《Wreckless Abandon (A Dungeon Driving Litrpg)》 Tutorial Part 1 ¡°I would sell my soul to get my driver¡¯s license.¡± My mother had laughed when I said it. It was just one of those stupid things a teenager would say when they really wanted something. And I did really want my driver¡¯s license. If I had passed my test, my mother promised me that I would be able to use the car whenever I wanted, and in high school having your own car immediately put you in a different league than those who didn¡¯t. The only possible downside was that it wasn¡¯t the most stylish car. It was a dark blue VW beetle with a faded yellow smiley face sticker on the bumper and a dent in the hood. Even from far away, you could tell that the car was old, but I didn¡¯t care. If I somehow managed to get a girlfriend or a date to one of the many dances our school hosted, it would be less embarrassing to show up in the beetle than it would be to get dropped off by your mother. So there I was, sitting in the car that the DMV provided for my test, and tapping my fingers nervously on the steering wheel. I had already adjusted my seat so that my knees didn¡¯t hit the bottom of the wheel, angled my mirrors so I could see everything behind me and cleaned off my glasses so no streaks or glares blocked my vision. Despite my heavy breathing and stomach turning itself inside out, I was ready, and I was going to pass. I jumped as the door opened and the test proctor sat in the car. He was short and fat with a deep tan and wore an ugly brown polo shirt, black pants and reflective aviator sunglasses. The man closed the door, buckled up and looked down at his clipboard. ¡°You Milo Walker?¡± ¡°Y-yes,¡± I stammered. The man nodded and flipped over the paper. He pulled out a pen and handed both to me. ¡°Sign here please.¡± The signature line was the only thing on the page. I signed my name in the only cursive I knew and handed it back. The man looked at it and then put the clipboard in the pocket of the door. ¡°Alright, just take it forward and do as the voice tells you.¡± ¡°Voice?¡± I asked. ¡°Like those smart cars.¡± The man shrugged. ¡°Not really. Now please begin.¡± I put the car into gear, looked in each mirror twice for good measure and then lightly placed my foot on the gas pedal. The engine hummed, and the car moved forward. I drove the car through the large parking lot until we began to approach the curb. ¡°Do you want me to turn left or right?¡± I didn¡¯t dare take my eyes off the road as I asked. ¡°Like I said, just keep going forward.¡± Was this part of the test? If I kept going the car was going to hit the curb and dent the bumper. But what would happen if I didn¡¯t listen to him? I decided it was better not to damage the car and was about to turn the wheel when everything outside changed. What was once a breezy partly cloudy afternoon had somehow changed into a dark red sky with swirling clouds. The abruptness of it made me jerk the wheel far to the left. As I did, words appeared on the windshield. Please Note: The Vehicle Cannot Change Direction During the Tutorial. I turned to the man. ¡°What is going on?¡± ¡°Please continue forward. All will be explained once you have completed the tutorial. If you decide not to complete the tutorial, you will be ejected from this vehicle and permanently erased.¡± Before I could ask what he meant, a female voice came out of the radio. ¡°Welcome Milo Walker. My name is Tooty. I will be your guide. I have noticed that your foot is currently not on the gas pedal. Please place your foot on the pedal so we can proceed. And please do not worry about falling into the lava river below. For now it is only for show.¡± I looked back out and saw a long stone bridge that was barely big enough for a single vehicle. As the voice had said, there was a lava flow that went underneath the bridge. ¡°Mr. Walker please place your foot on the pedal,¡± Tooty repeated. Deciding that somehow my nerves were forcing me to hallucinate my driving test as some dangerous hell trip, I pushed the gas and the car began to move again. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°First thing¡¯s first,¡± Tooty said. ¡°Please direct your attention to the gauges right in front of you. In most vehicles, this indicates your mileage, your fuel, and any other information you might need. Our vehicles function the same way, only with added menus that will be crucial to your adventures down here.¡± I looked where Tooty told me to and sure enough, there were all the normal things I had seen while learning to drive. ¡°To continue, press the down button located on the left side of your steering wheel.¡± On both sides of the wheel were controls like one would see on an old video game controller. The left side had a directional pack and the right had an A and B button. I pressed the down arrow with my thumb. The gauges were replaced with a menu. ¡°This is your main menu.