[Please climb the structure.]
“Aww, do I hafta?”
[Please climb the structure.]
“But I don't wanna! I wanna play with my friends!”
[Please climb the structure.]
“But Moooooom!”
[Please -
[Error, simulation tutorial time has elapsed. Resetting.]
The bar and posts went away in a flash of light, and then suddenly I was in a desert. Suspiciously, it looked like the Mohave desert, which I had been driving through. Looking around, it seemed I had been teleported back to where I was before I started the tutorial. However, there wasn't anything around, no cars, no rest stop, no road.
[Welcome to the global tutorial.]
Well that's shit, I thought
[In keeping with the needs of the Council and the rest of the system enhanced civilizations, the following notices are in effect:
* This planet has been expanded to include sections of four other planets, as well as those planets' native inhabitants.
* All life forms are now considered natives of this new planet, hereby known as Earth 12-67-5-309.
* This global tutorial will last for 3 months, during which time the planet and its inhabitants can acclimatize to the system. After these 3 months, all contracts will begin enforcing new demands to aid in the war effort.
* This tutorial may end early, assuming any catastrophic or world ending events occur, or the following:
* Congratulations! The Council has decided to create a race to the finish! Just be one of the first 10 million to finish this race and you win the greatest prize of all: living! Fail, and you shall be killed. Good luck!
* Current planet population participating: 46,589,372,100
* The Council and all system enhanced civilizations welcome you. Thank them!]
...well that's shit, I thought again, watching as the counter was already down to 46.2 billion. Three hundred million, killed in the amount of time it took me to read all of that. Unless you could opt out?
“System, can I opt out of the race?”
[Please confirm you wish to commit system assisted suicide.]
“Nope.”
I started looking around again, this time for anything in the way of food, water, or shelter. In the distance, I thought the large mountain I was looking at seemed promising. Then I realized something.
“System,” I said as I began walking to the mountain, “what are the conditions of the race?”
[Only one condition has been set: victory is granted if you are one of the first 10 million to complete the race.]
“Yeah, but how do you complete the race? Is there a determined end point?”
[Only one condition has been set: victory is granted if you are one of the first 10 million to complete the race.]
“Deja vu vibes, here system. And don't think you can claim victory for the last time we had this little song and dance, that was a draw. Just answer my question.”
[Only one condition has been set: victory is granted if you are one of the first 10 million to complete the race.]
“You're not gonna stop thi-”
The rock underneath me parted, one half staying where it was and the other moving away from it, but also up. And from beneath the rising half, out poured scorpions. Thousands and thousands of scorpions. I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I screamed and ran towards the mountain as fast as I could.
Unfortunately, I also happened to glance back at the new fissure from hell, and saw something truly awful. There were larger and larger scorpions rising from the ground. In fact, the more I glanced back, the more I realized the ground was rising because of one absolutely massive scorpion. The rock was being lifted by its tail, the stinger at the end easily the size of a large fridge. The scorpion must have been as big as a semi trailer.
Fortunately, this helped motivate me to run even faster, pushing me-
[Stamina: 0/1 (Regen 10 per min. {Active})]
- to the ground, completely spent. I could feel my heart beating all throughout my body; pounding the strongest in my chest. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't even really think. I was just laying there, trying not to die. Eventually, mercifully, I regenerated back up to full stamina.
[Stamina: 1/1 (Regen 10 per min. {Inactive})]
I assumed that took me a minute, in which case, that was the worst minute of my life. Scrambling back up, I looked back and realized the scorpions and the scorpion king weren't actually interested in me, as they were moving in a different direction. More accurately, it looked like they were headed toward a massive Gila monster, the size of a small building. Looking around, I saw more and more kaiju monsters emerging and fighting. And, unfortunately, I did see more people.
I remembered there were still people at the rest stop before I started the simulation. All of them being eaten by the monsters. I started running to the mountain again. I didn't have much hope for making it there alive, but it wasn't like I was going to just stand around and wait to become something else's lunch.
I tried to run in as straight a line as possible, but it wasn't very feasible. Many times, one or more of the kaiju sized monsters would try to eat me. Sometimes, with two or more of them fighting, they'd land in my way. Every so often, another insect hive would erupt under my feet, pouring out by the thousands. I just kept dodging and running, though I wasn't perfect at either.
I would sometimes get scratched from the teeth or claws of larger monsters, though that was preferable to the smaller ones. There were so many ants, scorpions, spiders, even some leeches flooding the ground of the desert. At one point, I dodged a monster's gaping jaws just to step on a flood of army ants, which promptly destroyed the lower part of my jeans and my shoes and socks before working on my skin. That was both a curse and a blessing.
It was a curse, because obviously it hurt like nothing had. It even got my health to flash across my face for a few seconds.
