: 8] That first burst of sanity, it must have been from the Qi point. It added +1 to all my stats. I¡¯d been too far gone to feel it increasing anything else. Hell, it might have been too small of a gain to feel anything at all beyond my mind barely holding on. But now? Now I felt like my mind was¡­ sharper. More easily at peace but that was probably temporary. I could feel the magic going through me, no, yes? I thought it was magic but it might be Qi. I couldn¡¯t¡­ I couldn¡¯t really tell or even really feel it. I had just started whatever that was. I knew that it was a thing in some¡­ books? But I had never read those books. I think it was like, flying and shooting beams out of your hands or something? It was enough to know it upped my stats. I sat there, staring at the sky. There was so much to unpack but it didn¡¯t feel like I had time. That Zombie, I felt my mind and body shudder at it¡¯s very name, wasn¡¯t a threat. But it was¡­ it nearly broke my mind. It was, the achievement called it Humanity¡¯s First Fear. What on Earth happened in the past¡­ No, that wasn¡¯t important. I finally had time, no, the ability to think. I was on a Divine Game Show. They had yanked me from my own home, my own planet, and sent me to try and survive. But they hadn¡¯t just sent me. Somewhere out there was Rick and Jessica, trying their best to survive without superpowers. I needed to ¡®level up¡¯ and fast, if I wanted to save them. But that would be easier said than done. How hard was it to get ¡®Likes¡¯? No, how hard was it to get good ratings, reviews, and follows? I¡¯d watched T.V. before. I frowned. It wouldn¡¯t be easy. No matter what¡­ the ¡®show¡¯ had just started. I¡¯d be a low level for a long, long time. Which was bad. I couldn¡¯t wait that long. I needed to save them now. And I needed to survive long enough to do it. Not to mention spot¡­ at least he should be safe. Unless that Goddess doesn¡¯t feed him¡­ My heart hurt. It hurt bad. With a refreshed mind and a tired body, I realized just how dangerous and terrible my situation was. I swear I¡¯d find those gods and- ¡°Mind probe¡± A voice seemed to whisper into my head. I gulped. And¡­ do nothing at all to them, ever. In fact- I glanced over to my care package. It was a medium sized box, roughly as big as someone¡¯s torso. It had a yellow top lid and a Grey-ish bottom. A grey-ish bottom that was¡­ currently covered in gray rotting blood. I swallowed a lump of disgust. ¡°Four. The Gods and Goddesses can do more than simply Level you up. For all Patrons, the most Elite of Gods and Goddesses, they will get to make a daily choice of how to help... or harm you. It could be anything from a time loop reset to give you more time (although that would be prohibitively expensive), to turning you into a woman. Even Gacha''s are available. Only one choice may be selected every day. Most votes for the option wins. There needs to be enough voters to unlock the options though. (Time Loop does not become available till after 300 Patrons, for example.)¡± So¡­. so, the Patrons had voted this for me. That wasn¡¯t very comforting. It could be something awful or evil or terrible. It could kill me. Or it could be a literal Gacha. I had no idea. But I needed all the strength I could get. I briefly tried to imagine a horde of zomb- I felt my stomach roil, my mind freeze, and my throat fill with bile. God damn it. It was, it was like my thoughts¡­ just what on earth had happened for humans to be so afraid of zombies?! I didn¡¯t even know we¡¯d had zombies on Earth¡­ did we? Was this just another part of the Gameshow, to make me terrified? I had no idea. But the point stood. I needed power to survive. I couldn¡¯t help anyone if I was dead. It was strange how quickly it felt like I was adapting. But it almost made sense. In a way¡­ my literal mind was 60% stronger than it was a few¡­ god, hours ago? It had only been hours? Taking a deep breath, I got up and walked over to the crate. There was a simple latch on the side¡­ but below it was still a dead, gruesome body. My stomach roiled again and I tried not to imagine who it was or what was happening or, or anything. My mind was stronger and temporarily refreshed, not, not impervious to harm. I needed, I needed time. ¡°Gods¡­ well¡­ please don¡¯t have fucked me over I guess.¡± I unlatched the box¡­ opened it¡­ And saw nothing inside. ¡°Huh? What?¡± I stared¡­ waiting for something to happen, before the box began to just¡­ dissipate. Into thin air. I stared it, blinking rapidly. Had it done something to me? Was I unable to notice it? Was it something in my status- I felt something land on top of me and froze. Terror shuddered through me and slowly, so so slowly, I looked up. There was nothing above me. I put a hand to my head¡­ horrifingly, I touched something sticky and warm. Pulling my hand back¡­ it was brown. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me that¡¯s-¡± Then more drops began to fall from the sky. And more. A brown drizzle began but it stayed that way all of half a second before it become a brown storm and it was splattered across my face. And honestly? I felt relief. Because some got in my mouth and blessedly, it was chocolate. My mind seemed ready to blank out again at that though. It was raining Chocolate. More began to fall and splattered against me. I felt my hair and skin instantly become warm and sticky, chocolate beginning to seep down into my eyes, the smell of it beginning to overpower me, as I became soaked in chocolate. I ran for the gas station, only a short distance away, but by the time I made it the chocolate rain had become a downpour and seemed to only be picking up speed. I looked down at the absolute sticky, terrible mess I was and just stood there, trying to process my new reality. Why¡­ why chocolate rain? It took me an¡­ embarrassingly long time to check my surroundings real quick. I seemed to be alone. I began to look around the gas station, grabbing all the bottles of water. I should save them for rations. A zombie apocalypse- My mind quaked like a leaf in a windstorm and I shoved that thought down, down, down. Hard and away, immediately. My brain couldn¡¯t take it. It was like having a spider or snake wrapped around your arm and you were unable to remove it. Focusing on it would only break you down till you went crazy. Rations. I needed to ration. But¡­ I spent an incredible amount to clean off all the damn chocolate as best I could. Especially when I realized the water didn¡¯t work in the bathroom. I was pouring the third bottle of water into a towel I¡¯d found in the cleaning supplies, trying to get it all out of my hair, when it hit me. The reason the gods had sent down chocolate rain. It was a prank. The gods had played a prank on me. There had to have been better options¡­ and worst ones. And yet¡­ this is what the gods had chosen. Because it was funny. Because the whole point of all of this¡­ was to be entertaining to them. ¡°That¡¯s so fucking messed up.¡± They could have helped me and- No. No, I had to, they could always make it worse. These care packages were daily. I had to be¡­ calm. My knuckles gripped the broom so hard I thought it would crack. It was fine. Everything was okay. It was just a, a harmless. Prank. It could have been worse. Deep breaths. Focus. Survival. I had to find Rick and Jessica. Leveling up¡­ that was completely out of my control. I needed a plan, food, water, a vehicle if I could get ahold of one. And¡­ and then what? Everything was finally starting to hit me. I put my back to the wall and slowly slid down, leaving a trail of brown. I was stuck in another world, with zombies. In an apocalypse. Probably worse shit too. Even a zombie horde, ugh, would be too much for me. I¡¯d die. I¡¯d die and then so would Rick and Jessica and Spot. Even all of that was just¡­ the last parts. I had been teleported. For some reason I was still hung up on that. Ha. ¡®Some reason¡¯. It hadn¡¯t even been a day yet. Magic, Qi, Teleportation, Gods, some kind of system, I mean for fucks sake¡­ I was literally what, mentally stronger now? What did that even mean? Were they changing who I was? Was my brain different now? I was apparently tougher and stronger now too. That was, that was insane. And there was a fucking magic stat I had 3 in now! That, magic was currently being measured in numbers?! Could I do magic now or what?! And right outside, was a fucking apocalypse. Not just that¡­ it was currently raining chocolate. ¡°I really have gone fucking insane.¡± No matter what my status might say¡­ I was tired. No, I was fucking exhausted. I needed months to just pick apart that gods existed, let alone magic, and I had to deal with all of this right the hell now. ¡°Calm down Matt. Calm down. Just¡­ just one thing at time. We¡¯re safe here¡­ maybe.¡± I hadn¡¯t found a shotgun under the counter sadly, but there was food, water, and the chocolate was already absolutely covering everything. I stared out at it¡­ and mentally gave up right then and there. I wasn¡¯t leaving here in that. It had been near the end of my day when I¡¯d been summoned and it had been at least a few hour since my break down, ¡®fight¡¯, and trying to clean off. I was too tired for, for any of this. I got up, checking the whole place a few more times, barricaded the doors despite it feeling useless, and just laid down on the floor. I was sticky, dirty, sweaty, mentally and emotionally drained, and worried and anxious for my friends and dog. I thought that last part would make it nearly impossible to go to sleep. I was out the second my back hit the floor. Day 2: A very long day. I woke up feeling like burnt rubber. Sticky burnt rubber. ¡°Ughh.¡± I opened my eyes, feeling disgusting. I was covered in something. What on earth had I been- Gods. Gameshow. Chocolate rain. I shot up, heart beating, my eyes looking around. I was on the floor of a gas station, an empty gas station. The lights weren¡¯t on and it was¡­ morning? It was darker than yesterday but I remembered it slowly going from ¡®dark¡¯ to ¡®Pitch Black¡¯. I was pretty sure this damn world didn¡¯t do bright. This world¡­ A shaky laugh broke out of me. ¡°This is¡­ crazy.¡± It was still too big, too much. It was like trying to understand the universe. But if yesterday had taught me anything, it was that my friends were in danger. That I was in danger. I could barely think the word ¡®Zombie¡¯. ¡°Gah.¡± It was, it was like all my higher functions shut off around it. Like I¡¯d become a cornered rat seeing a cat, but with all the higher capabilities of a human, used just to tell me how absolutely horrifying what I was seeing was. It was ¡®just¡¯ a Zombie but¡­ but it was like I was seeing the source of all fear in the universe. The most terrible, horrible thing possible. ¡°If I freeze up like that again¡­¡± I shook that thought off. There was too much. I needed to level up if I wanted to save myself and my friends and survive whatever else this world has in it. Actually, speaking of¡­ ¡°Status.¡± ¡°[Name: Matt Level: 0 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 1 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 1 Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] Titles: N/A Strength: 6 Speed: 6 Endurance: 6 Magic: 3 Mind: 8] A lot of things popped out to me at once. For starters¡­ I was getting way too used to this way too quickly. I knew myself well enough. I should be a nervous wreck. I probably had the +3 in mind to thank for that. It had helped me yesterday and it would continue to help me it seemed. Something messing with my mind was¡­ Well, there was no use worrying about that right now. Next was my damn level. It hadn¡¯t gone up even once. I needed 100 likes for it but¡­ ¡°How many likes do I even have?¡± At that, a number appeared in front of me, startling me. [76 Likes] My jaw dropped at that number. On one hand that was¡­ not enough for a level. On the other though¡­ it had just been a day right? At this rate¡­ I¡¯d probably have my first level by tomorrow. I needed 20 for Rick. So, if it took me 2 days per level¡­ I grimaced. Over a month. Jessica¡­ spot¡­ It would take over a month just for Rick¡­ That brought me up short. I had something else awaiting me in a month. ¡°At certain points in time, those being: Every month, three months, six months, and year (Which for my fellow Gods and Goddesses is actual, real, time) you will face a challenge.¡± A challenge¡­ fuck. Right. Right, this was a Gameshow. A show. But there was a system and levels. So it was almost like a video game as well. So there¡¯d be challenges. How strong would I need to be¡­ for the first challenge? The first ¡®Boss¡¯. Well¡­ if it was anything like a game, you¡¯d probably need to be like level 10- ¡°Milestones.¡± I said immediately. [Milestones: 10th level: Class Selection 20th level: Best friend teleported to you. 30th level: Sub-Class unlocked 40th level: Soul Weapon System Unlocked 50th level: Race Evolution 60th level: Class Evolution 70th level: Sub Class Evolution 80th level: Childhood crush teleported to you. 90th level: Puppy set free and teleported to you. 100th level: Final Boss Option] ¡°A Class¡­¡± I had a horrible feeling¡­ that if I didn¡¯t reach level 10 within a month, I would fail the challenge. But that was relying on the Gods. I couldn¡¯t do anything about that. But I could do something else. I had already seen it when I¡¯d opened my status. I had a Qi point. Suddenly I heard a loud bang and nearly jumped a foot into the air. Turning around, fists at the ready, breath shaky, heart pumping, I saw¡­ a box. A familiar looking box. ¡°Oh. Oh it¡¯s just the care package.¡± Wait, just the care package? I eyed the box with suspicion. The Gods just saw me as entertainment. Which wasn¡¯t¡­ great. But the first box hadn¡¯t been too bad either. They¡¯d seen me deal with the zombie right? And how I felt about their prank. So¡­ would they make things better or worse? Send something to help or hurt me? I had food and water¡­ but that was it. And that wasn¡¯t a plan. I shook my head, I¡¯d deal with that later. I had a Qi point, but there was something else I could do with it. ¡°Store.¡± [Store: Supplies - 1 Qi Basic Weapon and Armor - 3 Qi +3 to all stats - 5 Qi Unlock a Skill - 10 Qi Rare Magical Item (Consumable OR Weapon OR Item) - 50 Qi +1 Extra Life - 500 Qi] I frowned. The +3 to all stats didn¡¯t make sense. If I spent 5 points just raising my, my rank? If I just raised my rank or realm or whatever, I¡¯d have +5 to all stats. That must mean¡­ diminishing returns. At some point the Qi would stop raising my stats as much¡­ it might even be now. There was no way to know. I could also get some supplies. It¡¯d be better than trying to make some way to carry this food and water without anything but that seemed like a waste. Basic weapons and armor¡­ It would take me 3 days but the part I was most interested in was the word ¡®And¡¯. A set of armor and a sword or a spear¡­ that would be amazing. Then there was the big stuff. A skill. I didn¡¯t know what a skill was but if I had to guess, I¡¯d get my first or probably ¡®only¡¯ skills from my Classes. Getting an ¡®extra¡¯ or early one, would probably be amazing. It¡¯d have to be if it cost that much. But I had no basis for what the skills were or did. I¡¯d rather have the, maybe, +10 stats to everything. At the very least, I could definitely get +6 to everything. Did 10 strength mean I was twice as strong? Was the stats weighted? There were no answers to be found and I didn¡¯t feel any stronger, despite going from 5 to 6. That was a 20% increase in strength. Would I notice that? Honestly, I probably wouldn¡¯t¡­ Then there was the last two things but there was no way I¡¯d ever be able to afford them. That was 50 and 500 days. Unless I found one of those challenges, they were off the table. So¡­ do I use it or save up for something? That was the question. Which was better? No matter what¡­ I was going to be fighting more things. It wouldn¡¯t be a very ¡®entertaining¡¯ gameshow without it. And if I didn¡¯t fight more things¡­ the ratings of the show would probably drop. Less ratings, less reviews, less people watching¡­ meant no more likes. No more levels. And then I¡¯d die. ¡°So be entertaining for your lords above eh?¡± I resisted the urge to collapse right then and there. Fighting. I was going to have to do¡­ a lot of it. That meant I needed a weapon. I eyed the crate. Well, a better weapon. I¡¯d save the points then. Try to make it 3 days to buy the armor and weapon set. I wasn¡¯t going to be punching zombies to death with my fists, regardless of how high my strength was. That was just asking to get bit or scratched and then- My body shuddered. It didn¡¯t even occur to me till right now that I could get infected. That armor was looking better and better by the moment. Alright. I¡¯d gone over my status. I had to do it. I turned to the Care Package. ¡°Gods¡­ please don¡¯t screw me over.¡± I said a small prayer, one that was less a prayer and more just a direct request at this point. I went over to the care package. It was still the same yellow and grey as it was before. Putting it on the gas station counter, I firmed my nerves. I had no idea what this could be. Last time, they played a prank. But I doubted that was all they could do. My fingers grasped the edges¡­ and I opened it. Then my eyes widened. Unlike last time, the box wasn¡¯t empty. No, it wasn¡¯t nearly empty. Instead, 3¡­ things? Rose from it. Floated right out of it. The first was¡­ everything. It was like a random box in Rario kart. There was a weapon, then armor, then a monster, then weird shapes and images, constantly cycling over and over. Hadn¡¯t the Host mentioned a Gacha? Was that what I was seeing? The Gods had voted for random? The second option was empty. A blank. But there was a small transparent blue around that nothing, as if it was ¡®something¡¯. That didn¡¯t fill me with ease. The last nothing had been chocolate rain. For all I knew, this could be a hail storm of gummy bears. The third option¡­ I grimaced. It was a miniature flood, showing the town I was in being swept away in a tide of brown. I could see a miniature version of my gas station being completely covered. A natural disaster. A chocolate flood. That wasn¡¯t just a prank¡­ that was an actual danger to me. I could literally drown or be swept away. People died in floods all the time and that was before they were made of chocolate. Can you even swim in chocolate? Were the gods really¡­ trying to kill me? No, no they didn¡¯t care about ¡®me¡¯ one way or another. They didn¡¯t care about anyone. As long as it was interesting they were with anything. Suddenly, above the three different things, words appeared. ¡®A Tie!¡¯ ¡°A tie?¡± These three choices were equal in votes? What did that mean for me? Suddenly, a small sphere appeared, with a number on it. A number that immediately began to rapidly change between 1, 2, and 3. I gulped. I understood now. They were rolling for which one of the three choices I got. The first could be anything, the second was unknown, and the third was a natural disaster that might kill me. No matter what I got¡­ my heart felt like it was going to explode. I began to sweat as the roll seemed to slow down. I looked at it¡­ and didn¡¯t feel any relief. ¡®2¡¯ The empty sphere. The other two choices seemed to melt away into particles, before disappearing altogether. Soon, the care package did the same. I waited, glancing out the windows. The ground was still covered in chocolate¡­ and not an insect in sight. Or any creature. Disturbing. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I was waiting for whatever had happened to¡­ well¡­ happen. Minutes kept passing but¡­ everything was silent and dead, just like when I¡¯d arrived. I took a step to see out a few other windows and- And nearly launched myself through it. ¡°What the fuck?!¡± I stopped just before and looked down at my feet. Slowly, carefully, I took a few more steps and watched with wide eyes as I practically glide through the air. It was¡­ strange. It just felt like I was walking normally but I was just so¡­ ¡°Fast.¡± A light bulb went off in my head. ¡°Status.¡± ¡°[Name: Matt Level: 0 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 1 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 1 Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] Titles: N/A Strength: 6 Speed: 6 (18) (x3 Care Package Buff. Lasts 24 hours) Endurance: 6 Magic: 3 Mind: 8] The effect this time was a buff? A buff that made me faster? That was¡­ pretty good? ¡°Thank you?¡± I felt¡­ strange. After I¡¯d seen the three options, especially that last one, I¡¯d started to feel that the Gods were¡­ well, assholes. But¡­ but the gods were just people. Some might be assholes but not all of them. If I was watching a show¡­ a real show with a real person¡­ I¡¯d want to help them out. And I already knew plenty of people wouldn¡¯t. I hadn¡¯t been thinking like that. I¡¯d barely accepted that Gods existed, let alone the fact they watch TV. That I was being watched all the time. That I¡¯d become entertainment when I¡¯d been kidnapped and shoved into this horrible place. I looked to the ceiling. ¡°Uh. Gods. Thank you for the buff. If you could help me gain levels, I¡¯d appreciate it. My friends¡­ they don¡¯t have any kind of help. They¡¯re in danger. I don¡¯t know what you can do but¡­ thank you again.¡± It felt so¡­ strange. I could ¡®pray¡¯ and I knew it¡¯d be heard. It felt awkward. I shook that away. The Gods weren¡¯t my enemies¡­ not all of them. I¡¯d just have to hope they didn¡¯t fuck me over. Actually, wait a minute! ¡°Gods! Uh, for tomorrow! Please get me a weapon and some armor!¡± No one said I couldn¡¯t make requests! If I do that, then I could spend my Qi points on raising my stats instead of saving them. I could even ask that they just teleport Rick or Jessica to me but¡­ this was still a show. I doubt, wow, did Gods have producers? I doubt the producers of the show would let me just skip leveling. That would be ¡®bad for ratings¡¯. Alright, so, now what? I needed a plan. I was in a random town, in a random country side. I need a weapon and a vehicle. I could explore the buildings¡­ I guess. Carefully, cautiously, I left the gas station. I immediately froze. Something was wrong. I didn¡¯t know what, but something was wrong. I looked all around, panic beginning to build, when I finally spotted what it was. I gulped. The body was gone. The dead zombie body was gone. It had either got up and walked away without a head. Or¡­ something had taken it away. Neither of those two thoughts were comforting. Something had been out here, not 20 feet from me. I¡¯d barricaded the doors but would that have been enough? I didn¡¯t feel safe. There was a road across from me, and on the other side of that, buildings. Clearly apartment buildings. Old, but, it could have been anywhere on earth. The hostess had said that hadn¡¯t she? ¡°The Greatest Gameshow on Earth! Well, your Earth.¡± Guess the multiverse is real then¡­ I walked across the road, stupidly looking both ways before doing so. There wasn¡¯t a car in sight. I really hoped this wasn¡¯t the Earth where cars went out of fashion or something. There seemed to be a parking garage, so that was promising. But I had no way to get inside. I¡¯d have to start with the buildings. ¡­The buildings that could have multiple zombies, or worse, in them. A quick trip back to the gas station and I was now¡­ armed. I had a mop. It was the best I could find. It was so strange walking around. There was brown sludge everywhere. Despite knowing it was chocolate¡­ it just didn¡¯t look it. Hell, it didn¡¯t look like shit either. The sun had dried it out and the generally dark lighting made it just look like, well, dark sludge. Like the world had been coated in grime. It was almost amusing at how chocolate of all things could make the world look more scary. Almost. I tried to keep myself alert as I traveled to the apartment buildings. I didn¡¯t see¡­ anything. No doors opened, no people, no animals, nothing. I went to the first door I saw and¡­ locked. Fuck. I didn¡¯t want to make too much noise by trying to break the door down. That seemed like a terrible idea. I¡¯d just have to keep trying doors till I found one unlocked. It shouldn¡¯t take that long¡­ I felt ridiculous and sadly, that didn¡¯t make me feel much better. I was trudging through dried chocolate, still sticky and gross, with a mop by my side trying to break into someone¡¯s apartment. Sadly, there was zombies and probably more out there and the last thing I wanted was to be attacked without seeing the- I turned. Something had caught my eye. I thought I saw movement for a second. I could feel a lump in my throat. My hands were shaking. What I was looking at¡­ was an open door. Just slightly. Somehow that made everything worse. It felt like at any moment, a monster was going to come running from the door, ready to murder me. As if every window and behind every door was someone or something watching me. The Gods were one thing¡­ but they were distant and clearly human-like. I had no idea about anything else here. I approached the door, my mop out. I felt like I was in a horror movie. I grimaced. That was definitely by design. I¡¯d been sent to this world because it was scary. I got closer and closer to the door, my heart rate rising by the moment. It felt like the whole world was holding it¡¯s breath. I pushed on it with the stick of the mop, cringing at the sound. My eyes were stuck on the inside. There was nothing there. Heart beating like a drum, I headed inside. There was nothing behind the door, thank god. It seemed like a small place. There was a hallway leading into a living room, it seemed like. I took slow, cautious steps forward. For once, I cursed my speed boost, as it seemed like I was in the living room way, way too fast. I glanced to my right quickly, just seeing a somewhat old TV of all thin- My breathing froze, sweat began to stain my clothes, fear and terror swam through my brain, and my heartbeat sped up faster and faster and faster. My eyes widened, my pupils shook, a strangled scream threatened to tear itself out my throat but I held it in. My body was as still as a statue. Because I saw something, in that black mirror of a screen. Something was behind me. To my left. And it was missing a head. It was sitting there, on the sofa, as if it had been enjoying watching a show. As my eyes stared at the image I was seeing, my terror only grew to new heights. It was torn apart. Methodically. Slowly. The zombie from before I mean. It¡¯s flesh had been peeled off and the bones had been removed from it¡¯s right arm. It looked like¡­ it looked like someone was slowly trying to remove every single bone, as carefully as possible, but they couldn¡¯t. Whatever had torn it apart seemed to have done so methodically¡­ but as if they had razor blades for hands. It was more like claws than a scalpel. Teeth grit hard, mind screaming, adrenaline pounding, I turned. Slowly, steadily, facing the zombie. It was just sitting there. It wasn¡¯t a threat. No. Whatever could take [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] and do this to it, was. I heard a sound and- Fear, adrenaline, and the Buff saved my life. I didn¡¯t hesitate or freeze for more than a moment. Just a moment. That was already almost too long. The thing that had just walked in from another room was already almost on top of me. In that moment, I got a frozen look at it, as my life flashed before my eyes. A skeleton. A Black Skeleton, unlike anything I¡¯d seen before. There was a mass between its bones¡­ but it just seemed to be more, smaller bones connecting the pieces. Its skull was elongated and its mouth was open as if in the middle of a violent scream or screech, despite the dead silence. And it was fast. So fast. Claw-like fingers were inches from my face, edging closer, as time continued to march on. It wasn¡¯t a dodge. It was a flinch from pure and utter terror. I moved and the skeleton barreled past, going through the TV and through the wall. The sound like an explosion in the quiet of the day. Fast, strong, durable, my mind screamed at me. I dropped the useless mop and ran for my life. It made no sound, it made no noise, no screams or screeches, and yet I knew it was behind me. I ran out the door, hearing the wood shatter not half a second later. My mind went into overdrive as my legs pumped forward, as I slammed my body into asphalt, death right behind me. ¡®It was catching up¡¯ The thought flashed past my mind and I slammed a thought into my head. [W-] ¡®YES!¡¯ Suddenly, I felt my whole body change, but the only important one was that I got faster. I could already taste iron in my mouth, feel the heat building in my legs, feel my heart beat a million miles a minute. I¡¯d never run so fast as I sped forward, only forward. In less than the blink of an eye, the gas station was in front of me again. Turning meant death, I¡¯d lose speed. I couldn¡¯t slow down. I couldn¡¯t stop. My mind blanked but my body kept moving. Right before I slammed into the door, I slid on the dried chocolate. I wish I could say it was planned. It wasn¡¯t. I fell forward before I felt a searing pain in my back, and what seemed like the same moment like two loud crashes, with glass breaking. I quickly got up, feeling blood flow down my back. I caught a glimpse in front of me, the Skeleton having barreled through the gas station doors and then straight through the wall and glass window in the back. It stood back up, no worse for wear, turning to me. Empty black sockets stared at me, but it was like a machine, never stopping. There was no space between its rise and it moving towards me. It was all one seamless, horrifying motion. I turned and ran and ran and ran. The road was eaten underneath my legs, terror fueling my movement, and I saw things. Horrible things. In the distance I saw something massive lumbering across the fields, saw things with too many eyes and teeth and mass curling across the ground, black vines seeming to shoot up out of sewers, more skeletons. It was only at that that my panicked mind realized I was running deeper into town and there existed far, far more horrors here. This was no zombie apocalypse. This¡­ this¡­ this was some kind of horribly fucked up horror world! I knew there had to be worst things than zombies out there but I never imagined this! And all the while, the skeleton chased me. Hunting me down. It was going to kill me. It was going to kill me and tear off my flesh and use my bones in its body. Rick and Jessica and Spot were going to die. I had nothing. I had no levels, no qi, no weapon, no armor, no plan. ¡°You can die. I want to impress upon you this. You, 100%, absolutely can die. There is no plot armor this time, no saving you.¡± I had to do something. I had to do something or I was going to die. I was passing buildings, so many buildings, so many things fighting and hunting and lurking in the dark. I ran into one, doors open, dodging what looked like a mix between an ant, a scorpion, and a pair of shears. I leapt over vines as I passed through what looked like a cafeteria, ones that shot out like spears. I ran up stairs, kicking off walls to go upwards faster, and nearly getting caught by what seemed like a sentient pile of black slime with teeth and hundreds of eyes. And the skeleton never stopped. I couldn¡¯t hear it, but I could hear anything it came in contact with. A sharp bang, the sounds of tearing, a sloshing. It was a miracle I¡¯d made it this far but I¡¯d need to produce another. I shoulder rammed a door and was shocked to find myself on top of a roof. But I couldn¡¯t stop, that was suicide. My brain didn¡¯t think, my body just kept going. In seconds, I was at the edge, foot on the ledge. And then I was off it. I had jumped. I turned, as if slow motion, seeing the Skeleton. It was just as horrifying and relentless as it had been when I¡¯d first seen it. Worse now, even. Bits of black goop, blood, and a single vine were on it. Its claws were extended, reaching out to me, aiming to kill me. My mind spasmed, seeing my end. It felt like an eternity, just watching those claws slowly descend, having run out of area to run, falling through the air. Something snapped. No. I refuse. I don¡¯t want to die, not like. Not like this. I don¡¯t want to die like this. I don¡¯t want to die like this. I twisted my body, holding back a scream as the claws tore into my side, and another as we both slammed into the ground and rolled, yanking them out. My arm felt loose and it felt like jagged lines of hell were radiating in my side. My head felt light and by the time I stopped rolling, bruised. But terror and determination hadn¡¯t left me for a moment. I was already rising the moment my body was able but it was too late. The Skeleton tackled me and that was only a byproduct. It¡¯s claws once more sank into my flesh, screams filling the air, as it tore out a chunk of me. It was in the same side as before and my terror reached a new peak as I realized it was trying to remove my bones. I had been wrong. I had not snapped before. Now I definitely did. ¡°AHHHHH!!!¡± The Black Skeleton was strong, durable, and so freaking fast. But it was also light. My survival instincts went insane as I flipped it onto its back and beat down onto its skull. There was no effect. The claws continued to dig inside my body, scratching across my torso, pain nearly overwhelming me even through the adrenaline. I punched and punched and punched, only getting closer to death, only bleeding out more and more. ¡°DIE!¡± I felt something, something deep within my body flicker, a strange feeling inside as I punched. I saw my own hand, coated in a green aura, as it connected with the skeleton. It¡¯s skull, hard as a rock, finally cracked. But it wasn¡¯t enough. It¡¯s claws still dug into me and I was getting tired. So tired. My fists didn¡¯t stop. Again. Again and again. I punched forward, even as my vision seemed to be going black¡­ but this time was different. The skull¡­ broke apart. The claws that were practically touching my ribs, stopped and the skeleton fell limp. I stood up, feeling woozy, seeing my blood drain onto the dead grass and black bones. I held a hand to my side but I doubted it would be enough. I heard something and spun around, still high on adrenaline. I nearly breathed out a breath of relief, as I realized it was just a zombie. A young man this time. In this town of horrors, there was worse things than a- The zombie began to run. I once again fled for my life. ******* Tired. Tired tired tired tired tired tired. I was damp and cold and sticky and cold. I¡­ couldn¡¯t move. Today¡­ had been so long. ¡°Status.¡± I let out as a whisper. [Achievements unlocked!] [Boned: Defeat a Black Skeleton! Wow, those guys are quick! +1 Speed] [Anti-Deus Ex: You fought what you believed, in your heart of hearts, was certain death¡­ and survived! +3 Mind] [Legs for days: You ran for over an hour straight while chased! +1 speed] [Bleed to bleed another day: You ran and fled for a whole day while suffering heavy blood loss! +2 Endurance] I felt the stats wash over me and was more than happy to feel my wounds close a little. I really thought¡­ I was going to die¡­ The mind was almost more helpful. I tore off what was left of my shirt, bandaging my wounds somewhat. I couldn¡¯t believe I¡¯d survived. The Skeleton had only been the first of so many things to chase me. It was by far the fastest¡­ but there had been so many. A fast zombie, giant insect, something I couldn¡¯t actually look at directly, more black slime¡­ today had been so, so shit. I was in the sewers. I¡¯d finally gotten a minute out of the line of sight of any monsters and managed to squeeze my way down here. And now I was tired. Tired, cold, hungry, thirsty. I hadn¡¯t drank or eaten anything all day. My side was still bleeding but the endurance had closed enough that I¡¯d probably live. I refreshed my status real fast, feeling like I deserved to see my newest achievements on it. [Name: Matt Level: 0 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 0 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 2 Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] [Boned] [Anti-Dues Ex] [Legs For Days] [Bleed To Bleed Another Day] Titles: N/A Strength: 7 Speed: 9 (27) (x3 Care Package Buff. Lasts 24 hours) Endurance: 9 Magic: 4 Mind: 12] ¡°W-Who needs levels? A-Achiev-m-ments are j-just fine.¡± Soo¡­. cold. So¡­. tired. I think¡­ it¡¯s time to sleep. Day 3: A Gift from the Gods Ow. Eyes. My eyes. I needed to open my eyes. It took all the strength I had, but slowly, painfully, they opened like stuck shutters. Something was¡­ gnawing at my hand. I looked down, only to see a rat. A small rat. A small rat with twelve eyes. I tried to twitch my fingers and it scurried off quickly. This world is so fucking scary. I couldn¡¯t move. Everything was numb and cold. I¡¯m more surprised I woke up at all. I wasn¡¯t going to make it like this. I was really going to die without a miracle. Dead in some sewer. But there was no such thing as ¡®plot armor¡¯ in this world. I¡¯d have to do it all myself- My status. It was¡­ blinking. It took more effort than I¡¯d have ever imagined to say the word, but I managed. So cold. So tired. ¡°Status.