In a world of swords and sorcery, where magic reigns supreme, a man named Bob woke up in a room he did not recognize. The last thing he remembered was going to bed after a long day toiling in the fields. As he groggily tried to piece together his surroundings, he noticed that the room was filled with slimes, oozing around the floor and walls. Just as Bob began to panic, understandably so, a message appeared in front of his eyes.
*SYSTEM MESSAGE*
Would you like to accept the System?
YES? NO?
Bob hesitated for a moment, but curiosity got the best of him, and he hit the button. Suddenly, an interface appeared in front of him, displaying his name, stats, and level.
Name: Bob Level: 1 Class: N/A HP: 10 MP: 10 SP: 10 STR: 1 CON: 1 WIS: 1 INT: 1 DEX: 1 CHA: 1
To his surprise, however, he saw that he had no class or skills. The interface simply stated "not applicable." Bob was confused but then saw that he had the option to pick a class. As he was about to view the class list and make his choice, the interface glitched out, when another message popped up, putting another semi-transparent window in his field of vision.
*SYSTEM ADMIN*
*ITEM GRANTED*
*Summoners Rolodex*
Before he could even figure out what it was, the Summoners Rolodex equipped itself onto his wrist. Bob felt a strange energy pulsating through his body, he knew something was wrong. He tried to remove the item, but it was too late, and immense pain surged through his body.
*SYSTEM WARNING*
*CURSED ITEM INTEGRATED*
He didn't know what to do next. The Summoners Rolodex felt like a weight on his wrist, and he could sense that it was changing him in some way. He felt a rush of adrenaline as he realized that he was trapped in this room with the slimes and that he had no idea how to defend himself.
As he looked around the room, he saw that there was a door, he ran to it trying to escape, but it was locked. He tried to force it open, but it wouldn't budge. Bob was starting to feel trapped and claustrophobic, and he didn't know what to do. He noticed that the slimes were inching closer to him, eyes wide in horror, and he knew that he had to act fast.
Desperate for a way out, Bob turned to the Summoners Rolodex, hoping that it would give him some kind of clue as to what he should do. He didn't know how to activate the Summoners Rolodex, which Bob knew was a very large, extremely immediate problem. Bob thought really hard about it activating, held his breath, and wished that it would work. To his surprise and relief, another of those semi-transparent windows appeared again.
SPELLS ITEMS MONSTERS
He saw that there were three different tabs. But they were all grayed out, Bob tried selecting one with his thoughts, but nothing happened. Oh, it's broken? That was when another option appeared in the window.
SPELLS ITEMS MONSTERS SCAN
Bob noticed immediately that this one wasn’t grayed out. He jumped joyously in celebration, the damned thing wasn’t broken. He selected the Scan option, Bob felt a surge of hope as he watched the Rolodex scan the room, looking for viable specimens.
The slimes began to aggro him, pulsing faster and oozing with more aggression. Bob could feel their acidic touch burning his skin, and he knew he had to act fast.
*SCAN COMPLETE*
*SLIME INTEGRATED*
Bob felt pressure as the monster species imprinted into his being, and he knew what he had to do. He accessed the Monsters tab and selected Slime from the menu, and a blinding light engulfed him. When the light faded, he found himself transformed into a slime, a pulsating mass of goo with eyes that blinked independently. He could feel his goo gently caressing the goo of each slime surrounding him. He tried to scream, but all that came out was a gurgle.
*SYSTEM ALERT*
*SUMMONERS ROLODEX CURSE*
*STATUS: AFFLICTED*
Bob had unknowingly fallen victim to the Summoner's Rolodex. Well, I'll be a goat's uncle, so that's what the curse does. Neat! Bob wasn’t insane, but he was clearly in shock. Bob shook his head to clear his mind, well he attempted to, all that happened was his little goo body kind of jiggled a little. Like Jell-O. Now that’s an odd sensation. Bob heard a strange voice in his head.
*Uh, howdy there Bob. Sorry about the form change but that’s kind of what my curse does. Umm, say, you wouldn't hold it against a Sentient Accursed Artifact, Would ya? Oh well with these here Slime-boys trying to show ya who's boss, I can't really get into one of them long talky talks with ya right now. But hey, just as a need-to-know type of thing, all my functions still work while afflicted with my side effects. So come on Bobby-boy, start your summonin’*
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Slime-Bob was flabbergasted, but before he could argue with the voice inside his head, he was subtly reminded of the angry mass of slimes jostling him. Hyping himself up for the Slime Royale, he noticed another option in the Rolodex menu.
This one said Summon, Bob selected that option with the collective might of a hundred presses. At first, nothing happened, but Bob was just too impatient, after a few seconds a light formed in front of him.
A cylindrical metal tube appeared in the air, with little yellow squares connected to it. The little squares started rotating furiously, most of them were blank waiting to be imprinted upon, but every once in a while, you could see a slime come around.
After a few more unnecessary rotations the Slime card came up and locked into place. Immediately after that, a little square popped up next to it that had a number in it with a tiny little x in the back. The number in the box began to rotate at the same speed that it had before.
The numbers kept changing faster than my eyes could follow until they began to slow down. Bob could start to make out the numbers the more it slowed, after a couple of seconds it finally stopped. It proudly displayed a flashing golden 10x.
*Oh wow, a 10x multiplier on your first spin! You might just be the luckiest cursed man in the world! *
Bob ignored the Rolodex and focus on what unfolded next. The Rolodex manifestation disappeared and in its place materialized 10 Slimes. Slimes that were under Bob's command. Wow, now that's what I'm talking about!
