"Attention people of planet 35956390246, also called Earth. Your planet is the most recent to be accepted into the Intergalactic Federation of Planets, or IFP. This great honor is bestowed upon you by the IFP high council to ensure the continuation of your species. At this time the planet is undergoing the Grand System conversion. A mana generator is being placed in the core of your planet to ensure that you have access to the resources you will need in the coming months. Please remain calm as we also integrate each of you into the Grand System. A brief tutorial will be given to every human on the planet to assist you with the integration process, and ensure you have every chance of survival possible." A large, androgynous, but kind-sounding voice boomed out of a projection from the obelisk that had appeared suddenly in downtown Dallas.
The day had started like any other day. Tom had woken up, gotten ready for work in his apartment, and made the coffee that he drank every day on his way to work. Sipping it carefully, so as not to burn his mouth, he called to his roommate and co-worker.
"You ready James? We're gonna be late if we don't get going. You know the traffic on 75 is fucking brutal."
James stepped out of his bedroom, adjusting his superhero t-shirt under the backpack he had thrown over one shoulder.
"I hear ya. I just had to send in my PR for the graphics on the dungeon. Boss was not gonna be happy if we didn't have that ready for review today." James replied.
"Great! You fixed the walls that kept turning invisible when you got too close?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, That wasn't the big issue. The worst part was the recurring issue with using mage hand to open doors. But I finally got that solved too. Now let's get out before we lose any more time."
Jumping into Tom's car, the two had driven from the outskirts of Dallas and toward their office. They both worked for a company called Underdark for the last six years and had become really close friends, deciding to move in together to save on rent. Underdark was a game development company that had put out a few big-name games over the last few years. Most of the games were Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or MMORPG for short, and their latest project was set to release at the end of the year.
This particular morning though, there had been a massive rumble from the ground while they were driving.
"What the hell was that?! SHIT!" Tom asked, trying to keep control of the car as he slowed down and swerved to avoid a car that had slammed on its brakes.
"No fucking idea," James replied, turning his head back and forth while he gripped the door handle and center console trying to see if any other vehicles were going to hit them. "Earthquake?"
"In Dallas?" Tom asked.
"They have been doing more fracking recently." James offered.
"We've never had anything this bad before. Just little tremors from the shifting tectonic plates." Tom replied.
"Look I don't fucking know. I just want to..." James trailed off as he caught sight of something in the distance.
"What is it?" Tom said as he tried to follow James' line of sight. Then he saw it. Out of the ground, a giant obelisk was rising higher and higher into the sky. It was jet black, and polished so smooth the light from the still rising sun caused it to glisten. It appeared to have come right out of West End near the aquarium.
"What the actual fuck is that?" Tom asked.
Shaking his head, James just stared slack-jawed, unable to form words to describe what he was seeing. Finally stopping its rise, the obelisk dwarfed even the tallest building in Dallas by hundreds of feet.
The crunch of metal from behind them broke the pair from their stupor as they turned to see what had happened. Two SUVs had crashed, unable to stop and unable to swerve to avoid each other in an attempt to not hit a mid-sized sedan that had stopped behind them. All traffic had stopped dead at the sight and people were starting to get out of their cars to look up at the strange sight.
That was when a massive projection had shot out of the top of the obelisk and into the sky. A giant screen had formed in a rectangle showing a robotic-looking creature's center profile. It gave the announcement in a sound that boomed out, overpowering even the car alarms and people yelling about the halted progress of traffic.
"There will be many changes to come in the near future. The introduction of mana to your otherwise woefully depleted world will spawn monsters, dungeons, and other unexplained phenomenon. This is to be expected, and it is all part of the normal process. You will be instructed on how to handle these situations and how to go about your new lives," The creature continued. "Again, please remain calm while you await the Grand System integration."
Folding in on itself, the screen shrank and disappeared just as mysteriously as it had appeared. Another rumble shook the ground causing Tom and James, who had now stepped out of their vehicle and were holding onto the doors of the car, to stumble slightly as they fought to keep their balance.
Looking at each other with wide eyes, James and Tom stood there for a moment in shocked confusion. Suddenly it felt like a knife was being jammed into Tom's head. Grabbing the sides of his head he fell to his knees and then to his side where he was able to get a glimpse of the same thing happening to a woman who had yet to get out of her car to his left. A scream escaped as he tried to release the pain through any means he could. Vision going white, he could do nothing but lie there on the ground curled up in the fetal position as his entire world blossomed into a cacophony of pain.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Intensifying suddenly, the pain became more than his body could handle, and Tom retched as he threw up the contents of his nearly empty stomach on the highway. Just as Tom thought his head was about to explode, the pain subsided. It took another moment for his vision to clear as he tried to open his eyes after holding them closed so tightly.
