In a small, dark room of uneven stone brick and bare dirt floor, a man awoke.

He awoke screaming in terror; thrashing, he tore a hole in the thin, scratchy blanket covering him and fell to the dirt floor with a dull thud. He wept ragged, broken sobs as he curled into a ball, shaking violently.

A black-haired fairy with shimmering purple wings fluttered down towards him, hands behind her back, watching curiously. "Well, Hero," the fairy said, "I did advise you to remain in the starting room and choose-"

"Shut the fuck up," Nicolas screamed, glaring pure murder at the fairy. "I was just - I was...." Slowly, his shaking stopped. I was just eaten allve by a rat. But that can't be right, I'm still here. Did it...not really happen? But it seemed so real. Nicolas held back the bile in his throat as his mind flooded with memories of tiny teeth. Biting and chewing. Scraping against his bone. For hours. "I...was it a dream...?"

Annabelle giggled, flapping her wings merrily, a small shimmering of twinkling dust falling down from them. "It was no dream! It's a good thing we start out players with a few resurrection tokens."

"Resurrection tokens...?" Nicolas asked, stupefied. He sat up, trying his best to stifle memories of what had just happened to him. Just stuff it all down somewhere deep and dark and never, ever think of it again.

The fairy nodded. "Yes, we start you out with three in your inventory."

"Inventory?"

Annabelle sighed. "We have this room, you know," she said, as she flapped down to alight on Nicolas' shoulder, kicking her legs idly, "So that you might learn these things before you go out into the dungeon. You should listen to me, Hero. Otherwise, well...you might just get eaten by a rat again." Her tone carried more than a little hint of threat.

Nicolas shuddered. There was no way I could have actually been eaten by a rat. He looked down at his arms, completely unmarred by bite marks, not quite sure. No way. Resurrection tokens....? Something's wrong here. These people, they're fucking with my head. They must have given me drugs, or...god knows what. Maybe they really did put something in my brain. I better cooperate for now. "Alright," he muttered, "I'll play along."

"Oh good!" Annabelle laughed delightedly. "So-"

"Fighter!" Nic continued quickly, remembering the searing blue pain in his skull whenever menus appeared. "Fighter, fighter, I choose fighter. No need to look at it again."

"Oh, very good choice," the fairy replied, taking off from his shoulder and clapping her hands. "Now that you've made your class selection, we can take a look at your character sheet."

"What-"

CHARACTER SHEET

Name: Nic Class: Fighter 1

HP: 20

MP: 0

Current XP: 0

XP to next level: 1000 Inventory:

2x Resurrection Token  

1x Memory Clue

Regret Equipment: Helm: None Gloves: None Stats: Chest: Dirty rags Boots: None STR: 15 WILL: 10 Legs: Dirty rags Rings: None AGI: 12 INT: 13 Current GP: 0 Amulet: None Quick items: None FORT: 15 CHA: 15

"Ooh - respectable mental stats for a physical class," Annabelle said, watching Nic curse and wipe a thin stream of blood from his nose. "Now that you've chosen your starting class, I can give you your beginner's equipment!"

Closing her eyes, the fairy held her tiny hands clasped before her, as if in prayer. A soft glow began to emanate from her. A woodwind flute trilled, as if from a long and lonely distance.

"What are - what are you doing?" Nic glanced around in alarm. "Where's that flute coming from? Why are you glowing?"

"Shhh shhh shhh," Annabelle replied without opening her eyes. "Just let this happen."

And all at once the light from her expanded, in a blinding flash, filling the world with white. Nic threw up an arm to shield his eyes, shouting with alarm. Slowly, the light faded, leaving a burning afterimage. Suddenly, Nic felt much heavier. He glanced down at himself. His dirty rags were gone; now, instead, he was dressed in rough medieval armor - a chain shirt, thick woolen pants, and heavy gloves and boots of black, well-worn leather. By his belt was scabbarded a short blade, perhaps two feet long. He raised a hand to his head to find a visored helm buckled around his chin. "I - wh- how?!"

"Very handsome," Annabelle said, fluttering about his head. "Now, if we just look at your character sheet again to check your equipment, we can see-"

"Not necessary!" Nic cried hastily. "No. No, I can see just fine. Uh, thank you." His eyes darted towards the rusted door to the room. How the hell did this stuff get on me...? Am I still drugged up? I don't feel high. God, don't think about it, just focus on getting out of here. Can't believe these people are stupid enough to give their captives weapons. Well, they probably have guns if they spot me escaping...Christ... "So, am I, uh, all ready to go now...?"

"Well," Annabelle replied, crossing her arms, "We're in a bit of a pickle, Hero. You see, you died and lost all your gold before - well, before doing anything, really. They start you off with enough gold to be able to afford the basic moves, but..."

"What do you mean," Nic asked slowly, "Afford basic moves?"

"Well...hold on. To explain, let's just take a look at the shop menu."

