Robert walked along an empty road with no particular destination. The wind pressed his thin shirt against his medium frame and whipped the trailing ends of straps of his backpack like twin tails of a hunted beast. The light from the setting sun shone on a world of concrete and glass that seemed to press in and loom over the lone figure of Robert trudging along.

Robert was not comfortable in the city. He moved here for the sole reason of attending a particular school, but that reason was over and done. The last day closing and leaving him without a sense of direction.

Things were so much easier in books and shows. The protagonist travels the world in search of the MacGuffin and along the way meets a great partner or even group of partners. After various adventures or misadventures finds a happy ending.

Smiling wryly to himself or perhaps at himself, he stepped out into the crosswalk. Crossing the street he noticed an odd smell and a warm breeze that seemed to be blowing out of the alley to his left. A loud buzzing sound drew his attention and he decided he might as well take a look into the alley. Just as he reached the mouth of the alleyway a large mosquito flew out.

“What the hell?” Robert backpedalled fiercely in order to dodge the 2 meter long wings of the insect.

The mosquito’s bloated belly swayed as it turned towards him. Large eyes glinting menacingly it darted towards him. Robert dodged and stumbled into the alley suddenly sliding on slick swampy ground. Looking behind him he saw the insect reorienting on him with the concrete buildings and asphalt behind it, but the mosquito seemed framed by a quickly diminishing heat haze. Suddenly it was gone and a dark muddy cave wall took its place.

On the muddy ground nearby was a gaunt body of a man that appeared drained of blood. The body wore denim pants and a leather coat over what looked like a chain mail shirt. A red light blinked on large black and gold bracelet that encircled the corpse’s left arm.

“Zaab Steho Senota” said a monotone voice.

Robert did not notice the voice. Stunned, he looked around at the swamp cave and the glowing fungus clinging to the walls.

“Where the hell am I?”

“Fewee!” A strange sound fills the cave with an exclamatory sound. Startled, Robert noticed that the light on the corpse’s bracelet was blinking yellow and blue in a rhythmic pattern.

“User-interface restarted. Language selection changed and dictionaries reloaded.” The dispassionate voice stated.

“Please equip bridge deck to continue.” A green light blinked in a steady rhythm from the device on the withered limb. With a click it slid off the corpse and lay blinking on the ground.

Robert stared at the bracelet for a minute before shaking his head and moving towards the daylight streaming from the cave entrance.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I am either crazy, dreaming, or this is another world.” Robert muttered as he stared at the land outside the cave. A dark green river oozed through trees with large red leaves. A dark brown bullfrog the size of a St. Bernard sat croaking on the shoreline. A cobblestone road wended a path through the forest to his left and thorny scrub brush lined the path.

“I guess I’ll take a look around the cave, no that I hold much hope for a gateway suddenly appearing again.” Robert searched the cave and only found some squirming eggs floating in a muddy pool, the body, and the still blinking “bracelet.”

“Well, I’m not going to make it very far in my current outfit.”

With a sigh Robert started stripping the corpse. The pockets of the leather jacket contained several coins. The collar was stiff with dried blood. Robert felt queasy looking at the wound in the area of the shoulder that was not covered by the jacket and chain mail. The chain mail was light and he considered taking it, but decided against it in the long run. Beneath the chain mail was a surprise. Under the chainmail was a vest of some type of material that looked an awful lot like Kevlar.

After a few more minutes of debate Robert finally decided the thorny brush outside the cave necessitated the denim pants. With his fingers crossed he pulled down the pants.

“Thank god he’s wearing underwear.” Leaving the boxer shorts on the still warm corpse he realized that he never removed its shoes. Black leather riding boots caked with mud proved to be more challenging to remove, but the corpse was recent and still relatively pliable. Looking down at his soft walking shoes Robert sighed.

“Well with that swamp boots would be better…” he thought unlacing his shoes and trying to pull on the boots. His toes hit something hard near the toe of the boot. With a sigh he pulled it back off only to realize that something was hidden there. A wad of cloth and more coins were wedged in the toes of both boots. Apparently the former owner had small feet. The boots fit nearly perfectly once he removed the hidden cache of coins and what appeared to be some type of paper currency.

In the end the pants were too loose, the boots vest and coat fit fairly well. But even loose the pants were sturdier when compared to his. The coins and bills gave him some peace of mind, but there was still one more thing with which he had to deal.

Finally, Robert reached down and picked up the bracelet-like device. It felt warm and it felt like it was emanating the heat in a manner similar to a phone or tablet.

“Well maybe it’ll be of some use.” Robert muttered.

“Please equip bridge deck to continue.” replied the device.

“Yeah right.” Robert said as he stuffed the thing in his backpack.