¡± I whispered out like a breath of death. [Level Up!] [Name: Matt Level: 1 Free stat points: 5 Qi points: 1 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 2 Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] [Boned] [Anti-Deus Ex] [Legs For Days] [Bleed To Bleed Another Day] Titles: N/A Strength: 7 Speed: 9 Endurance: 9 Magic: 4 Mind: 12] A level up. My first level up. That meant¡­ the Gods. I¡¯d reached 100 Likes. I might¡­ actually survive this. There was no doubt in my mind about what to do next. I¡¯d felt the effects of getting just 2 endurance. [Name: Matt Level: 1 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 1 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 2 Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] [Boned] [Anti-Deus Ex] [Legs For Days] [Bleed To Bleed Another Day] Titles: N/A Strength: 7 Speed: 9 Endurance: 14 Magic: 4 Mind: 12] Suddenly, I felt my whole body feel like it was going to explode. Tension and pain rushed back into me. I couldn¡¯t even scream, as my whole body locked up, and my side burned even worse than when I¡¯d originally gotten the injury. Tears fell from my eyes and as suddenly as the pain came, it vanished, as if it was a mirage. But the feelings left behind weren¡¯t. I could feel my heartbeat, my blood, the coldness of the sewer but also the warmth of my body. All steaming through me, rushing through me like a freight train of pure unfettered life. I¡¯d been so close to death¡­ so, so very close. Without that level up¡­ I had a Qi point but would it have been enough? My body still felt sore and stiff, it still hurt, I was still hungry and so, so thirsty and tired, but I wasn¡¯t dying. I was fully healed. The Qi point wouldn¡¯t have been enough. I took a deep, shaky breath. I had survived. I had survived the skeleton and then everything that had come after. I had survived bleeding nearly to death in the bowels of a sewer. I was alive. I was still here. I was still alive. My shaky breath became a shaky laugh, as tears began to fall. This was¡­ so fucked up. A few days ago, my life had been great. Now I¡¯d nearly died and was stuck in a sewer, beneath a town of absolute horrors. Zombies and Skeletons were the least of the dangerous things here. And a single Skeleton alone had nearly killed me. There¡¯d been¡­ god¡­ there¡¯d been so many things I¡¯d run past yesterday. My heart started beating hard, just imagining them. I couldn¡¯t stay here. I¡¯d have to leave this dank sewer to go find water soon. Actually¡­ I quickly looked around the sewer but while it was still damp¡­ there wasn¡¯t an ounce of water nearby. Even if it was poisonous, I¡¯d have taken it in a moment. My lips and throat were as dry a cracker. I didn¡¯t even feel like I could spit. Blood loss had done nothing good for my dehydration. If I could make it back to the gas station¡­ but where even was I? Where was the gas station? I hadn¡¯t exactly been paying attention to the roads or where I was going as I fled for my life. Plus, I was defenseless. There had been that strange aura around my fist yesterday but- At that moment, a box spawned into existence and fell onto my lap. ¡°Oof. A bit heavy. Huh. It¡¯s already time for a new care package¡­¡± ¡­I was scared. This would be the third package and I was scared. The first had been a harmless prank. Annoying but harmless. I was still sticky but it was mostly from blood and sweat now instead of chocolate. I grimaced. My entire body seemed to be covered in dried blood, especially around my left side. Peeling off my shirt from my body was going to suck. But, prank. The show hadn¡¯t even ¡®started¡¯ yet. So, that was fine. But the next¡­ a tie. A three way tie, between random, a positive effect, and a natural diaster. I may have gotten the positive effect¡­ but I wouldn¡¯t forget the last option. That might have really killed me. I could see it though, ¡®why¡¯ it was chosen. It was funny. It was interesting. The gods seemed to be¡­ capricious. If the Hostess of this damn show was anything to go by, if the gods were all like her¡­ that was worrying. But I¡¯d made a request. I¡¯d asked for something specific. I¡¯d¡­ I¡¯d prayed for help. ¡°Please don¡¯t screw me over.¡± I said, before opening the care package. It wasn¡¯t empty. The moment I opened it, the weight of the box seemed to increase. For the third time in less than five minutes, I cried. Not out of pain, not out of terror and relief, but out of¡­ I don¡¯t know. Happiness. Reverence. ¡°Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.¡± I held the items within close to my chest, crying tears I couldn¡¯t afford. Inside the box was the thing I¡¯d needed since Day 1. There was a completely black chest piece, with a pair of pants, boots, and armbraces inside. All black. Armor. Actual armor. And next to them? A sword in a sheath. It looked like a straight up katana. The gods had¡­ actually listened. I almost couldn¡¯t believe it. I was¡­ well¡­ I was justifiably angry with them. All of them. I tried to swallow it but they did this to me. They put me here. They put me and my friends in this hell and even shoved my dog into a small cage and then dangled him over me like some kind of prize. But I realized¡­ I had been making a lot of assumptions. Before and now. All I knew was that the gods were watching me¡­ I didn¡¯t know a damn thing about them besides that they could watch me and some of them could vote to help or hurt me. The only Goddess I knew anything about was¡­ a pretty bad first example. She was the only one I had any interaction with and she seemed¡­ evil. I needed to keep an open mind. And right now, I needed to put this on. The next few minutes were¡­ miserable. The armor was great but getting it on was awful. Removing my shirt, peeling it off my bloody body, was even worse than I imagined. I¡¯m pretty sure it removed a layer of skin on the way out. It sure hurt like it did. The chest piece was clearly never meant to be worn without a shirt underneath and chafed terribly. Somehow, my pants had gotten chewed up at some point and my shoes were practically in pieces. The boots were welcomed but my terrible socks weren¡¯t. At least the pants and armbraces didn¡¯t give much trouble, as they seemed designed to be outerwear. And there was the katana. There was a belt/sheath combo that went around my waist. Pulling out the sword, it was pure black. I was sensing a theme here in this world but it might literally just be related to how I¡¯d beaten the Black Skeleton yesterday. The edge looked sharp but I didn¡¯t exactly have anything to test it on. It felt good in my hands though. Really good. Really really really good. I finally felt like I could defend myself. If I had this yesterday¡­ things might not have gone so horrible. But speaking of, there was something else I needed to make a decision on. It wasn¡¯t a hard decision. [Would you like to spend a Qi point?] ¡°Yes.¡± I felt the invigoration of the stats, the feeling of my body getting stronger, faster, more durable, of connecting with the universe, and my mind turning sharper. It was damn near intoxicating. My decision was easy. Yesterday, I had a speed buff and hadn¡¯t outrun the skeleton. It¡¯d been one step behind me the whole way and seemingly had infinite stamina. That was when I had 21 in speed. Now, even after raising my cultivation realm, I only had 10. Feeling a little more human, a little more alive, I frowned and looked around. I was still in a sewer. Going up¡­ was a choice. A bold one. A terrible one. I¡¯d seen more than enough yesterday. If I had passed out damn near anywhere above, I¡¯d be dead. The sewer, through the fact that I was still alive, was multiple times safer. But I needed food and water. I wasn¡¯t going to find any down here. Taking a deep breath, I looked towards the ladder I¡¯d¡­ completely ignored when I fell down this hole. I had no idea how I¡¯d even managed to close it on the way down. I needed to go back up. I didn¡¯t want to but if I wanted to survive, I had to. Carefully, I climbed back up the ladder, moving the manhole cover. For once, I noticed the increase in my strength. I had started at 5 and was now at 8. That wasn¡¯t exactly double strength but it was definitely noticeable. The manhole cover felt so much lighter than I thought it would. Maybe that should have worried me, but after yesterday¡­ more strength and more power felt like the sweetest of treats in the world. Cautiously, I stepped out, only to immediately realize why I¡¯d been able to escape. I was in the middle of a street, but there was a whole building around me. Something had clearly knocked it here. Brutally. It was crumbling, crushed, and on its side. I could see windows and doors tilted in a way I never expected to see. I didn¡¯t even remember running in here but¡­ I must have. Unless the building crashing down was new but¡­ I felt like I would have remembered that. Or at the very least, heard it. I searched around my immediate surroundings, but there was nothing and that wasn¡¯t really surprising. I¡¯d traded one box for another. Looking out the sideways windows, their glass clearly shattered, I- Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. My heart rate skyrocketed as I was face to face with a zombie. It stared at me, glassy eyed, empty. Nothing. My fear and terror skyrocketed and it was only my increase in mind that kept me from going crazy right then and there. As calmly as I could, almost in a trance, I swung my black katana. For a moment, I was left confused. The windows were wide, like that of an office building. More than enough for me to walk out of. My blade had moved, I was pretty sure. And yet, the zombie still stood, even though I was sure I¡¯d swung. For a moment I thought the zombie was some horrible mirage, even though that terror deep inside me was so very real. And then its head fell off. I watched as if in slow motion, as its head fell to the ground before the rest of its body toppled over. There was a brief moment of struggle, of both head and body still trying to silently move, before they both stilled. Going back to nothing from whence they came. I looked at my blade, at my arm that had swung it, and blinked rapidly. I¡¯d¡­ done that. I¡¯d swung and¡­ and it had passed through so easily that I hadn¡¯t felt it at all. My jaw dropped, even as the knowledge slammed into my brain. I¡­ since when was I that strong? Since when were blades so sharp that they could cut through flesh easier than water? Were zombie bodies really so weak? No matter what, my mind calmed quickly, and a sense of absolute euphoria swam through me. I¡­ I was doing it, really doing it. Not just surviving by the skin of my teeth, not just lost, afraid, and confused, I was surviving and thriving and murdering and winning. I had to hold back my laughter, feeling better than I had in what felt like years. There was just¡­ no feeling like coming back from the brink of disaster. Even as I cautiously looked around, even as I spotted more insect-like creatures boldly moving about, dark black slimes that glided terribly across the ground with a half dozen snapping jaws and too many eyes, and even as I saw more zombies, I did not panic. I still felt good, if horrified. That feeling died when I saw the behemoth. Imagine a ball of pure black evil. Make it slightly cone shaped, as if a horn had fallen from some dark god. Add in a billion red vines, that seem to twist and curl around each other, constantly in motion, standing on four legs that look more like solid pillars. It moves not by taking steps, but as if from one moment to the next, a single leg has teleported forward and up somehow, yet hits the ground with the force of a bomb. The red vines twist and curl, sometimes dropping off, turning black before they even hit the ground, and then spreading out like snakes, before going inert. That was the behemoth. A monster. It had no face, it had no eyes, it barely had legs, but it sure had limbs. Those vines would twist together, forming massive tentacles the length of football fields, lashing out seemingly at random. One hit the ground for a moment and dirt was flung up higher than most buildings were tall. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. I walked out of the crumbled building, turned in the opposite direction from it, and began to move. Anywhere that brought me closer to it was the wrong way. The dark morning greeted me, light seeping from above, and I kept to the shadows, eyes alert. Monsters were everywhere in this town and they seemed more than willing to feast on each other. I saw some of those terrible vines fighting with one of those horrific blob creatures. They did not win. In fact, I was positive vines were incapable of screaming, and yet, the blob found a way. It had occurred to me before but¡­ were those blobs fucking shoggoths? I really hope not otherwise¡­ please tell me HP Lovecraft was wrong. Did it even matter if he was? The gods might have made eldritch monstrosities just for this gameshow. It was hard to say what they could and couldn¡¯t do. Had they had something to do with how this world ended up, or had they just teleported me here? I had no idea how strong the Gods were. I continued my trek. I had expected¡­ more. But as I got further from the area, the less noise I heard. Soon, it became as silent as the grave. I was heading through parts of the town, slowly making my way through. Every one of my steps thundered in my ears. If I met a single monster¡­ I was probably going to die. Sweat coated my back and terror coursed through me. This was bad. I couldn¡¯t stay like this, this was just asking to die. I should head back down into the sewers immediately and- I turned a corner and nearly fainted. There was something I had been terrified to run into from the moment I arrived and met my first danger. Something that exists in every movie with them in it. Something I knew would be terrible to face from a mental standpoint alone. I could say with certainty that I had never felt the way I do now. I had found a zombie horde. A thousand zombies, standing there, still as statues. Not moving, not breathing, not fighting, not making any sounds, just standing there. All outside what looked like a massive store. My mind rebelled, 13 in the stat not nearly enough to handle what I was seeing, and I only kept my sanity because I immediately looked away. I didn¡¯t know if the fear was natural or unnatural but it was debilitating. The worst part of it all was what they were in front of. A massive super store. The kind that would have food, water, supplies. The kind that would have a backpack. Fresh clothes. The kind that would let me survive another day. By now, the thirst and hunger were hurting me and I couldn¡¯t afford to wait much longer. I was hungry but it was nothing compared to how thirsty I was. I felt like a dried sack of flour. Like I was dust. I needed that store. I needed to get in there. And then I needed to get out. All without drawing the whole zombie horde to me. There were other buildings¡­ but none looked like houses or stores. This world¡­ it was odd. Even now I hadn¡¯t seen a single car. I shouldn¡¯t jump into anything. All I needed was food and water, that wasn¡¯t worth drawing an entire horde of zombies. I should explore the buildings around me. There had to be some place with a fridge or bottle of water or something. Cautiously, extremely cautiously, I entered a different building. It seemed to be a small¡­ office space? My sword was the ready, my grip on the handle in a death grip. The last building I¡¯d went into had a skeleton that had nearly killed me. I didn¡¯t like my chances facing one. I turned a corner- Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope. I tried not to run. I failed. With heart racing, breath hitching, and fear swimming through me, I fled in a nearly blind panic. I had considered the zombie horde I couldn¡¯t look at, to be the worst thing I¡¯d see today. How naive. How hopeful. I had seen more. A town had so, so many people. The office I¡¯d walked into, apparently had an open cubicle layout. And I¡¯d seen them. Dozens and dozens of zombies. But not just any kind. They were all dead. Stripped of flesh. All of it. Bones showing, with more than a few removed. I knew what that meant. What dozens of stripped zombies meant. Skeletons. I left and scrambled away, not daring to be any closer for even a minute. I looked around me, wide in panic. I¡¯d entered a school before, I was pretty sure, and that seemed to have everything but the kitchen sink in it. This building? A skeleton processing area. How many more? Would I walk into the next building and find a nest of those horrible scorpion-ant monsters? Perhaps a massive shoggoth that would eat me in a moment? I was getting hysterical, I needed to calm down, but that was impossible. I wasn¡¯t just walking a tightrope of death, I was surviving currently by pure and utter chance. Even if I hid in the shadows, I was out in the open. I needed to leave the town immediately. I looked back to the mega store. There was no way inside was safe. I had no idea how to even get inside. But playing ¡®Guess if you¡¯ll die!¡¯ with buildings was without a doubt my worst option. Alright. Alright, alright alright. Let¡¯s think. It¡¯s a store. It¡¯ll have entrances behind it. The Zombies all seemed to be in front, standing in the parking lot. I can just go around them, to the back entrance, get in that way. I plotted my course and grimaced. I¡¯d need to pass through¡­ a lot of areas. Staying hidden would be hard but doable. **** Fuck. The town seemed to be majorly made of five ¡®species.¡¯ Zombies, skeletons who preyed on zombies, Scorpion-ant things, shoggoths, and vines. I wasn¡¯t including the single behemoth I could see even now. I had found a sixth. Or more like forgotten about them. Fast zombies. Unlike the dead, terrifyingly horrible ones, these ones seemed more out of the movies. There was ¡®emotion¡¯ there, if you count snarls, hunger, and growls ¡®emotion¡¯. I hadn¡¯t been able to notice before but it was different in another way from zombies. It had ¡®died¡¯. The zombies just¡­ were dead. This zombie had a clear gunshot wound in its chest. That brought up so many questions, none answerable. The problem was I now knew why the back entrance wasn¡¯t an option, or at least, not guarded by a horde of zombies. A pack of six of the fast kind were standing there, guarding it. Well, I didn¡¯t know if they were ¡®guarding¡¯ but they hardly moved out of place, so I felt it was a good assumption to make. Now came the question. Can I take six fast zombies? I had a sword and armor now. My stats were decent considering. I could probably slice right through them. But I remembered the zombie from yesterday. It had been nearly as fast as the skeleton. Perhaps these zombies would eventually become those skeletons. What was my other option? All of the other buildings could be less safe and give less stuff. Even if there was a hundred skeletons in there, they probably all couldn¡¯t run through a single door together. I probably had at least a semi-chance of being able to run back into the sewers. I¡¯d already found the nearest manhole cover I could. So¡­ so I was really doing this. Okay, okay okay okay. I psyched myself up. The blade was sharp. Just, just swing for their torsos. I could stab them in the head later. I moved forward from behind the shattered wall I was hiding behind and suddenly they were nearly on top of me. ¡®Fast!¡¯ I swung my blade and fully accepted it was no normal chunk of metal. It went perfectly, meeting the chest of the first zombie, and didn¡¯t slow down one bit. But it was only so long and there was six of them. I¡¯d been stupid. They tackled me, bringing me to the ground in a moment. My eyes widened and my blade moved, catching on in the head, but I barely had room to swing it. Four zombies were left and they clawed at me, tearing into me, blocked only by a sword and my chest piece. One bit my arm with more force than I thought a human was capable of, but the armbrace protected me. I was held down and a new form of terror, that of utter helplessness, of being ganged up on by multiple things, blossomed in me. ¡°No! No! Get off me!¡± I stabbed one but even for my super blade, that still made getting out of it hard. I wasn¡¯t lucky enough for them to just attack my chest and arms, my legs and waist were starting to be attacked and torn into. At this rate I¡¯d really die. I focused, my mind nearly buckling as I tried to keep my panic under control, when I felt it. That aura from before. I felt it from my¡­ core. It was familiar. I latched onto it like a dying man seeking salvation. It poured through my hand holding the sword and for a half second, my sword gleamed green and black. It tore through the zombie but more importantly, my arm moved so much faster. I caught another one in the swing, by pure luck, and that left only two. One trying to eat my unmentionables and another stuck to my arm, trying to bite it off. Neither were hard to deal with, their choice of attack not blocking my arm. I sat there, gasping, surrounded by six corpses. Six full corpses now at least. There was so much going through my brain¡­ but it¡¯d been overloaded in the last few days and then buffed with my mind stat. What my thoughts instantly turned to, instead of that horrible nightmare I was going to have PTSD over, was that aura. I¡¯d felt it this time. It felt¡­ exactly like¡­ ¡°Qi. It¡¯s Qi.¡± Qi wasn¡¯t just stats. It was some kinda, thing. I knew they used it in anime and stuff. Chi, chakra, qi, ki, etc. Some kind of¡­ energy. And now I had that energy. I felt inwardly drained, as if tapped even drier than before, but I could use it now. That Qi. Only for half a moment, but that moment was literally the difference between life and death. It made me faster, stronger, and seemed to work on my blade to make everything before it even easier to cut through. If anything, as I laid there, once more bleeding, I felt thankful. I¡¯d now thoroughly learned that numbers were a power all it¡¯s own and I¡¯d engrave this lesson onto my heart for all time to come. I doubted I¡¯d be fast enough any time soon to prevent six bodies from tackling me to the ground. I¡¯d been a fool to think otherwise. Getting up hurt. The armor had saved my life and prevented the worst of it, but it didn¡¯t protect everything. My waist in particular seemed to be gouged a little. But it seemed light, and was light, in comparison to the wounds I usually received. ¡°Usually received¡­ get it together. You only came to near death once. Don¡¯t treat that like the baseline.¡± Shaking my head, it was finally time to see what I¡¯d earned with that fight. There would definitely be more zombies inside but so long as I was careful, I should be fine. I approached the door, reached out, except¡­ [Challenge found!] ¡°What?¡± [Challenge type: Endurance! Reward: 10 Qi Points! Special notes: This challenge requires an entire day to attempt! As such, your day will immediately end. Don¡¯t worry though! You¡¯ll be fully healed, refreshed, fed, clothed, washed, and fully rehydrated! Peak condition will be returned to you!] I stared at the prompt. This was¡­ I wasn¡¯t stupid. 10 Qi points¡­ that was a shit ton. If I didn¡¯t hit the unknown stat decrease, that was a +10 stats to everything. But¡­ I had no idea what the challenge actually was. Just that it was an endurance test. But I could put two and two together. Zombie horde outside, six fast zombies in the back, Endurance challenge¡­ it would probably force me to survive a whole day of waves and waves of zombies. My mind bucked at that but I held it down. The peak condition note was perfect. Too perfect. My day would end. That meant 24 hours of countless zombies. That was too many. I¡¯d definitely die. I frowned. Or not. Despite the absolute terror slow zombies gave¡­ they were slow. They hardly moved. If I could swallow the terror¡­ it really would be an endurance test to take care of them. The hard part would be the fast zombies. I assumed I¡¯d be stuck inside the store the whole day. But 10 Qi points was worth 10 levels. Could I afford not to do it? In 3 days, I¡¯d gotten 1 level. At this rate, I might make level 10 by the end of the month and get a class¡­ but even that probably wouldn¡¯t be enough by itself. At least, it doesn¡¯t feel like it would be. A month is a long time. I¡¯d already picked up a lot of achievements, who knew how strong I¡¯d be after a full 30 days. And the challenge came at the end. If anything, I was probably behind the curve. I took a breath. More than anything¡­ I was helpless. The fast zombies were the peak of what I could fight. If it had been just one skeleton here, I would have had to leave. I was too weak. I needed to get stronger, immediately. This was stupid. But I couldn¡¯t afford to not do it. ¡°I accept.¡± And then everything went black. Day 4: Motivation and Endless Waves Slowly, I opened my eyes. Above me was an unfamiliar ceiling but one that I¡¯d seen once or twice in my life. The ceiling of any big store, hanging far above. The air smelled stale and it seemed quiet as the fluorescent bulbs shone down on me. I rose to my feet¡­ only to gasp and look at my body in awe. I felt¡­ I felt¡­ amazing. Pain I didn¡¯t even realize was there was gone. My thirst had been completely obliterated. I was no longer hungry and I felt like I¡¯d had the absolute best sleep of my life. But it was more than that. My ¡®Qi¡¯... I could actually feel it now. Like a tiny bit of electricity coursing through my veins. No, some, some other veins. And my body itself¡­ I felt strong. Stronger and faster than I¡¯d ever imagined. I clenched a fist and my body simply felt more¡­ durable. Thicker in some way. All the grime and stickiness, all the sweat, blood, and gore that had coated me, even just the build up from not showering for three days, it was gone. All gone. I¡­ the challenge hadn¡¯t been lying. I felt like I was in absolute peak condition. ¡°Status.¡± I said quickly. [Name: Matt Level: 1 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 1 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 3 Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] [Boned] [Anti-Deus Ex] [Legs For Days] [Bleed To Bleed Another Day] Titles: N/A Strength: 8 Speed: 10 Endurance: 15 Magic: 5 Mind: 13] ¡°No new levels huh¡­¡± That wasn¡¯t too surprising. I¡¯d only gotten one yesterday, on Day 3. I probably shouldn¡¯t expect another till Day 6 unless something changed. It still disturbed me how quickly it felt like I was adapting to all of this but I knew who to blame. 13 in mind meant my mind was 2.6x ¡®more¡¯. I didn¡¯t feel any more smart or like my thoughts were nearly 3x as fast¡­ so I assumed it helped with other mental stuff. Like accepting you were in a deadly gameshow. I¡¯d take it. I¡¯d have to. It was better than breaking down and it helped overcome the horrible fear from zombies. A new Qi point though¡­ I knew exactly what to do with it. [Would you like to spend a Qi Point?] ¡°No.¡± I hadn¡¯t forgotten where I was. At least one rapid deployment of a Qi point had saved my life. I was in the middle of a challenge, I¡¯d keep it in my back pocket for when I needed a boost immediately. Speaking of¡­ nothing was happening with that. I looked around my surroundings but I seemed to just be in the middle of a store, near the front. I¡¯d risen off the ground near the checkout counters. I could see rows and rows of aisles and not a single other creature. What was most disturbing of all was the light. It was completely normal but¡­ it was so much brighter than the constant night the last three days had been. My sleep had been¡­ abnormal so far, but there was no doubt it would start to mess with me sooner or later. Now, just being underneath the light felt¡­ wrong. Like I was out in the open, vulnerable. My head snapped to the side¡­ and then a care package spawned. I blinked in surprise. I¡¯d felt that. It was like a massive ripple had gone out right before hand. That was¡­ I hadn¡¯t noticed that before. I don¡¯t even know what I felt. Had that always happened and I¡¯d just been too out of it to notice? I¡¯d be a tiny bit¡­ annoyed if Care packages came with warnings I¡¯d just been missing. Yesterday¡¯s Care Package had been great but I had no idea what this one could be. The whole day was apparently going to be spent in this challenge and I¡¯m sure the gods watching knew that. If they selected something like ¡®Chocolate Flood¡¯... I had no idea how that would affect the challenge. But I was feeling confident today. The Gods¡­ weren¡¯t my enemies. Well, not all of them. Sadly, I could see myself watching a T.V. show like this. I¡¯d probably also try to somehow put a stop to it¡­ by calling the authorities or something¡­ but there had been a whole movie about that kinda thing. I think it had Ruce Rillis in it? And people had watched in droves. And I had no idea how gods worked, maybe they couldn¡¯t interfere with each other. The main bitch had mentioned patrons so¡­ ¡°There¡¯s no use over thinking it. At least some of the gods are on my side.¡± I popped open the care package, only to blink as four different things appeared. ¡°A four way tie?¡± My status began blinking, but I ignored it. Four ¡®items¡¯ popped out. The first item I knew immediately. It was Qi. I could feel it. Were those¡­ Qi points?! The Gods can give those? My heart beat a little faster. Those were the equivalent to levels. I had no idea the gods could just straight up give levels. Even if I reached whatever drop off point in stats, Qi points could literally buy stats, or items, or even an extra life. I was doing the whole challenge just for 10 more. That was a damn good care package. It was a shame it was a tie, I¡¯d have taken even 1 more Qi point in a heartbeat. The next was¡­ an empty space. I¡¯d ran into that before but that same odd feeling came again. The same one with the care package. This empty space felt¡­ bad. Negative. Like a thing of bad luck. My face became stiff. The evil gods weren¡¯t out of the running votes, I see. Thank god it¡¯d been a tie¡­ The third¡­ was another empty space. But this was even stranger than the last. It gave off a feeling of¡­ well¡­ weird? It just felt really weird. Like it was inherently strange and odd incarnate. I wondered if it was like the Gacha or something. That didn¡¯t seem like it¡¯d be ¡®good¡¯ but it also might not be ¡®bad¡¯. The chocolate rain was also neither. Having to fight a bunch of zombies in it¡­ would be annoying but not terrible. The fourth was an actual object. One¡¯s I recognized. Pictures. Like, old Polaroid pictures, the size of my hands, with white outlines around them. The actual images were currently black, but there were three of them. I had no idea what to make of that. Once again, something appeared above the four items, but this time it wasn¡¯t what looked like a block from Rario Kart. Instead, it looked like a four leaf clover, with a small arrow like¡­ sigh. Like from a gameshow. The clover began to spin, numbers on it. I watched with bated breath. One would be great, two would be terrible, three would probably be fine, I didn¡¯t know about four. It spun and spun, slowly coming down, making my heart skip a beat¡­ until it landed on four. ¡°Well¡­ okay?¡± The other options began to vanish into thin air, along with the care package, and I caught the photos before they could fall. They really were Polaroid photos, as if they¡¯d just been taken, and it was taking a bit for them to actually clear up. While I waited for that I checked my status. [Achievements unlocked!] [Four Leaf Clover: Do you know how rare it is to get a four way tie on a poll of 10 options?! Very rare! +3 magic] The second I was done looking at it, it felt like I was hit by a truck. Except the truck had been made of stardust and I¡¯d been made of stardust and everything had been made of stardust on the tapestry that was the universe. I felt like I could taste all of matter. It was strangely sweet and bitter. Only a tiny bit salty. And was like it was constantly moving, sometimes stopping, before moving again. It felt like my mind and eyes and self was starting to undergo the most extreme of acid trips and for a moment, it felt like I was getting closer to glimpsing God. She wore a red dress and waved at me. I blinked and suddenly I was back on stable ground¡­ but I now felt something. I had a magic stat¡­ but I¡¯d hardly had any time to pay any attention to it. Too many things had been happening at once. And it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d been taught how to do any magic¡­ but it was still there. I could feel it coursing down veins. Not my veins and not even the¡­ meridians? That my Qi flowed down. It was like it was¡­ intertwined around the meridians. Magic veins I guess? Neither of those two were physical either. They were¡­ spiritual maybe? Part of me wishes I had a book on how to deal with this. Most of me just wished I was home and never was kidnapped by gods to play on a fucked up gameshow. I looked over and saw that polaroids were slowly clearing up now. I could almost see the- My heart froze and an audible gasp left my mouth. I stared, knees weak, breath shaking. Three photos. Three. And the first one I saw¡­ Rick. My best friend. My brother from another mother. It was a picture of him but not just any picture. His arm was wrapped in a white bandage, he was hunkering down, a fierce expression on his face, and a metal bat in his hands. His face was scrunched up and above him was an open window looking out into a dark world. It was a picture of Rick. A picture of Rick on where he probably was right now. The photos¡­ they were snapshots of where my friends were. I smiled as my heart beat a mile a minute. Rick was okay. He was alive. He had a weapon and clearly some bandages. A weight I didn¡¯t even know was there left me. I quickly looked at the next and gulped. Jessica¡­ my childhood friend. My maybe potential girlfriend. The woman I¡¯d known and loved all my life. She had dark black hair but it looked¡­ worse for wear. Her clothing was shredded but she didn¡¯t seem to have any wounds. She looked scared and she was hiding underneath a table. It looked like she was in a hospital, with white walls and floor. There was a creature behind her, above her, looking around. It seemed like a nurse¡­ but it had no face. It was just skin. My heart hurt, seeing Jessica in danger. She was alive but¡­ for how much longer? She didn¡¯t seem to have a weapon but she at least looked a lot better than Rick did. She probably stayed in the hospital since this began. That seemed like what she would do. Bunker down and try to stay alive. She was always smart like that. She¡¯d take one look at the zombies and refuse to leave somewhere fortified. I chuckled, despite the terror of looking at the photo. If nothing else¡­ Jessica was alive. I just had to believe in her. I had to. The third photo¡­ it was like a stab to the gut. It was Spot. My dog. My puppy. He looked so, so sad and scared, stuck in a small cage. The photo was taken outside the cage and it was clear he wasn¡¯t alright. The only food and water seemed to be from hamster like bottles. He could barely turn, hardly move, and it looked like he¡¯d been left all alone. Tears began to well up in my eyes. I knew Rick would be okay, he was too stubborn to die. I believed in Jessica, I had to. But Spot¡­ it broke my heart. He was just a puppy, he didn¡¯t understand what was going on, he¡¯d just been left in the dark by himself, unable to move, and barely fed. I was supposed to take care of him¡­ and instead he was suffering. ¡°I¡¯ll save you. All of you. Please¡­ just wait. I¡¯ll figure something out.¡± I had to survive but more than that, I had to thrive. None of them would last forever. They were somewhere on this planet and that was all I knew. They didn¡¯t even have access to a system. All three of their lives¡­ it depended on me. The weight that had left from seeing them, came back in full force. I was literally their only hope. Determined, I put the pictures in what was left of my pockets for now. It was at that time that a change occurred and a message appeared in front of me. [Challenge Start! Rewards: 10 Qi Points Challenge Type: Endurance Challenge: Over the course of the next 24 hours, waves and waves of undead shall slowly enter the store! The waves will grow bigger over time, spawning every hour! Make sure to defeat as many as you can or you¡¯ll be overrun and will not survive!] ¡°So¡­ it was exactly what I thought it was going to be¡­¡± But that didn¡¯t make it good. Most people struggled to stay awake for 24 hours. I had all these aisles available¡­ but even a quick glance showed they were empty. There¡¯d be no ¡®outside¡¯ help. I didn¡¯t even have any food or water available. And the fighting would get worse as it got later in the day. The biggest waves would be right when I wanted to pass out the most. And then I¡¯d be eaten. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Soon, I heard doors opening and swiveled quickly. The front of the store was suddenly not normal. There was a massive shutter door, like the kind trucks would use to offload supplies. Unnervingly, I wasn¡¯t blind and had somehow missed it. I was positive that it had not been there a moment ago. It opened¡­ into a pit of darkness. Not a scrap of light could be seen, but sound could be heard. Soon, a wave of terror was washing over me, as five zombies walked out. Slowly. They headed towards me, glassy eyed, oh so clearly dead but without any visible way of how they died. They weren¡¯t really a threat¡­ but my mind rebelled, trying to scream at me that they were. That the source of all horror in the universe was in front of me. That pit of fear was only growing more annoying over time. One way or another, I¡¯d have to overcome it by the end of today. Well, well enough at least. I moved swiftly, heading towards them, my black katana at the ready. I had never wielded a blade in my life besides yesterday, but it wasn¡¯t exactly hard. I swung, aiming for their necks, and their heads rolled off. One of them I met the jaw instead and¡­ it was gruesome. The blade had kept going even through their jaw bone and¡­ the top of their head had still rolled off. My stomach rolled, watching that. Worse¡­ the bodies didn¡¯t disappear. They just sat there, rotting, leaking gray blood from their corpse. It wasn¡¯t a sight I looked forward to seeing. [Wave 1 cleared!] And then there was nothing. ¡°Uhh¡­¡± I blinked. I hadn¡¯t really considered¡­ this part. I was just, waiting for the round to start? ¡°...Challenge? Do I just¡­ wait now?