¡± Tooty continued. ¡°As she spoke, each option became highlighted. ¡°First is Diagnostics. This is where you can monitor the health of your vehicle. Next is Loadout. This menu functions as your armory. While you need to be at a garage zone to equip weapons, this menu is used to load your ammunition. This isn¡¯t an action movie, you have to reload at some point. Moving on to Inventory. This is where you store everything that isn¡¯t in immediate use. Next menu is Navigation. It helps to know where you¡¯re going, and this is the menu for that. If you get lost, it¡¯s your own fault. Now on to Social. It can get lonely being in a vehicle all the time, so make some friends so you can chat it up. We won¡¯t be going over the individual menus now. That¡¯s for you to do on your own time, once you acquire your very own vehicle. You¡¯ll even be able to put your favorite options on your main screen. But that¡¯s for later. Please continue forward. If you have any questions about the menus please ask your proctor now.¡± In all this confusion I had almost forgotten that I wasn¡¯t alone. I turned to the man beside me and yelled. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, continuing to look straight ahead. ¡°I can only answer questions about the menu system at this time. All other questions must wait.¡± I took my hands off the steering wheel and tried to grab at the man, but they passed right through him. The car then lurched to a stop and words flashed onto the windshield. Place Hands Back on the Steering Wheel to Continue the Tutorial. ¡°Do you wish to stop the tutorial here?¡± The man asked. ¡°If you do, you will be ejected from the vehicle and erased.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll kill me?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± The man said it with such a flat tone that I knew it was less of a threat and more a statement of fact. Like, the weather George Washington was the first U.S. President and if you don¡¯t complete the tutorial you will be killed. After a tense moment, I put my hands back on the wheel. The words on the windshield disappeared and the car began to move again. Even though we were moving, the bridge was so impossibly long that it was hard to tell if we were making any progress. It was like one of those nightmares where you keep running down a hallway but you never reach the end. I looked in the rearview mirror to see if I could tell how far the starting point was, but it had disappeared. Looking down the lava flow, which had looked like a river before, now spread out in every direction like an ocean. I remembered learning in school that lava was supposed to be loud, but all I could hear was the engine. In fact lava was also supposed to be scorching hot, but the inside of the car was cool. I looked to see if there was an a/c control control console and there was, but it wasn¡¯t turned on. ¡°Basic environmental controls can be adjusted in the vehicle¡¯s Diagnostics menu,¡± the man said unprompted. ¡°Advanced options will have to be purchased.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s cool,¡± I said sarcastically. ¡°Does it come with a radio too?¡± ¡°The radio menu can be found under Social. Every vehicle comes automatically equipped with the default station WRKS. More stations can become available with purchase.¡± The car stopped. For a second I was worried I had done something wrong, but then Tooty¡¯s voice came on. ¡°We will now go over the next part of the tutorial.¡± Tooty chimed in. ¡°Combat.¡± Outside on the bridge a run down go kart materialized in front of us. As I looked at it a name appeared over it in blue lettering. Tutorial Kart: Enemy: Combat Danger:0 ¡°All enemies, players and non-combatant characters will have a nifty little indicator like this over them whenever they are in close proximity to you,¡± Tooty said. ¡°In order you will always see their name and species name, what kind of character they are, and their combat danger. Combat danger is graded on a scale of 1 to 10. Non-combatant characters are always graded as a 0. Now check this out.¡± There was a thud on the top of the roof and the car shook like something had fallen on top of it. Then a control column, like those used to steer an airplane, appeared next to the steering wheel. ¡°Please grab the control. You may take your hands off the wheel for this part.¡± My hand barely fit around the joystick looking mechanism. ¡°Now, a targeting reticle has appeared on your windshield. I want you to move the control until it lines up with the kart in front of you, and then I want you to press the big red button.