I awoke to the new world by exploding in a barrel. I'm not sure if this was a good start. I was blasted with heat and chemicals, but It did nothing to me. It seems this world has a countermeasure for the blood seeping from above.

Nobody was around, just barrels of blood, cleansed of corruption somehow. There was a chair, with a strange book on it. I saw the image of a metal-alloyed knight, who held a glowing blade of light.

Very cool.

I began reading the book, which was called a "magazine" and was able to gleam some vital clues. I was in a city called New Tokyo. One passage used the term "around the globe" which made me think this place was spherical.

How ingenious.

I understood this was a place of steel and glowing neon. Nothing mentioning a strength or cultivation system was mentioned in the book, yet it contained images of many warriors imbued with metal. I am unsure of the world's name, only this place I was in. Yet, I could immediately feel the difference between this place and the one above.

This was a developed world, a world that broke free from the wild. My old world was a desolate wasteland with few sights to ever see, the few books handwritten and sparse. Just the images in this book had shown me a world of massive structures, people were walking around without a care in the world, like there were no dangers at all. Metal remained the dominant resource.

I was to find the "Lord of Alloy", in this iron-sculpted world.

"Ohhh, that woman is hot." Commented the Lord as I flipped through the magazine, I rolled my eyes and looked at her, the same one on the cover. She was pretty hot, actually.

"That body, she must be a Metal element Qi cultivator."

I nodded and threw the flimsy magazine away.

"Woooah, at least take that woman's picture. We may need to find her eventually." Quickly protested the mind leech. I took out her picture. She had long white hair with a woman's body, to be certain. Silver-coated legs, one augmented silver arm, and a neck armor. She had a nice face, symmetrical, sculpted cheekbones, and lengthy eyelashes hiding sharp, pointed eyes. She appeared to be a warrior, holding a blade.

I folded it up and put it in a pocket. I then realized I had no pockets. I made myself some pockets.

I moved toward a door, seeking the outside world. Instead, was a complex, vast room In which metal claws carried barrels around in pathways. No life in this room. I walked to another door.

A small room with a strange chair. The sign on the outside read "Restroom" so I took a quick break here.

"I might be stuck in here, Big Star." I whimpered.

I decided to call him "Big star" now.

"Don't call me Big Star, you goddamn wierdo." He didn't like the name. "Just break your way out of this place, it's probably a prison of some sorts. It gives me the creeps."

"If it's a prison, I really don't want to alert anyone. This place seems civilized. I can find an exit. Somebody must have gotten in, there must be a way to get out." I was an adventurer, and I was sure an exit would be quickly found.

...

...

...

3 hours later

"AHHHHHHHHH," I screamed and smashed another wall, leading into another goddamn room. "Why have they done this to me? To us? Trapped in a metal maze for eternity?" I despaired.

I searched from top to bottom. No exits. I began smashing my way around, still no exits. The largest structure I had seen on my birth world was a large church. This was just absurd. I smashed walls, and floors.

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Eventually I reached a rock bottom. And inside of another restroom, I lay on the floor.

"Looks like our journey ends here, in a metal maze of madness."

"What? No! no, no, no. How can this be? Where is the exit?! I can't accept this fate. No sir, I'd rather explode in a blaze of glory!" Big star was going mad, he was of no assistance to me at all. This damn thing was just a little spectator. Might as well be a pet.

Suddenly, my savior spoke, in robotic tones.

"Sir, please get off the bathroom floor, and stop destroying the facility." The voice was extremely gentle and kind, and artificial. "I was being rebooted, and I am sorry I was not able to assist you earlier, my name is Au-ha. It stands for Automated Universal Helper Artifice. It also sounds a lot like "A-ha!" which was the first thing I heard when I was created."

"Please, get me out of here, please. I'll do anything. God, please. I'm sorry for everything. Just let me escape." Begging weakly, I pleaded with my new overlord.

"Of course, just hold still." Said the voice as a robotic arm put me into some sort of capsule in a tube. Moments later, a vacuum formed, and the tube shot forward at a speed I could only envy. The tube twisted and turned underground, leading back upwards. At last, it stopped, and the capsule opened.

"Have a wonderful day. If you have any questions, just ask. Anywhere on the grid, just say my name, and a digital construct will appear" Au-ha was very friendly.

"Right, yeah. I have many questions. What is the world's name? What systems of strength are here? What is the grid? What is a digital construct? Oh, and where is the Lord of Alloy?"

"This world is called Earth, we are in a city called New Tokyo, in the country of Japan, on the Eurasian continent. We have a few Mages, but they are quite rare, a vast majority of warriors here are artificial. They use science and strong metals and materials to strengthen themselves. The grid refers to the area in which our Wireless signals reach, which is almost everywhere. A digital construct is a projection made of light. This "Lord of Alloy" is not in any person databases. There are a few books, eleven songs, and one movie by that name, however."

"Who is the leader of this world?"

"There are many leaders, of many countries- "She continued to babble about nonsense, it seems this world was called Earth. They mainly used a mutated strength path of metal. The leader, or "Lord of Alloy" is an unknown entity.

It's not like everything would just fall in my lap. I looked around; this place was somewhat desolate, different from the magazine. A crack in the sky spilled blood in this spot, and this spot only. That seemed far too convenient to be anything but a purposeful act. But who could or would do that?

I walked along and asked Au-ha many questions about the world. This was an advanced world, with an incredibly large population. It was safe, and relatively stable. It was spherical and split into three main land masses they called continents. I was told to buy a "phone", which could help locate information, and communicate with others.

I asked how to make money. She responded in spoken pages. She guided me through this new land, a wonderful tour guide.

"Can I steal a phone?"

"No, I would have to report that to the police." She threatened to snitch me out.

"But it's me, Au-ha. It's me." I patted my chest, speaking in solemn tones, pleading to her emotion.

"I don't even know your name, sir."

I asked her what she would name me if she could. She told me the most used name in the world was John. So, I took that name. I was now John. John Star.

"Please don't call yourself John Star." This time it was my mental parasite. "This is a very bad name. For your own sake, don't do this."

"It's better than Little Star, for fucks sake." I contested

"No, it's not." he contested back. I ignored him.

Now as John Star, I walked toward what Au-ha described as a hub of information, trade, entertainment and more. To the city.

From this desolate metal zone, with a crack in the sky. We marched onwards. Au-ha staying with me, in some strange form made of pure information. She had, according to her, many other constructs made at the moment, helping many others. Something glowed amazingly in the far distance. A star.

"There it is, the city of New Tokyo. The largest and most populated metropolis in the world." Au-ha informed.

The place called me instinctually. Maybe it was the bright lights, but as I got closer and closer. It felt more familiar. Soon enough, the neon city was right before me, in full glory.

Skyscraping towers of Steel, intricate and unique designs all abound, people were walking around, what Au-ha described as cars and flying vehicles sped through the delicate kingdom. She told me of the world's strongest mercenary guild.

"The Black Star mercenary group has an incredible reputation, they have high standards, but the pay is known to be more than satisfactory. Good luck, Sir John. Please call me again anytime, anywhere." Au-ha then discarded the digital construct, returning to whatever the base form of information takes.

A mercenary, a warrior. It was all I was meant to be, I'm certain. Even in my youth, I would love to fight. I was weak, no doubt. Stabbed and slain many times. But the rush of victory was all I had on that world. So, I fought, and fought, searching for my ticket out. It was found, and now I am certain.

Warrior blood runs in my veins.

At last, I stepped into the glowing city of neon light.