Chapter 5: Hard Knocks.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I was small again. Only six years old and scared.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
All the grownups were scared too. They screamed so loudly. It hurt my ears.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I was crying. I had tried to be brave, but I was so tired and sad and angry. Mom and Dad were trying to move away from the doors.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Everyone else was too. Some were pushing and shoving. Mr. Gideon pulled out a bat and started hitting Mr. Birch.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A pincer tore into the walls above the door. I stared in disbelief. Unable to comprehend why a rift had opened up without any heroes doing anything.
Thunder Fist should be here. He was always there for people.
The truck-sized crab finished breaking down the shelter wall. It grasped the leftovers of brick and rebar and sent them flying.
‘This isn’t real.’ I concluded. ‘I’m not really here. I’m in my bed with Mittens. I’m all wrapped up in blankets because it was cold outside.’
The crab entered the old community center with a relaxed gait. Dozens upon dozens of little crabs followed. They were like a hen and her chicks, eager and hungry.
A pincer took hold of Mr. Gideon. Another, ripped off his legs, then his arms. The mother crab threw all the parts down where the little crabs were waiting.
More shouting. More shoving. Mom was crying.
The crab grabbed Mr. Birch next. Then it grabbed Mrs. Birch and old man Ronnie. All the little ones were red before, but they’re wetter now. Shinier under the lights.
I wanted it to stop. I wanted the monster to die. I started yelling, emotions burning like a dying sun.
My eyes opened to a room filled with silence. The tall man was there, in front of the giant monsters. He told them…
He told them that it was their turn to be afraid. So, they were. They all died afraid and in pain.
All the people there were quiet.
They were looking at the tall man. They were full of fear. Afraid of him. The tall man chuckled. Gleeful that he could move people and tell them what to do. He said that everyone had to wait nicely. He told everyone to go to sleep. My eyelids shut and I tried to think about my bed and Mittens.
“…ude…!....Dud…e…!....ake….up!....”
‘Cold. My bed is so cold. Hard too. Did I fall on the floor?’
“Dude! Dude come on! Don’t play games with me dude!”
I opened my eyes slowly, struggling with the grogginess that came from a big, fat nap. At first, the scene that greeted me looked rather, strange.
There was a muscled surfer bro in shorts screaming down at me. His firm hands were clasping my shoulders tightly. Vigorously shaking me as his face grew more panicked.
“Stop.” I spoke. Coughing slightly as I felt dust entering my lungs.
“Stop! Stop! I’m awake!”
The tanned man stopped, breathing out a sigh of relief and collapsing backwards onto the floor.
I squinted, trying and failing to find my bed, my sheets, my posters, my table, my bookcase. Confused as I was, their absence didn’t quite trigger the panic it normally would. At least, not until I brought myself to a sitting position and took in the soft glow of mushrooms on the ceiling.
I blinked and started taking in the environment.
It was a cave. A circular chamber inside a cave. With a small stream running out of the walls and down the middle. It flowed into a small metal grate and disappeared downwards into places unknown. The trickle was oddly soothing.
A steady drip, drip, drip.
Those small sounds were all there was. Their presence brought clarity into the pervasive darkness.
‘Oh (Centipede). That wasn’t a dream.’
“Okay dude.” The tanned man said while standing up. “The prank’s gone far enough. Take me back to the resort.”
I blinked at him again.
“Resort?”
“Yeah. The resort where I was staying with my friends. You know, the one on Honolulu. I’m sure they paid you ahead of time to make it seem convincing. Hahaha. Very funny. Now take me back.”
My head was throbbing as I stood up.
“Right then. I have some bad news for you.”
I proceeded to explain our current situation, as well as the estimates I’d come up with regarding our current depth and how long it would take for us to get to the surface.
The tanned man seemed to take it all in. His mind staying oddly calm as I finished my explanation.
“Right.” He said after a while. “I guess they paid you really well then. Okay.”
He chuckled in good humor.
“Well, I don’t know what this attraction is called, but kudos for the role-play. I actually thought you were serious for a moment there. So, are the monsters animatronics or…”
I stared at him. Then sighed and stood up.
I opened the door gingerly, careful not to put too much pressure on my wounded hand. Then I pointed to one of the centipedes I had killed.
The tanned man saw it and chuckled louder.
“Cool. Must be really high budget. Smells like….”
I stopped him before he could get any more words out.
“Look, whatever your name is, I get it. It does not sound real. So, if you want to find out how real it is, focus on your screen.”