¡± A crosshair appeared on the far right of the windshield. I pulled the control and it resisted against me. I pulled harder and the crosshair slowly moved across the window. It missed the kart on its first pass so I had to pull back. It took a couple more tries before I managed to get the crosshair just on the edge of the kart. I pressed the red button with my thumb and a small rocket launched from the top of the car, the force of which forced the vehicle back a few inches and shook my seat. The kart exploded sending fire and shrapnel in every direction, some of which harmlessly bounced off the car. ¡°Good job,¡± Tooty cheered. ¡°You have destroyed your first enemy. Of course the other ones won¡¯t just sit there and wait for you to blow them to hell. Also did you know that there are other ways to defeat your enemies? You¡¯ll be able to figure all that out as you progress. And with that, congratulations, you have completed the tutorial. Now please place your hands back on the wheel.¡± Sighing, I did as was told, and the car moved forward again. We had only moved a few feet when a stone portcullis appeared in front of us and opened. As we moved through it words again appeared on the windshield. They said ¡°Welcome to Wreckless Abandon.¡± Tutorial Part 2 Everything around me went dark. I didn¡¯t faint or anything, all the lights had gone out. After a few seconds the roof light inside the car clicked on and the proctor now stared at me. The light shadowed his face in a way that made it seem like he was about to tell a scary story. Instead he handed me the clipboard. ¡°Please exit the vehicle and proceed forward.¡± ¡°I thought you said I would die if I did.¡± After I took the clipboard the man turned back in his seat and stared forward once more. ¡°You are only allowed to exit the vehicle in a garage zone. Any other time and you will be erased.¡± I gripped the handle of the door and gulped. I opened it slowly expecting something to come out of the dark and drag me away, but nothing did. Opening it up further, I placed one foot out and was relieved when it hit solid ground. When I was all the way out, the door pulled itself from my grasp and slammed itself shut. The light from the car then turned off leaving me in pitch blackness. I reached for the door again, but my hand hit nothing. Taking a couple steps forward, I came into contact with nothing. The car was no longer there. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± I yelled. My voice echoed but there was no answer in return. With nothing else, I walked forward. I took my time walking, testing each step as if I was walking on a frozen lake that threatened to crack and send me to my death. ¡°Mr. Walker, will you please speed it up? I have many other appointments to keep today.¡± The new voice made me jump and drop the clipboard. I bent down to pick it up when the voice spoke again. ¡°Just leave it Mr. Walker. I have a copy on my desk.¡± The voice sounded annoyed and out of breath. It reminded me of my mom after she came home from a long day of work. ¡°Who are you? Where are you?¡± I asked into the darkness. ¡°Over here Mr. Walker.¡± A light clicked on to my right revealing a small office set up, minus the walls. There was a wooden desk, with a lamp on one side and a potted fern on the other. Behind the desk sat a man similar to the proctor, except his polo shirt was bright red. He had a baseball cap with devil horns on it and wore the same kind of reflective sunglasses as the proctor. ¡°Please, sit.¡± The man gestured to the empty chair in front of the desk. As I sat, the man folded his hands on the desk and leaned forward. ¡°My name is Solomon. I am in charge of briefing the Earthers who enter this realm.¡± Before I could ask any question, Solomon raised his hand. ¡°I ask that you don¡¯t interrupt me while I give you the rundown. It will make things go smoother on my end and will make sure that you are given the necessary information. Agreed?¡± I nodded. ¡°Good. Now it should be obvious that you are no longer on Earth. Think of this place as another dimension outside of your own. You are here because you have agreed to give us your soul in exchange for,¡± Solomon looked at the paper on his desk, ¡°your driver¡¯s license.¡± He paused and then shrugged. ¡°Well, others have been brought here for less I suppose.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t agree to sell you my soul,¡± I blurted out. Solomon flipped the paper over and slid the one under it to me. ¡°Is this your signature?¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I looked at it. It was the paper that the proctor had me sign when he entered the car. ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s not what I thought I signed. I thought it was for the driver¡¯s test.¡± ¡°Do you have a habit of signing contracts that you did not read?¡± ¡°No, but how did you even know about that? It was just a joke I told my mother.¡± Solomon took the paper back. ¡°Our methods do not concern you, the fact of the matter is that you signed the paper which clearly states the terms of the contract. You will receive a copy once our business is concluded.¡± A thought popped into my head. ¡°I¡¯m under 18, and I¡¯m not allowed to sign contracts without my mother¡¯s express permission.