Basics Advanced Premium Content Cosmetics Services Annabelle's Cosmetics Shop Basic game functions: movement, attack, block, they're all right here. Use this shop to gain access to your advanced spells and moves, once they become available. Mounts! Pets! Special uncraftable potions and quick items! Special hairstyles, tattoos, cool scabbards and HATS! Have some extra gp? Spend it here. Did you fuck up your build like the worthless piece of shit you are? Here you can purchase character resets and other assisstance. Use this shop to buy special costumes for your fairy companion and other miscellaneous items!

"Please take note of my section of the shop," Annabelle said over the sound of Nic's screams. "Some of the outfits you can by for me are very sexy." She held her hands to her face, blushing. "Why, if you pay enough, I might just take it all off..."

"Shut up, shut up, christ it's not going away!" Nic shut his eyes to try to drown out the colors, but it burned like a beacon in his mind, like it was consuming his thoughts. He growled, gritting his teeth, trying to ignore the pounding in his skull. "I - I don't - what am I supposed to be looking at?"

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

"Hmmph." Annabelle pouted, flipping her long black hair back. "Fine. I suppose other things are more important. Look under the basics section of the shop. To select it, just say 'basics' aloud-"

"Basics! Basics! Basics basics basics basics-"

Basics Shop

you little bitch

Movement: Basic Unlocks basic movements: Walking, jogging, running. 100 gp Movement: Advanced Unlocks advanced movements: Jumping, dodging, rolling. 1000 gp Attack Unlocks the ability to do damage. 150 gp Block Unlocks the ability to prevent damage. 200 gp

"What? You - you can't make me pay to move," Nicolas sputtered.

"Well, normally, they begin players off with enough gold to buy basic movement, attack and block," Annabelle replied, flitting forth to poke Nicolas on the nose, "It's really more like, a tutorial on how to use the shop? But you went ahead and died and lost all your gold before you could even buy those."

"No, I mean, you can't stop me from moving..." Nicolas began. But then he thought back to the room, with the rat. How his muscles had seemed completely frozen the moment he had stepped through the door. Completely frozen as tiny, sharp, yellowed teeth had chewed, and gnawed, and- "Alright. Alright, close the shop menu, how do I get it out of my head, CLOSE IT..." Much to his relief, upon the word 'close', the overwhelming colors disappeared from his mind.

"Which leaves us with a bit of a....situation." Annabelle fluttered her wings, darting back and forth before Nicolas' eyes, as if pacing. "You just can't even get past the first room without buying the basics."

Nic shook his head. This is insane. I should just go. Every minute I spend here is another minute one of the loonies that runs this place might decide to come by and shoot me. They can't stop me from moving....but they did, didn't they. I couldn't move a muscle while that rat....NOPE. DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. "I...uh...well, fine, what do I do, then?"

"Hmm." Annabelle put a small finger to her lips thoughtfully. "I know there used to be some way that players used to be able to get money, but I don't know what it is."

"What the hell do you mean, you don't know what it is?" Nicolas snapped. "Aren't you the - the tutorial or guide or whatever?"

"There is....one other option," Annabelle went on, ignoring this. She gave Nicolas a sly look. "One other way to make gold in here."

She fell silent for a moment, biting her lip and staring at Nicolas hungrily, in a way that made him distinctly uncomfortable. "Well," he asked, "What is it?"

"Touch me."

There was a small moment of silence.

"What," Nic said.

Annabelle tittered, kicking her bare legs through the air as she fluttered around his head. "Just touch me. Go ahead, give me a...poke. See what happens."

She laughed as Nic stared at her. After a long moment's pause, slowly, skeptically, he raised his hand and prodded at the tiny fairy with the finger of one leather glove. She gasped and shivered in a way that made him feel distinctly unpleasant as the coarse leather made contact with the bare skin of her back.

Nic gained 1 gp from touching Annabelle!

"What...?" Nic muttered, wrinkling his nose.

"See? You can get a bit of gold just from touching me." Annabelle seemed all too excited by this prospect, her green eyes glassy and unfocused. "But you're going to need at least 450 gold to afford all the basics. You'll need to touch me a lot more than that."

Nic stared at the fairy as she looked back at him expectantly. She appeared to be drooling. With a sigh of disgust, he reached out to poke her again.

"Yessss, that's right," Annabelle said. "Come on, Hero. Faster! Harder! I can take it. Why just use one finger, though? Touch me with all of them for even faster gold! Don't worry - I don't care where I'm touched, as long as it's you, Hero. There you go. Come on you little pansy, harder. I want to feel my ribs break from your touch!"

"Oh my god-" Nic said, drawing his hand back.

"I didn't tell you to stop! Don't you dare! Oh my god yes, that's it - YES! YES! DESTROY ME! RUINNNNN MEEEEEEE!"

