Honestly, the first thing that ran through my mind when I woke up in a dimly lit concrete corridor was that I shouldn’t have stayed up so late playing games.
I rapidly blinked my eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness as I processed my surroundings. The last thing I remembered before I woke up here was playing a rather difficult rogue-like indie game that had just come out. I was immediately hooked despite dying well over a hundred times, playing all night until sunrise.
"Ugh," I groaned, clutching my head in mild pain. I was beginning to regret staying up for so long, especially since I had work the next morning.
Wait a minute.
It finally dawned on me that I wasn’t in my apartment. The dim hallway I was in was sparsely lined with torches, each burning with a dull blue flame. I shivered, feeling a chilling breeze wafting towards me. The hallway itself was a bit tight, enough for about three people to walk side-by-side. Cracked concrete tiles lined the floor, while dull gray bricks made the walls, topped off with a densely packed dirt ceiling.
I glanced down at myself and found that I was still in the black track pants and white t-shirt I wore while playing games. Besides that, I didn’t have anything else on me.
"Where… the fuck am I?" I muttered, getting up and dusting myself off. As soon as I did, a virtual translucent blue screen popped up in front of me.
[Welcome, Player Luquier Vaunt.]
I froze in place, not comprehending what I was seeing at first. I hesitantly reached out to touch the screen, slightly surprised that it was tangible as I pressed it.
[Would you like to go through the tutorial?]
[Yes | No]
I stared at the screen for a moment in disbelief. Of course, it was something I had read about before in fiction, but there was no way I was in a story with game-like elements, right?
I considered my options carefully, thinking about the events that led to me waking up here. The game I was playing was called ‘Last Stand’, a new rogue-like release that I bought the moment it came out. I was intrigued by its unique premise that separated it from the rest of rogue-like games.
In typical rogue-likes, dying was an essential part of the game mechanics, since your character would be able to grow from the experience you gained playing. Other factors included randomized maps, enemies, items, and the like with each run.
However, three things ‘Last Stand’ offered was what made me instabuy it. The first was that upon dying, you’d have a chance to continue where you left off, fighting a specter of yourself the moment before you died. You wouldn’t have anything on you, but your specter would have all the items and skills before your death. I always tried fighting my specter, but ended up losing every time.
The second thing ‘Last Stand’ did differently was that there was a moral system. Certain actions you chose would affect NPCs and the in-game world in various ways. Apparently, there were over 100 different endings based on the choices you made during your run, which greatly increased replayability.
The last thing that really sold me on it was the mechanic that was the name of the game itself. In ‘Last Stand’, levels were pretty much everything. There was no mana system, instead, your level determined how often you could use skills and magic. If I had a skill that shot fireballs and I was level 10, I’d be able to use it that many times before it disappeared. Thankfully, there were consumables and whatnot that would replenish the usage or make them permanent, but they were scarce, adding to the sadistic brutality of the game.
Levels also determined the duration of skills and passives. Each level was equivalent to a second, which didn’t seem like much, but considering there was no level cap, one could potentially reach near infinite duration. In short, if you were fighting a difficult boss or floor without any replenishables, that might as well be your ‘last stand’.
I glanced at the message screen once again, finding similarities between it and the text boxes in ‘Last Stand’. If what I was looking at was indeed my reality, then that would mean I was in the tutorial of the game. For some reason, I simply chose to believe that this wasn’t real. How could it be? The last thing I remembered was playing the game, and then waking up here. It was safe to assume that this was an outlandish dream.
I shrugged and pressed ‘No’. I didn’t really have anything to lose, since I was intimately familiar with the tutorial.
[Are you sure?]
[Yes, I’m a stuck-up know-it-all | No, I would appreciate your help]
My face twitched. I didn’t skip the tutorial in ‘Last Stand’ because it was obviously my first time, but if I had, would the system be sassy like this?
Brushing my annoyance aside, I tapped the yes option.
[Fine, whatever.]
"What the fuck?" I blinked in surprise, but the message screen quickly flickered with a different text.
[Good luck, Player Luquier Vaunt.]
The screen disappeared, replaced by three flaming blue orbs. The inner part of the orbs were transparent, each displaying an image of a weapon.
A sword and shield, a handgun, and a chain with a sickle were the options presented to me. I smiled softly, feeling the same elation I had while playing ‘Last Stand’. Each run was completely randomized, so there was no telling what you’d find, but there were times that I would stumble across a really good skill or gear that would make me stronger.
I reached out, touching the orb that had the handgun.
No matter how cool it would’ve been to wield a sword and shield or whipping a chain and sickle, I had no idea how to properly use the two. Not that I had any experience with a gun either, but at least it was a simple point and shoot.
The metal was cold to the touch, a heavy weight in my palm. The chrome finish shone dimly underneath the blue torches, giving it a slight cerulean hue. There was a floating description box above the weapon.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
[Beginner’s Gun]
[Ammo: 12/12]
[Damage: 50]
[Traits: None]
[Description: A standard firearm.]
I looked around for any ammunition, but it seemed as if my weapon of choice only had the 12. Oops. Well, it wouldn’t really matter, since 50 damage was quite a lot.
[You have selected a weapon. Please proceed forward.]
"Hold up," I murmured, gazing around the tight corridor. "I need to check my stats somehow."
In ‘Last Stand’, stats were slightly different in how they worked. I was eager to see if something like that existed in this new reality/dream I was in.
"Status window," I called out.
Nothing happened.
"Stats. Character. Profile. Open!" I ran through a gauntlet of words, trying to see if anything would happen.
[Are you done?]
