“Ezra! Charles!”
Ezra turned his eyes to the side.
A boy about Ezra’s age looked at them with wide eyes. His skin was pale and clammy and his long hair covered the right half of his face. He was dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with the words ‘BABE MAGNET’ emblazoned across the front in wicked sharp letters.
“What the hell are you wearing?” Ezra said.
Pete cringed.
“It’s a comfortable shirt,” he said. “It’s not my fault, I just woke up here after falling asleep!”
A boy to Pete’s left stepped forward. Another one stood back and nodded.
“Charles. Glad to see you here.” Lackey 1 reached out and put his hand on Charles's shoulder.
“Likewise,” Charles said.
Ezra darted his eyes between the two people. He’d seen Charles’ lackeys before and knew their names, but to him they were Lackey 1 and Lackey 2.
Pete approached Ezra.
“Um, hey! Good to see you again!”
Ezra stared at a spot on a tree behind Pete.
“Yeah, totally, same here,” he said.
“This whole thing really freaked me out,” Pete said. “Suddenly waking up on top of a hill. I kinda screamed, actually.”
“I’m not surprised.”
Pete blew a strand of hair away from his left eye. He glanced from side to side and leaned in toward Ezra.
“By the way, Ezra,” Pete said. “What was up with all that stuff about you being missing?”
Ezra sucked in a breath, his vision shooting over toward Pete. “What?”
Pete lowered his voice.
“Your mom showed up at our house and said that since I was the only person you talked to, I might know where you are. Of course, uh, I didn’t. But…“
Ezra took a step forward and glared down at Pete.
“We’ll talk later,” Ezra said. “You tell this to no one, understand?”
Pete gave a hurried nod. Charles stood in the center of the group and turned his head, glancing at everyone.
“Well, it seems we have created quite the little group,” he said. “I propose that we work together and share information. Given the circumstances, it seems like the wisest decision.”
Lackeys 1 and 2 nodded at the same time. Pete looked between Ezra and Charles before giving a jittery nod.
Ezra didn’t do anything and stood in place.
“Well, that just about checks out,” Lackey 1 said. “So, let’s share what we know.”
Charles put his hands behind his back. “I believe I’m correct in assuming that everyone here went to sleep last night, then woke up here?”
“I, uh…” Pete said. “I wouldn’t have worn this shirt under any other circumstance.”
“Indeed. And the same goes for you two?”
Lackey 2 gave a thumbs-up. Lackey 1 nodded. “Yup.”
“That is about what I expected. Can we take stock of what we have? Did anybody else manage to bring something over?”
Ezra shook his head along with both Lackeys. Pete raised his hand. “I have a stick of bubble gum.”
“And I have my straight razor,” Charles said. “It was in my pocket. Same for you, I imagine?”
Pete nodded. “Yeah.”
Wait, why did Charles sleep with his straight razor? Ezra had multiple questions.
“Now, I believe we should share some of what we’ve seen,” Charles said.
Lackey 1 raised his hand.
“I think I should say something. I’ve got a crazy creature to tell you guys about.”
“And what is that?”
Lackey 1 laughed.
“A giant wooden turtle.”
Ezra smirked. Looks like he wasn’t just seeing things.
“Most curious,” Charles said. “I believe we all came across the tiny, insect-like birds.”
Everyone nodded, serious expressions on their faces. Ezra resisted the urge to laugh.
“I think that given the consistency of these events,” Charles said. “And the fact that we haven’t woken up yet, it is extremely likely that we are in another world or reality of some sort. The rules of this world seem to be rather loose, given that the things we’ve spoken of exist. It’s either that or we’ve collectively lost our minds, which is a distinct possibility.”
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Ezra pulled off the jacket wrapped around his waist. He started slipping it onto his body.
“None of you guys noticed the health bar and mana bar?”
Everyone’s eyes darted toward Ezra.
“Pardon? What do you mean?” Charles said.
Ezra adjusted the jacket, then nodded. He looked up at Charles.
“Look at the top right of your vision,” Ezra said.
Each of the boys did as they were told. After a few seconds, Charles shook his head.
“I don’t see what you’re talking about—oh.” He cupped his chin. “Curious. Most curious.”
“HP?” Pete said. “What’s that?”
“Health points. Have you never played a game in your life?”
“I’m not much of a gamer…” Pete said.
“Uh-huh. Well, anyway, try this. Say the word ‘System’,” Ezra said.
“System!”
The word struck the forest like a gong. Various wide-eyed looks of shock and confusion. Over each of their heads, text appeared.
Pete - Lv. 1 - Otherworlder
Charles - Lv. 1 - Otherworlder
The other two were level 1 and with the same Otherworlder title. Ezra scrunched his face together. So, once they said System, they were… what, activated? Odd. Did that mean other people could see Ezra’s name and level as well?
Ezra waited for one of them to say something about the glitched text.
Finally, one of the boys spoke.
“Wait a second, I think I’ve seen a show like this!” Lackey 1 said. “It was like, a thing where they were summoned heroes and one of them had a shield—“
“Yeah, yeah, can we focus on what’s in front of us for a moment?” Lackey 2 said.
Ezra stiffened. Had they not noticed the bugs? Or was it not there for them?
Shuffling came over from the left. Ezra paused and turned his head. Another person? Or perhaps the local wildlife?
A…
A deer?
----------------------------------------
Ezra started to reach out to pet it, then drew his hand back. His eyes darted around to see if anyone spotted him.
Charles tilted his head. “Huh.”
Ezra let out a breath of air. Nobody had seen. He looked back at the deer.
