《Of Gods and boredom - Origin》


 Prologue

    As a gamer for over 15 years of my short and uneventful life, I must admit that I had high expectations of THE end. Be it myself dying heroically while saving someone else - preferable a rather beautiful young woman - and then being transported into another world, or at least be given a restart of when I was about 5-6 years old with my current memories, make the most of them, while building an empire that would dominate the world. Not that much to ask for, is it!?


    Or - if the world gets to end before I meet mine - at least make it a zombie apocalypse. Actually no, scratch that! That would be slightly too gory for my untrained mind... Maybe a deity invades Earth and through a game he finds entertaining, gives all humans special powers that they must use to vanquish monsters that spawn from dungeons? Bit of a cliche, I know, but what would you expect from a game addict!?


    Living your life for 26 years now and doing pretty much everything a person would dream to do, can make things rather... dull. Starting from enjoying the pleasures offered in the bed - probably in an exaggerated amount - only to be disgusted by it only 4 years later because of overindulging, then turning to movies and series to pass the time, but get bored of them quickly. Fortunately, I found solace in books and novels. But what started as a way to kill boredom, quickly transformed into an obsession. A properly trained and experienced psychiatrist would argue that I was using fiction to displace the reality and throughly run away from it... and I, couldn''t agree more!


    But when IT actually happened, life had its ways to surprise the shit out of us... The end of the world was brought by an encroaching darkness that devoured the light of the Sun and covered the Earth, leaving humanity helpessly trying to fend it off using the light of the electricity it invented, which quite fast has proven itself to be utterly inefficient. It was almost as if the darkness was devouring the light itself, which in turn was obviously unable to hold its counterpart at bay.


    What followed after... was anarchy. True, it only lasted up to 4-5 hours, but when people from across the globe realized that the outside sky was dark, even though it was supposed to be the middle of the day, the government lies according to which this was the result of an ongoing solar eclipse were shattered. Panic and public outrage soon followed on an international scale that nothing in our history even came close to. Looting, murdering and all sort of vile acts were performed worldwide as humans let loose and gave in to their primal urges, under the impression that the world was going to end anyway.


    All of this happened during the course of less than one natural day and it ended quite suddenly at that, with the entire human population falling asleep. When people were reported to fall into a coma-like sleep sessions while still working/doing something, the panic further intensified like a pandemic, fully activating the fear of death into everyone, as there wasn''t anyone that wasn''t affected by this sleepy dissease.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    In my case? I took a shower, ate some takeout food and waited for sleep to embrace me as if a past lover would, even if it was the middle of the day... well, according to my clock at least. The surprising thing was that there were no dreams whatsoever.


    For a person with a trained imagination, it''s downright impossible not to dream anything, given how active your brain is. Also, being aware of your own existence inside this dreamless dream, made the experience... uncanny.


    I have no clue how long the dream lasted, but sometime during it I felt a pressure on myself, my real self which fell asleep on a chair. It was like when riding shotgun and your stupid friend floors it without warning while forcing your entire body into the seat. It only lasted less than a second and then following it... a feeling of euphoria took over and I blacked out.


    Waking up was also a new kind of experience. Or maybe it wasn''t and I just forgot how it feels to wake up and not be tired, annoyed or any other way than... absolutely well rested.


    [Well... what now? There seems to be light outside again] -I muttered while peeking outside the window


    Raising to my feet and walking towards the balcony, I caught sight of something that sent chills down my spine, while at the same time brought a feeling of excitement budding in the pit of my stomach. The hairs on my arms were already standing at the sight of a huge bluish object, bloating more than half of the outside of the sky, making it obvious that it wasn''t the moon... it might as well have been a different planet, several times bigger than our own.


    I gulped audibly and took several slow steps forward, until I found myself facing a different portion of the sky. Whipping my head to the right, barely able to leave behind the huge blue giant, another object caught my eye.


    [Isn''t that our own moon!? What the...]


    Confusion... was an understatement. That was until I looked up and saw... uhm... actual words written between the clouds. They were similar to words written in a Word document, using bold and Italic settings.


    I couldn''t help but dumbly smirk while shaking my head.


    [I guess it''s true what they say: be careful of what you wish for, or it might actually come true...]


    The words that were blinking in and out of existence, in my mind at least, appeared to be yelling the intended message.


    ''Welcome Earthlings to the game of Origin! You have been awarded six months (human standard) of protection before the merger of servers will commence... Tutorials shall now become available! Your new God will watch your development with interest, therefore do your best to impress!''


    I took a deep breath and re-read the words a couple more times until I realized that they were actually there and I wasn''t sleep walking. My excitement died down upon reading the last sentence, while also realizing that we might be slightly fucked...

 1. Waking up to a new world

    I didn''t realize when, but I felt my conciousness fully awake while still being asleep. I only became aware of it though when my body felt pressured by at least 5 times the normal gravity, as my inside felt like they were going to turn into mush.


    The feeling didn''t persist for longer than a fraction of a second, but it did somehow reminded me of the ''darkness'' I''ve seen approching from my balcony. Just the memory of it sent shivers down my spine...


    I chuckled at the strange dreamless place I was in and wondered how long will it take until I can wake up... as wwell as what will I wake up to. Surrounded by no sounds, no light, nothing to touch, no smell and even less something to taste... except for the cigarette still fresh on my lips, I wondered how long will it take in such an environment untill I completely lose my shit. I know for certain that human brains weren''t properly wired to endure long periods of times in such conditions.


    But the darkness around me didn''t last for too long and as if electrocuted, I jumped up from my chair, grabbing the handle of the balcony door and looking around me.


    I was immediatly drawn by the sound of the TV and saw how people were sleeping on their desks, while the camera was pointed at a weird angle, proof that the cameraman might''ve doozed of as well.


    I limbered up, streaching like a cat after a reaaaaaly relaxing sleep. I was shocked by how relaxed and well rested I was. I don''t even remember when was the last time I felt this good after a short? nap.


    "Right! How much time passed?"


    I checked my phone and saw 8:36PM of the same day. Barely 4 and something hours since I fell asleep... I wasn''t impressed at all. I obviously checked the year as well, but it was still the same 2020.


    Outside? Given that Spring was here, there was some light, but winter still had a pretty solid grip on the weather therefore it got dark quicker.


    Now then, the question was, is it dark because it''s supposed to be, or is it because of the strange darkness that put humanity to sleep?


    "Let''s check, shall we?"


    I smirked as I haven''t done this in a while. Lightly tapping on the keyboard of my computer, the screen lit up and I began typing something. I picked a random place in the US, selected a smaller city and brought up a camera. Using a couple of tricks I learned in the few months spent in college before dropping out, I brought up the image of the highway and surprisingly saw... the light of day.


    "So we''re back to normal... Dissapointing indeed..."


    Funny enough though, while shaking my head, I caught with the corner of my eye something blinking in and out outside in the distance. I know for certain that there wasn''t anything there as I''ve been seeing the view outside for over 6 months now. I remember lighting up a blunt and smoking it while watching the darkness getting closer and closer to the portion of sky above me.


    What are the chances of a billboard to have been added while I was sleeping in the... 4 and something hours that have passed. Slim to none!


    Taking a deep breath I prepared to open the balcony door in my bedroom, but I froze. It burned my nostrils and my lungs, similar to the cold air in the middle of winter after a light jog (in my case at least). I paused and did a double take as something was clearly wrong with my body. Not only was my mind more active, I could feel the decrease of temperature from opening the door like I had a thermometer plasted on the skin of my hands. The air also carried a putrid smell from the ranch down the road, which I never before felt until now. It was not possible, given that I was at the 8th floor, almost 50 feets above ground. Gulping, the saliva in my mouth moved and with it, the strong taste of the cigarette previously smoked, almost made me puke. Hitting the chair with my toes and cursing at the sharp pain while moving it aside, I knocked over a glass which had milk in it three days ago when I left it to dry on my desk and shattered with a deafening sound.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.I had to clasp my hands over my ears and curse again at how loud it was. I wondered if I was having a panic attack. How could all my senses be so... active? It made no sense...


    Feeling sick again after tasting the combined taste of the oily breakfast/lunch I had some hours ago and pot, I ran in the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Three times! I felt sweaty, smelly and sticky, so I took a shower as well while at it.


    ''This is a brand new type of apocalypse. Once that kills you by pissing you off that much...''  - I complained under my breath


    With yet another change of clothes today, since I took another one before preparing for falling asleep on the chair, I turned on the washing machine since there were one too many things to be washed and went to the fridge. I grabbed a beer and went back for the balcony.


    "Right! Wasn''t there something I wanted to check outside!?"


    Horrified by my rather short attention span, I opened up the cap of the bottle and downed a large mouthfull. Sweet baby Jesus! That''s the good stuff right there!


    And then, I stopped. I looked back into my room past the chair and blanked. Since it might''ve been a dream, I took out my phone and checked the time again. No distortions and everything is legible...


    "Just what the fu..."


    There was this... hmm... how do I put it? There was a huge blue planet covering the entire view of the sky to my left. You could tell by the vivid color that it was just the outer part of its atmosphere and that it was at least a hundred times larger than Earth. There were these... structures that were so big, that they were visible with the naked eye on it, making me wonder just how huge they were up close. Or maybe the planet itself was that huge and... and I stopped my train of toughts there as I realized...


    "There obviously wasn''t a goddamn planet next to Earth. Not that close at least and not changing the scenery in this... kind of awesome picture! And then, there''s the other problem..."


    To my right side, the sky was also covered by the view of our Moon, Earth''s actual satelite which was still the normal size, under which there was writing. That''s right! WRITING! It''s like someone decided to paint graffity on the actual sky and instead of a picture, they went for an actual phrase.


    I tried calming down my growing excitement by taking a deep breath, only to have my insides roasted again by the same intoxicating feeling. It was like my brain has been sent into overdrive and was trying to piece things together with the limited, yet irrefutable evidence in front of my eyes.


    First off, the darkness covering the Earth. It started off after a new pandemic virus attacked the Earth, which made some scientists believe it was the planet''s way of dealing with it, but soon realized that it wasn''t the case. It was similar to a thin film of darkness that devoured light just like a black hole would. Now them, given the dimensions of that blue planet, it most likely has something to do with it. Might''ve been something like an eclipse cause by that planet covering the Sun? Also, since it can move, maybe it''s not a planet but an actual ship? Ugh... aliens apocalypse it''s sooooo low on my list, that I don''t even want to consider it. Secondly, there''s an obvious increase in my five senses, to the point where I can smell cow dung from over a mile away and 8th floors high. The air itself seems to contain something that improves my brain capabilities to analize and bolster my body''s fitness in general. How did I know that? The muscle aches I had because of the few exercises I did yesterday dissapeared like it was a bad dream after only 4 hours. From my limited knowledge, the human body doesn''t work like that, as the tissue is highly damaged and takes days to recover.


    "And then there''s this... Ugh..."


    The words were... discomforting.

 2. The start of the new world

    Taking another deep breath while looking outside, the expected burning sensation in my lungs was nowhere to be found. Or, to be more precise, it was there but I could barely feel it this time.


    Instead, a new feeling took over, similar to when you overeat and are now so full that you are about to burst. This was quite unnerving as the only meal I had besides the beer in my hands was the breakfast/lunch I had before falling asleep¡­


    With my thoughts being a total mess and my brain cogs turning at faster speed than it was usually possible, I glanced outside at the new ¡®additions¡¯ to the scenery.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, it would be better to do a recap and see exactly what happened recently. Might find some clues that way¡­¡±


    So, I did just that. About myself¡­ not that many things to go through. Your usual son of a teacher that did better than average in school and was your run-of-the-mill king of the hill because of that reputation. A small ¡®hill¡¯ though, as I found out brutally in high school a while later. I was considered more mature than my actual age, so when I clashed with bullies because of the difference in our ideals¡­ the result was unfavorable. Justice without power to enforce it, is useless against big numbers of brainless zombies that take pleasure in causing others pain. So, I rolled with the punches. Trudging through four entire years of such tedious stupidity, had my first crush and was rejected immediately, but had a couple of fortunate events as well, so I cannot exactly complain, as it helped me mature even further.


    College¡­ I dropped out of after not even 3 months as I was wasting my parents money at that point. I found it redundant and unhelpful, based on what I saw around me with a quick look. Therefore, a job. One entire year as an English teacher in a country where English is just becoming a popular choice and gaining traction, allowed me to see how it is to work for your money. Honestly though, waking up in the morning to go to school¡­ was not that different from actually going to school as a student.


    And that¡¯s how the call-center happened. Ah! The call-center! Such a horrible and yet beautiful experience in regards to studying how fucked up human beings actually are. Meshed with hundreds of other young people filled with raging hormones¡­ it was impossible to have even one uneventful day. For me? Well, for once, I graduated from my virginity status, grew out of my introvert shell, rose the ranks as a salesperson, realized I am quite apt at it and finally, promoted as a supervisor with a full team under my lead.


    Then I got bored and left. Boredom¡­ BIG problem! Also, spending half of the money you¡¯re making on rent, bills and food while the other half on girls¡­ another big problem. That¡¯s why I decided to change jobs and start anew. I failed at my next place of employment after 1 week¡­and who can blame after all!? We¡¯re talking TWINS!!!


