Sweat plastered his clothes to his skin as he ran from the monstrosity that brought imminent death wherever it went. The hulking demon chased him through the dark corridors as he tried to escape. Out of breath and with a stitch on both sides, he continued to run. Although tears clouded his eyes, the man had no chance to wipe them away less it allowed the monster to get closer. He was the last one left; the only one who had survived the event. Things were supposed to be better than this after getting to Japan, the land of his dreams.

The man was a stock broker who also held an office job. He wanted to earn enough money in order to fund virtual reality projects. In the beginning, he thought the idea was farfetched; however, after the death of a friend who was developing such a device, he looked into it. For once it didn’t seem like pure fantasy like in the light novels he read in a child. To carry on his friend’s goal, he helped fund every project he could come across.

The man’s job led him to be transferred to the Japan branch because there was an opening and he was the only one who knew Japanese. On his first day on the job, however, he had by chance dropped his phone in the toilet meaning he had to check stocks on his work computer. While googling a stock trading website; he saw an ad that advertised a new sort of virtual reality. Sam Lochs, being the enthusiast he was, immediately funded it and unlocked the ‘beta’; forcing him and his co-workers, who were immediately killed by the monster, into a game.

As Sam ran through the corridors, a blue screen appeared in front of him, almost tripping the man. This one slip up almost killed him.

Welcome to the beta of Cruel World. As you may be aware by now, there are some bugs. Don’t be alarmed, they only result in a random spawn point, permanent death, forced log in and no log out button. It may take a few years to fix these bugs because it takes time to work out manipulating space so please find the nearest village and reside there for safety.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any deaths or being permanently trapped inside the game.

Please enjoy the game.

-Game God

The last line that Sam read seemed to taunt the man, as if it was deliberately trying to piss him off. The person going by the alias of Game God did not put anything about this in his project page. As he finished reading the message, two more blue boxes appeared in front of him.

Sprint learnt

Stamina is low

‘Crap,’ he thought to himself. Having remembered to check the bars in the top left of his vision due to the message, he noticed that the green one was extremely low. About 10% was remaining.

As it was reaching 5%, Sam saw a doorway in the distance. Willing himself forward, he pushed on, even when his stamina had reached 0%. As Sam entered the new area, the monster was upon him, trying to squeeze itself into the entrance but unable to.

With temporary safety, Sam collapsed onto the floor, going into a fit of gasping for air and throwing up.

After that had finished and his stamina bar had replenished itself slightly, Sam sat up and stared at the hulking beast that had killed his newfound colleagues. Covered in tentacles, the only thing separating itself from reality and a Lovecraft fantasy novel were the large blades that seemed to grow out of the extremities. The body of the monster itself was covered in blood and body parts of people who were alive just minutes ago; this made Sam gag and almost throw up again. Organs, intestines, random limbs seem to cover the creature as if it wore them as a coat. Towards the top of the creature, Sam could see its name floating above.

Guardian of the temple of darkness: Cthulhu’s second spawn

It stuck one of its tentacles through the entrance, slamming down right next to him, cutting through the ground like butter. The shock kicked up the fear factor to max once again in the man, forcing him to get onto his feet leave with haste. However, in his current state, it was less than fleeing and more like walking away swiftly. Sam’s stamina hadn’t recovered much at all and seemed to be hovering around the 10% mark constantly. His body could only stop the shortness of breath, not the shaking of his legs that seemed to persist throughout the journey through the corridor.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

After a couple of minutes of walking, the corridor opened up into what seemed like the Greek Pantheon. Above, there was no ceiling for the pillars to support and instead just the night sky, filled with stars, remained.

Area entered: Temple of Darkness, Confessional for the gods

The box persisted for a few seconds before disappearing from view, informing Sam of his location. Happy to leave the area, he rushed to the edge of the temple, only to see nothing. Rather, an abyss seemed to replace the ground and this was confirmed when Sam kicked a rock down. It fell and fell, seemingly disappearing into the darkness, swallowed up by a gluttonous snake.

‘Wait, this is supposed to be a game right? If so, this seems like the perfect location for a boss battle. Unless,’ Sam licked his chapped lips, ‘that guardian thing was the boss and this is some sort of shrine or treasure room.’

Looking around the ruins, Sam spotted a strange mark on the altar. A large, red blood stain, seemingly pointing towards sacrifice alerted him. Although it was now empty, the area seemed evil enough to reveal that some sort of cult had been here and, judging by the name, talked to some sort of god through the sacrifices they held.

At a loss of what to do, Sam took a sharp piece of stone off of the floor and, since he was not the type of man to slice the entirety of his palm, cut the tip of his finger. Who knows, maybe he could ask the god to get him out of here. The only other options were to somehow get past the guardian that had just murdered a good twelve other people or jump into the abyss hoping for the best.

Putting his hand onto the altar, it glowed a shade of red before Sam felt a presence behind him. Turning around, he noticed that his surroundings had changed. Neither the entrance, nor the temple was there. He was standing in the abyss. He would have thought he had gone blind if not for the skies in the sky and the strange feeling under his feet.

A laugh could be heard from behind.

“So you managed to reach my citadel?” the gender neutral voice asked. “Interesting. Very well, for a human such as yourself, this should suffice as a reward.”

Blue screens popped up before one another, blocking each other as they clogged Sam’s vision.

For reaching the darkness citadel and subsequently gaining a god’s recognition, you have been rewarded with a suitable prize.

Darkness attribute gained

Dark enchant learnt

Darkness manipulation learnt

Title gained: Abyss walker (S+)

For not defeating the final boss, no XP is gained

By the time Sam had finished reading all of the blue boxes, he was standing back in the temple. The only difference was that the abyss was no longer at the borders of the temple. Instead, it was replaced by buildings and streets, flooded with people. Also, although it was night before, it was now around midday, judging by the sun’s position.

Looking out across such a realistic city, he could only think of one thing, ‘This is supposed to be just a game, right?’

Sam’s journey in this game world begins now.