“My screen?” He asked in confusion.
“Yes.” I sighed. “Your screen. Just will it open by thinking ‘status’ or something. Its like a mental flex.”
He narrowed his eyes, but shrugged and leaned backwards anyways.
Then he yelped as he stared out into empty air.
“What the (Buzzkill)?”
‘Oof. That censor word’s about to change.’ I thought bitterly. Refocusing my attention on my own screen.
Name:
Solomon Carter
Psy:
80/80
Type:
Telepath Level 6
Abilities:
[Sense Thoughts] 2 / [Message] 1 / [Mental Bolt] 3 / [Fever] 2 / [Fear] 1
Ability Points:
4
Huh. Well, on the one hand I’m still alive. On the other hand, still a Telepath.
You know what? I’ll take it.
(Centipede) what anybody else says.
It was good to be alive. Even down here in my creepy dungeon. That could have gone a whole lot worse. I glanced down at my wristwatch. 2 hours have passed. Yep, sounds about right. Passed out in the murder hole for 2 whole hours.
I took a deep breath to steady myself before I began to lose my bearings. Yeah, it was bad. It was really bad. I could have easily died here if that had happened anywhere else. No going all the way to 0 unless I was here or somewhere else with a locked door between me and the nasties.
My gaze wandered over to the gate I had just closed once more.
It stood firmly in place, despite the shallow marks left by the bugs. To my horror, I discovered that the bolt on the floor had given way in the previous struggle.
That’s when I realized the truth. There wasn’t a solid metal door between me and my attackers. Only two shoddy metal tubes kept this space sealed.
One of them had already given way.
“All righty then. Time to go find greener pastures.” I paused to glance back at the window in reality. “After I’ve spent my points.”
I summoned the list of options before me and took my time analysing their names.
Available Abilities:
[Static Illusion] 1 / [Fever] 1 / [Sleep] 1 / [Electronic Interface] 1 / [Floral Interface] 1 / [Fungal Interface] 1 / [Team Tactics] 1 / [Team Spirit] 1 / [Team Resilience] 1 / [Team Momentum] 1 / [Team Doctrine] 1 / [Mental Map] 1 / [Fear] 1 / [Courage] 1 / [Anxiety] 1 / [Confusion] 1 / [Hobble] 1 / [Phobia] 1 / [Puppet Animal] 1 / [Puppet Plant] 1 / [Puppet Fungus] 1 / [Puppet Sentient] 1 / [Puppet Machine] 1 / [Faint Presence] 1 / [Imposing Presence] 1 / [Alluring Presence] 1 / [Hide] 1 / [Mask] 1 / [Hidden Danger] 1 / [Muffle] 1 / [Flash] 1 / [Precognition] 1 / [Premonition] 1 / [Persistent Message] 1 / [Meditation] 1 / [Mark Target] 1 / [Calm] 1 / [Enrage] 1 / [Friendship] 1 / [Resolve] 1 / [Review Memory] 1 / [Share Memory] 1 / [Fog Memory] 1 / [Drunkenness] 1 / [Sobriety] 1 / [Inspiration] 1 / [Psychometry] 1 / [Hum of Attack] 1 / [Hum of Striding] 1 / [Hum of Defence] 1 / [Hum of Harmony] 1 / [Hum of Discord] 1 / [Hum of Cleansing] 1 / [Hum of Mist] 1 / [Painful Gaze] 1 / [Cleansing Gaze] 1 / [Entrancing Gaze] 1 / [Degrading Gaze] 1 / [Block Mental Detection] 1 / [Block Mental Attack] 1 / [Interrupt] 1 / [Awaken Organism] 1 / [Awaken Object] 1 / [Stable Reality] 1 / [Unstable Reality] 1 / [Manifest Intruder] 1 / [Seal Intruder] 1 / [Banish Intruder] 1 / [Psionic Jinx] 1 / [Psionic Hex] 1 / [Psionic Curse] 1 / [Drown] 1 / [Heart Attack] 1 / [Indigestion] 1 / [Blind] 1 / [Deafen] 1/ [Anosmia] 1 / [Phantom Pain] 1
As expected, there were a lot of options. Many of them excellent.
If you happened to be a completely asocial degenerate looking to spread misery everywhere they can. Their potential shinning through even through their name. The first ones to really catch my attention are the puppet ones.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Particularly, [Puppet Sentient].
Oh boy.
Oh, my goodness.
That’s…
Not a good look.
I was really here. Sitting in the dark with soiled pajamas. Considering the merits of learning to move people against their will.