    Anyway, back to boredom¡­ I switched to yet another job and drowned myself in reading as a newfound hobby. At work, at home, in my free time. During weekends, I would spend at least 14-15 hours a day either reading or listening to audiobooks. Soon however, it was not enough anymore. And then one night, I had this strange thought: why not write myself?


    The result was¡­ pretty awesome. My first work gained traction and had thousands of people reading it. The reviews were good and everything was going great¡­ except for one small problem: writing doesn¡¯t pay bills. So, another job. A more demanding one from 3PM to 1AM. One that killed my social life, free time and creativity¡­ One year later, or rather, one year after I stopped writing, the world went to shit¡­


    [Authorities are declaring the virus to have gone pandemic, as each continent and countless countries now have at minimum tens of infected people. The fatalities among the hotspots are growing by the day. People across the world have gone in home lockdown, helping in slowing down the virus¡¯s spread¡­](anchor)


    Glancing at the TV, I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head. I am to be 27 this year and I cannot say that I led a bad life. Especially during the call-center when I cut almost all the things I wanted off my list. I did everything I wanted to and found myself some time later¡­ bored. Is this all there is to life? Work to pay bills and have a roof over your head, start a family, work some more and then die? What sort of shitty script is that?


    Now, even the living to work part was being taken away. A virus that, according to the authorities at least, started from someone eating a bat¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but smirk and shake my head at that. Not even 10 years olds would believe that. There are comic books with better plot than this stupidly explained lie.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.Anyway, while the world was going to shit for us humans and everyone was going ballistic because of it, a strange event occurred¡­ March, 2020, the year when humanity¡¯s course derailed.


    [In order to keep people in quarantine and self-isolation, the authorities are finding new ways to help the citizens through it. In Spain, the police is singing on the streets alongside with the people, while in Brazil, the organized crime is enforcing the ¡®Stay at home¡¯ policy instead of the unresponsive government. However, the biggest and the most surprising tactic comes from Russia. Our reported on site in Moscow, Irene has the details. Irene!](anchor)


    [Indeed Lex, the Russian president Vladimir Putin has opted for a rather, unorthodox measure in order to keep everyone at home. First off by imposing the ¡®2 weeks at home or 5 years in jail¡¯ method and now since it was proven ineffective¡­ the president ordered the release of 500 lions and tigers in the streets of Moscow. People thought that he was joking initially, but as you can see under me at street level, that it¡¯s not the case. The predatory animals have split their territories accordingly and now are prowling the streets while looking for prey. PETA has been thoroughly enraged by such ¡®inhumane action¡¯ as they claim that the predators do not have sufficient game to hunt on the streets of a big city. Stoking the fire, the president replied to them the following statement on his social media account: ¡®If people stay indoors, then only the livestock we feed them. If not, they will have¡­ alternatives.¡¯ Worldwide, the heads of other countries have been rendered speechless by such actions and cannot comment on it. Back to you Lex!] (Irene)


    I watched the TV at a loss for words. Then I looked my phone. An app that shows the world¡¯s map with the spreading of the virus¡­ 5 cases in Russia so far, three of which have already recovered. Guess it is not stupid if it works now, is it?


    Anyway, this day was about to get even stranger. After switching through the channels in order to find something more¡­ normal, I stumbled upon yet another weird situation.


    [As you can see, using the satellites to track the decrease in global pollution after the impact the virus had on the entire world, this strange ¡®cloud¡¯ has been spotted forming above the Easter Island. We say cloud, however the altitude at which it had formed it¡¯s so high, that it¡¯s impossible for it to be an actual one. To make matters worse, the temperature readings in this area have considerably dropped, a thermographic view showing a disturbing sight¡­]


    I watched as the program explained how the rays of light were unable to penetrate through the said ¡®cloud¡¯ and were being swallowed instead. Since this was a live coverage, you could see the face of the host turning pale, as the words ¡®similar to a black hole¡¯ flew out of his mouth.


    I blanked out and kept staring at the TV. A pandemic is not enough!? Now a black hole as well¡­ Why not throw an asteroid in the mix and we¡¯ll have ourselves a rather interesting year besides the earthquakes, volcanos that are becoming active and about to erupt and plagues of locusts in such numbers that they were covering the skies.


    ¡°I guess if the world wants you dead, you won¡¯t live to see the sunrise¡­¡± ¨C I muttered


    To further prove my point, the cloud of darkness was spreading at an alarming rate, similar to a thin film across the outer limits of the atmosphere.


    [We have returned with urgent news ladies and gentlemen at home. The new ¡®darkness¡¯ discovered above the Easter Island has already spread out to cover 10% of the entire world. People under its influence have been reported falling asleep where they stood, unable to keep their eyes open even for a second longer. In a live footage, a person was explaining the exact process his body was going through while only 5 minutes later, he fell in a coma-like sleep in front of his camera. We urge the people at home not to get scared and panic. World-wide, the heads of the state are working in order to find a solution¡­](anchor)


    I rubbed the bridge of my nose and sighed while seeing this. Glancing outside the window, I could already see a portion of the horizon blackening, like a tumor spreading. Looking at my late and unfinished breakfast/lunch at 4PM, I reached out in one of my drawers, pulled out a small sealed bag and started rolling a blunt.


    Once finished, I moved one of my armchairs on the balcony, grabbed a clean set of clothes, took a shower and then relaxed while looking outside. The weather was good and the sky clear. I lit up the cigarette and inhaled¡­ ¡®Strong stuff¡¯, I praised and then finished a barely-eaten sandwich.


    By the time I was halfway through the blunt, a feeling of drowsiness took over me. It felt impossible to resist it, so I did not. I glanced at the smoking wonder in my hands and sighed again, feeling unpleasant that I wasn¡¯t even able to finish it. I placed it in the ashtray, switched to a more comfortable position in the armchair¡­ and fell asleep.

 3. New reality

    I forced my brain to stay in overdrive as I pieced together the clues I¡¯ve got. I mean, yeah, I had the answer blinking in and out of existence just like a sign above McDonalds, however I was certain there was more to it than this.


    If I learned anything from my reading and writing of fantasy novels, if you pay enough attention, you can read between the lines and find out stuff before it is explained to you later on. Why would that be helpful? Because, judging by the ¡®message¡¯ left for us, we have a long and painful road ahead of us.


    ''Welcome Earthlings to the game of Gods, played by mortals: Origin! Rejoice! After barely meeting the mark, a new deity has approved to use you as a ¡®player¡¯ in the game! According to the rules, your civilization has been awarded six months (human standard) of protection before the merger of servers will commence... Initializing the ¡°beginner¡¯s package¡±... Events will commence once at least 25% of your race has completed the tutorial. The six months¡¯ time worth of protection will begin once the events have been fully completed! Tutorials have now became available! Your new God, Nema, is at ¡®newbie deity rank¡¯, therefore no civilization bonuses can be provided! Once your race advances through the game in its authority as the ¡®player¡¯, your God will also expand in influence and power, therefore being able to provide blessings upon its people. Work hard and enjoy the game! Your new God is watching over you!''


    I frowned unconsciously and then stared at a smaller text right under this one.


    [Current people awake: 611


    Required in order to start the tutorial: minimum 1000]


    Only this few people awake besides me!? I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried massaging it to prevent a possible headache. I need to piece this thing together before the tutorial can start. Why? Because it is very likely that I NEED to participate as soon as it is available. Why again? Because as experience ¨C with other novels ¨C has proven, the ones at the front are always the most powerful and can gain the early benefits that will help them become even stronger. Yes, there is the danger of the unknown and participating only after I have some information about it might be the safest bet. However, you cannot make an omelet without breaking some eggs.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I need to figure these things out first. Let¡¯s start with what I do know. First off, the darkness. Once it started, it put people to sleep but only temporarily, as confirmed by myself and the other hundreds being already awake. Then, there is that weird pressure I felt, strong enough to turn me into dust, yet to which no pain followed. That coupled with how strong all my five senses became, something must¡¯ve been done to me. Not only myself, but probably, the entire world. Now, the question, why? The only logical answer is that we were either being tested or enhanced. According to that ¡®introductory text¡¯, we barely met the qualifications to participate. Not only that, but also that burning sensation when I inhaled and only a bit later, the feeling of being full on an anatomic level¡­ There is only one explanation for it: another type of energy must¡¯ve been added to our planet. Something similar to the ¡®mana¡¯ concept in games and novels. That would explain why we had to sleep as well, since we were lacking this energy before and ¡®someone¡¯ done ¡®something¡¯ in order for our body to withstand it. It¡¯s similar to scuba divers, having to slowly reach back to the surface in order to re-adjust their bodies to the decreased pressure. Maybe we just couldn¡¯t withstand being directly exposed to it.¡±


    Nevertheless, this ¡®answer¡¯ brought forth even more questions. Since there¡¯s mana there ought to be monsters as well... I panicked and ran to the roof of my building. I cursed once realizing that my conjecture might be true, once I sprinted up the stairs for 8 floors and didn¡¯t even pant slightly. Me!? The guy that didn¡¯t even took a walk outside in these 4 weeks?


    Once on the roof, I started running from one point to the other, to each one of the four major cardinal directions.


    ¡°Nothing! There¡¯s nothing unusual! No monsters trampling their way towards the city, no dungeons to budge the earth or in the sky and no portals of different colors either. It would¡¯ve been a ¡®game over¡¯ situation rather fast with only 600 people awake across the globe to face that. Well, there¡¯s over 800 now¡­ Dammit! What else!?¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I frowned deeply and grasped for clues that might give me a head start, possibly keeping me alive in the long run. This was not a game, so I¡¯m pretty sure there won¡¯t be a respawn. Moreover, even if it would be one, I am not sure I would like to try dying¡­


    I looked at the introduction and focused on the words again. ¡®A game of Gods played by mortals: Origin¡¯. This was pretty straightforward, as it implied many ¡®players¡¯ or civilizations fighting against each other in the name of their God. Our God ¡®Nema¡¯ chose us as his/her ¡®playing¡¯ race, therefore turning the switch on and causing the darkness that ¡®enhanced¡¯ us, preparing us for the use of new possible abilities? The six months of protection, probably refer to clashing with other civilizations and only once we¡¯ve completed the tutorial and the events that follow it, will those six month start. There¡¯s also the word ¡®servers¡¯, which obviously implies that there will be different rankings and confirms that there will be other worlds. That means that, as newbies to this game, we will first learn how this ¡®game¡¯ works in the tutorial, get stronger through the events so that the fields can be leveled and only then fight against other Gods and their races.


    ¡°Fuck¡­ even thinking it instead of saying it out loud is on a whole other level of crazy. The problem is that our deity is a ¡®newbie¡¯. Which means he/her is probably useless until further down the road? Therefore, right now, I can only count on myself to get stronger. Shit! 902 people¡­¡±


    Crazily reading through the words under the Moon in the sky, I latched onto every single letter, in hope for more details. The tutorial and the ¡±beginner¡¯s package¡± will probably be an introduction to mana, how to use it and other type of ¡®gear¡¯ that will be useful in future fights. That means that this game is either a PVE, otherwise known as player vs environment, or PVP, which is player vs player.


    For the first option civilizations will compete by defending their world or defeating monsters, based on an algorithm that will calculate points, create a ranking and therefore differentiate the winners from the losers. The PVP scenario is more frightening though. It implies throwing civilizations at each other¡¯s throats until there is a clear winner, climbing the ranks, again, winners and losers.


    ¡°Both are freaking terrifying though... For the first, there is constant fighting against monsters or fantasy races that will slowly but certainly get stronger, while the other means constant war against other planets and Gods, with my side being a world that cannot come to a fucking common ground regarding a pandemic virus that would have wiped it out otherwise. Oh right¡­ maybe now that we¡¯ve been enhanced, the virus won¡¯t be a problem anymore¡­¡±


    Trying to distract myself, I sighed deeply and clenched my fists tightly. After all, there was a third scenario as well¡­


    ¡°Both PVP and PVE¡­¡±


    In addition, there was a high chance that this was the case. After all, this wasn¡¯t a game with a preset genre, but a game where Gods compete against each other with their civilizations. That means that 100%, there will be both monsters and invading races for the purpose of diverse ¡®entertainment¡¯.


    I went back to my apartment, locked the door and sat back on the balcony on my armchair, face in my hands.


    It¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t scared. I was terrified! And this tutorial was certain to put me face-to-face with monsters for sure. I might even end up in a kill or be killed type situation against another human participating in the tutorial. After all, who knows how fucked up this ¡®game¡¯ will be and I already know how terrible and cruel human nature is.


    Rising my head and staring at the horizon, I saw the number updating from over 900 to 1035. I shook my head and slapped my cheeks, in a pathetic attempt at sobering and encouraging myself. I was still quite shook, but I realized that my reality changed. I need to adapt to it, or die in the process¡­


    ¡°Fucking hell! Don¡¯t protagonists in normal novels either go back in time or get sent in a new world by means of transmigration? How the hell did the entire planet and it¡¯s natural satellite moved to another universe!? How does that even make sense, goddamit!¡±


    I stood up once again from the armchair and started stretching my body to its new limits. A few pushups and sit-ups in order to warmup¡­ and then, the expected message brought by a pleasant but cold and emotionless female voice ringed in my head.