¡± Solomon threw his head back with laughter, almost knocking the hat off. ¡°I just told you that we are no longer on your planet. Did you think that Earth laws applied here?¡± He took off the sunglasses and wiped away tears before putting them back on. ¡°Nothing beats a good laugh. Now to explain how the game works.¡± ¡°Game? What do you mean game?¡± Solomon slammed his fist on the desk making Milo jump. ¡°I said do not interrupt me. I will not warn you again. Do you understand?¡± Milo nodded. ¡°Good now for the rules. Every player gets a basic vehicle to start. Each one is based on a design from their respective world and you do not get to choose what it is. Our system will give you one based on factors I don¡¯t understand, nor do I care to. This vehicle will be everything to you. It will be your home and your lifeline. If it is destroyed, you are erased. If your entire body is placed outside of the vehicle, except in designated garage zones, you will be erased. On that note, any modifications done to your vehicle can only be done in garage zones. Do you understand this as well?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said, shaking at all the new information being shotgunned at me. ¡°Good. Other specialized rules will be explained when needed.¡± Solomon smiled. ¡°Now. It is time. For the best part.¡± Solomon spoke like a game show host trying to build suspense. ¡°Let¡¯s see your new car.¡± From the side a spotlight turned on and illuminated a frilly red curtain. From the darkness came a drum roll. Solomon joined in banging his hands on the desk. He looked at me expectantly as if wanting me to join in as well, but I just sat there and stared. Eventually the drumroll reached its crescendo, the curtains opened up and the music gave a loud da-da, all to reveal an ugly rusted out VW Beetle that looked like it had been fished out of a junkyard. After a few moments of silence, Solomon sighed loudly. ¡°Why do I even bother? Tooty, just tell him about the car.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± Tooty said. ¡°Milo Walker, you are now the proud owner of a VW Beetle. It may not look like much, but throw on some paint and give it a machine gun or two and you¡¯ve got yourself a death machine. What the basic model lacks in defenses and makes up for in speed. It even comes equipped with the ability Nitro 1. This gives you a three second burst of speed and can be used once every six hours. It also holds 14.5 gallons of gasoline, and gets almost 500 miles to the tank. Please be aware that use of the Nitro 1 ability takes up a quarter of your tank. But don¡¯t worry, your car has already been filled, which should be more than enough to get you to the first major garage zone. Good luck.¡± ¡°I believe that concludes our business together.¡± Solomon stood up from his chair. ¡°Wait,¡± I said. ¡°What happens now?¡± ¡°Get in the car and drive. Get to the first garage zone and you¡¯ll be given instructions on how to make it off this floor. If you make it that far, we may meet again. Until that time, farewell.¡± Solomon clapped his hands twice and he and everything, including the desk, the chairs and lights disappeared. With the chair gone, I fell and landed on my butt. The only thing left was the beetle which I was still somehow able to see even though the spotlight above it had disappeared. I didn¡¯t get up right away. I sat there and thought of my mother. How she must¡¯ve been freaking out and yelling at the poor DMV receptionist, neither of whom had any idea that I had been whisked away to another dimension. I knew that it wouldn¡¯t take long for the police to be called, and that it wouldn¡¯t make a lick of difference. At that moment all I could do was get up, get into that crappy car, and face whatever was waiting for me. Tutorial Part 3 Despite what the outside of the beetle looked like, the inside was, well it wasn¡¯t great, but it was better than I expected. What I had extended to find was the car gutted out and empty with holes in the floor and roof. But surprisingly, everything was in there, even if the faux leather on the seats had been peeled away in large strips. The floors were also intact, but the mats were muddy and looked like they should¡¯ve been replaced years ago. The only thing that didn¡¯t look outdated was the dashboard and console. They didn¡¯t look brand new, but the matte black finish was solid, if not a little dusty. It wasn¡¯t until I had gotten into the car that I realized it was missing two things. The first were seatbelts. The second was car keys. I thought maybe the car had one of those buttons that started the car, but no, it was the standard ignition. In a panic I checked the back seat, the glove compartment, the pockets in the doors and underneath the front seats, which I regretted immediately when my hand came back dusty and wet. Finally, I remembered something I had seen in movies. I flipped down the sun visor and sure