After a moment of quiet contemplation, Duncan sighed.
“And then the groundhog wraps up the chocolate,” Duncan muttered at the absurdity of remembering a video clip of a funny commercial.
“Groundhog??? Excuse my manners. You are hurt and here I go blabbering on and on. I really got rusty at this,” he said before moving behind the bar counter.
He pulled out a backpack from somewhere and brought it towards Duncan’s chair.
It was dusty and he quickly clobbered it a few times before he opened it and pulled out a small bottle.
“Here. Drink this,” he said with an expectant expression.
Duncan used Identify while holding the small bottle.
[Minor healing potion]
He pulled out the stopper and downed it.
Suddenly a warm feeling enveloped his whole body, especially prominent on all his scratches, bites, and broken ankle.
“That felt good, right?” Wazsh asked and Duncan nodded.
“These are not really the standard ones which are somewhat bitter and also less potent. I think these use nanobots,” Wazsh explained.
“There are two more inside, clothes and some rations. Also, a dagger,” Wazsh said emphasizing the dagger as if it was the most important part.
“What now?” Duncan asked.
“Whatever you want. There are no rules. Ahhh, I guess except the don’t die part,” Wazsh said as he emphatically spread his arms.
“Can I go back home?” Duncan asked.
“Anytime you want. Well, actually not anytime you still have about... Let me check. Can I check your status?” Wazsh suddenly asked.
Duncan thought about it and nodded, before a feeling of someone peering into his soul enveloped him.
“We have to ask since the high level of Identify is quite unpleasant,” Wazsh explained.
“Let me see. You came 2 hours and 25 minutes ago so you still have 28 hours and 5 minutes to go approximately before you can leave for 15 minutes. It's 5 minutes of your Earth time per level and you reached level 3. Impressive!” Wazsh explained.
“Let me see your class,” Wazsh said as his eyes were making rapid eye movements up and down on what Duncan imagined it was the blue windows.
“Jack of all trades, well that’s a new one at least for me. Let me find out what it does.”
After a while, Wazsh exclaimed, ”Ahh, it’s unique, no wonder I could not find it. Had to scroll down the alphabet list to actually find this thing.”
“Hmmm. A poor level-up bonus of 1 stat point. Increased speed of learning by 1000 % of any skill. Wow. Any skill level up gives you 0.1 corresponding stat points per level only works for active skills though. Damn sounds like a good one. Well, it is unique after all. It would be weird if it sucked. Ohhh and you also got two skills from it. Observe and Learn,” Wazsh said.
“How did you get here and get this skill if you don’t mind revealing it?”, Wazsh suddenly asked.
Duncan thought about it.
“I think I played a game and finished all the minigames at 100% completion?” he said timidly.
“Ohhh, the game. It has been ages and it didn’t really work out. We had like four hundred-something people pulled inside from the game. Was not nearly worth all the effort invested. The reviews we got were terrible so no one bothered to buy it or even sell it. Now they dupe people directly with promises of cure or special abilities,” Wazsh explained.
Duncan just watched him and hoped to wake up.
“It must be the painkillers. I must have overdosed. Stupid painkillers again,” Duncan muttered under his breath referencing his past mistake of trying to buy painkillers from a drug dealer for his father since they were significantly cheaper than buying from the pharmacy.
Unfortunately, he was buying them just when the cops decided to raid the drug dealer's trailer. He made a run for it but was caught with a 3 months’ worth of supply of painkillers and charged with an intent to sell.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
At 16 he was sentenced to the juvenile hall and didn’t even get to finish his high school education. That stupid mistake also caused a lot of worry for his mother and father who were already dealing with his father’s terminal illness. It was also probably the nail in the coffin that made his father give up on treatment and just chose to die.
“Painkillers. Hmmm. There are some but we tend to just use copious amounts of alcohol,” Wazsh replied to his muttering.
Duncan ignored him as he got his bearings. He looked around the place, noticing some art on the wooden walls. The art depicted fantastical scenes of dragons and castles in epic battle scenarios. Duncan shook his head and looked for the exit.
