*Beep Beep Bee-*
"Motherfucker. Shut up." I mutter with annoyance at the necessary alarm I've set. I had no intention of removing my face from the sweet darkness of sleep so I reached for the phone beneath my pillow, groaning in resentment at me 9 hours ago when I realized it was on the table. My arm reached out to the left side of my bed to grab my alarm only to nearly flip and I grasped nothing, not even the table itself.
This got me to remove my face from my relaxing pillow as I decided to look for my phone. I immediately stopped doing so, on account of my room turning from a top bunk next to the air conditioner to a smaller room with just my new single bed and a closet. There was naught but a single standing fan and a curtain blocking letting light in but the view out through a small window.
"What the fuck?" I all but shouted as I took in the strange room. "Is this a hotel room?"
With foreign yet strangely practiced motions. My arm reached out to the other side of the bed and grabbed my phone, turning off the alarm in the process. It felt the same, same cover and size, but something about the specs seemed superior compared to the old one. My feet felt the floor as I got off the bed, feeling the lacquered wood with my bare feet. Just the way I liked it.
With my phone in grip, I walked over to the closet and opened it. I found a nice big backpack and a trolley bag. Getting down on my knees, I opened the trolley and found a pile of neatly stacked clothes. Shirts, pants, socks, underwear, even a black jacket that looked like a refit of my favorite one. Enough for 2 weeks by my standards. I checked the other bag. It was mostly filled with a number of electronics, cables, and utilities.
Searching the bag deeper, I found a wallet and a laptop. I took the wallet and looked in it. At least a couple thousand in Dollars, Euros and triple that in Yen each, calculated to match the exchange rate to what I’m familiar with. Collectively, it was a shit ton of money to be having on my person, the luckiest mark a thief could get if I put it in my pocket. I quickly ignored the organized bills and focused on something important, the id card.
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“Kinoko Aku.” I read the name recorded in printed ink. My eyes involuntary twitched as I ran the name over my mind. I’m starting to have an idea of what happened as the rational part of me screamed in denial while the delusional side cheered in joy. Next I looked at the picture, it was still me as I remembered, a little younger but that's about it. Not getting any more answers, I closed the wallet and froze when a folded piece of paper was suddenly there in between my finger and the leather of the wallet. I sure as hell didn’t feel anything and the wallet was small enough that I would notice someone try to slip something into my hand normally, the key word was ‘normally’
I slowly put the wallet on the floor and slowly reached out to grab the paper with my other hand. I hold the deceptively small thing between two of my fingers, hoping it would vanish as suddenly as it appeared. When it didn’t, I unfolded the thing to find a message addressed to me.
“Alright new guy, had to give you an identity somehow. This is an interesting world and I’m giving you a goal, the drive, and the means to achieve it. How you get to the end is up to you. That said, there is another side to the world you’re in that’s different compared to your old one but it shouldn’t be dangerous to you, just detrimental. Don’t worry about if you died or any time passing, I’ll handle that. Your mission is placed inside the drawer. Good Luck. From: Someone you know.”
“P.S. Be glad it’s not a System that found you like those fictions you’ve read. Those things tend to be tasteless on most worlds I’ve seen them on and many of their holders were just as bland. Instead, a miniature akashic record will be lodged in your mind soon after you’ve confirmed your mission. Trust me, You’ll need it and be very thankful for having it.”
Trembling in some kind of emotion, they were already warring, I couldn’t tell what was what, I dropped the paper and moved to the drawer where I got my phone. Wooden, polished, definitely lacquered. It looked normal, something you’d find in a decent hotel. I opened it and found a leather-bound book as big as my hand. Taking it out of the drawer, I flipped the cover open and read the first page.
‘The Mission: Become a top name in the entertainment market, you will know when you’ve finished the requirements.
Note: Grab an ultraviolet light, The Akashic Record should be connected any moment now.’
“Any moment no-” I cut myself off as agony ripped into my skull and flowed down my body. I withheld the urge to scream in pain as I did that internally instead.
“You fucking glorious bastard-” I couldn’t finish my words as my body did the smart thing and passed out, My consciousness fading into the black.