    ¡®Tutorial has become available! Would you like to start? Please confirm via vocal command, ¡®Yes!¡¯ to begin, or ¡®No!¡¯ to postpone.¡¯


    ¡°Damned bastards¡­ it doesn¡¯t even give the option to refuse it, huh? Barely postpone it for later. Well then, why not! YES!¡±


    ¡®Command accepted! Initializing tutorial! You have 30 seconds to find a suitable place to lie on. 30, 29, 28¡­¡±


    ¡°These fucktards! Are they going to make me pass out again!?¡±


    Even while complaining, I could not fight against the urge to sleep, so I crashed into the armchair and felt my consciousness drifting¡­

 4. Tutorial

    It didn¡¯t take long until I was forcefully awaken by a head-splitting migraine. I tried standing up and check my surroundings, only to fall back on my ass once the world started spinning with me at its center. I was forced to my knees, throwing up because of the horrible sensation.


    [New player recognized! Scanning for biometric signs¡­ Registered! Unique player number 53 on the new server 78103, welcome to the tutorial! Be advised that the first time after teleporting, you might experience a feeling of slight sickness!]


    ¡°Now it tells me¡­ and how is this ¡®slight¡¯!?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but swear under my breath while looking around for the sound of the voice. I was not able to find anyone¡­ however, there was something else that caught my eyes: green plains!


    I was in my apartment on the balcony just a second ago and now, I am in the middle of some plains, filled with lush vegetation. If the strangely appealing voice is not messing with me, I really must have been teleported here.


    Grinding my teeth and struggling to stay on my feet, I took in my surroundings. I couldn¡¯t afford staying on the ground as there were already another 52 other people participating in the tutorial. I need to get a move on!


    ¡°What do I need to do? Hello!? Can you tell me what¡¯s next?¡±


    [Tutorial initialized! Phase 1: Status page! Please use vocal command ¡®Character¡¯ in order to bring up your status page as a new player! Reward: +10 to all base stats!]


    I spaced out for a bit when I heard what the first phase requires of me to do, but then I just sighed and decided to go for it. After all, since it is a game, it makes sense to have game mechanics¡­


    ¡°Character!¡±


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Power: 60.5</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">ATK Rating: 53</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Survival Rating: 68</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Base Stats</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total ATK:?8</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total HP: 13</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Pierce: 3</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total DEF: 6</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Hit: 5</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Dodge: 9</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Crit: 7</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Firm: 7</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Superb Stats</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Damage Add: 0%</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Damage Dec: 0%</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Malice Rate: 0%</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Malice Resist: 0%</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    [Congratulations! You have completed Phase 1 and have been awarded +10 to all base stats.


    Do keep in mind, that your general Power is only an indicator to show your prowess in comparison with other monsters or players, but it might be inaccurate in certain scenarios.


    The formulae for calculating the Power is (ATK Rating + Survival Rating/2).


    Additionally, the formulae for ATK Rating is (Total ATK*3 + Total Pierce*2 + Total Hit*2.5 + Total Crit*1.5), while the formulae for Survival Rating is (Total HP*2 + Total DEF*3 + Total Dodge*1.5 + Total Firm*1.5)¡­ ]


    [Initializing Phase 2: Mana! Use vocal command ¡®Mana¡¯ to access the sub-menu for Mana display in the Character interface. Reward: +25% skill experience!]


    ¡°Power is not an accurate indicator¡­ I guess it makes sense as this is not an actual game, but real life with game mechanics. Even if your DEF stat is over 9000, all it takes it¡¯s a blade to the heart and you¡¯re done... Hmm? What sub-menu!?¡±


    I did a double-take on the words sub-menu and started glancing above the stats page¡­ There were indeed seven icons, but four of them were grayed out.


    Starting from the left to the right there was ¡®Echelon¡¯, ¡®Decoration¡¯, ¡®Shape¡¯, ¡®Title¡¯, ¡®Skill¡¯, ¡®Mana¡¯ and ¡®Badge¡¯. Only the Title, Skill and Mana were available to me at this point. Ignoring all others, the fact that titles existed, meant that there would be achievements. That means I need to hurry up! Maybe if I complete it first¡­


    ¡°Mana!¡± ¨C I mumbled softly


    Unlike before, this time a new window opened that had few words thrown on it. It looked cryptic and it sounded¡­ vague. Nevertheless, I took comfort in the fact that I was right about the mana being added to our world at least.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%">                                                Mana


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">A primordial energy that exists everywhere and nowhere.


    Its purpose is to enhance all forms of life.


    To use mana you must feel it by meditating, followed by condensing it into a core.


    Different mana colors represent different attributes and different core colors represent different ranks of mana purity.


    Skill proficiency: LVL 0 (0%)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I stared dumbly at the brief and not very helpful message. Meditation was needed in order to ¡®feel¡¯ mana and then condense it into a core¡­ For a person that has no experience with online novels, it might sound strange, but in my case, it made total sense. I have read countless such stories where the main character had to follow this process in order to feel the energy and then condense a core in order to use actual spells or skills. You can look at it as if there would be pieces of it inside your body and you need to bring them together in one point.


    ¡°At least that¡¯s how it was in wuxia novels. But that also was ki or internal energy and not mana¡­ I wonder if there are differences?¡±


    Once formed, the core will have different ranks as well based on how you refine it further. They are usually separated by using a color system, starting from light-based colors when at the beginning, to dark based-colors while advancing, or the other way around.


    ¡°Given that the ¡®quest¡¯ is not completed just yet, it means that it will only be done once I actually either ¡®sense¡¯ mana or create my core. Better get started then¡­


    Acting according to the knowledge gathered so far through reading, I sat on the grass with my legs crossed and focused on emptying my mind of useless thoughts. That was¡­ difficult considering my circumstances. I mean, really! Not only did the world get transported into another universe where we need to compete with alien civilizations and freaking monsters, but I was also teleported into God-knows-where for a tutorial where I need to sense a mystical energy I encountered so far only in games and novels, while my head is still pounding and I¡¯m about to throw up again. So yeah¡­ just a bit difficult¡­


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    I took deep breaths and exhaled heavily. I tried imagining only the form of my body and focus on feeling the flow of everything in it. I started with the air going through my nose, in my lungs and out of my mouth, followed by the sound of my heartbeat, imagined the flow of blood from my heart through arteries going all over and then returning in the same place through the veins¡­ everything felt normal and I calmed down considerably.


    I went over and over again through the same process, until something felt off. It was barely perceptible in the beginning, but after a couple more ¡®rotations¡¯, I could feel something else besides the air itself in my lungs. At the same time, I could hear a loud sound in the outside world, however I ignored it and focused on the colorless and near-invisible gas-like substance that was slowly integrating itself in my lungs.


    Excited at the discovery of the substance that I deemed to be mana, I kept searching the remaining portions of my body, only to discover in utter defeat that there was nothing of sorts anywhere else but the lungs. But then, I had this idea: if the mana is everywhere and I absorb it similar to how we absorb oxygen, can¡¯t I pass it through my body in a similar fashion?


    ¡°¡­and then, I could enhance my entire body with mana!¡±


    Therefore, I focused even more on guiding the mana to link with the air I was breathing and tried to move it towards my heart accordingly. That¡¯s how, after what it appeared to be an eternity¡­


    ¡°SUCCESS!!! Ugh¡­¡±


    I yelled, followed by a sudden yelp of pain and a feeling similar to having a heart attack. No, that¡¯s not correct! It actually felt that someone reached out into my body with their bare hands and was clawing intensely at everything it could. Not only that, but I found myself unable to breathe as well, as if¡­ as if there was no oxygen to be had.


    I fell face-first on the ground, one hand clutching at my chest and one grasping my neck, while wheezing and panicking. After five minutes of ongoing torture, I realized that it wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t have enough air to breathe, but I had just enough to keep me alive¡­ lucky me!


    ¡°¡­wh..at the¡­f¡­ AHCK!!!¡±


    As soon as I thought I got used to the pain and tried focusing on the mana in my lungs again, I felt my heart beat so strongly, that I was certain it would burst. Why? Because I also coughed a stupid amount of blood as well, at the same time. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t. No¡­ instead, the pain continued and the lungs that felt on fire initially, transferred some of that heat to the heart as well, as I kept coughing out blood.


    This process went on and on, slowly subsiding as the feeling of relief took over. With the pain now bearable, I climbed back and brought my feet under me, while my body bobbed because of the lack of blood. Taking deep breaths and trembling like a leaf in the wind, I was able to feel mana entering my body besides the air itself, reinforcing and calming down my mind.


    It was then that I noticed the message in front of my eyes.


    [Congratulations! You have completed the Phase 2 and have been awarded 25% of your current level in mana skill proficiency!


    Please use vocal command ¡®Accept!¡¯ in order to receive the reward.


    Levels in mana proficiency are separated in tiers from beginner to godly level and will improve your control over mana accordingly. The more refined your core is, the better is mana distributed across your body!]


    [Initializing Phase 3: Skills! Loading¡­]


    I sighed and shook my head while pondering. Given how much pain I went through, it would be a waste to accept the reward right now, wouldn¡¯t it? After all, I barely moved wisps of mana in my lungs and heart. What if¡­


    ¡°Ugh¡­ I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m actually considering this! Did my preference deviate because of the pain!?¡±


    ¡­ what if I could move mana all around my body? After all, just this small linkage between my heart and lungs increased the proficiency so much.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Mana


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">A primordial energy that exists everywhere and nowhere.


    Its purpose is to enhance all forms of life.


    To use mana you must feel it by meditating, followed by condensing it into a core.


    Different mana colors represent different attributes and different core colors represent different ranks of mana purity.


    Skill proficiency: LVL 0 (32%)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 5. Mana body

    Looking at the progress bar in front of my eyes, not even close to 5%, it appeared that there would be a while until the new tutorial phase will begin.


    ¡°In that case, I should focus on the mana skill for a bit. It still hurts like fuck, but I can tell that not even in the lungs themselves I don¡¯t have things set up properly for my body to absorb and forward mana to other organs¡­¡±


    That¡¯s why I focused only on breathing in and out and calming down, while pondering about what to do. Looking at it logically, there were two courses of action: one, reinforce the lungs and the heart at maximum efficiency and then have the blood carry both oxygen and mana to the rest of the body. Two, focus on slightly reinforcing the other parts of my body in a similar fashion to the two organs I already did, meaning barely, by introducing mana to them.


    ¡°Now, for the pros and cons... if I go with the first option, the efficiency with which I absorb mana and send it throughout the body will drastically increase. The problem is that, if I do so and the mana an organ like the brain receives, is too much or too refined, I might die on the spot. For the second option, it is the safest way to go. While painful, I am certain that, if I send wisps of mana from the heart to other portions of the body until they get slightly used to it, I can return to the first option after and prioritize the maximum reinforcement, for maximum efficiency. The con for this option: while safe, I will lose a lot of time. Time that I might not have¡­¡±


    I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I couldn¡¯t exactly gamble with my life. There weren¡¯t enough details to work with, therefore I could only play it safe. Actually, even if I had more details, without a precedent, I wouldn¡¯t take such a risk...


    The course of actions I decided upon, would be to create ¡®paths¡¯ of mana from the heart to other organs, by slowly reinforcing the blood vessels as well once I¡¯m at it. As for the organs I will prioritize, will be as follows: since I already worked on the lungs and heart, next will be the stomach, spleen, liver, kidneys and finally brain.


    Why in that exact order? Well, if the world changed and mana is everywhere, maybe by enforcing the stomach I can receive extra mana income through the things that I¡¯m eating, therefore increasing the mana I can gather. Spleen because of its role in renewing blood and mana-enhanced blood sounds like it would make things much easier towards the goal of having the entire body re-forged in/with mana. The liver¡­ because I might require a new one after wasting my existing one with so little sleep for over 9 years now that I am either drinking tea or taking pills for it... The kidneys, well just because they are a major organ really and finally, the brain last, mostly because I am scared of what could happen, therefore postponing the inevitable as much as I can.


    With the plan done, I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth and began focusing on the inside of my body again. Simply by breathing, I could see wisps of mana gathering inside my lungs and slowly moving towards the heart, using the vein I almost burned with mana between the two. Willing it with my mind, I dragged some of that mana forward, in the direction of the stomach, using one of the main arteries leaving the heart¡­


    ¡°Holly fu¡­¡±


    I gasped in pain as it felt as if molten steel was being poured inside the weak blood vessel. I was sweating from both the pain and anxiousness. After all, what if the mana is too much for the arteries and they burst? Won¡¯t I die because of it? Goddamit! I did not think things through properly enough!


    However, what was done was done and I couldn¡¯t exactly stop halfway. That¡¯s why I bit onto my lips hard enough to make them bleed, all in order to make sure I stay awake and don¡¯t faint because of the intense pain.


    ...


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    With a grunt, I fell on my back and complained about the clothes that were drenched in sweat. I will probably have to take another shower¡­ again! After the entire artery was enforced, both mana and oxygen were moving towards the stomach much freely and quicker than before. Therefore¡­ I was caught off guard and almost blacked out because of the pain. Luckily enough, I already threw up, once I was teleported here and had nothing left in there. That didn¡¯t stop me from dry heaving, making the whole ¡®focus¡¯ thing harder and therefore allowing too much mana to pass through in the stomach.


