Abruptly the sound of his rapid breathing vanished. His ears had simply been turned off then a strange voice talked inside his head. Trying to whisper to him but the voice was too quiet, too distant to hear clearly.

His eyes were open but in clear darkness. An absence of light. Johan knew that the Kris knife would offer him power but at a price. He grasped in the dark blindly at his trousers to find that he was in fact still wearing clothes and socks and the makeshift sack remained tied to his belt. Reaching inside there was the Kris knife, gripping it with his fingers gave him confidence despite the absence of visible light surrounding him.

The massive creature within the dusty office environment had been aware of the abilities of the blade but had called him an avatar.

‘Hel-.’ started Johan before he stopped. He’d been down this road before and talking aloud wouldn’t be much fun and someone decided to reply in the darkness or blow breath on his neck just for a shock reaction.

All the talk of gods and player-gods was becoming extremely confusing and he wanted to grasp hold of some solid answers and form a plan of action. Or at least find the way to High Fantasy and to a source of promised food and drink.

If he needed to deal with people pretending to dress up as Elves, Dwarves and Orcs then he’d take it as long as they slowed down the pace of craziness and give him some decent answers.

He shoved aside all thoughts of the voice that was trying to desperately whisper to him in the darkness as he simply sat down and held the Kris tightly in one hand gripped tightly.

Yeah. Come on then. First person that touched me gets cut. Cut cut. Cutcutcut.

Regardless he was unable to make it out clearly and visibly ignored it as he experienced the same sensation as he had earlier right before he had first lost consciousness after being forced to read the card and agree with Mr Darr about entering Beneath Nightmare Dungeon.

More teleportation and then yet another freak decides to talk to me, threaten me or talk like an insane person. No, wait, I’m being negative. Why can’t it be all three?

I’m going to find you Mr Darr. Me and my knifey Kris knife.

I...I think I’m going a little bit crazy.

Johan had been in the process of falling into a carpeted floor next to a cubicle and the next his ears popped as a message from a voice he had never heard before kicked in. This one spoke clearly and with authority as though he had just won a grand competition and was being awarded a hefty prize. The voice was odd though, like a recording which had gone wrong and was simply played over and over until the original quality had been lost.

The darkness around him didn’t bother Johan much though. This was a similar situation to the office space, a trial, a test with someone likely filming his reaction. He knew that he’d overreacted and basically thrown a tantrum after searching the floor when in truth he should have conserved his energy.

Sitting in the darkness the voice became far clearer and stopped whispering, different to the intercom style one on the office floor with the freak watching him. All Johan needed to do was wait. Then strike. He sat and listened.

[Congratulations to our latest new player! Insert name here! Welcome to the 30...32..36th Multiverse Stack. The Sy-Sy-System awaits your...your...new destInY. YOU ARE GOING TO ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS IF YOU DO NOT DIE! NO REFUNDS PERMITTED! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! THE PLAYER-GODS SEE ALL, KNOW ALL AND CONTROL ALL! BELIEVE IN THEM!]

Johan had no idea why the volume from the voice suddenly ramped up but it visibly hurt him. A wetness came on his face as he realised that he had either been crying or blood was leaking from his eyes. Not that he wanted to lick the wet liquid. His hands certainly weren’t clean after relieving himself and he didn’t know if pepper sauce had been dumped on his sitting body as a joke.

A rush came through his body as energy flowed into him and all his injuries and discomforts washed away as a rush entered him. The discomfort he had experienced on the office floor, his emotional state was turned back to when he had been inside his former office headquarters, mildy uncomfortable but accepting.

*Loading pre-loaded Initiation Room for newly aquired players. Warning: Unauthorised Access Device Detected. Dungeon System Removal in process….removal not possible. Identifying correct method. System Access Granted. ON AUTHORITY OF THE PLAYER-GODS, ALL RESTRICTED ITEMS WILL BE LOCKED AND REMOVED TEMPORARILY UNTIL END OF INTIATION ROOM. TRACES OF NEW PLAYER RECRUITER DESIGNATE: DARR, ANDY LOCATED. ALL PLAYER-GODS WILL BE INFORMED OF PRESENT EVENT. HAVE A NICE DAY AND WELCOME TO YOUR OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME NEW PLAYER! RESET BEGINS IN...3...2..*

What the hell was going on?

