《HS Dungeon Crawl》 Before the Beginning I stared at the building that rested on the other side of the parking lot. There was a cluster of five buildings to my right and a gym to the left. The tour for new students had been a week ago. Even then it hadn''t been helpful. I couldn''t remember what the guide droned on about and the only thing I remembered was where the main office was located. It was a start. A throng of students filled the quad. The cliques were simple enough to identify even in the crowd. A cluster of black clothes marked the goths. Letterman jackets and polo shirts identified the jocks. The odd cowboy hat in a patch of denim gave the farm kids away. A smaller sprinkling of geeks of various half-breeds mingled in the spaces between the larger defined groups. The only group I couldn''t really find were the thugs. A group of spoiled white kids playing at being hard was usually easy catch. Either they were scarce in these parts, or they were waiting for the bell elsewhere. Regardless, it was the jocks were the main number in the crowd. My first day wardrobe had been carefully crafted to blend in. A gray t-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of black sneakers. It didn''t identify me as part of any group. ??Hopefully it would give me time to make the choice myself. I wasn''t sure where I fit in to all of this. The wrong sport would turn the jocks against me. I had a solid build thanks to a growth spurt over the summer and could probably fit in with them if I kept quiet. The ruse wouldn''t hold for long if I had to engage in long conversation. Soccer was the only sport I could halfway fake talking about. I had played it when I was a kid just long enough for my dad to get a job in another state. Now I was too short for basketball, didn''t care about football, and stunk at baseball. Most likely I wasn''t rich enough to be a prep, and I didn''t own enough black clothes to be a goth. I would either find a spot in the next couple of days, or I''d be eating a lot of my lunches alone.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The crowd dispersed as the first bell rang. I knew my class was in the main building, the same as the office, but I couldn''t remember where exactly. There weren''t as many inquisitive stares as I crossed the emptying quad. I made it through the doors before I had to answer any questions. It may have been a little anti-social, but I''ve never been accused of being outgoing. The previous years of school as the quiet, nerdy kid didn''t exactly leave me with a strong desire to talk to strangers. My plan was to stay under the radar until I graduated. Three more years, not counting this one. A group of my fellow students funneled through a wide set of double-doors into the main building. I joined the tail end of the flow. The others split off on their way while I stopped near the numbered plate on the closest door. It read: 107. "Hey," I said to the a passing student. "Where''s room one-oh-five?" The guy was lanky with wiry blond hair and dimpled chin. "Sure," he smiled as he spoke. "Take the second door on the left to the lower level." "Thanks," I replied. The door was already open when I got there. I took that as a good sign and set my mind to putting together a list of things I needed to do. Get to my first class, find my locker, look for my second class, go to lunch, and hopefully by then I would have found a map or something. An emergency exit display would work. ??Those things always had routes planned out and a helpful ''you are here'' dot. My train of thought was interrupted as the stairs came to a stop. The lights went out. I looked up at the doorway to see the lanky silhouette of the guy who had given me directions. He giggled as the door slammed shut leaving me blinking at an afterimage. I had somehow managed to ask the class clown for directions. "This is a great start," I muttered to myself in the dark. Then the migraine hit. No, that word was too kind. It felt like there was something inside my skull that had decided now was the perfect time to hatch. I crumpled to the floor squeezing my eyes shut. The air tasted like hot plastic. Thankfully, I passed out. 2. And Now It Starts A glowing green panel hovered in the air in front of my face once I regained consciousness. I closed my eyes and rolled to my side. At some point I had crawled onto the stairs. My bag had saved me from the worst of the fall. My back hurt, but the migraine had already faded away. The taste of warm asphalt lingered on my dry tongue. I sat up. The green panel was still there when I opened my eyes. I blinked. Still there. It was about the same size as a piece of printer paper, except it was transparent and floating in the air. I focused on the panel and a button formed in the center. ??There was a single word on it. [BEGIN] I raised my hand and the panel shifted to a comfortable distance. My fingers went through the display, but they started to tingle when I made contact. The button felt different than the panel. It was thicker, like moving from water to oil. Both the button and the panel held its shape when my hand moved through them. [STARTING ASSESSMENT] A ripple of