Wunderbar.
Those words had Saturday morning cartoon villain written all over them. In big neon letters. Accompanied by proud trumpets and cute little cherubs proclaiming me the undisputed king of scumbags.
I could see it now, a figure standing atop a dais, ordering a crowd to get on their knees and give him their banking information. The man laughed maniacally until Thunder Fist landed nearby and punched half their freaking teeth in. The crowd woke up and cheered. Little kids throwing their drinks at the villain’s head while someone rushed in and kicked them between the legs.
Then they went to trial and the judge walked down from their seat and performed a sick body slam. The jurors cheered, as do all the people in attendance. The court bailiff walked in and kicked them between the legs again. Tasing them once or twice for good measure. The justice system as a whole, threw away the key and everyone lived happily ever after.
I sighed again.
‘No thank you. I’m not quite that desperate just yet. In fact, I’ll just pretend that option doesn’t exist. Better for everyone. Instead, I’ll focus all my energy on stuff I can actually use without devolving into another existential crisis.’
Right off the bat, I prioritized anything that would let me avoid combat over more attacking options.
My reasoning being that I only had a limited Psy pool to work with. Better to cover my escape routes now while I had points to spend.
“Dude. I’m freaking out.” The tanned man said.
I turned my head to regard him once more. Noting how his eyes seemed extremely dilated and his face appeared to be flushed.
“You and me both man. You and me both.”
If anything, those words made him come across as even more unsettled and I cursed myself for my stupidity at once.
“Right, no. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking man. I’ve been dealing with this for some time and I think the stress is getting to me.”
I extended my uninjured hand.
“I’m Solomon. But my friends call me Sully.” I said. Explicitly forgetting to mention my Type.
“Uh. Hi. Sully. I’m Steve. I, uh.” He kept stammering over his words for some time. Going so far as to take a few steps back. “Okay. Don’t freak out, but… I think I might be a Telepath.”
I felt the tension in my shoulders draining away in droves after that.
“Oh thank goodness.”
He blinked in confusion.
“You’re not scared?”
“Oh, no. Don’t me wrong. I am absolutely mortified right now, but there’s nothing else to do but work through the fear. Also, relax. I’m also a Telepath.”
He still eyes me warily.
“You’re not, like, a deranged mind-controller are you?”
“No.” I assured him. “Like I said. I just got here too. I’m still trying to figure all this out. Speaking of which; System! Give me descriptions of all available abilities.”
System Notice:
Tier 1 abilities will not carry descriptions due to their modular nature.
This directive has been applied retroactively to all iterations of the system.
Ability descriptions have been proven to stunt early Esper development.
Students are encouraged to experiment and mold their abilities to suit their needs.
I stared at the screen, unblinking. Slowly, my eyes scanned the response, then went over the text again with a fine-tooth comb, looking for hidden meanings and contemplating the implications.
Finally, I sighed.
“Oh. That’s great. Lovely. Whomever threw me in here wants me to get stronger, but won’t tell me what the bloody powers do. That’s fantastic. A+ for effort.”
Steve followed my lead and scanned the message.
“Dude. That is, like seriously messed up. I mean, some of them are pretty straight forward like [Indigestion], but you’ve also got things like [Stable Reality] and [Unstable Reality] or [Manifest Intruder] or [Psionic Jinx]. And they won’t even tell us what they do. This is the worst Isekai ever.”
I turned to him.
“Isekai?”
“Yeah. That’s what this is.” He said with growing confidence. “We’ve been summoned to another world and given superpowers by the System. After this, we’ll have to use them to save this new world. Probably by killing an evil king or monster. But it might turn out that it’s actually a hot babe that wants to get along with humans and the guys who summoned us are the bad guys. Or maybe we might get betrayed by the princess who summoned us and….”
“I’m sorry.” I interrupted him. “A… princess?”
“Yeah dude.” Steve affirmed. “Keep up with the developments. So, the princess gave us powers and now we have the System. Since there’s two of us, that means that either one of us or someone we’ll be meeting soon is a super-scary final-boss kind of guy who will be our friend to start with. We’ll want to mind-read everyone who comes along to introduce us to the good human king who will later turn out to be super mean to the beast-folk.”
“The beast-folk?” I asked. “Like, Shifters?”
“Hmn. Oh. No. I meant girls with, oh wait. I guess that also makes sense. Never mind.”
‘Oh no. Steve is brain-damaged.’
“Hey! I read your mind! I am not brain damaged!”