Bob would have smiled, if he wasn't a slime, and had a mouth. Attack! Bob shouted in his head and his slime cronies attacked the enemy slimes.
He could feel the power of the Rolodex coursing through his slimy veins, granting him the ability to launch acid projectiles. Do slimes have veins?
The battle was fierce, with slimes exploding left and right, leaving a sticky residue on the walls and floor. Bob, now fully immersed in the role of a Slime Summoner. A Slimener, if you will! He fought with all his slimy might, never giving up. His summoned slimes fought alongside him, launching acid all over the place and careening into other slimes.
Finally, the battle ended, with Bob and his summoned slimes emerging victorious. He felt his body reverting to its original form, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
*Great Job, Bobby-Boy! You won and what a great show it was for a rookie. Just for future reference, every time you summon a monster it could potentially trigger the curse, transforming you into whatever monster you summoned. Ok, now I have to mosey on out of here, I have to absorb as much of this monster's essence as I can. Can't miss a single drop, otherwise, I'll get cranky. I don't like missing a single morsel of my meal. Toodles*
Bob felt a mixture of awe and terror, beginning to understand the full extent of the Summoners Rolodex's power. He knew that he had a lot to learn before he could fully control this awesome tool, but he was determined to become a Master Summoner, a summoner who could control any monster, no matter how slimy.
Bob took a moment to catch his breath and collect his thoughts. He had just experienced the power of the Summoners Rolodex and its curse, and he knew that he needed to be more careful with how he used it in the future. He also knew that he needed to train more to fully understand the capabilities and limitations of the Rolodex.
As he looked around the room, he saw the remains of the defeated slimes and the slime residue left behind. He couldn't help but shudder at the thought of being turned into one of them permanently. He made a mental note to always check the entries in the Rolodex before using it, and to be more careful. Turning into a monster in the wrong place could be disastrous. Bob's thoughts were interrupted as the remains of the Slimes and all the residue slowly vanished. Oh, gross! It wasn’t kidding when it said it was going to eat.
*I heard that, I'm not an it. I have a name, maybe I'll tell you one day.*
The message from the Rolodex was said through the sound of something consuming a lot of food, very quickly. It was disgusting. With renewed determination, Bob dusted himself off, and finally opened the door that was now unlocked.
As he stepped out of the room, Bob was greeted by a vast, sprawling tower that seemed to stretch up toward the sky. The tower was surrounded by open plains for a short distance that ended in walls that reached the skies. Impossible to climb, he supposed his only choice was the tower itself. He started the long trek to the foot of the tower.
After what seemed like an eternity Bob arrived at the tower. His stomach growled at him angrily. Bob was startled out of his thoughts of food by a voice in front of him that came from a person he swore wasn't there before.
“Welcome to the Tower! My name is Alice, how can I assist you?”
"Umm, where did you come from?” Bob responded dumbfounded.
“Welcome to the Tower! My name is Alice, how can I assist you?” Alice repeated.
“Where am I? What is this tower? Why did I wake up here, and how do I leave?”
"You are currently located at the foot of Tower #13, Quadrant 37. This is the Tower of Trials. You were randomly selected to participate. You can leave by completing the Tower of Trials. "
“Umm, WHAT?” Bob shouted while his gaze drifted up to the sky unable to see the top of the Tower.
“Enter the Tower of Trials and complete them.”
"That thing has to have like a thousand or more floors. You can't be serious.”
"Each Tower of Trials has a number of floors specific to each individual Tower. Enter the Tower of Trials, and complete them.”
"If I don't?”
"Failure to enter the Tower of Trials will result in the Candidate's death.”
"My death?”
“Welcome to the Tower! My name is Alice, how can I assist you?”
"Ugh, enough! I tire of your repetitive nonsense.”
Bob walked away, filled with frustration and extremely annoyed. Bob's annoyance was compounded by the rumbling of his irate stomach. Bob heard a strange noise behind him and he turned around to investigate. What Bob saw nearly broke his mind. In front of him where the annoying woman had just been standing, was the same woman but now she was wearing an apron and a silly-looking tall hat. Next to the woman was a cauldron and a table full of an assortment of delicious-looking food.
"Welcome to McTowers, What can I get for you?”
Bob was shocked, but he quickly got over it as his stomach rumbled louder. He looked at all the food, mouth-watering, and tried to think of what he wanted to eat. It all looks so good! I'm so hungry!
“I can't decide I'm too hungry and everything looks delicious. Surprise me I guess?”
"Ok, a DoubleTower burger, large fry, and a large TowerDew coming right up.”
The woman in the apron smiled at Bob and then handed him a paper bag and a weird-looking mug with a tube sticking out of the top. The paper bag had a tower on it with two golden arches behind it.
“That was fast? Thanks, I guess.”
Bob turned and walked away. A table and chair appeared in front of him. He sat down and opened the bag. He pulled out the DoubleTower burger and fries. He opened the burger and emptied the fries onto the wrapper. Bob was hesitant to eat the food because it was the same lady that just said he was going to die.
The aroma wafting off the food was too much for Bob's poor stomach to handle. He took a bite of the burger, his eyes going wide. This is the best thing I have ever eaten! After that first bite, he began to devour the meal. After a few bites, he was struck with great thirst. He was confused about the weird mug at first but then put the tube in his mouth and drank deeply.
Oh wow! This is ambrosia, the drink of the Gods!
Bob finished that meal shortly after. Now, his hunger satisfied beyond his wildest dreams, he steeled himself to enter the tower. If only to get away from that weird lady that threatened him and then gave him amazing food. With great determination and with his Summoners Rolodex, he boldly entered the Tower of Trials.