¡± [59:43 until next Wave!] I had underestimated this trial. I wasn¡¯t just going to be facing thirst, exhaustion, hunger, and stress. I¡¯d also have to face boredom. This challenge was truly evil¡­ **** [Wave 2 Start!] I got up in a hurry. Part of me had wanted to try to take a nap but that had seemed like a terrible idea for so many reasons I¡¯d given up on it immediately. Another part of me had thought about moving the aisles and I¡¯d spent around 20 minutes quickly exploring the store. Nothing. Every way out, every door to another place, was locked or blocked. And not casually. I had swung my sword at a locked door and I felt like my arm was still vibrating. Not even a mark on it. I was trapped and stuck here. The shutter door opened and¡­ 10 zombies walked out. My mind paused at that. That was¡­ a pretty steep climb wasn¡¯t it? If it doubled every round then¡­ I¡¯d think about it later. First, I had work to do. It didn¡¯t take long, these zombies weren¡¯t a threat, no matter how much the primal part of my mind screamed. I was already feeling strained. The aura of terror zombies produced was going to wear me down in addition to everything else. The dead zombie bodies joined the rest¡­ and I realized with a new found horror I¡¯d have to start spending time moving the corpses or I wouldn¡¯t have room to fight. I stared down at my hands and then back at the bodies, imagining touching them and¡­ This challenge was more evil than I thought. There was no way I was touching zombies with my bare hands. I¡¯d¡­ figure out something. I took a moment to count how many zombies I¡¯d face if it kept doubling and¡­ my mind blanked. T-There was no way right? There was¡­ no way it would make me fight 40 million zombies right? **** [Wave 3 Start] The last hour had sucked more than the others. I hadn¡¯t been this bored since¡­ ever. And I had nothing to do. I thought I¡¯d have to fight through a horde of undead. Relentlessly, but this might actually be worse. I got up and breathed out a massive sigh of relief as there was only fifteen zombies and not twenty. That meant it was increasing by five. So at the last wave, I¡¯d have to deal with 120 zombies, not 40 million. Much, much more doable. It still felt like cutting down chafe, but my mind bucked harder than ever. Not just from fear but there was now fifteen zombies. That was not a small amount, that was a small crowd. That was way too many fucking zombies to be coming at me. Still, it wasn¡¯t hard. This really was¡­ well¡­ a test of endurance. **** [Wave 4 Start] Thank god! Four hours. Four fucking hours. No games, nothing to do, I can¡¯t even practice with my sword because I¡¯d need all my energy. Enough time to think again and again and again about Rick or Jessica or Spot. The only thing I could do was think. Think think and think some more. I¡¯d figured out an actual game plan. That was valuable, having the safety to think. It was simple and what I¡¯d already been doing. Gain power, gain strength. The gods watched me and it was a T.V. show. The more the gods watched, the more ¡®Likes¡¯ or ratings, reviews, and follows the show got, the more levels I gained. I¡¯d reviewed the words the Hostess had glued into my brain a million times over by now and some words had proven more insightful than others. For starts, she mentioned Royalroad and Scribblehub. I had an achievement called [The Royal Road]. It was for getting started with Qi, mentioning a path to immortality. I could see the connection between the two but more than, she¡¯d mentioned comments. It really sounded like those two places were some kind of¡­ divine websites or something. That wasn¡¯t really a massive surprise. If gods watched T.V., of course they had internet. Next¡­ she¡¯d mentioned at least twice that I should be entertaining. That the more entertaining I was, the more likes I¡¯d get, the more levels I¡¯d receive. I needed to be level 80 for Jessica and 90 for spot. At my current rate of a level every 3 days¡­ it would take nearly a year. They might be dead by that time. Even the 2 months just for Rick might end with his death. I had to level up faster. Which meant be more entertaining. I was currently killing zombies¡­ but how exciting was that really? If¡­ If I was fighting hordes of those black skeletons, those terrifying scorpion creatures, or even¡­ that behemoth, how much more ¡®entertaining¡¯ would that be? I didn¡¯t have to wonder, I¡¯d watched TV and anime before. I knew exactly how much more entertaining it¡¯d be. Get power, fight stronger and more terrifying things, get more and more likes, go up levels faster. That was how I was going to get out of this. That was how I was going to survive, get everyone, and beat all the challenges that came my way. Finally, she¡¯d mention something else I couldn¡¯t get out of my mind. ¡°(Time Loop does not become available till after 300 Patrons, for example.)¡± Time loop¡­ what if I failed? What if Rick or Jessica or Spot died? What if I lost a limb or wasn¡¯t strong enough for a challenge? Just like the extra life¡­ this was a form of a second chance. A chance to try again. I had no idea how many patrons the show already had but- [55] I blinked. Right¡­ mind probe. That was¡­ whatever. 55? That was¡­ it? I grimaced hard. The show was¡­ not popular yet. I needed to get the show at least 6x as many patrons if I wanted a time loop? That felt almost as impossible as getting 500 Qi¡­ Well, the plan hadn¡¯t changed. More power, more fights, more likes, more levels, save my friends and dog. **** [Wave 5] I had been bored but five hours of sitting on your ass and doing nothing goes past boredom. I¡¯d just stopped thinking or worrying. I was currently imagining a flock of seagulls for some reason. No idea why, just the thought of it had popped into my head as I sat and tried to meditate. I had Qi, might as well give it a shot? No success in even moving it. I could feel, like a switch, I could ¡®activate¡¯ my aura but¡­ I didn¡¯t want to waste it. I got up to take care of the 25 zombies that slowly walked forward, more than ready to take out the- My eyes shot open and my movements were sluggish, but I still managed to spear the fast moving zombie as it barreled towards me. It went all the way down to the hilt, it¡¯s eyes never leaving mine, snarling as if in a permeant rage. Hands reaching out to me. I tried to back up and half succeeded but another one was coming for me. Fear spiked but my mind grabbed the reigns, and instead of trying to flee I pushed forward, sending the zombie sprawling off my katana. Before the other one could tackle me to the ground, I cut. There was a moment, as it ran past me¡­ before it¡¯s head fell off. I quickly stabbed the head of the fast zombie on the ground. My heart was in my throat now and the memory of six of them nearly tearing me apart was fresh in my memory. I looked all around, but besides the 25 slow moving undead¡­ there was nothing. Only two fast zombies. At wave 5. There¡¯d been no warning, no heads up, nothing. From one moment to the next, I was now facing worst opponents. There had been two. Two. If they also increased by two every wave¡­ ¡°Oh fuck.¡± ***** [Wave 6 Start!] My nerves were shot. I¡¯d done the math. If I had to face +2 fast zombies every single round¡­ Could a man with a sword kill 40 people running at him? My brain said no. Yet as the doors opened and four fast streaks ran at me, I realized that was roughly exactly what I¡¯d have to do. I was prepared this time, like a loaded spring. Instead of fleeing, I ran at the zombies, swinging as best I could. The zombies weren¡¯t people, they weren¡¯t even animals, they had no intelligence besides ¡®attack¡¯ and ¡®try to eat me¡¯. They weren¡¯t easy to fight but they weren¡¯t impossible either. Like all zombies¡­ it was only their numbers that was horrifying. Well, that and their natural aura of terror. I cut out, cutting one¡¯s head off, as it ran right through the blade. Another, I got on the swing. Two more were coming, but I swung quickly, resisting the urge to activate my Qi. They fell¡­ but there was still 30 more zombies to deal with. I huffed and then realized with horror that I was getting tired. It was only hour six¡­ I still had 18 more hours to go¡­ Mid way through killing the zombies, I got an achievement. [Achievements Unlocked!] [Centennial: You¡¯ve killed over 100 creatures! Amazing, what a show of strength! +1 strength] I blinked. Well¡­ I guess I technically had huh. It didn¡¯t even feel like it. The regular zombies felt more like a grisly, horrible, terrifying chore to kill than anything. Worse, moving their bodies was disgusting and it was starting to take far too long¡­ and far too much energy. I had to stop. Hopefully it would trip those damn fast moving bastards. **** [Wave 7¡­] [Wave 8¡­] [Wave 9¡­] [Wave 10 Start!] Tired. Already tired. Hungry. Today is taking so long. The last wave had ten of the fast zombies. Ten. I¡¯d developed a strategy, thank god. They were fast, but stupid. The doors and walls were invulnerable, but not the actual aisles shelves. Some cuts from my katana and I¡¯d made the shittiest barrier known to man. But it tripped them up, gave me the moment I needed to kill them. And that was more than enough. Now it was Wave 10¡­ and I was worried. Wave 5 had a surprise last time and if the theme continued¡­ my heart beat like a horrible drum as I stared into the pit of darkness. Something shot out of the dark, faster, faster than even the Fast Zombies and my heart skipped a beat. My eyes open wide¡­ only for confusion to follow up. I slashed and it fell. Dead as the rest. Twelve fast zombies came out and fifty regular ones. My barrier continued to save my life. It may be shit but I had worked hard to cut up the aisles perfectly to make it. Only after I was done, did I focus on the thing I¡¯d killed it. It was a zombie. But one that seemed to be¡­ decaying. Skin falling off. I stared down at it, seeing it¡¯s bones in places. It¡¯s bones were black. ***** [Wave 11¡­] [Wave 12¡­] [Wave 13¡­] [Wave 14¡­] [Wave 15¡­] Tired tired tired tired tired. I was going to have to use that Qi point soon as a pick me up. I felt light headed, woozy, and exhausted. Hungry. It was already difficult to stay awake. The bodies had begun to pile higher. The fast zombies had strangely gotten easier, because they were stupid. Fast but stupid. They tripped over the bodies and I was eternally grateful for that. Fighting over twenty things trying to kill me was horrifying. But it meant I had to also be fast, wading into the dead zombies and finishing them off before they managed to get back up. Wave fifteen had no surprises but¡­ that one zombie was still there. Every time. Decaying more and more and more. I knew what would happen. By the end of the challenge, I¡¯d have to face a Black Skeleton again. Things were different now. I was stronger. Had more endurance. A weapon, armor. I didn¡¯t like my chances one bit. ***** [Wave 16¡­] [Wave 17¡­] [Wave 18¡­] [Wave 19¡­] [Wave 20¡­] The decay rate of that single zombie sped up. It was so much faster now and it¡¯s bone structure was changing, morphing. It barely had any skin left and it¡¯s meat was starting to disappear as well. I felt bone tired. My eyes were barely staying open. I had to keep going. I had to. It took so long just to kill the regular zombies now and the fast ones¡­ I¡¯d had to increase my barriers, make spikes from the plastic, do everything I can. There was barely any time before the next wave. But I had unlocked an achievement. [Achievements Unlocked!] [Millennial: Avocado toast! Ahem, wrong type of millennial! You¡¯ve killed over 1000 creatures! How terrifying! +3 strength] My tiredness didn¡¯t go away but I suddenly felt like my muscles had ballooned into cannons, able to shred through stone and wood with ease. It was a welcome feeling¡­ but I was far too tired to appreciate it. I felt like I was moments from passing out¡­ [Wave 21 Start!] Damn it¡­ ***** [Wave 22¡­] [Would you like to-] Yes. Qi point. Needed. Tired. Tired. Tired. [Wave 23¡­] [Wave 24 Start!] The last wave¡­ I slaughtered and slaughtered and slaughtered. My defenses had evolved, hardly any aisles left. Turned into spikes against walls, caltrops, weird shapes my tired brain had cut into existence, anything to stop the 40 fast zombies from dog piling me and ending my life. At some point I began using aura. I had wanted to save it but I needed to be fast. Not to attack but to dodge. The Qi point I¡¯d used had refilled some of it, but not all. It took everything my tired brain and body had to get here and keep going, and I¡¯d suffered injuries for it at some point. Blood flowed freely from a thousand claws that had brushed against me and my body felt like it had gotten beat on. I hadn¡¯t fallen though. I¡¯d made it this far. And when the dust settled, I stood among over 1000 bodies. I had no idea how many there were. I had stopped moving them, stopped thinking. I was at the back of the store now. I was positive there wasn¡¯t 1000 bodies, a lot had definitely disappeared somehow, but the floor was still covered in them from end to end. Everything became a tired blur at some point. So tired. So so so so tired. An enemy darted out from the darkness and I blocked with my Katana. A Black Skeleton stared back at me with its empty sockets. But I was different now. I¡¯d killed you last time with my bare hands. I ran and fled. Not this time. Even as my vision began to go dark, I attacked. ***** [Challenge Completed!] Day 5: A Gender Change?! I opened my eyes. I was lying on my back and felt¡­ pretty good, all things considered. Considering my last thoughts¡­ my last¡­. My last¡­ My status blinked and my environment was unknown but nothing could escape my last thoughts, my last experience, now unclouded by exhaustion. I fell into a stupor¡­ And remembered. **** Over a thousand bodies lay dead, re-dead, after I had slaughtered them. I¡¯d turn into a mechanical force, killing mindlessly. The fast ones had gotten easier, as I¡¯d used the environment to the best effect possible, but it had still been tough and touch and go. Over a dozen bodies flinging themselves at you at such a rapid pace, only increasing and increasing, makes it hard. I had wounds, but they were light. At least, they felt light. My endurance stat was paying off, as the hands of the undead were unable to harm me as easily. It was as if my skin had become half an inch thicker. Extremely important when facing enemies that were using sharp fingernails as weapons. By some miracle, I¡¯d managed, but now my mind was gone and my body so tired that even staying awake was difficult. My back was to the wall but that distance hardly mattered for my next enemy. More on instinct than anything else, I raised my Katana, my sword, blocking a Black Skeleton. The Final Boss of this Challenge. I stared into those pitch black abyss, it¡¯s face a permanent scowl of anger on it¡¯s elongated morphed skull. Its body still had what seemed to be hundreds, maybe thousands, of tiny bones connecting between the empty space of it¡¯s larger bones. Like evil black plaster. It¡¯s finger were still sharp as claws, immediately aiming for my face, blocked only inches away. It¡¯s claws moved, no hesitation, no weakening, no thoughts or emotions, just a creature of pure action and movement. I was tired, too tired, weak and exhausted. But I¡¯d come prepared. My aura lit up, the last vestiges of it being burned to retaliate. I¡¯d used up more than I thought I had. My mind was too tired. I swung and it did not dodge. Horrifying, fast, terrible, many many things¡­ but only so smart. It was a creature of instinct, burning up the slight emotions the fast zombies had to eventually become this. Dodging was not in it¡¯s framework of mind. My attack hit it¡¯s bones¡­ and cleaved right through. I was not the same Matt as before. My sword severed it¡¯s hand and arm down the middle, and yet the true terrifying nature of the Skeleton showed itself. It didn¡¯t stop. It didn¡¯t react with pain or surprise or anything even remotely human. It simply swung it¡¯s arm again, trying to cleave through my armor, and failing. I swung, my lazy swings blessedly back up by the swords sharp nature. I had aimed for the torso¡­ and it kept going. I swayed on my feet, my vision going black, as exhaustion tried to over take. A sharp feeling in my foot had me opening my eyes, barely. Looking down, I saw a third of a skeleton, trying to stab me in the foot with it¡¯s one working arm. I raised my black blade, and as much leaning on it for support as attacking, pierced down, through it¡¯s head. There was a resistance for half a moment, the first I¡¯d felt since having the sword, and then it went through. The sense of it finally being over washed over me and exhaustion brought me down. **** I blinked up at the dark sky, it once again being morning. I¡¯d done it, I¡¯d really done it. I¡¯d won. I¡¯d won against the zombies, the fast zombies, the hordes, and even the Black Skeleton. My body wasn¡¯t in pieces, wasn¡¯t dying in a sewer, wasn¡¯t being torn apart or bleeding out. I¡¯d won¡­ and was able to live to tell the tale. Tears welled up in my eyes. A strangled shout nearly left my lips but caution had been baked into me, even now. Slowly, cautiously, I raised my head. Looking around, I was shocked and disturbed to note¡­ there was no building around me anymore. The whole store had seemingly vanished but I was still clearly in the same spot. That horde of zombies outside had also vanished. Well¡­ not so much vanished. I knew where they¡¯d gone. I¡¯d killed them, but there had been more in the challenge than just the ones outside. I wonder if I¡¯d killed them, I¡¯d have faced an easier challenge? It was impossible to know now. I was alone¡­ but I was also in a large open area. I didn¡¯t know whether that was safer than hiding in a building or not at this point¡­ I finally opened my blinking status. [Achievements Unlocked!] [Challenger: You completed a Challenge! +1 Magic] [Titles Unlocked!] [A Good Sport: You participated in a Challenge, deciding to go along with the Gameshow! +10% to all stats] Suddenly it felt like I had gotten slammed by a Qi point, as both of those things took effect. I stared at the ¡®Title¡¯ in shock. That¡­ that was major. When, if, I had 100 in a stat, another +1 of something might not matter, but a +10%? That would always be useful, and it was +10% in everything. I quickly flickered my status to see what it looked like now¡­ and it was very different. [Name: Matt Level: 1 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 11 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 4 Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] [Boned] [Anti-Dues Ex] [Legs For Days] [Bleed To Bleed Another Day] [Challenger] Titles: [A Good Sport] Strength: (9) (+10%) 9 Speed: (11) (+10%) 12 Endurance: (16) (+10%) 17 Magic: (10) (+10%) 11 Mind: (14) (+10%) 15] I blinked at the absolute mess the simple numbers had become for a moment, but it wasn¡¯t hard to follow. It was also interesting that the +10% didn¡¯t seem to count partials or anything less than ten. Another point in strength would be worth two in that case. And those Qi points¡­ I was practically salivating. I felt a disturbance in the tapestry of the universe¡­ and then felt disturbed I could feel that. A Care Package spawned in. The same grey and yellow tote it always was. Before that¡­ I looked around my surroundings. I grabbed the box and began to walk, my katana out, ready to slash. It was an awkward carry with only one arm, but I was ready to drop it at a moment¡¯s notice. It could have anything in it and while some were amazing, it was better to be prepared. Last time they¡¯d given me a check up on my friends and dog and for that¡­ ¡°Thank you Gods and Goddesses, for yesterday. I know I said it already, but thank you.¡± I¡¯d decided that I was going to try to have an open mind and not blame the viewers. The only people I should be blaming are the evil bastards that made the Game Show in the first place. The viewers mostly seemed to want to have fun and help me. And I could use all the help I could get. Sitting next to a manhole cover, just in case it started raining chocolate or something again, I opened the box. Only for my eyes to go wide at another tie. That couldn¡¯t be normal, this many ties. I had no idea why so many were happening. This time, it was only two options though. The first was¡­ I¡¯d seen this one before. It was Qi points. I didn¡¯t know how many but I had feeling it was more than one. That was always going to be a good option and I would have been overjoyed to have it. But yesterday, it¡¯d also been there, and the pictures had been thousands of times better at least. It had told me that everyone was still alive, for now. That was worth more than any amount of Qi points could be. The second option was¡­ I frowned. What the¡­ it was a tiny man, who became a tiny woman, and then back. No features or anything, more like an empty doll than anything else. What on earth was that meant to be? Instead of a clover or a box, a coin appeared this time. It flipped, making a ching sound, and landed on¡­ two. The box and the Qi points began to melt away, as the second option floated up and- ¡°GAaH! A scream pulled itself out of me, as my whole body began to feel like it was on fire, except without the pain. Heat exploded from within me, as my entire body felt like it had been dunked in lava. My body locked up, unable to move, and in my mind I swore to never open these again without being somewhere absolutely safe. That thought was dashed against the rocks and broken away, as I felt my body changing and morphing. I stared in horror, feeling like I was going to melt down, as chest expanded, my waist changed, my face, skin, and bones morphed, and my hair began to grow longer. The worst was down below, as I felt an incredible strange mix of shrinking and then an alien sensation crawl through me, as more changed. By the time it was finally over, I was huffing and puffing, my body feeling like it should be releasing steam. W-What on earth had that been? ¡°Wha-¡± I began to speak, only to become shocked as the sound of my own voice. It wasn¡¯t¡­ mine. It actually sounded distinctly¡­ female. My pupils shook and my eyes widened, as I quickly stood up in hysteria and looked down at my own body. Breasts. Even through the armor, I could feel them. It wasn¡¯t the only thing I could feel. Long hair spooled down my back, as my hips felt smaller and I¡¯d grown shorter. Every part of me felt distinctly different and I could see why. I was more¡­ frail? My skin smoother, my arms hairless, my face different. And although I dared not look¡­ my groin felt¡­ empty. And like¡­ something else was there. Not believing it, trying to distract myself, I called up my status. ¡°Status.¡± My own voice sending shivers down my spine. This¡­ this couldn¡¯t be happening. [Name: Matt (Madison. 24 hour Temporary Gender Change) Level: 1 Free stat points: 0 Qi points: 11 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 3 Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] [Boned] [Anti-Dues Ex] [Legs For Days] [Bleed To Bleed Another Day] Titles: [A Good Sport] Strength: (9) (+10%) 9 Speed: (11) (+10%) 12 Endurance: (16) (+10%) 17You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Magic: (10) (+10%) 11 Mind: (14) (+10%) 15] I had become a woman! I had become a woman?! What the fuck! My eyes had jumped to ¡®Gender Change¡¯ only to calm down a bit, as I saw it was temporary. That, that, that was better than it being permanent. I didn¡¯t want to be a woman. I¡­ oh god, what if I have to pee? It was already scary enough going to the bathroom in this damn world! The gods had turned me into a woman. What the absolute fuck?! What was that ¡®Madison¡¯ nonsense?! I¡­ deep breaths. Deep breaths. It was temporary, just¡­ just another prank. ¡°You¡­ you know¡­ I might think these pranks were actually funny if I wasn¡¯t in life or death situations! You know my friends and dog need me and you¡­ ugh. Whatever.¡± Don¡¯t get angry at the gods, don¡¯t get angry at the gods, don¡¯t get angry at the gods. They¡¯re just¡­ capricious. And I¡¯m in a stressful situation. They probably saw me get a ton of Qi points and thought they had the spare room to prank me or something. Or maybe not, what did I know about them? I was guessing based on how I thought people watching TV would act. For all I knew all the gods were insane. Pranks and good fortune, like fairies or fey, with the rare potential for negatives. Fine. Fine! They could have their pranks, they more than deserve it. They got me my sword, my armor, and even allowed me to check up on my friends. If they want me to be a woman for a day, fine. I took a few steps¡­ and immediately grimaced. I could feel¡­ a lot. Ignore it, just ignore it. I swung my Katana a few times and it¡­ well¡­ it was different but not disastrously so. I wouldn¡¯t want to get into any fights today if I could help it but I wouldn¡¯t helpless either if it came down to it. Ignoring the world¡¯s most disturbing care package so far, I focused on something much better. My Qi points. I had 11 Qi points. While I could drop those on stats¡­ who knew when I¡¯d get this many again? I finally had enough for something. ¡°Store.¡± [Store: Supplies - 1 Qi Basic Weapon and Armor - 3 Qi +3 to all stats - 5 Qi Unlock a Skill - 10 Qi Rare Magical Item (Consumable OR Weapon OR Item) - 50 Qi +1 Extra Life - 500 Qi] I¡¯d be giving up a +10 to all my stats¡­ well, maybe. I knew there had to be something up with Qi if 5 cost 3 stats to each, but I didn¡¯t know what yet. But I was theoretically giving up a +10 in everything for skills. But¡­ there had to be a reason skills were priced higher than a +6 in all stats. I was willing, and literally was, betting it was better. ¡°Unlock a Skill.¡± [Are you sure?] ¡°Ye-.¡± Right before I completed the word, the world seemed to wrap and snap around me. My new body froze in place, words unable to leave me. I looked around, horrified, wonder what on earth was happening but then the teleportation seemed to be finishing and I found myself some place else. ***** I arrived in what seemed to be¡­. Wait. Wait! I knew this place! If I was here then- ¡°Hello!¡± Said a voice I could never forget. My eyes pivoted¡­ then widened in surprise. It was the Hostess, the Goddess¡­ but she didn¡¯t look like she had. She still had long black hair, wearing her Game Show latex outfit. Her smile was still sharp and her chest¡­ I tried not to stare and thanked the Gods that my own Gender change had been so¡­ light¡­ in comparison. But it seemed like standing was difficult for her and she was leaning against a chair. Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked absolutely tired. ¡°Sorry about this! Look, it was either this¡­ or I was going to straight up pass out. We¡¯ll talk more another time but there¡¯s been two little changes. Rather than go back in time and rewrite all of reality¡­ I decided to just do a software update! I¡¯ll patch these right over the words in your head, my little gift to you not forgotten! ¡°First! The time got dysynced a little bit. I know you don¡¯t understand Matt, oh, it¡¯s Madison right now right? Sorry, sorry. Not good to use your old name right?¡± She winked at me and I felt my blood boil a little. ¡°Anyway my dear young woman, it takes way more effort than you¡¯d think to hold the gods and this world to a 1 to 1 time existence. Even harder than I thought. Simply put Madison, I am tired. And it¡¯s only been 5 days! I have to do this for a year? Nuh-uh, no way, I¡¯ll really die. So first change: ¡°Time will no longer be 1 to 1. I¡¯ll be taking weekends off! And sometimes, I¡¯ll probably just fail. Hopefully those days are rare! It hasn¡¯t happened yet! Though¡­ ¡®Today¡¯ is¡­ a little more off than I¡¯d like hehe. Well, you make a fantastic Gameshow, you run into a few fun bumps along the way. For all my dear viewers, I would like to point out just how ¡®long¡¯ each episode is. I¡¯m doing 5k a day. That is tough! Again, Madison, don¡¯t worry about that. None of this even affects you! This is purely for the Gods and Goddesses watching.¡± ¡°Two! This one does affect you. And this one I will be taking the time to rewrite reality to add in. It is a significantly small change, although I will only be ¡®adding¡¯ it in. You¡¯ll be acting like you simply didn¡¯t notice it till right now, as if you heard my words but they only now became relevant to your mind! And that is: ¡°Patrons now also count as ¡®Likes¡¯.¡± My heart skipped a beat. The Goddess, the Hostess, had been right. The first one really affected the people watching more than me. I¡¯d still receive daily care packages, even if time moved faster for them. But the second¡­ that would be more likes. Wasn¡¯t it 55 last time? I might get levels even faster. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s so good to see the Mind stat doing its job. Oh, don¡¯t worry about some nasty personality changes or anything. That would be boring. It simply firms up your own will against outside mental factors and increases your natural recovery from stressful stimuli. In other words, it¡¯s ¡®mental fortitude¡¯. Push through pain, exhaustion, the terror of monsters both big and small! But you¡¯re still all you.¡± Just like the first time I¡¯d met the Goddess, she seemed intent to drown me in words and not give me a single chance to speak. Though, she¡¯d said we¡¯d speak more so- ¡°You know I have things to do? Running this Game Show is sadly not at easy as simply dropping you in. Lots of behind the scenes stuff. Or did you think Rick and Jessica were still alive by pure chance? There is no plot armor this time¡­ for you. The ones for Rick and Jessica are on an invisible timer. Let me be clear though, you are not going fast enough. I will kill them. That threat makes the rest of this world have value to the gods. You¡¯re going particularly slowly for your dog Spot. Oh! And one last thing.¡± ¡°I have a name. Warix Viviana at your service, at least this avatar of me!¡± She tipped a black and red top hat that hadn¡¯t been there a moment ago, doing a little bow. ¡°Enjoy the Game Show!¡± There was a snap and a crackle and- ***** [Are you sure?] My mind whirled as I became able to move again. I¡¯d seen her again. That had been¡­ a lot. My body felt slick with sweat and my mind spun. I focused on the words she had said. First¡­ the time change didn¡¯t matter to me at all, did it? Time would still pass normally for me and for the Gods. It just wouldn¡¯t be as synced. Second though¡­ I might get a level tomorrow immediately. I could even see why the change was made. Patrons were, well, sponsors. They probably kept the show chugging along. Including them in ¡®likes¡¯ made people more likely to actually join. That made perfect sense and¡­ and only helped me. My feelings towards Warix¡­ I wish I could have asked them questions. I have no idea if they¡¯re simply playing host or if they¡¯re more responsible for this. I didn¡¯t know who to direct my anger towards and more importantly, it was useless right now. I had to survive, I couldn¡¯t afford to be angry all the time. Those may have been the changes but it hadn¡¯t been all I learned. Jessica, Rick, and Spot were all still alive. They apparently did have ¡®plot armor¡¯, which meant that the Hostess was keeping them alive, even when they should die. But for how long? I had no way to know. Rather than feel relieved, it felt more like a ticking time bomb had been placed inside my head. I needed to save them. Quickly. And finally, well, it had been good to learn my mental stat wasn¡¯t changing who I was. The hostess could be lying, but why? She can apparently rewrite reality. Even now, bringing up her words, it really was like I¡¯d been missing a word this whole time. ¡°One. You may only level up after a certain amount of ''Likes''. For my fellow Gods and Goddesses, these are Follows, Rating, Reviews, and Patrons. All combined into one. For every 100 Likes, you gain 1 level. This won''t make sense to you Matt, but this also includes all Follows, Ratings, and Reviews on Scribblehub and Royalroad. By popular demand from certain Gods and Goddesses, comments will be partially included. Every 1000 comments = 1 like. You would be amazed how much the Divine like to talk Matt.¡± ¡°And Patrons¡­ like it¡¯s always been there. That¡¯s¡­ insane.¡± The words weren¡¯t like the screens, they didn¡¯t pop into thin air, they were the words in my mind, forever remembered. Did she really¡­ rewrite time itself? Or simply change my memories. The power of the God left me feeling uneasy and I shook it off. Honestly, everything had been good news, but it didn¡¯t make me feel much better strangely. It was horrifying to randomly be teleported and apparently have time itself be rewritten. [Are you sure?] The words floated in my vision, asking me to confirm the skill. I had been thrown off for a bit but I was still sure about that. I needed to see how good skills were. ¡°Yes.¡± Suddenly, my whole body locked up and a distinctly familiar feeling washed over me. Except this time, my body felt ice cold. It was like the darkest and coldest depths of the universe began to flow into my veins, as the darkness of the world began to flow in my pours. I stared in muted shock as my entire body seemed to become darker, edging a little towards midnight black, but settling on a kind of dark grey tone. Slowly, like a statue breaking out of it¡¯s prison, I began to be able to move. And I was¡­ filled with a strange energy. Not like Qi or Magic or anything but more like¡­ like I was just hearty. Like I had when I¡¯d touched the challenge and been refreshed, except constant. [Skills Unlocked!] [Body of Darkness: Passive Skill. Adapt to darkness so deep and so powerful, it¡¯s an entity onto itself. Become nourished simply by being in the dark! Completely replaces your need for food and water. Increased healing while in areas without any light. Gain the ability to see in the dark, mostly. Decreases your need for sleep by half.] That¡­ my mouth gaped open, staring at my own body and feeling the energy, actual normal energy, in me. That¡­ that solved so many problems. I didn¡¯t even know where to start. It was always dark. I no longer needed to desperately search for food and water. If it hadn¡¯t been for a gas station, a supernatural amount of endurance, and a challenge refresh, I¡¯d be a lot worse for wear. Now I never had to worry about that again. On top of that, it increased my healing. It doesn¡¯t matter how much it increased, any increase would be amazing. If the skill only did that, I would have been happy. Being able to see in the dark and have to sleep half as much, the time when I was most vulnerable, was insane. I don¡¯t know what I expected from a skill, maybe some kind of powerful attack, but now I could fully see why it cost 10 Qi. That was well worth it. I shook my head. It had seemed like a while but all of this had only taken some of the morning. The day was still fresh and ready and I actually had a plan. There¡¯d been more than enough time to think of one in the last challenge. Ultimately, strength. That came in the form of challenges. Basically, I needed to do more. 10 Qi points was amazing. I had to find the next challenge as soon as I could and do it immediately, well, if I could do it. How hard can they be to find? ***** This town is scary. Things crawled around, monsters, zombies, horrible blobs and vines. But I had started to feel like I¡¯d seen everything. Like I knew all the monsters around. I was wrong. Nearly dead wrong, as I saw something in the darkness. It moved faster than I could catch but it looked¡­ wrong. So, so very wrong. It had too many limbs and all in the wrong places, even though I only caught it¡¯s shadow. It sent a fresh chill up my spine and was a good reminder. I could take Skeletons and Zombies, I really didn¡¯t want to try to kill a slime with a sword or test myself against scorpion-ants, and there were clearly things I absolutely could not fight. It took me the better part of the day to move around the town. Part of it was just avoiding trouble, but another major part was looking for challenges. I tried to touch any major buildings or look for any clear ¡®events¡¯ but nothing. That was fine. I already had a destination in mind. Jessica had been in a hospital. That¡¯s where I was heading. It¡¯s not like I knew where it was though. However, I got lucky. Or maybe all small towns were more or less the same and I¡¯d gotten used to walking around mine as a kid. The Hospital was nearly in the same ¡®spot¡¯ as the one I¡¯d walked by when I was younger. Near the town, down a road, and to the right. Walking in the light of day still felt¡­ strange. Surviving in the movies was always running from one horrible event to the next and I could see that. But there was a shocking amount of time where absolutely nothing happened, even though I didn¡¯t have a roof over my head. Just, walking. It gave me too much time to think. Worry and anxiety were my new constant companions and I tried to snuff out the hope I was feeling when I actually saw the hospital. It wasn¡¯t likely Jessica was in there. She could be in any hospital in any part of the world. Still, it couldn¡¯t die completely. I made it to the front door, looking carefully for any monsters, but I didn¡¯t see any. I creaked the front door open, katana ready, prepared. There¡¯d been no challenge pop up. I began to explore and I hated myself just a little. There was possibly no creepier place to explore on earth, than an empty hospital while you knew monsters were about. I slowly crept through the halls, the echos of my footsteps the only sound. My nerves were shot and I was ready to attack the first thing I saw. I felt a pinprick on my neck. It was small, barely noticeable. I blinked and turned. Only to see a faceless nurse, needle in hand, already pulling out of my neck. Oh. Oh fuc- My thoughts didn¡¯t even have time to finish before I hit the ground, my vision going black. Day 6: A Dream? I woke up, only to see¡­ a hospital room? I was in a bed and- People. I could hear people. Sounds. Birds. I sat up, only for my whole body to shake in pain. My eyes widened as I felt my body was no longer female. It transcended even the shock of being in a hospital bed. I was thankful for only a moment though, before I began looking for my sword. I glanced to my right, only to see a machine hooked up to my arm and an IV drip. I was- Fuck! Right, the nurse. She¡¯d given me a shot in the neck and then- I heard the door opened and was already trying to get out of bed. My sword, my armor, they were nowhere to be found. I needed, I needed to be ready. Fuck fuck fu- A nurse walked in, a woman I¡¯d never seen but looked familiar, but she had a face. Her eyes seemed to widen in shock as she saw me awake and quickly hit a button on the wall I hadn¡¯t seen. ¡°Mr. Thompson? Matt Thompson. Please relax. You¡¯re okay, you¡¯re alright. Do you know where you are?¡± ¡°What?!¡± I was, I didn¡¯t, what on earth was going on? I¡­ the light. The lights. The window. I, I¡­ there was a sun. I could see the sun. There was an actual person. A TV playing some news channel. My mind felt overloaded and my chest hurt for some reason. Everything was, no, what? I had been, I had been fighting and trying to survive and- The EKG machine attached to me began to spike as my heart beat rapidly shot up. No¡­ no this was impossible. T-There¡¯s, this, no¡­ it had to be a trick. A trick or, or- ¡°Mr. Thompson, please, you¡¯re at Saint Mary¡¯s Hospital. You suffered from a stroke and hit your head when you fell. You¡¯re alright. You¡¯re okay. Please calm down.¡± ¡°N- no! This, this is some kind of trick or something! A dream, this can¡¯t, this isn¡¯t real. Status!¡± I called out¡­ and nothing showed up. My eyes shook. ¡°Mr. Thompson, you¡¯re okay. You¡¯re going to be fine. I¡¯ll answer any questions you have and be right here for you. This isn¡¯t a dream and I am here to help.