“whoosh?”.
Ali dropped to the ground panting the air immediately leaving his lungs, “You have 30 seconds”. A booming voice rained down. Ali looked
still gasping for air Ali tried unsuccessfully to stand to his feet, if felt like he had just run a marathon, judging by the symphony of panting and heaving he wasn’t alone.
A few moments ago he had been furiously typing away at his final year project his only worry was the looming deadline hanging over his head, now he was kneeling in a hazy rocky field at night he definitely wasn’t in London anymore
Looking down Ali examined his clothes he was sporting his signature Adidas jogging bottoms and Nike hoodie, Ali felt around his pocket’s taking out a beaten up Samsung Galaxy 9 laden with scratches and small nicks dammit no signal and 30% battery he muttered to himself he turned left and right seeing people of every creed and nationality there most of been 100s of them strangely they all seemed to be preoccupied with something in the distance
A blue screen popped up in his vision taking up the entirety of his sight like a computer virus it flashed repeatedly, refusing to go away no matter how vehemently he rubbed his eyes blinked or realizing this wasn’t helping Ali relaxed his shoulders took a deep breathe and gently opened his eyes now stinging from the previous assault seeing a blue wall of text
Congratulations late entries, 150 of you have been selected to climb the tower. Stage 1 Tutorial> You have arrived at Tokugawa Mountain, your objective is to survive the 42 km trek to Tokugawa village bonus for Newbs who arrive in under 10 hours. P.S Head East until you reach Tokugawa Village beware what lies in the Fog.
A harsh tone rained down once again “you have 10 seconds”.
The crowd’s confusion now audible
5
4
3
Oh, shit time is running out. The lines started disappearing 1 at a time.
2
1
The text vanished almost as suddenly as it came leaving only a tiny countdown at the corner of his eye, and a loud siren blared.
Ali saw people starting to jog at a medium pace towards the mountain base. He felt his heart sink it had been a long time since he did any exercise and now he has to complete a marathon, athletics had not been his strong suit and he always found a way to ditch PE class, he raised his arms up in frustration and dropped them back down again, there no getting out of it this time and he began to run making sure he kept the others in view. After a few minutes Ali began to feel his legs burn, his body already showing the early signs of fatigue. The other runners began passing Ali one by one until he was at the back with the rest of the stragglers. Ali noticed a thick haze covering around him the light of the full moon beaming down on the group.
2 flashes of lightning followed closely by monstrous thunder claps woke Ali up, he had been absentmindedly following the crowd so he failed to notice the thick fog that surrounded him, only just managing to catch the backs of the front runners in the distance before they dissipated into fog leaving leaving only Ali behind.
Ali’s breathing now quickened to a shallow depth forming a misty cloud In front of him.This is bad Ali thought, he saw movement in the fog ahead and thought it to be the others he started to pick up his pace hitting the ground harder and faster with each stride until he was so deep in the fog he didn’t know which way he had come from Ali desperately searched for any trace of life in the mist to no avail and began walking aimlessly ahead. Icy cold droplets slid down Ali neck making him recoil in shock, the droplets fell gently at first then crashed down all at once pelting his entire body until no part of him remained dry and unbruised.
Every part of Ali’s body ached, he was drenched in the rain and had lost everyone in sight the night cold started to set in and Ali knew he needed to find shelter and fast before hypothermia set in he searched desperately for shelter until coming to a hole in the rocky wall devoid of light visibly darker than the immediate surrounding, he took his phone out of his pocket holding the power button for 5 seconds and a bright flash of light filled the entrance revealing the entrance to a cave with no end in sight he a shudder ran across is back and he didn’t know if it was either the cold or the fear but either way he would have to go in.
Ali staggered in and within moments his legs buckled out from under him and he fell onto the ground with a loud thud sending shock waves reverberating throughout his entire body causing Ali to drop his phone.Shattered and exhausted he slowly relieved his eyelids of their duty allowing himself respite for the night.
