After reading all the texts on the blue screens, Jac made up his mind. It was going to be exciting and he will have to get strong. It was common sense that in any game you will need to be strong enough to enjoy all the content. From what he gathered from the system messages, the dungeons will be important for levelling up but tutorials will be necessary to gather information and probably some items to help clear the dungeons easily. The problem was he had no idea how to access either one. The system hinted the access gates to be spread around the world but they could be anywhere. It meant at least some travelling and exploration and probably dangerous encounters with ugly monsters.
Jac quickly gathered some clothes and rations, reloaded his gun and took the meat cleaver, the kitchen knife, the phone and packed the bullets. He changed his shirt with a jacket but he wasn't able to change his jeans due to the skull stuck in his leg. Luckily, there was no issue with knee movements as the skull was quite below the knee. Jac decided to check on his friend Tony and see if he could take him along. He thought of calling Tony on his cellphone but neither the cell network nor the internet was working. Maybe the network system in the area took some damage, he will have to check the network outside in another area.
Tony lived underground in the P4 rank manor, to reach it Jac would need to travel via subway or Stellarlink. Teleporting using Stellerlink would be the best option, but Jac didn't have any access tokens to use it. Seeing no other way, he quickly re-checked his travel supplies and set out.
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[Zoanna, a few days before the system descended on Earth]
It's not always the top, where you are lonely. there are a lot of circumstances and burdens that make you feel lonely. You box yourself in a cage made of emotions. If you are a sheep in a herd of uncountable sheep, you may not want to be just another sheep by doing something different or becoming unique. But once you are different or unique, you may want to become normal again because uniqueness puts a metaphorical distance between you and the others. Generally, you have to work hard to be unique but at other times, you are simply cursed with it. Keep in mind though, that uniqueness is different from fame or notoriety. Sure you may become famous if you are unique or if you did something outstandingly different from others but it's not always the case.
Zoanna was cursed with a uniqueness that she didn't want. Since childhood, she suffered from a rare disease which turned her skin white and her hair and eye colour to that of a purple ruby. She got to know that people called this albinism. But Zoanna also got selected as one of the two priestesses-in-training purely because of the disease. People in her tribe, and most of the other neighbouring tribes in the Eastern Cape, believed that there were magical powers in people with albinism and that using body parts of Albinos would have various magic effects. The male albinos were hunted quickly, their genitalia cut and consumed while other body parts were sold to witch doctors or used as decorations. Joanna was both lucky and unlucky that she was born a female. lucky because she wasn't immediately killed, unlucky because female albinos were believed to be able to cure one of HIV by having intercourse with them. So far, Zoanna has used the temple as cover to keep herself safe. There were already two attempts made to kidnap her, by people from both the outside and inside her tribe.
Her tribe was called Bloublaar and there were around 700 people. The tribe had an ancient temple which was operated by the Priestess, her assistants and the Advisor of the Priestess. The only one above the Priestess in the tribe was the position of the chief. The new priestess was chosen only if the Chief and the current Priestess agreed on the same candidate.
So far, the Priestess has protected her but Zoanna suspected it was out of some weird personal interests. To be able to protect herself in future, she needed to get selected as the new priestess. The Priestess' position will guarantee her safety in the tribe and the chief will be responsible for protecting her no matter what. As a priestess candidate, she naturally believed in the mysterious relic of the tribe, it granted the Priestess and the tribe good luck and protection from bad events.
Zoanna had high hopes that she would be selected but just in case, she has prepared a backup plan. On the next day, the chief and the Priestess will hold a meeting to select the new priestess. Zoanna's backup plan was risky but it was the only way she could ensure her wellbeing. She planned to steal the relic and exchange it for the Stellerlink gold access token if she wasn't chosen to be the Priestess.
Her tribe was notorious for strong, bloodthirsty warriors who worked as mercenaries and often provided services to merchants trading with the sky bazaars. but even this notoriety wasn't enough to stop people from attempting to steal the relic of their tribe. The only thing keeping it safe was the fact that no one knew what the relic looked like.