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± My brain rebelled. No¡­ that couldn¡¯t, that couldn¡¯t have all been fake. No, no way. Had I¡­ had I died and ¡®lost¡¯ the Game Show? They had said I could die but¡­ but what if this is what happened if I did? No, no the Hostess at least wasn¡¯t that kind. No, this was some, some kind of trick. I stared at the nurse, realizing why she looked familiar. She looked just like the one that had stabbed me, except with gorgeous red hair and an actual face. My mind felt like it was tearing itself apart. Too much had happened too fast and now, now it felt like I didn¡¯t have any ¡®Mind¡¯ stat all. Had I ever? No, no I can¡¯t, I can¡¯t start believing this is real. I¡¯ll die, I¡¯ll really die. But looking at the nurse, my heart still beat. I hadn¡¯t seen a real, living, breathing person in so long. It felt like an eternity. The window, the sun, the warmth flowing down onto me, the birds chirping, the TV playing, it was too much. I¡­ I wanted it to be real so badly. Tears began to stream down my eyes as I stared at this fake person. ¡°You¡­ aren¡¯t real. None of this is real.¡± I said, hollow. The nurse frowned for a moment, but it wasn¡¯t a frown of anger. It was an absolute look of pity. ¡°Mr. Thompson¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I haven¡¯t introduced myself. I¡¯m Kelly.¡± She patted her name tag. ¡°This is real. This isn¡¯t a trick or a dream. Can I get anything for you or answer any of your questions?¡± I¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ I¡­ ¡°M-My¡­ S-Spot. Is Spot¡­¡± At this, Kelly smiled wide. ¡°Your friends and puppy have been very worried Mr. Thompson. They haven¡¯t left the hospital since you arrived. Would you like me to send someone to get them for you? Do you feel up to seeing them right now?¡± My heart¡­ it clenched tight. Shut. I stared out the window, at the sun. My ears pulled in the sounds of countless people just going about their life. There was wind, a blue sky, and no gods or goddesses, no system, no horrible mind probe, no monsters¡­ ¡°...yes¡­¡± I said, half choking out the word. It only took less than a minute but I couldn¡¯t hold back anymore when I saw them. It was Rick and Jessica, looking worried but elated, Spot in Rick¡¯s arms. He was trying so hard to jump out of Rick¡¯s arms, struggling to get to me. Shaking, I held out my hands. The moment Rick wordlessly handed Spot to me, the waterworks broke through and I bawled as Spot excitedly licked me. ***** It took a while for me to calm down and come back to¡­ reality. Jessica had pulled up a chair, her hand in mine. Spot had refused to leave my chest and I¡¯d refused to have him leave. Even Rick was sitting on my other side, hand on my shoulder, like he was worried I was gonna disappear. No one said anything for a while, the moment thick with emotion. But eventually, Rick broke the silence. ¡°I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re alive dude.¡± Jessica shot him a glare but I just smiled. A smile that hurt. ¡°Y-yeah. I¡­ yeah.¡± ¡°Are you okay?¡± Jessica asked. ¡°...Not really. I¡­¡± What was I supposed to say? That seeing them made me happier than anything in the world? That having spot in my arms and on my chest made me want to cry every other moment? Or that¡­ I still couldn¡¯t believe any of this was real. Literally. Even now¡­ even having my body changed back to male, my passive skill reverted back, seeing and hearing my friends¡­ my experiences had been too much. Too real. I had killed over a thousand zombies. I¡¯d fought fast zombies. I¡¯d felt my blood and flesh and bones nearly be torn out of me. I¡¯d felt the cold of dying in a sewer. I¡¯d felt fear so alien, so visceral, that I thought it couldn¡¯t be normal. I¡¯d felt magic and Qi go through my body, like spiritual veins, and began to form a deep connection with the universe. I¡¯d experienced too much, too quickly, too painfully, too brutally. No matter how real the dream, no matter how beautiful this reality¡­ I couldn¡¯t believe in it even for a moment. Somewhere out there, in the insane but real world, was actually Rick and Jessica and Spot. Not happy, not worried, dying. I didn¡¯t consider myself very special¡­ but if there was any trait I had an edge in, it was seeing through bullshit. And that alarm was going off at maximum strength. ¡°Hey man, it¡¯s all good. We¡¯ll get you out of here as soon as possible and forget about it. We should get ya home in a few days, okay? Just¡­ don¡¯t worry.¡± Rick said, wearing a false confidence. He was so real, every ounce the man I knew. Down to the way he¡¯d appear utterly confident, while trying to hide how he really felt. He was scared, this version of Rick was scared horribly. I could see it, feel it, knew it. He was so¡­ so real. ¡°We¡¯ll be here with you of course.¡± Jessica was quick to add. ¡°And don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ve already brought plenty of treats and food for Spot. We brought all the stuff we¡¯d need to clean up after him too.¡± She shot me a heart clenching smile. There was no hidden fear on her face, instead there was so much relief I felt myself feeling overwhelmed. I knew that there had been a¡­ maybe between us. I¡¯d hoped it was going well. But looking at her now, her face, her emotions, the ways tears seemed to still dot her eyes and the feeling of her hand in mine¡­ I knew that she felt exactly as I felt. That she truly loved me and didn¡¯t want to lose me. And she wasn¡¯t real. I couldn¡¯t even bring myself to look at Spot. We talked and chatted, about nothing at all. Every once in a while, they¡¯d slip in a strange question, asking me about the day or something, checking if my brain was alright most likely. The nurse had probably asked them too. It was empty small talk, from talking about the new video games that came out, to new shows, but it was such an immense relief. It was¡­ I hadn¡¯t felt warm and safe in so, so long. Hadn¡¯t had anyone to talk to. Hadn¡¯t had anything even approaching normal. I tried, so hard, to push it all away, to remain steadfast that this was fake, but it was like I was being washed away. Everything felt real. Everything seemed normal. Trying to hold onto the absolute insanity I experienced was harder. Gods and Goddesses running a gameshow? Watching TV and playing on the internet? A world full of movie horror level monsters and something straight out of HP lovecraft? All ridiculous. There was literally a black skeleton that filled up the space between it¡¯s bones with more bones, taken from zombies. And that was before the System, magic, and Qi stuff came into play. Hell, there were achievements that gave me stats, titles, and even challenges. Even for a game show¡­ it was more like my life had become some kind of weird, strange mix of an anime, a video game, and a book. Just sitting there, talking, I could practically feel myself slipping. There was nothing supernatural about it. One thing made sense, the other didn¡¯t, and it felt more and more insane to try and believe the one that didn¡¯t. Eventually, Rick and Jessica left, many hours later. They asked about taking Spot, but¡­ I refused to have him leave. Just the idea of having him wake up and me not to be there¡­ it broke my heart, real or fake. Soon¡­ sleep took me. All day, I¡¯d been waiting. Waiting for a Care Package to come along. A new day had passed and I¡¯d gotten used to them. And now¡­ now it hadn¡¯t.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Doubt began to creep into my mind as I fell asleep. ***** Blearly, I opened my eyes, reaching for my sword- I blinked. Right. Right. No sword. I was in a hospital bed still. I laid there in silence, staring at the ceiling. This¡­ was fake right? My memories were so¡­ vivid. They couldn¡¯t be fake. But¡­ but the nurse¡­ I thought back to her, to the faceless nurse that had stabbed me in the neck. She¡­ practically teleported next to me. Or was as silent and stealthy as any monster I¡¯d seen so far. She had injected something into me and then I¡¯d almost immediately passed out. But that didn¡¯t make sense, that close up, she could have easily killed me. So why didn¡¯t she? Was I currently in some kind of hospital bed, while she ate my brains? It had been a full day in this place¡­ surely she could have eaten me by now right? Unless, dreams can last for a while¡­ but this wasn¡¯t just any dream. She¡¯d put me into this place. So maybe she was¡­ eating me slowly while I was in ¡®paradise¡¯? ¡­was that better or worse? How long did I have before I died? Here, in this time frame, at least? Days? Weeks? Months? I had no idea. What if she wanted to keep me for long term food? What if she was eating something other than my body, like a vampire? ¡­how would she even eat me, she has no face¡­ The things I didn¡¯t know felt overwhelming and the main one even more so. I had no idea how to get out. I¡¯d tried Status, Milestone, Store, and nothing. I¡¯d tried to feel my passive skill that had altered my body, to no effect. I¡¯d tried to feel that vague connection with the universe or the feeling of Qi. Nothing. Useless. No matter what I tried to think or feel, it didn¡¯t change anything. I heard a knock on my door and flinched more than anything. Not long after, Jessica walked in. Just Jessica. ¡°Hey.¡± She said. ¡°Hey.¡± I blinked. She sat down near me and took her hand in mine again, making me feel butterflies in my stomach. Jessica¡­ I looked at her and couldn¡¯t help a smile. It felt so good to be near her, to see her, to feel her. She looked at me and I felt myself getting lost in her blue sapphire like eyes. She smiled back at me and my body felt warm all over again. Jessica took a deep breath, before exhaling. ¡°Matt¡­ there¡¯s something I have to tell you.¡± I blinked, surprised. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I¡­ I love you.¡± Jessica said, looking so vulnerable in that moment. The part of my mind that was screaming this was fake, this wasn¡¯t real, broke at that moment. It couldn¡¯t look at Jessica, look at this Jessica right in the face, see her looking so afraid I¡¯d say I didn¡¯t feel the same, and call her fake. That wasn¡¯t possible for me. I wasn¡¯t a strong enough man for that. ¡°I love you Jessica.¡± The words, always on the tip of my tongue, the words I¡¯ve always wanted to say, slipped out. I couldn¡¯t regret them, the emotion never gave me any time for it to form, as I saw Jessica¡¯s face light up like the happiest woman in the world. She leaned down and- Her kiss was everything right with the world. It was everything I had wanted and more. It wasn¡¯t perfect or grand, it wasn¡¯t some supernatural perfection. It was just lips pressed against lips, but it felt like what had been broken had been mended. Like all the stress I¡¯d been carrying, all the fears and worry, all of it just went away. Was this¡­ could this really be¡­ a dream? I didn¡¯t know any more. ¡°Matt? Why are you crying?¡± Jessica asked, bewildered. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ so happy.¡± And it was true. I was happy. If this was a dream¡­ I didn¡¯t want to wake up anymore. ***** Days passed. Normal days. I hadn¡¯t realized how broken I¡¯d become until I walked out of the hospital, wearing normal clothes, and felt the sun directly beaming down onto me. I never had once considered myself super ¡®mentally strong¡¯. But I¡¯d cried more than in the past few days than I think I had in the last year. I talked to Rick a lot. A lot. He wanted to catch me up on everything. Apparently I hadn¡¯t just ¡®had a stroke¡¯ and been out for a day. It had been nearly a week. The only reason I¡¯d been found, since I lived alone, was because Spot hadn¡¯t stopped barking. For hours. Eventually one of my neighbors had come to check up on it and well¡­ I was lucky I hadn¡¯t locked the door. Without nosy neighbors and Spot¡­ I¡¯d probably be dead. If this was real. I kept reminding myself. I had seen shows and movies and even games, but they never focused on just how hard it was to try and keep your sanity while saying the insane stuff was real and the sane stuff wasn¡¯t. It felt like I was in a sinking boat and rapidly trying to pile out the water from it. There¡¯s a saying I once heard someone say. ¡°You have to accept the reality you¡¯re in. Well, more like you don¡¯t have a choice.¡± And I had never understood it better. I¡¯d adapted to the apocalypse and the Gods¡­ and soon, I¡¯d rapidly adapt to this. And that was when it¡¯d be all over. I¡¯d never escape. ¡°Matt?¡± Rick said. ¡°You spacing out on me buddy? I can¡¯t wait to play Bears of the Kingdom with you. It released while you were, uh, asleep. It¡¯s really good! You can build all sorts of stuff and¡­¡± Doubt lingered in me, growing. It felt strange. I¡¯d have expected the world to feel more fake over time for some reason, but instead it was growing more real. There was information I couldn¡¯t know, but I guess that was my mind filling in the blanks. But there was also information I doubted I understood even a little bit. Ever since getting back my phone, god I¡¯d missed that, I¡¯d been trying to break the illusion somehow. I¡¯d immediately gone to financial stuff, political stuff, and advanced engineering. If this was all based on my mind, that stuff should not only make no sense, but be scribbled nonsense. It wasn¡¯t. I barely or didn¡¯t understand it, but it wasn¡¯t just a compilation of buzz words and half remembered terms, like I¡¯d expected to find. I¡¯d tried a few other things, but I was starting to lose hope. Ultimately¡­ I had no idea how to break out of this dream. And I was constantly starting to doubt it was a dream. Even if it was fake¡­ that didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t be something else. I didn¡¯t know what those creepy monster nurses could do. I¡¯d thought they¡¯d knocked me out into a coma but who knows what they actually did to me. I was currently heading home, Spot in my arms. Jessica had work but I was still resting. I had to catch up with college soon and just¡­ wow. That was a strange thought to have. College was ending soon. I was graduating with a four year degree in graphic design. I¡¯d always loved making art. Even if this world was fake¡­ I couldn¡¯t wait to spend at least five minutes making something on my computer. I smiled. Beating Rick as Rario Kart would be pretty fun too. **** ¡°Damn you.¡± I cursed, getting lapped by Rick. ¡°Hey, hate the player, not the game.¡± I turned and squinted at Rick, who was giving me a wide smile. ¡°Can do.¡± I said. What type of fucked up dream world made it so I lose to Rick in Rario Kart? An evil one, that¡¯s for sure. Rick put down his controller. ¡°Alright, so talk to me. What¡¯s going on?¡± Rick said and I blinked. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you huh me man, you know what I¡¯m talking about. Even ignoring the nurse warning us that you might ¡®struggle to tell real from fake for a little while¡¯, you¡¯ve not been okay. I thought you were all about that ¡®Don¡¯t bottle stuff up¡¯ shit? So, talk to me. What¡¯s going on?¡± I stared into Rick¡¯s eyes, caught out for a second. Was¡­ no, this¡­ Rick was my friend. But was this Rick? Could I trust a fake Rick? I tried to think through it logically but my emotions were running rampant. I hadn¡¯t been able to talk about my experiences to anyone. Almost dying, the horror and fear I¡¯d felt, the things I¡¯d seen¡­ The words practically leaped from my tongue. ¡°This world isn¡¯t real.¡± I said, immediately feeling like I¡¯d made a mistake. Any moment now, Rick was going to turn into a monster and eat me or something. Or call me crazy and have me put into a psych ward. Instead, he started with a simple: ¡°What?¡± Rick said, looking bewildered. But the dam had well and truly broken and no amount of resistance could stop it. ¡°It¡¯s all fake! This, this isn¡¯t real. I know it isn¡¯t real! I, I was fighting, exploring a damn hospital and then a horrifying creature stabbed me in the neck and-¡± ¡°Whoa, whoa! Matt, calm down. What¡¯s going on? Go slower, a creature? You were stabbed in the neck? What¡¯s going on?¡± I talked. I told him everything from beginning to end. How I¡¯d been abducted by the gods, how he¡¯d been abducted by the gods, along with Jessica and Spot. About how we were all in some kind of divine game show. How I¡¯d been to a world of monsters, how I¡¯d nearly died, how I¡¯d felt and saw my blade cut through over a thousand zombies, a thousand people, how I¡¯d seen him with a bandage on his arm and Jessica in a hospital, how I¡¯d become a woman, how the sky had rained chocolate, how I¡¯d been given a really amazing Katana, how I¡¯d had my mind probed and all my thoughts watched and couldn¡¯t even curse the gods if I wanted to without them screwing me over because of it. I unleashed it all on top of Rick like a hysterical rush, his eyes going wider and wider the whole way through. I didn¡¯t skip anything, and I knew how insane it sounded. How would I react if Rick came to me and said everything I was saying? I¡¯d probably make sure he got to a therapist immediately. After everything was said and done, after I had finally finished talking, Rick simply closed his eyes and was silent for at least five minutes. Five, painful, anxiety induced minutes where I didn¡¯t know what was going to happen or what he was going to say. I even began to think I should get a weapon, in case he attacks me, or in case Jessica or the whole town was coming over to kill me or- ¡°Okay.¡± I blinked, my heart rate still sky high, my voice shaky. ¡°O-Okay?¡± ¡°Okay. I believe you.¡± My mouth dropped open and my mind short-circuited. What? ¡°What? You¡­ believe me?¡± Rick stared into my eyes, hard, and nodded. I felt like he was pulling my leg, or pulling a trick, but I¡¯d long gotten used to Rick¡¯s stubborn attitudes. Those were not the eyes of him joking around and the Rick I knew was really shit at deception or lying. It could still be a fake, some way to get me into a mental hospital later, but looking at the determined face of my friend¡­ I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to believe it. ¡°But¡­ why?¡± I asked. Rick smirked. ¡°There ain¡¯t no way, in no universe, where you make up becoming a woman. We both know I¡¯m never going to let you live that down.¡± ¡°You bastard.¡± I said, but a smile began to grow on my face as my heart clenched. I¡­ I never thought he¡¯d believe me. Hell, I hadn¡¯t even thought through telling him. That was only more clear with his next words. ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m not real then huh? I really feel real. I gotta tell you Matt, being fake, that¡¯s kinda a bummer.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± What on earth was I supposed to say? Sorry? Was he even real or fake? Where was the line and difference? He seemed¡­ exactly like Rick. My doubt began to grow about this world I was in. Maybe, maybe I was the insane one and this world really was- ¡°Hey, oi. Don¡¯t you dare, I can see that look in your eyes. This world is fake and I¡¯m fake. Oh well. Don¡¯t you go falling for the dreams now Matt.¡± ¡°How on earth can you be okay? No, just, wait, how on earth can you believe me just like that?! And tell me not to believe the world is real?!¡± Rick just shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But you wouldn¡¯t make that shit up, no way. Man¡­ I could hear the pain and fear in your voice. I¡¯ve never heard of any kind of acid trip or coma or even hallucinations like that. Maybe you¡¯re wrong but, ehh, nah. I don¡¯t really think so. So, we gotta yank your brain out of here and back to the real world right? So, how we gonna do that?¡± I felt like I was going crazy all over again. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect Rick, this Rick, to believe me. And now that he did¡­ I grabbed him, hugging him tight. A manly, manly hug. ¡°Dude¡­¡± Rick patted my back. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be okay dude. Just get strong enough and your milestone shit will bring me to you right? So you gotta start kicking some major ass for me! Now, seriously though, how we gonna get you out of here?¡± I leaned back from Rick, a wide smile on my face. ¡°I have absolutely no idea.¡± Day 7: Escaping ¡°Alright, the pizza is here.¡± Rick said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you sometimes.¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°What? It¡¯s pizza dude. Oh, yeah, no, don¡¯t worry. I made sure not to get vegan or anything like that. You were like, there when I ordered it. It¡¯s just pepperoni and sausage. Unless ya suddenly stopped wanting to eat those?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not the pizza it¡¯s¡­ why did you order so many?! You ordered from like twelve different places! And fried chicken too?¡± ¡°What. You don¡¯t want to eat it? Well I guess I could hog it all to myself¡­ but I bet someone wants to have a pepperoni and sausage pizza. Possibly the last one they¡¯ll have in a while after they bust outta here and return to a hellscape of an apocalypse.¡± Rick then moved the pizza right under my nose, swaying it back and forth, a wide smile on his face. ¡°...Give me the damn pizza.¡± As I was greatly enjoying the sweet richness of meat in my mouth, Rick spoke up. ¡°But no, seriously dude, this is all for you. From what you¡¯ve told me¡­ you gotta get the food in while you can. No more fried chicken, pizza, or even mashed potatoes. Corn, green beans, hell, even water might not be good, safe, or easy to find. After this, you¡¯ll be surviving off literal darkness which is rad as hell but¡­ yeah, probably doesn¡¯t taste that great.¡± My heart clenched for a moment, both from gratitude and horror. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s definitely the right face to make at that. Anyway, so let¡¯s get to work. I got the laptop and we¡¯re both just gonna have to skip class. Thank god I didn¡¯t pick up any work like you recommended.¡± ¡°What about sports?¡± I asked. ¡°Uh, like, dude. It won¡¯t matter anyway you know? Sides, I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not relieved to get outta it. I always wanted to play basketball or football but best I could do was baseball of all things.¡± I looked deadpan at Rick. That was a steaming pile of bullcrap. He had tried out for both Basketball and Football, and gotten in of course, and then refused to do the work and got kicked out for not being a team player. Baseball was just easier for him to coast with. ¡°It¡¯s a miracle you¡¯re making it through college.¡± I said. ¡°Pshh, yeah right. Mechanical engineering is cool as hell¡­ when it¡¯s not utterly boring anyways. But eat your pizza. I¡¯ll be checking out a few hunches I¡¯ve got while you start reading those books okay?¡± I nodded and our work began. That work being research. Specifically, researching dream worlds. There was a shit ton of books, movies, and more where someone gets trapped in a dream like world. And I needed to know how to escape one. Rick was going at a different angle for now, researching a few other things. He¡¯d eventually get around to the dream stuff too, and maybe a few other important things, but getting back to the real world where I was probably being slowly eaten was the most important thing. The hours began to wind away and I had to put most of the food in the fridge. Rick had not held back. There was chinese food, two pizza¡¯s, a whole thing of chicken, an assortment of vegetables from some restaurant and 8 more bags I hadn¡¯t even managed to open yet. It was fucking delicious and made me wish to pay back Rick in some way. I had been stupid enough to say ¡°I¡¯ll pay you back.¡± And Rick had burst out laughing. He¡¯d just said that¡¯ll it be hilarious when I suddenly hand ¡®him¡¯ a bunch of money and say ¡°Oh yeah, dream you bought me a ton of food.¡± He was still chuckling about it. ¡°Any luck?¡± I finally said. ¡°Huh? Shouldn¡¯t I be asking that of you?¡± ¡°Come on, my brain is melting over here. I¡¯ve read about two dozen different movie synopsis¡¯s and ruined the ending of at least twenty books. Even TV shows have been gutted. I¡¯ve got a lot but my brain needs a break.¡± ¡°Well¡­ on the dream front, I did run into a few weird ones. But if we have to do any of the ones I found on Wattpad, I¡¯m sorry to say bro, you¡¯re just gonna have to die.¡± I gave Rick a dead half lidded stare, while he looked at me with a smile like that of safe that had found nirvana. I was more than tempted to throw my pizza at him. ¡°Come on though, what else have you been working on.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Rick said a bit hesitantly. Which rang alarm bells immediately. ¡°Does this look familiar.¡± He pulled up an image on my laptop and for a second, I was struck deja vu. Actually yeah that looked kinda familiar but¡­ ¡°Isn¡¯t that just a gas station?¡± ¡°Yeah, but what about this?¡± He spun the image around, it being on google maps apparently and- My heart hammered in my chest. ¡°Where is that?¡± I asked, nearly dropping my soda. It was a gas station and across from it was a road¡­ that led to apartment buildings. I¡¯d never forget those buildings and or gas station. That was the town I¡¯d been in. The town I¡¯d spawned in. Except bright and sunny and normal. ¡°Dude¡­ this is our town.¡± ¡°What?! No that¡¯s¡­ that can¡¯t be possible. That¡¯s where I spawned in the other world. What do you mean that¡¯s our town?¡± Rick swiveled around fully and stared at me, putting the laptop down. ¡°Alright. I have a theory. You went to a new world right? But that¡¯s not what you told me. That¡¯s not what she, the goddess bitch that you sent there, said. Right?¡± I tried to remember and the words that had felt like glue in my brain, were as thin as any memories. But I pulled and pulled and- ¡°Well, I suppose it is just the greatest gameshow on your Earth.¡± ¡°Your Earth¡­ right, she mentioned that at least¡­ once or twice. So you¡¯re saying that I spawned on, what, an exact replica of our planet? In an exact replica of our town?¡± ¡°Hey dude, multiverse theory. Maybe the only difference between that world and ours is the apocalypse¡­ or you were never even born there or something.¡± ¡°I guess¡­ but I didn¡¯t even realize it was our town. Shouldn¡¯t I have?¡± Rick actually snorted. ¡°Why would you? When was the last time you, or anyone for that matter, walked through their town? You drive to college and back home and maybe to a few stores, that doesn¡¯t make you expert on the geography around you. That¡¯s without being chased by monsters or stuck in an eternal night. But this is an advantage. Now, you can research the town map and actually know where you¡¯re going.¡± That¡­ would be pretty great actually. It was still weird but it was actually incredibly useful if I knew where I was and where I could go. ¡°Alright, your turn. How do we get you out?¡± I sighed. ¡°It¡¯s all¡­ well, convoluted. One of the main ways is location based. You just, go from where you entered. But I entered in the hospital and I didn¡¯t see anywhere that looked like an exit there.¡± ¡°Alright, pass on that then.¡± ¡°The next is destroying the ¡®manifestation¡¯ of what brought me here. And that¡¯s¡­ well, that would be Nurse Kelly.¡± Rick¡¯s face became hard as iron at that. ¡°We¡¯ll¡­ put it on the backburner.¡± I had a good friend, but maybe too good of a friend sometimes. I really, really wanted to say ¡®We are not killing anyone!¡¯ but¡­ if this was a dream¡­ ¡°A-Anyway, another is crossing through a mirror.¡± ¡°Any mirror?¡± ¡°Yeah, seems like.¡± Five minutes later and that was a bust. ¡°Well it was worth a try.¡± Rick said and I nodded. ¡°Next is falling.¡± ¡°Falling?¡± ¡°Yup. From a really, really high building or something. Apparently I¡¯ll ¡®Jerk¡¯ awake.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll start looking for places and ways to bungee jump I guess. Next?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± I was hesitant but it was a very common way. It¡¯s just that¡­ ¡°In a lot of dreams you¡­ well¡­ the dream has to die-¡± ¡°No.¡± Rick said, voice like steel. ¡°Rick it might be the only way-¡± ¡°Matt. No.¡± Rick said and there was not a hint of give in that expression. He was willing to help me escape¡­ but not if it meant I was going to die. ¡°We¡¯ll figure out some other way. Next?¡± ¡°Well, where there¡¯s an entrance there usually is an exit. I may have entered from the hospital bed, but there ¡®might¡¯ be another way to leave. But that could be anything. It could be my own dreams, a specific activity, a specific place, I really have no idea.¡± ¡°Hmm. Well, nothing to do it but look into it right? We¡¯ll just need to keep looking. I¡¯ll also look into this Qi and system thing. I never read any of those books but if you¡¯re going back out to an apocalypse you better prepare as much as possible.¡± I nodded and like that, the day passed. Rick didn¡¯t even bother going home, just crashing in the living room. Jessica texted me and I was scared shitless. I wanted to tell her but¡­ how would she react? Rick was cool but she might just think I¡¯m crazy. Or worse. Rick seemed chill that he wasn¡¯t real but that was not normal. Maybe for Rick it was but I¡¯d be freaking the fuck out if I thought I was just a fake in someone else¡¯s head. The day passed and went and when I woke up, spot was on top of my chest, licking my face. He¡¯d barely left me alone since I got here and holding him up in my arms made my heart feel at ease. ¡°Spot¡­ I¡¯m going to save you. The real you. I promise.¡± ¡°Ruff!¡± Some good belly rubs and I got back to researching while Spot pretended to be a cat, resting in my lap, his ears flopping in his sleep. I wonder what he was dreaming of. I wonder what that was like, people having dreams within dreams. Rick was up bright and early and- ¡°Hey! Is that my toothbrush?!¡± Rick paused in mid brush. ¡°Mwaybe?¡± ¡°Gross dude.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. He finished up, with my damn toothbrush, and came back. ¡°Ehh, it¡¯s all not real so does it really matter?¡± ¡°Of course it does! I¡­ Rick¡­ you¡­ you matter.¡± Rick blinked and turned. ¡°Oh. Uh. Shit, sorry dude. I didn¡¯t mean it like that. But hey, I¡¯m like a memory right? So it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going anywhere. I¡¯m just getting you out of your head and back to the real world. The real, horribly, fucked up zombie apocalypse world.¡± ¡°Gee, thanks.¡± ¡°Anytime.¡± He said, before shooting me a thumbs up. The research wasn¡¯t useless, I was rapidly memorizing the map of the town and learning a lot more about Qi and Systems in novels. That seemed to be where both of those were majorly used. Qi was¡­ complicated? Simple? It was the energy of the universe which sounded a lot like magic. Apparently there was something called the ¡®Dao¡¯ but in a few books dao was just a word for path and everything revolved around ¡®Qi¡¯ alone. I was really hoping it was the second one because I didn¡¯t think I was going to have the time to realize any mystical epiphany¡¯s. But there were all sorts of things people could apparently do with it. At the low end, like where I was, strengthening the body was everything. But apparently there were breakthroughs and when you broke through, you became more. That would probably shoot my stats up and make it harder to raise each realm. Apparently, the ¡®Qi realm¡¯ usually had ten or twelve steps. After that was the ¡®foundation¡¯ realm. It apparently went up nearly infinitely, until you became immortal¡­ and a God. Which made the achievement description make more sense. Next was system and man¡­ there were thousands of different variations. But on the other hand¡­ there was so little gain there. The system was the system and most times you leveled up by fighting. I didn¡¯t. Which made things harder. I needed to be entertaining and only leveled up by the Gods. Something I was in the middle of mentioning to Rick, when he stopped. ¡°What¡¯s your plan by the way?¡± ¡°My plan? Uhh¡­ level up, get stronger, save you guys?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s a goal, what are you going to actually do when you get back?¡± Rick said, seriously. ¡°Probably kill the nurses that stuck me here and escape this damn hospital. After that¡­ try to find more challenges? I think going to the police station might have one¡­ thought it might also have zombies with guns and that would be terrible. I could also-¡± ¡°Stop. Nope. That¡¯s a terrible plan.¡± ¡°What?¡± I asked, bewildered. I thought it was pretty good actually¡­ ¡°Your thinking about this too¡­ mechanically.¡± Rick chuckled at that wording, probably because he was going to be a mechanical engineer, before becoming serious again. ¡°You¡¯re being watched by Gods. Gods that, in your own words, can level you up if they rate the ¡®show¡¯ highly. Tell me, how interesting would it be for someone to just go around completing challenge after challenge after challenge?¡± I blinked at Rick. ¡°Rick, I¡¯m trying to survive.¡± ¡°And the best way to do that, and to save us, is to be entertaining. That means you can¡¯t just do random challenges for Qi points, you need to have a real plan, a plot, a story! Amazing arcs, drama, reasons for people to watch the next episode and the one after that and etc etc.¡± ¡°Rick I¡­ I have no idea how to do any of that. I¡¯ve never been to theatre in my life, let alone tried to turn my whole life into one while I¡¯m trying to simply survive!¡± ¡°Survival is boring.¡± Rick said brutishly, chopping the air. ¡°You need to thrive. You need to have a goal that will make interesting events happen. A long term goal, that will complete your even longer term goal of saving all of us and yourself. That way you¡¯ll actually win the gameshow.¡± ¡°Well¡­ what on earth am I supposed to do Rick? All I have is a sword and some armor, maybe if it hasn¡¯t stolen or taken away by monsters, and a town full of you know, monsters. They¡¯re stuff straight out of a horror film man¡­ and you want me, to, what go on an adventure? Go save a princess or something to be entertaining? I really have no idea what to do.¡± ¡°Hmm. Well, we still have some time. We¡¯ll work on it. I¡¯ll read some interesting books and maybe we can think of something. Don¡¯t worry dude, we¡¯ll make you a TV star yet!¡± Rick shot me a thumbs up and I sighed. But he was right. I considered myself a very plain, boring, average person. Which¡­ was exactly the wrong person to have on TV. If I was Rick, I¡¯d already be trying to mow through the whole town and trying to demolish everything I could or something. Probably as entertainingly as possible. Which¡­ I¡¯d probably need to start doing. ¡°Hey, wait a minute.¡± Rick said. ¡°You killed over a thousand zombies right? Just by stabbing them in the head?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. It took forever. That was terrible.¡± Rick looked at me deadpan. ¡°Do you think that was very interesting for the people watching?¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± Rick clapped me on the shoulder. ¡°At this rate, we¡¯re all doomed.¡± ¡°Rick! Come on man. What do you want me to do?! I don¡¯t, I can¡¯t just conjure an ¡®interesting story¡¯ out of thin air and in case you¡¯ve gotten, I have to deal with that. Do you think fighting zombies and black skeletons that can rip you apart and scorpion-ant things and masses of black tar with dozens of eyes and mouths is fun?! I¡¯m currently, maybe, dying. Possibly stuck here, before I just blink and it¡¯s all over one day. And you want me to become an actor on top of all that, to seek out some kind of higher goal? Come on!¡± Rick nodded, listening to me, continued nodding, and then- ¡°Yup! That¡¯s exactly what I want you to do. Cuz if ya don¡¯t, you¡¯re screwed my brother. So start becoming way more interesting.¡± I wanted to strangle Rick but instead kept searching dreams. A different goal though huh¡­ I¡¯d have to think of something. The next few days were¡­ weird. Very, very weird as we tried damn near everything. We snuck (walked) back into the hospital and explored as much of it as we could without raising suspicion. Rick had found a really cool trampoline place that let you fall from an incredibly high height onto a big inflatable thing. That had fun and scary. We¡¯d tried to do some kind of reverse inception nonsense while I was sleeping that just had me waking up tired. We tried more mirrors. We pinching myself, pushing my fingers into my palms, saying ¡°Wake up!¡± and more. It felt like things were starting to become hopeless. And worse, I was¡­ trying to push Jessica away. And it was working, she was giving me space and time but it hurt. And I know it hurt her too. We had finally started getting close¡­ and I needed to leave. She thought it was just because of the week long coma but ughh. ¡°Maybe I really do need to die to get out¡­¡± ¡°Matt, no, dude, come on. Look, we¡¯ll get you out of here somehow. How on Earth does everyone make this look so easy?¡± ¡°I have no idea. Ughh. I have no idea how I¡¯m even able to read this. I¡¯ve never read any of these books in my life. Is my subconscious really making this? That doesn¡¯t seem to make any sense. Maybe¡­ Rick, maybe this isn¡¯t a dream world at all. Maybe-¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Rick said, a lightbulb seeming to go off for him. ¡°You¡¯re right. All of this stuff¡­ you could never think of it on your own. You ain¡¯t that smart.¡± ¡°Wow. Thanks man. Go fuck yourself.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave that for the women out there.¡± Rick said with a wink and a smile. ¡°Ew.¡± ¡°Anyway, yeah, why is all of this here? It doesn¡¯t make sense unless¡­ this isn¡¯t your brain at all we¡¯re in.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying. Maybe I¡¯m just delusional and-¡± ¡°Shhh. So if we¡¯re not inside your head¡­ but you were put to sleep to get¡­ where are we?¡± I frowned and thought. It was almost like a riddle but¡­ ¡°Another Earth maybe?¡± ¡°Nah.¡± Rick immediately shot down. ¡°We¡¯re assuming your body is still in that hospital while your mind is somewhere else.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, the collective consciousness of mankind or something?¡± Rick¡¯s eyebrows shot to the roof. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± ¡°What? No it¡¯s not that, that¡¯s completely stupid and ridiculous.¡± ¡°No no no, not, not collective consciousness. The collective subconscious. You¡¯re not inside your head Matt¡­ you¡¯re inside everyone¡¯s head!¡± ¡°That still doesn¡¯t make any sense Rick! I¡¯m not even on Earth, how on Earth would that work?¡± ¡°Who said the¡­ uh¡­ dream world made any sense? Who said it was limited to dimensions or planes or planets? You¡¯re human, you have a subconscious, a mind, maybe that¡¯s all you need!¡± ¡°Rick. I mean this. I think your idea is stupid but¡­ we¡¯ve tried a lot of stupid already over the past few days. So let¡¯s say you¡¯re right. How on earth do we escape from the collective subconscious of everyone on the planet of Earth?¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Rick said and thought. ¡°Well, how do people think we can escape this world and reality?¡± ¡°Death.¡± ¡°Nope. Next.¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­ space?¡± We both looked up at the ceiling. ¡°¡°...¡±¡± ¡°...Next.