    ¡°Fuck dammit! I don¡¯t even have words to describe the pain¡­ Holy cow! Now, not only I¡¯m I dehydrated, lacking blood and dizzy, but I am also hungry!¡±


    The curses flowed out of my mouth, as if it had been mana enhanced already. Mentally calculating the time, I realized that I must¡¯ve rested for over an hour, until the feeling of finally being able to breathe properly returned to me.


    ¡°Spleen next¡­ If I turn into an M after this, I swear to god¡­¡±


    I kept on torturing myself for the next eternity or two and I have to admit that the feeling of mana being poured into your brain was the complete opposite of what I expected. There was no pain, but intense pleasure instead, like rain falling on an empty desert. Either that, or my brain was broken from the shit I put it through and found a coping mechanism¡­


    Anyway, I exhaled a mouthful of stale air and opened my eyes to¡­ well, the same grassy fields. Nothing changed! No, nirvana rebirth or at least an ¡®Oh, yeah! Hell yeah it was worth it!¡¯ type of revelation¡­


    [Achievement earned! Trashy mana body: your body barely qualifies to hold onto mana. You are still far away from even getting started on this road, but you are getting there.


    Reward: +15 base stats; 0.01% Malice Rate ]


    ¡°Fuck! You are trashy! Your mother is trashy! Your whole family is trashy! Freaking trashy system!¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    [¡­]


    After venting because of the horrible pain I went through for a while, I opened my status page, as well as my mana skill sub-page and grinned broadly.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center"> Mana


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">A primordial energy that exists everywhere and nowhere.


    Its purpose is to enhance all forms of life.


    To use mana you must feel it by meditating, followed by condensing it into a core.


    Different mana colors represent different attributes and different core colors represent different ranks of mana purity.


    Skill proficiency: LVL 1 (23%)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Power: 273</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">ATK Rating: 278</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Survival Rating: 268</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Base Stats</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total ATK:?33</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total HP: 38</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Pierce: 28</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total DEF: 31</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Hit: 30</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Dodge: 34</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Crit: 32</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Firm: 32</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Superb Stats</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Damage Add: 0%</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Damage Dec: 0%</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Malice Rate: 0.01%</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Malice Resist: 0%</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°Holy! That escalated quickly! Trashy, huh!? I¡¯m really curious how many of the other participants in the tutorial already achieved these results? Huh!? You trashy system!¡±


    [Answer: 32 others have already reached the same level as you had, with six of them already on a level above you.]


    ¡°Fuck! Wait! You can answer questions!? Bullshit! Why didn¡¯t you say anything until now!?¡±


    [Answer: no questions have been asked.]


    I blanked out at this AI, or whatever the fuck it was, that was currently taking revenge for what I said earlier. But then, couldn¡¯t I make use of this? Six people are already ahead of me, which means that I¡¯ve missed something¡­ what?


    ¡°What exactly did I miss or what did they do extra which I didn¡¯t?¡±


    [Answer: according to your biometric response, you have successfully introduced 7 major organs to mana, connected 5 of them to receive refined mana through 5 arteries which have also been refined, as well as a vein that supplies the heart with mana from the lungs...]


    ¡°Wait, hold up! What do you mean only 5 of them? I¡­¡±


    Then, I realized it! I created a way to supply the heart with mana from the lungs, but not the other way around, therefore reducing the efficiency in my mana intake.


    Hastily deciding to correct this flaw, I enforced one more artery and connected it. While at it, I also reinforced the veins returning from the major organs back to the heart, since I decided that copying the blood system might be a good thing to do. A slow process ensued, as I was lacking the material to do go through with the entire thing.


    For whatever reason, now that the brain was ¡®enhanced¡¯, there was only a sting once mana was being poured through the veins, making the entire process a lot smoother. What I didn¡¯t expect was the feeling of being utterly empty that followed once I was only done with the vein connecting the brain to the heart.


    ¡°System, what happened? Why can¡¯t I use mana anymore? Is there a limit?¡±


    [Answer: Incorrect! You have simply ran out of stored mana to use. Given that you do not have a core, your body passively absorbs a miniscule amount of mana, which quickly diffuses through your body. Therefore, you are currently out of mana to use.]


    I made a bitter smile and shook my head at the reply.


    ¡°Ahem¡­ I guess that makes sense. So, can I just meditate and gather more mana like before?¡±


    [Answer: correct!]


    Retaking my lotus position, I focused on breathing until I reached the same feeling of being full. The only difference was that now, I could tell that it was my lungs that were giving off the said feeling, having reached their maximum capacity for storing mana.


    Once reached this point, I kept going back and forth between stockpiling mana and then using it to reinforce the veins, which apparently required even more than triple the amount of mana than the organs themselves needed.


    ¡°Any specific reason why the mana needed for the veins is higher than the ones needed for the arteries or the organs?¡±


    [Answer: through refining your body, impurities will be removed out of your organs. Requiring a way to transport them, veins need further reinforcement in order to cope with the workload.]


    ¡°Hmm? Does the impurities cleaning start immediately?¡±


    [Answer: correct!]


    ¡°But I only connected the organs to the heart¡­ What happens in that case?¡±


    [Answer: all impurities from the other organs will gather in the heart, fill up the tissue and cause a heart attack that will eventually kill you.]


    ¡°Holy fuck! Say that sooner! What do I need to do in order to have the impurities removed safely?¡±


    [Answer: by creating paths between all major organs including the intestines and the spine, the impurities collected will travel from one place to the other undergoing further refining, until they are deemed unnecessary. Many of the impurities might contain substances needed into other organs, therefore, after running them through a cycle where each organ dumps their own toxins and impurities, while refining and taking away things they need from the other organs, the remaining that cannot be used would simply be taken out of the body using the sweat glands.]


    ¡°Meaning I have to connect the sweat glands too¡­ Well, that was very helpful. Thank you!¡±


    [You welcome!]


    I spaced out slightly at the unexpected words, wondering if this really was an AI, or something else entirely, but soon forgot about it and focused on the task at hand.


    There were six people ahead of me that I need to catch up to!

 6. Skills

    Hard at work, I didn¡¯t notice the passing of time or the progress bar for the Phase 3 of the tutorial. They system was suspiciously silent as well, but taking in consideration that it only answers when questions are being asked, I decided to focus entirely on the task at hand.


    And surely, soon enough, I could feel it! With each extra veins, organs and arteries connected, my body pulsated with much more life than before. I could tell that I was going through that ¡®Oh yeah! Hell yes it was worth it!¡¯ revelation I so much wanted before.


    Moreover, just to prove my point, as the final adjustments have been made and a circulatory system has been created for mana to move through, my whole body shuddered violently as a feeling of emptiness drove me close to insanity.


    It was as if my body was screaming for more mana. Panicking, but at this point already used to the pain, I started meditating again drawing more mana in, hoping to calm down the pain. Unlike before however, this time mana was flowing into and through me in larger quantities. If a couple of minutes ago it could be compared to a light drizzle, right now it was similar to a raging river, flooding everything in its path.


    The feeling was intoxicating and I could tell even without hearing a notification from the system: I was getting stronger! The mana that was overflowing, broke past what I intended it to do and flooded my entire vascular system, reaching out to every portion of my body including the muscles, quenching its thirst for mana. The process lasted for a long while, until the flowing river calmed down into a peaceful lake.


    I was brought back to reality from my reverie by a smell so pungent that made my face twitch and once opened my eyes, noticed the black substance covering certain parts of my body.


    ¡°The process is similar to what I¡¯ve read in wuxia novels. It also smells exactly as horrible as described. Then, there¡¯s also this¡­¡±


    [Achievement earned! Basic mana body: your body reached the qualifications process mana. You have made the first step in path towards the apex.


    Reward: +25 Total ATK; +35 Total DEF; +35 base stats; +0.04% Malice Rate; +0.05 Malice resist ]


    [Title earned: Mana newbie]


    [Congratulations on receiving your first Title. You can access the ¡®Title¡¯s sub-page in order to view its benefits and equip it.]


    I could feel the grin slowly extending from one ear to the other. I was right! There were indeed rewards for being first, or among the first to accomplish something. Unable to suppress my growing curiosity, I brought up the sub-page and took a look.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.9198%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%" colspan="2">


    Titles


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td colspan="2">


    Divided between passive and active, the titles are one of the ways to differentiate between common players and ones that have achieved something special.


    The passive titles provide their benefits even while unequipped, however their rewards are mild, while the active titles provide many times the number of their counterparts, with the downside of only one being able to stay active at a time.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Active Titles</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">None</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Passive Titles</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Mana Newbie (already equipped): provides +50% increase in mana absorption and conversion.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I was slightly underwhelmed in the beginning, until I realized the implications of this title. Because of the mana supplied steadily across my body, I could have a feel of how much could my body process and hold at the moment, without the said ¡®core¡¯ that I had no idea what or how it works. It was a given that even with the flood of mana after I connected everything I could, even the major organs were slightly less than 10% enforced.


    ¡°I truly have a long road ahead of me¡­ Nevertheless, with that 50% absorption and conversion given by the title, even while breathing the amount of mana I take in and spread across my body grows by the moment. I should meditate as much as I can, given how bountiful the rewards are¡­¡±


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Mana


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">A primordial energy that exists everywhere and nowhere.


    Its purpose is to enhance all forms of life.


    To use mana you must feel it by meditating, followed by condensing it into a core.


    Different mana colors represent different attributes and different core colors represent different ranks of mana purity.


    Skill proficiency: LVL 2 (8%) - Basic Mana Body (2%)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Power: 685.5</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">ATK Rating: 563</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Survival Rating: 808</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Base Stats</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total ATK:?58</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total HP: 73</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Pierce: 63</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total DEF: 101</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Hit: 65</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Dodge: 69</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Crit: 67</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Total Firm: 67</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Superb Stats</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Damage Add: 0%</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Damage Dec: 0%</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Malice Rate: 0.05%</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Malice Resist: 0.05%</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I was slightly surprised by the huge stat increase I¡¯ve went through. According to the AI, the base stats I had in the beginning were my biometric results after their ¡®scan¡¯. My ¡®Power¡¯ at that point was barely around 60. Now, I am at least 10 times over that, meaning to say that now, I am ten times stronger than a normal human. This is the gift of mana!


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.At the same time though, I couldn¡¯t help but shudder at the thought of ¡®what sort of creatures will I have to fight, for which I need a body as strong as this?¡¯, that passed through my head.


    [Phase 3 fully loaded! According to your biometric scans, a few paths have been provided for you to choose from. The character creation will commence shortly!]


    The same pressure as before bathed me in its power again, this time thousands of times more terrifying than before.


    ¡®Fuck! You mean to tell me that while I wasn¡¯t aware of mana it was only at a certain level, but now that I grasp the concept it¡¯s an entire universe away compared to before!? Truly, there¡¯s power in knowledge¡­ how can an ant tell the difference between a human and a rat? Both are bigger than it¡­¡¯


    Thinking of how I could provoke a being as strong as I thought it was during my mana-ignorant phase, only to realize later what reality was actually like¡­ damn! That sounds like a bad script for a stupid villain! I could only wipe my sweat away, gulp and quietly wait for this Phase 3 to start.


    Next thing I knew, a fucking meteorite hit one of the hills in front of me, throwing my dumbfounded ass on the ground again. In its wake, eight groups of two people, a man and a woman, were staying proudly shoulder-to-shoulder. They were encased in different types of armor and sporting different weapons.


    [In Origin, the classes one can chose from are separated into two main categories and four subclasses. First, there are the physical classes and the magical classes. Be careful when you pick yours, as it must have a good synergy with your subclass. For the subclasses, there are Tanks, DPS, Hunter and Support. To further explain¡­]


    ¡°That¡¯s alright! I know what the subclasses are and what do they do¡­ What did you mean synergy between the main and the subclass though?¡±


    [Answer: To offer an example, there would be a bad synergy between a Support that chose Physical class, while there would be a great synergy between a Support and a Magical class.]


    ¡°Oh¡­ I see¡­¡±


    That was, severely underwhelming! However, simple it¡¯s better than complicated, in a world where you don¡¯t have all the details... or even 10% of the details at least.


    [Furthermore, please chose a weapon. The weapon can be changed at any time, however your skills will be generated based on all factors already mentioned: Class, subclass, weapon, mana body progress and if applicable, mana affinity.]


    ¡°Wait, mana affinity? Do you mean like, affinity to a specific element?¡±


    [Answer: correct!]


    ¡°Oh¡­ how do I check what my affinity is?¡±


    [Answer: you can request the system to do a check on your behalf.]


    I looked incredulously around me and realized that, if I didn¡¯t ask the right questions, I might¡¯ve missed out on something again this time and had to stumble my way in the dark. Fuck! They sure aren¡¯t making things easier for us¡­


    ¡°Please do an affinity check on my behalf then.¡± ¨CI said through gritted teeth


    [Acknowledged¡­ Analyzing¡­ Compiling data¡­ Confirming¡­ Congratulations! Your mana nature materialized thanks to reaching Beginner mana body rank. Type: Aura]


    ¡°Mana nature?¡±


    [Answer: Correct! Once the mana stops being volatile, it begins transforming according to the trait of the player. Therefore, affinity becomes nature.]


    ¡°So, aura, hmm?¡±


    I didn¡¯t even bother asking why the fuck wasn¡¯t that added in the Mana sub-page description if I gained it and instead glanced at the eight people staying in relaxed positions.


