Darkness.
It was the sensation that consumed him, creating an all-encompassing void.
A suffocating darkness engulfed and threatened to devour him; it felt like he had fallen into an abyss of thick goo. All his senses felt heavy and muffled, and an acrid, nauseating odor assaulted his nose.
Haah!
He took a deep breath like he had just awoken from a sudden nightmare. His heart thundered in his chest like a trumpet, and he could feel his high blood pressure as clear as day.
Murmur, murmur.
He heard the sound of distant mumblings. He could barely make it out but instinctively discerned the voices were laced with confusion. It felt like his whole body was underwater, the voices sounding muffled and low-pitched.
Haah!
He took another long breath and suddenly felt his whole body loosen, his blood flow returning to normal, and the dark world finally subsiding.
Bright daylight assaulted his vision, making him instinctively clench his eyelids and cover his eyes with his hand, slowly letting the brightness settle in as he looked around himself with a muddled expression.
What he saw didn't answer the many questions he had in his mind.
People around him, primarily of his age but in various body shapes, sizes, and ethnicities, carried the same look he probably had on his face- full of confusion, anxiousness, and sheer dread.
What's going on? Where am I? He thought to himself, but there was no one to answer his questions.
As the senses of his body returned, a shiver ran through his body, and he glanced down to find his bare feet resting on a cold, metallic surface. The metal beneath his soles felt foreign and unfamiliar; it was a material that had constant waves of light pulsating through it, almost as if it were alive..
The large stadium-like area was made out of this particular metal, and everyone around him stood on it.
Soon, a circular stadium formed around them, tall walls made from the same silvery material beneath their feet.
His eyes darted to the top of these walls, and what he saw surprised him.
More people?
Indeed, looking down at them, many stood in circular, tier-divided seats. He couldn't make out their faces, but he could feel a weird sense of dread stemming inside of him as he looked at the eyes of these people reflecting in the sunlight.
He couldn't pinpoint his fears either, but it felt like they were ...appraising goods, deciding the worths of the people inside this overly grandiose stadium.
Screech!
Just then, a loud noise that felt like the feedback of a microphone being tested resounded through the stadium, making the already confused lot cower in fear from what was happening.
"Hello, and welcome to Eldoria, Earth-dwellers," A clear and eloquent voice resounded throughout the stadium, making everyone turn their heads towards its source, "I am Martin, the host for this year's Eldoria Inauguration Program."
Eldoria? What's that? It was the first time he had heard of such a thing, not to mention that they were being called 'Earth-dwellers.' It didn't sit right with him. Something was honestly wrong with this whole situation.
Is this an elaborate prank? He mused but immediately shook his head. If it was a prank, this would definitely be on a level that can be considered a crime.
"Who are you? Why have I been kidnapped? Answer me right now!" From his left, a youngster with muddy blonde hair and a sharp nose cried out, voicing the thoughts of people who shared his plight.
That isn't the wisest thing to ask in such a situation; it usually ends up badly. However, he grimaced when he heard the youngster. The blonde-haired guy seemed like the type of character that was used to set some sort of example.
"Hoho, I am sure you are very confused with the situation you are in right now, but do not worry. No one will hurt you if you obediently listen to my explanation," This time, people could finally see the source of the voice: a middle-aged man in a designer red suit with a golden Monocle placed above his right eye, and a cane with a fancy dragon handle in his left hand.
He was the epitome of exquisiteness and elegance, a salesman from a medieval-setting British drama.
He adorned an amicable smile, but the impression it gave seemed cold and calculative.
"Before I go ahead with any, it's best that you see some things yourself to make it easier for me to explain," Martin said, as he raised his cane and continued, "First of all, try saying status. In fact, just think of the word."
It didn't take long before some people did it without questioning him, while others hesitated.
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Luke Raynott Alignment: Neutral Title: None Class: None Specialty: Instincts of the Weak (Passive) Strength- 4 (Normal) | Agility- 5 (Normal) | Intelligence- 1 (Normal) | Divinity- 0 (Normal) | Luck- 1 (Rare) | Wisdom- 7 (Epic) Skills- None Abilities- None Overall rating- Extremely Disappointing [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/852793029303468083/1145983633606316062/c1c62920-60e8-42e9-84b7-e85791652351.png]
Stolen novel; please report.
Luke Raynott
Alignment: Neutral
Title: None
Class: None
Specialty: Instincts of the Weak (Passive)
Strength- 4 (Normal) | Agility- 5 (Normal) | Intelligence- 1 (Normal) | Divinity- 0 (Normal) | Luck- 1 (Rare) | Wisdom- 7 (Epic)
Skills- None
Overall rating- Extremely Disappointing
----------------------------------------
Luke observed the translucent blue screen in front of him. Like some futuristic hologram, it was highly detailed and realistic.
This whole situation has been one strange thing after the other, and even though Luke felt highly weirded out by seeing the game-like status screen in front of him, it was nothing compared to the whole situation that had happened till now.