I blinked at the message in front of me. I could let it slide if ‘Last Stand’ had a sassy dialogue within the game, but it seemed like this system was personally conversing with me. As if it had its own sentience.
While it would’ve been an interesting topic to explore, I was more annoyed with how the system was talking to me.
"Is there a window or screen I can call to see my stats? If it exists?" I asked, fighting to keep my tone neutral.
[Yes.]
I waited to see if it would say anything else.
"Are you going to tell me how?" I began to grow impatient.
[Can you say please?] [Certainly, Player. Inquire using the command, ‘Please’.]
"You’re actually– Please,... tell me how I can see my stats."
[With pleasure. All that is required is for you to think of it to fruition. The screen will adjust according to the limits of your imagination.]
Clenching my jaw, I did as it said, imagining a blue status window similar to the simplistic ones in ‘Last Stand’.
[Name: Luquier Vaunt | Level: 1]
[Title: N/A]
[Health: 100 | Strength: 5]
[Speed: 5 | Magic: 0]
[Risk: 0 | Stat Points: 5]
[Experience: 0%]
I cringed from the numbers, but it was pretty realistic. Characters in ‘Last Stand’ were semi-accurate to real humans, boosted to god-like beings by way of various supporting aspects. It just sucked that my stats were pathetic compared to the starting characters in the game. Besides sharing the same level, health, and free stat points, their stats began at 10 points each.
"Wait a minute," I frowned, glancing closer at the Risk stat. That was new to me.
Everything seemed to be the same from the virtual game, which gave me the impression that the stats shown would work similar to ‘Last Stand’.
Health was self-explanatory. Strength affected the user’s strength and recovered a certain amount of health points every hour; currently I recovered 5 per hour. Speed dictated how fast I could move, and reduced the cooldown time of skills in seconds depending on the amount of points. Magic added more power to skills, and also affected the amount of experience gained by a percentage. It sounded like a lot, but considering the limitless level cap alongside the sheer amount of experience needed to level, it was pretty fair. Title was a weird one, though I assumed it worked a bit like classes in ‘Last Stand’.
I leaned in closer to look at the Risk stat, tapping it with a finger.
[Risk: Gain additional stat points equal to amount invested in Risk when you level up. Also increases specter strength and pain sensitivity by percentage. Permanent.]
"Whoa," I breathed out. A permanent stat? During my playthrough, nothing, including levels and experience, was permanent, giving the game a brutal difficulty. I always liked a challenge, which is probably why I was one of the few people who eagerly waited for its release.
Having Risk as a permanent stat truly lived up to its name. That meant that even if I only invested 1 point into it, my specter would always have a 1% strength increase over me should I choose to fight it. It also meant that any pain I took would be amplified. But, the reward of additional stats was too tantalizing to give up.
I tutted, figuring that I’d research this later. That is, if this whole thing was real or not.
"Fuck it."
[You have added 5 points into Risk.]
[Current Risk: 5]
[You have no remaining points left.]
"Well, there’s that," I sighed, dismissing the screen. It was time to play.
I cautiously trudged forward, holding my gun with both hands. In the tutorial stage of ‘Last Stand’, the environment was much like the corridor I was in. If this was anything like that, then I should expect to face some skeletons soon.
A low growl far ahead stopped me in my tracks. That didn’t sound like the rattling of bones.
For a moment, I briefly considered turning back, but since I figured I had no idea what I was doing here or if it was even real, I forged onwards, swallowing my fear.
The growling grew louder, causing me to nervously grip my pistol tighter. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this wasn’t like the game at all, and it was a similar situation as that. Or maybe–
The source of the growling became clear as a hulking figure entered my vision. It was towering, almost touching the top of the ceiling as it dragged a gigantic butcher’s knife on the ground.
"Holy fuck."
It was a monstrous, pale gray and deformed humanoid. It shuffled forward, dragging a foot behind it as it locked onto me with dull, lifeless black eyes. The stench of rot assaulted my nose, causing me to dry heave. Chunks of flesh seemed missing from its body, which explained the foul odor.
[Name: Rotting Cannibal | Level 1]
[Health: 500 | Strength: 50]
[Speed: 3 | Magic: 1]
"Oh..." I gasped up at the monster.
The Rotting Cannibal lunged at me before I could process anything, its massive form closing the distance between us in mere seconds. Reacting quickly, I raised my gun, taking a deep breath, and fired a shot at its head. The bullet ricocheted harmlessly off its skull, doing no damage despite the 50 damage stat. I cursed, feeling the weight of the gun in my hands. It was useless against this thing.
The creature roared, pulling its butcher’s knife straight towards me.
I thought that once it hit me, I'd wake up from this nightmare.
Instead, the knife sliced upwards, cleaving my left arm off, and pain exploded through my body. I screamed, falling to the ground, clutching at my stump. Blood poured out of the gash, staining the concrete beneath me. The world spun, and I felt dizzy. I couldn't breathe.
[Health: 20]
[System alert: You are low on health. Bleeding status inflicted. You will continuously lose 1 health point every second.]
"No... shit..." I gasped, trying to crawl away from the monster with my remaining arm. I had dropped the gun somewhere, but that was the least of my worries right now.
The Cannibal stalked forward, knife glinting in the dim light. I forced myself to stand, feeling woozy and weak. My vision swam, and I stumbled backwards, hitting the wall behind me. There was no escape.
The last thing I remember was the Cannibal swinging its sword down, cleaving me in half.
****
[Name: Luquier Vaunt | Level: 1]
[Title: N/A]
[Health: 100 | Strength: 5]
[Speed: 5 | Magic: 0]
[Risk: 5 | Stat Points: 0]
[Experience: 0%]