Zack carefully observed the other participants across the field from him. He kept his eyes and ears open, soaking in information like he was studying for a particularly difficult exam. This is what I do best, after all. Observe from a distance and evaluate. I’ve died so many times in the dungeon, so I need to be overly cautious.
“I don’t understand…why is there grass in the middle of the subway system?” asked an elderly man in a straw hat and a slight hunch, bending down to examine the soil in front of his subway car with expertise. “This soil is strange… reddish and loose,” he mumbled.
The way that old man holds the soil… he’s a farmer who’s worked with mother nature his entire life.
A stone’s throw away from him, a olive-toned man in a black tank top with heavy tattoos across his face snarled and spat at the ground, his big lips quivering with anger. “Where the hell are we? Is this some kind of joke? Huh?” He looked menacingly at a stranger beside him, a timid middle-aged woman who emerged from the same subway car as him, causing her to recoil back.
There’s something wrong with that guy’s emotional control. I’d do my best to stay away from him. Kinda reminds me of my manager. The woman seems unremarkable. Not a threat to me.
Most of the subway cars had a group of people standing in front of them, while a few only had one participant like himself. Several subway cars were entirely empty. Zack glanced between the groups, squinting for a minute until his eyes lit up in realization.
There’s a pattern here. A nurse and two senior citizens coincidentally standing in front of the same subway car must’ve come from the same hospital… then there’s that group of three suits and a woman in pants in front of the other car that look like they just left a high-end restaurant from a client dinner… each group must be coming from an Entrance.
His theory held up for the most part, and he took mental note of the possible locations of Entrances as Oni called them that the other participants must have come from. Hospital, restaurant, possibly a convenience store, judging by one man’s fresh cigarette pack…
He didn’t see Alexandrea around. Strange, maybe she ended up in a different scenario like what happened to Hugo.
Before he could muse any further, a loud magically magnified voice spoke clearly across the field.
“Welcome, my dear initiates of the 174th cycle!” a spectacled man with graying hair and a sophisticated, victorian demeanor said in a loud, booming voice. He stood on top of a wooden podium in the middle of the grassy field, in a spot that was definitely empty just a moment earlier. How he appeared was anyone’s guess, and people were certainly guessing judging by the flurry of whispers that began.
“My name is the White Butler, and I will be one of the Guides for your initiation,” he continued, his booming voice immediately silencing the whispers. “Please, sit.” White Butler snapped his fingers which were covered by a pair of white gloves.
Several rows of seat-like tree stumps appeared in front of him, and Zack felt his feet grow light as he got lifted into the air by some kind of force. He was not alone to experience this floating phenomenon, as a girl shrieked in fear while her body was levitated upwards and then towards the rows of tree stumps in front of the podium. So this is magic. And seriously, what kind of stupid name is White Butler?
What started as a mess of floating people eventually turned into neatly seated participants, everyone obediently situated like kindergarteners on their first day to school, waiting for the teacher to begin her lesson.
“What the hell is this?” the face tattooed man from earlier shouted. “You playing some kind of magic trick on us?”
White Butler simply shook his head. “I was given certain permissions by the Tower to keep you all organized. Now that we are nicely arranged, I’m sure that you have many questions about your current situation. A majority of those questions will be answered during this opening ceremony, so hold your thoughts. Please refrain from interrupting me, or I’m afraid I will need to use force to remove any disturbances.”
Silence ensued for a brief moment, until someone stood up defiantly. It was a homeless man with long, greasy hair that was going white and tattered clothes. He opened his mouth, his eyes clearly drug-crazed.
“I’m not taking orders from you! Who d’hell you think you are, ordering us around like that? I’m here for the truth, the real deal, and none of you, I repeat, none of you,” the insane homeless man rambled incoherently as he stood up and began pointing wildly into the crowd while shouting. “–know the real truth, the way I do– *mphfff*.... *mmpphfff!!*”
His words were abruptly cut off by a piece of duct tape that appeared on his mouth spontaneously, sealing it shut. The homeless man reached with his hands to tear off the duct tape when they were jerked back unwillingly behind his back and onto the bark of the tree stump, and he was forced to sit back down by an invisible hand.
A rope appeared around the tree stump, binding his wrists to the stump like handcuffs.
“*Ahem*, as I was saying, disturbances will not be tolerated. I see that this particular unsightly individual has already been taken care of without my intervention. Mind you, restraint via duct tape is a far more tolerant method that I would have employed to discipline such unruliness…very well, let us continue and not dwell upon the misfortunes of those that do not listen to simple instructions.”
White Butler continued to speak while completely ignoring the homeless man’s muffled cries. “Members of the 174th cycle, it is my privilege to grant you the opportunity to test your worth on this sacred ground! You stand in the very arena that marked the beginning of the path of ascension for gods and higher beings, fabulously rich sponsors, and the imperiously famous. Some of you will ascend to luxurious heights, and will be able to live comfortably and at large for the rest of your elongated life spans. A few of you may even become gods in your own right some day, but that is in the far future.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Zack scoffed. According to the Fool, it didn’t end well for us in the 174th cycle last time. Hopefully this time there’ll be a better outcome for me personally. Eternal torture sounds worse than death, if you ask me. Let’s see if there are any clues we can pick up here.