enough a key fell into my lap. As I turned the key there was a whine from the engine, and I was worried that it wouldn¡¯t turn over, but after a couple seconds the engine started and I let out a relieved breath. The dashboard lit up and the menu appeared on the console screen. The highlighted cursor was already on Diagnostics. I selected the option and a myriad of meters appeared ranging from the normal things such as the speedometer and fuel gauge to a wire frame representation of the beetle with percentages placed on the sides and front as well each tire. Thanks to some of the video games I played I realized that this must¡¯ve been my car''s health meter. I backed out of that menu and selected Navigation next. A compass and a GPS came up. The compass was pointed southwest. The GPS map only showed me with a small faded circle around it and a blinking diamond at the top. Again, with my prior game knowledge, I figured that this was the one of those kinds of maps where you could only reveal what was around you by traveling. ¡°Mr. Walker.¡± Tooty¡¯s sudden voice made me jump. ¡°The door will be opening in thirty seconds. When it opens any monsters or mobs nearby will be able to enter the facility.¡± ¡°I thought the garages were safe,¡± I said, staring at the radio. I assumed that¡¯s where the voice came from. ¡°Garage zones are safe, however this facility does not count as a standard zone. And remember once you leave, you will be unable to exit your car. If you do¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get erased, I get it already.¡± I gripped the steering wheel. There was a pause before Tooty continued. ¡°I¡¯m glad you understand, but there is no need for rudeness Mr. Walker.¡± The last few seconds felt like they took an eternity. While I didn¡¯t know much about this place, the only thing I was sure of was that I had to get to that blinking diamond. If I knew video games, then it would probably be that first garage zone they were talking about earlier. But like with other games, they weren¡¯t just going to let me get there without a fight and with no weapons there was no way I was going to be able to make a stand. Realizing that it might be best to have it on hand instead of trying to fumble for it like a person trying to text their friends, I selected the Loadout menu, which brought up several other options. I selected abilities and the cursor hovered on Nitro 1. ¡°Opening the door now.¡± Tooty said. With a loud grinding the door slid open. The light from the outside did nothing to penetrate the darkness around me. It was as if the darkness was a wall. Outside I saw the same red lit sky from the bridge tutorial. There was no bridge this time however. It was a wide open area that stretched far. It was flat with no landmarks. Far into the horizon was a mountain range. ¡°Time to leave.¡± ¡°What happens if I don¡¯t leave?¡± I asked Tooty. ¡°Then you will be returned to your world.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Tooty laughed. ¡°Of course not. Now get moving.¡± I sighed and lightly pressed the gas pedal. The car moved slowly and exited the facility. When I was all the way out I checked my rearview mirror. The door closed and blended into a stone wall making it look like there wasn¡¯t anything there before. The wall itself stretched on in both directions. I drove forward and decided to keep the speed at an even 45 miles per hour. This is what I had practiced and it was the most comfortable for me. Of course my mother did have me practice with higher speeds on the highway, but I tended to get nervous if a driver got within a hundred yards behind me. More than once I had to pull over to the side to let the cars pass so I could continue unabated. That would only last for about five or so minutes before another car showed up. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I glanced down at my map to make sure I was still going in the right direction, when I noticed something new on my map. Three red dots were clustered together and were moving on the edge. According to my map, they were to my left so I looked out my driver''s side window. It didn¡¯t take long for me to see them. There were three short vehicles that looked like a combination of a dune buggy and a formula 1 race car headed in my direction with a cloud of dust blowing behind them. As they got closer the name indicator appeared above them. Goblin Buggy: Enemy: Combat Danger:2 I pushed on the gas and the engine whined as it struggled to click into gear. When it finally responded the Goblin Buggys reached me and sped past behind me. All three of them then turned around and drove towards me. Each of them had roll cages on the top of the car which allowed me to see their wrinkly green skin and pointed ears. Close up I could also see that each of their cars had bones and ripped sheets of fabric waving off like flags. ¡°Tooty,¡± I called. ¡°Yes, Mr. Walker.