    It truly felt like a character creation page, as there was a male/female option for each subclass. The Tanks held either spears and shields, or swords and shields, the female DPS was double-wielding short swords, while the male had a huge freaking axe, the Hunters with bows and crossbows, while the Support had it¡¯s own class specific staff.


    Given that there were no indications of magical classes, I frowned and asked.


    ¡°What about magical classes?¡±


    [Answer: there isn¡¯t a distinction as wielding mana has nothing to do with the weapon in your hands.]


    Eh¡­ okay¡­ That means that you can see that dual-sword beauty over there charge at you and suddenly be hit by a fucking fireball while at it. There goes simplicity out the window¡­


    So that posed the question: what weapon should I use?


    ¡°First off, if it¡¯s aura, then I must go physical class. That means that I will fight at the frontlines. I could go for the Hunter subclass, however shooting arrows require a certain finesse that I am certainly lacking. The Support class is of the menu as well since¡­ well, bad synergy and no clue how that would even work to be honest. Maybe a buff class? Anyways, that leaves me with Tank and DPS. I wasn¡¯t prompted to pick between them, therefore they are more like guidelines most likely. I can¡¯t see myself fight with an axe, longsword, hammer, or any other barbarian-like weapons, but at the same time I don¡¯t want to be face to face with any opponents on the battlefield. I need something with more range than a sword¡­ It¡¯s decided then! I want a spear as a weapon!¡±


    [Acknowledged! Generating skill¡­ Analyzing¡­ Compiling data¡­ Congratulation on receiving your first skill: Aura emission! Randomizing its rank, based on general base stats¡­ Rank B has been awarded!]


    ¡°Let me guess¡­ ranks go from E to SSS or something?¡±


    [Answer: Incorrect! Ranks start from G all the way to Divine.]


    ¡°Ugh¡­ Well, I guess B isn¡¯t that bad then. Let¡¯s see what it does. Skills!¡±


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center" colspan="2">Skills</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%" colspan="2">


    Skills are the congregation of mana transfixed by the player¡¯s individual traits.


    They can be separated into passive or active, offensive or defensive, for buffing one person or many.


    Current skills: 2


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Passive</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Aura (G) (Level 0) ¨C boosts all basic stats of the player by 5%</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Active</td>


    <td style="width: 50%; text-align: center">Aura emission (B) (Level 0) ¨C Use mana to take a physical form enhancing the desired object</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 7. Phase 4

    I frowned in bewilderment at the information in front of my eyes.


    ¡°Not one, but two skills? Do they come as a set or something?¡±


    [Answer: correct!]


    ¡°¡­ care to elaborate on that please? Why is there one passive and one active? Also, why there¡¯s one at G-rank and one at B-rank?¡±


    [Answer: Aura can be explained as a combination of one¡¯s life essence and mana, shaped and embodied by his/her personality. In simpler terms, a person with a calm and gentle nature will have a soothing aura around them, making interactions with them pleasant and comfortable. A warrior that always fights on the frontlines with his life on the line on the other hand, will have a much sharper and threating aura, giving off an oppressing feeling.]


    ¡°Mhm! I get that much. However, what¡¯s this life essence you mentioned?¡±


    [Answer: Life essence is represented by the body¡¯s general level of mental and physical health. The better the condition your body is in, the higher quality your life essence will b. The mental health is simply put, your happiness, stress levels, etc. The physical health is your body¡¯s fitness level as well as your actual health.]


    ¡°Oh¡­ But why the difference in ranks then between the skills?¡±


    [Answer: As a passive skill, Aura is obviously, a passive bodily enhancement. Therefore, the stronger the components it is made of, the higher rank it can become. For Aura Emission, it is the same thing, however making it more difficult to increase its rank as it will become a force that enacts upon the world, outside the influence of your body. For example, coating a weapon in order to make it sharper or a shield to make it sturdier. However, it is still closely related to your passive Aura, based on the quality of it you can muster. Therefore, the moment your passive skill overtakes the active one, the later will soon follow.]


    ¡°How very¡­ realistic. So that means I must train my body, while maintain a proper mental and bodily health as well, on top of which I also need to train my mana to a more refined level, even better if I can get a core. Only then, will the rank of the passive skill increase and once it¡¯s A-ranked, the active one will become A-ranked as well. Correct?¡±


    [Answer: It is slightly more complicated than that, but in general, sure¡­]


    I was ¡®slightly¡¯ pissed off by the condescending tone of the AI that was basically calling me stupid, but I decided to address it at a later time. Now that I had the skill¡­ hmm!? Looking at the exact same base stats with no change, even if the skill should passively grant me an extra 5%, I instinctively turned my head behind me and asked.


    ¡°Why is the passive skill not granting me anything?¡±


    [Answer: Because your proficiency with Aura is at 0%. In order to receive the boost, you must first create your Aura and begin building it up around your body. To do so, your body must first meet the minimum physical and mental requirement. Fortunately, your mind is strong enough, however your body isn¡¯t just yet. You can easily reach the required fitness level by training.]


    ¡°Mhm¡­ What about the active skill? Can I use that one in the meantime?¡±


    [Answer: Impossible!]


    ¡°¡­¡±


    So that means that, if I were to fight something or someone that might have a magic affinity right now, I¡¯d be toasted before I could even beg for mercy. Except my (probably) high stats, I¡¯ve got a snowball¡¯s chance in hell to actually win. What¡¯s with this trash game!? Isn¡¯t this unplayable?


    [Initializing Phase 4 ¨C Combat experience! Loading¡­]


    ¡°Fuck! Must you be so ruthless!?¡±


    At the same time as I was complaining, lights fell down upon all eight ¡®game characters¡¯ in the crash site where they arrived at, slowly turning them less visible. What specifically caught my eye was the human-like sneer on their faces when they looked between the spear-wielding barbarian and myself. There was contempt and pity in their eyes, making me doubt that they weren¡¯t actual live beings.


    ¡°Could it be that they are ¡®players¡¯ from other worlds?¡±


    Then, as if to answer my question, the muscles on the barbarian¡¯s right hand visibly inflated, while he took an aiming pose. He swung the spear lightly, calculated the distance with his eyes, said some words I couldn¡¯t understand and released the weapon in his hands¡­


    ¡°¡­towards me!? OI! System, what the hell!? Why are your props attacking me?¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The light covering the eight ¡®props¡¯ intensified and barely touched the spear as well, altering its trajectory slightly. And when I say ¡®slightly¡¯, I mean that it missed my head by not even an inch, burning the skin on my right cheek due to its high velocity in the process. Looking behind my right shoulder there was this Chinese spear with a red ribbon tied to it, deeply embed in the ground.


    I gulped audibly as I heard the barbarian clicking his tongue, obviously annoyed. This fucker! What the hell was that for!? He nearly made another hole in my head!


    ¡°Can you translate what he said before he threw his weapon at me?¡±


    [Answer: Yes! The closest translation to your language is: ¡®Let¡¯s see if we can decrease the numbers by one, shall we?¡±]


    ¡°Fuck! You mean to tell me that was indeed one of the players of other races!?¡±


    [Answer: Correct!]


    ¡°And you are using them as props!? Are you insane!?¡±


    [Answer: Incorrect! Mental sanity levels do not affect me. Also, while they do have some degree of freedom, it is only up to a certain point.]


    I wanted to argue that the ¡®certain point¡¯ just referred to, almost killed me, but I had more important things to address.


    ¡°Is it reasonable to assume that the 4<sup>th</sup> Phase has something to do with fighting monsters or other players? And since they are gone but the weapon remained, I can use it?¡±


    [Answer: Correct! Monsters to be more precise.]


    I immediately sat down and began circulating more mana, to the point where I wished I could be drowning in it. Since I had no combat experience and no skills I could use in a fight, the only advantage I was able to muster would be the base stats.


    If I could get my mana to level 3, maybe I will get some extra attributes as result. The only way I could think of doing that, is by further ¡®introducing¡¯ mana to every cell in my body I could possibly think of.


    ¡­


    [Phase 4 initiated! Please select from the following difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, Advanced, Hard, Impossible.]


    I sighed while looking at my skill progression. To be so close yet so far¡­


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">Mana


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">A primordial energy that exists everywhere and nowhere.


    Its purpose is to enhance all forms of life.


    To use mana you must feel it by meditating, followed by condensing it into a core.


    Different mana colors represent different attributes and different core colors represent different ranks of mana purity.


    Skill proficiency: LVL 2 (86%) - Basic Mana Body (3%)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Standing up slowly, I reached behind me and with great effort pulled out the weapon I chose to have my skill based on. I wonder if I had chosen something like a sword, would¡¯ve I been rushed at by the chick sporting the sword?


    Shaking my head as if to get rid of useless thoughts, I waited for the system¡¯s reply patiently.


    [Answer: Yes! Based on your race¡¯s traits, a random monster pattern will be generated. The monster is usually 10-25% less powerful than the player undertaking the tutorial is.]


    ¡°Mhm¡­ What about the different difficulties levels? What¡¯s the difference?¡±


    [Answer: For Easy difficulty there will be only one monster you will face. For Normal there will be 3. For Advanced there will be 10. For Hard there will be 25. Finally for Impossible there will be 100.]


    ¡°Holy¡­¡±


    Leaving aside the Impossible and Hard difficulties that would be outright suicidal, even facing 10 seems impossible, given that the only advantage I¡¯ll have will be the 10-25% difference in attributes. However, even that is subjective. What if the monsters I face have 50% less defense than I do, but 40% more attack than I do¡­


    ¡°Is that even right? It feels that I¡¯m overthinking things¡­ Anything else I should know?¡±


    [Answer: Yes! Based on the difficulty you pick, a scenario will be generated. I am required to mention that every difficulty for each player¡¯s instance has a chance of being completed, irrelevant of how abysmal.]


    ¡°Is that supposed to be enticing? Because it is not¡­ Can you elaborate? What changes based on the scenario?¡±


    [Answer: The terrain, the environment, the type of clearing condition, as well as the reward based on the time-completion rate. While in some scenarios you require to outright kill your opponent, in some you are required to survive a certain amount of time.]


    ¡°Can you exemplify some types of rewards?¡±


    [Answer: Yes! Rewards can be anything from stats, to skills, items, titles, knowledge, etc.]


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    Well, it is not as if I was hesitating because of the reward, but because of that certain ¡®chance¡¯ of completing the scenario. Which means that even if you have to defend a castle against 100 attackers all on your own, there is a way in which you could successfully do so and kill the invaders by making use of your environment. This was¡­ difficult¡­


    ¡°Do I have any way of exiting if I find myself in a precarious position? Like a forceful ending of the scenario?¡±


    [Answer: Yes! However, you may not attempt the tutorial again once that happens and you forfeit the right to any reward as well.]


    I nodded at the reassuring explanation and began pondering. Based on the outright enmity the eight ¡®props¡¯ showed towards me, the chance of diplomacy working when dealing with them in the future is absolute zero. In this new world, might makes right!


    So if I want to maintain my human rights, I had to be strong enough¡­


    ¡°The only problem is that in order to be strong enough, I have to do stupid shit like this¡­ What if I do chose Impossible difficulty? My chances of beating that are also slim to none. Is it worth risking not getting a tutorial completion reward for something you ¡®might¡¯ get once finishing the more difficult one? What if it¡¯s a shitty reward after all that? This is driving me insane¡­¡±


    The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. High risks, high rewards! This was a simple to understand concept even before this total shit-storm. Nevertheless, looking at it logically, I stood no chance in actually beating a higher difficulty than Normal, even if I don¡¯t have to outright fight the mobs¡­


    [Please make your difficulty selection!]


    ¡°Ugh¡­ screw it. I chose Impossible difficulty!¡±


    [Accepted! Initializing scenario¡­ Mission has been generated: Assassin in the night!


    Mission content: kill 100 enemies before dawn, without being caught.]


    ¡°¡­well fuck!¡±

 8. New world

    The system didn¡¯t give me the chance to ask questions, complain, or swear at it some more and instead it just covered me in a light similar to the one I saw on the ¡®props¡¯ while they were being teleported out.


    ¡°Which means¡­¡±


    I could not help but gulp and prepare my stomach that was already churning at the memory of the unpleasant sensation brought by that instant movement. I closed my eyes and tried to prepare mentally as much as I could, but unfortunately, that only made it worse.


    With my senses focused on it, it felt as if I was stretched out from head to toe and elongated to the maximum possible, only to be ripped apart into nothingness and then put back together as slowly and painfully as it could be done.


    I fell on my knees the moment I felt that my feet touched the ground again, following the same process of dry heaving from before. That only served as a reminder of how stupidly hungry I was, while scanning my surroundings.


    ¡°Forest? No¡­ these type of trees and the plants¡­ jungle is more likely. Fuck! Jungle in another world? I couldn¡¯t survive in the one back on Earth, much less on an alien planet!¡±


    Complaining under my breath about possible tigers that are above 5-6 meters tall to appear all of a sudden, I cautiously moved between the trees, hoping to find something edible. Luckily enough, not even five minutes later, I did.


