Isaac was bored.

Sitting in his comfy chair with a pillow behind his neck and his hands resting on mouse and keyboard. A fan was absently blowing in his direction, trying to cut through the heat seeping in from outdoors. His computer monitor illuminated the small room, the images of a game he was playing casting flickering lights on the wall. Music and sound effects came from the headphones around his neck, having not bothered to put them on properly.

Isaac was what you would call an average guy. Not particularly bad looking, but not handsome. A solid six foot tall, but he slouched a lot when he got comfortable, or would lean on anything that was sturdy enough to hold him up. Not athletic, not super out of shape, kind of doughy would be an accurate description of his overall physique. Black messy hair that never wanted to behave, and brown eyes that he never had any confidence in. Ultimately, average. At least in his mind.

He was playing... some game. At this point it was just habitual. Get home, grab some food, play the same games he'd always played and then eventually go to sleep. His eyes seemed to glass over as his hands rhythmically moved, causing his in game avatar to move in a practiced and precise manner. It was just another day for him.

The screen flickered, causing Isaac to blink for a moment. He focused on the monitor as his game was replaced by a large rainbow gradient. The colors looked like they were cycling and moving, and chiptune notes played from his headset.

He clicked. Nothing happened. He tapped a few keys. Still nothing.

"Oh great. I got a virus." he said tiredly, pushing himself up and out of the chair. I need to update my antivirus, he thought to himself as he reached around to unplug the PC before whatever happened got worse.

Isaac!

His hand froze on the power cord. He blinked, frowned, and looked back at the screen. The rainbow was still there, but now there was a black text box in the center with his name in white inside of it. His name then vanished and more words appeared.

I swear I'm not a virus, please don't unplug the computer.

As the words typed themselves he could hear a MIDI like synth replicating the sounds. Oh goodie, it wasn't a virus it was a hacker. He wasn't spooked by this, dealing with hackers and viruses was his old job from a few years ago. And one of the first things he knew to do in a situation like this was not to prolong it. With a shrug he reached around to unplug the PC again.

Wait! Please don't! I want to talk first!

Isaac frowned and looked back at the screen, then at the webcam. Were they already watching him?

Just, sit down, please. I just want to talk to you for a moment.

Maybe it was the fact that it was 3 AM and he hadn't had a good nights sleep in over a week, or the energy drinks in his system starting to fade away. But Isaac found himself sitting down in his chair and looking at the screen.

Okay, okay, good. First of all, I come in peace.

"Alien?"

No. Well, not really. Kinda? My existence is hard to contextualize properly.

He rubbed his face.

"Okay then, what do you want?"

I want to play a game with you. You seem like the kind of person who enjoys games.

Isaac rubbed his face again. What in the Jigsaw was this? Was he about to get kidnapped and put into a torture room? Might as well humor the psychopath.

"Sure, a game sounds great. What did you have in mind?"

The text vanished from the box, like normal. But this time when the words were being typed out the fonts color was a shining silver. Which, being in terminal typeface was a little weird.

Journey of a Thousand Worlds!

Objective: Make your first Jump to another world.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Time Limit: 1 Minute

Failure: No penalty, but you will be removed from playing this game in the future.

Reward: ???x3

Accept? Yes/No

He blinked at the window, looking at the pulsing Yes and No button. This was... not what he was expecting. More along the lines of people in masks and darkweb level stuff. The timer was ticking down, his choice still unmade.

"What the heck. Sure."

Click. The moment he accepted, the screen melted. Not just when he clicked the button, no. The moment his finger stopped applying pressure to the mouse, the screen turned into a deep friend slag. It was so stark and jarring that Isaac flinched back, just enough to notice that it wasn't just the image on the screen. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the poster of an action movie he'd gotten at a garage sale. It was a neon poster, it stood out against his white walls. And that was starting to melt.

Everything was melting around him. Before he had time to take a breath, he felt his chair tip back. By the time he took a breath he was falling faster than he had ever experienced in his life. By the time he was able to scream, it was cut short by his feet landing on solid ground. A bright light was above him as his cry for alarm was stifled in his throat.

Raising his arm to block out the light, he was acutely aware of his surroundings. The air was cool, non humid and smelled like a forest. He could hear the chirping of birds in the distance. As he brought his arm down, Isaac's eyes went wide. He was standing on the side of a grassy hill. The sun was rising above the horizon in the distance, but it didn't feel like he was standing in an oven. The air was... pleasant. The grass under his feet was cool from the dawns light, and he found himself shifting a bit to feel the earth better.

"What... on earth?"

"Not quite earth, but there are some similarities."

His head jerked to the side to the voice. It was no longer synth or chiptune. It had a very feminine tone to it, and sounded young. Not far from him was a short looking girl. She was in a long dark blue overall skirt that reached her knees. Under that was a pastel pink shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Her skin was light, and her hair was a bright lavender and done in a long braid that trailed down her back. Circle glasses framed her smiling face, as big white eyes looked up at him.

"You..." What exactly do you say to a random girl who apparently dimension kidnapped you? The girl laughed, spinning around and giving him a bow.

"I... am... Cyoa!"

"Sigh oh uh..." he repeated, repeating back what he had heard. The girl smiled big again and nodded.

"Yup, that's me! And you are Isaac."

"Yes, that's.... I'm sorry, this is a lot to take in. What happened? Where am I?"

Cyoa tilted her head a bit as if thinking, tapping her chin.

"I believe this place is called Blockworld."

"... The video game?" he looked around. The world around him didn't look very blocky, at least not like he recalled from when he played a game under the same name. Cyoa shook her head.

"It's a little tricky to explain but, yes and no. This place is the inspiration for what you know as Blockworld. Or is it the game is the inspiration for this plane of existence... I can't remember..."

She shook her head and shrugged. "Regardless, you are here, and you are free to do whatever you like!"

"This is the game you wanted to play with me?" Isaac still couldn't wrap his head around this. Either he was dreaming or he was tripping, neither was a good sign. And if this WAS real there was a question burning at the forefront of his mind.

"How do I go home? Am I stuck here?"

He half expected her to tell him he was forever trapped in this place, or that she didn't know how he was going to go back. Or that there was no going back. But instead she simply tapped his chest.

"All you have to do is will it."

The young man frowned, looking down at her. Will it? Like... Wish for it? Believe it? He let out a breath and thought about home. A black terminal window materialized in front of him, showing the same white text as before.

Stop Playing? Yes/No

As he looked at the options he heard Cyoa shift, walking around behind him.

"You're not bound here by any means. If you ever want to go back to your home, you are free to do so. But if you do, you won't be able to play anymore, ever."

He pulled his hand back from the window, and it fizzled and vanished. He stared at where the pop up was, a cool breeze brushing past him.

"What... am I supposed to do here?"

"Whatever you want. I won't make you play if you don't want to."

"What happened to my body? Am I here here or... what happens if I do stop playing?"

"You think this is a dream, right? Imagine waking up in your chair, like nothing happened and it was all just a nightmare."

There was a slight change in her voice. Isaac turned and looked at the shorter girl. She looked sad, like someone who found out the person they were talking too wasn't as excited as they were about something.

"I wouldn't say nightmare. I'm just... wanting to know my options. I'll play your game."

The young girl brightened up and smiled at him. "I just want people to have fun. And what could be more fun than choosing your own adventure?"

She clapped her hands, as if remembering something. In front of Isaac three books appeared. "Oh right! You did complete the quest, didn't you? Here are your rewards. I need to be going anyways, I want to see what you'll do next."

And just like that, she was gone. Isaac looked at the place where she was, then at the three books floating in front of him.

"Well... Let's start playing then."