I dreamed of Tim kissing my face again, and again. To my surprise, I gained conscience with a face full of slobber, but Tim was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a small golden lion-like creature sat on my chest.
“What the hell,” I shouted aloud, jumping up and away from my intruder.
The creature leaped off me roaring an adorable battle cry. Fire shot out of its little head and tail as it tried to look as fierce as possible. I looked around and tried to compose myself. I had no clue where I was, nor did I have any information regarding the strange creature. An animal...a monster? I had no idea.
I looked around and found myself in what appeared to be a farm of sorts, albeit a rough one. I saw a small house that looked cozy enough. The dry soil looked as if it had not seen any water for a very long time. Rocks and boulders covered the overgrown land. A dirt path went out to what looked like a main road of sorts.
The strange creature calmed down and the fire from its head and tail subsided. It plopped down in front of me and stared deeply into my soul. If I wasn’t so freaked out by the situation, I probably would have thought the creature was cute. It acted as if it were waiting for me to do something.
“What are you looking at fuzzball,” I shrugged my arms at the creature like it could understand me.
The sun was beating down with vicious intent. This is not fall weather, I thought. In fact, I was actually looking forward to colder weather. I tried to wrap my mind around where I was. The last thing I remember was…The bathtub, I thought to myself. I was holding the egg, and I don’t remember anything after that.
“Did I die?”
The creature gave out a tiny roar as if it were having a conversation with me. “Yeah, me too buddy,” reassuring the creature. But in reality, it was for myself. I heard a noise off in the distance.
“Come on, Dax, giddy up!” A strange voice said.
To my chagrin, I saw a figure in a cowboy hat and blue suspenders. He had a straw sticking out of his mouth and was riding a…
“Fucking dinosaur!”
What in the hell is going on, I thought. I was in a vastly perplexed state. But also, I was in pure amazement. The figure slid off the dinosaur-like creature as if it were a horse and sauntered his way over to me. The creature stood with confidence and appeared to be somewhat larger than a horse it was gray in color though. It roared and stayed where the figure left it.
“Howdy neighbor, the names Cal,” he stood proudly as he offered his hand out to me.
“What in the hell is going on?” I questioned, refusing his hand.
Cal ignored the gesture and knelt down to the lion-like creature offering his hand. The creature nuzzled and accepted the gesture, and he started petting the creature like a dog.
“So, Cal…enlighten me,” I narrowed my eyes.
“You are nothing like your mom,” he said not making eye contact. He continued to pet the creature.
“Wait…you knew my mom?”
“Oh, I knew her well,” his cheeks gaining color.
I looked at the older man. His hair was gray, and he had a very pronounced mustache. A single piece of straw was hanging from his mouth, like an old hillbilly. I figured he was around my mom’s age, and I did not intend to find out what he meant by his comment. She wouldn’t have, not with him at least, I thought. I needed to know where I was, and this joker was not helping me one bit.
“Can you at least tell me where I am,” I asked as I shifted to a more diplomatic tone.
“Yeah, you’re in Bander Hill Valley. This was your mom’s old home. She said that one day you would come visit and well, here you are."
"And the creature is yours?” I asked.
“Oh, heck no! You see over there,” he pointed to the dinosaur-like creature. “My Dax is a good boy. And for the record, we call these creatures Kaiju. We use the System to level them up and we work together to fight off the Swarm. At least me and the surrounding farms with Kaiju who are leveled up enough. Truth of the matter, our numbers are low.”
“The System…level up…what,” my head started to spin. “Like…like…a video game. What is a Kaiju?”
“Oh duh, I forgot you’re from Earth,” I remember explaining all this to your mom a lifetime ago. I can give you the low down,” he said proudly.
My brain was trying to keep up with what Cal was saying. None of this made any sense to me. He seemed adamant that he knew my mom. If that were the truth, perhaps he could help me make sense of the estate my mom had.
“First let’s find out your situation. I believe this is your Kaiju and farm. But we can check it."
“How so?” I asked.
“You’re gonna need to focus. Think in your mind’s eye.”
“Think about what?” I asked.
“About yourself, it shouldn’t be that difficult for you,” he laughed.
“Oh, super original,” I jest back.
“Alright, maybe you are your mom’s daughter.”
I smiled at him, and he returned it. Sweat dripped down my face as I tried to focus on myself in my mind’s eye. I did not see anything. The Kaiju creature ran around us in circles. While his dinosaur-like creature stayed outside of the farm, patiently waiting.
“You got it pulled up?” Cal asked.