¡± Rick finally said, not even going to pretend like we could get me to space. ¡°I don¡¯t know, the fucking backrooms or something?¡± ¡°Dude! Hell yeah! We get to go to the backrooms!¡± ¡°What, no! The backrooms aren¡¯t real.¡± ¡°Neither am I! Come on man, this is going to be so cool! Alright, so, how do we get there?¡± ¡°This may be the dumbest line of thought we¡¯ve gone down yet. Just so we¡¯re clear, you, because the world seems real, think we¡¯re in some type of dream or astral plane. Where everyone¡¯s thoughts are. And because it¡¯s everyone¡¯s thoughts¡­ you think for some reason the backrooms not only exist but is my way out.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Fuck it, sure. How do we get there?¡± A quick google search and¡­ ¡°Dude, you¡¯re not gonna fucking believe this.¡± Rick said. ¡°I¡¯m staring right at it and I still don¡¯t believe it.¡± There was a location, marked ¡°The Backrooms¡± on our google maps. Looking at the pictures¡­ it looked exactly like the meme/horror story phenomena. ¡°Oh my god¡­ this might actually work.¡± I said. ¡°We better load up. The backrooms don¡¯t seem like an easy place to be. I¡¯ll get the food and water, you make sure you¡¯ve learned anything you want to learn before we leave. We can stop by a hardware store. Damn, we¡¯ll probably need weapons too. I think my dad has an old katana I could grab for you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have guns or something?¡± ¡°Dude, you know, of course I don¡¯t just randomly have guns and how are you going to get them? Be lucky we¡¯re going to at least have swords because my dad¡¯s an otaku. Or do you just want to try with whatever we find at the hardware store?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take the stupid katana. When are we going to leave?¡± ¡°Tommorow night, for sure. It¡¯ll take me some time to prepare everything today and if there¡¯s any last bits of knowledge you want to jam into your skull, or last things you want to do, now is the time.¡± I instantly glanced over at my phone, where Jessica was only a call away, and over to spot who was sleeping on my bed. Rick¡¯s face both softened and seemed to harden, as if he was deeply pained but sympathetic. ¡°...Hey. It¡¯s your choice to call her but¡­ you¡¯ll see her again soon.¡± I nodded but my heart still clenched. For the rest of the day I played with Spot. His adorable barks and excitement helped ease my pain. ¡°Ruff!¡± ¡°Come on boy! Go long Spot!¡± I threw the ball, watching Spot run after it and bite it¡­ only to roll along with it. I laughed as he awkwardly but happily brought it back. I brought him up into my arms, feeling his excited small tail whap at my arms. ¡°Spot¡­ I¡¯m gonna see you again. I promise. The real you.¡± Spot didn¡¯t understand a word, he¡¯d be strange if he did, but I just held him close for the moment. I¡¯d have to say goodbye tomorrow. Goodbye for a very, very long time. ¡°When I picked you up¡­ I promised to take care of you. I am going to keep that promise.¡± Soon, a much harder goodbye awaited me. ***** ¡°Matt!¡± Jessica said, her sapphire like eyes practically sparkling. Her smile was radiant and I felt a part of me dying at what I was going to have to say. ¡°Hey Jessica. It¡¯s great to see you.¡± I managed to get out, but I wasn¡¯t fooling anyone clearly. ¡°Matt¡­ what¡¯s wrong?¡± Jessica¡¯s morphed into worry and it was like I was being stabbed in the chest. But Rick wasn¡¯t my only friend. Before my maybe, probably, girlfriend¡­ Jessica was there for me, by my side. ¡°Something is¡­ going on. I¡­ you¡¯re going to think I¡¯m crazy but¡­ but you need to believe me. Please.¡± Jessica nodded cautiously and I entered her house. ****** There was a knock on the door and I moved to answer it. It opened and Rick was already talking even before it finished. ¡°Alright Matt, I got everything we¡¯re¡­ going¡­ to¡­¡­ need. Hi Jessica.¡± ¡°Hello Rick. So¡­ you¡¯ve both gone insane apparently?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ well¡­¡± Jessica sighed but she still had come strapped. Unlike us¡­ she was carrying a gun. A pistol. ¡°I had to take this from my father. You know, the police officer? You really weren¡¯t going to invite me to this Rick?¡± ¡°Huh?! How are you blaming this on me?! It wasn¡¯t my decision, I never told Matt not to tell you.¡± ¡°You never told him to tell me either.¡± ¡°Ha ha. Well¡­ best to keep things simple?¡± ¡°I swear, there had better be monsters where we¡¯re going or I¡¯m going to end up shooting you both.¡± Day 8: The Backrooms Telling Jessica about everything had more of a spur of the moment thing. I just, I had to. No matter how good she made me feel, or how bad the thought of telling her made me feel, she was my friend. One of my two best friends. I¡¯d been basically ignoring her and pushing her away because¡­ because I¡¯d be leaving back out in an apocalyptic hell scape and who knew what would happen to Jessica or Rick here? Would they disappear? Would the entire world just disappear? I didn¡¯t know and that had made the entire conversation nerve wracking. Jessica had listened quietly to everything I¡¯d said, not saying a word. Just staring at me in awe and shock. When I¡¯d gotten to telling her how I¡¯d told Rick¡­ and we¡¯d been trying to get me back outside into reality¡­ the look her face had been terrible. It was a mix of a lot of stuff at once. She looked almost betrayed but it was more like she¡¯d just been told I was trying to escape the matrix to go live on the moon made of easter bunnies. Like I¡¯d actually gone insane. That look had hurt. But I¡¯d continued anyway. When I¡¯d finally finished, she didn¡¯t say anything for a while. Just stared out or closed her eyes and thought. When she finally responded though¡­ ¡°I¡¯m coming with you.¡± That was all she¡¯d said. There hadn¡¯t been many words after that. The plan was to meet up with Rick tomorrow and Jessica had seemed like she needed time to digest everything. She¡¯d only arrived a little earlier than Rick had and it was clear she had been¡­ holding back quite a bit. ¡°You understand you both are absolutely fucking insane right?¡± She said, acidicly towards Rick. We were all currently in a car driving, to the location marked as ¡°The Backrooms¡± on google maps. That still blew my mind but- ¡°Why are you so mad at me?!¡± Rick asked. He was the one currently driving. ¡°Why? Matt can¡¯t be blamed, he was literally in a week long coma and had hallucinations. You¡¯re the one pushing him on this.¡± I wisely chose to stay out of a fight between my girlfriend and best friend. ¡°Cuz it¡¯s all real of course. You heard him right? That¡¯s way too insane to be false! Besides, if you really didn¡¯t believe him, why did you bring a gun?¡± Jessica went silent for a moment at that. Before sighing. ¡°...Just in case. Look, let¡¯s just go over there, prove that the backroom creepypasta didn¡¯t suddenly come to life, and just move on with our lives please?¡± ¡°No can do.¡± Rick said. ¡°If they aren¡¯t real, we gotta start trying to get Matt to space.¡± ¡°Rick!¡± ¡°Jessica!¡± ¡°Guys.¡± I finally spoke up. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is¡­¡± I trailed off. What was I supposed to say? Both my friends just wanted to help me but¡­ one thought I was absolutely telling the truth, the other thought I had come up with a terrible reality of delusions. Considering even I was starting to doubt that I hadn¡¯t just imagined it all¡­ I didn¡¯t blame Jessica one bit. ¡°Look, there won¡¯t be any issues!¡± Rick said. ¡°We¡¯ll just pop in, fall down into the backrooms, fight some horrible monstrosities in a nearly infinite maze of office rooms, and then shove Matt into maybe like, a glowing portal or something. He¡¯ll wake up, kick some major monster ass, and save the real us.¡± ¡°Right. Of course. The real us.¡± Jessica said, deadpan. ¡°Well, real and fake is kinda vague anyway.¡± Rick chuckled and something about it sounded distinctly off. I don¡¯t think he was¡­ at ease with things as he appeared. No, he really couldn¡¯t have been. Jessica was way easier off, because she simply didn¡¯t believe a word I¡¯d said. Still, she was coming with and had brought protection just in case. She may not believe me¡­ but she hadn¡¯t denied me or come unprepared. That was worth it¡¯s weight in gold to me. I my hand in her¡¯s as Rick continued to drive and she gave me a small smile that still nearly drove me crazy. She was¡­ so beautiful. It struck my heart and- ¡°I swear to god, if you two start making out while I¡¯m driving, I¡¯m pulling over.¡± Rick said. I opened my mouth but Jessica beat me to it. ¡°Cockblock.¡± My face turned crimson in a moment. ¡°Hoho, that¡¯s how you want to play it ey? My dudette, you don¡¯t know who you¡¯re messing with. So, when Matt starts taking-¡± ¡°Anyway!¡± I said quickly. ¡°What¡¯s the actual plan Rick?¡± ¡°Dude, it¡¯s really simple. I looked up all the things I could on the backroom.¡± Rick said as he merged onto the highway. ¡°Basically, it¡¯s just a maze of beige nonsense with monsters. There¡¯s a lot more lore on it¡­ and hopefully we won¡¯t run into any of it. If this whole world really is the connected subconscious of everyone it should just be the original stuff¡­ hopefully.¡± ¡°And if it¡¯s not?¡± I asked. ¡°Hehe. Then I don¡¯t think the week of food I brought and two swords will be enough¡­¡± Rick patted the absolutely massive travelers backpack he¡¯d brought with him. It was stuffed to the gills with things. ¡°Or,¡± Jessica said, shaking her head. ¡°We get to what is clearly just an office building, find nothing, and go home. Maybe get Matt a therapist.¡± ¡°Come on dude, we¡¯re planning for the worst here. So, we get into the backrooms and that¡¯s where the real challenge begins. I have no idea what monsters will be there. But they¡¯ll probably be only mildly fast and most seem to just be a bundle of cables. And I¡¯ve also got a bunch of things for help navigating mazes. I even watched a whole video on it! We¡¯ll be just fine and right as rain in no time.¡± ¡°You two are insane¡­¡± Jessica said, shaking her head. The rest of the trip was mostly in silence. Not awkward silence though, Jessica may feel like I¡¯d become a crazy person but we were all still friends and I don¡¯t think the ¡®friend was in a coma for a week¡¯ trauma had passed yet. I tried to imagine myself in their shoes. If Jessica or Rick woke up after a week and told me all of this. Strangely¡­ I felt like I¡¯d believe Rick and not Jessica. Looking more into that, I smiled bitterly to myself. Rick going back out to the apocalypse world¡­ I fully believed he¡¯d survive somehow and kick some major ass. Even now, after I¡¯d been stuck in here for almost a week, I still believed he was fine. But Jessica¡­ my heart clenched in worry. I didn¡¯t exactly doubt she could survive but¡­ I just¡­ loved her differently. For Rick, the thought of losing him barely crossed my mind. But with Jessica, it was like it blaring, right there in my face. I didn¡¯t quite like that about myself but¡­ love was painful like that sometimes. It wasn¡¯t really logical. Jessica was tense though. Her eyes kept glancing down at her gun. She had, after all, basically stolen it from her father. I knew she¡¯d been to the range a few times and had worked guns before but¡­ not any time recently. It was almost a relief for her when we finally got to where we were going. It was the dead of night and the ¡°Backrooms¡±, the location we were heading was¡­ well¡­ an office building. It was clearly some kind of call center maybe and there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone there. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re actually here. Time to do this thing.¡± We all got out, Rick hefting the massive pack on his back, and headed for the door. It was locked of course. Rick had a solution for that, namely, a lockpicking kit he¡¯d literally bought yesterday. ¡°There is absolutely no way you know how to use that.¡± Jessica said. ¡°Jeez, you sound just like Matt sometimes. Just give me a moment, I watched a video on this!¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t think-¡± I began. ¡°It was from the lockpickinglawyer!¡± ¡°Oh. Wow. Alright, maybe you actually can do this. Did he actually make a video on door locks though?¡± ¡°Sure did. Now quiet, I need to focus for a minute dude.¡± Jessica just sighed and crossed her arms. Sure enough, not five minutes later, the door was open. ¡°See? Told you I could do it.¡± Rick said, smiling smugly at Jessica. ¡°Yes yes, you¡¯ve committed a crime and we¡¯re about to commit more. My dad would be beating my ass if he knew. So let¡¯s please hurry up before any silent alarms start going off and a security guard catches us.¡± At that, we started moving quickly. The office building was just an office building, nothing really special about it. Most importantly though¡­ it wasn¡¯t beige. It was standard boring office grey. Which didn¡¯t bode well for us. To be honest¡­ I guess part of me started giving up. No, most of me wanted to give up. Here, I had Rick, Jessica, and even my dog Spot who I had to leave with a friendly neighbor. That had fucking sucked. And it was only going to get worse. What if I really do return? I¡¯d have to deal with monsters again, eternal darkness, and being so alone. Fighting, trying to survive, trying to come up with a proper ¡®goal¡¯ and plan so I can be entertaining enough, to accomplish my real goal and plan¡­ that was an utter nightmare. The pain of nearly having my bones ripped out, the coldness of death as my blood poured out of me, the terror as I saw something that should not be¡­ I didn¡¯t want to go back to that. To being a play thing for things that were so far above me that I couldn¡¯t hope to do anything to them. More than anything¡­ I was hoping I was wrong. That it had all been a dream. That Rick and Jessica and Spot were totally okay and were here with me right here and now. I kept thinking more on that thought. If this all failed, I¡¯d see a therapist. I¡¯d also try and downplay any more of Rick¡¯s attempts. Sooner or later he¡¯d come around to the fact that this was reality and I really had just hallucinated it all. Because even if there was some way out, how many more could there be? I wasn¡¯t going to able to go to space. I wasn¡¯t going to attempt to die and Rick and Jessica weren¡¯t going to let me. Maybe I really should just accept the reality I was in- ¡°I found it!¡± Rick shouted, at the very top of his lungs. I blinked and turned, running already. We had spread out just a little and he wasn¡¯t that far but I needed to get to him right now. When I turned the corner and saw what he saw, I gasped. The rest of the office seemed normal but¡­ there was a single wall. A single beige wall. ¡°I told you!¡± Rick said, far happier than I was. ¡°I told you it was real! That we were all fake!¡± ¡°Calm down!¡± Jessica said, unnerved. ¡°L-Look, it¡¯s just a single beige wall. Probably just old wallpaper or something. It doesn¡¯t even look that differently from the walls around it.¡± ¡°Mhm. Mhm. Yes, I see but you¡¯re missing the most important part Jess. And that¡¯s that there¡¯s a beige wall here.¡± Rick said with a smile, giving a thumbs up. I had to resist a chuckle, even as my eyes never left the wall. There was no way¡­ right? Even more than the whole Game Show being real¡­ Rick being right about the ¡®where I was¡¯ and ¡®how to get out¡¯ felt utterly insane to me. But it wasn¡¯t like it was absolute proof or anything. I tried to tell myself that anyway. It was, just a wall. Just a- ¡°Alright, let¡¯s run into it.¡± Rick said and both my and Jessica¡¯s minds clearly blanked. ¡°¡±What?¡±¡± ¡°Come on! Everyone says that you gotta either trip or ¡®no clip¡¯ into the backrooms. We found an ¡®entrance¡¯ and now we gotta no clip. That means running into the wall as fast as possible.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t possibly be serious.¡± Jessica said. Rick got that gleam his and eyes and his expression smoothed down a bit. He was joking and playing around a bit, but only a bit. Rick was dead serious. He was also stubborn as a mule and I could already see that he would run in without us, just to prove it, if we didn¡¯t go along with him. ¡°Rick, you¡¯re going to be the death of me. Probably via concussion apparently.¡± I said. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°At least it might make you look a little better.¡± Rick said with a wink. ¡°I think he looks just fine.¡± Jessica said and I felt my heart speed up again. ¡°Ew.¡± Rick said with a smile. ¡°So, come on, let¡¯s back up and get a running start.¡± Despite a million reasons not to, I found myself walking back to where Rick was. Jessica closed her eyes, as if trying to accept the stupidity of the world, rubbed her temples, and then joined us. I didn¡¯t blame her, this was by far the stupidest thing we¡¯d attempted so far to get me back to reality. ¡°Just so you both know, we can¡¯t back out, so I¡¯m going to run full speed into that wall.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± I asked. ¡°And I would feel absolutely betrayed by my best friends if they didn¡¯t do so as well.¡± ¡°Fine, yes, we¡¯re going to all knock ourselves out on a wall you slave driver. Let¡¯s just hurry up.¡± Jessica said pointedly and it only occurred to me now that she had been far more angry today than was normal for her. On the other, everything was pretty stressful. I stared at the wall and realized her stress might just be the possible broken bones we might have in the next five seconds. Rick began to count down. ¡°Three.¡± ¡°Two.¡± ¡°ONE!¡± Feeling like an absolute fool, I followed after Rick, running as fast as I could for the wall. It got closer and closer and on instinct, I tried to stop before slamming into it. But there wasn¡¯t enough time or traction to slow down and I felt myself hitting it- I stumbled, tripped, and went end over end. I heard two crashes and groans nearby, joining my own. ¡°Owww.¡± I said, getting up and- I swallowed thickly, feeling like the entire universe was crashing before me. Like my mind was petering out. Like reality had lost all it¡¯s meaning to me. I was no longer in an office building. All around me was beige walls. It was real. All of it was real! The apocalypse, the Gods, the system, the Qi, the Game Show itself. It was all real. It had all happened. The real Rick and Jessica were out there fighting for their very lives, Spot was stuck in a small cage who knows where, being treated who knows how, while I was probably being eaten in some random hospital. It had all¡­ actually happened! I¡¯d really been trapped in a dream world. Relief was in short supply. Actually, none was to be coming at all. Only horror and fear. I¡¯d been here for¡­ a week. A week where I¡¯d probably been dying. Where I abandoned my friends and my dog. And on the other side was a horrific hell scape I¡¯d have to survive to get anywhere. Tears of frustration threatened to escape. I¡­ I wanted the world to be real so bad. To have things make sense. To go back home. But no. No. I wouldn¡¯t get that. I would have to fight and survive, and worse, thrive and be entertaining to some higher beings so that I could save everyone. Hell, just so I could save myself. ¡°Whoa!¡± Rick said, finally getting up and looking around. He began to walk around, mesmerized. ¡°I knew you were telling the truth¡­ but this is insane. Seeing really is believing my dude. Do you have any idea how amazing this is? It¡¯s like magic except creepy.¡± However¡­ Jessica was¡­ ¡°I¡¯m not real.¡± She immediately said, staring at the walls. ¡°I-I-I¡¯m not real. None of it was real. Nothing is real.¡± She had gone as pale as ghost, staring at the walls in absolute fear. Not fear of the walls themselves¡­ but what they meant. She was having an existential crisis. ¡°Jessica it¡¯s okay, it¡¯s-¡± ¡°I¡¯m not real Matt! None of this is okay! I-I-I- Oh my god. I¡¯m not real. I don¡¯t exist.I¡¯m just, a, a, figment of your imagination. Oh my god.¡± My eyes shook and I had no idea what to say. I hadn¡¯t planned on how to deal with this at all, I was only a normal person. I never imagined I¡¯d have to comfort my girlfriend as she broke down. ¡°Guys.¡± Rick called out but we were busy. ¡°Jessica, it¡¯s okay. You¡¯re still here. You¡¯re real. Just¡­ different.¡± My word were lame, false, and weak but I had almost nothing I could say. What was I even supposed to say in this situation?! ¡°Matt¡­¡± Jessica stared at me with such a hollow expression that it was heart breaking. ¡°I¡¯m not real. Only you are and¡­ oh my god. You¡¯re going back to an apocalypse. With, with monsters and the real me is out there dying and, and. There are Gods Matt! Actual evil Gods! This, this.¡± It was all hitting her like a truck and I had never felt more impotent in my entire life. I wanted to comfort but how was I supposed to do that? I¡­ I¡­ knew they weren¡¯t real but what did that matter? They were there for me, they were helping me, they were still Rick and Jessica. But my heart shuddered because¡­ I didn¡¯t know what would happen when I left. Would they die? Disappear? Did they never really exist at all? It horrified me in a way that send cold sweat falling down my back. ¡°Guys!¡± Rick called out. ¡°Jessica¡­ I love you. I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s this you or the ¡°real¡± you or whatever. You¡¯re still Jessica to me. I¡­ I don¡¯t know what I can say but-¡± ¡°GUYS! Monster!¡± Rick yelled and my head whipped to the side, seeing a mass of cables moving at a decent speed towards us. They were normal cables. Thick, black, forming a humanoid creature with sharp legs, a long single line of a torso, and hands that ended in practically spears for fingers. It¡¯s head was a singular black mass of them and literally every single cable part was squirming. Rick backed away. Jessica scrambled for her gun. I ran forward. Rick had brought two swords with him and strapped them to the backpack. He¡¯d taken it off when we¡¯d tumbled through and now I ran at them. In a motion that was by far more luck than anything else, I pulled out one of them from the sheath. It was a katana. Rick¡¯s dad was an otaku who collected stuff like this. It was from some show I¡¯d never seen. Maybe Samurai Vack? Either way, it had a black handle and a white blade. My steps didn¡¯t slow down, even as I pulled it out. The Black Skeleton, the Zombies, even the nurse really¡­ they had all beaten a lesson into me, into my heart. Initiative was king when fighting monsters. I had never practiced with a sword but a blade was a blade. The creature, the cable monster, swung it¡¯s massive hand of short spears at me, claws so long they¡¯d go through my entire torso twice, but it was slow. Slower than the Black Skeletons had been. I ducked, swinging for it¡¯s mid section. It hit, but this wasn¡¯t the black katana I had relied on. This was a normal blade and these were thick cables. It cut about half way into it, but no more. I didn¡¯t wait to be skewered. My mind shot fast and another lesson came to my mind. Weight. Strong, fast, durable enemies¡­ but light. That had been the Black Skeletons. Now I used those same harrowing experiences to fight. Another claw sweep, another duck, as I grabbed it by the middle and threw it to the ground. I was on top of it in seconds, my foot slamming into the blade. Again and again, as fast as I could, until finally I felt and saw it snap in half. Monsters were tedious though. I shouldn¡¯t have needed an old zombie movie and life or death experiences to know this next lesson, but it¡¯s not every day you fight monsters. That last lesson was simple. Always double tap. I grabbed my blade and drove it through the ¡®head¡¯ of the creature. It tried to still reach up to me, blades getting closer to my body, but I merely pushed down with all my weight. Something gave. It fell apart, cables once more just becoming cables. I sagged and sighed in relief, feeling exhausted. That thing hadn¡¯t been ¡®that¡¯ strong but I no longer had any stats to deal with it. The blade had felt heavy without strength, I¡¯d been slower, the lack of endurance meant I was already feeling tired, and I felt the adrenaline and shock nearly crushing me without a mind stat to back me up. I felt weak, raw, slow, and lesser all at once. I¡¯d barely had the stats for long but I dreaded for a brief moment how awful it felt being without them. I quickly turned around to check on Rick and Jessica, only to blink at their expressions. They were staring at me with shock and awe. ¡°So¡­ uh¡­ we should probably watch out for these guys.¡± ¡°Dude!¡± Rick immediately said. ¡°That was so cool!¡± Jessica just sat there looking stunned for the moment. As if she couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. I wanted to say something¡­ and then I heard the distinct sound of something hitting the ground. ¡°We should probably run away now.¡± ****** ¡°I don¡¯t see how it can¡¯t bother you Rick! We aren¡¯t real.¡± ¡°Yeah but like¡­ so what? What is real? Like whoa, groovy man, you know what I mean?¡± Rick said that last part in a stereotypical hippy accent. Currently, we were walking around the backrooms which was¡­ strange to say the least. There was a lot of beige walls and beige walls that didn¡¯t connect to anything. It was strange, the lights hummed annoyingly, there were plenty of dark areas, and the air was stale. There were also monsters roaming about and Rick had his sword on hip and ready. Jessica had her pistol strapped to her side, but unholstered, ready to draw it at a moment¡¯s notice. It had taken around an hour, but without any other monsters suddenly showing up to mess with us, they¡¯d gradually calmed down. Rick was confident he could find the exit, he had brought tools specifically for it. Tools namely being a sharpie, a single youtube video he watched, and enough food and water to last the three of us at least a week. He was damn confident that if we just followed the right wall, and went all the way around the disconnected pieces, marking it with a sharpie, we¡¯d be able to find the exit eventually. Which meant a lot of walking. A lot of walking in circles, more or less, at that. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know what you mean Rick!¡± ¡°The line between real and not real is just, thin, is what I¡¯m saying. I remember the last twenty two years of my life, college, you guys, my family. I¡¯m still me as far as I know in personality too. So, let¡¯s say the real me out there loses two weeks worth of time. The last two weeks. Matt doesn¡¯t fall into a coma, he doesn¡¯t try and get him out, he never goes to the backrooms. Would he be fake then?¡± ¡°He would still exist.¡± Jessica shot back. ¡°And so will we! Hell, we know we¡¯re existing right now. In a terrible zombie apocalypse, but still.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the same thing! We¡­ those aren¡¯t us! It¡¯s, not the same us. We¡¯re like, clones or something.¡± ¡°Hmm. Well, I guess it depends. I don¡¯t feel like that time in second grade when I shoved cake down Matt¡¯s pants at his birthday party was fake. He remembers it, I remember it, you remember it, and there¡¯s definitely proof it happened, so, what makes it fake? That it didn¡¯t happen somewhere else?¡± ¡°That¡­¡± Jessica paused, that annoying line of reasoning finally winning her over a little. Rick just kept on whistling, while I scanned the area. Despite seeming relaxed, we were still on guard. There were monsters and Cable creatures might not be the only thing out there. The last thing I wanted was to have something I didn¡¯t see coming to ambush us. The worst were the dark areas but we tried not to avoid those either. It could really hold the exit. ¡°...But what about after Matt leaves?¡± Jessica asked in a small, weak voice. A hard grimace appeared on my face and I assumed Rick¡¯s as well. I didn¡¯t hear him answer. Jessica continued on in that silence. ¡°What if we just disappear Rick? Matt, I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t want to die like that.¡± Guilty strung at my heart and- ¡°Hey. No. Don¡¯t put that on Matt Jessica. I know you don¡¯t mean to but¡­¡± Rick sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe we die. Maybe this world dies. Maybe we just forget about Matt entirely. Maybe the world is rewritten without him. Maybe a subconscious version of matt appears and this whole dream world just keeps on going. Maybe we remember the ¡®real¡¯ Matt, maybe we don¡¯t. I don¡¯t know. But I do know this.¡± ¡°If we don¡¯t get Matt out, he will die.¡± Rick said, voice serious as the grave. Jessica seemed to stiffen at that, and I turned to her, a hard but fearful look appearing in her eyes. ¡°Yup. That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been trying so hard you know guys! No offense Matt but¡­ you¡¯d have given up damn near immediately.¡± ¡°Gee, thanks.¡± ¡°No but come on dude. An apocalypse world is way worse than just believing it was just a dream. Can you imagine if I just didn¡¯t believe you and you just disappeared one day or suddenly died for no reason? Better to err on the side of caution you know? And besides¡­ hey Jessica. Did he tell you he got turned into a woman over there?¡± ¡°What?¡± I cringed inwardly, but kept going, ignoring the very animated discussion and frankly terrible questions Rick was asking. Damn you Rick. I¡¯m gonna get you back for this somehow. When Jessica also started to ask some terrible questions, I knew in my heart that I was going to have to pay them back somehow. The hours just kept going on and on and on and on and on and on and at some point, I realized something important. I stopped. We hadn¡¯t been going in circles but¡­ ¡°We¡¯ve been here for days.¡± I said suddenly. ¡°What?¡± Rick asked, confused. ¡°It¡¯s been too long. I started counting the seconds a while ago because I got bored and¡­ and I think we¡¯ve been here for days.¡± ¡°But¡­ how?¡± Jessica asked. ¡°We haven¡¯t even slept. Or eaten or drank anything. Our food¡­¡± Rick unzipped the bag and pulled out some food. Most of it was MRE type stuff, things that would last, some jerky, etc. But he¡¯d gotten fresher stuff too, that we were going to eat at the end of the day. They were clearly already stale or starting to spoil. We all stared at it in shock. ¡°This place is¡­ strange.¡± I finally said. ¡°You could say that again.¡± ¡°This place is-¡± ¡°Shut up you.¡± Jessica replied. ¡°So, how have we just walked around for days and not noticed or gotten hungry or tired?¡± ¡°I guess the backrooms are just like that but thats not the problem. The longer we stay here¡­ the longer Matt can¡¯t return. It had been around a week when we¡¯d left¡­ how long has it been now?¡± That was a terrifying thought. Would the challenge still hit me in a month¡¯s worth of time? I¡¯d be dead. No matter what the challenge was, I probably couldn¡¯t win asleep. ¡°There¡¯s nothing for it¡­ we just have to keep going I said. At least we don¡¯t have to worry about food and water.¡± ¡°Speak for yourself, I really wanted to eat that ham sandwich.¡± We kept going, on and on. No monsters appeared and I didn¡¯t know whether that was good or bad. Would monsters be closer to the exit? Christ, was there an exit? Were just eternally doomed to walk in this purgatory forever? Had I trapped not only myself but my friends in- ¡°Look!¡± Rick shouted. I did, I¡¯d already seen it, and relief must have filled all of us. It was a fire door¡­ with a clear ¡®Exit¡¯ sign above it. I sighed in relief, before looking around us just in case. My heart froze in my chest as a terrifyingly wild smile gleamed back at me, not two feet away. Day 9: A Nightmare I stared in horror at a massive smile peering back at me. No, even that description doesn¡¯t do anything that I am feeling, anything that I am seeing, justice. The creature in front of me was not just a man¡¯s face with a wide grin looking at me. It was nothing but a smile, multiple times my head, almost seeming to be made of light in the darkness. The white eyes were small beads the size of my fist, the smile was all gleaming and pointed teeth, and despite being two feet away from me, it was as if there was a flat wall of darkness between us with not an inch of light touching its real body. I didn¡¯t react or hesitate, neither sensation came to me. In that moment, the only thought and thing in my brain, the only natural response, was to move. My body practically flinched away, my survival instinct shooting into overdrive, as claws moving faster than I could track swept through the air where my head used to be. I lay on the ground, staring at the creature, seeming so much like a painted image in the dark¡­ and then it moved. It was a single tilt of it¡¯s head but suddenly, even more than it¡¯s claws in the dark nearly decapitating me, it was real. Real in a way that sent shivers up my spine. I wanted to shout ¡®Run¡¯ or ¡®Monster¡¯ but a strangled cry is all I managed to get out, as I rapidly got up and backpedaled, bringing my sword in front of me. A scream came nearby, along with a yelled ¡®OH SHIT!¡¯ but my eyes never left the monster. Even staring right at it, it seemed to come closer like the inevitably of death. It very clearly didn¡¯t fucking teleport but all the same it was right in front of me not moments later. It was only my peripheral vision that shot the gleaming answer into my mind before I was turned into a shishkabob. The darkness, the wall of darkness that it hid in, had moved with it. The lights above shut down and it creeped closer, coming right at me. I raised my Katana, adrenaline surging through me, and felt my back slam against the beige colored wall. I felt dazed and confused but it only took a moment for me to realize what had happened. I¡¯d raised my katana in both hands and it had struck it with it¡¯s claws, knocking me away like a piece of trash. The moment taken to realize that was nearly a moment too much. I heard the distinctive and very loud sound of a gun going off, and what could only be a scream of pain and rage and annoyance. I glanced up, only to realize that Jessica hadn¡¯t just started shooting, she hadn¡¯t stopped. She was clearly panicking, unloading into the monster. The monster, the smiling creature and face, was still smiling. But it was backing away, retreating. That did not comfort me. Nothing should take a dozen gunshots to the very clear face and still be able to leave at a steady pace. I looked over to Rick, who looked a little dazed, clearly underestimating just how loud the gun was going to be. His own Katana was at hand and he was shaking his head, trying to clear the ringing in his ears. Despite it all, we were winning. The monster was leaving, even if Jessica wouldn¡¯t stop until she had emptied her gun, which would happen sooner rather than later. The problem was what came afterwards. I was on the ground twice in the span of a few seconds, but as I watched the monster leave, I paid attention to the lights. The lights that began going off. The second Jessica stopped firing, as she ran out of bullets, I screamed as loud as I could. ¡°RUN! More are coming!¡± I dashed for the fire exit and although I passed my dazed friends, I was glad they weren¡¯t far behind. I threw open the door, as they ran in, and slammed it closed behind us. My friends tried to take a breather, thinking we were safe, but I kept running. ¡°No! Come on! Keep Going!¡± The fire door had led to a fire exit. There were blue stairs in a narrow hallway going up and I took them three at a time, bounding up. I didn¡¯t trust for a second those monsters couldn¡¯t get through that door and everything inside me was telling me that now wasn¡¯t the time to stay still. That we needed to run for our lives. The sound of what could only be banging on metal coming from down below and behind us only spurred me on. Soon, another fire exit door was in front of us and I slammed my body into it, coming out somewhere else. Jessica followed suit, running straight past me as I stopped and Rick skidded out as well, before turning around and closing the door behind us. Jessica seemed like she was going to run blindly forever, but turned around, clear panic like that of terrified rabbit looking back at us. Her pupils were dilated, shaking, her whole body seeming to scream terror and panic, and I doubted me or Rick looked that much better. I audibly heard Rick crashing to the ground and I followed suit soon after, quickly looking around. My expression became awkward in a second. Still¡­ it wasn¡¯t so bad it couldn¡¯t wait. I looked at Jessica and slowly, she came back to her senses, and approached the rest of us. She sat down and looked like both life and stress were reliving her as one, as she simply laid back and crashed, staring at the ¡®ceiling¡¯. Minutes passed as our racing hearts began to slow from ¡®imminent heart attack¡¯ to only ¡®probable heart attack.¡¯ ¡°That.¡± Rick said, and it was like all the emotions and weight of the world was condensed into one sentence. ¡°Sucked.¡± No one laughed. Just nodded. It was a while later before more words came. ¡°It didn¡¯t even die¡­ what kind of monster takes so many bullets and doesn¡¯t even die?¡± Jessica said. ¡°And so many.¡± I said. ¡°Even if we somehow beat it and killed it¡­ we¡¯d have been swarmed. I even saw other things starting to approach us in the dark.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Rick said. ¡°It is a creepypasta. You aren¡¯t supposed to be able to kill the horror movie villians with a gun, you know?¡± ¡°Rick, this isn¡¯t¡­ a¡­¡± Jessica started, only to frown. I did too and slowly began to nod. ¡°Honestly¡­ yeah, they might simply be immune to bullets if they¡¯re following different rules¡­¡± ¡°God damn it.¡± Jessica said. ¡°So my gun is useless?¡± ¡°Hey, it scared the damn thing off, otherwise I¡¯d be dead twice over.¡± I said. ¡°Matt, oh my god, it attacked you.¡± Jessica said, as if a haze in her mind had suddenly been broken. ¡°Are you okay?!¡± I blinked, before actually thinking about it. Slowly, I began to move, and winced a little. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure most of my back is bruised¡­ and my wrists feel like they¡¯re nearly broken. My arms feel numb too.¡± Now with the adrenaline dying down, I was starting to realize just how much force had to be put behind a strike to knock me into a wall like that. Enough that it was a miracle and a half I both still had functioning arms and that I hadn¡¯t dropped or lost the sword at some point. I was also starting to realize just how much it fucking hurt. ¡°Ah¡­ fuck.¡± I stood, and it sucked. I tried to swing the blade and¡­ ¡°God, nope. My wrists and arms may not be broken but I¡¯m not swinging anything around.