For several long moments, Wyatt could see nothing. He blinked hard three times, exaggerating the movement to convince himself that his eyes were open. They were. And yet, he still saw nothing. He reached around in an attempt to touch his car that moments before had been within reach, but his hand felt only air.
Then another prompt appeared in his vision. It was Blue, with a light blue border. The message was simple.
Who are you?
Who am I? Wyatt thought. I am Wyatt. He had no idea what was going on, but he decided to play along with whatever this was. Perhaps this question is asking for more than that. I am not the smartest, but reasonably so. I am dedicated and strong willed. Wyatt thought through the question. He thought of the potential hidden meanings to the question. He thought back to the prompt that appeared before. To the concept of “world integration”. Perhaps this is the start of a new era. Perhaps our world is now controlled by a game system. Perhaps I am going crazy.
Wyatt had always been one to analyze every decision he made. To plan through any path he would take and the potential outcomes of each. At times he knew he thought too much, sometimes missing opportunities because he overthought everything. This time, there was only one answer that he knew would satisfy him, only one that could encompass all of who he was.
“I am Wyatt,” he stated into the darkness.
Why are you here?
Another prompt. Because I was brought here? What a silly question. How would he know why he was here? He then thought about the question more closely. Perhaps it wants to know my purpose. My intent. Wyatt wasn’t sure what answer would be best. What did he want from life? He enjoyed learning. Understanding the laws of the universe and uncovering the mysteries of why things do what they do was why he pursued his degrees in physics.
But as to why he was here. In this darkness. He did not know. I was brought here by forces beyond my control, he thought. He realized, to his surprise, that this thought angered him. Up until now Wyatt had always maintained control of his life, his destiny. He knew he wanted to get a degree in physics, and so he did. He was never the smartest person in his class, sometimes he even considered himself the least intelligent one there. However, he was determined. It was through sheer force of will that he earned his degree as he studied day and night to understand the concepts. He knew he wanted to understand the universe, so he would not stop.
But to lose control of his destiny in such a way. He knew it was an irrational anger he felt, but he could not help it. He thought briefly that this system was amplifying his emotions to gauge who he was as he answered. He lifted his head, puffed out his chest and shouted to the darkness. Shouted at the darkness.
“I am here, because I choose to be.”
Then, there was another prompt. A different one. It was black, with a blood red border and text. The very sight of it almost scared Wyatt, but he steeled himself as he read it. He would not fear this new life, he would master it.
If you were to lose everything, everyone you ever loved, what would you do Wyatt?
Visions flooded his mind. Images of gore, of death flashed in and out, one after the other. He could not stop them, could not control it. He realized, with a sense of dread, that he knew some of the people that came to his mind. He saw his parents, lying in a field of grass; grass that had been stained red with their blood. He saw his friends, classmates, old coworkers, all in various positions on the ground. All dead.
Wyatt had never been a violent man. He got angry, sure, who didn’t? But he believed in thinking rationally, leaving emotion aside when decisions had to be made and acting on facts.
The facts were, however, that if everyone he loved had been killed, he would have revenge on those responsible.
The images left him. He realized that he was on his knees, struggling to catch his breath. He did not know where the images came from. Was that an image of the future? Were they all going to die? Were they already dead? He learned something of himself then, something he had never known was hidden within him.
As his breathing slowed, Wyatt knew the answer. He did not feel scared, not angry nor sad. He felt absolutely nothing. He felt only a cold emptiness as he whispered his response.
“I would have revenge, at any cost.”
The prompt disappeared, and for only the fraction of an instant, Wyatt saw a blue prompt - hidden behind the first - disappear with it.
What do you want?
What do I want? Was that the question I was asked? Did I hallucinate the black prompt? No, it was there, but which prompt was I meant to answer? Which question did the system think I answered?
As Wyatt questioned what had just happened, another prompt appeared.
Choose your Class. (Recommended: Mage)
Choose my class? Wyatt thought. As soon as he did, the message box got larger and filled with text. On closer inspection Wyatt realized it was a list of generic video game classes. There were melee classes like fighter or barbarian and others like rogue, ranger, healer, or druid. There were some he had not seen before and more than he would expect from a normal game. Then again, he was pretty sure this wasn’t a game at all, at the very least not a normal one.
Wyatt’s eyes hovered over the mage class, and more text appeared:
Class:
Mage
Primary Resource:
Mana (MP)
Attributes per level:
+1 Willpower
+1 Intelligence
+3 free points
Description:
The mage seeks to understand the forces that make up the world. Focusing on the use of magic, mages can learn spells from a multitude of schools, but tend to specialize in the form of magic that suits them best. As a mage advances in their chosen discipline, they can unlock a deeper understanding of the universe and themselves.