“No, I am trying to.”
“Got it now?”
“Nothing.”
“How bout now? Maybe the farm is not yours.”
“Stop asking me,” I said in frustration. I couldn’t believe I was not in the comfort of my own home and watching TV with Tim. Yet, a part of me was so excited. I thought of action, adventure, and romance.
I was deep in thought when I saw writing appear before me. It was presented in a box and looked like a text box similar to that of an old video game. The text was black with a white window behind it. None of the numbers made sense to me. I saw my name which I recognized, but everything else was as if it were in a different language. Yet, another part of me was very excited.
Name: Erin Evans
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Age: 30
Player Level: 1
Action points: 3/3
Idle bots: 0/0
Kaiju: 1/1
HP: 5/5
Attack: 0
Defense: 0
Stamina: 100%
Gacha orbs: 0
Active Quests: Name Thy Farm
“Yes, I got it,” I said in excitement.
“Awesome, awesome, now try to share your stats with me by focusing on your mind’s eye. Just think about sharing.”
I did as Cal told me and he crossed his arms with his eyes focused as if he was looking at the same thing I was. However, I couldn’t be certain.
“Nice to meet you Erin,” he said with focus and determination. “Alrighty, check this out Erin,” as he said that the text that I saw appeared before me again. I didn’t tell him my name, I thought to myself. “So, let’s check out if this little guy is yours, I suspect he is, but I’ll show you. Just look at your stats. I want you to look at the word Kaiju. Don’t get tripped up on the word. Just think of ‘strange creature,’ he said with confidence. I did that and the word Kaiju on my stat sheet blinked as the rest of the words disappeared. I looked and saw new words in their place.
Kaiju Obtained: 1
Kaiju Seen: 2
Kaiju in Party: 0
Idle Kaiju: 0
Kaiju Dispatched in City: 0
Kaiju Corrupted: 0
Kaiju Deaths: 0
Kaiju Ascensions: 0
“There you go. Now you see Kaiju Obtained. I need you to focus on the word ‘Obtained’,” Cal said. I followed his instructions and found it easier to focus on the task at hand. As I focused on the word, I saw the words blink just like before. A new list appeared.
Leolear-Shin
???
???
???
???
???
“Now we are getting places little lady. Alright now focus on Leolear-Shin,” Just like before, I did as Cal told me. It appeared as if we were going through a game-like menu in order to try and find more information. It reminded me of all the old monster role-playing games I used to play as a kid. I used to be obsessed with playing these little monster-collecting games, in which you leveled up and fought other players. The object of the game was to gain new and powerful monsters and become the champion monster battler.
“What we are in right now is called the System UI. It tells us all of the information that is important for our survival. Because you see the name Leolear-shin, that means he is yours. You must have hatched him.”
“Hatched him?" I asked in confusion. Then I remembered the egg in the bathtub. Could that have been him in the 'egg'? That was the only plausible conclusion that I could come up with. None of this made any sense. What the hell is happening, I thought repeatedly about the creature and a new list appeared before Cal and me.
Name: Leolear-Shin
Level: 1
Type: Earth
Biome: Fire
Caretaker: Erin Evans
ID Number: 030620
Current Experience Points: 0
HP: 10
Attack: 5
Defense: 8
Shin Atk: 3
Shin Def: 2
Speed: 20
I looked at Cal’s reaction to the list of what looked like numbers and stats. His face was in disbelief and amazement. His jaw hung wide open.
“In all my time, I have never seen a Shin Kaiju. It was said that they didn’t exist.” Cal’s face was still wide open.
“What is a Shin Kaiju? And are these like the stats for the creature, like in a video game?” I asked.
“Whelp, a Shin is… oh, what you Earth folks would call a legendary monster. And what you folks call a video game, at least the ones I know you’re referring to, is the way of life here at Bander Hill Valley. What you’re seeing in the System UI is how powerful your Kaiju is.”
My brain took in all the information Cal was presenting to me. If I viewed this as one of the old games I used to play as a kid, then my brain could make more sense of what was going on.
“EARTH! HOME! TIM!”
“Oh no! I have to get back home. Cal, how do I get back home? Tim must be a wreck!” I said in terror. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten him in all of the excitement.
“Whelp, I am not an expert in all matters regarding Earth, but I remember how your mom got back."
“My mom? So, she was not only here but she managed to get back to Earth? So, this video game-like place is a whole different world?”
