Dave sweated as he struggled forward, step by step, muscles clenching in anticipation of the moment of victory. The pudge that had begun to develop in his calves in recent months as a silent reminder that his youth was fading wobbled as he stalked forward; tension lending urgency to his strides that even he wasn’t aware of.

“Flame jet attaaacckkkk” He yelled, silently, in his mind, as he mashed a command into his game-bro handheld console. On-screen, the flaming octopus that represented his primary pet monster launched a devastating explosion that obliterated his opponent’s water-spewing rat creature.

“Freaking casuals, thinking the type advantage is going to save them.” Dave muttered, mindlessly weaving between his fellow pedestrians. In fact, he was so engrossed in the game, formulating strategies as his opponent brought out their last monster, that he didn’t even notice as the people around him began screaming, and running past him. It was only when the first hints of purple light flickered in his vision that he looked up.

“What the…” He spluttered as he stared at a quickly forming purple sphere inches from his face; radiating visible waves of energy like ripples in a pond. That moment of indecisive surprise cost him dearly as the sphere suddenly expanded by several feet; engulfing him in its radius. He was blinded by a powerful light as if standing inside a purple sun, and the pain as it burned his retinas even through his instinctively closed eyelids jolted him into action. A moment later, there was a deafening pop followed by silence, and mind-shattering pain.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Dave desperately attempted to stumble backward, to escape from the strange phenomenon, but his feet no longer had any purchase on a solid surface. In fact, there was no sense of orientation at all as he felt his body being spun within the unexpected void by the force of his motion. This panicked him more, and he spent an indeterminate period of time desperately attempting to arrest his spin; with the natural result being that he only caused himself to spin more. 

Finally, the mindless panic was worn away by time as he continued producing no results. Allowing his body to fall limp, he felt his rotation slowing on its own as resistance from the remaining air within his purple prison arrested his motion. Once he had come to a complete stop, Dave carefully felt around himself in hopes that he might learn something about the strange phenomenon that encapsulated him.

His hand bumped into something small and hard. Grabbing onto it, he blindly explored it with his hand. It only took him a few seconds to realize what it was. Chagrinned, he pocketed his game-bro. Then he un-pocketed it to test a theory. Holding down the volume button, he quickly maximized the volume, but found it didn’t emit any sound. He tried talking, but couldn’t hear his own voice.

As a single tear of despair tracked down his cheek, he fell, hard, into a solid surface. Suddenly, a window similar to a computer screen appeared in his sightless vision.

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Welcome to the world of Northrend!

Please open your inventory to begin your new life. 

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