It's been a little less than three months since the System arrived. Yeah, I survived the cancer. Hurray for me. Unfortunately, being cancer free was the only good news. Yeah, I’m alive but unable to live my childhood fantasy that everyone else gets to. I mean, 90% of these moms wouldn’t have known a LitRPG if it fell off the shelf and hit them in the face at the bookstore. But now they got to level up and power through this new world. I felt left out, completely bored, and jaded at being useless.
When I first woke up after treatment, my thoughts were like static on an old black-and-white tv set. Wintery Static, whenever I tried to think about the moments after I swallowed that pill and drank the gray liquid.
I slept for a week and was observed and tested at the facility for ten weeks. It was a vacation that I mostly slept through. Eventually, my body improved, and the testing continued. The improvements snowballed, and I got healthy and stronger like I was juicing. Not the fruit cleanse, the needle kind. I was finally able to put on muscle and stopped looking like a skeleton. But, like I said, it didn’t work out in the end.
Journal entry of Jordan’s late August 2026
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September 1st, 2026
“Ah!” See, anytime I try to remember, I get that stupid…forget it,” I tried to soothe myself to focus and move on. “What was I doing?” I always lost a bit of awareness and forgot what I was doing when I tried to recall the time right after the treatment.
“You were trying to tell us why you are so weak when the boys wouldn’t stop asking you. But you should probably just focus on multiplication and division,” a little girl said with her chin resting in her hand and sighing.
“Yeah, thanks,” I shook my head, getting the last of the static out of my thoughts. “Yeah, okay, everyone, that’s it for today. We will continue your lesson tomorrow. Now it’s about time for you to get home,” I hadn’t realized how much time passed. No wonder the kids were messing with me.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here, “Broken” doesn’t know anything,” the boy dressed in dark brown clothes, who instigated my interrogation, yelled. His snarky comment caused many others to quietly or not so quietly laugh, depending on how close they were to me.
“You know you don’t have to keep teaching them,” a feminine voice I didn’t want to hear at that moment came in through the window of the old insurance office building I used for class. She, too, was wearing clothes like the children. They were sturdy and unlike anything I’d seen, at least before this last June. They were slightly baggy but fit her form nicely. The material was light but more substantial than it had a right to be. Everyone besides me had a pair.
My mom looked happy and healthier than I’d ever seen before June. Despite being in her late 30’s, she looked not a day over 22. Some of the changes that arrived were more welcome than others. Unfortunately, I have missed out on all the good stuff since the abduction. I’d privately called what happened the abduction or the greatest prank on Jordan ever.
“I know what you’re thinking,” my mom began with her usual chipper admonishment, “Just because you missed out doesn’t mean you won’t get another shot,” She was trying to encourage me again as she walked in after the last child left. “Some people are talking, and they believe that you might get integrated at the anniversary next June, along with the other 13-year-olds,” She sounded so optimistic it was hard to hear. But I kept my smile pasted on so she wouldn’t worry.
“Yeah, Mom, they’re probably right,” I fought to keep my tone from sounding sarcastic. “I was excluded from the System draft or Integration or whatever. But in nine months, I might get another shot. In the meantime, I need something to do. I haven’t forgotten that I nearly died from cancer. I’m my second life. It just sucks to miss out on living like an action hero in a fantasy world. Especially when everyone I know is living that dream. No one would have believed this four months ago, and now I’m the only one older than 12 who missed the boat.” I cut my rant short as my mom’s smile turned to a frown. Standing before me, she lifted my drooped chin and brought me into one of her famous hugs. She squeezed, and I heard my back pop in a rapid-fire; pop pop pop.
“Oh, sorry, hun, I forget how strong I am, and you…” She left unsaid what we both knew. I was alive but weaker than even my students.
Even kids who didn’t get the entire system introduction and training were still given at least a locked system. They couldn’t see their stats, but their guardian or parent was recognized by the system and allowed them to view their stats. Even a couple of foster kids were assigned guardians who could help them. Everyone seemed to be accounted for except for yours truly.
My mom tried to access mine like all the others did. But nothing worked. No one could view my stats. It’s rough when the kids I teach basic math can break my arm with an errant swat. It happened once. The only actual time I thought I might have a system.
My arm had a compound fracture, but a doctor pushed the bone back in through the skin and wrapped it up. The crazy thing was that it was healed a couple of days later. Not months, days later. Everyone just said, “It’s more System Shenanigans.” That’s what everyone says when they can’t explain what happens.
“Your father and I were so scared when we couldn’t find you in the Garden,” She finally pushed me from her hug and held me at shoulder length. “We were so glad that your father found you alive after that tutorial finished.”
“I know you’ve told me before it was the hardest year of your life. I know how much you loved me. But to me, it was only a week,” I told her, but I remembered what I had gone through.
I just stuck around home and walked around the empty town. It was the end of the world, the last man alive. At least, I thought so. What else was I to believe?
Then a week after I became the last man on earth, everyone returned. The shock of it was hard to swallow both times. You sort of come to accept a change to your view of the world, and then it flips again and only gets weirder.
