Nar came too with a gasp.

With his pulse beating in his temples, he looked around him.

Where was he?

Who were these people, laying on the floor in front of him?

Slowly, his sense of self pieced itself back together.

Crystal.

Goodbye.

Party.

Yellow.

B-Nex.

Climber…

He sat against the wall. Next to him, a red, glistening dark splatter slowly dripped down its length.

What in the pile was that?

He swallowed, still breathing hard, pushing down the all too familiar metallic taste on his tongue.

Was that the Pressure?

If it was, Crystal Almighty have mercy on them! He was certain he had been about to die!

He wiped his mouth and chin and gaped at the mixture of blood, sweat and bile that marred his sleeve.

Crystal Almighty…

He looked up, searching for the others. They were all still down.

Are they… No, they can’t be… They can’t…

He forced himself onto his hands and knees and crawled towards the closest person.

Tuk was drenched in sweat. An inaudible moan escaped his bloodied lips and his face was furrowed in pale ashen pain.

Alive! Thank the Crystal! Nar thought.

The whole brush with crushing, burning death was quickly making him very pious.

He crawled past the trugger and checked on Kur next. He too was breathing. His chin was a bloody mess, but the party leader was alive.

Cen suddenly sat up, inhaling as if her life depended on it.

“Ah!” Nar gasped, falling backwards in fright.

She screamed, her hands frozen in front of her face.

“Are-Are you okay?” Nar asked.

Cen peeked from behind her hand, her fingers stained with dark gray blood.

“N-Nar?”

Nar gulped. “Yeah. I was… You were… Everyone was down!”

Cen looked around her, taking in the downed party.

“Mul!” she screamed, as soon as she saw her bloodied brother.

She tried to stand up and tumbled forwards.

“He’s fine!” Nar said, not actually sure if her brother was in fact fine. “Everyone's fine. I think.”

Thankfully, Mul chose that moment to wake up.

“Holy fuuuuuuuuck,” he breathed.

“Mul! Are you okay?” Cen asked.

“I-I think so…”

One by one, the rest of the party woke up, bloodied and frightened out of their minds. Gad was the last one to come to.

“I hope that wasn’t the Pressure,” Tuk whispered, staring wide eyed at the stains around them and on them. “We just walked out… We haven’t even done anything yet!”

“Nar, keep an eye out behind us,” Kur said, rubbing his eyes. “Gad…”

“I-I’m on it!” the tank said.

She forced herself onto her knee, but from her swaying, it was clear she wasn’t going to get up anytime soon.

“Please, sit down. I only meant for you to keep an eye out,” Kur said. “Everyone, just calm down. Let’s just get our breath back for starters.”

Gad grunted and sat back down with a sigh of relief.

Nar, who had crawled back to his original spot, peered behind him.

I really don’t like that, he thought, staring at that impenetrable darkness.

A window popped up in front of him.

“Gah!” he flinched.

All checks successfully concluded.

Update successfully concluded.

Connection to the System established.

Connection to the Source established.

Class Upgrade to Basic 1 complete.

Appropriate attributes applied.

Health Points (HP) integrated with lifeline.

Stamina Points linked to body/mind matrix continuum.

HP and Stamina fully restored.

One time only basic proficiency in starter weapon (longsword) awarded.

You have joined KUR293457741231907XAV’s party.

Basic induction package downloaded.

Initiating induction…

What in the…

The window flickered in and out, and the words changed.

Welcome Climber, to the System!

You will now be given a basic induction.

Pay attention. Your life depends on your understanding of the following information.

You must first understand your HP and Stamina.

These will be crucial to your survival!

“What in the pile is happening?” Mul asked.

“Just read it for now,” Kur replied.

The window flickered again.

The first thing you need to understand is Health Points, shortened to HP.

HP is a blessing from the Source.

It is both a shield and a regeneration system that will work to always restore you to full health.

Each time you suffer damage, your HP will be depleted instead. You will still be wounded, but the damage will be mitigated. The more HP you have, the more that mitigation will be.

At the same time, as you get injured, your HP will work to return you back to full health.

However, if you run out of HP, you will lose that damage mitigation and your injuries will not heal until you recover enough HP again.

HP does not protect you from death or make you immune to pain.

If you take too much damage, or suffer critical damage, for example, such as brain damage, you will likely die instantly.

If your HP reaches 0, any further damage can kill you.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The less HP you have, the slower you will heal.

The healing process is not painless, nor does it remove or prevent the consequences of the damage received (loss of limbs, for example, will not be healed).

Therefore, it is critical for you to keep an eye on your HP at all times, but especially during combat or after any damage was taken.

The more tired or seriously injured you are, the slower your HP recovery rate will be.

