It didn't take long for the people of the town to arrive at the portal to the Dungeon where the two guards were still waiting.

When the people saw the portal they were definitely apprehensive about touching the portal, let alone entering it, so Kohl had some birds showcase that it was safe by exiting and then reentering the dungeon, showing they were just fine and that it must have been survivable on the other side.

---

If there was one thing unfortunate about Dr. Bright's new situation, it was not only that was he an immortal stuck in an infinite IKEA where humanoid monsters called Staff led to his unfortunate demise on several different occasions, but it was even after a few years of being trapped in this hell, he felt that he perhaps would be stuck in this hell for all eternity.

So, when he found that perhaps there was a way out? One that could lead back to Earth? Or at least a similar version of it? Sign Dr. Bright up!

However, instead of charging in and escaping this hell, he instead decided to try and escape with all the friends he made in his time here. The same people that put up with him, joked with him, ate with him, practically became a family to him? He made his choice.

He was just glad that they made it back in time.

The portal appeared stable, but without the proper equipment, who knew if the portal was suddenly going to collapse or disappear?

So, not wanting to waste any time, and with his unique immortality, he volunteered to be the first to go in to make sure it was safe.

His friends didn't know about his curse, and he hoped they'd never learn about it.

Everyone who has ever learned about his secret looked at him differently, even back when he worked for the SCP Foundation.

Figuring the portal was two-way from the appearance and disappearances of the birds, he informed them that if he didn't come back through within a few minutes, don't attempt to go through.

He found it touching how much his friends trusted him and steeled his resolve.

Everyone was getting out of this hell today.

And who knows? If everything is well on the other side, and perhaps if the portal stays stable they could begin a rescue effort. Saving everyone from the local settlements.

"Are you sure Jack? We have no idea what's on the other side. For all we know there could be monsters or something dangerous on the other side!" Clair tried to persuade Bright, wanting to take his place instead.

"Every action we take has its dangers, but don't worry, if there was something dangerous just on the other side by the portal, the birds would have looked panicked when they flew out here, besides, so long as I have a weapon I should be able to defend myself against anything that would be a threat," Bright tried to ease her worries.

Suddenly a hand landed on his shoulder, and turning around Jack came face to face with Jay, "I'm not risking your life Doc, I'm going in with you, if there's anything dangerous on the other side, you should at least be able to escape back here," Jay spoke.

"Not necessary Jay," Bright once again tried to convince them.

"No matter what you say, if you are going in there, I'm going with you, you are our Doctor, if something happens to you and we remain stuck here, the whole town will be in danger if something happens," Jay told Bright and Clair.

"I could say the same thing about you!" Bright began only for Jay to interrupt him, "I'm just a guard, we have plenty of Guards, everyone can fight and defend themselves, I'm nothing special, however, you are the only one that can patch up our people, so, I am not letting you go in alone."

Bright and Jay went back and forth arguing about who would go while the other members of the council kept the people calm and prevented them from just charging towards the portal to escape.

Eventually Bright gave up, and it was decided that both of them would be the ones to enter, and if anything were to happen on the other side, one of them should be able to escape and warn everyone.

Jay and Bright readied themselves for battle, they had no idea what would await them on the other side, so they armed themselves with spears fashioned from lawn mower blades and pipes, and strapped machetes to their belts for a just-in-case scenario.

Surrounding the portal, the crowd of people stood in the distance as the two men stood before the portal.

"Are you ready?" Jay asked Bright.

"As ready as I'll ever be, you?" Bright asked in response.

"Same, on the count of three?"

Stolen novel; please report.

"Sure."

"1."

"2."

"3!" With the synchronized saying of the number, both men jumped forward, entering the portal simultaneously, disappearing with shimmers of light.

The crowd could only wait with dread, hoping that it would be safe and escape was on the other side.

...

[Dr. Bright's POV]

Once we touched the portal, I felt momentarily weightless before suddenly feeling gravity once again and finding myself standing on solid ground.

Stumbling, I accidentally fell to the ground, causing me to fall onto my knees and hands.

Feeling a smooth floor, my eyes rapidly blinked as they adjusted to the light and I found that I was kneeling on a smooth metal floor.

Feeling a hand grab my arm, I heard Jay ask, "You okay?" as he pulled me up and helped me stand.

"I'll be fine-," I stopped midsentence as I observed our surroundings.

A massive shadow overhead, strange metal pedestals scattered around the area, and an equal distance between all of them.

Empty grassland surrounded the platform we stood upon, and looking up towards the shadow, I couldn't help but gawk.

A strange metallic structure floated in the sky, glowing with bright white light that embedded and outlined its exterior.

Above that were clouds and a bright yellow sun.

"It looks...safe?" Jay seemed to ask hesitantly.

"It does...but that thing floating above us is...concerning," I told Jay, feeling a bit nervous.

"Should I give the go-ahead to Clair?" Jay asked.

"Yes, I'll wait here. Perhaps this version of Earth, if we even are on Earth, is much more advanced?" I pondered.

"Don't know, but we should get everyone here before it suddenly goes dark," Jay told me.

"I'll escape if I see anything dangerous," I warned him and he nodded in reply.

Watching him head back through the portal, I gazed at the floating object far above and wondered who could have created such a thing.

It was a machine, one built by something or someone, and with its sheer size it would have been found already if this was Earth, or at least the Earth I was from. Of course, it was always possible that this object was built by the people of Earth and it wasn't anything unusual.

With everyone seemingly mostly being from different versions of Earth who knows what planet we found ourselves in?

For all we know this could be an Earth with such a vastly different history that everything we know could have been flipped on its head.