Choose class: Mage?
Yes or No
\Wyatt had to think about this. It had been a few years since he had stopped playing MMORPGs, but when he had, he would normally play as a fighter class. He had an average body, though he knew he could stand to work out more, but if he was going to play in a fantasy world as someone else, then why not play as something he wouldn’t be able to in real life?
\He thought back to playing as a huge character well over six feet, with heavy armor and a massive shield. In most parties, he was the designated tank. He would get the attention of the enemy and soak up all the damage they could throw at him, while his party would stand back and attack from afar. This could be his chance to finally make that fantasy real. He chose “No” on the prompt and read about the fighter:
Class:
Fighter
Primary Resource:
Stamina (SP)
Attributes per level:
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+1 Strength
+1 Toughness
+3 free points
Description:
The fighter class focuses on the art of war. They can wear light, medium, or heavy armor and can effectively wield most melee weapons. with their ability to both deal damage and take it, Fighters make up the majority of most armies. Mastering a specific fighting style or weapon can lead them down any number of paths to greatness.
Choose class: Fighter?
Yes or No
Wyatt had to admit, the fighter sounded pretty badass. In most cases, the fighter was the quintessential melee class and usually had the most potential for variation. With the multitude of melee weapon types, styles with each weapon type, and character builds focusing on strength or speed or defense, the fighter was usually his go-to choice when starting a new game.
However, Wyatt never made a decision without thinking through all his options. He selected no and read the description for each of the remaining classes. One by one, he weighed the potential pros and cons of each class. If the world was now run by a gaming system, he thought, it would most likely be dangerous. A melee class would have high survivability. On the other hand, a stealth-based class like a rogue could keep me out of danger entirely.
Wyatt thought on the decision for some time. He did not know if there was a time limit to this decision, but he would not rush what could potentially be a one-time choice. A choice that would dictate his entire future.
In the end, Wyatt had to choose the class best suited for who he was. He was not a fighter, no matter how much he would enjoy it. He was a thinker, a planner. He had spent the last seven years of his life before this trying to learn the intricacies of the universe. If those intricacies were going to start changing on him, then he would have to learn them all over again.
His eyes once again hovered over the mage class. How bad could it be if the system is recommending it for me?
With a thought, he selected “Yes”.
Congratulations! You have selected class: Mage
You have gained Attribute Points
You have gained new skills:
Earth Magic – Level 1
Enchantment Magic – Level 1
Chrono Magic – Level 1
You have gained new abilities:
Rock Spike
Daze
You have gained a new passive ability:
Force of Will
Wyatt didn’t have time to think about the prompt. As soon as it came into view, he realized he could hear something. It was faint, but Wyatt could swear it sounded like breathing. He had just spent a good amount of time in complete silence, so the slight noise may as well have been a shout.
“Hello?” came a quiet voice. Then there were more as others answered the first. Wyatt couldn’t tell how many people were in the darkness with him, but he could tell it was a good handful. More voices filled the void, as some people started conversations, and others seemed to recognize each other.
A torch lit up nearby. It wasn’t bright, but compared to the pitch darkness before, the light was as blinding as it was welcome. He saw people around him, all squinting as their eyes adjusted to the sudden light. Wyatt recognized the people around him as those who were at the gas station only minutes before. The light was not bright enough to give any hints of where he was, but he could tell this was not the gas station.
“What is going on?” asked the man closest to him. Wyatt recognized him as the cashier at the gas station.
“It looks like we’ve been teleported,” answered a woman. She was the mother who had been corralling her kid to the car. Her husband and two kids stood beside her.
Seeing the family made Wyatt think of his own. He wondered where his parents and sister were right now and if they were undergoing something similar.
“Where?” asked her husband, clearly trying to replace the fear in his voice with feigned annoyance. “We were just at a gas station on the highway. And what are these… popups that I keep seeing?” He waved his hand as if trying to bat away a bug.
“Clearly, we’re in a game,” responded the teenage boy, who may have been the only other person not overtly afraid of what was going on.
“This isn’t a game, boy,” snapped the husband back at him.
“Calm down,” urged Wyatt, irritated that things were already falling apart. He couldn’t tell what was going on, but he had a few ideas. If this wasn’t a dream, then their world had just changed, and they would need to learn everything they could in order to survive, and they may need to learn quickly.
He desperately wished he was closer to people he knew when this happened. It was obvious that initial proximity brought this group together.
“Clearly something has happened to Earth,” continued Wyatt, ignoring the look of indignation the husband was giving him, “If we all had the same prompts, then you all saw the message saying the world was being ‘integrated’.” Nods of affirmation prompted Wyatt to continue. “The kid is correct, sort of. This is not a game, but we may have to start thinking along those lines. Why don’t we start off by introducing ourselves and our classes so we can make a plan to survive this.”