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Rick said, clearly staring between our three weapons. My arms were out of commission and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if my wrists were fractured and sprained. Jessica¡¯s gun was out of bullets and that left Rick the only one in a good state for fighting. ¡°Jessica, you¡¯ll have to take Matt¡¯s sword from here on out.¡± Rick said. ¡°I have no idea how to use a Katana.¡± ¡°And Matt does?¡± Rick asked, confused. Jessica nodded, taking the sword from me. I was once more grateful for my friends. Without them, there was not a chance I could get out of here by myself. ¡°By the way¡­ where are we?¡± Rick of all people asked. But it was a very good question. We were no longer in the backrooms it seemed. At least not the normal kind, at the very least. Hell, I¡¯d struggle to say we were in a room at all. There was a ¡®path¡¯ in front of us, wide enough for half a dozen people to walk side by side, and behind us, in the middle of that ¡®path¡¯ was the fire exit door. To the sides? Above us? Below us? Nothing. Just, space. But not black space. It was like the air was slightly dyed reddish purple, a miasma blowing around or in thin strands. We were less in a room and more a walkway going to infinity in another dimension. ¡°I¡­ I really have no idea¡­¡± The place was strange. Even stranger than the backrooms had been. But¡­ this place also felt like¡­ it wasn¡¯t fully real even by most definitions of the term real. ¡°I guess we just follow the path?¡± Jessica asked us and we shrugged and nodded. There wasn¡¯t much else we could do, even though the path seemed never ending, stretching forever out into infinity before disappearing before our eyes. We began to walk. And walk. And walk. I was aware time was passing but it even more strange than it had been in the backrooms. Days¡­ weeks¡­. Months¡­ even years or more could have passed. It felt like we wandering not just too infinity but for eternity¡­ Eventually I broke the silence. ¡°Rick¡­ if this place is the collective subconscious of Earth¡­ some fucking how¡­ where are we then? Are we still inside the, uh, dream plane?¡± ¡°I¡­ I think we might actually be in the Astral plane.¡± Rick finally said. ¡°What?¡± Jessica asked. Rick seemed incredibly unsure for once. Which was almost a relief. I didn¡¯t feel comfortable in this place at all, it was just too¡­ the words escaped me. Even alien or strange didn¡¯t really work here. It was something, just, other kinda. Rick not being absolutely sure reflected my own feelings greatly. ¡°Like¡­ where we¡¯re going is to the real world right? We essentially went through a ¡®backdoor¡¯ that a lot of people on Earth know. A way to ¡®get outside reality¡¯. There¡¯s probably others¡­ but we couldn¡¯t really think of many. Which might mean those other ways might not even ¡®appear¡¯ for us dudes. Anyway uh, so¡­ the collective subconscious is just a theory you know? It¡¯s just the idea that there¡¯s more to dreams and thought and they collect together. But¡­ everything has a location right?¡± That was not a rhetorical question and me and Jessica nodded. ¡°So I¡¯ve been thinking¡­ ¡®where¡¯ is the dream realm and ¡®where¡¯ is the real world? I think we¡¯re crossing from one to other. Which would put us¡­ inbetween. In the ¡®space¡¯ between.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I looked around at the very strange¡­ dimension we had found ourselves in. ¡°And you¡¯re calling that place between, and the place the ¡®dream realm¡¯ and the real world is, the Astral Plane?¡± Rick nodded, still incredibly unsure. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t really matter does it? As long as we can get Matt out of here and back to this stupid Game Show.¡± Nods all around and we continued our journey. One forever or however long it took later and finally there came a change. But not a great one. We all watched, heavily on guard, as a¡­ memory bubble floated on by. That was the only way I could think of it. There was a large orange like bubble, around the size of a large room, just moving next to the path. It showed a baby eating cake and clapping happily and¡­ I knew the woman holding him. That was my mom so that would make that baby¡­ ¡°That¡¯s me.¡± I said, causing Jessica and Rick to turn to look at me. ¡°That¡¯s me, as a baby. That¡¯s my mom when she was younger.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ good?¡± Rick asked questioningly. ¡°Maybe. Let¡¯s just¡­ keep going.¡± As it passed, I felt like I could remember that day, that happiness, with ultra clarity. Like I had returned to being baby in my mother¡¯s arms, happily having cake. I even let out a happy little giggle and then looked away embarrassingly as my two friends glanced back at me. The humor in both their eyes, though, was great to see after I¡¯d seen them so full of terror and horror. It lightened the mood a great deal exactly when it needed it the most. It was the first memory bubble¡­ but not the last. The next one hit me so hard I nearly began to cry. It was early on, I couldn¡¯t have been more than two, and I¡¯d just been introduced to Rick. His mom and my mom worked together and we were going to be going to the same school soon, so she¡¯d brought him over. At that age, it¡¯s so easy to forget for adults how few people kids have met in their life. How impactful and solid those bonds were growing up, even till this day. Me and Rick were toddlers and we spent the majority of the day just playing with toys together. He left with a smile and I felt sad as he went. Sad and happy. It was such a pure emotion, child like, nothing attached to it beyond ¡°I made a friend today.¡± Rick turned back to me and I actually saw a wide smile on his face meeting mine. We continued and more and more memories came to me. All of them weren¡¯t exactly positive, just impactful. There was the time I¡¯d accidentally burnt myself on one of my dad¡¯s cigarettes, me first watching Rinyuasha and getting into anime. The embarrassing moment of straight up accidentally crapping my pants while out playing with my parents as a kid. All the emotions and sensations, the memories in almost full detail like I was reliving them, flew into my mind. I could have done without quite a few of them. It was a path of my memories. Rick said something after we¡¯d just passed the first time I¡¯d gone to a zoo at around six years old that had me snap to him. ¡°You¡¯re waking up.¡± ¡°¡±What?¡±¡± Jessica and I both asked, bewildered. ¡°It¡¯s all your memories.¡± Rick said. ¡°From beginning¡­ to end. You¡¯re waking up.¡± I had more thoughts and words to say on that, more surprise to be had, but it was absolutely destroyed by the next memory I saw. I was a very boring person. I knew that, I understood that. I was average, normal, as basic as they came. There weren¡¯t a lot of extreme lows or highs in my life. But there were a few. And the next one took my breath away. I practically fell face first into the memory, the emotions coursing through me. Nervous, excitement, embarrassment, an odd sparkle in my tummy. ¡°Um. You¡­ want to play with us?¡± I asked a girl. ¡°Sure!¡± The girl said. Jessica. The very first time I met Jessica, my second best friend in my life. Someone who I¡¯d grow up with and would be there with me, who made me smile all the way through life, but would take me so long to realize why exactly I was smiling. I blinked and realized I wasn¡¯t a kid inviting a girl to play kick ball with me. I was an adult, with a girlfriend, who was currently holding my hand and looking at me with a smile. One I returned. Even Rick didn¡¯t say anything for once, not ruining the moment. On and on the memories went. So many, becoming so packed together now as I grew up and my memory grew stronger. It felt more like I walking through my past than anything else. It wasn¡¯t terribly exciting, no one else but me would compare about the time my fourth grade teacher told us about puberty and I felt wronged because I thought we¡¯d be watching a movie. Or the time I¡¯d been given a golden star or my family got a dog¡­ only for it to pass away only a few years later from a heart disease. That one hit me hard. When certain¡­ memories began to pop up as I became a teen¡­ ¡°Close your eyes! For the love of god, close your eyes!¡± Rick and Jessica chuckled but did so, and my dignity was salvaged. There were¡­ quite a few early memories of that but we hurried past them. My face was beat red as a few of ¡®those¡¯ kept showing up every once in a while. But then came the end of high school¡­ and the beginning of College. I hadn¡¯t known what I wanted to do when I left college. I was a boring basic man who liked watching anime and just wanted money¡­ I¡¯d never really drawn a day in my life. I could see it now, the memory coming where, Rick suggested I draw since I watched it so much. I didn¡¯t want to get into animation but¡­ it started me down the path. I doodled and doodled and played around on the computer. They weren¡¯t good, terrible really. But for my next few semesters while getting the college basics, I picked up Graphic Design¡­ and fell in love with it. I had spent most of my time preparing or trying new things while I¡¯d been in this dream realm, but I¡¯d still made small, tiny things on the computer, just to relax a little. It¡¯s not like time blinked by. Those moments when I was alone, lying in bed, not knowing what was real or fake¡­ those had been hard. Art had been a way to relieve some of that pressure. The memories continued and they got¡­ a little rough. There had been moments but I knew it was coming before it arrived. Depression, crying, sadness, bad memories¡­ they hit us all. I¡¯d shied away from thinking about them much¡­ but this was different. This was horrible. My friends had seen a lot of things¡­ a lot of strange things at that, that involved my interests, that I would only ever talk with Jessica and private and neither had so much as given me a glance about thank god¡­ but well¡­ this was different. Depression. Not for a day or a week, but for months and months. Feeling lost, confused, hopeless. Crying myself to sleep, begging for something to happen, something to make my life feel more meaningful. Those words struck a chord in me¡­ because hadn¡¯t that already happened? For the first time, I considered why I ended up on the Gods radar at all, in a horrible death game with my friends at stake. The slow creeping realization that it might have been an answer to a years old depression fueled plea made me bitter beyond compare. But even worse than that was watching Rick and Jessica stare at those memories that were being shown. I¡¯d¡­ never talked about it. Those feelings had lessened over time and gone away and I¡¯d just hid it all from them. ¡°Bro¡­¡± Rick said, turning to face me with pure sadness on his face. ¡°Matt¡­ why didn¡¯t you tell us?¡± Jessica said. I scratched my face, a strange form of embarrassment washing over me. ¡°What was I supposed to say? I feel bad? You would have asked why and I would have said that my life had no meaning. It wasn¡¯t like¡­ it wasn¡¯t like it was that bad or all the time and¡­ the feelings went away right? So it¡¯s already okay and over and¡­ all in the past.¡± ¡°No Bro.¡± Rick said immediately. ¡°I¡­ you¡¯re like a brother to me and your the one that always talks about sharing your emotions with people and not to bottle things up. You come to me with that shit next time. I don¡¯t care if you have nothing to say, you share it with me.¡± ¡°Matt, as your girlfriend, you better not hide stuff like that or I¡¯ll get Rick to beat you up.¡± That pulled a laugh out from me and I realized it was the first time either of us had made solid what was between us. ¡®Your girlfriend¡¯ huh¡­ The memories continued¡­ and then something went wrong. The memories hit something and¡­ broke. I could see it, now being more like a vast tunnel of memories surrounding the path. I walked into my room and- ¡°Matt! What¡¯s going on?!¡± ¡°T-This was the moment! The moment where I met the Hostess of the Game Show! The Goddess Warix Viviana!¡± The entire tunnel of memories seemed to be seething, flailing wildly, pulsating with an ominous red with cracks going through them. It was like someone had broken a TV screen. We kept walking, actually moving quickly now, hoping to get out of this portion of the memories. I felt a distinct sense of being watched for the time and unbidden, a small finger going ¡®nuh uh uh¡¯ wagging back and forth appeared in my head, before disappearing. I swallowed. Well¡­ I guess I know if the Gods can see inside the astral plane at least¡­ We slowed down but¡­ but the memories became so much more real. It was like I¡¯d gone back in time completely. I was standing there, confused, bewildered, not knowing up from down. My friends and dog were in trouble. I was in trouble. I wasn¡¯t where I was. So much information had been crammed into my mind and I freaked out and panicked and had a complete break down and- ¡°Matt.¡± Rick said and I felt his hand on my shoulder. I felt another on my right. I was on the ground. I didn¡¯t even realize I¡¯d gotten there. ¡°You¡¯re going to be okay. We¡¯re here for you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry baby. Mama¡¯s here.¡± Jessica said and my face blushed so red it probably turned into a tomato. Damn it. I was hoping she didn¡¯t look at those memories we were passing too closely¡­ Rick began to laugh¡­ and then it died in his throat. The memories were moving now, even without us walking. They were passing us by, time moving on, and Rick had just seen it. He stiffened up and Jessica was no better, her hand on my shoulder becoming a death grip. The me in the memory was no better. I, right now, was no better but I¡¯d seen them. Seen worse. Killed and fought worse. ¡°Matt¡­ what the fuck is that thing.¡± Rick asked quietly. ¡°A Zombie.¡± I said, forgetting how impactful the word was to those seeing them for the first time. I actually thought both my friends were about to pass out, the Terror overwhelming them, the wrongness clawing at their insides, they swayed and I did not blame them. Rick gathered himself first, growling. ¡°No. That fucking thing is not a z- Is not that. It¡¯s¡­ Matt it is Wrong.¡± ¡°I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.¡± Jessica began rapidly mumbling to herself and I could practically feel the hatred and raw unfiltered anger growing inside her. And then the past me killed it, crushing it¡¯s head with a box, and the effect vanished. Rick practically fell over and Jessica was like a cat that was still wet after being dumped in lake, except the lake and water was made out of pure hatred and fear. ¡°You¡¯ve¡­ been fighting that? My dude, bro, that thing is the wrongest thing I¡¯ve had the displeasure of knowing existed. It¡¯s like maggots crawling in my skin, no, like a mortician put maggots inside a woman¡¯s body and then-¡± ¡°It¡¯s Wrong.¡± Jessica said instead, thank god. ¡°It is¡­ the exact opposite of what a human should be. I¡­ I¡¯ve never been religious in my life and yet¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ve found heathens.¡± I said, knowingly. That was exactly how it felt. Something that goes against the most instinctive existential parts of you. That are an affront, an insult, and a horror all rolled up into one. It had become easy to ignore with the Mind Stat but I was once more reminded of just much I utterly hated and was terrified of these things. They weren¡¯t just slow moving zombies, they were creatures that must not be. The chocolate rain that fell afterwards was a welcome relief to all three of us, as we shared a laugh. Me passing out in a dark gas station, not so much. Rick was brimming with excitement. He couldn¡¯t wait to see me as a woman. He said so, repeatedly, and if I didn¡¯t know Rick as well as I did, I would have been a teensy bit disturbed. But thank god I did know him and knew it was just humour to him. We watched me awake on my second day. We¡¯d begun to sit and just let the memories roll past for now. This next part was going to be brutal. I watched as I, in the memories, cautiously went through the houses, looking for something. I¡­ really couldn¡¯t remember what I was doing, just trying to explore maybe? Find supplies possibly? ¡°Bro, going into there is a bad idea.¡± ¡°I know that now¡­ but not then. Come on, I only ran into a zombie, I had no idea there were Black Skeletons and even worse things.¡± ¡°Yeah but like¡­ come on dude. That¡¯s a total horror movie vibe.¡± I just shook my head. Everyone¡¯s a critic. I walked in¡­ and everyone froze at the sight of the torn apart zombie reflected in the black screen of the TV. And then everything happened all at once. Without a speed stat, the black skeleton seemed so much faster. It was like I blinked and me and the skeleton were already running down the road. I watched, wanting to get a second look at the town that day. The memories always came in an odd third person perspective that was going to be useful to observe things. I might even notice something I missed. But I¡¯d truly forgotten how the Black Skeleton was. It has absolutely zero hesitation. It ran right after me and then- It dived for us. My eyes widened, and my arms moved, pushing Rick and Jessica out of the way. A horrible crash was heard as I turned around and there it was. A living nightmare. The Black Skeleton had literally jumped out of my memories to kill us. Day 10: Waking Up Heart beating, sweat pouring, mind going blank. All of these and more were happening in real time as I stared in horror at the Black Skeleton. It had taken an extremely nasty dive when it fell through my literal memories to here but it was rapidly pulling itself back together. Rick and Jessica were frozen in shock and I had no weapon, so my mind blanked hard. I wanted to run and attack it straight away and couldn¡¯t, the walk hadn¡¯t helped my injuries that had only seemed to ache worse over time. But I also didn¡¯t want to try and tell my friends to go and attack the monster before us. For once, I hesitated. That was a mistake. ¡°AHHH!¡± Jessica yelled out, a blood curdling scream that would forever be burned into my memories. The skeleton already had its claw hip deep inside her. ¡°JESSICA!¡± I screamed and Rick moved. He slammed his sword into the skeleton, sending it flying, leaving a literal hand sized hole in my girlfriend. The hole was in her side, non-lethal by pure luck, but that did nothing to calm me. My entire existence flashed before my eyes once again, my emotions grew and grew, exploding out, as I watched Jessica¡¯s blood splatter on the path. Her face scrunched into agony, tears streaming down her face, blood covering her waist and side as her screams of pain broke through the air. I stared, transfixed, as if I had been shoved into the deepest darkest waters. Cold numbness and horror spread through my body. Time seemed to slow down as reality began to assert itself. Jessica¡­ Jessica was hurt. She could die. Time seemed to slow down, as I stared at the Black Skeleton. Stared at its claws dripping with her blood. Stared as it bore down now on my best friend, who barely had his sword up. As the thought of truly losing them before my very eyes took hold. A match of hatred was lit inside me at that moment. But it stayed a match for no longer than a moment. Because I began to hate. And Hate And HATE. ¡°AHHHHHHHH!¡± I tackled the monster, just as it was about to cut open Rick¡¯s head. The skeleton was fast, durable, strong, but light. So light in comparison to my rage. I got it on the ground and began to punch. No Qi erupted from my fist this time to break it¡¯s head. Instead, something I¡¯d never seen a Black Skeleton do before happened. It punched me. I felt my ribs break, as I was launched away from it. Agony coursed through me and the Black Skeleton was already up again. My hate didn¡¯t leave me, not for a moment, even as I saw claws come closer to my face even while I was still in the air. Another sword strike to the side of the thing had it stumbling back, away. Rick hadn¡¯t wasted any more time but this monster was relentless, more machine than creature, and words failed. The tackle, the punch, the pain, it was only as my back landed that I realized I had absolutely broken my fist on its bones. I still stared, as Rick slashed as fast as he could. For a brief moment, he won. He hit it and it didn¡¯t hit him, giving him breathing room, but the thing was just so fast. In only a handful of seconds, I watched as Rick suffered injury after injury, protecting his face but getting deep claws going through his chest and sides. Rick fought through the pain as I stared in horror. His sword fell, Rick just a normal man. The pain overwhelming him for a moment. I tried to get up but it was if my body refused to listen to me. Refused to move. Pain was the only response I felt as I saw my friend die- ¡°FUCK YOU!¡± A sword swung more like a bat crashed against the Skeleton¡¯s head, nearly sending it flying off the path. Jessica, agony and fury etched across her face, was up and fighting. It was wrong to say the Black Skeleton had forgotten her, it didn¡¯t seem to have a mind to speak of. But even in the depths of my hatred and pain and anger, I slapped myself. Jessica had been injured, not killed, and she wasn¡¯t helpless. Yet my brain had mentally ruled her out of the fight after she¡¯d been attacked. I managed to rise to my feet, for a single moment, before I collapsed. My breath felt ragged, blood pooling in my lungs, bruises, breaks, and more seeming to light up in my brain. I groaned, agony coating my features. I gritted my teeth, my hatred overcoming even my own body, as I forced myself to stay standing. We faced the monster, not one of us uninjured, and we began to attack. The Black Skeleton didn¡¯t hesitate, it never had and never would, already rushing back to us so fast it practically teleported. Rick managed to angle his sword between its attack and Jessica was already swinging for it. I realized our mistake immediately. The Skeleton focused on it¡¯s enemies and now there were two. It didn¡¯t let the attack hit, nor did it dodge, it met the sword coming at it with its own blown. I realized instantly how much an ambush had benefited us in the last few minutes as Jessica and Rick frantically swung, trying to kill it and lost hard on that front. How Rick had managed to fight it for even a few seconds before blew me away as I realized just how insanely screwed we were. Its attacks were too fast to react to, the only reason my friends remained alive was because it only had two arms and they weren¡¯t trying to block but relentlessly attack. It wouldn¡¯t last and our luck felt like it was running out. Time wore on, seconds feeling like hours. The Black Skeleton seemed to shine in this dimension, like a pure specter of imminent death. My friends were bleeding, tiring, losing. They were going to slip up and they were going to die. My brain worked hard, struggling, trying to figure out what to do. How to help. How to fight. My eyes found something and I dove for it immediately. ***** Rick and Jessica fought like rabid animals, trying their best to survive. Any normal human or creature would have had the decency to be hurt by the attack of two humans going all out with swords, no matter what they were. Apart from ambushes, the skeleton hadn¡¯t been hit. Soon, Rick and Jessica would make a mistake. And they did. Rick was feeling pain from multiple wounds crisscrossing mainly his chest. But his blood was leaving that much quicker. Even with adrenaline and feel racing up his spine, even as he fought for his very life and the life of his friends, he grew too tired. Once more, he saw death approaching. Once more, he realized with surety he was going to die. And then a backpack slammed into the thing. The next moment, Matt, looked like more bruise than human, ran forward. In a move Rick would never forget, Matt grabbed the Skeleton by its skull with one hand, and threw it off the platform with strength born of desperation. It sailed through the air¡­ before disappearing back into the memory. Everyone froze, staring out, hearts beating and thumping in their chest, blood slowly trickling out. Then as one, as if choreographed, they all collapsed in pain and agony. ***** Pain hurt. Pain hurt a lot. Pain without adrenaline hurt a lot. The second the fight had been over, it felt like the weight of a mountain was crushing me in a dozen places. I wasn¡¯t the only one. We weren¡¯t warriors or lifetime soldiers. We were normal people. Still, I had the ¡°benefit¡± of suffering from pain and exhaustion recently due to an apocalypse, so I managed to crawl my way over to Jessica and Rick. I had thrown all our supplies out but shirts did well enough as make shift bandages. We all stayed there and perhaps we would¡¯ve stayed there for an eternity or five, but the memories had not stopped merely because we started fighting. The apocalypse passed before our eyes, of what I had gone through, of how my own battle with the skeleton had gone and went. Seeing it get smashed to pieces filled me with vindictive joy but it was absolutely nothing compared to how Jessica felt about it. Sound and words had become a way to express the pain coursing through our bodies but seeing that- ¡°Fuck that thing. Fuck that thing to hell.¡± Jessica spat. ¡°It sucked then and now.¡± I said. ¡°Jesus Christ dude, we nearly died to that fucker and you fought it alone?¡± Rick said. I had no answer for that beyond a dark look. We continued to wait and watch, the horrors of the Apocalypse showing themself. The fast Zombie. Me nearly bleeding out. The armor and weapon from the care package. And the monsters. Rick and Jessica clearly hadn¡¯t gotten a good look from them as they saw me stare at the behemoth with fresh eyes, shivering. No words were said about it, at least. I think we were all just afraid of it popping out and attacking us. The office full of deboned zombies had my friends nearly shaking with fear. The challenge was fun enough though, seeing me methodically murder zombies, though I was thankful it mostly focused on the skeleton. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ Matt¡­ this is insane.¡± Jessica finally said, seeing me kill the Black Skeleton with ease. It hit all the harder after having fought it ourselves. ¡°I know.¡± I simply said. What else could I say? Then came the moment I had been dreading. The moment I temporarily became a girl. ¡°Woo! Look at you!¡± Rick said and I realized I was truly never going to live this down. He seemed far more energetic than I¡¯d have expected considering his wounds. ¡°Wow, you didn¡¯t even take the time to check out your body? Come on! I wanted to see you nak-¡± ¡°I beg that you do not complete that sentence.¡± I said. ¡°I wanted to see it too¡­¡± Jessica said and my manhood suddenly felt in danger. It was only moments later that I got my skill and my skin turned a statue like gray. ¡°Wow. You look like a sexy gargoyle.¡± Rick said. ¡°I guess the apocalypse isn¡¯t all that bad after all.¡± Jessica nodded strongly and I was starting to feel genuine fear from how my best male friend and girlfriend were looking at my body. It lightened their moods at least¡­ but at what cost? However¡­ that was the day. The same day I got stabbed with green fluid and put under. They saw the nurse and- The memories cut out and stopped. With great difficulty, we all rose to our feet. There was a heart clenching moment, where I wasn¡¯t at all sure what to do. The path continued on but, was this it or- A doorway made of white light opened up in front of us. Relief came for a moment, before worry. I turned around, staring at my two wounded friends. ¡°Hey.¡± Rick said softly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us. We¡¯ll find our way back, somehow. Maybe we¡¯ll get our own doors. You have a Game Show to win.¡± ¡°Matt¡­ you can do it. I know you can. I believe in you and I know you can do it. And¡­ I love you.¡± Jessica said, before giving me a hug. I felt choked up with emotions, not sure what to say or do. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know if¡­ I don¡¯t know how this world works. I don¡¯t know what will happen if you also go through. I don¡¯t know¡­ so many things. But you two are real to me. No, you are two are just, real. You¡¯re the best friend and girlfriend I could have asked for. I¡¯d never have gotten this far or even survived without you two. I¡¯m going to win this thing and save you both.¡± ¡°Hey now, don¡¯t forget Spot.¡± Rick laughed, grimacing a little from the wounds. I nodded. I didn¡¯t want to go, to leave them like this. But I had to. I had to go back. ¡°Goodbye.¡± I said, choking on the word. ¡°Hey, this ain¡¯t goodbye my dude. It¡¯s more like, see you later.¡± ¡°Ha. Alright then. I guess¡­ I¡¯ll see you both later.¡± I turned, tearing my gaze from them¡­ and went through. ***** Rick and Jessica stood, smiling, as they watched Matt leave through the white door. ¡°Alright, quick, we need to follow.¡± Rick said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°We have no food, water, bandages, supplies, or way out. We either go through or get trapped here forever. Real or fake¡­ I don¡¯t care but getting trapped here forever? Not cool dude.¡± Rick laughed and sprinted for the closing white door. ¡°H-Hey! Wait for me! I don¡¯t want to be alone here, ow ow, Rick, hey, wait! My side, my side!¡± Jessica complained as she quickly hobbled after Rick, reaching the door right before it closed. ***** I woke up and felt¡­ okay? That was such a strange feeling to me that mind nearly- No. My mind was good, better than good. Better than I could remember it being in a long, long time. It felt sharp, ready, fast. I felt more durable, faster, stronger, and like a connection I never knew was missing had just been shoved through me. Not one, but two different kinds, connecting around each in seeming spiral of the understanding of the universe. My stats were back. I got up and immediately noticed I was in an empty hospital bed. Wearing literally nothing but a white hospital gown. I looked around me and- My weapon! My armor! It was neatly to my side, hell, not just that. It even seemed to have been washed and cleaned. They were folded up nearly, with a change of clothes nearby. Not my clothes, but those were a lost cause anyway. I got out of bed and barely took a breath, before nearly moaning in enjoyment. I could taste the darkness. Not really, but it was practically pitch black here and I feel more satiated than I had in¡­ ever. Even the weird effects of the backrooms or that weird dimension just couldn¡¯t compare to having a good meal. My status was blinking intensely in my vision, but that could wait. I got dressed first, putting my armor and weapon on over the clothes. It was only as I was doing so that I realized I was male. I had gotten used to it in the dream realm but¡­ how long was I out? I wasn¡¯t being eaten so that was good but¡­ A sound. I turned, seeing the faceless nurse, and my heart rate shot up. She had nothing in her hands, but I didn¡¯t trust it. I ran at her, katana in hand, blood pumping. If I was put under a second time, could I promise I could get out? I could be trapped for good next time. Or I could die trying and that might really kill me out here. I raised my sword and swung. It was only the past few weeks of relative peace that made me stop, a hairs breath away from murdering the nurse. I stared, not believing my eyes in front of me. So many things had happened, so many impossible insane things. And yet here¡­ I¡¯d ran into another. One that blew my understanding of this world apart. The nurse was on the ground. She had fallen back when I¡¯d ran at her with a sword. Her faceless face hadn¡¯t opened up into a massive mouth, she hadn¡¯t ran at me and attacked, she hadn¡¯t thrown out syringes from nowhere like a ninja. She¡¯d fallen backwards. In fear. Her arms were up over her head, her body was shivering, and if she had a face it would be in mortal terror. I¡­ the nurse¡­ the clothes I was wearing, the clean armor, still being alive in general¡­ What¡­ the fuck was going on? Slowly, cautiously¡­ I pulled my blade away. The nurse, my mind couldn¡¯t believe it, but this monster nurse¡­ seemed¡­ alive? Like a person? I noticed the color of her hair. I noticed her name tag, that said Kelly, the same nurse from the dream, and a terrible realization began to pull at me. As soon as my blade was away, the nurse came closer to me and I stayed cautious. She began to look around me, no, she was looking me over. For wounds. Finding none, she pulled out a syringe with green fluid and my sword was instantly back up. She saw that, and put the syringe away. She began to walk forward and I stepped out of the way. She fixed up the bed, folded the gown I¡¯d thrown off, and then just¡­ walked away. My mind felt like a hammer blow had hit it. I had barely escaped the dream world and had barely come to terms with that and now this. Because¡­ that monster¡­ that was Kelly. The nurse. I thought this apocalypse had killed everyone¡­ but maybe not. Maybe it had done other things than just turn everyone into monsters. Well¡­ horrible monsters anyway. Treatment. The nurse had put me under and treated me. It was just a bit too under. Where on earth did they even get that liquid? No, why am I questioning that, this world doesn¡¯t make any sense. I finally decided to take a look at my status, which was beeping intensely at this point. [Level up!] [Level up!] [Level up!] [Level up!] [Achievements unlocked!] [Enter the Dream: Not everyone manages to find their way to the dream world. Congratulations! +1 Magic] [Find the Backrooms: The backrooms, the in between of spaces, where you end up if no clip out of reality. Apparently, it¡¯s real! Well, it¡¯s real somewhere, and you found it! +1 Magic] [A New Dimension: You¡¯ve gone where few have gone before, escaping at least partially into not just a new world, but a new reality itself! +3 Magic] [Escape the Dream World: Not easy! In fact, super super hard! Almost no one comes out you know? It¡¯s just so easy not to! That takes real will. +3 Mind] [A Good Monster?: You have found and spared a monster that showed you no hostility! Amazing, you didn¡¯t let the apocalypse or innate human arrogance stop you from handling things peacefully! +1 Mind] I stared in wonder even as I felt my connection to the world and my mind grow. Four levels? The achievements and stats were great but¡­ four levels? How long was I out- At that moment, I felt something I hadn¡¯t felt in so long. I turned, a smile on my face despite it all. A Care Package popped into existence. I went over to it¡­ only to freeze in place. It wasn¡¯t a regular care package, it had a five blazing on the top of it. That meant¡­ ¡°Five days? I was out for five days?¡± Honestly, considering I¡¯d spent at least a week on ¡®earth¡¯, and uncountable amounts of time in the backrooms and that dimension, I should be more than happy it was only five days. Still¡­ that was a long time. But I guess it could have been worse. I stared at the care package with more than a little fear. That was five opportunities to screw me over. Well¡­ who knows¡­ maybe they would all be good. I took a steadying breath, preparing for calamity, and opened it up. I¡¯d spend my Qi or stats as needed to deal with whatever happened. Many things came out of the box, but there seemed to be a hierarchy. I focused on the first orb that popped open. It seemed to be a¡­ book? It popped and suddenly there was a full book in my hands. But it wasn¡¯t normal. It seemed to made out of a very strange material and just holding it felt¡­ odd. I tried to open it up but- [Cultivation manual unusable until sub-class is unlocked] A cultivation manual?! I hadn¡¯t wasted all my time on earth, I knew how the Qi thing worked. Cultivation manuals talk you how to, well, cultivate. Normal people¡­ gods¡­ ¡°Normal people¡± didn¡¯t cultivate by having a system give them Qi points, they gathered it somehow and it empowered their body, before undergoing a transformation. But that took¡­ forever. But cultivation manuals also taught you techniques, ways to use your Qi beyond ¡®Hit harder¡¯. I¡¯d need to be a much higher level to use this but it would be incredibly helpful when I could. The next orb floated up and I smiled despite myself. This would have been right after I¡¯d entered the dream world, so I really wasn¡¯t too surprised at what it was. Qi points. I smiled. These had appeared in ties before but I¡¯d never actually received them. I don¡¯t know how many I got but I¡¯d check that in a moment. Qi points would never be a bad thing to get. The next orbs didn¡¯t wait around. Already they were floating up. This one was clearly a tie between two things. The first was¡­ was that a demon tail? That was¡­ strange. Would it summon a demon? That would be bad. The second one¡­ My heart beat hard the second I saw it. Death. Whatever this is would kill me. I could feel a being, a being so strong it eclipsed this planet, staring back at me but it was as if I was hidden behind a cloud. If I got this, the cloud would be removed. My heart beat harder and harder, as a coin appeared and clipped. My pupils shook in terror, as the coin landed¡­ on the demon tail. I let out a shaky breath of relief, once more reminded of the danger of boring the Gods. Only some of them wanted me to succeed and apparently killing me was a fully available option. It had come down to a tie. I focus on the demon tail and- I felt a horribly strange, alien sensation, as something changed. It felt like¡­ something near my ass was¡­ I cautiously, mechanically, turned around, and ¡®poked¡¯ something out from behind me. It was¡­ well¡­ a demon tail. I¡¯d gotten a demon tail. Black, leathery, had a spade like tip at the end. I could feel it entirely and that was¡­ strange. I moved it around a bit but¡­ it was just a tail. It didn¡¯t seem to actually¡­ do anything. ¡°Okay¡­ Alright then. Sure I guess. Why not? Demon tails are in. I can go with that.¡± I felt very strange but half of that was receiving a cosmetic when a death sentence was also on that same table. It felt similar to someone deciding to give you a face painting instead of shooting you, but acting as if those options were equal. I shook my head at the absolute terror and evil of people, and moved on, now much more worried about what the options would be. Only for the next orb to be more Qi points. I¡¯d take that in a heart beat. It was barely there for a second, before two more options presented themselves. That worried me. I¡¯d noticed all the terrible options were always in ties. The first was another book but this one was pretty clearly a straight up magical grimoire. It was thick and blue. The other seemed to be a ghost with a katana. Which was¡­ interesting. I had no idea what either would exactly do, but it seemed like neither option was bad. A coin flipped, landing on two. The Ghost grew and grew and I backed away, as suddenly a fully materialized ghost with a sword stood before me. He was an old bald man, wearing what looked to be a kimono. I raised my own katana, suddenly extremely worried if my sword would even work on a ghost. I may have too quick to dismiss how good or bad something was. If I have to fight a ghost¡­ ¡°What a shitty stance you youngster! Gods be damned, absolutely horrific. I¡¯ve seen better from literal trash. Ughh.