¡± ¡°How far until my destination.¡± ¡°Your ETA is approximately two minutes and fifteen seconds.¡± Two of the goblins pulled up to the sides of my car and began to close in while the third one stayed back a few yards. ¡°I meant distance.¡± I said pressing the pedal farther down. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but if you want more specialized information, you need to purchase them at a garage.¡± I cursed, something my mother would¡¯ve punished me for. Even at sixteen she still made me eat a bar of soap for even thinking of the f word. I tried to gain more speed, but the car seemed to top out at seventy five, which really wasn¡¯t that fast, especially since the goblins seemed to have no trouble keeping up with me. The one on the right jerked their wheel and slammed into my car. The force pushed me into the other one who also slammed into me. The sudden change of direction almost made me spin out but I was able to keep my hands on the steering wheel and keep the beetle somewhat straight. Both goblins cackled with laughter and came at me again. I slammed my foot on the break. The goblins barely missed and hit each other instead. The one behind me fell out of position to avoid rear ending me. Unfortunately, none of this made them crash. With a surprising amount of grace the two goblins that were now ahead of me managed to unstick themselves and turn wide to meet their partner and begin following me again as I tried to pick up speed. They did not move to overtake me again. Instead they spread out in an inverted V. From their hoods, small mounted machine guns sprouted up and fired. I let go of the steering wheel and ducked down just as a chorus of pings hit my car. When it stopped and sat up and grabbed the wheel to straighten the car, thankful that it had only veered slightly off course. I looked in my rear view mirror. The bullets had only managed to crack the back window. ¡°Are the windows bullet proof?¡± I asked, taking in a deep breath. ¡°No,¡± Tooty said. ¡°Each part of your vehicle has its own damage rating. When that rating reaches zero, then it breaks and must be repaired by a mechanic at a garage zone, or a roadside assistance kit.¡± ¡°So what is my windows current damage rating?¡± ¡°At this time, that information can only be accessed from the Diagnostics menu. An upgrade must be purchased for me to be able to tell you.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± I said sarcastically, ¡°and can I buy a different voice for you as well.¡± There was a pause before Tooty responded, ¡°Yes.¡± Another quick round of gunfire pelted the car, cracking the window even more. It thankfully held, but the spider webs that had formed in the cracks made it almost impossible to see through. ¡°I guess they have to reload after each burst,¡± I mused out loud. ¡°Correct,¡± Tooty said. ¡°Because the size of the gun on the Goblin Buggy is relatively small, they must replenish ammunition more frequently.¡± ¡°Wait, you can give me information about the enemy?¡± I knew it was a stupid question as soon as I asked. Tooty laughed. ¡°Of course not. That¡¯s not how it works. You need to figure things out on your own, which makes it more rewarding when you do. All I can do is confirm if the information is correct.¡± ¡°This is insane.¡± I slammed my fist on the steering wheel. ¡°Yes it is. But this is what you agreed to Mr. Walker. ¡° ¡°Just tell me how long until I reach the garage.¡± ¡°Approximately 43 seconds. Since I could only guess when the next round of fire would hit, I said screw it and finally selected the Nitro. The words Nitro 1 appeared on the windshield along with a three second countdown. As soon as it reached zero, several things happened. The first was that the force of the car launching itself forward pushed me deep into my seat making me feel like an astronaut going through centrifuge training. We moved so fast that everything outside of the car became a blur. The second thing that happened was that the back window had shattered and glass rained inside the car. Bullets flew into the now open hole and tore through the headrests and embedded themselves into the windshield. One of the bullets whipped through my loose hair strands, missing my skull by millimeters. It wasn¡¯t until the Ntro wore off and the rear of the car tilted that I realized that the goblins had also managed to shoot out my back left tire. My first instinct was to slam on the brakes, but somewhere in my rattled brain I remembered that doing that would make the brakes lock up and it could cause a wreck. So instead I kept my foot on the gas and pushed down hard. ¡°Mr. Walker,¡± Tooty said. ¡°I have some good and bad news. The good news is that you¡¯ve managed to reduce your ETA from 43 seconds to 4. The bad new is,¡± I saw it before she said it, ¡°that at your trajectory, you are going to crash into the garage zone door before it can fully open to you.¡± And that is exactly what happened.