That was the last thought that ran through Johan’s struggling mind before everything turned dark again. His brain reset. In his situation the words that were spoken were literal as he tried to reach inside the makeshift cloth bag as his hand froze and he was paralysed

A fresh breeze brushed across his face and there was a sweetish smell of mint in the air. His eyes were forced open and he saw that his entire body was standing. There was no memory of it but he must have done so. All he could see was himself as though the rest of the room was simply an absence of space. No white, no darkness, nothing on the colour spectrum, just him inside a blank void.

He grasped his hand holding the Kris knife but it was entirely empty. The bag was no longer attached to his belt and as he patted his trousers he found that all of the uncomfortable pieces of cut carpet he had stuffed in them was also gone.

No sign of his shoes but he had previously thrown them away before had begun to sink into the carpet and been dismissed by the massive creature calling itself a player-god who had decided to send him to a place called High Fantasy.

He was still wearing no shirt and his feet showed his now dirty socks. If his clothes had been smelling earlier than he was certain that now he must have reeked pretty badly.

‘I’d like to be given something to wea-’ started Johan as he tried to talk before he entered a brand new space.

The floor beneath his feet was pristine white and he was inside a white room. Polished white pristine material. Expensive or brand new.

Not a floor material he recognised. Enough space for him to stand and swing his arms around in but he’d be touching the walls with two steps. His body was wearing a plain white short-sleeve shirt he didn’t remember wearing. His shoes and socks had changed to the same matching coloured clothing, his body was freshly washed and cleaned. There was no smell of urine of sweat. Standard off-brand clothing, strong enough to last for a few weeks before it broke apart.

Other than that his appearance as the same as when the massive freak had decided to send him out of the empty office floor and to a place called High Fantasy to have a drink of water. None of his minor injuries or the cuts on his hand had healed.

This time he wasn’t hungry or thirsty or in pain or fatigue. But rather than his body having been refreshed there was a shadow remaining which told him has his physical desires for food and drink had simply been put on hold.

I’m not hungry. Not thirsty. This isn’t drugs. No. Someone used an IV drip on me and then set me into position like a puppet. A human puppet. This film or prank is getting even more crazy.

Johan refused to move. His legs didn’t experience any signs of fatigue so likely he hadn’t been standing inside this small plain white room for long. The lack of the only weapon from his hand was an issue though. But he had possessed it. He was certain.

He knew this as a matter of course. The cuts from the Kris knife on his hand remained but he couldn’t see a single trace of it anywhere as though it had gone into hiding on his body.

Someone took my knife or hid it. I’m pretty sure they didn’t stick it down my trousers.

A voice called out from beyond the white wall. ‘Welcome new player. You are a brave person for choosing to join. You will become a chosen one in time. The rest of the multiversal stack will await you when you leave this place. All are welcome, all will leave and fufill their true destiny. Be brave, be strong and you will succeed. As according to the wills of the Player-Gods. Praise to them. Praise-praise-praise. Them.’

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The voice sounded synthesized, neutral tone and calmly spoken. Not robotic like the mechanical voice from earlier but it lacked any feeling of human emotion. Passion, Johan realised. It was as though someone had created a bland voice program that would appeal to a wide range of tastes.

*New Player Initiation room and Spare System Created Guide in preparation stages. Please wait as we prepare your welcome. Do not be scared. This is a safe and welcome place for all new ones.*

‘…player? No, you got a mistake here. I didn’t choose to enter as a player. No. A man called Andy Darr sent me here through trickery. I can send him here if you just let me go.’

He wanted to make sure that this wasn’t another trap like he had just experienced. He felt a sense of warmth in this place, not physical heat but comfortable.

Slowly bending his knees Johan reached out a hand and touched the floor while keeping his eyes open and not making any sudden movements. The white floor was warm to the touch, not uncomfortably hot but warm enough for him to imagine just lying on like a beach on a summers day.

