It had been a short recess of about a decade as the Gamemasters searched the multiverse for creatures to add to their next round of play.
The game was as simple as it always was, the Gamemasters each would choose a champion to fight for them, and the last champion remaining was the victor... or at least it was that way at first.
It used to only have two or three Gamemasters who participated, but as it gained popularity it also gained rules, such as [Skills], which are abilities bestowed to a champion by their gamemaster.
Due to some of the more controversial plays of the last round, the rules for [Skills] had become a significant bit more strict, and none of the champions were allowed to start with any, much to Vindicost's frustration.
Cool it Vindicost, giving your champion [Death Touch] off the bat was very uncool of you, I'm glad we finally ditched the [Point Buy] system.
I digress.
All of the Gamemasters finally reconvened after that decade of searching, bringing all sorts of creatures of different kinds.
Seliel and Yonstyr picked their champions first, as they always did... they were always too hasty with their choices, which is why they never won a single round thus far.
I considered my options.
Manglow The Mauler, with a giant armor-plated exoskeleton like his he could probably survive immense punishment before going down, which is important in the early game.
But then I read it: 'Environmental Weakness, Heat'.
Damn it! We had a temperate Deathworld as our [Playing Field] this round, he'd get heatstroke immediately!
I glared at Jyn, who clearly added this option as a noob trap.
He only grinned widely in return.
I continued to scroll through options until I saw him, simply staring at his name and designation.
[Andrew The Unorthodox]
[Race] Human
I opened the model of him someone had taken.
He was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen offered for play... as a champion no less.
He had barely any hair, was lean, almost gangly in comparison to most of the options... not to mention bipedal, how do they expect for them to get away from a quadruped? It's not like he has any sort of flying abilities or anything of that nature.
In fact, as I inspected him, he had no claws, fangs, scales, or really anything of note at all.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Out of pure morbid curiosity I opened his stat window.
[Andrew The Unorthodox]
[Race] Human
[Innate Abilities] Environmental Resistance IV, Adaptability II, Endurance X
[Learned Abilities] Jack Of All Trades II, Adaptability V, Loneliness Resistance II, Creative Spark IV
[Attributes] Strength II, Agility III, Fortitude III, Technique VIII
What the quizblech are these stats?!
Like, the Environmental Resistance was nice and all, but two in Strength and three in Agility?! Who would ever take that for a champion?
Also, how does he have a ten in Endurance, but not in Fortitude... it must be because of his lack of natural armor; this "human" is a such a massive paradox that I'm surprised he doesn't just implode in on himself.
Finally, let's discuss the malgraos in the room, what even is "Loneliness Resistance"? Does that mean others of his kind would take damage from being lonely?
Hard pass thank you.
After a little while, all the Gamemasters had made their decisions for champions and inhabitants, and we showed each other.
Lots of high-tier stats were chosen, taking the overall average of Strength and Agility to five and six respectively.
Seliel picked Manglow The Mauler, the poor sod.
But none of that was as surprising as the next revelation.
Lviyr chose Andrew The Unorthodox!
Everyone stared at him, completely in shock.
This is the same gamemaster whose won three consecutive rounds in the past... for him to have completely thrown the win was unbelievable.
He just sat back and said nothing as the game began, clearly confident for some reason.
His champion's funeral I suppose.
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My name is Andrew and I am known in most circles as a loner, preferring to spend my time learning random things when the mood strikes me.
I spend a lot of time finding lots of useless facts, often about outdated practices and technologies, just because I think it's interesting in that very moment.
And at this very moment, I felt extremely bored.
"None of my authors have posted anything, I'm out of anime, and I have no ideas for my stories... I guess I could do a Wikipedia dive... nah I don't want to put in the effort right now."
I looked down at my half-empty cup noodle and then up to the screen which I had been staring at for the last seven hours.
"I think I'll stand up and take a walk, maybe today's the day."
Today was like any other, people going about their lives, obeying traffic laws and paying attention to crosswalks.
I clicked my tongue in frustration.
I've tried everything I could think of, I've gone into weird bookstores alone at night, I've spent several days standing near crosswalks in case someone needed saving... heck I've even tried listing common protagonist phrases about heart and justice or whatever.
Those effing otherworldly beings haven't fallen for it though, I guess I didn't give them enough credit.
But seriously, what does it take to get isekai'ed around here?!
Suddenly there was a blinding light and a voice began to ring out in my mind, it was an effeminate voice, sweet and welcoming.
"Do you wish-"
"Yes." I interrupted.
"Wait, what? You didn't even hear-"
"I don't care, do I get to go to another world?"
"Well, yes, but it's very dang-" The voice attempted.
"Then I want to go, right now would be good."
"Well that was easy..." The voice cleared its throat. "I mean, welcome Andrew to the ultimate test of prowess! The Deathworld Game!"
Huh.
Suddenly I was in a forest next to a grassy field.
About time universe!