“You just told me that we were kidnapped by a princess who will later betray us.” I pointed out.
“That’s just what happens! I’m not brain damaged! I’m telling you the truth!”
I blinked a couple of times and then covered my face with my one good hand.
“Okay Steve. Whatever. Let’s not fight over this and get back to the screen.”
“You haven’t figured all this out already?”
“No.” I admitted. “I’ve been, busy. With a lot of monster hunting.”
Going back to the board, that whole bit about abilities being modular was quite interesting.
Maybe I could get past the cooldown with practice?
Food for thought. I’d have to keep trying new things with the swirls of energy.
“Time to try something else then. System, who kidnapped me? Who built the labyrinth? What do they want?”
No response came forward and I cursed internally.
“I told you man. It was a princess who summoned us.” Steve insisted.
I closed my eyes for a moment and tried really, really hard to keep my mind clear of any aggressive thoughts he might pick up on.
“Is there anything you can tell me?” I asked the System once more.
System Notice:
All Students have received equal access to information.
Access to information has been fine-tuned to maximize potential growth.
“Right. I’ll just take your word for it.” A sudden lump formed in my throat as an idea hit me.
‘This thing didn’t tell me what ability points did until I asked.’
“Wait! Give me all the information you can. Doesn’t matter if it deemed relevant. I want all the information that’s available to me.”
System Notice:
Tutorial simplifications disabled as per Student request.
Full menu has been made available.
Status
Titles
Equipment
Abilities
Forums
Team
Objectives
Instance
“AHA!”
Steve followed my lead and whistled.
“Wow. Way to go dude. I never would have thought to try that. I figured the System would give us everything from the start. It’s starting to come off as a little mean by holding this stuff back.”
“Yeah. No (Centipede).”
I turned back to the System.
“What other secrets are you hiding?”
No answer was brought forward.
The System stayed as silent as the grave.
So, I started flicking with the remaining options alongside Steve.
The Status window was the same as usual. No change there.
The Titles window opened to reveal a plain box.
Titles:
Student has no titles.
Fair enough, I guess.
“System, what’s a Title and how can I get one?”
System Notice:
This information will be available after the conquest of a safe zone.
“What’s a safe zone?” Steve asked in confusion. “I thought you said this was the safe zone.”
“This is a safe room.” I corrected. “And I didn’t get any kind of pop up telling me that. I just figured it out because there’s one entrance and one exit that’s covered by a door that closes. That and I found you in one piece at a time when monsters were eating people alive. I figured that the room had to be at least somewhat safe.”
Steve paled at that, but nodded.
The Equipment window opened to reveal another plain box.
Equipment:
No System equipment available.
No Store Tokens available.
No special Tokens Available.
Under that window was the smorgasbord of options I’d been shown already, detailing all the immoral ways I could improve my current condition.
I groaned as the implications of the memory altering ones finally dropped, briefly imagining myself as one of the guys chasing down John Gardens in the titular movies.
Those always ended in the same way.
With the big bad electrocuting or blowing up his latest girlfriend after brainwashing her, prompting John to yell:
“NOOOOO! Honesty!”
Or
“NOOOOO! Faith!”
After that, his trusty sidekick Boombox distracted the ne’er do well. Long enough for John to overcome his grief at the last moment and save the day.
By disembowelling his rival.
Slowly.
I’d seen both movies in the theatres with my friends. Both times, the audience had cheered at the blood sport.
I massaged my head in order to alleviate a small fraction of the stress I felt.
It didn’t work.
Intrusive thoughts kept coming one after the other like flies on a landfill. They buzzed and buzzed, never retreating for long as my mind kept stubbornly conjuring the worst-case scenarios for me.
‘The screens aren’t really there since my hand can pass through them. That means there isn’t a sadistic Projector making solid constructs out of light. Which leaves hallucinations, either from a traumatic brain injury or an undiagnosed mental health disorder.’
I groaned at the prospect as more options kept beating me over the head.
‘Or, you know, an evil Telepath messing with my mind. Or drugs. I could very well have been roofied while I was asleep.’
“No. No! Stop that, Sully! Stop it! That’s the anxiety talking. That’s not you. That doesn’t help. Happy thoughts. Deep breaths and happy thoughts.”
“Dude, you’re starting to scare me.” Steve said.
“I don’t know why.” I countered. “I think I’m handling this whole thing much better than most people I know would have. The trick is to break down the large problems into smaller, more manageable ones and to have a positive, can-do attitude.”
I drew in a deep, long breath.