The angry man stared at Wyatt for several long seconds, before he closed his eyes and took a breath.
“I am Wyatt. I’m 25, and I chose mage.”
“Chuck, 32, archer,” said the cashier, stepping forward. His voice wavered less than before, and Wyatt attributed that to the same reason the father was less angry: humans always became less scared in a group and introducing themselves started to make everyone feel like an actual group.
“Jesse!” chimed in the excited teenager, “18, mage.” He began waving his hands around excitedly, and out of nowhere, a bright ball of fire shot forward. It went roughly ten feet before bursting in a small explosion against a wall. “Cool!” he said, ignoring the angry shouts from the others.
“Hey!” shouted Wyatt, desperately trying to get everyone to calm down again. It took a few more attempts before the yelling finally died down. “Trying out our skills isn’t a bad idea,” He continued, “but how about we finished what we’re doing here first?” His last comment was directed at the excited teen.
“Sorry,” Jesse murmured, and his shoulders sagged. Wyatt noted that the spell he had cast was very clearly not any of the spells he had and made a mental note to try to figure out why. If similar classes didn’t have the same starting skills, what was the determining factor? Was it random?
“I’m Marlene,” said the mother breaking Wyatt out of his thoughts, “I’m a healer, and my age doesn’t matter.”
“Richard, 37, fighter,” said the father, barely hiding an eyeroll at his wife’s comment.
“Angela, 22,” said the young woman who had tried driving off when integration had begun. “I don’t remember what I picked, I wasn’t really paying attention, and none of this makes any sense to me.” She was clearly flustered at everything that was going on, even more than everyone else here.
“What about your kids?” asked chuck, motioning to the two children at Marlene’s side.
“I’m Cecilia, I’m ten!” piped up the older child. “I chose to be a brawler!” She gave a few punches in the air for emphasis.
“Cecilia!” called out her mother, only now hearing her class choice. “Why did you choose that?”
“It seemed fun,” said the girl, not backing down from her decision. Richard only looked away to hide a smile from his irate wife. “This is my brother, Isaac. He’s eight.”
They all looked at the boy, who only stared silently at the floor and tried hiding behind his mother.
“Go on, sweetie,” said Marlene, “tell us what class you picked.”
“I’m… I’m a mage,” he stammered, finally.
After a few awkward seconds, Wyatt motioned for the final person in the group to continue; the big man who just cut his hair.
“I’m Brad,” Said the man, “30, barber.”
“Barber?” asked Richard, “We could have chosen careers? All of my choices sounded like they were based on fighting.”
Jesse suddenly exploded with laughter. Everyone looked his way, most seemed clearly done with his antics, but they waited for him to settle down. “You’re not a barber, dude,” he said between the fits of giggling, “You’re a barbarian.”
“That would make sense,” Wyatt agreed, seeing Jesse’s line of reasoning, and smiling despite the situation.
“What?” said Brad, face going red at being the center of a joke that he didn’t get. “But I am a barber! Aw man!”
“Did everyone pick the class that was recommended to them?” asked Wyatt, looking around. It seemed like everyone agreed, with the exception of Brad. Apparently, the system wanted him to be a druid.
“There has to be a way we can check that out,” said Wyatt, intending it to be a whisper but clearly speaking loud enough to be heard, as Jesse perked up.
“You’re right!” said the other mage, “there has to be a character sheet, or stat page, there always is!”
How would he open that? Wyatt focused on the symbols in the corners of his vision for the first time. Generally speaking, when he looked forward, he couldn’t see anything. However, when he moved his eyes to the sides, he could see them. There were his health, mana, and stamina bars at the top of his vision. On the bottom right he saw a flashing bell icon that he attributed to notifications, and on the bottom left was just two parallel lines. When he focused on that, several more icons appeared above it: an outline of a person’s head from the shoulders up, a book, and two crossed swords which he attributed to his status page, quests, and abilities. Wyatt focused on the first, and a new window appeared in his vision.
Name: Wyatt
Class: Mage 1
HP: 40
MP: 80
SP: 60
HP/Min: 0.03
MP/Min: 1.1
SP/Min: 2
Attributes: (3 Free)
Attribute
Base
Total Adjusted
Strength:
4
4
Agility:
5
5
Endurance:
6
6
Toughness:
4
4
Intelligence:
8
8
Willpower:
11
11
Charisma:
7
7
Skills
Skill
Level
Attribute
Enchantment Magic:
1
Willpower
Earth Magic
1
Intelligence
Chrono Magic
1
Intelligence
Titles
Passive Abilities
Ability
Skill
Attribute
Force of Will
-
Willpower