**Chapter One**
---
I can't believe my universe is finally being integrated into the system!
"Fuck yeah, this is just like video games!"
---
“Holy sh*t, David! Good to see you, man.” Our hands made a meaty thwack sound as they clapped together. I pulled him into a hug and thumped his back.
“How long has it been?” David grinned at me as he slid into the bar booth opposite me.
“Only a week, but that’s far too long to go without seeing you.” I wiggled my eyebrows in fake seduction at him. His face suddenly turned serious.
“Joe…”
“What?”
“….”
"You didn’t say, no homo.”
We both burst out laughing just as the waiter brought our beers. David took a look at the IPA I was drinking and shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips.
“I see you still love the taste of an old man’s swamp ass,” he joked, taking a sip of his beer.
“Bruh! Fuck! Come on, it’s not that bad. Certainly better than that 'Burnt is a Flavor' Coffee Stout that you’re drinking.”
“Burnt is a flavor, though! It’s delicious, and the Cajuns love it too.”
“To each his own...” I raised my glass up, ready to chug it all. “You know the rules.”
He raised his glass as well, and we both downed our beers in one go. I waved at the waiter, who quickly brought two fresh beers.
---
"No, dude, you’re just not getting it.” David shook his head as he pounded his fifth beer, his words slurring slightly. “I know it doesn’t make sense for us, but you gotta put yourself in a woman’s shoes.”
“But... but... how the fuck is a bear safer than a man?” No matter which angle I looked at it, I just couldn’t wrap my head around how a bear could be safer.
"Alright, first of all, you have to accept that men and women have fundamentally different life experiences.”
"Alright, I get that.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“I bet almost every woman you know has had some bad experiences with men. Those were extremely uncomfortable or downright dangerous.”
"Yeah, I suppose that’s true... A few of my friends have talked about it.”
"So, can you imagine how...” At this point, the sound of David’s voice was drowned out by the band that had started playing. As time went on, the bar became more crowded. We were already shouting to be heard over the din of conversation in the bar, but now with the band playing, conversation was nearly impossible. David laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
---
David and I stumbled our way to the taxi after too many drinks. I looked over at him as we nearly took a tumble down the stairs.
"Man, you’re like my best friend, you know. Just tell you, I fuckin' love you, man.”
“I love you too, man!”
We got in the taxi back to my place to sleep it off, and I promptly did exactly that.
---
<⌇⊬⌇⏁⟒⋔ ⋔⟒⌇⌇⏃☌⟒⌇>
>⎅⍜⍙⋏⌰⍜⏃⎅⟟⋏☌ ⌰⍜☊⏃⌰ ⌰⏃⋏☌⎍⏃☌⟒ ⌿⏃☊☍…
>English language pack installed…
>location - Milky Way\⏚⟟⋏⏃⍀⊬ ⌇⏁⏃⍀ ⌇⊬⌇⏁⟒⋔ Solar System\ Earth \ United States \ Florida
> Loading system welcome message…
Congratulations! Your universe has been designated as the next universe to be integrated into the planar system. The following weeks, months, and/or years will most likely be frightening. Your universe is now connected to the multi-planar system. You should be aware of the basic principles the multi-planar system functions on.
Souls can be created, moved, and changed. However, they can never be destroyed.
If your physical body perishes, your soul will continue on to another plane or possibly even stay on the current plane.
Your universe is protected while being connected to the multi-planar system; however, it is now part of the system. This means that incursions from other planes are not impossible, but will be uncommon. We will allow weaker creatures onto your plane so that you may gain their energy.
When a creature’s physical body dies, its planar energy is released and may be collected to permanently empower the collector.
This system helper will be activated automatically until your universe is fully integrated with the multi-planar system.
“Fuck... my head.” I woke up the following morning with my head pounding. A hangover so bad that words were swimming in front of my face.
‘Wait... That’s not the hangover. There really are words in front of my face!’
I nearly knocked over my nightstand as I got out of bed, my phone and blanket crashing to the floor. My foot banged against the nightstand, leaving me hopping like a pogo stick.
“Fuck! Fuck! My foot!” I hopped to the bedroom door and opened it.
“Joe! Was that you? Are you alright?” I heard shouting from the living room and tumbled through my door, landing on the floor with a thud. I looked up from the floor at my friend, who also sported a confused look on his face.
“Joe, are you seeing this?”
“Yeah, David… I’m seeing it.”
The bottom of the message began flashing.
---
**Accept and Continue**
---
I reached out a shaky hand to touch the letters that were floating in front of me. To my surprise, when my fingers made contact with the letters, there was some kind of haptic feedback, similar to using a modern smartphone.
---
**Class Selection**
---
Congratulations! You have been offered a system buff by the admins! The necessary energy and knowledge for these skills will be provided by the admins. The powers will be broken down into classes and skills to make it easier for you to interface with them.
Do you need an explanation of what classes and skills are?
---
**Yes / No**
---
“Joe, did you agree and continue?”
“Yeah… Now it's telling me about classes and skills. What in the world… Did someone slip something in our drinks last night?”
“How could we be hallucinating the same thing, though?”
I thought about it for a few moments and remembered a lecture we had at university. “Remember our psychology class back at uni? Professor Randall said that it’s rare, but it is possible.”
“Joe, I went to the next page. We should get the explanation just in case it’s not what we think it is.”
I looked at David with a guilty look on my face. “Oh… I already pressed no. We play so many RPGs surely it must be like that.”
---
**Class Options**
- **The Sage**
- **The Stalwart**
- **The Structurist**
- **The Savage**
- **The Shaman**
- **The Smith**
- **The Sustainer**
---
Please touch the class to learn more information about it.
I went through the options and read each of the class descriptions.
---
**The Sage:** Gain an innate understanding of the energies swirling around the planes and an idea of how to harness them.
**The Stalwart:** Gain an innate understanding of the energies swirling around the planes and especially within yourself. Use the planar energy to empower your body.
**The Structurist:** Gain an innate understanding of the energies swirling around the planes and especially in natural objects. Gain an ability to manipulate the energy within natural objects.
**The Savage:** Gain an innate understanding of the energies swirling around the planes and especially in living things.
**The Shaman:** Gain an innate understanding of the energies swirling around the planes and the ability to send energy into other planes. Use your energy as a beacon to the other planes.
**The Smith:** Gain an innate understanding of the energies swirling around the planes and especially in unnatural objects. Gain the ability to manipulate the energy within those objects.
**The Sustainer:** Gain an innate understanding of the energies swirling around the planes, somewhat more so in your own body and the bodies of others. Send energy to others and take energy from others.
---
Okay… so not exactly like RPGs we played...