A few moments later, Nic stood in a corner of the stone room, shivering, looking down at his hands with a traumatized, glassy stare. Annabelle fluttered limply before him, a thin tendril of smoke wafting from a tiny cigarette she held between her lips. "W-what about my gold," Nic mumbled.

"Oh, right," the fairy said.

Nic gained 537 gp from being Annabelle's little slut!

"What? What did that say?!"

"See, Hero?" Annabelle said, waving an arm lazily, taking a long drag from her cigarette. "Now you have more than enough to afford the basics. Buy yourself a little something nice with the extra. Just use verbal commands to open the shop."

Nic stared at the fairy as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, purple wings shimmering in the dim light of the room. He looked back down at his hands. He desperately felt like he needed to wash them, even though he wore leather gloves. "Just don't think about it," he muttered. "Don't think about it. Okay. Okay. You'll be okay." He took a deep breath, clenching his eyes shut in anticipation. "Alright, uh....open shop menu."

Nicolas grimaced as the blue flooded into his mind, hammering its way into his thoughts. Fuck it. Just bear with it for now. My god, these people definitely put something in my head. I swear to god, if they caused permanent brain damage..."Ow! Fuck. Okay - Basics! Basics, basics! Uh, uh - buy Basic Movement. Oh for the love of - purchase basic movement. YES, ACCEPT! Purchase Attack. Accept. Purchase Block. Accept accept accept CLOSE SHOP MENU."

As the overwhelming blue faded from his mind, Nic noticed with some disgust that Annabelle had crawled into the crook of his shoulder, and was now tracing lazy circles on his cheek with one tiny finger. He shuddered. "Stop that," he snapped at her. "Am I all set, then? Am I good to, uh, go into the dungeon?"

"Oh yeahhhh," Annabelle said sleepily, continuing to caress his cheek, stopping only when he swatted at her. "You're good to go, Hero. You should have everything you need to start your adventure and vanquish room 1."

Nic took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and patted the blade by his belt. Finally. Okay. I don't know what these people have done to me, or how, but playing along seems best for now. Just play along, until you spot an opportunity to escape. I mean, look. These people are obviously insane. Maybe they're too crazy to keep a proper guard. But then again, whoever pulled this off - I mean they'd have to be some rich psycho, right? I mean they...they drugged me, or did something to my brain, they have some kind of....remote control fairy robot...though she sure didn't feel like a robot when - NOPE. NO NO NO. THAT ONE GETS LOCKED AWAY TOO.

With one final sigh, Nic left the starting room, Annabelle riding upon his shoulder.

The rusty door shut behind him with a sqeal. Before him lay the same familiar, torch-lined hallway, though it seemed much shorter than it had before, somewhow. Still, he crept along it cautiously, keeping an ear out for the sound of any footsteps. But there was no noise, other than the occasional crackle from the torches, and the small sounds of Annabelle snoring on his shoulder. Boy, they...they really put detail into that...that robot, he thought halfheartedly, glancing down at her. Yeah. Totally a...robot. Must be. Please.

He came to the wood-slat door that he had passed through last time. Once more he tried to peer through it, but could see nothing beyond. Chewing teeth, he thought. Gnawing teeth. Scraping teeth. Burrowing into my eyes - NO. DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. IT DIDN'T REALLY HAPPEN. They drugged me. There probably wasn't even really a rat. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door.

On the other side there was a rat.

A scream erupted from Nic's throat. His blood boiled with fury and fear. Oh my god. It has blood on its mouth. Oh my god. Was that from me? He dashed forward before it could even move, and kicked the rat as hard as he could, sending it sailing through the air. It bounced off the wall with a sharp crack.

Rat took 4 physical damage from Nic's Kick!

Rat took 2 physical damage from wall!

Rat was paralyzed!

Rat took 6 physical damage from Nic's Stomp!

Rat died!

Nic gained 2 exp!

Rat corpse took 4 physical damage from Nic's Stomp!

Rat corpse took 5 physical damage from Nic's Stomp!

Rat corpse died!

Nic gained 0 exp!

Bloody mush took 3 physical damage from Nic's Stomp!

Bloody mush took 6 physical damage from Nic's Stomp!

Bloody mush took 2 physical damage from Nic's Stomp!

Bloody mush died!

Nic gained 0 exp!

Smear of fur and gristle took 7 physical damage from Nic's Stomp!

Smear of fur and gristle died!

Nic gained 0 exp!

The floor took 0 damage from Nic's Stomp!

Nic took 1 physical damage from floor's retaliation!

Nic stared down at his blood-spattered boot, and the dark smear that was all that was left of the rat, breathing heavily, his skull ringing.

"Holy shit," Annabelle whispered in his ear, "That really turned me on."

At the very least I have a sword now, Nic thought numbly, so if push comes to shove I can kill myself.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Room 1 Cleared

20 bonus exp

10 bonus gp

Bonus items: 3x small health potion