[Health: 0/1 (Regen 10 per min. {Active})]
[Health: 1/1 (Regen 10 per min. {Inactive})]
[Health: 0/1 (Regen 10 per min. {Active})]
[Health: 1/1 (Regen 10 per min. {Inactive})]
However, it was also a blessing. Because of the pain and swelling, I couldn't run at top speed. Believe me, I was trying, but I just couldn't push myself hard enough. This did mean I wouldn't collapse from over extending my stamina, though I was confused as to why stamina seemed to take the full minute to regenerate back to 1 while health kept popping up within seconds. I also wondered what health meant, as having zero didn't instantly kill me.
The mountain got closer. Interestingly enough, the monsters also got sparser. Looking around again, I realized that all of the mega animals & insects that would spawn already had, and now they were just trying to kill each other. Most ate everything they killed, which meant that they were too full and slow to stop whatever killed them, perpetuating the cycle.
I was still running when I noticed it had recently gotten very dark. Looking up, I saw that it was still daytime, but there was a massive bird covering up the sun. It was flying right above where the mountain was, and looked to be about the same size as it. Apparently, I wasn't the only one to notice, and every one of the monsters around me either began to run or start digging. I ignored it and continued to run, if only on the assumption that there would be much larger creatures to focus on.
I turned out to be right, in the worst possible way. As I watched it dive to something behind me, a truly gargantuan mouth engulfed it entirely. The mouth was connected to a snake, which swallowed the bird whole. Then it looked back down and started striking again and again, eating everything in sight. I just kept running, hoping I would be ignored.
“Hello, Mr. Arthur,” a voice beside me said.
“AHHHHHHHHH!”, I replied.
“I hope you don't greet me the same way every time,” Watchmaker said flying through the air like a superhero.
“I hate you! I fucking hate you, you sadistic cunt!”
“Hmmm. No, you're right, the screaming is much more preferable to your profanity.”
“I'll kill your smug ass dead, you lying sack of shit.”
“I lied? When?”
“For starters, when you told me I'd be a level one hundred!”
“Did I say those exact words? I recall saying that it would set you to as close to the limit as possible, but I never specified which limit.”
“Well then how about the simulation explaining things to me instead of trapping me like a torture device?”
“Did you ask it questions? That tends to help more than singing Miley Cyrus.”
“Of cour - Wait, you were watching?”
“On occasion, yes. Quite amusing, I must say.”
“You were watching me going through what could kindly be described as imprisonment, and you didn't do shit but chuckle? What the actual fuck?”
“I did more than just chuckle, Mr. Arthur. I was recruiting. I did explain that I have a few thousand candidates to give out focuses to.”
I was still too angry to from his last statement to respond, so I continued on, running on my still swollen legs. Though, now that I looked at them properly, they weren't swollen any more. My feet were fine, not even red.
“Ah, I was hoping you'd notice,” Watchmaker said, “that I did in fact give you a gift, not a curse.”
“...what did you do?”
“I am using you as an experiment, of sorts, for a new idea I've recently had. Integrating into the system normally means you acquire multiple skills and spells, balanced out by having high pools of health, stamina, and mana. However, with you, I broke the mold of the old ways. You are able to do anything, in any way you can conceive of that does not break the actual system's rules. This is balanced by you having smaller pools. The higher regeneration will compensate for the early levels, but will even out the further you go.”
I stared at him, too shocked and angry to really notice I was still running. Until, of course, I tripped over something. That something turned out to be a wolf that came up to my shoulder. Surrounded by many more wolves. Some of which were the size of a monster truck. They started facing me and began growling. I wasn't spent physically, thanks to my stamina being basically endless now, but mentally I was broken. That's why, when the pounced, I didn't move.
And, funnily enough, neither did they. Or anything else. Looking around, I saw everything was frozen. A hundred battles stopped, all begging to be framed and hung up on a wall.
“That never gets old.”
“I'll bet. I wish I could just press pause whenever I wanted to.”
“No, not the ability to stop time. The reaction to seeing true power, true freedom.”
Blinking, I focused back on the God floating beside me, a warm smile on his face. I finally realized just how powerful he was, which was kind of sad considering he had done many different things that were possibly more amazing than this. I did the only thing that made sense in that moment. I got on my hands and knees, lowering my head.
“I do not want you to worship me, Mr. Arthur. I work in making good relationships, but not by lording over you at all times.”
“I'm not worshiping you.”
“Oh? Then what are you doing?”
“I'm asking to be free. Of all of this madness, all this system mumbo jumbo, all the giant monsters, all the death and suffering.”
“James Arthur.”
That's all he said. He didn't command me to stand up and look at him. I just knew I had to. I saw his smile was gone, in its place was the face of a man with cold, hard lines recording a difficult life.
“I can't reverse this. Time cannot go backwards. And I am doing this to make you free. I told you that before, but I must ask that you listen this time. As I explain my war, and your part in it.”