While in combat, your recovery rate will also be significantly reduced.

How much HP you have is decided by your [Constitution] attribute. Each point in [Constitution] grants you 10 points of HP.

Other attributes and variables can and will affect this in the future.

Sweat pooled over his forehead while Nar read the explanation.

It was a lot to take in, but he found that it was straightforward enough. Keep his HP above zero, don’t get his head smashed in, and everything would be alright. Right?

But how do I look at it?

The words changed.

The second thing you need to understand is Stamina Points, or simply, stamina.

Stamina is the energy granted to you by the Source.

It now lives within you, allowing you to go beyond your physical, mental, and other limitations, and strive for greatness under the Benevolence of the Crystal.

Everything you do that goes beyond what you should normally be able to do, requires stamina.

You will consume stamina every time you access your attributes or use your skills.

In the simplest of terms, normal eating will not consume any stamina for example. However, if you swing your sword and borrow the power of your [Strength] attribute to do more damage, your stamina will be consumed.

Also, a small amount of stamina will always be consumed to support the attributes granted to you, even if you’re not actively using them. In addition, some attributes are not yours to control, and will activate or trigger on their own, consuming further stamina.

If you run out of stamina, you will fall into a state known as stamina depletion. If this happens you will be forced into sleep to recover your stamina.

This will happen regardless of what is happening, even if you are in combat.

You don’t need to worry about using your stamina. It will be automatically spent based on your actions.

Your skills will consume stamina (other attributes can affect this).

You can only recover HP from the Source outside of combat. While in combat, a portion of your HP will recover by using your own stamina, albeit at a much, much, reduced rate.

Stamina can only be replenished from the Source while resting.

If critically injured, HP recovery will be prioritized by converting the majority of available and recovering stamina into HP instead.

How much stamina you have is decided by your [Stamina] attribute. Each point in [Stamina] grants you 10 points of stamina.

Depleting either your HP or stamina is likely to result in death.

“What in the pile…” he whispered, as he scanned the words.

Source? Energy? Skills?

The attributes he knew about. Somehow, he even understood what [Constitution] and [Strength] meant.

Speaking of swinging his sword however, he suddenly remembered the weapon.

With rising dread, he felt the floor around him, his eyes still blocked by the window’s text.

His fingers brushed against something cool to the touch and he gently followed along the blade, down to the sword’s hilt.

With a breath of relief, he pulled the sword up to his chest, hugging it.

The window decided that he had enough time to read the information before him and disappeared.

In its place, another one popped up, together with other, newer things.

What’s this now?

You now have access to your User Interface, shortened to UI.

Here, you can visualize all the important elements that will help keep you alive.

First, on the left corner, you can find two bars.

The green bar represents your HP. As it depletes, it will change to orange, then red, to let you know, with a quick glimpse, how close you are to depleting your HP.

The yellow bar represents your stamina. Its color always remains the same.

Together, your HP and stamina are referred to as your status.

All beings in the Nexus have status.

On the right corner of your field of vision, you can see two symbols.

Focus on the one that looks like a sentient’s head and torso.

Nar frowned. What do you mean by…

The window blinked off and another one, much narrower, showed up.

NAR293457741235645XAV

Basic 1

Health Points: 100/100

Stamina: 100/100

Attributes

● Strength: 10

● Constitution: 10

● Stamina: 10

● Agility: 6

● Speed: 6

● Aura: 21

● ???: 5

● ???: 10

Nar was stunned for a moment.

This is… Me?

Another window popped up next to it.

This is called a tab.

Here you can see your HP and stamina, collectively known as your status.

Here you can also see your gains, reflected in your attributes.

This tab is called your stats tab and it represents you.

Both windows disappeared, replaced by another one.

To avoid overwhelming you, this induction will conclude here.

However, as you can see, next to the symbol that represents you, there are two more, Skills and Notifications.

Make sure to check them, especially your Skills tab (preferably before combat).

If you focus on your HP bar or your HP in your stats tab, you will be able to re-read all the information regarding your HP anytime you want.

This also applies to your stamina, attributes, skills, gear, weapons, and many others.

Regarding your UI, you need only think about your intent to either have it be visible, or hidden.

Your HP and stamina bars will automatically be visible during combat, in a limited version of your UI, and all windows or tabs will be automatically closed.

It is worth your life checking everything.

Lastly, as part of your induction, you have received a basic data package.

This contains information about all the knowledge that will be crucial to your survival and/or basic knowledge about life in the Nexus that has been forgotten in your cubeplant.

In fact, a lot of this knowledge is already being imparted to you as you read these words. It will fill in the gaps and grant you understanding to every word that your limited living environment did not expose you to.