With a burning as though small needles were stuck into his eyes from the light, Tom chanced looking around and put a hand over his eyes to protect them from the direct light of the sun. Still squinting against the pain, Tom noticed pretty much everyone else around seemed to have experienced the same pain he had.
"What the actual fuck was that?" James half whispered, as though the sounds were going to make the pain come back. "I thought my head was going to split open and spill my brains out on the ground."
"Not a clue," Tom replied, also in a half whisper as the sounds of the car alarms and sirens around were already threatening to bring on another migraine. "But it looks like everyone else also..."
Tom trailed off as a screen appeared in his vision.
Welcome to The Grand System!
You have been initiated into the most advanced AI system in the known universe. This means that your planet was recently initiated into the Intergalactic Federation of Planets or IFP. I am here to guide you through the initial tutorial process of the system. This system has been refined by administrators over the last seventeen centuries to be the primary model for tracking your personal growth. You will be introduced to each of the main facets of the system so that you will understand how to utilize the system to best enhance your experience in the new world you will find yourself in.
Most of the system can be controlled directly via the neural network that has been integrated directly into your brain. Simply thinking about the screen you would like to view will pull it up in your interface. Please begin by thinking "Character Sheet".
Standing stock still, eyes wide, with the pain of a moment ago forgotten, Tom stared at the notification in his view. It was a golden-bordered prompt with white text on a nearly see-through background. Reading the notification several times over his confusion was no less prominent even though he understood the words.
"What does it mean, 'Think Character Sheet'?" No sooner had he thought this than a new window opened as the prompt closed and on it was a set of stats.
Name: Tom Harris
Race: Human
Class: None
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
SP: 100/100
Total XP: 0 XP to Next Level: 1000
Attributes:
Unused Attribute Points: 0
Strength: 10
Constitution: 10
Dexterity: 10
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 10
Charisma: 10
Luck: 10
Non-Combat Skills:
Combat Skills:
Inspect
None
"This looks just like a video game screen. James, are you seeing this?" Tom called over to James, not looking away from the screen.
"I'm seeing a notice of some kind. What are you seeing?" James replied.
"Think Character Sheet."
"What do you mean think...Holy shit!" James exclaimed.
"I know right!? But level one kinda sucks. Figured at our age we'd be further along than that." Tom said.
"Yeah, but we are brand new to the system, so it kinda makes sense. I think most of these stats make sense, but I'd love to know what they actually do." James said. A prompt appeared in his vision when he thought this. "Dude! Think about what the stats mean!"
Tom thought about the stats and a prompt appeared in his vision as well.
Attribute Definitions:
* Strength - Defines the amount of weight one can carry and how hard one's attacks hit.
* Constitution - Defines the toughness of a user. Every attribute point put here will raise the HP of the user by 10 points and increase the user's resistance to poisons by a small amount.
* Dexterity - Defines the user's mobility, ability to use ranged weapons, and raises the regeneration rate of the user's Stamina Points.
* Endurance - Defines the user's ability to continue moving by raising the user's Stamina points by 10 for each attribute point placed in this attribute.
* Intelligence - Defines the user's ability to use magic. Each attribute point placed here will raise the user's mana pool by 10 points. This attribute also determines the number of spells a user can learn.
* Wisdom - Defines the user's ability to continue to use magic. Each attribute point placed here will raise the user's mana regeneration rate.
* Charisma - Defines the user's ability to interact favorably with others. Each attribute point placed here will increase favorable outcomes in personal interactions slightly.
* Luck - Although this attribute is harder to define, each attribute point here will affect the user's luck either positively or negatively. Only the universe can know.
You can also train your body through physical and mental exercise to increase your ability points in the same way that you would train your body to become more fit and healthy.
"This is interesting and all, but we really need to figure out what's going on don't we?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, you're right. But what do we do? We're kind of pinned in here." James replied.
"Maybe we can see what we can do to help people get back into their cars to get traffic flowing?" Tom offered.
A scream answered his question from the road ahead of them. Turning quickly to see what caused the commotion, both of them froze in fear at what they saw. More screams rose to join the first as something was heading their way. Soon a group of people were running toward them, masks of complete panic on their faces.
"No fucking way," James said. "Get in the fucking car, NOW!"