“What the fuck?” Chase muttered under his breath.
WELCOME TO THE NETWORK!
Please Standby While Integrating Into The Network
Analyzing Planetary Ecological History
Suitable Targets Incorporated
“What Network? What do you mean ‘Ecological History’? What the hell is going on?!” Chase all but shouted.
NEW WORLD INTEGRATED
Do You Wish To Make A Gamble Roll?
This time, when the strange voice finished speaking, a translucent box appeared in Chase's vision, with two words in it: Yes/No. Chase blinked a couple of times before reaching out and tapping the Yes. The only logical conclusion he'd come up with was that he was either hallucinating or having one fucked up dream.
ROLLING...
Major Curse Rolled: Honesty of the Sidhe
Do You Wish To Roll Again?
Yes/No
The fuck's a Sidhe, and how is honesty a curse? Chase thought to himself. Once more he tapped Yes, figuring that if this was a hallucination, he might as well go with it.
ROLLING...
Lesser Perk Rolled: Scentless
Do You Wish To Roll Again?
Yes/No
That either meant he no longer produced a scent or he couldn't smell anything anymore. Honestly Chase still wasn't convinced this was all really happening, it wasn't like his sense of smell had ever really worked in the first place. A childhood filled with near constant sinus infections until he was in third grade had that effect. With a shrug, he hit Yes again, trying to ignore the slight buzz that was starting to form in his head.
ROLLING...
Curse Rolled: Tutorial Exile
Do You Wish To Roll Again?
Yes/No
This was starting to feel like the character creation of some MMO. In Chase experience with them, the tutorials were almost always a waste of time. Taking a deep breath of the air that somehow felt sweeter than it had earlier, and being reminded of just why he stayed the hell away from gacha games, he hit Yes for a fourth time, doing his best to ignore the way the corners of his vision were starting to become blurry.
ROLLING...
Damning Curse Rolled: Mystic Malediction
Do You Wish To Roll Again?
Yes/No
That sounded bad, malediction was bad, right? What did it even do?! When no answer was forthcoming and his vision was starting to swim, Chase leaned forward and slapped No. The last thing he saw as he collapsed and his vision went black was a final text box.
ROLLS FINALIZED
Integrating Subject Into Multiverse Network
Calibrating Capabilities
~*~*~*~
When Chase awoke, the sky looked somewhat returned to normal. There was still a second moon in the sky, and there was a band that looked like the pictures he'd seen of places where the Milky Way were visible at night. Chase rubbed at his eyes and blinked a few times, wondering if he was still dreaming. But the second moon and Milky Way band remained visible in the night sky.
That can't be real, Chase thought as he pinched himself, hard. But despite the sharp stab of pain, the two moons continued to hang in the purple-tinged sky, the one from before the sky broke slightly larger and brighter than the new, green one. The Milky Way's band stretched across the heavens, a river of stars glittering against the darkness.
Sitting up from where he'd passed out on the ground, Chase looked around, trying to get his bearings. It took him a moment to recognize the area as the clearing near his cabin, but something felt off about it. The trees seemed taller, the shadows deeper and darker, and the air had a strange, earthy scent to it.
The strangest thing was that it all felt... natural, like this was the way things were supposed to be. As if the world had been waiting for something like this to happen. Chase let out a sigh, knowing that this wasn't the kind of thing he could explain away as a dream. Before he could try to think of what to do next, another screen appeared in front of him, this one looking like a character sheet, only it was for himself.
Name: Chase Newell
Level: 0
Race: Human, Rank L
Class: Locked
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Achievements: Cursed, Trailblazer, Damned, Gambler’s Folly
Characteristics:
Strength 32
Vitality 33
Resilience 37
Agility 24
Intellect 28
Cunning 26
Presence 20
Fatebless 34
Curses: Honesty of the Sidhe, Tutorial Exile, Magical Malediction
Blessings: Scentless
Perks: None
Skills: None
Abilities: None
Paths: None
Chase had no idea what to think. He supposed that relative to each other, the Characteristic values made sense, he'd always been pretty strong and rarely got sick, but he had no idea what they were on a scale of. Nor was he sure what to make of the fact that the voice said he was human, yet the description of the race said he was 'Rank L' human. He’d just turned his focus to the Achievements when the screen changed.