¡± I blinked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°¡®What¡¯ ¡®What¡¯ idiot! You have wax for a brain? The candle fuse a little low for you? Perhaps you¡¯ve chosen to be a geisha and merely picked up a warrior¡¯s blade by mistake? Would make far more sense.¡± ¡°I¡¯m, look, who are you?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m the sad sack that is going to have to turn an absolute loser like you into a half decent samurai. A damn near impossible task but if anyone, this Great Shisho can!¡± ¡°Wait.¡± My brain spun at this new reality. ¡°You¡¯re going to train me?¡± ¡°My word and gods above, you truly hit every stupid branch on the way down the path didn¡¯t you? I¡¯ll be doing my damn hardest to do so but I doubt we¡¯ll make much progress, what with your head apparently being used to store air. For now, the night grows old and I don¡¯t have the energy to deal with morons.¡± Suddenly, a blue necklace seemed to materialize around my neck, causing me to grab it quickly. The ghost ran at me and I tried to back away, only for it to dive right into the main jewel on the necklace. I stared down at it, my brain starting to feel overwhelmed. ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s¡­ good.¡± I managed to squeak out. I mean, personality aside, that was good. I had an actual trainer! Also¡­ someone to actually talk to. Now that I¡¯d dealt with everything and felt a modicum of safety¡­ everything hit me like a brick. I¡¯d left a version of Rick and Jessica back there in that world. Had they actually been real? Had they died? Were they okay right now? I don¡¯t know and soon, I felt tears in my eyes. I was level five now, fifteen levels away from seeing Rick again. And with Jessica¡­ I grimaced slightly. I didn¡¯t think she was here but she had been in a hospital. The nurse probably found her, which meant¡­ She was probably in a dream world too. I didn¡¯t know how to feel about that. Was she in the same one? But she hadn¡¯t seemed to be the same Jessica. I just didn¡¯t know. Could you have multiple? Rick seemed to think we were in the subconscious of all people of earth. That, I don¡¯t know. I just don¡¯t know. But at least she¡¯d be safe for a while. That was more than what Rick probably had. Jesus¡­ Rick. He¡¯d been here just as long as I had but without any advantages. I needed to sit down, take time, go over everything I¡¯d gained but¡­ I felt tired. Really tired. Looking outside, the apparently ghost samurai named Shisho, hadn¡¯t been wrong. It was pitch black out there, despite my slight ability to see in the dark. Laying back down on the bed¡­ and locking and barricading the door just in case, I decided I needed to sleep. Sleep didn¡¯t come easy. Visions of Rick and Jessica, and even Spot, swam through my mind but eventually, the pull called to me. I fell asleep and dreamt of nothing for once. Day 11: Hitting the Ground Running I woke up in a hospital bed for the second time, technically third. I got up and looked around, happy to see the doors were still barricaded, no nurse was hovering over me, and despite myself, that the sky seemed to be dark and unnerving. It meant I wasn¡¯t in the dream world. Maybe. Probably. I also felt the necklace that apparently houses a samurai ghost around my neck. I could see and understand it, a ghost specialized in helping me actually get good with my weapon, but that was still crazy. That was insane but¡­ but a really good care package. All of the care packages had been good really. Well¡­ except for- I winced, feeling my fucking tail. I shivered, feeling every ounce of it as popped out from between my clothes and touched open air. That was¡­ weird. Really weird. Too weird. But, alright, sure, fine. Whatever. Just a tail, I can roll with it. Next was- I turned, waiting for a moment, and then a care package popped into existence. I took a deep breath, made sure I had my armor and sword prepared, then opened it. It opened to¡­ nothing. I blinked, staring at the empty care package. There were other times it had been empty but ever since my magic stat increased, I could sense what they were. But now I just felt¡­ nothing? Staring down into it, I eventually saw a piece of paper. A small thin thing of paper, like you¡¯d get from a fortune cookie. ¡°Meta change.¡± I said, reading it. That was all that was written. Huh. Well, nothing for it, I can¡¯t do anything about something that affects the ¡®Meta¡¯. I assumed that meant it changed the game show overall somehow. Maybe. I took a glance at my status just in case¡­ and smiled. [Level up!] [Level up!] [Name: Matt Level: 7 Free stat points: 30 Qi points: 17 Qi Rank: Qi Condensation Rank 4 Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] [Boned] [Anti-Deus Ex] [Legs For Days] [Bleed To Bleed Another Day] [Centennial] [Millennial] [Challenger] [Enter The Dream] [Find The Backrooms] [A New Dimension] [Escape The Dream World] [A Good Monster?] Titles: [A Good Sport] Skills: [Body of Darkness] Strength: (9) (+10%) 9 Speed: (11) (+10%) 12 Endurance: (16) (+10%) 17 Magic: (15) (+10%) 16 Mind: (18) (+10%) 19] Level 7! Two levels after one day?! The only way that could happen was either a sudden surge in popularity¡­ or that time desync the Goddess mentioned. Part of me wished for that time desync to grow more if these were the type of gains I could expect. But the levels weren¡¯t the only thing catching my eye. Look at those Qi Points! 17?! I quickly did some mental math. I¡¯d been in there for six days¡­ plus the one Qi point I had before. But¡­ I¡¯d opened two care packages that gave Qi points so¡­ five each? Care packages gave 5 points each? That was¡­ incredible. That was almost enough for two skills. I had to think this through though. The skills were amazing but¡­ I still needed to increase my actual Qi Rank. Those would also directly improve my stats. Not to mention whatever happens when I break through to Foundation establishment. Decision set, it was time to act. [Would you like to spend 6 Qi points?] ¡°Yes.¡± I had barely gotten the word out of my mouth, before I felt like I was being remade in every conceivable aspect. I wanted to scream, as I felt not just speed or endurance or even my mind change, but my soul itself. Every single part of me felt it was being reforged, as if it somehow had been broken down into the smallest atoms of creation and made stronger, only to be put back together. If before I was flesh, now I felt like I was being remade out of something otherworldly. [Foundation Establishment reached!] [Please choose your foundation! This will have long lasting consequences!] A Foundation?! What on earth was I supposed to choose! I¡¯d barely read up on that. I panicked, mind twirling, body feeling like it was being remolded out of something divine before¡­ something appeared in my head. Something clear an obvious to me. The Path. The Endless infinite path we had walked in the Astral realm, going on forever, but with an exit waiting. The Path stretched out backwards, beyond when we had entered, and beyond where I had exited, stretching to infinity, but there was still a beginning and an end. It felt like¡­ it was calling out to me, that single vision. I was more than what was happening to me, but I was also less than it. I had a before and I¡¯d have an after, but my path would eventually End. [Foundation Chosen! Foundation: The Infinite Astral Path] Suddenly, I fell to the ground, breathing heavy. I hadn¡¯t even realized I had been floating. I breathed out, deeply, but I felt¡­ different. Stronger, no, more. Simply more. In every single element of my very existence. My eyes were sharper, my hearing better, my smell had improved, my overall health, even my mind¡­ and those were just the simple effects. I could feel it now, in so much detail it practically hurt. Qi going all throughout my body, Meridians I barely knew how to use spreading through me, but intertwined around them was something else. Magic, or at least, whatever the word for Magical veins were. And in the center of that confusing double helix, was an empty space. Not completely, I felt like¡­ my magic sat in the middle but it was¡­ diffused for some reason. And in the depths of it, but also spread throughout me, I saw an image. The Infinite Astral Path, resting in my¡­ in my soul. I saw blinking in my vision and pulled up my status. [Achievements unlocked!] [Qi Rank Increased!] [The First Step: Did you know many don¡¯t even consider Qi Condensation at the first step? You¡¯ve reached Foundation Establishment and so now you understand why! +2 Magic] [Name: Matt Level: 7 Free stat points: 30 Qi points: 11 Qi Rank: Foundation 1 [The Infinite Astral Path] Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] [Boned] [Anti-Deus Ex] [Legs For Days] [Bleed To Bleed Another Day] [Centennial] [Millennial] [Challenger] [Enter The Dream] [Find The Backrooms] [A New Dimension] [Escape The Dream World] [A Good Monster?] [The First Step] Titles: [A Good Sport] Skills: [Body of Darkness] Strength: (20) (+10%) 22 Speed: (22) (+10%) 24 Endurance: (27) (+10%) 29 Magic: (28) (+10%) 30 Mind: (29) (+10%) 31] I gaped at my stats. No wonder I felt like I could tank bullets and pick up a car¡­ my stats had become insane in a second. My strength and speed alone had doubled and most of my other stats weren¡¯t far behind. And the changed weren¡¯t all stat related either. I could feel Qi coursing through my body, around my veins. Not only that¡­ I could feel the¡­ I didn¡¯t even know how to describe it. Like¡­ more. Energy in the air but almost like a presence as well. Like I had just walked away from space into an atmosphere for the very first time. There was Qi in the air, in the world, but I think I was feeling the¡­ the heavens? No wonder the achievement said people feel like this is the first step. It was¡­ ha¡­. It was heaven and earth compared to my just a few minutes ago. This was¡­ insane. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I slashed my Katana and I heard a loud whistle as it cut through the air. I was positive, that my strikes were completely unlike they were before. ¡°Sloppy!¡± A voice called out and startled me, causing me to jump¡­. About ten feet into the air, slamming myself through the ceiling and hitting something metal in the process. I expected my head to hurt but it just¡­ didn¡¯t. The¡­ samurai ghost from before appeared in front of me. I think his name was¡­ ¡°Shisho you ignorant whelp. I can see it all over your face, trying to remember my name. My god, what I have done to deserve such a shitty student? Who did I wrong? Truly, this must be punishment for being too good looking, too great, and being too much of a ladies man. Something you¡¯ll never have to worry about.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°¡®Hey!¡¯ ¡®Hey!¡¯ What are you five? You must be with such shitty swings like that! You go through an awakening, opening yourself up to heaven, and then have the nerve to spit on her like that with such a shitty swing?! You should give up the blade, go lie down in a ditch, and save the world. Truly, it might just die a second time with you around to kill it with your mediocrity.¡± I could feel myself getting angry but just took a deep breath. This person was apparently my trainer and¡­ I¡¯d take all the help I could get. ¡°Look¡­ I¡­ who even are you?¡± Shisho gave me such an exasperated look that I hurried to correct myself. ¡°No, I mean like¡­ in context. You seem to know what¡¯s going on but were you like¡­ a¡­ samurai from ancient Japan?¡± Shisho snorted so hard I had to remind myself he was a ghost and that he shouldn¡¯t be able to breath. It was the only way his head probably didn¡¯t pop right then and there from the air pressure. ¡°This Great Shisho was a Master Samurai but not in your pathetic ancient Japan. The spheres and worlds cross over greatly you whelp and I was from a far more¡­ developed area. For example, I at least knew what cultivation was, unlike this abomination you¡¯re abusing.¡± ¡°Abomination?¡± Shisho shook his head. ¡°This is all wrong! Well¡­ it¡¯s¡­ not right! Not how it should be! I have been ¡®informed¡¯ about current events and it truly must be the work of a God for this isn¡¯t at all how cultivation works! I saw it, you know? The way energy just seemed to appear inside you, how you didn¡¯t have to control a single ounce of it, how all you needed was a thought to build the perfect foundation¡­ absolute insanity. Forget a golden or diamond spoon or being blessed by the heavens, with that system you might as well become a Heavenly Lord with no issues. What¡­ monstrous designs.¡± I had no idea what to say about any of that. It hadn¡¯t escaped me that I had spent at this point nearly a week lying in bed. And that couldn¡¯t continue but first¡­ ¡°Shisho.¡± I bowed, bending my body. ¡°Please train me.¡± ¡°Aha! Now that¡¯s more like it you ignorant buffoon. Yes, bow to the great master and kowtow three times and I shall train you!¡± My mind blanked. Did he really want me to¡­ I breathed deep. This is for Jessica, Rick, and Spot. My Girlfriend, Best friend, and Dog. If he wants me to kowtow to actually train me how to use a katana¡­ especially since apparently he comes from a world of cultivation¡­ alright. Okay then. Slowly I started to get onto my knees and- ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing you idiot?! Have some pride! Ugh. Utterly disgraceful. Get up, get up! Fine fine, this great Shisho will give you some training and pointers. But not now, find an enemy first. Damn kids¡­¡± And with that, looking unsettled, Shisho disappeared back into the necklace around my neck. I blinked. Well, alright then. That works. Shaking off that interaction for now, I focused. I needed to be ready for the nightmnares out there in this nightmare world but I really had no idea what I was going to face. That meant I really¡­ didn¡¯t have a good idea of what to use my 30 stat points on. As for my Qi points¡­ [Would you like to raise your Qi Rank for 3 Qi points?] Well that answered that. From now on, to raise my cultivation, it would take 3 Qi points for every level. To raise all my stats by three, it would take 9 Qi points, or I could spend 5 in the store. Now that I had gone over everything¡­ it was time to hit the ground running. I shoved all the stuff I¡¯d barricaded the door with out the way and walked outside my hospital room. I saw a nurse walking down the way, but it wasn¡¯t Kelly. She looked at me¡­ but just kept going. Were there other people here? I¡­ I didn¡¯t think so. And even if Jessica was here, how would I really know? This was a big hospital. And what I would do? How would I wake her up? I shook my head. That wasn¡¯t important. I knew what was. I walked my way out of the hospital, Katana at my side, having a destination in mind. Rick said I needed more ¡®plot¡¯, that I needed to have goals besides just ¡®getting stronger¡¯. I¡¯d thought about it, really hard. And I disagreed. That was just disingenuous, I only cared about one thing. The increase to my mind made everything easier, more clear, more simple. Stress felt like it washed away from me and what I needed to do felt as easy as walking around and doing it. I¡¯d literally had more stress picking up groceries. No, I knew exactly what I wanted and what needed to be done. Levels meant I win. End of story. To get more levels I needed to be entertaining. That was why Rick was convinced I needed to do something more interesting instead of just running around like a chicken with it¡¯s head cut off. And maybe he was right on that. But he was wrong on what else I needed to do. The entertainment would come. I already had my goal. Strength. I wanted to get stronger. As I got stronger, I¡¯d do more. The entertainment would follow. And I knew exactly how to gain strength. I began to jog, lightly, yet it was faster than an Olympic runner''s all out sprint. I was faster than when I¡¯d had my speed stat boosted to 3x what it was. It was intoxicating but it also felt¡­ normal, natural. After my rise to foundation my body felt so much more¡­ in sync. Like it was a connected whole almost, instead of just a bunch of random flesh together. Which was a really strange way to think of a body but it was just correct. I sped down the street, the lack of cars helping me run as fast as I needed to. I saw zombies in front of me, wandering around, I passed right by them without slowing down for a moment. Seconds later, I knew for a fact their heads were rolling, cut off cleanly from swipes of my katana. ¡®Sloppy¡¯ A voice, Shisho¡¯s, resonated in my head. I kept moving. I knew these roads, I¡¯d studied them with Rick in the dream world. Soon, I was looking at a familiar site. I was back where I¡¯d started originally, a gas station and apartment buildings. They weren¡¯t my target though, even if I looked at where the black skeleton had put a hole through the wall with something approaching¡­ nostalgia. It felt like a life time ago already. I ran, speeding down the streets, feeling the wind whip past me but break upon my body and face. At higher speeds, even now, wind resistance was going to stare seriously becoming an issue. But I¡¯d deal with it. My mind felt like a razor blade, a well honed edge. It didn¡¯t take long before the section of the town I¡¯d passed before showed up, where I had run for my life and first killed a Black Skeleton. I could see the Behemoth in the distance, but caution spread through me. Literally. ¡®Not yet time¡¯ A voice rang in my head and I had to agreed. Soon, tomorrow maybe depending on how this worked out, but not today. The school came into stark relief first, the one I¡¯d run through wildly. I threw myself forward at the doors, rolling across the linoleum, just as a pair of pincers longer than three feet each snapped shut behind me. Turning, I saw the horrible multi eyed combination of a scorpion and ant. I¡¯d never fought one before, but I was already aiming towards it like an arrow even before I was fully up. Hesitation was death, I¡¯d been thoroughly taught that. It was a lesson engraved on me. I slashed, feeling my blade smash through it. Surprise colored me however. I had rushed between it¡¯s pincers, slicing right through the front of it¡¯s face and for the first time, even with my improved strength, my Katana seemed to catch for a moment on the horrible thing¡¯s carapace. But only a moment. A second later, my katana cut through and for good measure, I cut horizontally, as two pieces of it¡¯s head fell to the ground. I felt a pop up from the system that I ignored, rushing towards the stairs. ¡®Sloppy! Adjust your stance, move your arms higher, increase your stride like this¡­¡¯ Words rang inside my head, but it was more than that. I had a feeling, an absolute certainty of where and how to move, like a, like a ghost was overlapping with my body, feeding me their experiences, their muscle memory. I took it, glad and hopeful. I could already tell that the reason I got caught wasn¡¯t because my Katana wasn¡¯t enough but because I¡¯d cut the carapace wrong. And even as I felt my stance adjust, my legs move differently, my grip change, the words of Shisho kept coming in. Kept informing me, teaching me, telling me the hows and whys. It was invaluable, I could tell in an instant. He was doing something, something so that I could move like him but also grounding it all with technical knowledge. I felt like a child being put in the body of an adult and then patiently being taught how to move it. Despite his personality¡­ Shisho was a seriously good teacher. The cafeteria was next and I ruthlessly cut apart the vines that I previously felt shot out like spears. Now, they felt slow. Another achievement popped up. I hit the stairs running. The next enemy wasn¡¯t there, to my annoyance. But I began to methodically search the school, finding more scorpion ants and many more vines. Finally, I came across the shoggoth, the horrible black slime monster. I dashed, cutting it, but it did nothing. Just slid right through, even though teeth broke and eyes were slashed. It definitely pissed it off, but it was slow. I slashed again and again and again, causing superficial damage but not killing it, not even slowing it down. ¡®Infuse your Qi.¡¯ Shisho called out, and so I did so. Before, my Qi was just there, like water coming out of a bottle. Now it was more, an energy under my control, a part of me. I sent it spirally into my sword, a green aura washing over my black blade. My next slices did more, a lot more. The cuts didn¡¯t heal and anger turned into fear as the shoggoth attacked like a cornered animal. But it was slow, so so slow. It was dead in a matter of moments. Another notification, another achievement. I needed strength, entertainment would follow. And there was a lot of low hanging fruit to abuse. The Black Skeleton had given me one the first time I killed it, so had the zombie. I¡¯d also gotten one for killing 100 and 1000 Zombies. I was willing to bet achievements for every monster existed. And the Behemoth? The terrifying walking mountain? I bet it gave a title. I bet that was something people would tune in to watch me fight. I bet me slaughtering this town dry to the very last creature (besides the good ones), would be something people wanted to see. As I flew down the stairs and turned towards where I knew a horde of Black Skeletons were, a smile blossomed on my face. I didn¡¯t like this place, I didn¡¯t even care for fighting overall, but I could see how becoming more and getting stronger was intoxicating. Every step was another step closer. Another step down the infinite path, to the exit. To level 100. I¡¯d get the achievements, murder as many monsters as I could today and then¡­ I turned, staring at the behemoth, pausing for a second. For a second, I imagined it shuddered. Soon, I¡¯d slaughter you too. Day 12: Pretty much nothing but combat I woke up, grinning, feeling like a devil. Yesterday had been¡­ cathartic. I¡¯d finally found like I¡¯d found my stride, my path forward. I now understood perfectly well why people worked out all the time at a gym or became cultivation obsessed in those stories I skimmed. The feeling of power over yourself and your situation was just intoxicating. Even now, I felt¡­ good. Really good. Better than I ever had. You know that moment, when you¡¯ve been inside all day or week or month, and then you get out and feel the warm sun and can practically feel your skin, your body, soaking up the rays and light, becoming healthier by the moment? That is exactly how I felt. I could feel the Heavens beaming down on me, Qi swirling through me, Magic coursing through me, Darkness flowing into my body, all nourishing me. And that was ignoring just how sharp and powerful my mind and body felt, how in tune it was with me, and how I could feel my very foundation resonate with me with every step I took, every motion I made, ever forward, ever onward, towards the end. I¡¯d not rested for a single second yesterday, cutting through zombies and Black Skeletons like wheat. Scants and Shoggoths only were slightly more difficult. And the results showed. Before checking on that though, I stretched and looked around. My location was the damn hospital again. It had a bed and I was 99% sure it was safe from everything except nurses. The worst part was the constant fear I¡¯d end up with one of those horrible needles in my neck. Another nurse had tried to stab me last night and I¡¯d almost missed it, tired as I was. Worse, Shisho had recognized the ¡®energy¡¯ on sight somehow. ¡®A soul anesthetic? Dangerous.¡¯ Luckily a few swings of my blade made her back away. I should really spend the time to find an actual base of operations but¡­ I was going to continue my plan from yesterday. I¡¯d gotten into a kinda¡­ zone. And well¡­ [Achievements unlocked!] [Insects Galore: You killed a Scant! Half scorpion, half ant, all horrifying! +1 Endurance] [Vine Whip: You¡¯ve murdered some poor innocent deadly vines. They just wanted to kill you! +1 Speed] [Baby¡¯s First Eldritch: Shoggoth, sometimes a horrible blob monster, sometimes a sexy sexy lady. Sadly, you got the first one this time and then killed it. Oh well! +1 Magic] After that¡­ well¡­ I¡¯d made a mistake. I¡¯d thought I¡¯d gotten the [Centennial] and [Millenial] achievements for killing 100 and 1000 zombies¡­ not creatures in general. So, there¡¯d been no achievements for murdering all those zombies and skeletons and etc. But it hadn¡¯t been a total loss. Luckily, there¡¯d been other ones that had appeared. [Diverse: 5 different creatures have fallen to your power. Going for a real hat trick huh? +1 Strength] [The Nonstopping: You fought, killed, and most importantly just simply moved for 12 hours straight with no breaks or rest! Wow! +2 Endurance] That was it. A whole day spent on murder and that was it. Five achievements and six stat points. But¡­ that was more than a level up. And it was by far not the only gain I¡¯d gathered yesterday. I stared down at my katana with a smile, and slashed. ¡®Sloppy!¡¯ Came Shisho¡¯s voice in my head. Despite the words though, I knew, I could tell¡­ I¡¯d improved a lot. Everything felt so much smoother, so much easier. It felt like I had been both drunk and high before, with my wrists slit, trying to swing around a pool noodle in comparison to how I felt now. Because now I felt like¡­ well, like at least my pool noodle had become a rubber band. Being¡­ infused? Possessed? By Shisho was both amazing and horrifying. I didn¡¯t lose autonomy no, but it was like being shown how to masterfully do something and being shown at the exact same time that you were worse than a baby at that thing. In this case, fighting and swordplay. I¡¯d not just gotten a glimpse of the mountain, it was like I¡¯d seen mount everest rise from the ground, only to keep rising, until a planet, and then a solar system and then a galaxy had stood between me and what Shisho could do. I had no idea who he was but after I mentioned just how far away I felt from his level¡­ ¡®Huh?! An arrogant whelp like you is comparing yourself to me, This Great Shisho?! Ridiculous! Immediately, give your poor arrogance a break, before it cries itself to sleep like a baby. I¡¯ve trained with the blade for thousands of years! And you think you can stand anywhere near me?! Ha! Not even in ten thousand years could you match a single one of my hairs!¡¯ Shisho¡­ had definitely been a cultivator. Thousands of years¡­ sheesh. I stretched, getting ready for the day. Any time now there would be a- ¡°Ah, there it is.¡± I turned, as a care package manifested. I smiled, wondering what it would be today. It would be nice to get something to help me find more diverse enemies. Maybe something to simply help me find challenges. I had checked both the police station and city hall, among a few more stores even, and not a single Challenge I could find. At least none when I¡¯d touched their doors. I went to open it and- ¡°Stop.¡± Shisho¡¯s voice came out and I froze. What? But Shisho came out, staring at the box, sounding deadly serious. ¡°You should open that outside.¡± Shisho said, and then flew back into the necklace. Before I could even ask him anything, I felt that same link between of us, being infused with his martial knowledge and muscle memory. ¡°What? You sense something wrong with the care package?¡± Shisho didn¡¯t answer and I felt my nerves shoot up, staring at the unassuming box. I guess¡­ it was time then. There were evil gods, or at least asshole gods, and I¡¯d seen a few options in ties that seemed deadly. Something I was nearly positive would have killed me, a chocolate flood, general negative areas of space, stuff like that. But they were always in ties. Which meant¡­ that the good to the bad of gods was about equal. And I¡¯d always, more or less, come up lucky. Sooner or later¡­ that luck had to run out. Breathing deeply one final time, preparing myself to run or for a fight or a flood, I carried the box down and outside the hospital. And then even further away, incase it was a meteor or something. Finally a good distance away, I stared down. I¡¯d set the orange and grey tote box down onto the asphalt of a road, just staring at it. The sky was dark and I couldn¡¯t see any monsters around. I knew something was up with that. I¡¯d seen more monsters before and despite scouring what felt like half the town, there seemed to be¡­ less. And the ones I¡¯d only seen one or two of, that I hadn¡¯t been able to really make out, were nowhere to be found. Something I¡¯d hopefully find the answer to today. Or at least that was the plan. The damn tote box practically stared back up at me. For a brief moment, I considered just not opening it. I was growing stronger, I didn¡¯t feel like I needed more help besides in levels. But I knew. Patrons were apart of this whole¡­ thing. They were included in likes. I, wait. How many patrons were there? [70] Came a brief box. 70¡­ nearly a whole level from them alone. If I suddenly stopped opening care packages, that number would drop. That wouldn¡¯t just hurt me, it¡¯d hurt the show and I felt it would be a capital Bad Idea if I did that. They¡¯d already done all this for entertainment, no reason to piss off their and my own sponsors. I just had to take the good with the bad. Blade by my side¡­ I opened the damn box. My eyes watched, ready, as a piece of paper flickered out. But it was a piece of paper I recognized, from yesterday. ¡®Meta Change: Top 3 options from the poll!¡¯ It read and my mind blanked. I was getting three things today? Or at least three things were happening. That¡­ explained a lot actually. If the good and bad were so closely tied then¡­ well it was momentarily better than I feared. Unlike with ties, there was no dice or coin or box that appeared above, and there were no miniature spheres that gave me a moment to figure out what was what. Instead, the box simply started to shake and soon- I felt it. The second the shaking stopped, I knew exactly what had changed. All of a sudden there was like I had¡­ information in my brain. It was like a¡­ I swiveled my head around quickly, noticing markers that seemed to go through buildings, pointing to different locations. Challenges. I could see where the challenges were. That was an amazing benefit. A single challenge had granted me 10 Qi Points. I could see dozens of challenges. If I could mark where they were at¡­ and then try to get as many done as possible¡­ My blood began pumping. But it wasn¡¯t over yet. The box began to shake once more and¡­ I blinked, as a ray of pink light stabbed me in the eye. And then again and again. Everything seemed to be in a light hue of pink. My mind practically ground to halt. What¡­ the fuck? Pink as far as the eye could see but it wasn¡¯t like things were painted or anything. It was more like¡­ Mechanically, confused and uncertain, I looked up at the sky. Up at the completely cloudly sky that covered seemingly the whole world. The previous black, now completely bubblegum pink, sky. ¡°Ah. I get it.¡± I said, after realizing it a moment later. ¡°Three options, three groups of gods. Good, bad, and fun.¡± I¡¯d not forgotten the chocolate rain or the demon tail that was swaying behind me. No, no I¡¯d definitely not forgotten. Three options gave room for every faction or group of gods to get what they wanted for once. The ones that truly cared about me and wanted to help me. The ones that wanted to have fun or interesting things happened and saw me as nothing more than entertainment. And¡­ This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The bad ones. I stared at the box, watching it rumble, readying my black blade. No matter what happened, I was going to be ready. At least I thought I would be. It was only ghost enhanced instincts that saved my life, as a black blade nearly took my head off. I could feel my own eyes growing wide as I raised my black, feeling like a truck had just slammed into my arm. Worse, I nearly went stumbling back, before the blade disengaged and swung again, nearly tearing my throat out as it seemed to try to slide around my katana. I blocked again, but over and over, attacks reigned down with no hesitation and worse¡­ they were¡­ familiar. Qi Blade met Qi Blade and a small shockwave ensued. The ground seemed to leave my feet, only coming back seconds later, as I stumbled backwards from where I¡¯d been thrown in the air. I could feel my own heart beating a mile a minute. I hadn¡¯t met anything so terrifying since the first Black Skeleton and this was¡­ much more dangerous. My eyes finally focused, pulling away from the tunnel vision on the black blade, a black katana and- ¡°WHAT?!¡± I cried out. ¡°Don¡¯t act so surprised.¡± My voice said. And it was my voice. Standing across from me was a man that looked so alien to me at first. Gray skin, wearing black leather armor, over basic clothes. A black Katana held in one hand at the moment, with a demon tail swishing behind him. It was me, and the only difference was their eyes that were pure black but¡­ I hadn¡¯t seen a mirror in a while. My eyes might also look like that. It was¡­ I¡¯d never seen myself since I began and it was only now I realized just how much I had begun to change. My words, my thoughts, my instincts, my actions. It all hit me like a brick that I wasn¡¯t the same Matt anymore and my heart clenched hard. But more than that¡­ I saw the smile on the other me¡¯s face. The one practically dripping with bloodlust and I knew for a fact, that I wasn¡¯t that far gone yet. ¡°Who¡­¡± ¡°...are you? Really?¡± Other me said. I glared. Whoever this copy was, he had just tried and nearly succeeded in killing me. A brief chill went through me, imagining if I hadn¡¯t listened to Shisho and opened it indoors. Those tight spaces would have been a nightmare. But it was brief, replaced by vigilance. ¡°Why are you trying to kill me?!¡± It was me after all, why on earth would I want myself to die?! ¡°Evil clone.¡± That¡­ my¡­. What? ¡°Wait, really?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± I was at a loss for words. ¡°Anything else left to say? Or can we get on with it?¡± My evil clone spoke, looking primed and ready to murder me. ¡°What, does being evil also make you impatient?¡± ¡°It makes me want to kill you. My entire moral compass is yours but flipped. Gotta say, it¡¯s kinda weird. Murder, destruction, rape, it feels as normal to me as drinking water and I know that¡¯s not natural. Not at all. Not that I want to do two out of three of those but killing? Well, we did just gain a thirst for bloodlust yesterday.¡± ¡°...Yeah. I guess we did. But if you have all my memories then you should know you¡¯re going to lose.¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe. I could¡¯ve acted all buddy buddy with you but it just¡­ makes my skin crawl you know? I mean, think about it. Imagine you had to pretend to be evil to get along with a serial killer.¡± My skin did actually shiver at that. Even if it was probably the smart move¡­ that would¡¯ve been terrible. I took a deep breath, realizing I was going to have to fight and kill myself. I wasn¡¯t going to be stupid though. It didn¡¯t take more than a thought to open my status- Evil me was already barreling towards me and for the first time in my life, I began to have a sword fight. It was¡­ my heart beat like a drum in my chest, adrenaline pumped through my body, and my grip on my sword tightened as I swung as fast and as hard as I could. Every strike, a black. Every incoming blade, blocked. Over and over again, constantly feeling like I was riding the edge of being killed. We were equal but being equal didn¡¯t mean we were in sync. A stab got through and I had to hardly bat it aside, even as it cut through a line of my leather armor. Green aura infused both our blades, adding strength and sharpness but even more than that, we were moving so fast, so minutely, that it almost felt choreographed. It wasn¡¯t just pure stats¡­. This was¡­ It hit me like a bomb. I¡¯d never fought a cultivator before. Fighting one felt like fighting part of the heavens I could feel. I didn¡¯t move like a human. Worse, it seemed like the evil clone of me was improving just as fast as I was despite not having a ghost of his own to help him. Sparks lit up in the air and I decided to trade. A cut tore through my side but in exchange I got a moment to think, a single moment, and I didn¡¯t waste it. All 30 stat points were slammed into speed. Before, my speed had been 23. Not it was 53. My blade moved so fast that it practically left after images as I felt my whole body seem to leave the bounds of what was human. The evil version of my practically seemed frozen in time as my blade came closer and closer to his neck. He stood unmoving until- KLANG I stared, mouth agape. My blade had been¡­ blocked. The evil clone stared back at me, a wide smile on his face dripping with sweat. ¡°Evil clone. That means¡­ I get a system too. Speed huh? That was scary, I almost died.¡± Oh fuck. If before our fighting was just superhuman fast, now it became another level. Our blades barely had time to move through the air before they slammed into each other. It was so fast, so instant, that it felt more as if our blades were eternally locked together, dozens of clashes in only a matter of seconds. The rest of the world seemed to fall away, as swing after swing after swing met, each one feeling like a hammer blow to my arms, but I never wavered and neither did the other version of me. We both knew what was coming. Even if he hadn¡¯t told me, I¡¯d have figured out he had a system and that meant¡­ We met with one final clash with our green Qi, flying back a few feet and we both did the exact same action at the exact same time. [A- ¡®Yes¡¯ A new skill bubbled up inside me but I had no time to even read it. The other me had done the same. I clashed again but now felt different. I had been tired before, stressed, worried. Angry and even afraid. This was a clone of me and it was a literal equal fight. I had no advantages, nothing that would see me come out on top. Now? Now I felt the same as if I was going for a stroll through the park. All I felt was determined to end this threat and to get on with my day. Sadly, it seemed the evil clone of me had gotten the same skill and our fighting took on a whole new fervor. We both knew we¡¯d win. We both thought this wasn¡¯t that stressful and fought with everything we could. I had time to think now, and my mind spun. Equal, equal. He had all my memories, all my skills, my stats, and he was even improving at the same pace as me even without Shisho. If we continued like this, best case scenario is we both draw somehow. Worst case is we both die somehow. Too many wounds getting through probably, bleeding each other to death. I needed a way to win. My mind methodically thought through things. Options appearing and being discarded quickly. If this was me except evil¡­ I used more Qi, pushing him away. For the first time, I had taken a disadvantage, but not a large one. He seemed surprised and I lowered my blade, a pause in the battle. ¡°Rick. Jessica. Spot. What do you intend to do about them?