    ¡°It is 100% looking like bananas, so it should be just that. The height is not that bad either and I could probably climb it up easily.¡±


    I found comfort in the fact that I still had my shoes and that I won¡¯t hurt my feet, however looking at the bark of the tree, there might be a problem for my hands. Sighing, I ripped apart small strips from my T-shirt and wrapped them around the palms and all the way up to the fingers, leaving only the tips uncovered.


    When I was about 4 meters above the ground, I started pummeling the slightly greenish fruits, forcing them to fall to the ground. After about twenty or so were dropped, I took the chance to scan my surroundings from a higher point¡­ I obviously couldn¡¯t see shit because of the vegetation, thing that only pissed me off even more.


    ¡°At least it tastes normal¡­ now what?¡±


    While ravenously devouring about half of the bananas, I was carefully studying my surroundings, just in case something jumps at me. I couldn¡¯t be sure, but judging by the light of the sky, it should only be early morning, maybe close to noon.


    The obvious thing to do is to head for civilization, but in my case that would be a stupid thing to do since I am required to kill 100 people from the said civilization.


    ¡°Nevertheless, I cannot stay here. I must find them and at least attempt to solve the quest. But ho¡­¡±


    My thoughts stopped at the arrow mark engraved on the tree pointing in a certain direction. Markings at that height were impossible to be made by an animal and given that they were about 2.5 ¨C 3 meters from the ground, there was only one possibility: sentient beings!


    Holding tightly the spear that was teleported alongside myself, I slowly navigated the jungle using the markings as a map for what seemed to be at least a couple of hours. Judging by my shadow, it was close to noon when I found a large open space where there were no trees growing for what seemed to be many kilometers. The strange part was that, in the far background all the way to the horizon, one could still see trees acting like a fence to this huge¡­ meadow.


    ¡°Natural or hand-made I wonder?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    It obviously didn¡¯t take long to find a structure that didn¡¯t quite match the jungle-like scenery in the middle of the said ¡®meadow¡¯. From the point where I was, all I could see were walls above five, maybe six meters tall and towers that were even higher.


    I began pondering about how the fuck was I supposed to infiltrate such a place in the night and start killing 100 of their people. That was downright impossible given that those tall towers are for sure sentry towers and judging by the width of that wall, there will be patrols on it as well.


    [It is obviously hand-made. We had to cut many trees in order to create this fortress after all¡­](?)


    The sound of a voice behind me chilled me to my core. Grasping the spear tighter in my hands and mentally calculating the distance between the source of the voice and myself, I realized that I must be at least 3-4 meters away.


    Turning around slowly and standing up from my crouching position, I tried adopting a fierce look on my face in order to at least appear to be imposing. However¡­


    ¡°Holy¡­¡±


    I gaped at the 3-meter tall giantess in front of my eyes. Not only was she stupidly beautiful, but her hands were also holding something akin to a firearm pointed obviously at my head.


    ¡°Motherfucker! Just how is this even remotely doable? I come here strapped with a fucking spear and they have hot weapons!? Not to mention that even if they didn¡¯t, how the fuck I¡¯m I supposed to kill 100 giants? Are they going to obediently let me put my spear through them!? What the absolute fuck!?¡±


    Probably seeing the despairing look on my face while I was pondering how the fuck do I leave and abandon the tutorial, a smile from my opponent sent me into a daze. Holy shit! A simple smile on the face of this 3 meter girl made it seem like a field of flowers bloomed at the same time.


    Unexpectedly, she lowered her weapon and looked at me questioningly. It is not as if I stood a chance from the get-go, so I might as well do the same before I find a hole in my already ripped t-shirt¡­


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any bad intentions! I was lost in the jungle and followed the markings on the trees¡­¡±


    I said that while raising my hands with the spear still grasped, just in case. Surprisingly, the spear started shrinking at a fast pace, surprising both the girl and myself. Seconds later, it became a ring around my index finger, leaving both of us staring stupidly at it.


    She probably noticed my surprise and a pondering look appeared on her face. Seeing a chance to take advantage of and improve this newly established peaceful relationship, I slowly enunciated.


    ¡°My name is¡­¡±


    And I was forcefully stopped by a system message, making me gape at it.


    [Attention player! Gamer tag has not been selected yet! While in other worlds, in order to affect the foreign civilizations as little as possible, please select a gamer tag that you will use from now on!]


    I just stood there rooted in absolute silence for the following couple of seconds. When I woke up from my stupor, I could see the woman in front of me blinking her eyes in confusion. I couldn¡¯t help but snicker while scratching my head in embarrassment. A gamer tag, huh?


    I played my fair share of games and I used the same nickname since¡­ forever I guess. Embarrassing though to be addressed using it¡­


    ¡°Ahem¡­ DeFiLled! You can call me DeFiLled.¡±


    Thickening my skin to the max, even while my cheeks were burning, I looked straight into the woman¡¯s mesmerizing eyes and barely whispered. From my point of view, I was just like a teen barely going through puberty, which also hasn¡¯t fully woken up yet¡­


    [Oh! I can see it now!](?)


    ¡°See!? See what?¡± ¨C I asked befuddled


    [Your name. It shows above your head now. I am Anna, by the way. Nice to meet you!](Anna)


    ¡°Above¡­ my head?¡±


    I almost slapped my forehead and swore at how much game-like this shitty game was. Unnecessarily so even! The woman, Anna, put the weapon on her back and with a wide smile she beckoned me.


    [Let¡¯s go then. I didn¡¯t realize that you were a player from another world. We were warned by our prophet that many people will visit us, however none will be residents of this world of ours.](Anna)


    ¡°Huh? What? Wait¡­ go where?¡±


    [Hmm? To our fortress of course! We, the people of Serti, know how to treat guests!]


    [Quest update: You have met the people of Serti! They are the inhabitants of this world. Follow your new acquaintance to their fortress.]


    [Achievement gained: Universe Traveler.


    Requirement: The first in your world to meet a foreign civilization.]


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡±

 9. Residents of a broken world

    Upon opening the achievement silently, I almost cursed aloud at the benefit it was giving me: 50% better relationship with the indigenous races of other worlds. So, leaving aside the stupid thing that made me feel like I was Amerigo Vespucci discovering something that should¡¯ve remain hidden from the rest of the world, I was shocked at how talkative this 3-meter Aphrodite was.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ actually, with that rifle on her back, should it be Artemis?¡±


    My pondering about stupid things stopped abruptly when she began throwing questions my way, faster than I could even process the answers for them.


    [What about your world? What type of plants and trees do you have?](Anna)


    ¡°Well, all kinds. From plants used in agriculture to feed both us and the animals in our farms, to flowers that have no other purpose than being beautiful. For trees¡­ well, there are many¡­¡±


    [What about the animals? What sort of relationship did you build up with them?](Anna)


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    [And technology! Is your energy output related to the flora in your world?]


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡±


    I began wondering if coal somehow qualifies as a positive answer. Nevertheless, based on her questions, their world is highly dependent on flora and fauna? I wanted to ask, but as soon as I met those emerald eyes of hers, so pure and inquisitive, I forgot instantly what I wanted to ask.


    Really though, you would think that for someone with enough experience when dealing with the fairer sex, I would be capable of extorting information easily from her. However, with beauty that would put our own ¡®Miss Universe¡¯ to shame, I found myself in a pickle and could only look behind, to her left or right and even at the ground while answering some questions.


    ¡°How the hell does this make sense!? Who gets into a daze once looking at a woman!? I am legit scared to look into her eyes anymore!¡±


    [Oh! Stop!!!](Anna)


    With her sudden yell, I panicked and took a step back clutching my fist and directing mana towards the spear-ring on my finger.


    ¡°Did she decided to kill me after all?¡±


    [I¡¯m sorry! I got so excited that I forgot about the traps¡­](Anna)


    Damn! Her guilty face looks so goddamn adorable¡­that I couldn¡¯t find fault with her. Then, I finally processed what she just said.


    ¡°Traps!?¡±


    [Mhm! Unfortunately for us, we aren¡¯t the only inhabitants of this world and the relationship with the other party is quite¡­ sour. That is why we had to deploy traps around the area surrounding our last fortress. You almost stepped over a poisoned wire over here. Look!](Anna)


    She then proceeded to explain and point out a couple of other traps nearby. They were varying from pitfalls with spikes, to wires that could easily cut through stuff and were even poisoned, then something akin to bear traps that could probably skewer my entire body in one go and fields of over 10 square meters that could electrocute anyone stepping in their area. Moreover, those were just some of the examples.


    While following in her footsteps exactly, I couldn¡¯t help but ask about the weapon on her back. The scientific answer that I received lost me entirely. I couldn¡¯t help but think about one thing however: railgun!


    ¡°Just how advanced is this race of hers? In addition, if they are so advanced, what¡¯s the point of using poisoned wire against their ene¡­ holy fuck! Did she just say this was their ¡®last fortress¡¯?¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Anna, forgive me for asking something so insensitive and feel free not to answer if it¡¯s something that you cannot disclose. What do you mean by the last fortress? You mean to tell me that inside that small fortress are the remnants of your entire race?¡±


    I almost slapped myself at the sight of the pain flashing through her eyes, but I clenched my teeth and stood my ground. If I was to complete my quest, I need some information first. Their history is the most relevant piece I was in dire need of. Who knows, maybe they are murderers and I can use that to my advantage¡­


    [It¡¯s alright, don¡¯t make that face.](Anna) ¨C she giggled


    ¡°I am just curious, since that small place can probably hold only about a couple of thousands of your kind. Just what happened?¡±


    [Couple of thousands? No¡­ we are barely around one hundred left¡­](Anna)


    I froze at the answer I received. Barely one hundred? And I was supposed to kill their remaining members? Fuck dammit! I don¡¯t want to receive a stupid achievement that would say something like ¡®the murderer of an entire race¡¯. Even more so when one of their members was so beautiful.


    ¡°Well, at least I know why I am so biased¡­¡±


    [Our race has always had a special connection with nature around us. Everything from the little bugs on the ground to the predators of the forests, from the grass to the trees around us. We could hear their voices and help with their needs. My race never once hunted in millennia worth of our history, since we didn¡¯t have to. Fishes, deer, boar and many other small animals would give themselves up to us willingly once old and predators of the wild would bring to us tribute of their hunts. Smaller animals would bring us fruits and vegetables, while we ourselves would work the land and gain its bounty. In exchange, we would maintain the order of the world, cure sickness among both flora and fauna, help them extend their reach into new territories otherwise non friendly to them. We converted empty deserts to flourishing jungles and in time, learned to control the living energy of the world in order to transmute it into electricity. That, in turn, helped our civilization grow even more. Our race has a long lifespan and a low fertility rate but even then, we were still over two billions until 400 years ago¡­ That¡¯s when everything changed¡­](Anna)


    Longer lifespan, good understanding of nature and acting as if its guardians, converting deserts to jungles¡­ I could only think of druids and dyads I heard about in stories. But from her words, over two billions of such entities were reduced to a mere one hundred!? How?


    [Roughly 400 years ago, our world was blessed with a new deity: Ahrka. She is a goddess of peace and has just as much love for nature that my race has. However, we were also discovered by others and deemed unworthy of participating in their ¡®game¡¯ as players. Therefore, they said that our world would become one of their ¡®stages¡¯. We did not know what it meant at that time and even if we did, there would be nothing we could do to stop it¡­ Then, a new force began seeping through the cracks into our world. The same force I feel from you.](Anna)


    ¡°Mana¡­¡±


    [So that¡¯s what it¡¯s called¡­ We simply called it the ¡®curse¡¯. It had no effect on the women of our race however¡­](Anna)


    She paused and signaled towards the walls of the fortress in front of us, which I didn¡¯t even notice between the careful steps I had to take, as well as the story I was fully caught up in.


    To think that her world was suddenly fucked up because of a whim of these¡­ ¡®gods¡¯, like that. It¡¯s absurd! Moreover, all in order to relieve their boredom? That¡¯s not even on the level of genocide since their entire world is on the verge of annihilation.


    The huge wooden doors opened with a loud creaking sound and permitted us entry. The sight stunned me¡­


    [¡­the ones affected were the males. Just like a curse, it broke their wisdom and turned them into something less intelligent than even animals, acting only on their instincts. They attacked us with all they had, kidnaped and raped. The ones that would be born as man would be groomed to be just like them, while the women will be raised as sex slaves, as soon as they are able to bear children¡­](Anna)


    I felt the blood in my veins freeze at the sight of maybe around one hundred girls, just as beautiful as Anna. Some of them had scars, slightly ruining their beauty, but giving them a valiant air¡­ valiant air!? I felt like punching myself. Those scars were most likely acquired while fighting for their lives¡­


    ¡°And I have to kill them!? Why!? How does this makes any sense? They are struggling to stay alive¡­ Moreover, there aren¡¯t even one hundred. How can I complete the quest like that!?¡±


    Soon, my thoughts were drowned by the inquisitive voices of the girls and was flooded by questions from different people, while Anna had a smile of pure happiness on her face.


    ¡°Who knows how long has it been since they were able to have someone of the opposite sex in their presence and be so relaxed about it? I wish they would stop poking me though¡­¡±

 10. Different Paths

    Doing my best to ignore the beauties gathering around me like a swarm of locusts in the bible, I was able to finally take in the ¡®small¡¯ fortress I was brought to. I sighed deeply and did my best to pick up my jaw from the ground after observing my surroundings.


