The cars busily bustling down the street droned out Andrew’s thoughts as he sat under the sweltering sun. Next to him was a sign that said ‘Anything helps God bless’ and a half-empty cup. Today was like any other day; he begged across the street from one of the most popular hotels. It was better to get easy marks from privileged travelers who had extra money to spend on frivolous things than the average joe heading to work. God knows you can't go on trips like you used to anymore, not after the war.
Moving up his sleeve to check the time, he started salivating; it was almost noon, and he needed to get to the south side church before they stopped handing out meals. He moved his cramping legs, unsteadily standing up, and felt the blood rush to his head. “oh shit.” His vision blurred; he put up his arms to balance himself and felt the ground supporting him disappear.
Blinking several times to refocus, he didn't hear the distinct sound of tires on asphalt or obnoxious honking. Defensively orienting himself, Andrew couldn't even see the tip of his nose; there was only pitch black. Focusing on the other senses to gather information, he was assaulted by the strong smell of the earth. Spreading out his arms to get a sense of the shape or size of the room he was in, he didn't feel anything but the air.
Andrew checked his pockets; feeling his phone, he breathed a sigh of relief; instead of the usual home screen of his older sister holding his newborn nephew, there was just darkness. Hoping his phone was just turned off, he tried to turn it on without success. Exasperated, Andrew threw it, but with quick regret. He never had much control over his emotions or self-control after what happened in the past.
Inspecting the floor to see if it was safe to move around, Andrew felt the ground; it was moist, rich soil instead of the dry, sandy dirt he was used to. He crawled on his knees, shifting his arms around to find his phone. This is what Velma from Scooby Doo must have felt when she dropped her glasses. Chuckling to himself, he thought of his current situation; it was bizarre. Hopefully, he wasn't kidnapped and dumped into a hole in the earth, left to starve by some sick bastard or serial killer.
Andrew jumped up like a cat at the sound of booming voices.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Epulum stream; I’m Koresh, this season's game event host, joined by Dash. Last eon, you gods voted for another season of world battle royale. Unfortunately, the Santorans were not the most optimal players.”
“You are correct; who knew that sapient rocks wouldn't be good at a battle royale. If you didn’t watch last season, I will leave it to your imagination on how terrible it was.”
“With how last season went, the great owner has decided that all of us needed something fresh, new, and engaging, so you guys were given a ballot to decide this eons game event.”
“I’m excited to say that the poll results have now been published, and let me tell you that no one should be disappointed as this new game gives a unique and refreshing feel; let me get a round of applause for this season's event Buried!”
“The game’s rules are simple: the contestants are spawned in an underground dimension where danger lurks almost every turn, but riches come with risk. These chosen players will have to explore their surroundings and survive. The few that manage to get to the very bottom of this dimension will be given prizes of unimaginable power!”
“Now, let me tell you, Koresh, I'm so jealous of this season's players. I'm exhilarated to see the prizes and what these players will do to get them. I would become a player if I could.”
“I totally agree with you, but first, the players must survive before they can even think about the prizes. Luckily the great owner is a kind soul and has given each player the bare necessities to survive for three days and are spawned in a safe grid. To acquire more supplies, they must dig to other grids, but who knows what is guarding the supplies that the players need. If you have not read up on this event, there will be a more detailed explanation of the rules at the bottom of the stream.”
“I get the Heebie-jeebies thinking about what lurks down in that dimension, and some of you may have nightmares after watching, but less about what we're about to see and more about the contestants. Let me introduce you to Earthlings: like other humanoid races, humans are bipedal mammals with adequately developed brains. Hopefully, this will allow us to see more interactive gameplay. Especially compared to sapient rocks, am I right. Haha”
“Disclaimer before we go much further into the stream, we’re required and regretful to inform you that due to the ‘unfortunate circumstances of season 4, the Electric Boogaloo, and the insistent protests of the gods of ‘higher moral ground’ and other ‘dubious’ claims, juveniles and adolescents are forbidden from participating in the games. Instead will be stored and shipped to a god of time, stored in stasis where they will be ‘safe.’
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Geez, I remember the emails we kept getting because of season 4. One read, ‘Please stop this disgrace and complete violation of those poor children's rights.’ and other such messages. Glad I dont have to sort out those anymore.”
“Ah, I remember that; I got lucky and was on recording duty. Before we start the game, I would like to thank the 8 kind gods who have sponsored this event: Urlok, the Betrayer, Nemu, the Glutton, Kerosyn, the Hive Queen, Quathar, the Destroyer, Lucifer, the Luminescence, Camiel, the Guardian, Theo, the Diligent and Ilaria, the Monstrosity. These eight gods have left unique inheritances, and eight lucky humans may be blessed with the chance to be bestowed powers by the sponsoring gods.”
“Well, viewers, our sponsors may have beat you in the money department, so we can’t include a card with your powers but don’t forget you can sponsor a human that catches your interest through the interface. Now let's get this party started as I was just notified that everything is ready, and the owner has given the go-ahead to start the game. Happy surviving contestants, please entertain us as long as you can.”
