The moment I stepped through the darkness I find myself in a dingy alleyway, with half-timbered walls on either side – black-painted wooden cross beams and braces provide structural support, with stone filling the space between.

Despite the unfamiliar surroundings, my attention is instead drawn to the blue screen that popped up in my vision, accompanied by the chime of a bell.

Welcome to the Arcane Realms!

Welcome, [Traveller]. You are now in the Mortal Realm, on the world of Eiy. A world of magic, unlike your own. Here your thoughts, feelings and actions are under the scrutiny of the [System], and it acts accordingly. Beware, for all things have consequences.

Focused thought is used to direct the [System]. For example, the [Status] window can be accessed by concentrating on the word 'status' with the intent of opening it.

You are encouraged to explore the [System] and discover its functions.

Close this window using the [Dismiss] command.

Beware, huh? And not just actions, but thoughts too? Pretty ominous, and probably pretty unethical too - but I can't bring myself to care, this is just so awesome! The technology itself is pretty much sci-fi to me, but now I'm being told I can do magic! Everybody has once dreamt about doing magic as a kid. I wonder if the AI Seth mentioned earlier is the one 'scrutinizing' what I do? I'll probably never know, but it's probably unimportant. Instead, I better have a look at what the [System] is all about. Status.

Name: Joseph 'Joey' Brown Age: 16 Species: Human Achievements: Dimensional Travel I Titles: Traveler Traits: Child Level: 1 Experience: 0/100 Attribute Points: 0 Tier: 1 Classes: N/A (Locked until level 10) Class Points: N/A Stamina: 50/50 Health: 50/50 Attributes [-] None Skills [-] None

I focus on the first row. Does that mean I'll have to go by my real name? So much for anonymity! It must have been shared when I got it from the store. Actually... I look down at myself, finding my body looking just as usual, the only change being the clothes I'm wearing - now a loose white shirt, thick suspenders made of a dark brown leather, and short pants of the same color. It seems that if I want some privacy when the 'Digital Portal' is publicly released I'll have to acquire a mask - or a helmet, I'm not fussy. And it has my age too... I hope I won't be forced to stop playing! From the little I've seen so far, I'm already impressed - I want to see what else this game has to offer!

And how come there's already an achievement listed? I haven't even done anything, let alone something as fancy as 'Dimensional Travel'! And what even is an achievement in this context?

The window earlier talked about focused thought, didn't it? Let's see... Achievements.

Achievements Dimensional Travel I

Useful if I want to see the achievements without the rest of the status, but it's not what I'm looking for - I still don't even know what they are! How about... Help? No? I guess it kind of makes sense given the message saying I'm 'encouraged to explore the system'. But then again, it could just be lazy developers not wanting the extra work of implementing such a thing.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Will I at least be able to get some information on the achievement itself? Dimensional Travel. Nothing. Maybe a little more specific? Dimensional Travel I.

Achievement: Dimensional Travel I

You are not from this dimension. Your soul has arrived here through means beyond your understanding, piercing the Void and the Veil, and will be recognised as such. Yet, through these same means, your soul remains anchored to your home dimension.

Note: Rewards reduced as a result of minimal contribution

Effects:

Granted [System] command [Log Out]:

When invoked, or upon the destruction of your body, your soul returns to the anchor in your dimension.

Granted [Title] [Traveler]:

Those who recognise you as a Traveler will remember the folk tales, the legends and the history of those who have come before you, for the better or worse.

Increased [Skill] and [Attribute] acquisition, 50%:

The [System] shall aid your growth.

There we go. And it's a lot more helpful this time! It seems that this is just the backstory for players, rather than anything special. But how is the learning of skills going to be sped up? By somehow sharing processing power with me? How would that work? Maybe skills mean something different in this context too.

And what about attributes? The achievement window said I have to acquire them, but how? And what will they do? From the word I can guess that it'll involve describing parts of me and possibly modifying them, but I can't be sure. Someone with experience playing games like these would probably know more. What was it that Archie called them? RPGs, I think. He used to love talking about all these 'quests' and 'endgame content' until he realised I had no idea what he was talking about. He'll probably love this when it's released publicly.

I bring up my status screen again. I already know what the Traveler title is about, so I instead focus on the Child trait. I'm 16, goddamnit! Not a child!

Trait: Child

You have yet to reach the age of adulthood for your species. Replaced by [Adult] when you reach the age of 18.

Effects:

Increased [Skill] and [Attribute] acquisition, 50%:

Children are well known for their ability to learn and grow at an accelerated rate. As one of them, you share this growth.

Increased susceptibility to deception and mental effects, bonus to creative activities, 11%:

A child's mind is weak and impressionable, yet capable of the greatest feats of imagination.

Ugh. That could be annoying. What the window described would likely be nothing more than a pane. Heh.

Am I really doing that again? I thought I'd broken that habit...

I return to studying the window. At least the trait's not without its upsides, but is that 50% multiplicative or additive to the bonus from the Dimensional Travel achievement? And 11%? That seems rather arbitrary... Wait. I'm 16, 2 years till 18. Round that up to 20, and 2 in 20 is 10% - please don't tell me something like this is calculated so simply...

I go back to the status screen, but nothing else seems to respond to my mental prodding - all I seem to be able to do is open and close the empty attribute and skill lists. How do I get some of those, anyway? Especially those to do with magic? If achievements are awarded for something you do, providing direct benefits, and titles are acquired in the same way, but instead providing indirect benefits or disadvantages based on recognition, then it's probably safe to say skills and attributes are also acquired through related actions - maybe something like demonstrating the skill. Although I could be entirely wrong there - they could just as well be related to the level, tier or class entries on my status. Or both. Or something completely different, like...

I shake my head in an attempt to clear it. I'm not getting anywhere like this. 'Related actions' could encompass pretty much anything, and I have no information to base any assumptions on.

But what's that blue light in the corner of my eye? It's annoying...

Oh, a notification?

Attribute Unlocked: Intelligence One of the basic mental attributes, intelligence governs the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills, including the objective reasoning you have displayed.

I guess I was right then? At least about gaining attributes, I still can't be sure about skills. And it's described as a basic attribute, so does that mean it's easier to unlock? Not to mention it mentions acquiring skills - are these the same skills as on the status screen? More thoughts I can't confirm, at least not now. Instead, I call up my attribute window to see the addition.

Attribute Level Progress Intelligence 0 0/100

So it only unlocked, without actually adding to the attribute? I'm guessing I have to do something to get that progress up to 100 if I want to increase it.

I can probably unlock a few more attributes, but right now I feel like exploring a little instead. I want to see what this world is really about! The adventure, the magic, and seeing what I can make here! The attributes can wait for later, I'm in no rush!

And so I walk out of the alley, with a thirst to explore and know the unknown, yet... What I see is nothing less than extraordinary.