An imposing plateau rose towards the sky in the middle of the valley, its shadow stretching across the landscape in the night like a finger beckoning Vex forward. Even without the barest hint of a breeze, the canopy of the forest below swayed as if in supplication to the rock pillar. Despite the inner turmoil that had dissuaded him for several months, Vex felt an irresistible urge finally win out against the caution he had been exercising – he needed to know what lay atop that colossal stone formation.
The feeling of excitement and curiosity was new, as Vex had spent the past couple of weeks traveling through the valley and then exploring the base of the plateau. At first, he was certain how he would manage to climb the relatively sheer stone walls. However, in making his way around the formation, he had found a path running along the western side of the base that appeared to make it to the top of the plateau. With the realization that the plateau was meant to be explored without the need for climbing, a bit of the dread disappeared.
With a deep breath, Vex took his first step onto the steep, winding path that led upwards. The crunch of pebbles echoed beneath his foot, piercing the otherwise silent valley. As he ascended, the air grew thinner, making him feel lighter, almost like he was venturing into another realm.
The path twisted and turned as it snaked up the side of the plateau, each bend revealing the next challenge. Despite his relative lack of vision in the dark, Vex couldn't help but pause occasionally, entranced by the expanding view of the lush forest canopy below, bathed in starlight.
The deep hues of the night sky enveloped him as he finally reached the summit, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps. The plateau stretched before him, a vast expanse of smooth rock that seemed to defy logic. Vex's eyes widened in surprise at the sight; it was as if an invisible hand had flattened the earth itself.
"It's literally just a flat rock?" he whispered, his skeptical voice barely audible.
Standing at the plateau's edge, Vex was keenly aware of his limited visibility and the potential to be missing something. However, that didn't stop him from feeling disappointed. He had been building up to this moment for months. Despite his hesitation towards venturing to the plateau, he had hoped that something grander was in store when he reached the top.
In his heart, Vex knew that was not how strange worlds with gaming rules were supposed to work! After a near-death experience, you spent months alone learning, growing, and gaining power in the wilderness. Then you triumphantly marched off to face the thing you've been dreading. You climb that mountain to meet a sage, find a relic, or face off against a boss. You don't reach the top of the world to discover the real treasure was the friends you made along the way. Games had standards and, more importantly, loot tables worth stabbing your 'friends' in the back over.
After working himself up for several moments over the indignity of the situation, Vex huffed and began to walk around the plateau. Following along the outside edge, he slowly completed a lap before narrowing his search toward the center to ensure he wouldn't miss any details.
At about the seventh loop Vex reached the middle of the plateau. There, sitting proudly at the center of the world, was a perfectly square block of stone, its surface perfectly smooth and unblemished. A magnetic pull seemed to emanate from it, drawing Vex closer like an irresistible force.
Hesitating, Vex paused to examine the stone from every angle, acutely aware of the tingling sensation that danced across his skin as he moved around the stone.
After he was reasonably certain the stone wouldn't immediately kill him, Vex reached out and tentatively touched the smooth surface. The tingling sensation dancing across his skin turned into a torrent of power threatening to sweep him away. Rather than pulling back, Vex pushed his hand down fully on the stone, leaning his weight against it. The energy hummed through his veins as thoughts tumbled through his mind like a cascade of coins in a slot machine. Then, a sudden realization struck him, sending shivers down his spine as a system message appeared.
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> You have accessed the Guild Stone for the [Unnamed] Guild.
>
> Please select an option:
>
> 1. *Guild Management
>
> 2. *Guild Quests
>
> 3. *Guild Members
>
> 4. *Guild Territories
>
> 5. *Guild Alliances
>
> 6. *Guild Raids
>
> *All options are locked until a suitable building has been designated as the guild hall.
"Wait a minute... this place is my guild domain?" Vex muttered to himself, eyes wide with disbelief. "I've been fucking stuck inside it all along!?"
Stumbling backward, Vex dropped his hand from the stone and let the system message fade. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he slowly walked to the edge of the plateau and stood by the edge. Then, with one last deep breath, he let out a rage-induced scream. And as he gradually recalled the memories of how he had been living the past few months, he kept screaming.
Vex screamed out his frustrations over drinking bog water, sustaining himself on nothing except for random berries and nuts, constantly smelling like a rotting corpse, and having no other human contact for months. Each obstacle and hardship became a loud declaration of discontent with the system and the world.
His hazy memory and lack of knowledge of how he arrived in this world resulted in Vex screeching his discontent with the system. The frustration over the gremlins that nearly killed him and then stalked him for months became a shrieking middle finger to whatever Gods were listening. The pure indignity of not knowing why he was dragged from his world and into this one became a piercing cry to the universe for the absurdity of it all.
Once his throat was raw and his anger spent, Vex dropped to his knees, just staring out over the dark valley as his vision blurred with tears.
Sir Sneaks and Strikesies emerged from the darkness. Approaching Vex, they sat beside him, their legs hanging off the plateau's edge. In characteristic fashion, neither said anything, but Sir Sneaks gave Vex a gentle pat on the leg. And in the silence, the three just stared off into the distance.
As the tears eventually dried up and Vex's chest returned to a more natural rhythm, he focused on the starlit horizon. Unfortunately, his eyes couldn't make out too much detail in the dim light. All he could see amidst the pinpricks of starlight was the rough outlines of treetops and the mostly open area of flat black, with a slight glimmer of light hitting still water.
Once the silence had stretched on long enough that the only sound in the night became Vex's steadily beating heart, he released a final heavy sigh.
"I'm sorry about that," Vex spoke slowly as his thoughts came in waves. "It's just that I've spent what I can only assume are months in this world with fragments of memories from my old life."
Crossing his arms and legs, Vex leaned forward to curl into a bit of a ball as he stared out over the horizon. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, and he took several minutes to gather them as he struggled to figure out what was actually weighing on him.
"And they are just that, fragments. I remember a cozy apartment, the hardware store where I used to work, and vague recollections of my parents." Sighing internally, Vex continued, "I know my life was easy, and I desperately want it back, but I can't even remember the faces of the people I love. I can't remember the life I lived and desperately long to have back."
With some of the stress in the open, Vex's body relaxed slightly, and his breathing calmed slightly.
"Now, I'm in some strange reality, and magic is apparently real. This feels like it should have been the kind of place where they write about the hero being summoned to save the world." Vex took another deep breath and closed his eyes to gather his thoughts. "The only problem is, you two are the closest things to magic I've actually seen…"
Each of the Shadowlings looked up at Vex and shrugged after lifting their heads up to peer over Vex's legs. The laze-faire attitude of the two caused Vex to let out a brief snort, his moderately improving.
While chuckling cynically at himself, Vex mused, "You know, this is not a normal fucking problem for anyone to have."
Finally, un-balling his body a bit, Vex looked back behind him over the top of the plateau. Then, with quite a bit of hesitation, he stood and faced down the guild stone, slowly mulling over his thoughts as he tried to decide how to build a guild hall.