“Heck yeah! She saved us and became the champion! In fact, that is how she got back. She often talked about you and needing to go back to see you. And for the record, stop calling Bander Hill Valley a video game. That’s just downright offensive. This is our way of life. I wouldn’t talk ill about your home,” Cal explained with a firm voice.
“Oh sorry, I’m still trying to understand... The champion?” It rolled off my tongue like I was in a dream, a video game.
“Darn tootin missy,” Cal said in excitement. “She became the Champion and traveled between here and Earth for years. Well, before she got sick. We never saw her after she told us about the cancer and told us that you would come when Bander Hill Valley needed a new Champion.”
“You’re saying that is me? You got the wrong girl Cal,” I said in disbelief.
“You would have never been summoned if that wasn’t the case. Not only that but you have a Shin monster. That is something even your mom didn’t have. We need to gather the town and celebrate! So many people are going to be saved! Praise the System!”
“No, no, no. You seriously have the wrong person.”
“The System is always right!" Cal said with utmost confidence.
“Enough with the System.” I looked at the stats of the Kaiju running around before me. I quickly glanced at Leolear and he looked cute. I could feel a special bond between us. “So, you’re telling me my mom had creatures and was a Champion, what does that even mean?”
“A Champion is the protector of the realm. The Swarm is deadly and without a Champion, we will all surely parish.” Cal said sadly. “Erin, we need you! You must be our Champion! Just as your mom was. And her mom before that”
“What is the Swarm…So you mean like we are royalty?” The name Swarm gave me chills down my spine, but the notion of being a princess softened the blow of that word.
“Well…not exactly missy. The Swarm is bad news, very bad news.” Cal said in fear. He continued launching into his speech. “The Swarm is an AI and has the one true goal of taking over the System. But we can’t let that happen. It’s like a plague…A virus. Look before you. Those stats are the most important tool we all have. It evens the odds against the AI. You need to level up your Kaiju’s stats and fight off the Swarm. Become the Champion and prevail. Also, the table you see before yourself is called bottoming out and what that means is you can’t go any further in the UI. Just swipe your hand in front of you to get rid of the UI.” He mined his hand, making a swiping motion as if he were looking for me to follow suit.
I did as he did, and the text box vanished in front of my eyes. I felt like I was getting a grasp on how his world worked to some extent. It seemed like the UI was an important part of that. I wondered what else I could think of to prompt a text box just like I did for myself and the creature. Kaiju, I thought to myself.
“Okay, so become the Champion…kick the Swarm's ass… and head back home. Sounds easy enough,” I tilted my head to see Cal’s response.
“Yee-haw, I like the way you think missy. Now an important factor is the farm. That is how you level up your Kaiju. Well, initially but one thing at a time. Just as you thought of yourself and your Kaiju, try to think of your farm.” I thought of the farm with determination. I felt as if this was getting a little easier. As I focused in my mind’s eye I saw a new text box before me.
Farm Name: N/A
Farm Level: 1
Farm Age: 1 Day
Plots: 0
Hatcheries: 0
Kaiju Enclosures: 0
Income Per Day: 0
Money: 100
Junk: 1000 Units
Idle Bots: 0
Idle Mechs: 0
Battle Mechs: 0
Farm Quests completed: 0
Even more names and numbers that I did not understand. I did not even know where I needed to start so I could level up my little Kaiju creature. I saw the farm’s name as N/A and wondered if I could name the farm. Just like anything else I thought deeply about it and looked at the text box change before my eyes.
Quest Completed: Name Thy Farm
Farm level two
One Idle bot gained
Check your mailbox
“Yes, I got it,” I shouted aloud. I pumped my fist in the air and my Kaiju roared in excitement.
“See, you’re getting a hang of it there missy,” Cal said happily. Dax let out a furious roar and I saw as the creature ran off in full force. I turned to Cal who started running after the Kaiju. “Hey, remember Idle bots are your best resource, and get your plots going! I’ll have my son Jack check on you soon. Good luck missy, this town is depending on you,” Cal said as he ran off in a hurry. Chasing after his unruly Kaiju.
I was left alone with my Kaiju and I had no clue where I needed to start. I wasn’t sure how I was even supposed to level up my Kaiju. I felt that Cal gave me a lot of information like in a video game tutorial. However, I felt like he didn’t truly give me the information I needed to level up my Kaiju.
Perhaps he was not allowed to give me information, sort of like an NPC. I wondered if Cal was just a program instead of a person who lived in this world.
I was intrigued by this new world I found myself in and I pondered on what my next steps would be. How the hell was I supposed to level up my Kaiju? I needed to get home and I needed to get back as quickly as possible.