Further, it has been detected that your cubeplant has foregone time tracking capabilities.

This knowledge is critical.

It will be imparted now.

Nar felt a sudden rush of warmth deep inside his skull.

Concepts such as night and day, seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years and others exploded in his mind, and he squinted against the sudden discomfort and pressure.

When it was over, he understood time like never before.

My Crystal… How did we forget this?

Clock function unlocked.

(Only time functionalities currently available, no date functionalities currently allowed).

The clock will now be visible on the bottom right corner of your UI.

Nar stared at the shifting numbers.

12:37:09 PM.

It made so much sense.

So much sense!

How? How had he lived his whole life without knowing about this? How did the workers for that matter? How had everything devolved into A, B and C shifts? Into klaxons that kept track of their shifts, and down to the start and end of seasons being ruled by the Drop and Emptying of the pile?

We have forgotten everything…

He stared, in shock, at the clock.

There could be anything waiting for them on the surface. The O-Nex and I-Nex could be anything and absolutely everything at all!

For the first time since he had accepted the decision that he would be Climbing, he realized just how immense the unknown he was about to journey into was.

The Infinite Nexus…

He knew nothing about his destination other than that it was bright, more colorful and that it was there. He hoped.

He knew nothing else.

Shocked, he considered the new words before him.

This concludes your induction.

As mentioned, this information can always be accessed, and will be updated as necessary.

Your Climb begins now.

Earn your forgiveness.

The window disappeared, and his UI went with it.

Blank, Nar stared at the others, who reflected back the same looks of shock and confusion.

“What in the pile was all that?” Mul asked, speaking for all of them.

Nar’s head dropped, heavy. As if weighted by all the new knowledge he had been imparted with.

Words, time, notions and concepts he would’ve never thought possible mere moments before.

He understood it all, but at the same time, the knowledge tasted strange in his brain. New. Not quite his. At least not yet.

“I think we should rest here for today,” Gad said.

She was looking the worse for wear out of all them. She sweated profusely, and her breathing was ragged.

“Yeah… I think so too,” Kur said.

He was only faring a little better than Gad.

In fact, now that he paid attention to his party, Nar noticed that some people, including himself, seemed to have taken whatever had just happened to them better than others.

With Gad and Kur, Viy was also panting, and holding the sides of her face, as if to keep it from splitting in half.

As for the rest of them, they looked wrecked, but nowhere as bad.

“Are you guys, ok?” Cen asked, reaching the same conclusion as Nar.

Kur nodded and winced, regretting the movement. “I’m fine. Just my head’s killing me. You guys are all… Fine?”

Cen looked around.

“I’m drained,” she said, frowning, as if tasting the new word that had just come out of her mouth. “But I’m okay?”

“Same,” Tuk said.

Nar nodded and Jul dipped her head.

Mul snorted. “Ah! Weaklings!”

Cen shot him a glare and he shrugged.

“Looks like me, Viy and Gad didn’t take it so well,” Kur said. “Would you mind if we rested here for a bit?”

“Of course not!” Cen shouted, before her brother could say anything.

“Not so loud…” Jul whispered.

The quam stared at the twin darknesses behind and in front of them with an anxious look, her antennae wiggling nervously this way and that way

“Thank you,” Kur said, clearly relieved. “And yes. You’re right. From now on we should be much quieter and more careful.”

Gad dragged herself to a wall and leaned against it. She tugged her shield tightly against her left side, and closed her eyes.

Viy was already curled up to the side, passed out next to the tank.

“Yeah… I think I’ll do the same,” Kur muttered, eyeing them. “Nar, Jul, keep an eye out will you?”

“No worries,” Nar said.

He wasn’t even sure if Kur had heard him. He had already drifted off.

The others shared a glance, lost as to what to do now.

Nar took a deep breath.

It hadn’t been the start of the Climb he had expected. He had no idea what he had expected to be honest, but it hadn’t been this.

This had been something else…

Peering into the darkness ahead of them, he wondered what other surprises were waiting for him.

He was outside everything he had ever known now.

Everything would be new, surprising and dangerous.

Yes, definitely dangerous…

Those windows had mentioned pain, damage and death a lot.

He hugged his sword tighter.

Oh Crystal, have some mercy.

He was definitely and quickly coming around on his whole anti-Crystal, Unclean attitude. And he noticed it.

I’m not Unclean anymore, he told himself, pursing his lips. And he had to stop thinking like one if he wanted to make it.

Fourteen years of rage and hatred or not, he had to let go of all it. Make peace with it.

He tasted bile at the back of his throat again, but he swallowed hard against it.

I’m a Climber now. The past is in the past… he told himself, staring at the darkness ahead of him.

The past is the past…

Such is the way of fear.