Chapter 1
“Greetings… Human”
“Where am I… why does my head hurt so much?” said Oliver, disgruntled and in pain.
He opened his eyes and saw nothing, a void, absolute darkness. There was only one thing in this eternal nothingness. In front of him sat an all imposing and ominous bright blue screen. Ornate patterns decorate the blue rectangle floating in the air.
“What is this?” Oliver asked, his eyes still adjusting to the bright light of the screen. He heard no reply. Nothing, but silence. He faced the void and then turned his head back to the screen. Written in a lighter blue text, where the words “Do you wish to begin creating the character?” Oliver thought about his predicament. There was nothing around him but this screen.
“Yes'' said Oliver in a disbelieving tone. There's no way this is an isekai or a reincarnation, he would have remembered dying or a bright portal beneath him. Actually, the only thing he could remember was his best friend Ethan asking him for a pencil in the middle of class.
Oliver was a smart kid, on his own terms. He had strengths and he had weaknesses. Many weaknesses, far to many. He was enrolled in Steelton Brooke High School. History had remained his favorite subject since the first year of middle school and it had remained his favorite to the present. Something about great empires and monopolies fascinated him. Oliver considered himself a quick learner and he did enjoy other various classes like any other highschooler. Strengths and weaknesses.
He was an “A student” in all his classes throughout his entire school career. The only exception to this was his Spanish, Biology, and Chemistry classes. They were a decent B-, not his strength you could say. Furthermore he didn’t have much strength to begin with. He wasn’t frail, but he didn’t have mussels. Some would describe him as a little chubby, maybe more than a little chubby, but he was by no means… fat… that word didn’t describe him in the least. Oliver was a loner in his school career, on the surface he believed it was because he was “chubby.” But it was more likely because he didn’t see the point of quote on quote friends. What good were friends anyway.
In his experience, people only wanted to use him. They wanted him to do all the work for “group projects,” he wouldn’t stand for it. Oliver was repulsed at the idea of a lazy person leaching off his work. Though that's not to say Oliver himself wasn’t lazy, because he was very much so.
He had a motto in fact… it went something like “Do enough, so that you don’t have to do anymore.” It was a strange motto and it didn’t come from anywhere in particular, just something he came up with some day. Oliver was somewhat of a businessman and had no interest in labor, which was probably why he was fat, but not really… just chubby. He wanted to be a tycoon like the great ones from the industrial age. Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, and Carnage (but less nice). He wanted control but how would he do that with only himself.
What he really sought out was power. Not the kind of power an influencer had, but the kind of power that could destroy buildings. He wished for something to happen. To change the world and make a canvas for him to paint on. But these superficial ideals could only get him so far. That was until he woke up in this darkness.
“Greetings human” asked a voice, or many voices, it sounded like a great many people were speaking at once.
“Please begin the character creation.” Said the Voice, “You have 15 minutes.”
“Where am I? What happened to my classroom?” Asked Oliver in a distinct and confident voice, asking like he already knew the answer.
“They are not dead… yet.”
“What do you mean, yet” asked Oliver, the confidence that had apprised form excitement faded from his voice.
“They are experiencing the same thing, as you are now”
“Are we dead?”
“No, just in a different reality, for the moment.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“What do you mean by that, what's happening?”
“Shall I explain, it may take up your 15 minutes of character creation?”
“Yes, give me the short answer though.”
“Okay then, put shortly, humanity has disappointed my… boss… he wants to restart, but due to prior incidents, he thought of a different idea…. Your world is being changed right now. Currently, plants are taking over the cities, oceans are destroying oil rigs, and simply, your infrastructure is being taken away from you. Monsters and creatures, the likes of which you’ve never seen before, are being placed onto every mile of land on your planet. All humans were brought here to keep them safe from the changing. And also to change themselves.”
“So this isn’t an isekai or a reincarnation?”
“No, but you will be given the chance for… power”
His ears twitch at the mentioning of the word, power was all he ever wanted and now that he had it, or a chance at it, he wouldn’t waste it on explanations.
“You and every human are creating your character”
“Is there magic?”
“Yes, there is magic and there is also—”
“Stop, you don’t have to say anymore, how do I create my character?”
“Just use the blue screen, it will guide you”
Oliver looked at the blue screen, and started to interact with it. After touching it, the screen changed to reveal different stats and other information about Oliver.
Status:
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Strength: 6 (Avg 10)
Agility: 4 (Avg 10)
Luck: 7
Mana: 0
He looked at his stats with grimace, and though he wasn’t shocked by the information, he was still hurt by it. He was very below average in Strength and Agility, his luck was 7, but there was no Average next to it to compare too. Mana was 0, which was understandable because it was probably a new addition to this world.
“You get 10 points to do with however you wish. You can spend them on upgrading your Strength, Speed, Luck and Mana, though the Mana Stat doesn’t work like the rest. You can also buy affinities torwars magic if you wish.”
“How do I buy affinities and how does magic work?” Asked Oliver, his heart thumping with joy.
“Each affinity costs one point, there are 4 affinities to choose from. Water/Ice, Wind, Earth, and Fire. If you want to use magic, let's say a fireball. You’d need mana, the Fire affinity, and a mental picture of a fireball. Then you have a fireball.”
“I see, how does mana work?”
“Lets say a fire ball costs 10 mana, a meteor spell would cost 100 mana. Pretty basic.”
“So the mana determines what I can do with my affinities?”
“Yes”
Looking at the screen, Oliver pressed the affinities tab and bought the Fire and Water/Ice affinity. Next he selected the mana tab and saw that with 1 point he could get 100 mana, with 2 points he could get 200 mana, etc.
“If the most I can get is 800 Mana, how do I get more?” He said. Perhaps he could get rid of one of the affinities, but that wouldn’t do. He needed both. Fire would keep him warm and it could cook raw food. Water could… well that's obvious.
“How do I get more mana?”
“You can't, once you leave this place your mana capacity will always stay the same.”
“Then how do I get more points?”
“Hmm, interesting… if you give me something, I'll give you more points.”
“What could I possibly give you… my body fat. I have nothing on me and everything outside is—”
“You're body fat will do nicely”
“What, you can't be serious?”
“And yet I am. In exchange for 80% of your body fat, I'll increase your mana to 2000, the highest possible mana capacity for a human. Anymore and you'll explode.”
“80% of my body fat, just for 2000 mana?” asked Olvier.
“Yes, is that not enough, then I'll give you something extra. Something that only you will have.”
“Okay then, it's a deal.” said Oliver
“Excellent” he thought. He had just killed two birds with one stone. “Goodbye chubbiness,” he whispered.
“You have 1 minute remaining.”
“WHAT?!” Screamed Oliver, he hadn't finished using his points up. He raced through the tabs and bought Earth and Wind affinities. Then he raced to the stats and put the remaining points into… Luck?
“There all don—”
He suddenly fell unconscious. When he woke he saw only one thing. It terrified him, but it also put a smile on his face. A smirk of opportunity.