Achievements:
Cursed – Receive a Curse from the Gamble Roll. (+1 Fatebless)
Trailblazer – Do not participate in the Tutorial. (+2 to all Characteristics)
Damned – Receive a Damning Curse. (+5 Fatebless, +5% Fatebless)
Gambler’s Folly – Receive at least three times as many Curses as Blessings from the Gamble Roll. (+5% to all Characteristics)]
Staring at the changed screen in front of him for a little bit longer, Chase fumbled around a bit before he figured out how to go back to the earlier screen showing his full sheet and then focused on his Curses.
Curses:
Honesty of the Sidhe – You are unable to tell a direct falsehood.
Tutorial Exile – You will not be transported to the Tutorial and must discover the features of The Network on your own.
Magical Malediction – You cannot gain any active magical Perk, Skill, or Ability.
“Uh… What the fuck am I supposed to do about these? How do I remove them? Can I remove them? I have no idea what the fuck any of this is! Hello?! Can you hear me?" Chase called out, but the forest remained silent around him, responding only with the rustle of leaves in the breeze and the hoot of an owl far off in the distance. Frustrated, Chase tried to force a smile on his face as he stood up shakily to his feet.
“Okay, Chase. You're still you...right?” he asked himself, pinching his arm hard enough to leave a bruise. “Ow. Definitely you.” He took a deep breath. “Okay, first things first, let's get to safety and then worry about this… Network nonsense later.”
With that decided, he started walking towards the cabin, planning on grabbing his phone and keys. When he stepped onto the porch, the screen changed again, but this time it had something that send a cold chill down his spine.
Quests
Class Quests: None
Primary Quests:
1. Man Versus Nature
Minor Quests:
2. The First Step
3. Find the Path
Collection Quests: None
Chase waited for a moment, before focusing on the Primary Quest, starting to get a bit of a hang for this new system that had apparently become part of reality.
Man Versus Nature – Survive alone for two months while surrounded by hostile wildlife. Reward: +2 Vitality, +2 Resilience, +2 Cunning, Unlock Passive Skill: Survivalist
There was nothing else shown, and any attempts at getting this system to explain what the scores or the Survivalist skill were about had no response. Chase felt a wave of unease wash over him as he read the chilling quest presented before him. Two months alone in the wilderness with hostile wildlife? It was a daunting task, even for someone who’d spent a good chunk of his childhood here, and the lack of details or explanations only compounded his anxiety.
Yet, as he glanced back at the cozy cabin that just minutes before had represented a simple stop on a move to a different state, Chase had a nagging feeling that there was no going back now. Whatever this ‘Network’ was, it had certainly fucked with reality in ways beyond what he could explain. With a deep breath, Chase steeled his nerves and stepped off the porch.
“Alright, focus Chase,” he muttered to himself. “The first step was it?”
He pulled up the minor quests and focused on them, bringing up both of them.
The First Step – Reach Level 20 and choose a class. Rewards: +5% to chosen Class’s Primary Characteristic, +2% to chosen Class’s Secondary Characteristic, +1% to chosen Class’s Tertiary Characteristic
Find the Path – Awaken a Novice Path. Rewards: 5 Meditation Orbs of equal Rank to race, additional rewards determined by Path Awakened
So the rewards for both were dependent on information he didn’t have, of course. Shaking his head, Chase all but threw up his hands in the air, heading to his car. He had no reason to believe that there would be any major consequences for just getting in the car and heading towards civilization.
Closing the gate to the property behind him, Chase got into his car, put the key into the ignition, and turned it. Nothing happened, not even a hint of the car attempting to turn over. Looking nervously down at the dashboard, he tried again. Still nothing. Pulling out his phone, he’d planned on checking the cell service, but it refused to so much as light up. He’d made sure it was charged before going to bed the night before, maybe The Network included an EMP when it fucked up the sky?
“This can't be good,” Chase muttered, before there was another screen to appear in his vision.
Planetary Integration Completed
Grace Period Ended
Ecological History Incorporated
Local Wildlife Augmented
Getting out of his car, Chase had a bad feeling, and so made his way back to the gate. He didn't have a gun with him, but he'd remembered a bit about making a-
His thoughts were cut off as he passed through the gate by a shrieking yowl like the screams of the damned, and he turned around to see a mountain lion the size of a tiger running towards him, hunger and madness in its eyes.