¡± He blinked before seeming to think about it. It was so¡­ unnerving to see my own thinking face, in a strange way. ¡°Well¡­¡± He spoke. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll kill them? Now that you mention it¡­ yeah. Rick¡¯s a real good guy, best of the best, but¡­ huh. It¡¯s so¡­ strange. I don¡¯t really hate him or anything, it just feels like it¡¯d be awesome to murder him? The idea of seeing his betrayed expression¡­ wow. I should feel bad but I don¡¯t. As for Jessica, oh I¡¯ll definitely have some fun with her first, before killing her. Her face will be priceless! I might even do it right after we get done in bed, can you imagine? And Spot, oh man, I¡¯ll make sure that one¡¯s brutal. It¡¯s¡­ wow, I¡¯m kinda fucked up¡­ but I just¡­ love the idea of killing my closest people?¡± He spoke, seeming confused more than anything. Like he understood he should feel differently and should feel bad and shouldn¡¯t even like the idea, but did anyway. ¡°Ah.¡± I said. And then I slammed into him like a freight train. ¡°Wha-!¡± Die die die die. Over and over and over and over again I slammed my blade down, uncaring my body or my cuts or whatever else. He had to die, he had to die right now. Right fucking now. Now now now now. Equal? No differences? Bullshit, nonsense. I wasn¡¯t this monster, this creature. Our motivations were different, entirely. He just wanted to have fun and enjoy killing. I wanted to protect the people I cared most about in the world. And I wanted it more than he wanted to kill. I was bleeding, I could feel that, but that didn¡¯t matter. I was hurt, that didn¡¯t matter. Only killing this absolute monster did. If we were equal, if we leveled up at the same rate, if Rick or Jessica got teleported to him- An inferno of pure rage burst in my chest, as I turned with my last hit, taking a cut across my entire face in exchange for punching the past so hard with my Qi enhanced fist I felt his nose break. Not enough. NOT ENOUGH! ¡°DIE!¡± A change flooded through me but I didn¡¯t care. My Qi sharpened, sped up, infused my blade with more of it. The evil clone was backing away, whittling me down, tearing me to pieces but so what? Even if I die, as long as I take you with me, that¡¯s fine by me. My green aura surged and my arm was too fast. The monster failed to block in time and his flesh was hard like wood to my blade, but my Qi was unrelenting. An arm came off. ¡°AH!¡± He screamed but neither of us stopped for a single moment. Grisly wounds and cuts and gouges of my flesh roared through my body, as his blood poured out onto the earth. Minutes passed and time seemed to slow down, as my rage and emotions and determination only grew. He was on the backfoot now, even as he continued to be calm. But he was losing and we both knew it. Eventually, the swords stopped swinging, bodies stopped moving, and we stood there, bleeding out, both dying. But his blood was coming out faster. ¡°H-How?¡± He managed to say, though I had no idea how considering I¡¯d nearly cut his fucking neck off. ¡°I-¡± A lot of blood had to come out before I could speak. ¡°I¡­ would kill anyone¡­ that harmed the people I care about.¡± My eyes practically blazed with fire, staring down at him. ¡°Ah.¡± He said, eyes fluttering, as he fell to the ground. I limped forward, untrusting. It wasn¡¯t over¡­ till I was sure. I raised my blade and without hesitation, drove it through my own skull. I stared down before- Suddenly, my body felt like lead and then iron, rapidly progressing to the weight of steel and then like I¡¯d become a mountain. I nearly suck to my knees. My body¡­ it was a wounded mess. No, a dying mess. I had been right. We had killed each other. I¡¯d just killed him faster. ¡°So¡­. this¡­. is how it ends?¡± I asked up to the sky. ¡°No.¡± Came a voice, Shisho appearing in front of me. ¡°If you get to the hospital behind you, you¡¯ll live.¡± I glanced over and despite what would have been a five minute walk, it looked as if it was on the other side of the earth. ¡°I-¡± ¡°If you die, they die. Are you really too weak to even cross such a small distance? You care about your people so little? Pathetic.¡± Shisho said, before disappearing. I grit my teeth, and moved. Time was a blur, pain and rage and force propelled me forward. The nurses could heal me, maybe. They were nurses. There was a chance. It felt like I walking my path, but that I was stumbling. Nearly falling. The exit was nowhere close and already I was going to lose. My vision began to go dark and I felt the cold feeling of tile against my face. I saw shoes, nurse shoes, and knew I¡¯d done all I could. Day 13: Its Amazing What Apocalyse Medical Science can do I woke up, which was pretty shocking all on its own. I was sure I was¡­ going to die. At the same moment I opened my eyes, a figure began to appear in front of, but I relaxed when I realized it was only Shisho. ¡°Pathetic! Unable to even beat yourself so cleanly? Even with all of this great Shisho¡¯s help?! Without medicine being no more than a heart beat away, you¡¯d be dead as can be. Fwah! Truly, truly the gods have cursed me with this idiot disciple.¡± ¡°Hey. He was my equal, what on earth was I supposed to do?¡± ¡°Evolve faster of course! Improve at a better rate!¡± ¡°But¡­ didn¡¯t he improve at literally the same rate as me?¡± ¡°Fah! Just check your stupid system and let us begin. You are running out of time.¡± I tilted my head at that, but a quick look at my blinking status menu revealed a lot all at once. [Skills unlocked!] [Achievements unlocked!] [Level up!] [Mind of Darkness: Passive Skill. Your mind has taken in the depths of darkness and come out reforged. Gain extreme mental resistance, boosted while in the dark. Fatigue is now an alien concept to you, as your mind will always feel fresh and rested even if you aren¡¯t. Begin to see the true shape of darkness] That explained why everything seemed so different after the skill, why we¡¯d both felt so¡­ calm despite everything. Even more than just a high mind stat. I tried to remember the end of the fight, before I¡¯d lost it, and honestly it just felt like¡­ going for a walk? Even near the end, when I¡¯d been dying, he seemed calm. That was¡­ strange and bizarre but helpful. [Conquer Thyself: No two ways about this one. You fought yourself¡­ and won. That¡¯s some cheesy joke level or epic nonsense type of stuff. +5% Effectiveness to All Stats.] Huh. So achievements could also give effectiveness. That¡¯s pretty cool. [Name: Matt (Challenge sight. 3 hours left) Level: 8 Free stat points: 5 Qi points: 2 Qi Rank: Foundation 1 [The Infinite Astral Path] Achievements: [Welcome to The Gameshow] [The Royal Road] [Humanity¡¯s First Fear] [Creative Care] [Boned] [Anti-Deus Ex] [Legs For Days] [Bleed To Bleed Another Day] [Centennial] [Millennial] [Challenger] [Enter The Dream] [Find The Backrooms] [A New Dimension] [Escape The Dream World] [A Good Monster?] [The First Step] [Insects Galore] [Vine Whip] [Baby¡¯s First Eldritch] [Diverse] [The Nonstopping] [Conquer Thyself] Titles: [A Good Sport] Skills: [Body of Darkness] Strength: (21) (+15%) 24 Speed: (53) (+15%) 60 Endurance: (30) (+15%) 34 Magic: (29) (+15%) 33 Mind: (29) (+15%) 33] Jesus Christ, my stats were getting insane. My speed¡­ I felt like I could move as fast a fucking bullet. I had no reference to compare myself towards but it was so much I could actually feel it. As if every piece of me was just¡­ less restricted towards the earth. Combined with my cultivation¡­ absolutely mind blowing. This was going to be amazing- I felt something that made me grimace. Turning I waited and a moment later¡­ another care package waited. Ghostly laughter echoed into my mind. ¡°It¡¯s not funny¡­ I almost died. If I had¡­¡± ¡®Then you¡¯d be dead. And then your companions and pet would be dead. I am aware¡­ but it is still hilarious! Misery or fortune, you must accept either, for it is only with struggles you¡¯ll grow strong.¡¯ I sighed, running my hands down my face. Shisho wasn¡¯t wrong. Objectively, yesterday went fine. Sure, I¡¯d done only a single damn thing and almost died, but a +5% boost to everything was¡­ considerable. It was worth far more than anything I¡¯d done the day before that. But on the non logical side¡­ I was incredibly angry. Yesterday had been three things, good, bad, and funny. Funny was whatever, in fact, I was even starting to like them a little more. I was doing alright now and not every single care package was a literal matter between life and death. And when it had been¡­ the Gods had pulled through for me. If they wanted their jokes¡­ fine. The good gods were nearly always there, willing and waiting to help me. But the bad¡­ I¡¯d nearly died. The worst part was is I don¡¯t think they necessarily wanted to kill me¡­ that would¡¯ve been boring. They just want my suffering to be entertaining. I wonder if this is how religious people actually felt back in the day, when they believed every famine or miraculous recovery was a result of a higher power. It was much, much better when Gods were just fiction made by man¡­ Them being real¡­ why would anyone ever want that? I stood up, getting out of my hospital bed and felt¡­ okay? I looked down, shocked as my own body. I was once more wearing a hospital gown and I quickly redressed. My clothes had¡­ seen better days. Hell, my armor had seen better days. Even my sword seemed to have a small chip on it. Which was bad, I had no idea how to care for a sword and especially didn¡¯t have the proper supplies. But for now, I had more important things to do. I had exactly 3 hours left on my ¡®Challenge Vision¡¯ and that would only allow me to do so much. I needed to get through them as fast as possible. But first¡­ it was time to deal with the elephant in the room. Awkwardly, I walked over to the care package. Part of that was complicated emotions over them, mostly it was readiness. Whatever it was, I wanted to get it over with. If it spawned another damn evil clone, I was just going to run away and hope for the best. No way did I think I could win against myself twice. I popped it open¡­ and had to resist a cry of frustration. I¡¯d seen this one before, back when I got my speed x3. It was a gacha. Dozens of images of what could be, from banana peels to guns to eldritch creatures, all appeared and disappeared, rapidly cycling through in front of me in a small translucent box. Finally, it finished and- ¡®Uh-oh.¡¯ Shisho called, which had my heart rate spiking when- An explosion. An explosion of color slammed into me and I felt myself staggering back. I blinked rapidly, getting my bearings¡­ only to gape in awe at my damn room. It was¡­ a kaliedscope of colors and shapes. I¡¯d hesitate to say rainbow, because it was more colors than just that. Cherry red, bright ocean blue, literal sky pink, shining one and all, even the browns somehow. It was bright and honestly¡­ beautiful in a way. My feelings lasted all of a second till I looked down at myself. My armor, blade, clothes, and even my skin were all different. A mix of red, blue, orange, yellow¡­ I looked like I¡¯d been bathed in paint made from the mind of a neon artist¡­ that was on shrooms and pulled directly from their mind. I was more art than man. ¡°What the fuck?¡± I pulled up my status¡­ but for once, it had nothing to give me. No unknown status effects. A cold sweat began to pour off me as I began to try to get the ¡®paint¡¯ off. Except it wasn¡¯t coming off, which was frustrating in the extreme. I used some of my saliva but¡­ god damn it, it wasn¡¯t budging even a little bit! ¡°That was probably useless my idiot disciple.¡± Shisho spoke up, sounding utterly amused. ¡°You look so alien I¡¯d believe you a child¡¯s monster before an actual living creature. Bravo, bravo! You have decided to not go for my exceptional handsome self and chart your own course into art. I¡¯m sure the ladies and perhaps even some men, would be more than willing to get to know you now. To stare at if nothing else!¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just a temporary color change or something! Or I can just find some soap or-¡± ¡°Soap?! Have you seen- Of course you haven¡¯t. It¡¯s not paint or anything so benign! Even your tongue, teeth, and eye color have changed. You best hope it¡¯s a temporary alteration.¡± My eyebrows shot up to my head and I sprinted towards the bathroom, only to gape at myself in the mirror. If anything¡­ Shisho was underselling it. I looked so absolutely¡­ artistic and beautiful that it struck me like a chord. There was no singular color I could pick at anything, almost nothing was not a blend or a mesh, some combination and riot of colors. For a small beat, the idea of me going back to normal was¡­ sad. I shook that off. I may look like a literal living work of art from one of the most exotic minds on the planet¡­ but I didn¡¯t want to stay like this! Even my eyes had changed into that strange mix and no whites were left! Oh god, if Rick or Jessica see me like this¡­ I breathed out and grumbled in suppressed fascination and amazement as even my very breath seemed to exude a kind of colorful vapor. Coming back out, Shisho seemed caught between laughing directly at my face and admiring me in a way that sent uncomfortable shivers up my spine. Shisho was¡­ just a cool teacher that was helping me survive, there was nothing ¡®bad¡¯ in his gaze but¡­ I truly looked too awe inspiring for my own good. At least the room itself was also affected so- ¡°Hey wait a minute! Why weren¡¯t you hit with that Color Bomb?!¡± ¡°Idiot! I obviously retreated back into the necklace when it was deemed necessary. It¡¯s your own fault, perhaps if you had better senses, you wouldn¡¯t be a living Xi Mingun painting!¡± I had no idea who that was but it didn¡¯t matter. Actually, none of this mattered, I had points to get and levels to achieve. Speaking of, a new level was very welcome. I must have put on a hell of a show what with fighting my own doppelganger. But today, I needed to work on Challenges, which meant finding them as fast as possible. I¡¯d wasted enough time with this care package. Quickly making sure I was ready, I headed outside. Annoyingly, sky was still pink, but whatever. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Shisho asked, still smiling from earlier. ¡°For now, challenges. And after that¡­¡± My eyes looked out into the distance, where the Behemoth was. In the light of a pink sky it seemed¡­ strangely more intimidating. All of it¡¯s massive vine limbs were able to seen better and now that I was faster, I could tell it¡¯s legs clearly weren¡¯t doing some strange teleporting trick. It was really just moving the damn things that fast. I once more took it in. Massive, sphere like body, no discernable features, no eyes or features, with legs like square blocks of cement. It looked like what a child would put together. That was until you took in the vines. Red in color, curling all around it, branching to make massive vine limbs that swayed through the air. Countless fell off it but there always seemed to be more. Always walking around in the same area, the rhythm of its legs stomping the ground sending a constant vibration that could reach me all the way here. It was¡­ a strange creature. But I knew I¡¯d fail to kill it right now. It was just¡­ too much. Even if I got all my stats to 50¡­ it¡¯s size was a massive problem. How would I fight a million vines trying to engulf and strangle me at once? I wanted to fight it before I had my class but the more I thought about it, the more that seemed impossible. ¡°You need more Qi.¡± Shisho said. I blinked. ¡°Qi?¡± ¡°If you want to fight that thing, you need more Qi. That¡¯s the only way your sword will be able to have any effect.¡± I frowned. ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s a good thing that¡¯s what I plan on getting then.¡± I moved and it was like the whole world slowed down to accommodate. I gaped, even as my body moved through the world. I was¡­ beyond fast. Beyond anything I could have imagined. In no time at all, annoyingly, I found myself back at the gas station from oh so long ago. The ice cooler was where the challenge seemed to be ¡®coming from¡¯. I walked up to it, laid my hand on it and- Stolen novel; please report. [Challenge Found!] [Challenge Type: Speed Reward: 5 Qi Points Special notes: You will be temporarily transported to a separate space to take part in your challenge!] I nodded. That was pretty good all around and it didn¡¯t even have anything like it taking up a whole day. The special notes might even be unique to every challenge typing. Part of me hoped not, I didn¡¯t want to have to deal with a 24 hour test every time I wanted to do something involving endurance. I began to pull my hand back but¡­ something appeared. [Warning! Leaving the Challenge untaken will cause it to disappear!] ¡°Fuck.¡± I said quietly. That was annoying. I had wanted to go to each of the challenges in the area, marking their location. This¡­ would be a problem. It meant I had a much more limited amount of time to complete as many challenges as possible in the next 3 hours. I was apparently going to be putting my speed to the test. ¡°I accept.¡± and the world went dark. But only for a moment, because the next, it was blue. Ice. Lots and lots and lots of ice. I was standing on a platform, in what seemed to be a massive underground area, entirely composed of ice. In front of me was floating platforms of crystal blue ice, spinning and moving. At the very far end there seemed to be a flag stuck into the platform, but it was nowhere near me. I began to realize exactly what I¡¯d need to do and was really, really hoping my shoes had more traction that I¡¯d ever expected from them. [Challenge Start! Rewards: 5 Qi Points Challenge Type: Speed Challenge: Make your way across platforms made of ice. Beware though! You only have¡­ 3 minutes! Make sure to run fast or you¡¯ll fall right into the void!] I heard a low whistling sound behind me and turned, only to see a platform falling down and down, below into what seemed like a never ending white fog. It occurred to me once again that¡­ challenges were very dangerous if you weren¡¯t careful. I began to run and immediately felt my feet trying to fall out from under me as they began to slip on the ice. I hit the edge and basically tripped into the empty air, soaring right over one platform, and onto the next. Despite feeling panic for a moment¡­ I mostly just felt annoyed strangely. My body was under my complete control and this was the first time it¡¯d felt ¡®out of sync¡¯ with me. I tried to walk and move across the ice, slowly getting my footing, as I heard another whistle from a platform falling down behind me. I should have been worried, panicked, my heart racing with adrenaline but I just felt¡­ calm. Relaxed. That skill was paying dividends, especially combined with my mind stat. Finally feeling like my feet were underneath me properly, I began to move just as the platform I sailed over began to fall down. My feet skidded over the ice as I approached the edge of the platform but I didn¡¯t hold back this time. This time, I leaped and went flying through the air like a rocket. I soared over multiple platforms, hitting one and keeping my momentum, as I jumped off it. It honestly almost felt¡­ fun. Like I¡¯d become one of the Rario Sisters and was just leapfrogging my way across some easily made platforms. It only took me a few more seconds to land where the flag was and grab it. ¡°Well¡­ that was easy.¡± [Challenge Completed!] I blinked as my vision began to darken and I found myself back, standing outside the gas station again. ¡°That was¡­ really strange. I expected something¡­ harder.¡± ¡°Of course it was easy you idiot! You have so much speed that it would have been appalling if it had been any easier and look at the reward! It seemed pretty light. Even if you¡¯d still been a weak normal person, it would have only been really difficult.¡± Shisho was right. If I had just been a normal person¡­ I still probably could have completed that. Which made me think. Was this challenge¡­ here since the beginning? Was I meant to find it? I could have gotten 5 more Qi points right at the very beginning of my journey¡­ and maybe fallen to my death in an icy pit. I¡¯d much rather have done it here and now, then before and then. I¡¯d probably have died. The next marker was pointing me deeper into the town. As I went, combat was inevitable but I could already feel myself out growing what I¡¯d seen. Zombies no longer sent me into terror, Black Skeletons were far slower than me and I could already have beaten them easily enough before hand, scorpion ant things, vines, Shoggoths, none of it was a challenge anymore. I¡¯d¡­ I¡¯d survived and now I was thriving. Which was a problem. I needed more strength to become more entertaining to get more strength. Part of that equation meant fighting stronger and stronger enemies but I¡¯d need to actually find them. This town¡­ I was outgrowing it rapidly and then I¡¯d need to move, go out, explore different areas. And I had no idea what was out there or where to go. It was almost a chilling thought. This town was dangerous but somehow¡­ I doubted I¡¯d seen the worst of the worst. No matter what, this town was my starting point. I don¡¯t think it was ever meant to kill me, not really. It could have. But it was perfectly survivable. The biggest threat had actually been the nurses of all things. There were still things that went bump in the dark, things lurking out there that I hadn¡¯t seen even when I was trying, but I had an extremely bad feeling about being outside when the true night came. That seemed like a good way to die. But outside the town? Outside of this¡­ cultivated area, this garden of hell? It would be worse. I could feel it, could know it. This was like a tutorial and I¡¯d nearly grown beyond it. It was going to be like stepping out from a garden into a jungle and I¡¯d just have to pray I was strong enough for it. The next challenge point pissed me off the moment I saw it. It was the police station, the one I¡¯d searched heavily a few days ago. But I¡¯d only been searching the doors, thinking challenges could only be attached to them. Clearly I had been wrong, especially as my temporary challenge vision pointed right towards a little dragon statue that was lying on a random desk. I grabbed it and- [Challenge Found!] [Challenge Type: Strength Rewards: 100 Qi Points, Title, Special Potion Special Notes: None] ¡°Nope. Un uh, Nope. Not in a million years, NOPE.¡± ¡®It is¡­ good to know one¡¯s limits.¡¯ Shisho said in his semi-creepy ghost mind speaking way. Honestly¡­ what the hell? No way. I was going to absolutely, 100%, Die, if I took that challenge. I could already see exactly what it was going to have me do. It was going to have me fight a fucking dragon. No way. I pulled my hand away quickly, backpedaling, as the warning message popped up. Once I was far enough away I saw the challenge dissipate before my very eyes. Or at least the marker for it disappeared. That was more than good enough. I was really feeling that ¡®You can die by making the wrong choices¡¯ thing Warix had said. Her words were still stamped into my memories and they had almost never seemed more relevant than right now. I left the police station, glad I hadn¡¯t found that challenge before and glad I hadn¡¯t taken it now. The next one was in a jewlery store. Annoyingly, I had to kill a dozen Black Skeletons and three shoggoths to even get inside. The bottom of my shoes were now unpleasantly sticky by whatever the hell they¡¯d been made of. This time, the challenge was a strange looking pearl necklace. I reached out to grab it. [Challenge found!] [Challenge Type: Magic Rewards: 10 Qi, Book of Cantrips Special notes: Alternate Testing Space.] I frowned. ¡°Magic¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know a damn thing about magic. Not the slightest amount. I had absolutely no way to shoot a fireball or control water or anything like that. I couldn¡¯t cast any spells. Something testing me on my Magic was¡­ incredibly dangerous actually. I had no idea what it could ask of me. There was a very real chance I simply lose and die. On the other hand¡­ I might be able to do it. If I needed to kill something, I could. If I needed to run away, I could. I didn¡¯t think it was¡­ hopeless for me to succeed and more than that, one of the rewards wasn¡¯t normal. It was a book of cantrips. Otherwise known as a book of spells so weak and tiny, they didn¡¯t even really count as spells. But that meant I could learn them. Maybe. Hopefully. It would be another tool in my arsenal, one that completely consisted of a sword and Qi at the moment. Well, and the stats to back it up. ¡°I accept.¡± The world faded away and when I opened my eyes I was struck by just how loud the place was. It was like a thousand pipes were carrying a thousand streams of pressurized stream. All around me I seemed to be in some kinda¡­ I had no idea. Metal and more metal. Dark too. It was like I¡¯d been taken into some underground¡­ testing chamber. Except it looked more like a place for nukes rather than magic. In front of me was¡­ some kinda¡­ magic machine maybe? It had a million symbols I didn¡¯t understand, was clearly a ¡®screen¡¯ but one made of out some kind of thin blue crystal, and seemed to part illusion or hologram, I couldn¡¯t tell what. Suddenly, all the lights and the screen itself became bright red, as what was clearly an alarm began to go off. [Challenge Start! Rewards: 10 Qi, Book of Cantrips Challenge Type: Magic Challenge: A RED has begun to enter made reality. Quickly, use your mana manipulation to prevent this catastrophe before you and everything around is unmade!] WHAT? What¡¯s a Red? What do you mean unmade? What mana manipulation?! Quickly, I reached out towards the screen in front of me, hoping I could find some answers. The second I did, for the first time, I felt a connection to a part of myself that was more ethereal than most. My mana channels, the one¡¯s that wound around my Qi Channels, seemed to leap forward like something had just prodded and connected with them. I blinked and cautiously, slowly, I began to send my ¡®mana¡¯ forward. It was¡­ unreal. It was kinda like Qi but¡­ starkly different. Like they were both liquid but one was more like¡­ coffee and the other was tea. No, that wasn¡¯t really quite it either¡­ more like the difference between¡­ there really were no proper words for it. Qi was Qi and Mana was Mana, both energy, but so so starkly different in make up. As I sent my Mana forward, it felt like I was connecting and feeling out something, like I¡¯d grown more sensory information. When my mana hit something, I knew it. When it didn¡¯t, I knew it. It was like¡­ I was sending it through pipes. I looked at all the many, many pipes around me. Maybe I was. As I reached further in, as the alarms continued to ring, I began to worry a little. This wasn¡¯t just any challenge, this was a puzzle. I was¡­ inputting some kinda code, kinda. My Mana had to go down the right pipes, at the right time, in the right way. It was simple in one way, like a key into a hole. It wasn¡¯t made to be hard¡­ it just was hard. If I was an actual magical engineer, sure, this would have been easy. But it wasn¡¯t. It was like asking a child to hit all the buttons the right way to steer an airplane. I was mostly shocked I hadn¡¯t blown myself up. Because as the alarms began to grow louder and louder, I was keenly aware that the Challenge hadn¡¯t given a time frame. It¡¯d simply said quickly. I had to do the mental equivalent of making a Key, except I¡¯ve never used the thing to make it. I was positive that without experience with Qi, I¡¯d never make it in time. I was improving fast, manipulating mana for the first time, but it didn¡¯t really feel fast enough. It had started with me essentially using somehow both floppy noodles and also a mass of playdoh shoved down pipes by a limp wrist. I was severely upgrading those, rapidly, like a book opening up in my mind, but I still required time. I got to a section of the ¡®keyhole¡¯, the pipes, and my mind flailed. I needed¡­ two. My mana needed to go down both paths. I was absolutely sure of it. But how? I struggled, focused, and tried to split my mana. It did. From one lumpy playdoh noodle, to two. I kept going and two became four, five, seven, eight, nine. Different pipes, different threads, and I was starting to feel very, very worried as everything had suddenly gone from just Red to RED. No longer was I just being warned, something was happening. I was positive that I could already feel myself beginning to unravel. I was already going as fast as I can but I desperately tried to learn faster, to act faster, to- Clink. Like a key slotting into a slot, it was done and at the same moment, I ¡®turned¡¯ my mana. The pipes seemed to explode with raw energy and moments later, the red seemed to recede, leaving me feeling¡­ existentially strained somehow. My heart, I absently mindly noticed, was beating hard in my chest. My mind may feel somewhat calm¡­ but my body had nearly panicked. I had come¡­ far too close to death there. [Challenge completed!] And suddenly, I found myself back where I¡¯d left. I took a second, just to breath. Just to close my eyes and feel my mana coursing around and through me. I raised my hand¡­ and a book appeared in it. I looked down, seeing what looked like a genuine dusty old brown spellbook. I smiled. I could now feel my mana in a new way and even had to a way to practice. And speaking of¡­ It was time to do more challenges. ¡­Right after I dropped off this book. The rest of the challenges were mostly simple. Strength, kill 100 creatures. That one didn¡¯t even give me any kind of space to do it. It just straight issued the challenge and told me to be quick about it. Speed, another obstacle course, this time one made of mud and grass with worm like things. An endurance one I skipped that would¡¯ve taken me at least six hours. Considering I touched a punching bag for that one, I had a good idea of what it would¡¯ve taken. By the end of the day, since I took a Mind one that required me to not move for 12 whole hours because my challenge vision was fading, I¡¯d accrued over 50 Qi points. Not just that, but also a book of Cantrips, beads that seemed to make breathing a little easier strangely, and an extremely scary amount of patience. Well¡­ that and a lot of mana practice. Not moving for twelve hours didn¡¯t mean I had to do nothing after all. ¡°Today was a good day.¡± I said. Shisho nodded. ¡°What do you plan to do with those Qi Points? You haven¡¯t even checked your Achievements today.¡± ¡°I think¡­ I¡¯m going to go grab my stuff from the Hospital and then go ¡®home¡¯ and sleep.¡± ¡°Home?¡± ¡°This world¡­ it¡¯s either a version or a copy of mine. That means my bed should be out there. I¡¯m gonna find it and pass out in it. And then tomorrow¡­¡± I stared at the behemoth in the distance. ¡°I think tomorrow I¡¯ll be ready.¡± . . . ¡°And maybe you won¡¯t be a walking art gallery.¡± Shisho snickered. ¡°W-Why did you have to remind me of that?!¡± Hiatus Yo. So, yeah. Time for a full hiatus. On everything. Which sucks. But the facts are in, the truth is here. I''m not doing great lol. Financially, I make $500 a month to work my ass off writing 3 books. That''s not living wages money. I don''t have time to build a backlog, I''m getting burnt out, etc etc. Simply taking a book down just isn''t going to cut it. Gonna be real with you all, it could end up being longer than a week. I don''t want to but I really need some time to just, survive lol. I will continue my books of course, but let me put you all in my shoes at around 8am today. I woke up at 8am, and realized I still needed to write 3 chapters, 9k words, + an overdue commission of 7 words that I still needed done. That 9k needed to be done within 4 hours. It wouldn''t be. And that same thing happened monday, and etc etc. And then I''d barely get it all done within the next 12 hours and I''d put off the commission I need to do. That single commission gets me $350 and writing around 110k words a month, vs 7, gets me $500. And I''m -400 this month. And I realized friday is going to be the same and the next week and the week after that. and that soon I''d be starting a part time job on the weekends because of how inconsistent commissions are. So even less time to write. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I can not lol. It''s not enough money, it''s not enough time. I''m hoping a week will give me enough time to get used to my new job, relax, build up a backlog, etc etc. Just in general recover both financially and mentally. But it might not. I can''t really predict that sorta thing. So, it''s been fun everyone. I''ll come back, I love my books, and I have so much planned, but reality is reality. See ya when I see ya. The End Hello. Yes, yes, it is as you feared. It''s over. The book is being discontinued. I bit off more than I could chew and worse, the book broke my mental fatigue over it''s knee. It was basically the straw that broke the camel''s back but in many ways, it was a good thing. The long hiatus I did from writing really helped me focus on some things in some ways. But for those of you who read and liked Likes so much, this isn''t really any good news. Likes was a great book and I had at least some great stuff planned with it. Let''s go over that a little. I was planning doing more stuff with cultivation. Yeah, we were getting glimpses, but part of me had the idea of Matt getting thrown into that whole world for a bit. It was going to be a great Arc. I was going to do more with the big guy walking around, have him be the end of the ''tutorial'' and then have him catch the eye of the ''god'' (non-meta kind) who destroyed the world by gazing at it. It was going to be a great thing, with him having over taken the moon. Were gonna be hordes of demons and Matt was going to have to be on the run and survive as he was hunted down, slowly finding more and more sapient and sentient monsters of all sorts. I was planning on they''re being an underground market/city, underneath the city, with the stranger and more creepy denizens would go and talk about the "Insane living human up there. Best to stay down here till he goes away." and they''re whole ''culture'' as many of them just woke up as they are recently or came from a whole other plane or reality. There was going to be so much meta commentary. I literally had this whole deep meaningful conversation between ''The Host'' (me) and Matt planned out. It was going to be great and an idea I''ve wanted to throw around for a while. Basically, what makes a person real and what makes a person fake? We could be brains in a jar, *we* could be people in a book. Imagine a world with a man in the 21st century... to have gotten there, to that man in your head, you need to have gone through the rest of history, yet you never thought about that. Games, movies, books, there''s always a past and a future after what you see. People sometimes say we''re in a simulation (either seriously or jokingly), but what if we''re just the background lore that got loaded up? What if the whole world was made... just so someone could play a character in 2332 of being a space pirate? What makes Matt more real than us? All those type of things and much, much more. Matt was going to find out that his whole *world* was created soley so Matt could exist and entertain gods and deal with that mind fuck. that he is the reason that his entire universe exists. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The dream versions of Rick and Jessica, when they left the door, were going to (very, very long from now), be revealed to have merged with the real Rick and Jessica''s subconscious. Let''s not forget the milestones! I was going to have soul weapons, race stuff, classes, all sorts of great things. Etc etc. Jessica currently was stuck in a dream and when (if) we ever got to her, I was going to have her have lived a whole 40 years with a fake Matt and all the ensuing chaos that would bring. Rick is currently stuck fighting for his life and miracously managed to beat a Black Skeleton as a regular baseline human. Spot isn''t doing great and feels really, really sad that he''s stuck in a cage and can''t move much. And that''s it. Not really ''it'', it, but a lot of my stories are made up as they go along and this one way more than most. I have no idea what I would''ve done for a lot of situations. Btw, the last poll was a tie between "Give him a Motorcycle" and "Random positive effect." Oh, mechanics! If there was a tie, I''d usually just roll a random Die or flip a coin or something. I rarely, if ever, put my hand on the scale. The most notable feature of me doing that was that once, no joke, Matt was missing *one* like to level up and kinda needed it (this was when he was dying in the sewer), I decided to hand wave that a tiny bit rather than doing anything else. And yeah, if he hadn''t reached level ten by the time a ''month'' in story had passed, I was going to have him Die. Death was always going to a very real possibility in the book from the main character. At the end of things though, this was an expierment partially because... I expected Matt to die. There was no way to get that high, all the way to level 100. But really, I think we could''ve done it, if I could''ve kept it up. But I couldn''t and so it fell down, down, down. It was fun and thanks for all the fish. Game Over Final stats: Level: 10 Views: 41,000 Words: 61,000 Chapters: 14 Comments: 909 ***** As the host watches a frozen world, she looks down. Matt, Rick, Jessica, even spot. She has failed. A frozen universe, unmoving. With a wave of her hand, reality it reset. An apocalypse undoes itself, the world returning to it''s pristine nature. Matt is never summoned, Rick and Jessica are never abducted, Spot lives happily ever after as the good boy he is. She smirks a little, amused. "Well, better luck next time. I guess you won Matt."