I hope I’m not encountering another freak.

Johan tuned out the sound of the boring and plain voice for a moment while he ran his thoughts through the current situation. Virtual reality, simulation, kidnapping, escape room, hallucinations, bad dreams, bad something else trip. Thankfully the white room stayed the same, there was no gas pumping inside, nobody had stepped in wearing a mask or with a gun.

‘…and that is why the System will reward your efforts with equivalent prices. Do you have any questions new player? Please, I am here to assist all enquires during your transition and entrance to this simulated dungeon. Hello? Mr Wolff?’

He realised that the voice had kept talking while he had been thinking to himself. It hadn’t said anything about his physical reaction nor lack of verbal response, almost like a set program or artificial intelligence.

Wait. My name. They know my name which means that they’re away of exactly who I am.

The white walls sunk into the floor as the ceiling simply vanished away and the first thing that struck him was the sheer size of the place that he found himself in. The brightness of the light felt similar to when he had turned on his bedroom light in the morning after waking up in pitch darkness, no it was stronger, this was a heavenly glow.

The voice that had been talking to him earlier was a person entirely dressed in green clothing. He called it a person, but it was more like a white-painted store mannequin without any facial features. Neither male nor female with an otherworldly touch.

A freak. My second of the day. Great.

Past the person in the distance a plain white floor gleamed. There were a large number of statues that were behind the figure, each one the size of a giant. Realistically it should have been impossible for the ground to support the weight of each of them, but they still stood there.

The ceiling above him was high enough to be in the clouds but he saw no end to it. Combined with the size of the space was impressed for a moment as he took in details of each of the giant statues.

One of them had a smiling face that radiated kindness whilst another was entirely dressed in stone armour holding several weapons. The face of that one was trying to achieve a fierce look but it looked to Johan more like it was a fake look of anger.

Right. Giant statues of people. Not interested in the others. Ideally this place has an exit room at last.

The space itself around him was white and perfectly clean. Everything had a hint of a glow around it and although the statues were made of stone, they each had a tint of a different colour, the warlike one was red. The friendly one was orange. The other four statues had other colours but examining them in further detail wasn’t his concern yet.

Johan wasn’t quite sure how the entirely white space had been built nor where the lighting was coming from.

The mannequin in the robe turned towards Johan with outstretched arms and spoke again.

‘This room is considered the human room. I was originally tasked with designing an initial welcome room to facilitate a wide range of different tastes and desires. As it is currently in neutral mode would you prefer a different version? We like to welcome all fresh players who may or may not be experiencing a degree of confusion on their arrival. ’

Johan just stared at the green-robed figure. They either wore a decent costume or had spent more than a few hours to come out with a design which was strange enough to scare people. By this point Johan was beginning to accept his present situation which was he was either continually being tested or someone was trying to make him go insane. He did consider that he had already turned a little bit mad as it was when he chose to reply to the mannequin figure.

‘Hello….? I’m Johan. How do you know my name? No, in fact how do to know my last name? Are you hostile? I was told that I was meant to be sent a place called High Fantasy. Not that I need to. Back home would be just fine of the next parrallel dimension. That was a very old joke by the way.’

The mannequin figure talked as though it hadn’t heard a single word that Johan had just said as it repeated itself word for word with the same gesture before it stopped and paused before twitching and the outstretched arms dropped down.

‘This room is considered the human room. I was originally tasked with designing an initial welcome room to facilitate a wide range of different tastes and desires. As it is currently in neutral mode would you prefer a different version? We like to welcome all fresh players who may or may not be experiencing a degree of confusion on their arrival. ’

You just said this. Twice now.

‘Greetings human, welcome. I am a guide designated by the System for the introduction.’

‘I don’t recall giving my permission for this.’ said Johan.

‘Yes, once you clicked on the yes button you were given a short taster to offer you familiarity with the setting.’

‘Wait, wait. I never clicked anything. I mean there was a card given to me by a...wait. Was I meant to click something? Like on a computer’

The robed figure paused for a moment before shivering violently and began talking again. Johan was worried for a moment that this was a person who was wearing movie-style make-up and an outfit and he was part of some insane plan to record his reactions.