Deafening silence surrounded Andrew as he blankly stared into the void. There is no way this is happening, right? This isn't some joke! Who would kidnap him, dump him into a hole, and then have a recording of some cringy sarcastic game show hosts talk about gods and other obscure things? He is a nobody, a bum, a homeless person with nothing but the air to breathe, the ground to stand on, and the clothes on his back.
A blue screen that popped up was the only thing stopping Andrew from ruminating more. The black text in the middle of the screen said, Welcome player, please choose a name with an empty text box underneath. The absurdity of it all made Andrew go along with it. Tapping on the blank text box, a keyboard appeared on the screen, allowing him to type in Andrew Stag.
A new screen appeared; a red exclamation mark on an app with the word messages on top of it caught Andrew's attention. Clicking on the app, a text appeared. Congratulations on becoming a player of Buried, Andrew Stag. Here are a couple things to start you off. An Animation of fireworks going off made Andrew close his eyes from the brightness.
Blinking his eyes a couple of times, Andrew saw 5 white squares appear on the screen; clicking on one, a picture of bread with an x9 popped up. Ben’s Magical Bread: can fill you up for a meal and provides all the nutrients you need in one tasty piece of bread. Clicking on another, a water bottle with an x9 was next. Ben’s Magical Water: refreshing spring water that keeps you hydrated. The 3rd square was a worn copper shovel; Doran’s shovel: great for digging and breaking into other grids. The 4th square was an old leather knapsack. Doran’s Bag: a basic leather bag that can hold things. The final square was a card. Card of Hearts, Night Vision: allows the user to see in the dark as if it was daytime.
Putting the food items into the bag and stabbing the shovel into the soft ground, Andrew swerved his head around to see if he got night vision but was quickly disappointed when he couldn't see anything around him. If this is a game, maybe he has to equip it like armor or accessories in video games.
Seeing another app with a red exclamation mark that said Deck, Andrew clicked on the app, seeing a new screen with 9 tabs. Each tab had a different name starting with hearts, spades, clubs, diamonds, jack, queen, king, ace, and joker. Opening the hearts tab, he saw the card he had just got. Touching it, 3 pop-ups appeared Equip, Disenchant, and Merge. Clicking on Equip, a notification appeared. Do you wish to equip Card of Hearts, Night Vision? You may only equip one card of each type. Hitting yes, Andrew's eyes started burning, screaming, and gripping his face; he clawed at his eyes as if he wanted to rip them out. All he could do was voice out his pain.
After what felt like ages, his eyes stopped burning. Wiping the tears away, he opened his eyes to a 5 by 5 square meter dirt room. Looking over himself, he realized he was filthy, his hands and knees covered in dirt. Glancing over at the screen, he surprisingly didn't have to look away from the brightness as his eyes had become highly adaptable to darkness and light.
Doing an extensive search over the blue home screen to ensure he didn't miss anything important, he found multiple apps with interesting names. There was an app on the top right that said rankings. Tapping on it, there was only a grey screen that showed a ranking list starting with 1 and going down to 100 with no names on it. Exiting the app, he looked to the bottom of the screen. The messages app was on the left, then the deck app right next. Followed by 4 more apps that were greyed out: achievements, friends, alliance, and the store. Andrew tried to open the grey apps by clicking on them, but nothing happened. These must be unlocked, or something needs to happen to access them. I bet they will be helpful later on, especially the store, Andrew thought.
On top of these apps was a long bar that had regional chat group B on top of it. Tapping on the long bar, a new screen appeared. Andrew’s eyes were flooded with information as thousands or tens of thousands of people sent messages in the regional chat. He couldn't even read the texts because they sped by too fast, reminding him of when he would watch one of his favorite streamers who were quite famous. Figuring that he would not be able to get his messages read by the people he wanted, he wasn't going to bother with the regional chat until it slowed down.
Looking over the blue home screen and seeing nothing else he hadn't looked over, Andrew felt his hunger catch up to him. Pulling out one of the loaves from his bag and unwrapping it, he was surprised at how tasty the bread was. Only eating half of the loaf and taking a couple of swigs of water, he thought it was essential to save food and water since he didn't know when he would get any more.
Satisfied for the moment, Andrew decided that since he didn't have anything else to do in his 5 by 5 meter hole, he might as well follow the whims of the gods and start digging and looking for more supplies. Grabbing his shovel and slinging his knapsack over his back, he started digging a hole down.
After getting 6 feet down, Andrew felt the shovel hit something hard. Clearing the area around to see what it was, he saw a hard floor under the dirt. Looking like the static of an old television with no channel, Andrew remembered the description of Doran’s shovel. Since it said it can break into other grids, maybe you need to stab into the floor like you were breaking into tough topsoil. Stabbing the shovel down, he heard a crack. Stabbing again, he slowly opened a hole into the white noise colored floor. Looking through the hole, all Andrew could see was a black void. Unsure what to do next, he hesitated a couple of minutes to think but decided to just say yolo and steadily dipped himself into the void legs first.