Just like Henry taught me. Letting all the fear out alongside the air. Then I did it again. Until I snapped back into focus and turned to the screens.
“Okay. Back to business. Show me the forums.”
System Notice:
Forums not available until the start of the third cycle.
“Erm, could I see the store?”
System Notice:
Labyrinth Store can only be accessed through intermediaries.
Intermediaries will be scattered throughout the Tutorial.
I fought hard to supress the shivers crawling up my spine and went for the next tab.
Team:
The Student has not yet formed a team.
“Of course. Makes sense. Thank you for the pre-emptive explanation system. You’re a big help. Let’s move on.”
Objectives:
Current Objective: Survive the first cycle. (59 days remaining)
Bonus Objective: Conquer a safe zone.
Bonus Objective: Reach level 50.
Bonus Objective: Increase the Tier of an ability.
Bonus Objective: Gain a Title.
Survivor Count: 895/1000
Instance:
10:03 am – Earth TRKG-2004
Tutorial Labyrinth – Elite Difficulty.
“System, why does planet Earth have a serial number next to it?”
“Dude. Sully. Its because that’s our old world and we’ve been Isekaid.” Steve insisted.
System Notice:
It is standard practice to classify Students by their dimension of origin so as to not confuse Students from the same planet located in different dimensions.
“Right. I’m going to have a bit of an existential crisis about the implications of multiple dimensions later, but there’s something else. System, why does it say that we’re in the Elite difficulty?” I said, feeling like a cretin all the while.
No response was forthcoming.
“Oooooh.” Steve said. His tone becoming more and more strained as he let the sounds out. “So its that kind of Isekai.”
His shoulders slumped.
“Well (Buzzkill).”
He turned to me.
“I don’t suppose you have any cheats we can pull out to secure our survival?”
“No?” I said. “At least, I don’t think so. I think I’ve got a good grasp on the mechanics but that’s about it.”
Steve nodded slowly.
“Right. In that case, we’re going to want to stay right here and camp out as long as possible.”
Marshalling my willpower, I fought down the rush of paranoia and anxiety bubbling up in my veins.
Turning my head to face him directly.
“Okay? Why do you think that?”
“Because it’s the most obvious way to survive!” He shouted with exasperation. “There’s going to be someone here, in this instance, who will be head and shoulders above the rest. I don’t know who it is or whether they’re a good guy or not, but someone will eventually rise to the top. What we have to do now is stay put. Avoid dying. And then, when that person bears the Tutorial, we all rush over to them and offer ourselves as teammates.”
I thought about punching him, but dispelled the notion with enough speed that I figured he didn’t manage to get a read on me.
Now wasn’t the time.
“Listen, man. This isn’t… This is real life. I got bit. I almost lost a hand. Honestly, we’re lucky we met each other before anything else got to you too. We have to worry about things like our oxygen supply and the chances of a cave-in. You know, the things that normally kill people who wind up in caves. This… this isn’t helping.”
Steve clicked his tongue.
“Man, you don’t understand anything. Whomever out us here obviously doesn’t want to let that happen. It wouldn’t make sense for them to go to all this trouble only to kill us like that.”
“On the contrary. It would make perfect sense for them to kill us like that. It means they don’t need to worry about fighting a few hundred new Superhumans directly and they get to erase all the evidence of us in one fell swoop. If anything, the lack or organizers here in person makes me think that they’ve already prepared to bury us as soon as we become inconvenient or they get whatever data they were hoping to get. There might be demolition charges inside the walls as we speak.”
Steve didn’t say anything else. Instead, he turned his head to the side and started gnashing his teeth. His mind going on and on about how stupid I was being.
I took a deep breath, refocusing on the screen and preparing myself to ask the pertinent question.
“What is difference between this and other difficulties?”
The question hung in the air for an uncomfortable amount of time. That, as it turned out, was the final straw.
“You know what. Screw you. Screw you and whomever made you. I did not survive the opening of the rifts, having my family home burned down, months inside a refugee camp and years of appalling poverty just to die here in this hole for some sick freak’s pleasure.”
Breathing became an afterthought as truth spilled out.
“I didn’t make it through the shelter, the monsters, and the tall man so that I could rot in some hole in the middle of nowhere. I’m going to get out of here. I’m going to rescue as many people as I can and I will see you brought to justice. Just you wait. This is a linear function where f(x) is (Centipede) around and f(y) is find out.”
I was shaking with impotent rage as those final words came out. Spite, thick and cloying, helping to fuel my resolve.