cold shot up along my arm, up my neck, and began to swirl around my head. Tiny sparks clouded my vision. Somehow, I stayed upright. The chill faded began to form the green panel once more. [ASSESSMENT COMPLETE] [Mason Yannick] [Level 0. Ordinary] The panel disappeared and took the soft glow with it. I slipped my bag off of my shoulders. The weight felt good, real, but I needed my cellphone more than a safety blanket. A smaller green panel slid into view. It came from the seam where the zipper had been, now it was simply a strip of gray. The display on the readout had a three-by-five grid to the left, and an information section to the right. Four of the spots had icons. Two books, a phone, and a key. [Backpack- 11/15 Available] [Skill Book: Charisma +1] [Basic Tablet] [Yannick Household Key] [Codex 000: A New World] The tablet must have meant my phone. I tapped the icon. A stone slate the size of my smartphone appeared in my hand. It didn''t have a screen or charger port. Even the power button was missing. I raised it to eye level and a stack of text appeared. [Status] [Settings] [Contacts] I tapped contacts only for the tablet to go blank. Even emergency numbers were missing. It returned to the initial menu after a moment. I selected the settings option. [Activate HUD] [Activate Mini-Map] [Update Codex] [Update Map] This didn''t make any sense. I had played enough video games to recognize menu screens, but this was ridiculous. The text started to pulse and fade with each beat. It popped back to life once I focused on the words. I needed answers. Right now, I didn''t even know what questions I needed to ask. [Activate HUD] [Simplified] [Complex] [Custom] [Simplified. Yes/No.] Three bars stretched out along the bottom of my vision. A red one rested in the center with a blue and yellow to each side. I focused on the bars. [Red- Health 5/5] [Blue- Mana 5/5] [Yellow- Energy 5/5] "Why do I only have five health?" I said. The display didn''t reply. "Fine," I grunted. Mana usually dealt with magical things. Energy could mean anything from simple stamina to some sort of electrical stuff to power my tablet. [Activate Mini-Map. Yes/No.] A silver dollar sized circle appeared in the lower right hand of my vision. The top down map currently showed my icon, a green triangle, part of the hall before me, and the stairs I had come down. Everything else was blocked by the fog of war. It was better than everything being blocked out. Not by much, but still.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. [Update Codex. Invalid command. Add codex to queue.] [Update Map. Invalid command. Not enough information.] That narrowed things down a bit. I backed out to the main menu and moved on to status. [Mason Yannick. Level 0. Ordinary. 0/100 Experience to Level 1.] [Skills: NA] [Attributes: Locked] [Active Quests: NA] [Completed Quests: NA] [Allies: NA] [Adversaries: Pending] "Pending?" I whispered. "What does that even mean?" The door at the top of the stairs popped as it opened. A soft chuckle drifted through the darkness. The door swung open to reveal a familiar lanky silhouette. It was just different enough to send a shiver down my spine. The guy was hunched and had his shoulders tilted farther than they should have gone. My luck today wasn''t swinging toward him being flexible. I turned back toward the darkened hallway and ran. The mini-map revealed the passage by a single five-foot orb at a time. A whisper of a chuckle climbed to a hysterical pitch as I ran. It stopped just long enough for the light switch to echo after me. The thing that had been the prankster let out a cheerful hoot before falling into another stretch of laughter. There wasn''t time to second guess my new world. My health bar with a total of five points told me to run. I needed to escape. Something clambered down the stairs. I looked over my shoulder in time to see the guy roll back up to his feet. "Shouldn''t have done that," I muttered as I pushed myself faster. He wasn''t some prankster. He was a clown, or at least he was becoming one. The roots of his blond hair had turned bright blue. Misshapen white dots spread like a pox over his red polo shirt and khaki pants. He reached out with a long, pale finger to the wall beside him. The click of the light switch echoed down hall. My mini-map got a burst of detail once the lights came on. The passage looked like it went on for a while longer and running was a great plan. It was temporary. One dead end would end this run before I even began. I needed to find a way back to the surface and the only way I knew for sure was blocked by a crazed clown. I needed to fight back. This sucked. I liked clowns. "Brain," I said as tossed an empty trash bin behind me. "Focus. This isn''t survival horror, it''s action-adventure." Talking to myself wasn''t healthy, I knew that, but hearing the words helped. Any idea was perfect inside my head. The mechanics of transferring the thought to voice and listening to the sound made it real. I needed a weapon. My eyes darted along the passage as I kept running. It looked to be a storage area and janitors closet that had once been classrooms. Stacks of cardboard boxes were