I take deep, shaky breaths as I calm myself down. I'm standing in my room next to my bed. My heart is racing. I feel sick, ready to throw up at any moment. It's dark, the only light coming from the street lights outside my room. I sit down on my bed, my entire body shaking, a dull headache distracting me. I can't shake the image of my own intestines splayed out in front of me. My night terrors have been bad this week, but I'll live. I check the time, my limbs still numb from adrenaline. The phone flashes on, worsening my headache before I turn down the brightness. It's 2 A.M.

I reach over to the nightstand next to my bed and turn on a lamp, then I grab a half-empty water bottle and slowly drink it. I take a moment to collect myself. My heart rate is fast, but it's slowing down. My head still hurts, but it's getting better, too. I'm sweating. A lot. Nothing seems to be wrong with me, I think, but I should probably change clothes before I head back to sleep.

I take a few slow steps towards my closet, still breathing heavy. I grab the cold plastic handle of my closet door and pull it open. Inside, a strange sight greets me. A vibrant galaxy takes the place of my closet. I close the door, rub my eyes, and open the door again. The galaxy is still there. "What the fuck."

I reach out a hand to touch it, but think better of it. Touching a strange galaxy in my closet sounds like a horrible idea. Instead, I look around for things to throw in. I head back over to my nightstand and take out an old birthday card that I haven't thrown away yet and I toss it towards the galaxy in my closet. It bounces off.

I walk back over to the closet and pick up the birthday card and push it into the galaxy. It sends a slight ripple throughout it. It looks like a thin layer of jelly with a galaxy painted on it. Or like the paintings from Super Mario 64. I forget about the state of my body for a moment, my curiosity taking over. Slowly, hesitantly, I reach towards the strange wall in front of me with my right hand.

The moment I touch it, my hand is sucked inside, stretching out into the galaxy. I panic and try to pull my hand back out but it doesn't budge. The galaxy starts to slowly pull me in and I feel my body stretch as it enters the galaxy before I completely lose all of my senses in the parts that enter. I get pulled in faster.

My face touches the galaxy, and I feel my mind being stretched out. My thoughts and emotions are partially frozen, an incredibly disorienting experience. My vision fractures, and the next thing I know, I'm floating. My body is shaking, my mind erratic. Around me, the universe stretches out before settling back into focus.

I can still breathe, but the air smells different. It smells like... nothing. It's strange. In front of me, a small window pops up. I almost immediately recognize it as a system window, something common in light novels I've read, but the longer I look at it, the hazier my recognition of it becomes. There's a strange fuzzy feeling in my head. Like my memories are being filtered out. I can still recognize it as a system window, but I'm not sure what a system window is, or how it works.

[YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THE CALL. YOU WILL ENTER THE TUTORIAL IN 60 SECONDS.]

I read it again. I try to think more about it, but I can't. In a panic, I think about other things, hoping I still have my memories. My name is Sam and I'm 20. I'm in college for a degree in mechanical engineering and I have a part-time job at Starbucks for the Summer. Okay, cool. I'm still me. I just can't think about THE TUTORIAL. Okay, what the fuck. THE TUTORIAL. THE CALL. Why are my thoughts fucking bold? Whatever. At least I'm still me. That's nice, I guess.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

The little notification in the system window shows that I have 10 seconds left. A small rift in space appears in front of me. It's a small, circular rift with bright green grass on the other side. The edges of the rift look like static. They feel like static, too. I guess I can't comprehend it? That's weird. The rift grows larger and I watch as the time in the system window dwindles. When the timer hits 0, the rift stops growing, and my body is moved towards it, gently floating to the other side.

It's unsettling. I hear things again, I feel gravity again, and the air smells like air again. I see at about five other portals closing around me with more people in front of me. They all look like normal, boring people, but before I can examine them more, another system window opens up in front of me.

[WELCOME TO THE TUTORIAL SAMUEL GARTH. YOU HAVE BEEN GROUPED WITH 4 OTHER TUTORIAL PLAYERS BASED ON YOUR POTENTIAL RANK. YOUR OBJECTIVE IS TO BEAT FLOOR 100 WITHIN 3 YEARS. EVERY FLOOR HAS A MISSION THAT YOU MUST COMPLETE TO PROCEED. GOOD LUCK!]

The window closes the moment I finish reading it, another one taking its place.

[FLOOR QUEST]

Kill the Goblin King

The window closes a moment after I finish reading it. I look around, taking a moment to observe the scenery. I'm in a large, open grass field that extends as far as I can see. In front of me, to the North, lies a long mountain range. I can't tell how far away it is. To my right, the East, a dense forest obscures my view about 3 miles out. Behind me, to the South, a large, deep river with clear waters extends from the left to right, horizon to horizon. I think it's about a mile across. A giant wooden fortress with thick wooden walls sits on the other side of the river. To my left, the West, lies a small village in the distance. A gravel path extends from it into the forest. We're standing a bit off to the North of the path. Finally, I observe the other people around me. A small bar appears above their head when I look at them.

[Eric, Level 0, G Rank]

The first one I look at, Eric, is a taller, rigid man with short black hair, smooth pale skin and blue eyes. He's very handsome, and has strong facial features, complimented by strong, solid muscles. He looks to be European. Maybe German? Norwegian? Italian? I have no clue. I don't know a lot about anything outside of the US, to be honest. He's wearing a black T-shirt with a blue, smooth jacket and blue jeans matched by black tennis shoes. They look simple and casual, yet still expensive. Lucky bastard. He looks about 30? Not sure. The next person, Amelia, is an average height woman with blond hair, peach colored skin and hazel eyes. She's wearing a thick, rainbow-colored sweatshirt and sweatpants along with bunny slippers. Probably just woke up, like me. She looks to be in her mid 20's, and she's probably American. Speaking of me, I must look terrible. I'm wearing a pale sweater with a bunch of cats on it and black shorts. My legs get sweaty when I sleep, okay? I don't like being sweaty. It's not nice. The next person I look at, James, is a short, stocky man with a bald head, a thin beard, dark, rich skin and dark brown eyes. He looks like he's 30, but he could also be 40, but he could ALSO be like 50. I'm lost. He's in his underwear. Damn. Moving on, the next person is named Sophia. She's a tall, skinny girl with long brown hair, smooth, pale skin and brown eyes. She's wearing a comfortable brown sweater with long, dark blue pajama pants. She looks to be in her late 20's, and she's probably also American.

They're all looking around, too, making the same observations as me. Except James. He's just kinda... standing there. Awkwardly. I feel bad. Eric walks over to James, handing over his blue jacket. Kind AND handsome. Prick. James takes it and mutters something I can't hear while putting the jacket on. Sophia and Amelia look confused. The sun is high in the sky, and it's hot. Really, really hot. Before I can complain about the heat, a low, menacing growl sounds out to my right. Everyone turns their heads to see a large wolf with dark grey fur snarling at us. A bar appears above it.

[Wolf, Level 3, G Rank]

My first instinct is to run, but I think better of it. Before I can say anything, though, Eric speaks out. "Don't run! It's faster than us." He's right, but what else should we do? Fight it?