Do you ever feel like a fraud in your own life? Like somehow even though you accomplished the impossible, it wasn't really you. That you don't deserve what you have gained. That you didn't earn it. That's what I feel like now. I mean not to say I didn't work hard to get where I am. I nearly died many times. I risked insane odds only to come out breathing on the other side. But that's what I mean. If things didn't line up exactly right. If I didn't get insanely lucky on every roll of the proverbial dice, I know I wouldn't have survived. Hell, even those times I thought that my luck had forsaken me, everything played out in such a way that I was still the luckiest in the room. That's why I don't feel I deserve where I am now.

But, this not a story about where I am now. This is a story about my beginning. The time the world shifted and things thought impossible, things that were relegated to myth and legend, suddenly weren't. It has been so long I don't really remember my prior life. I remember quaint things like the smell of cookies fresh out of the oven. The smile on my mum's face as she tucks me into bed. Small things, things that as I sit here seem unimportant but had a massive impact on my early days and in all honesty probably led to where I am now.

However, as I have already said, this is not a story about now.

It all started when I was a child. I don't really recall how old. Maybe six or seven. I do, however, remember this clearly. I had just gotten into trouble. I was out on the street, playing cricket with a couple of kids from around the neighbourhood. I was batting, the bowler, I don't remember his name, but I do remember that he had dirty blond hair and brown eyes. He threw the ball incredibly slowly, trying to tempt me into hitting it high so one of the other kids could catch it. Like a kid I took the bait. I smashed it as hard as I could. I hit it perfectly. I could feel how the ball smacked solidly into the center of the bat right at the end of the bat. The ball rocketed forward, almost straight forward. There was only one problem we were playing in a cul-de-sac. The bowler and batter both facing houses. The ball shot forward like a bullet straight through the front window of this old guy's house. I still remember the terror I felt as this old man, still wearing pajamas, came rocketing out of the house, screaming obscenities. We did what any kids would do, we ran. Unfortunately, I was still holding the bat and the old guy followed me to my house.

Turns out that old guy was walking through his living room just as the ball came flying through. It had passed right in front of his head. During the discussion between the old man and my parents, I had never heard the word lucky so much in my life. I was sitting meekly at the kitchen table, while the adults discussed my fate. How big it all seemed then like my entire life was ruined. And the word lucky was flying around my head.

I was just sitting there thinking, lucky, how is this lucky. If I was lucky none of this would have happened. I wish I was lucky. I don't know how or why it happened but the words lucky just kind of imprinted themselves on my brain. I couldn't get rid of them. I don't even remember what my punishment was. The next few days were a blur for me. But then it happened.

Planet repaired

Mana restored

Scanning planet...

Massive structural changes observed

Critical imbalance

Restoring...

One second I was inside in my bed staring at these strange messages floating in front of me and the next second everything just sorts of melts. Well, I suppose everything more sort of dissolved into nothing.

The next few moments weren't all that clear to me. I must have hit my head as the bed and house disappeared under me, dropping me to a ground that was suddenly a metre a way. But when I came to I was naked. Panic started to set in and I was about to cry and call for my parents when more writing appeared before my eyes. I know I wasn't the best reader, my parents believed I had dyslexia. But the words in front of me were clear, the writing seemed to have a meaning I could feel.

Intelligent life discovered

State your name

Without really thinking I spoke my name.

"Perry Andrews."

Accepted

Allocate your stats, as your body is not fully developed some stats cannot currently be changed, but will naturally increase over time.

STATS Class: (Locked)     NAME Perry Andrews Level 1 (0/100) Health 50 Health Regen 15/hr Stamina 125 Stamina Regen 12.5/min Mana 50 Mana Regen 75/hr Strength 5 (Locked until body maturity) Intelligence 5 Dexterity 5 (Locked until body maturity) Wisdom 5 Constitution 5 (Locked until body maturity) Charisma 5 Luck 5 Unallocated Points 20

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And pretty much the only thing I saw was Luck.  The only thing that has been going around my head for the last several days.  I instinctively understood what the table meant and without any thought to anything else, I did the only thing that made sense to me.  I put my 20 unallocated points straight into Luck.  Another screen popped up asking me to confirm the changes and with barely a thought I did.  Instantly a warmth rushed into me.  It felt like I was glowing and like surrounding me was an indefinable sense of safety.

And that is when my parents found me.  Like me, they were both naked.  When my mother saw me, she let out a cry and dashed over to me.  She picked me up and fussed over me.  Asking if I was alright.  My dad came up and we all stood together huddled together.

Around us the world was still changing.  Out of nowhere trees grew, defying what we know of the natural world.  In minutes the dirt hole where our house used to be was filled with grass and trees.  The sun just starting to peek over the horizon, lending enough light to be able to see the now fully grown trees.  I looked around in wonder seeing different types of trees, grass, and bushes, where minutes ago a neighbourhood had stood.

I also noticed similarly huddled groups of people standing around.  Mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, grandfathers and grandmothers.  All standing around, staring at the changes that had just taken place.

Suddenly a new window appeared.

Global Quest:

It's time to rebuild

Gather your friends and neighbours.

Time remaining: 10:00

Reward: Altar

As soon as I finished reading the message.  I looked at my mum and dad.  Both of their eyes were wide.  I looked at them but neither of them were moving.  Not really understanding what was happening I said the first thing that came to mind

"Come on, we only have 10 minutes, we have to come together."

My mum looked at my dad and asked him if he saw it too.  My dad nodded and suddenly we were moving.  The next ten minutes went by fast.  People were shouting and yelling, but in the end, everyone had gathered in the middle of where the cul-de-sac used to be but was now just a grassy field.  Off in the distance, I could see several more groups of people like ours.  All standing together and waiting for the last 10 seconds to count down.

As the last few seconds disappeared a bright light flashed down in the center of our group.  The ground started to tremble and everyone quickly backed away.  Out of the ground, an object appeared.  It was a white streaked with black stone pyramid, about 5 metres long on each side.  In the middle of each of the 4 sides were a set of steps leading up to a flat top that looked to be about a metre wide.  In the middle was a black streaked with white stone obelisk, stretching up a metre high.

A couple of the older kids, around 10 or so years of age, started to run up the sides of the altar.  Their parents running after them, telling them to stop.  A couple of the kids reached the obelisk and touched it before their parents could stop them.

Shouts of cool and awesome were shouted out before distressed parents dragged them away.

It wasn't long before one of the adults touched the obelisk.  

The next few hours passed by slowly for me.  My mum finally let me down and I had been hungrily listening to the conversations going on around me.  Lots of people were scared and talking about how the government should do something, but I quickly tuned those boring things out.  I heard lots of things about the obelisk and what it could do.  Like create building blueprints and it was a shop and it could give quests.  It sounded amazing but mum told me I couldn't go see it.