There was a massive door with two windows behind him that let in the sunlight. There were a few tables and chairs in front. There was also a door behind the bar counter. Duncan considered his options when he noticed the blood on his sleeve. He was still wearing his generic white T-shirt which was now pink, red, and brown from all the bites, and gray sweatpants that had the same splotches of color. One of his feet was bare and the other one had an ankle boot.
Wazsh was observing him for a while, but then got back behind the counter and started to stack up glasses on the shelves.
Duncan rubbed his face. This all felt very real to him but on the other hand, it was a lot more like a psychotic dream. He stood up and waited for a reaction from Wazsh, who still wiped the glasses with a cloth and stacked them onto shelves. Seeing no reaction, he made towards the door limping.
As he opened it, he saw a cobbled street and a town that reminded him of old cowboy movies. Wooden buildings with glass storefronts. He looked towards the source of the sunlight fully expecting to squint when he saw a massive halo.
“What the -BLEEP-?”, Duncan exclaimed and gritted his teeth when again a by now familiar shockwave of electricity and headache hit him.
He went back inside.
“What happened to the Sun?” he asked Wazsh forgetting his theory this was a dream state.
“Sun? Ohh, you mean the light source? It’s a black hole,” Wazsh replied while still doing his chores.
“A black hole?” Duncan yelled before he got himself back out.
It looked familiar. He saw a black hole in a movie called Interstellar but it missed a part. There was a halo but it was missing a horizontal ring of light. It was a black hole instead of a hot ball of gas. Stepping back in, he looked at Wazsh who just shrugged his shoulders.
“I guess it’s not that impressive if you look at it every day. It does have its benefits though. For example, you will be missing a lot less of your Earth time every time you come here because gravity messes with the time and it’s cheap to maintain. You would not believe how much energy you would need to mess with time otherwise,” Wazsh explained.
“OK, I guess? But wouldn't that mess with the gravity of the planet or spew harmful cosmic rays on it?” Duncan asked before he got back to his former seat.
Wazsh first laughed at his question and then explained, "Do you think the beings who have anchored this planet to a black hole would not think of that? They are using some kind of powerful planetary shield to eliminate the gravity waves and the harmful radiation. Probably some kind of satellite in geosynchronous orbit that spews a high powered magnetic field to deflect the unwanted stuff. Well, it's just a guess of mine since I am not high enough up the food chain to get that information."
Duncan nodded and just sat quietly for a while observing the bar and letting that information sink in.
Wazsh observed him and waited for a follow up until he broke the silence, “Hmmm. Don’t you want to explore the town? Meet other inhabitants? Get a quest?” Wazsh asked after Duncan had been quiet for a while cradling his head.
“I can offer you one if you would like?” Wazsh implored after he got no answer.
“OK,” Duncan answered absentmindedly.
A window popped up in front of him.
[
Rat killer Quest – Level 1-5
ACCEPT YES - NO
]
“I haven’t been using the cellar much but still it would be nice to get rid of the little vermin and you got most of them already looking at your level and your state,” Wazsh explained.
Duncan looked at him like he got offered a one-way ticket to hell but then just dismissed it as if it was all still a dream. A psychotic one but a dream nonetheless.
“First you should add to your stat points. They don’t have any use for you otherwise. I suggest vitality at first so you don’t die immediately,” Wazsh said nonchalantly.
[
Name: Duncan Russel
Race: Human – Earth - UC3455788899332
Age: 22 – Earth years
Class: Jack of all trades
Level: 3
Unused stat points: 2.0
Strength: 6.1
Dexterity: 9.1
Agility: 7.1
Vitality: 8.1
Endurance: 5.1
Perception: 6.2
Intelligence: 9.6
Wisdom: 9.2
Charisma: 3.1
Acid resistance Level 1.
Lightning affinity Level 2.
Lightning resistance Level 2.
Mental resistance Level 3.
Pain Tolerance Level 5.
Poison resistance Level 1.
]
Duncan noticed his agility went up by 5 stat points. He guessed that was because of the healing potion and he also acquired something called lightning affinity. He willed his stat points into vitality and he was greeted by a rush of warmth that spread through his body. The process was quite straightforward and pleasant.