‘Hello? I said that I didn’t agree to anything. I’d like to back home now.’

‘Greetings human, welcome. I am a guide designated to you for purpose of the introduction. By choosing to participate you will undertake quests’.

Johan just stared. Broken, this guide was broken. Maybe the whole thing was super old and just fell apart. Or it was entirely automated and forgotten about.

‘Can you do anything about your appearance? I don’t like talking to a blank face.’

‘Yes. This is the human room, designed to accommodate a range of personalities to make you feel more settled.’

‘Eyes. And a mouth, can you cope with providing those? Oh and a nose, please. It’s a bit hard to talk to you in at you if you don’t have those, the hair doesn’t matter. I don’t feel good talking to a blank face.’

As though they had been painted on the features slowly revealed themselves on the mannequin figure. A generic human mouth, eyes and nose appeared. He felt his mind becoming loosened at the hideous sight of an apparent pseudo-human that was in the process of being developed in front of him. The worst thing was the complete lack of teeth.

The words ‘Uncanny Valley’ rushed through his brain and his mouth opened and spoke almost without his conscious effort before his eyes almost began bleeding tears of blood.

‘Let’s stick with blank features, shall we? And forget about changing anything else, just keep it neutral.’ Johan spoke hastily, the words rushing out of his mouth.

‘As you wish Mister...Mister...’ said the neutral voice and now thankfully faceless, green-robed dummy.

‘I have a few questions. Able to answer them?’

‘Correct, new player. The System facilitated me to answer your questions. I am a direct manifestation of the Dungeon Operating System which has been running in power preservation mode for a long, long time.’

‘Great, so can you send me back home right now? Wait. Dungeon Operating System?’

The pseudo-blank-faced human eyes, ears, or face nodded.

‘Correct, new player. The System facilitated me to answer your questions.’

Johan frowned at that. It had just repeated itself without any deviation from its previous dialogue. The figure was definitely broken in his eyes.

Best to ask his questions and get away from this place as fast as possible. From his perspective would be better to live longer in hell than try and break into the entrance to heaven. Besides, the white lights here hurt his eyes and just felt wrong to his physical senses.

For a so-called human room he didn’t like the atmosphere.

‘……I’m going to try this again. Can you send me home right now?’ said Johan.

‘Correct, new player. The System facilitated me to answer your questions.’ replied the mannquin.

The mannequin began talking again as though he had asked a completely different question. He decided to play a game of matching the questions to the answers to make sure this all ran smoothly. A face full of teeth was a most unwelcome sight. Bright, white and polished, too many teeth on a normal face.

Johan tried a different approach. The thing had mentioned the location he was in. Similar to an Escape Room scenario but thanks for his ex-girlfriend he at least knew a little bit of the fantasy and science fiction terminology to bluff his way a little.

‘You mentioned a dungeon. In need to do quests to leave right? Is that what you call it? How do I finally leave this place?’

‘When you finish your first, no, final dungeon quest. All dungeons are based on your current stats. The difficulty level increases in turn. You have been classified as Level Zero; class choices will be unlocked upon successful completion of your first quest. The Dungeon Oper-Operating Sys-system will keep you updated on your progress after this introduction.’

‘Right, how about benefits? Are you going to help me at all to complete these so-called dungeons? I mean quests. Or are there different types of dungeons? Like a game. This is all game. Yeah, I can play. Nothing else to do right?’

Johan decided to play along.

The mad always preferred the company of the insane and if he had lost his mind and was all playing out in a room painted with hideous nightmares and his body loaded up with strong hallucinogens while a crazy group of people watched through a one-way mirror and laughed at him.

This was another office floor all over again but with a different kind of freak. One who thought he was inside a game. Except this one was a fantasy one where he needed to accept quests.

Johan wished he had his Kris knife with him so he could try and stab this thing in front of him in the shoulder and see how it liked being hurt. Instead he just planted a big smile on his face and kept his mouth shut before he said the wrong thing.