“It looks normal,” Ezra said. “Maybe this is one of those worlds where most things are the same?”
Charles tapped the front of his foot against the ground.
“Quite the expert, eh? This is the stuff of your dreams, isn’t it?”
Ezra waved him off. “I have hobbies.”
Charles cracked a smirk, and for a moment Ezra forgot that they were on another planet.
A growl caught Ezra’s attention. Now that he looked closer, there was something off about the deer. Its eyes were bulging from its face and something was dripping from its mouth.
“Does it have rabies?” Lackey 1 said.
“Don’t be ridiculous, deer don’t get rabies,” Lackey 2 said.
Red text popped up over the deer’s head.
“Deer”
Lv. 3
There was a beat of silence.
“Oh, it’s a deer!” Lackey 1 said.
Charles pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Of course that’s what you care about. Not the fact that there’s text hovering over its head, just the fact that it confirms that it’s a deer.”
Pete’s face turned even whiter than usual. “S-something doesn’t feel right about this.”
Instinctively, Ezra’s back curled inward and he found his knees bending. Why were there quotes?
Then the deer’s face split vertically, revealing row after row of teeth and fangs. It marched forward, its posture indicating that it was hoping to leap toward them. Lackey 1 let out a shriek of terror and fell to the ground. Pete took several steps back, then slammed against a tree. Lackey 2 froze in place alongside Ezra and Charles.
“What the hell is that thing!?” Lackey 1 said.
The mutant deer’s breath came in quicker.
“Quiet!” Ezra said. “You’re pissing it off!”
“Screw this, I’m out of here!” said Lackey 1.
The urge to run alongside the lackey was overwhelming. But something deep inside Ezra was screaming that it would be a terrible idea.
Instead of doing anything, Ezra stood still.
Lackey 1 stood up and broke off in a dash. The “Deer” was still for a moment. It didn’t even breathe.
Then it galloped forward, rushing past us and charging after Lackey 1. Its footsteps pounded against the ground before it blurred and moved five feet in an instant. In the darkness, Lackey 1 let out a scream.
The deer had something in its mouth, while Lackey 1 was missing an arm.
“Get away from me!” Lackey 1 said. “Don’t come any closer—!”
The two silhouettes disappeared.
There was only one now.
The urge to vomit washed over Ezra’s throat. His hands started to shake.
“Did it just eat him?” Lackey 2 said, his voice quivering.
Charles flipped on his phone light and set it on the ground behind them.
“We can’t run,” he said.
“Why the hell not!?” Lackey 2 said.
“You saw how fast it moved. We’ll perish long before we escape.”
Ezra’s hands trembled. “We need to fight back.”
A bead of sweat dribbled down Charles’s cheek before he nodded.
“You’re right.”
The sound of something falling to the ground entered Ezra’s ears. He turned around and saw Pete lying on the dirt, his eyes shut.
“What!?” Charles said. “This is absurd!”
“No time,” Ezra said. “We need to stay focused on our own problems.”
Ezra’s eyes searched the ground for a weapon. After a moment, he picked up a thick-looking stick.
Charles pulled out his straight razor and gulped. The deer began to turn around.
Ezra narrowed his eyes.
“Y-you guys are insane!” Lackey 2 said. “Screw that! You can go get yourselves killed!”
He dashed off in the opposite direction of the deer. The deer elected to ignore him.
“Hell of a friend you’ve got there, Charles,” Ezra said.
“Kindly screw off.”
The deer turned around.
Ezra’s arms stiffened. The deer had unknown capabilities… how was it able to move so quickly? Ezra and Charles needed some kind of edge. They had skills, right? Why couldn’t they use them?
“Activate. Skill Activate,” said Ezra.
Charles tightened his grip around his straight razor. “What are you doing?”
“You saw the System menu, just like I did. What do you think I’m doing?”
Charles dug his heels into the ground and faced forward.
“Cut. Activate. Activate Cut.”
Charles continued to mutter words under his breath. The deer was getting closer with each second.
“Abilities activate—“
A translucent blue box popped in front of him and hope rose in Ezra’s chest.
[You require a Spirit Weapon to access this menu!]
Ezra’s jaw dropped and he stared at the message for several seconds.
The deer stepped closer, its gaping maw full of blood and saliva. Charles spouted out a few more words at random.
Ezra glanced between Charles and the Deer.
The deer winded its way toward them. Its mannerisms were languid. It was a mere 10 feet away, now.
Sweat dribbled down the back of Ezra’s neck.
“Come on,” he said. “System Skill activate. Bind. Bind Deer.”
Nothing happened. The deer continued to step forward, inch by inch.
Ezra clicked his tongue. That advantage he was hoping for seemed to be gone and out the window. What to do? He gripped his stick tighter. There was nothing to do, except fight with what little he had.
Charles glared at the deer.
“Activate Cut.”
Charles let out a puff of air.
“I cannot believe this,” Charles said. “They didn’t even bother to throw any instructional material at us. What sort of game is this?”
The monster adjusted its feet, but not toward Ezra—it moved toward Pete, who was still fainted on the ground.
Pete, who Ezra had completely forgotten about.
Ezra’s stomach dropped.
It continued advancing. Four feet away, now.
Ezra gulped. What should he do? Fight the deer? Try to intercept it? But he’d be risking himself. No, he should use Pete’s death as a way to attack the deer.
Three feet. Two feet.
That was the right decision. Sacrifice Pete. Besides, he barely knew the guy.
One foot.
Ezra gripped his stick tighter. His jacket chafed against his arm.
It started to jump—
Ezra threw himself at the deer.