[Initiating Summoning...]

[Two Gates detected...The more stable Gate prioritized...]

[Interference detected...Error...Error...]

[Urgent termination of the process initiated...]

[Target location readjusted...]

[Summoning completed...]

[Sending error report...]

[Deadly level of Aether Pressure detected...]

[Automatic assistance protocol approved...]

["Aether Resistance Blessing VII" given for 24 hours...]

I woke up from the feeling of being dumped on hard ground. It is just me, or some robotic voice talked nonsense a moment before? Did those assholes tried to wake me up and, when it didn't succeed, decided to drop me off the couch? 

"What the hell you guys think you are doing?!" I loudly complained as I used my hands to help me stand up from the floor, my eyes still closed. 

Without hearing an answer, or anything for that matter, I decided to open my eyes, even if it'll probably intensify my headache. Hell, I really shouldn't have drunk so much.

"What the fuck?!" It was the only thing I could say after briefly scanning my surroundings. This place was definitely not my friend's villa where I lost my consciousness yesterday. 

I stood in a dimly lit hallway that was about five-meters wide and four-meters high. The floor made from marble of green and red colors didn't reflect any light. The walls - seamless, smooth, and silver in color - shed bleak radiance. The ceiling daunted me with its pitch-black darkness.

Stolen novel; please report.

Before I could make any sense of my environment, something else caught my attention. 

You entered the last floor of Azath'Kroth's Sanctuary. 

Congratulations! You gained new Titles: "Reckless Explorer I", "Reckless Explorer II", "Reckless Explorer III".

Blue transparent holographic messages hid in the upper right corner of my sight. And the moment I concentrated my mind on them, they enlarged and became easy to read. 

Okay, let's think rationally... Theoretically, it is possible that my friends decided to prank me by moving my sleeping body to some unknown creepy place. But there is no way in hell for them to make me see strange illusionary messages. So... the only explanation is that everything I experience now is not real!

For a moment, panic almost got me. Calm down, Luke Walker. Everything could be explained logically. I started to deliberately think as I endured my hangover-induced headache. 

A couple of years ago, still being a high-schooler, I read about one interesting phenomenon known as lucid dreaming. This is a state in which you are asleep, but you know this. And, as a result, you can control your dream, and everything feels absolutely real. A couple of times, I even succeeded at seeing a lucid dream myself. It was barely different from reality. Of course, I have been too lazy to actually continue with this practice... 

I tried to jump a couple of times, mentally imagining flying like I could in a dream. Unfortunately, I gained no results from this attempt. 

Whatever... my lack of success didn't prove anything. There is an even more likely explanation - drugs. I mean, it wouldn't be strange if some people at the party added something illegal to their drinks and then shared them with me... Yeah, this train of thought is perfectly reasonable. Way more rational than any other. If this is the case, then I could, at least, enjoy this little "trip" to the fullest. 

I sighed in relief and decided to check my theory about the "setting" of this delusion. 

"Status!" I exclaimed without suppressing my voice. The action which I immediately regretted, for my head started to hurt more as a result. My objective was achieved, though. 

As I watched a transparent blue screen that appeared before my eyes, another theory occurred to me. Maybe this wasn't just a trip resulting from a hallucinogenic drug, but some sort of virtual reality experiment? Why would they choose me for this, though?

Well, I'll figure that out later, but for now, let's examine my stats...