The dwarf leans his wizened shoulders forward and then looks at me with bright eyes, "As the first contestant to enter The HUB, I will give you a briefing about this world and answer all your questions to my level best. Of course, you have been granted a handful other advantages that will be revealed to you later, first of all, you are in the World of Lohmar, more of a universe than a world really but that will be revealed to you in time. Long, long ago, Lohmar was nothing but a barren landscape, we had no sentient race of our own and my race, the Dwarves were but primal beasts, knowing nothing but to eat and reproduce.

With the occurrence of a series of natural coincidences, the System was born, through nothing more than an infinitesimal chance. Our race was forcefully assimilated into the system along with a few others and from then on, each successive generation has had to buy their freedom from the System. The Gods that have brought you here are not as almighty as you think, the System is undergoing an evolution right now and these Gods are capitalizing on this chance, to take control of the System at its weakest. If the Gods fight among themselves, their glorious battle will last billions of years before a victor emerges from the bloodshed.

By then, the System will be more powerful than it ever has been, the Gods losing their opportunity. So, a solution was devised, choose a race to represent you and make them fight against the other representatives, the race that wins will allow their God to wrest the Systems power. You might be wondering how I know all of this, well, some things cannot be revealed even with the threat of certain death. So, any questions?" He says the last part with an uncanny resemblance to an impatient teacher. I stare blankly at him, the torrential downpour of information is something my brain can not handle.

"How do I wake up?" I ask somewhat timidly. The Dwarf guffaws, tears coming to his eyes," I assure you young one, you are very much awake, almost too awake even," he says while looking at my bloodshot eyes. After ruminating on my experiences, I decide to believe him, the past day has completely turned my life upside down. "So what is this place?" I question the still chuckling Dwarf.

"This is the HUB, a place that expands to the infinite, anything and everything is available here, from shops to hotels to training rooms. Think of it as a place for everything, you need something, come to the HUB, you have questions, come to the HUB," the dwarf boasts. I chat with the dwarf for some time and learn a lot of useful information.

"Does that mean I can exchange Energy Points for anything in the Exchanger."

"No, the Exchanger is akin to a random chance machine, based on the number of Energy Points you use to enter, you will be allowed to select what you want. For example, you might want a weapon but will use only one Energy Point to enter the Exchanger, so, the item you draw out will be random and might not even be a weapon. Instead, if you use a hundred points to enter the Exchanger and ask for a weapon, most of the other categories will be filtered out and your chances of gaining a weapon will be much higher.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I nod in understanding, if I use too many Energy Points to try to get an item, even if I get it, I will make a loss as the amount of Energy Points could instead be used to buy the item directly from the Shop. "Sounds pretty fun, I would like to try it."

The Exchanger is a hulk of a machine, it is shaped like a doughnut and coloured black, a soul-tearing black. The hole in the middle giving the machine a likeness to a portal to another world.

The dwarf grins, "take out your Soul Crystal and decide how much you would want to bet"

I will my Soul Crystal into existence and touch my Crystal to the dwarfs proffered one. As I have nothing else, I bet the Lightning Point and will the Point to go to the other Crystal. The dwarf's eyes widen in shock, "An Elemental Point, young one, where did you find this, such a valuable thing..."

I raise my eyebrows in confusion, "I killed a monster and obtained two of them."

The dwarf takes a deep breath and says," These Points are very rare and very valuable, are you sure you would like to bet this, you would receive a mighty artifact, but some people might offer you a lot of Points in exchange for this Elemental Point."

I nod in acceptance, even if I would gain a lot of Points in exchange, which in the long term might be more beneficial, living to see tomorrow would be the better deal. The dwarf starts up the machine, I feel a question prod at my mind, understanding what to do in response, I will my answer towards the machine. A bright light shines suddenly and just as quickly it's over. A small box pops into existence, the dwarf reaches out and hands it to me quickly.

"Open the box at your convenience, your item will be stored in there."

"Bye, "I say to the dwarf as I latently remember to ask for his name. Next time, I think to myself, I will find out his name next time. I continue with my exploration of the HUB and I soon find myself in a field full of tents and other structures that I cannot identify. Nearly all of the tents have dwarves or other species inside of them, polishing their wares or taking a nap. Inching my way toward one of the tents, I hear a high pitched voice.

"What do we have here, a challenger at last?" A female dwarf stares at me while leaning on her weather-beaten staff, a gleam flashing in her eyes. "So what would you like to buy," she asks in a questioning manner.

I stare at her, confused.

"This is the Shop, you buy what you want at a shop. Did I say anything wrong," she says challenging me.

It dawns on me that this might be the so-called Shop. "Oh, I am not here to buy, just looking around."

"Well, you can look around in my shop," she says inviting me in. Then, she turns around leaving no room to doubt.

I shake my head in acquiescence, what is with these dwarves?