    Let¡¯s start with the skyscraper-like buildings, paved roads and intersections created which looked like they were teleported to this world as well. It looked exactly like a modern metropolis, if you could ignore the excessive greenery and titanic tree in the middle of it all, covering every part of this ¡®fortress¡¯ with its branches and stopping above the walls. It was downright impossible for me to miss these buildings with a simple glance from outside the wall that was barely 5 meters tall, much less the tree ¡­


    ¡°Miss Anna¡­ how?¡± ¨C I barely managed to squeeze out because of my amazement


    [Oh, right! I guess you might be surprised by the difference. The one in the middle is a World Tree¡­ kind off. It is more like, a World Tree that we cloned from a branch of the original World Tree of another world. Not only we can use it as our main power source, but it also camouflages this entire place and re-enforces our walls. It¡¯s also our only means of continuing the bloodline, without the males of our race¡­](Anna)


    I was surprised to see slightly reproachful looks from the other girls around her and she instantly stopped speaking about it. Realizing that it might be sensitive information that a stranger shouldn¡¯t have immediate access to, I stopped sniffing around for more clues and tried to gather my wits. After all, since coming to this world and interacting with its locals, I feel that I¡¯ve acted like a pre-adolescent boy in front of a playboy girl¡­


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s an insult to them to be compared¡­ I haven¡¯t exactly seen a girl back on Earth to be this beautiful¡­¡± ¨C I muttered to myself


    Fortunately or unfortunately, their hearing sense seemed to be much better compared to a normal person¡¯s and soon, giggles broke out from all around me. Their looks my way with their eyebrow raised almost made me blush in shame, but was able to remember that at least I am no longer a virgin and should be able to offer a freaking compliment without all this drama¡­


    [Earth? Is that the name of your world?](?) ¨C one of the girls around me asked suddenly


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    [Tell us about it! How is it compared to our world?](?) ¨C another one asked


    ¡°Difficult to say¡­ When it comes to flora, I am no expert and without a more in-depth look I won¡¯t be able to say there are any differences. Fauna-wise, I haven¡¯t seen that many animals, but the insects look pretty much the same.¡±


    [What about weapons?](?) ¨C someone in the crowd asked while pointing to Anna¡¯s railgun


    ¡°That much, I can tell you about. Besides the obvious cold weapons like knives and blades, my world developed different types, based on gunpowder. That one is the most common type in my world.¡±


    [How does it work?](Anna)


    ¡°Eh? Well, let¡¯s see¡­ Inside the weapon¡¯s chamber there is a bullet¡­¡±


    [What¡¯s a bullet?](Anna)


    Seeing the sparkly eyes of all the girls around me, I began sweating profusely and used all my working neurons in trying to scrap about each piece of information I could gather from my memory.


    ¡°Uhm¡­ think about it as a small metal thing about the size of a thumb. Inside this bullet which can be made of different materials such as copper, lead, steel and many others, there is this gunpowder at the back. Using a mechanism that creates a spark through a collision of two metals inside the gun chamber, the gunpowder is ignited and it explodes. Using the propelling force created from the explosion, the bullet is pushed forward at high speeds. That¡¯s about it I guess¡­¡± ¨C I answered surprised at my sudden eloquence, while trying my earnest to review what I said in order to make sure it was right


    The silence around me caught me off guard and I started looking around me confused. All the girls had pensive looks on their faces, staring at each other while seemingly trying to comprehend what I just said. Maybe I¡¯ve finally given them sufficient material to have some quiet and ask some questions of my own. Something felt fishy about this quest, the more I thought about it.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Actually¡­¡±


    And that¡¯s all I managed to get out.


    [What¡¯s lead, copper and steel?](?)


    ¡°Huh!? It¡¯s a type of material mined from the ground. By using fire to smelt it, it can be forged into different type of objects.¡± ¨C I reflexively answered


    [What about the bullet? How come it flies out of the gun simply because it explodes? Shouldn¡¯t it just break apart instead?](?)


    ¡°Not the entire bullet has gunpowder in it. Only a small part that encases it around the back.¡± ¨C I answered despondently while creating schematics in my mind, in order to confirm my answers


    [Then how does it fly out?](Anna)


    Seeing such pure child-like curiosity and joy on her face, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to stop answering questions, even if my throat was already dry and I couldn¡¯t help myself but think that I am dropping my guard too much in front of these beauties and was about to make a fool out of myself because my lack of knowledge¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s because of Newton¡¯s law¡­ ugh¡­ Newton was a scientist in our world that studied these type of things. I think this law of his was something among the lines of ¡®for every action, there¡¯s an equal and opposite reaction¡¯. That¡¯s why¡­¡±


    [The explosion is controlled! And since it does explode in a small space and backed against a wall, all that force is directed towards a specific point of exit, propelling this ¡®bullet¡¯ you speak of in the same direction!](?) ¨C someone in the crowd excitedly yelled


    ¡°Correct!¡±


    Appreciative looks were thrown the girl¡¯s way, as if she was the one to explain everything. I couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly at the thought. Also, our slow advancing pace came to a full stop and I was bombarded with questions continuously.


    They were surprisingly orderly about it though, as only one question was asked at a time, even if it came from different people. Still, I was getting mentally tired while my neurons were firing on all cylinders¡­


    [What about power? How is your world bringing energy out of its World Tree, if you cannot control your own life energy?](Anna)


    This question was both important for Anna, since judging by her face she wanted to ask for a while already but didn¡¯t since she wanted to be polite, however it was also for the other girls. How do I know? It felt like I could hear the sound as all of them whipped their heads my way and looked with astonishment at me, or rather, through me.


    ¡°Hmm? Are they trying to see the mana inside me?¡±


    [Holly Tree! It¡¯s true! Only because of the cursed energy did his body actually started to nurture the life energy inside it! And it looks so badly managed¡­ ahem! I mean¡­](?)


    Seeing the embarrassed look on this beauty¡¯s face, reminded me of a sunset on an ocean beach for some reason. I smiled and did my best to placate her, since she obviously didn¡¯t meant to offend me but might think she mistakenly did. I snickered at the thought, but the confusion and unwillingness in my mind only grew as a result.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. It¡¯s the truth after all. I am not certain what this life energy exactly is, but I might have an inkling now. Back in my world, words of such things are treated as fairytales, stories based on someone¡¯s imagination. There might be some people that reach the same level as I am now through decades of meditation and continuous training tough¡­¡±


    The gasps in the crowd made me finally realize just how different our two worlds are. What is a just a story you read for us, is real life for them. Just like in those stories however, their entire race has been developed around this type of energy though.


    Therefore, their following question should obviously be¡­


    [Then, what about lights and machineries? How do you create your world and raise it from the ground? Judging from your clothing and the fact that it¡¯s a material I cannot recognize, you obviously have industries that require energy. What sort of energy are you using?](?)


    And as expected, the question arrived. I was in a dilemma however, as it felt that to them, the guardians of the world, what we were doing back in my world¡­ might certainly offend them.


    ¡°Do keep in mind please that, since our cultures are different, we had to evolve using different routes than your world.¡±


    Seeing them all nod in approval, albeit fast like hurrying me to spill the beans, I took a deep breath.


    ¡°Firstly there was kinetic energy and fire. Using the force of rivers to move objects through creating specific entrapments for example. However, it wasn¡¯t sufficient as we couldn¡¯t exactly move the said water bodies wherever we needed them. Therefore¡­ fire. By burning either coal that was mined from the ground, or by setting alight wood in contained chambers, the resulting heat would power up different machineries that later on, helped us create and discover new types of energy.¡±


    Seeing the shocked look on their faces and the fact that they were doing their best to remain neutral about it, I sighed in relief and continued my explanation.


    ¡°Using these initial two, helped us uncover electricity. Uhm¡­ I don¡¯t think I will need to explain that one seeing the light poles on the streets. Now, not only do we have that, but we can also exploit energy from the wind, sun and even the atoms that we are made of.¡±


    I intentionally threw the last one in as bait, only to see how advanced they are in comparison to us in other fields. The lack of confusion gave me the answer. Even without taking the extreme technological path that we took, their race managed to achieve a beautiful balance between science and this life energy I was barely getting a rough understanding of, in probably less time than we did and judging by the rail gun, even managed to surpass us.


    Somehow, it felt as if we humans were cheated and had to take the hard way to reaching where we are right now, through countless wars and sacrifices.

 11. Trap?

    Then again, our world was never as united as their world was. The Serti race is an inquisitive race, indeed just like us humans, but the difference lays within the finer details. Everything they do is for the betterment of their race just as we claim to, however they only seek to better themselves in order to protect and improve their world. Just what kind of people are they, if even the animals move according to their wills and willingly give themselves as food to them, is obvious for all to see.


    That¡¯s too different from us humans. If there would be a main trait to our race, then it would certainly be greed. With the changes that are happening to our world right now, everything dark I¡¯ve read before in novels will be certain to occur, making me not exactly look forward to it.


    ¡°I suddenly don¡¯t feel like leaving this beautiful paradise¡­¡±


    Maybe noticing my distraught mood, I caught with the corner of my eye one of the beauties nodding to someone behind me. I shook away the useless thoughts and curiously focused on what they were planning next. These girls didn¡¯t seem as strong as Anna, but I didn¡¯t dare to lower my guard.


    [Ahem! I have another question¡­ Oh no! Marie!](?)


    [Oh, my!](Marie)


    It was too obvious that it was a distraction, but I decided to play along. And it was totally worth it! The girl named Marie was a goddess with such a plentiful chest that the buttons on her shirt weren¡¯t able to hold them back and just burst forward in full splendor.


    The image of those holly mountains that were shaking as if they were made from pudding made me blank out and completely drop my guard.


    ¡°Goddamit! How can that be!? Fuck! I can¡¯t help but think of the textile feel they would have in my hand. Would they even be covered by my hands? Hmm!?¡±


    A sudden pain came from the top of my head and it felt as if a bucket of cold water has been thrown on me. I fucking fell for it! Turning around to see what I¡¯ve been hit with and reaching from my head to feel if there was any blood, I was frozen at what I saw.


    Another godly-level beauty with long and slender legs and amazingly awesome curves was blushing in embarrassment as if a child caught steeling a lollipop, while holding a strand of short white hair in between her fingers. Even if she was embarrassed, she was making sure each five seconds or so that it was still there and the breeze didn¡¯t move it away.


    ¡°Just¡­ what the¡­¡±


    The following scene softened my knees to the point where I almost keeled over. She pushed her jade-like fingers holding the strand of hair between her rosy lips, while her blue eyes had a stoic expression akin to ¡®I am not giving it back¡¯. I tried piecing what just happened together in order to make sense of the situation, but whatever I could think of¡­ didn¡¯t !!!


    ¡°First they distract me with those holly mountains over there and then this girl sneaks behind me in order to grab a single strand of hair of mine? If she would¡¯ve bagged it, I might¡¯ve been able to say that they want to investigate my DNA to see the difference between our races¡­ but she ATE it! What the fuck!? Cannibals? But then, why go for a strand of hair? Also, why pick the white one?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but sighing at the fact that I had white strands of hair at my not-even-30 age. I blame it all on the graveyard night shift at the call center. At least they paid me well and got white hair as a bonus, even if there were only strands.


    But then, the most amazing thing happened. Not only this girl, but the others around us had shocked looked on their faces for a second, but then turned and looked at me with disappointment, as if it wasn¡¯t even close to enough to satisfy them.


    ¡°I mean¡­ do I taste that bad or that good!? I made sure to wash four times today, so that shouldn¡¯t be the case. In addition, they took a goddam white strand, that¡¯s probably close to dead. What were they expecting?¡±


    Seeing their greedy looks, I gulped audibly and thought that I might go bald soon if I don¡¯t do something about this situation. Therefore, I ran my fingers through my hair and a couple of them were caught in the palm of my hand. I offered them to the ¡®taster¡¯ of this group and smiled to her like a benevolent God, almost bringing tears in the eyes of the beauty.


    Then, she bolted out of there just like a rabbit, as if she caught hold of the most precious treasure in the world.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°Uhm¡­¡±


    Then, as if things weren¡¯t strange enough, the others looked at each other and seemed to have reached a conclusion. The next thing I knew, they all started waving me goodbye and ran towards the center of the city, where the ¡®taster¡¯ ran towards as well.


    I couldn¡¯t help but turn in confusion towards Anna which had a bitter smile on her face as she was abandoned by her people with this ¡®alien¡¯ that was myself. I could tell that she was rather embarrassed by what just happened.