Zoanna quickly went through her plan mentally once. it all depended on whether she would be able to collect the correct information within time to react to the situation. The temple had two floors and one hidden underground chamber. The centre of each floor was a big hall with an altar exactly in the centre of the hall. A stone knife and a stone bowl stained with dried blood adorned the stone altar on the ground floor. the altar on the upper floor was empty but consisted of small tiles with weird symbols on them. there were two rooms on each side of the halls on each floor. The front and back part of the temple on the ground floor were open entrances without any doors. The stairs to the upper floor were on the right side of the temple near the back entrance. The underground chamber of the temple could be accessed using either side of the room located near the temple's back entrance. The underground chamber was used for storing the supplies and emergency rations for the tribe. The rightmost room near the back entrance was used for important meetings. She will hide in the underground storage near the ladders and eavesdrop. You could hear any sounds right below the ladder in the underground chamber because the entrance doors to the chambers had become loose after many years of use.
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Soon a new day arrived, Zoanna was assigned cleaning duties while the other candidate was assigned the ritual duties. Zoanna using the cleaning as an excuse, sneaked into the storage room and waited for the faithful meeting to start. She heard faint sounds. Zoanna was able to hear some words and quickly gathered that she wasn't selected as the new priestess. It meant that she would have to steal the relic once she got the opportunity and escape from the tribe. Zoanna deciding she had heard enough started to leave but she heard the chief exclaiming about a sacrifice the next day and herself to be sacrificed. Zoanna felt like all the blood had rushed out of her body. If she wanted to escape, she would have to start now. Zoanna tried to keep a calm facade and climbed out of the underground chambers. The relic of the tribe rested on the upper floor. Zoanna hurried out of the room and moved towards the stairs to the upper floor. Before she could reach the stairs, the Piestess called out to her who happened to exit from the meeting room along with the chief and the advisor. The position of the advisor was granted to the retired priestesses and there could be more than one advisor at a time, though currently there was only one advisor in the temple as the advisors had died off to old age.
"Zoanna, you have been chosen to bestow good luck and great bounty unto our tribe. We sincerely congratulate you. Please accompany the Advisor to the upper floor and prepare yourself for the ceremony." said the smiling Priestess.
Zoanna was surprised, as what the Priestess had just said sounded entirely different from what she heard. Did she mishear previously or now?
"Thank you for your grace, respected Priestess" Zoanna quickly replied and bowed. The Advisor gave her a cold look and started climbing the stairs. Zoanna quickly analysed what the Priestess had said and found that there was no mention of her getting selected as the new priestess. Zoanna became more confused and tried to subtly ask the Advisor but she only got some grunts in response. soon they arrived on the upper floor and the Advisor started to walk towards one of the rooms. Zoanna glanced at the altar and at the relic that was simply a stone tile among many other tiles atop the altar. Zoanna quickly thought of her options, if what the Priestess said was just some cryptic bullshit for the sacrifice, they won't start it immediately anyway. She will need a tool to pry off the relic from the altar.
Zoanna followed the advisor into the room and was handed a weird dress which was very inappropriate but at least covered her privates and a drink made out of figs and oranges. She changed her clothes with the new dress and quickly drank the juice. This wasn't her first time drinking this tasty combination of figs and oranges. Before she could ask 'What next', she collapsed on the floor.
Once she opened her eyes, she found herself collapsed on the altar which was covered in a lot of blood. Weird blue screens floated in front of her face that looked like the computer windows.
Name: Zoanna Bloublaar Race: Human (F) Level: 0 Affiliation: Earth Health: 10/60 Mana: 60/60 Stamina: 10/40 Class: NA Profession: NA Job: NA Title: None Active Quests (0) Stats: Stats Multiplier: Strength: 2 1 Endurance: 4 1 Dexterity: 3 1 Vitality: 6 1 Intelligence: 7 1 Perception: 1 1 Control: 2 1 Luck: 1 1 Free Stat Points: 0 Skills: Passive: NA Attempt to awaken a passive skill (1) Active: NA Attempt to awaken an active skill (1)
[System Message]:
Welcome to the Multiverse. Your planet was discovered and judged to be eligible to receive Holy Mother's love. Your planet is terraformed and merged with the neighbouring three habitable planets. The following boons are granted to the inhabitants:
[Self]: The inhabitants can track their progress and quantify their power. The boon manifests differently for different individuals.
[Grow]: Your planet is blessed with dungeons that can help you grow in power. The number of dungeons is limited.
[Learn]: Your planet is blessed with a Tutorial tower which can be accessed using the tutorial access gates spread throughout the planets. The tutorial will help you comprehend your new reality and learn about the infinite glory of the Holy Mother and the Multiverse.
Good Luck.