I had a few working theories on my “Broken” status but nothing concrete. One, I got too sick, and something in me died. The part that connects to the System. Seemed logical. Cancer; still kicking my butt.
Or theory two: it was the treatment Jeff’s company gave me. Most likely suspect? I didn’t know and couldn’t tell you for sure. And Jeff wasn’t around in June when the System came. Not sure if I’ll ever see him again, seeing as all technology stopped working. We didn’t have a way to travel and find out if I was the only person without System access or if there were answers beyond our town.
When Summer Solstice arrived on Sunday, June 21st, 2026, at Noon in the Central US time zone, all hell broke loose because everyone I knew disappeared. I didn’t realize until later that the System arrived and yoinked everyone else to a tutorial. Even the kids returned with basic system knowledge and training and a countdown until their 13th birthday. With a system message that on their 13thbirthday, they will be yoinked again to the Garden tutorial. There they would spend a year gaining knowledge and instruction on advancement through the System.
I’d heard all the stories, and at first, I was super interested. They told me all about the training and options for classes. They all found and unlocked unique abilities and ways to survive in our ever-more dangerous world.
I’ve heard all the stories at this point, and after a while, I just stopped caring. It wasn’t my future. So now I’ve lost all curiosity, and my excitement has turned to a bit of resentment. But I try to ignore that darkness inside and push forward.
So here I am, teaching math to kids who could kill me far too easily for my own comfort while I continually try to convince my mom I won’t get too depressed or venture out of the safe zone of our little town.
“Mom, it’s almost time for an early dinner; you hungry yet?” I tried to change the topic.
“That’s why I’m here. I have a sandwich for you,” She pulled one out of her right pocket. “It’s not much, but your father and I must head out—another hunting, exploration trip. We’re hoping to connect with the next town over, so we are heading out to get to an abandoned safe zone we found part of the way there. We might be gone up to a week or more. There are provisions in the pantry at home. Please, take care of yourself and promise me you won’t go outside the town.”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,”
“No, I want to hear you?” she insisted
“Okay, I promise, I won’t leave the safe zone and will take care of myself.”
“Thank you, and I’m sorry we will miss your birthday. I didn’t forget, and I will look for something great while we are out. Let you choose out of some of the drops your father and I get.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I understand. Be safe and have some fun,” I said, sounding more upbeat. I didn’t want them thinking about me while they were fighting for their lives out there.
I waved as she left and waited for her to get out of sight. Then I grabbed the sandwich and a bottle of water I’d brought to class and headed out the back door. Not everyone survived the transition. Tons of people were dropped off after their year in the tutorial in the exact GPS location they had been before the system took them. Those in planes found themselves on the ground or floating at the water's surface, depending on what was below them. Technology like planes had crashed. People in cars driving down the highway had been displaced and arrived standing on the road in empty patches of the highway.
Each of them learned details about how the world changed in their tutorial. They knew the towns were safe zones if the population was less than 100,000. If it was higher than that, the larger cities had separate designated safe zones. So now our town of 15,000 people is closer to a town of 5,000. There were too many people who commuted to the large city near us and left without transportation when technology failed.
It was due to this that many businesses and houses now sit vacant. I had given it some time but eventually took over a 3rd-floor loft apartment in one of the historic downtown buildings. It had some basic furniture, and I was respectful in case the owner survived and came back. But for now, it was my little fortress of solitude. The stairs to the loft went up to the roof, and I decided to eat on a folding chair I’d found and brought up.
The weather was warm, but I didn’t mind. I sat and watched the sunset.
“Might as well give it a few more hours and stay up for my birthday,” I challenged myself, unsure if I would make it. I ended up nodding off long before midnight.
Arcana System Initialization Complete: Exit Hibernation Mode
The golden-bordered message hit me like an alarm of sight and sound going off like a loudspeaker in my ear. I tipped out of my lawn chair and jumped while twisting, trying to avoid falling flat on my back.
Instead of a graceful escape from the chair, I shot twenty feet to the side and off the roof. My trajectory and the force I unexpectedly used sent me into the next building across a narrow alley. I hit the wall three feet below the top. I saw it happening as if in slow motion. I tried to grab the lip of the roof, but it was just beyond my reach, and I only managed to claw at bricks and mortar uselessly.
My vision changed as if the slow-motion video I watched started to speed up. I bounced off the wall and started to fall. It would have been a straight fall into the pavement, but, unfortunately, or not, I managed to catch my side on the railing of a fire escape. I registered a probable set of broken ribs before I continued downward, now spinning rapidly the remaining two stories to the ground.
I thought for sure I would be dead after that.
Nope, still alive. I decided Just based on the pain. My thoughts were interrupted from the agony by another attention-demanding message. Before my eyes, a gold box appeared, filling my vision as it displayed confusing text.