“You must take one step at a time. For now, your immediate goal is to simply survive so that you may make a name of yourself. For those that are less ambitious, note that you may only return to your home world after surviving the scenario. There is no other path home. Do not complain to me–the Tower makes the rules.”
The butler cleared his throat once more, then produced a handkerchief from his upper pocket.
“I will now explain the structure of your first trials. There are several trial structures that you may undergo, but we will focus on the present one so as to not inundate you with information. Today, you will face one of the most glorious trials, the [Scenario]. It is here where the greatest of gods have displayed the first showing of their prowess.”
“Each [Scenario] features a main storyline, a plotline if you will, quite similar to a novel. As you progress through the [Scenario], you will quickly encounter moments of plot progression which will be communicated via notification to your system interface.”
“For instance, the mermaid island [Scenario] of the 173rd cycle had a plot advancement where all the mermaids in the ocean turned hostile after a certain initiate stole their prized jewel. It was a slaughter.”
The butler smiled. “That’s right. Your actions will affect how the plotline of each [Scenario] unfolds, leaving for infinite different outcomes, something that is most pleasing to our sponsors and equally pleasing to the Tower itself.”
Interesting. That makes things a lot more complicated.
“Now that I’ve given an overview of your first trial, let me show you how to use the system that Tartarus has given us. Please say the word status.”
Most of the initiates followed the butler’s instructions, not wanting to be subjected to the humiliation of duct tape and tree stump handcuffs or worse. Some initiates were more wilful, Zack noticed. There were always some difficult to handle people in life.
“Status.”
His status menu appeared once more, with nothing changed since the last time. But on the other side of the field…
The old man in a wheelchair by the nurse who looked quite frail and tired had his eyes suddenly light up with excitement after he whispered status.
“What is this? I can stand!” the elderly man in a wheelchair exclaimed suddenly, bursting from his wheelchair in a fit of joy.
“Sir, please sit down!” the nurse said quickly, but she was ignored. Even she looked completely shocked by her patient’s sudden recovery.
So this is the power of the status screen… it definitely leveled the playing field a bit. Zack had been wondering how any of the less fortunate participants could possibly survive in the dungeon, and that answered his question.
The butler began to speak again after allowing some time for initiates to play around with their status screens. “You may summon your interface by calling any of the functions. Status is one of these functions. To close your interface, simply make a swiping motion with your hand. As you gain more control over your system, you will eventually be able to simply close it with a thought. For now, a hand motion will suffice.”
“I will give you a moment to read the descriptions on your status screen. As a general guideline, these stats have been acclimated to the familiar systems found in your home world, so you should not have a difficult time adapting to them.”
The butler paused for a moment as the younger and more game savvy crowd easily absorbed the game-like system, while others such as the old man looked on with a quizzical expression on their face.
“As you proceed through your trials, you will have the opportunity to enhance your innate abilities through leveling up. Do note that certain areas may have restrictions upon level up, allowing redemption of accrued points only in safe zones.”
“And now, for the most exciting topic–,” the butler smiled. “Combat!”
“You will be expected to fight for your lives, so make sure that you take training and leveling up seriously. As your Guide, I’ve prepared a training course to familiarize all of you with the basics of fighting.”
“Please say inventory, and then take out the item [Starter Item Box I] by grasping at the icon with your hand.”
A flurry of motion followed.
Zack produced hexogonal cube, which glowed and transformed into a long, rectangular box. By the shape of it, it probably contained a long melee weapon, or perhaps a bow. The box’s item description said that it would contain something that matched the user’s fighting style, but he honestly wasn’t quite sure what his fighting style was.
All he did was study throughout his life. He only knew to get into Vermillion University. Aside from his childhood messing around on the ship junkyard, he never did any sports or any strenuous physical activity until just recently.
He was only good at study.
“Now, open your box and see what the Tower has deemed a suitable starting weapon for you. Do not worry, you will have plenty of options to acquire new weapons as you progress through your trials.”
Zack felt the black box lengthwise, noting that its texture was similar to a cello case that he brushed against at school. There were two latches at the side, and he quickly slid his fingers underneath to unlatch it. He was curious about what was inside.
*Click*
Inside was an unremarkable yet familiar sight.
[Common weapon: Baseball bat]
[A baseball bat made of wood. Used to play ball games in the 174th cycle world.]
Isn’t this garbage?
Zack instantly began to appreciate the equipment preparation he did for the scenario at La Minot. A wooden blunt weapon like this was just too crappy. With luck as bad as this, no wonder he kept dying in the dungeons.
White Butler clapped his hands together once, summoning several wooden and straw target dummies around the tree stumps. “You can get a hang of your weapons by practicing using them against these dummies provided. Remember not to neglect your training. You’ll be needing it this evening.”
New plot advancement!
Training session has now begun.
Time remaining: 3 hours
New Quest Received!
Defeat one target dummy [0/1].
Reward: 3 iron coins.
“You should complete the quest given to you to collect iron coins. Those will be useful later when you need to buy something to eat. Remember, here in the Tower, slackers don’t get to freeload!”
Back to the good old iron coins. Zack walked up to one of the numerous target dummies and brandished his wooden bat, ready to give the straw dummy a run for its money.