My gaze trailed down from the object and down to the strange pedestals scattered across the platform I stood upon.

Slowly and cautiously walking over to one, I noticed it was a console of some kind, covered in dust.

Embedded in the center of the console was what appeared to be a button that took an appearance similar to that of a Kite.

Before I even knew it, I whipped the dust away, accidentally pushing the button, not even realizing my stupidity until too late and how foolish I was to go pressing random buttons, a bright light seemed to flash from the console, and a holographic screen that appeared to be glitching appeared above the pedestal!

[Scanning]

[S̵̝̼̱͖̘̫̪͕͚̣̦̓̆̀̐̾́̆̈́͝͝c̴̛̰̙̳͗̓̀͆͒̕͘̚ǎ̴̞̝̤͍͇͉̱͈̠̍̿͜ṋ̸̢͖̬̞̱̯̦̘̲̇̒̈́͌̀̒͂͗̈͌͘ǹ̴͍̥̬͒͗̌̈́͂͌̕̕i̸̧͎̟̩̫͊̃̂̍̀̍͂͊n̸̢̧̩̰̺̖̰͕̳͊̔͑̒̽̓̋̀̃̒g̷̡͙̘̦͈̼̳̊̽̇̀̓͋]

[Detecting no P̷͂ȇ̴̯͇r̵͝s̸͉̤̄̀o̷n̶͉͙̒a̷̿l̷̢̰̦̀̽ System ̵̜́̂I̸̙͖͘ņ̸͇͒́t̶͈̔ë̷̲r̷̢̈́̑f̸̲̰̿͝ạ̶̒͑c̷̣̦̐ė̵̢̱͘]

[Initiate Sy̷̎st̸̟͙͙̻̯̰̟̅͐̿͐͌̏̊̏̔͑͋̎͌̂́͐͑̋̈́́̿̓̈̕͠ę̵̡̤̻̥̟͔̻͒͋̀̓͆̈̾̀̚m̵̨̡̢̨̧̲̥̘̰͍̜̙͓̮͈̝̖̪̙̝̗̤̝͙͉͓͑̊́̀̀̎͛̆͘͜ͅͅ Assimilation?]

Personal System Interface?

What the hell is that supposed to be?

Seeing a simple yes and no option, I felt like I had nothing to lose and decided to click yes, which led to the screen switching to show a representation of what I was supposed to do.

Following the picture, I placed my hand on the console, just above the button.

At first, I thought nothing was happening, but that thought quickly changed as I noticed that I couldn't pull my hand away from the console, as if my hand was glued onto it.

Then I noticed the console began warming up, slowly at first.

Then it quickly got worse, to the point, that it felt as if I placed my hand on a freshly used burner on a stove and could take it off.

Then it got to the point where I would have chopped my hand off if it hadn't suddenly let go of me.

[Scanning Host...Done...Generating Status]

/========+========\

Name: Jack Bright (Formerly: Jackson Bale)

Race: Human

Age: 26 (98) Years Old

First Class: N/A (Available For Selection)

Second Class: Locked till Level 100

Health: 60/60 (12 Per Hour)

Mana: 56/56 (24 Per Hour)

Stamina: 24/24 (10 Per Hour)

[Attributes]

[A/N: Average Human Physical = 10, Mental = 15-25]

Strength: 8

Agility: 9

Endurance: 8

Vitality: 10

Preception: 8

Reaction: 14

[Mental Stats]

Intelligence: 24

Wisdom: 18

Willpower: 16

Resistance: 30

Control: 10

Focus: 10

General Skills: None

Class Skills: N/A

Resistances: N/A

Perks: N/A

\========+========/

'What the hell?'

'Class?' Bright questioned in his mind.

[Generating Class Choices]

[Soldier (Common) - A common path among those trained or at least knowing the art of warfare. The common soldier is the backbone and main force of most armies, they are brave men and women that would fight for what they or others believe in.

Bonuses: +2 Strength, +1 Endurance, +1 Willpower Per Leve (4)]

[Thief (Common) - A path common among those who live in the underside of any society, forced to struggle, steal, or kill to survive.

Bonuses: +2 Agility, +1 Perception, +1 Focus Per Level (4)]

[Hunter (Common) - The path of the Hunter is not an easy one, but few classes are more suited for the wilderness than this one.

Bonuses: +2 Perception, +1 Agility, +1 Focus Per Level (4)]

[Aspiring Chef (Common) - A simple path that can be found in the common people due to its usefulness in preparing and enhancing food.

Bonuses: +2 Focus, +1 Control, +1 Agility Per Level (4)]

[Aspiring Mage (Uncommon) - A path not just anyone can take, the path of Magic is a long and unending road that countless perish or stagnate on.

Bonuses: +2 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence, +1 Control Per Leve (5)l]

[Aspiring Scientist (Uncommon) - Men of Science, those of this path seek to understand and discover. Whether that be understanding the many forms of science, or discovering ways to defeat the enemy.

Bonuses: +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +1 Focus Per Level (5)]

[Researcher of Anomalies (Rare) - Few take on this path, but those that do usually have to deal with entities and anomalies that shouldn't exist and have been forever changed by them.

Bonuses: +3 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +2 Resistance, +1 Willpower (8)]

[Stargazer (Rare) - Few have gazed into the stars and found them gazing back, those that have, will be forever changed by their gaze.

Bonuses: +3 Willpower, +2 Control, +2 Focus, +1 Wisdom (8)]

[Apostle of Despair (Rare) - Few have taken the path of embracing pain, but those that have made sure others would never be able to forget their despair

Bonuses: +3 Endurance, +3 Willpower, +2 Control (8)]