Systems Check:
Entity System Diagnostics Check:
Biologic Systems:
Anomalies No longer Detected:
Parasitic Organisms Repurposed
Missing SYSTEM Connection: No Change
Insufficient Resources: No Change
Arcana System Active
Biologic System Status Shows Severe Damage to the following:
Skeletal System: 24 compound and 45 minor fractures
Muscular System: 4 major muscle tears and tissue damage
Cardiovascular System: Intact but stressed, heart rate too elevated
Respiratory System: 3 punctures in the left lung
Digestive System: 2 Perforations in digestive tracts from broken ribs
Integumentary System: Extensive destruction to multiple layers of skin
Nervous System: Cranial Trauma resulting in a severe concussion and two left hemisphere frontal lobe hemorrhages
Mana System: Active but insufficient resources
Cultivation System: Active but insufficient resources
System Autonomic Responses Initiated:
9 Systems Compromised:
Repair Sequence Initiated in Order of Priority
Before I could try to take another painful staccato wheeze, this information had passed in front of my eyes. In a blink, I knew every word by memory. I understood it too. Not just memorization, but I knew the state of my entire body, and I was going to be all right.
As I took my next breath, I felt bones reposition, align, and some popped into place. I felt my lungs heal, and after my next inhale, I rolled over and hacked up pink tissue and blood. It wasn’t much, but it was nasty. After a coughing fit, I was able to take a clear breath. I looked at the sorry state of my clothes and the cuts and spots my skin was smashed and broken open from the sudden impact.
I managed to get seated and looked at my body. I took stock of my state and reminded myself I shouldn’t be alive. The pain seemed to melt away, and I stared at my arm as I watched the cracked-open wounds and cuts reverse the damage like they were being zipped up from the inside out. Grit, sand, and blood were pushed out. They fell to the ground as gravity took hold. The mess fell with gravity in places and stuck to my clothes in others. I hesitantly rubbed my forehead as I felt blood drip down. I could tell I’d hit my head on the pavement on my landing. But if it was dented or damaged somehow, I’d been spared. I felt grit stuck to the outside of my skin. It fell in front of my face and hit my shirt after I wiped it away.
Systems restored: 2 remaining system errors.
Again, my mind processed the gold boxes. Unlike my mother and all the others I’d spoken to, my message boxes weren’t blue. Also different from them, I knew the information as soon as it flashed through my eyes. I didn’t know what it all meant. Much of it was out of context for me, but I understood enough from the System check message that I had been messed up and likely would have choked to death on blood-filled lungs if I didn’t have whatever this golden system was.
I took another steadying breath and looked to my right down the alley. It was still dark and empty. I checked my watch, 12:03 am.
Like static electricity, I felt a buzz and tingle on my left side. As I turned, there was a blue flash. I was treated to the sight of a large, blue-skinned person. It reminded me of the 3-part movie series with blue-skinned aliens on another world who fought advanced humans with mechs while in trees and then water. I never saw the third one, but it was all about advanced human exploitation of the natives and how capitalism could become evil through greed and self-serving interests.
This blue being looked masculine with a strong jaw and stood towering over me at over 7 feet tall. I felt fear but, in my shock, didn’t respond.
“Welcome Initiate to the Arcane, Jordan of Earth,” Their voice boomed and was dripping with ceremony and respect. As they solemnly welcomed me, they extended their giant mitt of a hand down to me. Then left it there, but it only took me a moment to grab it and let them pull me to my feet.
They dwarfed my 5-foot 9-inch frame. They then took one step back, took a knee, and bowed his head.
“I, Nicol, Son of Lathiel, sincerely greet you, Arcane, and pledge to assist you on your journey,” he spoke solemnly and passionately. I noticed that he wore a thin sleeveless vest and light baggy pants. He looked like a bodybuilder with blue body paint wearing a costume from a story called Aladdin I’d seen long ago. He was only missing the monkey sidekick. His black hair was shaved on the sides of his skull, but the rest was long and drawn back into a ribbon that seemed to tie it into a braid. It fell and flipped over his shoulder when he bowed and now hung, touching the ground.
“What are you?” I didn’t mean to voice that thought, but he answered regardless.
“I am Nicol, as to what I am…a servant. To all the Arcane, and now I’m here to help you,” Nicol responded after raising his head while he remained kneeling. He was now about eye level with me.
“Sorry…Nicol, was it you that healed me and sent these gold messages,” I was starting to make some connections as to what happened. Aliens are real. Of course, they are. System, abilities, classes, and Aliens!
“I was aware of your presence only moments ago when our scanners picked up your System. You are not meant to be here. We were about to leave. Thank the Arcane we found you.” He sounded surprised and delighted.
“What? But it was you who healed me?” I asked, now uncertain I knew what was happening.
“Apologies, we are on a tight deadline to return,” He stood to his full height and smiled.
At least his teeth aren’t sharp.
Then he stepped up to me and, reaching down, placed his hands on my shoulders.
Not a mom hug, not a mom hug, I thought to myself.
Nicol kept smiling as I heard a sound like a subwoofer beat and air compressed around me. I instinctively closed my eyes to the change and opened them to a new sight.
“Now we go. We will make it to your new home in less than one of your Earth rotations or, as you say, in less than a day,” Nicol had already turned away and walked down a cylindrical wall. I spun in a circle to see we were in a sphere-shaped room. I looked down to see a weird, frosted glass floor. I could see the rest of the sphere shape continued down below the floor. Other than the glass, it was all metallic. The same dark gray as…”
“Are you coming?” Nicol waved me over as he turned back toward the hall.