And on top of that, the stats were abysmal, but that was the last of his worries.
I am not even disappointed.
He tried to convince himself that this might just be a weird dream, a mumbo jumbo of all the weird shit the internet had fed him, but to his dismay, this situation was too realistic.
The acrid stench, warm sunlight, the voices around him, and the scene before him were all too realistic to be a dream.
Then came the weird man with a cane. His speech was smoothly formulated, and although his words felt as out of context as any other in a dream, they weren't unrealistic.
Luke knew instinctively that this was a strange turn of events; everything happening in front of his eyes was real.
His gaze moved from his own status screen to the status screens of the others. He checked them all, one by one, as Martin began to speak again.
"What you see in front of you is a 'status screen.' It's supposed to show a person's potential and talent. In this world called Eldoria, Magic and Monsters that you can't see on Earth exist. Before you, many people have come to Eldoria from Earth," Martin said while he fixed his Monocle with his right hand, "None of you came here willingly, but the great Veridian Empire gives freedom and chances to everyone. Prove your worth, and let the esteemed guests here sponsor you."
Martin pointed at the last tier of seats, which were 'rooms' and not seats. It was like a VIP sitting area in a football stadium.
He continued on to briefly let the people know more about this world. He was sympathetic towards them and how the esteemed guests, mainly the big guilds and noble houses, were here to select and sponsor prospective candidates as pre-investment."
Although Luke tried to discern as much information as possible and catch on to things, he couldn't understand everything with such limited knowledge. Not to mention that they had been mass isekai-ed to a different world that lingered in his brain like a fresh wound.
But he could still get the gist of the things that Martin said.
First, Martin did not summon them here, and neither did anyone else. It was a natural occurrence every year in Eldoria at various locations; a building was prepared around the site to keep the 'newbies' in check and to 'pre-invest' in potential candidates that might grow up to be powerful.
Why isn't anyone acting out yet?
According to Luke's vast knowledge of cliches, it was about time one of the newbies started acting out just to be put in his place.
"You motherfuckers, what kind of sick joke is this? Do you know who I am? I am the son of James Cairon, a congressman; I can send you all to jail and have your heads hung even if this is some prank–"
Thud!
Splatter!
Drip!
His angry face rolled on the ground before the blonde-haired youth could even finish his retort. It was his head—with his face still making an expression as if he was shouting at others with anger and dread. Blood splattered around from his neck as his body fell lifelessly right next to him.
Silence.
Drip, drip!
Only the sound of blood dripping from Martin's fancy cane could be heard in the eerie silence as he floated in the air.
Heuk!
The people standing beside the blonde-haired youth fell on their butts, covering their mouths to hold back their screams and the urge to vomit.
Ssskk!
Luke sucked in cold air into his lungs, feeling his heartbeat rushing like a bullet train as he looked at the situation. He knew someone would get punished; it was to remind everyone else to not question their situation and quietly follow along with what Martin was saying.
But he never expected to see someone die, brutally at that. He was too naive in thinking that the punishment would be anything lighter.
"Ah, where were we? Yes, the token! Now, please come one by one and touch the tokens to display your status screens for everyone. Otherwise, people can't see your status screen and hence won't be able to gauge your potential," Martin said with the same crescent moon smile.
Huh?
What does he mean people can't see others' status screens?
Luke couldn't help but be perplexed. He could see the hundreds of status screens hovering above his vision as clear as day. Is this not the case for everyone?
After a few rounds of trial and error, Luke managed to confirm that he was the only one who could see the status screens of others. It was clear now that Martin or the people in the stadium could only see their status screens if someone touched the small red token raised on a circular 10-inch podium.
Luke had already confirmed the accuracy of the information he saw compared to the three-story tall screen that appeared when someone touched the red token.
That made him realize something dire.
I'm the third last when it comes to stats. My stats are absolutely trash. As someone who had played RPG games before, he knew precisely what these stats meant for a playable character, and hence, the realization that his stats were trash took only a short time to come.
According to Martin, the ratings in front of the stats were the 'growth potential' and speed of a person. It confirmed that not only did he have trash stats, but he also had the worst possible growth potential for most of his stats.
Even the three people with lower stats than me have higher growth potential! Luke couldn't help but feel a weird bitterness in his throat. He knew he was nothing special; he always knew that, but the fact that he was abysmally lower than the average person hit his small ego like a truck.
The corner of his mouth twitched, a habit he had carried since childhood. He is unable to contain his smile in the face of adversity. It wasn't that he was unafraid of the events that were playing out in front of him, but that he was so terrified that he didn't know what else to do than fight it off with a smile.
I don't want to be labeled as trash. Luke decided. He didn't know how he could avoid such a situation when his whole status screens would be held on display, but he needed to make sure that he stood out positively in one way or another. His instincts were screaming at him to do so.