    [I¡¯m sorry, I tried to stop them, but¡­](Anna)


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not like you knew that I was going to arrive today and is not like you knew what they were thinking. There might be¡­ ahem¡­ slight cultural difference between us, but I still look forward to learning more about your world.¡±


    These words only served to embarrass the girl even more, as her face reddened like a tomato. I really wanted grasp that beautiful face of hers in my hands and not ever let go¡­


    [And us yours! I am glad you are not angry about it.](Anna)


    ¡°It¡¯s just some strands of hair. I can part easily with something like that. I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you for a while now but I didn¡¯t get the chance. According to you, I am barely beginning to learn how to use the life energy inside my body. Also, you said that it is a different energy than mana, correct?¡±


    [Indeed! When compared to mana, life energy is a more¡­ natural type, while the first can be considered artificial. Every living being has this type of life energy and it would be impossible for them to live without it. Mana on the other hand¡­ it feels¡­ it¡¯s hard to put into words, but it feels as if it¡¯s something artificially created.](Anna)


    ¡°I see¡­ Then, it might be a rude request but, can you teach me how to better my control over the life energy inside my own body?¡±


    [Of course! That is something that we start teaching our children as soon as they possess the intelligence to learn, so it is not a major secret. Lately, we haven¡¯t been able to much of that¡­](Anna)


    Seeing how I approached a rather sensitive subject, I shut my mouth and let her sort out her thoughts. They did mention that the ¡®World Tree¡¯ is also their means of ¡®continuing their race¡¯. I honestly had no clue how a tree could make children, but it¡¯s another fucking world I¡¯ve been teleported to by a system created by Gods that were bored and wanted to play, so what the fuck do I know?


    All that mattered for me was for them to help me grasp the energy I felt in my body after grasping mana. I was agreeable with what Anna said previously about them feeling different. If I were to compare them, the life energy felt as if it was the skin on my hands and the mana was a pair of gloves.


    ¡°That might mean that if I can learn to better control my life energy, it will certainly boost my control over mana and maybe my holding capacity as well. Maybe I could use this as my cheat!¡±


    [It¡¯s getting late! Come! You will stay at my house tonight. I am curious about what you think of our world¡¯s cuisine.](Anna)


    ¡°Gladly!¡±


    This grim reminder of the lesser time I have left before nightfall, woke me up from my reverie. Trying to piece things together about my quest on the way to Anna¡¯s house, I finally got the chance to ask some more questions. Since there was a chance that the ¡®enemies¡¯ mentioned in my quest might be the men of the Resti race, I asked about them. Apparently the girls are referring to them as Fallen and that they have been oddly quiet lately.


    ¡°That¡¯s a fucking flag isn¡¯t it!?¡±


    I also found out that all their main electricity sources were gathered from the plants around the fortress or from the World Tree, that used a machinery they created and life energy was converted into electricity. Not only that, but apparently, this World Tree was a gift sent from their Goddess when seeing that their race is about to go extinct because of mana that invaded this world. It was this Goddess as well that sent her prophecy down through one of the girls and imparted some wisdom not belonging to this world to them. The way they used to distract me as well, was something their Goddess taught them.


    ¡°Their Goddess taught them how to use a honey-trap!? What a terrifying Goddess!¡±


    But it made sense for a godly being with knowledge above what this world possess to be able to spot that. I mean, it doesn¡¯t take a genius once seeing the beauty of these girls. However, that Goddess underestimated the greed and evil hearts of men of my race.


    Thinking back to my quest, there was nothing pointing to the fact that these girls were the targets. Also, they were under 100 in this fortress according to Anna, therefore it was impossible to complete the quest that way.


    The system clearly stated that even if miniscule, there will be a chance to complete the quest.


    ¡°There are too many variables to make sure I can make the right choice and still not enough information. In game terms, the Resti people should be NPC¡¯s and I should be able to see my relationship status with them. If they are kind towards me it should be Friendly. If they are hostile, it should show as Enemy. So why the hell isn¡¯t that shown?¡±


    I was brought out of my pensive state after almost stuffing my face in Anna¡¯s chest since she stopped and turned to me abruptly. If only I had a bit more speed¡­


    [We¡¯re here. Oh, right! Since you¡¯ll sleep here tonight, I unfortunately have only one bed. I hope you don¡¯t mind sharing it.](Anna)


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The DREAM is still alive! Way to go Goddess!

 12. Doubts

    I checked the beauty in front of me to make sure she wasn¡¯t joking and to my utmost pleasure, it didn¡¯t seem like it. Rather, she looked¡­ normal? How should I put it? She looked as if she just asked me if I like my bread normal or toasted, not if it would be okay for me as a grown up man to sleep in the same bed with her and those two godly mountains of her.


    I swallowed hard and only managed to nod my head in approval, since I couldn¡¯t form a simple sentence even if my life was depending on it.


    [Great! Let¡¯s go in. I am sure you will find the dishes that we serve to be delicious. We found a way to enhance the spices using life energy and as result, the taste became enhanced as well¡­](Anna)


    Anna kept telling me about the cuisine of this world but I couldn¡¯t help but space out while checking her out. Might have been rude if I would¡¯ve been caught, but I was honestly at a loss for words. Could it be that our civilizations are so different that it¡¯s not that big of a deal to share a bed between a man and a woman even if they are strangers? There¡¯s no way that¡¯s the case!


    ¡°Could it be that since the men in their race haven¡¯t been around for ages, the sexual frustration levels are THAT high? According to them, it¡¯s been more than a couple of years. Since that¡¯s the case, I am not surprised that I wasn¡¯t stripped naked after entering the city and passed between the girls like a walking human vibrator¡­¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but swallow hard once more and shake my head at the beautiful dream. There was more to this and usually, the more you hope for, the bigger the disappointment. So what¡¯s the deal with them? Could it be that their race evolved beyond the need of sexual contact?


    ¡°That might be the case since they mentioned that they use a fucking tree to make new babies, but that doesn¡¯t mean that they forgot that they can have sex. I mean, at least animals should be a living reminder that it¡¯s still a possibility.¡±


    The more I thought about it, the stranger everything was turning. Could it be that this was a trap of sorts? To have me lower my guard and then kill me afterwards?


    ¡°Not necessary! Seeing the rifle on Anna¡¯s back, I am sure it could easily pierce a military-grade bunker like it was made out of paper, much less myself. Therefore, there¡¯s no need for harming me, or taking me hostage.¡±


    If it¡¯s for information, I can give that out freely since it¡¯s just general knowledge and I don¡¯t have national or military secrets that I can expose. So even if it would be a honey trap to get me to spill out the beans, I would spill that shit like there¡¯s no tomorrow.


    In the end, I couldn¡¯t figure it out at all and with the quest still blinking in the right corner of my vision, I was becoming more and more confused.


    ¡°Will something happen during the night? Do they transform in freaking werewolves or something? That¡­ shouldn¡¯t be the case. Then, will the enemies show up tonight? In that case they should be the men of their race, AKA the Fallen. That would make sense, but¡­ how the hell I¡¯m I supposed to kill 100 of them?¡±


    Looking at Anna while she was pointing at her apartment that was on the 9<sup>th</sup> floor, I just realized something scary: if according to the system interface, after barely using the mana for a bit and getting my body used to it I became this strong compared to a normal human, how strong does a Fallen become since they have full mastery of their life energy?


    ¡°According to the girls, once you control the life energy of your own body, guiding and using mana should be tens of times easier. Also, the girls did mention the mana as a curse for the males, but they didn¡¯t say that they couldn¡¯t use it either. Fuck!¡±


    I almost slapped myself at thinking of the possibility of jumping on this girl in the middle of the night. Holy crap! A slap from her would probably send my ass in the next dimension and I had such stupid thoughts¡­


    ¡°Fucking stupid system! What chance do I have to complete this quest since even a freaking newborn would be stronger than me in this world! Goddam stupid world and stupid tree! Hmm!?¡±


    Right before the elevator reached the last floor, I caught a glimpse of something and I couldn¡¯t help but frown. I made some connections between what they told me and I could vaguely tell where this was going. The problem was that there were so many routes this night could take, that I wasn¡¯t able to pinpoint the exact one before going through with it.


    However, I relaxed a bit since no harm should befall me. No! Put in better words, these girls would willingly throw their lives away to protect mine at this point, if my theory was correct.


    [We¡¯re here! Make yourself comfortable and if you want to take a shower is the second room on the left. For clothes¡­ I am afraid I cannot offer any, but there is a washing machine in the bathroom. It should finish the whole process and dry them out by the time you are done on your end as well. I will go prepare some dishes!](Anna)


    ¡°Alright. I will take you up on that shower.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Seeing the jubilant expression on her pretty face, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Probably, a part of her was simply happy to have me as a guest and show off her cooking skills, while the other part was happy about what I was signifying for her race. Looking at the clock in the living room, it was already 3:15PM. I had less than six hours until the quest will probably begin for real and there were no preparations I could make yet since there were still not sufficient information.


    The washing machine was surprisingly similar to the ones back on earth, except for the distinctive handprint next to the settings of it. Since it didn¡¯t have any cables, meaning that that it wasn¡¯t connected to anything to get its power from and had only the water drawing hose, it meant that it was probably using a different type of energy: life energy!


    ¡°This klutz probably forgot to mention the fact that it was like this. Either that or it¡¯s a test. Since it¡¯s a handprint, I could probably put my hand on it and transfer some of my life energy to power it up. The only question is, is this safe? After all, I don¡¯t know the repercussions of using the said energy on my newbie level¡­¡±


    Caught in a dilemma and standing there in my underwear pondering, I heard a loud gasp and the sound of hurried footsteps coming my way. I chuckled at the fact that she was just too excited and forgot to tell me. There was a knock on the door, so I took a towel and wrapped it around my waist, since it was not gentleman-like to stand there almost with your junk out in front of a lady¡­ unless she specifically asks you to!


    [Sorry! I forgot to tell you that it needs life energy to start. I will help right away.](Anna)


    ¡°No worries! Actually, do you think I can do it?¡±


    [Hmm? I don¡¯t think there should be a problem. The amount of life energy needed is miniscule and you have enough not to cause you harm. The problem is the control. I don¡¯t think you can move the energy just yet, since you don¡¯t have sufficient proficiency with it.](Anna)


    I thought about it a bit and it made sense. I only uncovered it because of mana after all and I wasn¡¯t able to properly use mana either. However, since she was here with me, I could run some experiments and have her teach me for a bit. One way or another, that should come in handy.


    ¡°Think you can give me a crash-course on how to use it?¡±


    Seeing the same pensive look on her face, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder on how similar it was with the other girls as well. I could only pray that this didn¡¯t touch upon some taboo on the end of her race and have her teach me. Being able to manipulate this life energy, in theory should not only make me stronger, but healthier as well. If I am to listen to the legends and take these pretty dryads as example, maybe even a longer lifespan.


    [It shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Let me see¡­ first of all, can you clearly feel the two powers inside you? The ¡®mana¡¯, I think you called it and the energy that is closer linked to your body?](Anna)


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    [Good! Now, focus on the life energy and try to feel its shape.](Anna)


    ¡°Shape?¡±


    [Mhm! Each person has a different shape, but we don¡¯t know what it¡¯s based on unfortunately. It¡¯s like a fingerprint! Everyone¡¯s unique. Here, give me you hand.](Anna)


    Upon taking my hand and placing it above her heart, I did my best not to cuss at the fact that I didn¡¯t forcefully move it myself a couple of centimeters lower and tried my best to focus on what she was asking.


    Then, the most surprising thing happened. It felt as if the floodgates for something opened and streams of information were flowing in my mind through my hand. All these bits and pieces were putting together a picture. I realized that I could somehow ¡®see¡¯ inside of Anna¡¯s core and I was slightly shook at the realization.


    ¡°If I am not wrong, that should be a mana core. Not only that, but it¡¯s surrounded by Anna¡¯s life energy.¡±


    The more I focused on the picture, the clearer it became. Soon, the image of a majestic deer came into focus, with the core acting as its heart. It was so life-like that it felt that it would start hopping around any second now. Feeling a light thug on my hand, the image disappeared and I opened my eyes, seeing a bright smile that almost made me hug this beauty.


    [Amazing! To be able to sense it so fast! Even adults of my race have problems in doing that in the beginning. That¡¯s the shape of my life energy. According to what you told me, it hasn¡¯t been so long since you uncovered yours, therefore it shouldn¡¯t be formed just yet. Maybe just a vague figure? Nevertheless, you should be able to sense it. I will also help you a bit.](Anna)


    Grabbing both my hands, she started pouring her own life energy through the right hand and absorbing it back through the left. That way, my entire body was being washed by this higher quality product, lighting up beacons along the way. After a couple of minutes, seeing how pale this beauty was turning, I stopped her and told her that it was enough. I didn¡¯t expect the toll on her to be that high¡­


    [Phew¡­ I always forget how taxing that is if you haven¡¯t reached the life-like rank. How is it? Can you tell the shape?](Anna)


    ¡°Shape, huh? It¡¯s strange but it doesn¡¯t really look like a shape. It¡¯s more like dots across space at this point and not a picture like yours. They are connected at least, so I should be able to move the energy around, but I can¡¯t tell what sort of picture it should be¡­¡±


    [That¡¯s normal. You are just a beginner after all. It would be too strange to actually have a clear image from the beginning. Okay, give it a try then! Place your hand on the machine and focus on moving the energy from your body, through your hand and into the machine. Don¡¯t worry though! The machine has a convertor that has a maximum capacity and can only store enough energy for one washing cycle, so no harm will befall you.](Anna)


    The process was simple than I thought and with a loud *clink* sound the washing machine locked and started doing its thing. I felt slightly lightheaded and hungry, but Anna assured me that it¡¯s because of my unrefined life energy and it¡¯s small quantity.


    As I walked into the shower for the¡­ fifth time today? I realized just how long today has been. So much stuff happened and now, besides mana, a new door opened for me. As the warm water washed off my sweat, I began formulating a plan for today¡­


    ¡°At least, what¡¯s left of it anyways¡­¡±