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“Skreek” Ali’s head jerked straight up. A sound that can only be described as nails on a chalk board started making its way closer to Ali his heart beating wildly in his throat. Ali’s hands frantically pawing at the ground for his phone, what was the hell is that. The screeching noise now several octaves louder. Ali’s fingers now clammy failed the touch recognition he could the creatures heavy footsteps coming towards him, come on you piece of shit don’t fail me now he said as he dried his thumb against his trousers, his thumb firmly pressed on the back of his phone he could now feel the creatures breathe on his face when the cave lit up in a brilliant white light the creature recoiled back its form now laid bare to see. It happened so fast he only caught the back of it a tall sickly looking humanoid creature with claws for hands jetting back into the darkness. Ali leaned with his back up against the wall trying to process what he had just seen when a notification popped up in his vision. Mission unlocked kill Man-Eater. Reward Night vision
Thats right the race, his eyes darted back and forth searching for the timer 39:34, Its only been 9 hours already I really need to get to the village who knows how many other creatures are here ive only got Ali turned over his phone 30% battery. Okay time to move he turned on the flashlight and started creeping forward steadily.
37:45,Ali moved through the cave with the caution of a startled mouse. He walked and walked and then walked some more the creature hadnt made a peep since the light must be its weakness but Ali only had 15% battery left with not long left until the battery he paused for a break against a wall.
Ali felt the wall he was resting on give out before hitting the ground unceremoniously he exploded back to his feet swinging in every direction with his eyes still shut determined to at least put up a fight before dying, After a few seconds he opened his eyes to see only the air he had punching with a sigh of relief he pointed his beam of light back to the wall that had fallen through stripping away the darkness and showing a large circular room with a tiny corridor at the end. Ali explored the room hoping to find something useful that would give him a clue as to where he was, he shone torch across every nook and crevice of the room making sure no detail was missed. When something stopped him cold in his tracks he stumbled closer finding a skeleton equipped with armor and resting neatly within its arms a dagger it had a matte black sheathe with golden markings on it, Ali reached for a closer look he was now face to face with the skeleton, he felt an overwhelming sensation of fear that caused his entire body to jump back.
Ali looked scanned his immediate surrounding then looked down to see his once blinding light now nothing more than a faint glow, shit the battery at 5%. This is bad I need to get the hell outta here before that creature comes back Ali picked up the dagger from the pile of bones gripping it tightly and stood up faced with 2 choices to follow the corridor at the end of the room or go back to the path with that creature still lurking about.
Ali took a deep breathe and continued walking towards the end of the room the path until he reached a narrow corridor that would be completely pitch black except for the small glow illuminating the darkness around his feet. Ali squeezed through the claustrophobic path his shoulder blades scraping against the walls, his phone now completely drained he marched forward when the familiar screeching of the Man eater filled the cave shit it must of gotten through the hole I left Ali clenched the knife tighter and walked faster through the corridor still pitch black as far as he could see, the screeching grew louder this time without end Ali turned and started stabbing the air furiously until his knife landed in flesh the creature cried out striking the top of his forehead viciously Ali winced and pushed his knife in deeper this time twisting the creature continued to cry out this trying to pull back Ali unrelenting pushed deeper still until the creature moved no longer he took his knife out blood squirting all over his face he fell backwards using his shirt to wipe the blood out his eyes,unable to get up that’s where he stayed until he closed his eyes and went to sleep.a flurry of messages flashed in my field of vision The bright light of the morning pierced through his eye lids awakening a groggy Ali rose only to be hit back down again by a flurry of messages in his field of vision Quest completed Man-Eater killed LVL UP Skill Obtained Critical hit, 500 Achievement points.. Ali perplexed by this stared at the blue letters until they disappeared Ali thought about the new skill he gained and a status opened
Name: Ali
Title: Player
Class: None
Profession: None
Skills:
Light in the Heart of Darkness - Lvl 1 - Passive
Identify Lvl 1 - Active
Flurry Strike Lvl 1 - Active
Status:
Vitality: 10
Endurance: 15
Strength: 11
Dexterity: 12
Intelligence: 45
Wisdom: 44
Health: 45/50
Stamina: 12/20
Mana: 0/100
Critical hit causes an extra 20% damage for every 5 strike. Ali cautiously got back to his feet turning his attention towards the light at the end of the corridor finally an exit he place one shaky foot after the other his body sore all over he limped towards the light like a baby taking its first steps into the world until his body was engulfed by light the suns rays forced him to stumble back a few steps adjusting his eyes to the harsh light of day his eyes opening slowly as he took in more of the suns warmth. Ali’s eyes opened wide now as he allowed them to wonder off into the distance drinking in as much of the scenery as they could small brown cottages in an ocean of grass following rivers topped off by snow capped mountain towering above it all. Ali traced over every line of the jagged mountain tops.He let out a silent cry of joy in his heart making his way down the cave straight to the village.