labeled with dates sat on shelves next to empty bottles of cleaning solutions. All I needed now was a paperclip, some chewing gum, and a mullet. A push broom was propped against the wall ahead of me. I snatched it from its spot and spun back toward the clown. The dusty broom wasn''t exactly intimidating, but it was the best I could do. The creep bounded toward me in wide leaping strides. He launched himself at me. I planted my foot on the end of the handle with the wide broom facing front. It wasn''t a spear, and he wasn''t on a horse, but the thought was the same. Mostly. I hoped. He crashed down onto the broom. I felt the handle push against my foot. It held, but the other ended didn''t. He dropped to the ground with a line of grit on his pox covered shirt. The broom tumbled onto the ground with him and left me holding the remaining part of the handle. The clown let out a little giggle as it bounced back to its feet. I pulled the stick up, spun it in my hands to grip it like a bat, and swung. The impact sent a painful jolt up to my shoulders. He bounced head-first off the wall and wobbled back to his feet. His glowing yellow eyes locked lazily on mine. A toothy smile began to spread across his face. I pulled back for another swing. His eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed into a heap. I kept the broomstick between us as I shimmied along the wall. He didn''t move. I broke into a sprint back toward the stairs. Text began to scroll along the left side of my vision. [300 XP] [Level Up!] [Class Unlocked] [Attributes Activated] [Quests Unlocked] [Allies Unlocked] [Skills Unlocked] [Adversaries: Clown Zero] [Mason Yannick. Level 1. Quick. Total Experience: 300. Level 2: 1000 XP required.] [Health 25/25] [Mana 5/5] [Energy 5/25.] [Skills:] [Simple Weapons] [Improvised Weapons] I looked back as I made it to the top of the stairs. The broken parts of the broom marked where the clown had been, but the creep was gone. I slammed the door shut and put my back against it. The adrenaline that had kept me going bottomed out. My legs shook as they valiantly struggled to hold my weight. I slumped against the door and slid down to the cold stone floor. I didn''t have a plan now. Staying here and freaking out wasn''t option. No matter how much I wanted it to be. I needed to do something more than pass out in the middle of the hall. Stone. My hand rubbed the floor beside where I sat. It had been carpeted before. The hall had been replaced with a wide expanse of a stone passage with gently burning lights along the ceiling. Before all of this it hadn''t taken long to get from the front doors to the one now against my back. I couldn''t see the limits of this new space. Today was off to a great start. 3. In the Halls I pushed myself back to my feet. The front door should still be just down the hall. All I had to do was get to it and get outside. Somehow that would make everything better. My feet dragged along the stone floor. The last time I had been in a fight was in the first grade. A couple of kids decided to pick on me and I pushed one. Now, I had battered a guy who looked like he had clown pox. This was not how I thought today would go. An alien invasion was more likely than the world turning into a video game. I stopped in my tracks. My legs wobbled as my momentum tried to pull me onward. I hadn''t been walking so much as falling forward and catching myself with one foot at a time. What if whatever this was had reached the entire world? Would getting out really help? It had to. I had to get out of here, to get home. [Quest Started: Get Home] A flash of light ahead stopped my spiraling thoughts. There was a stretch of illumination where the office was supposed to be, where it still was. I sprinted toward the light. My footsteps echoed down the hall in time with the pounding of my heart. A metal frame set into the stone wall marked the start of a long window. The glass was split into three panels and had a doorway at the end. On top of all this, there were people inside. My feet slid along the floor as I neared the door. I grasped the metal frame and pulled myself into the room. It was the office, but not quite. There was a waiting area in the center of the room only the chairs had been replaced with a pair of wooden benches. The offices along the far wall were now shut behind thick wooden doors. The closest person was an older woman stood behind a solid stone counter to my left. Her blonde hair was speckled with gray and she wore wire-frame glasses. She was the same one from the tour my parents and I had gone on last week. Something about her made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It had to be my nerves. Tunnel vision, or something like that. I was coming down from an adrenaline rush so it was just my mind trying to adjust back to normal. I stepped out of the doorway scanning the area again. The feeling of impending doom didn''t let up. My lizard brain was screaming at me to run. There had to be some change beyond the cosmetic. My eyes were drawn to the woman I recognized. I watched her as she went about her business at the desk. She was repeating the same motions over and over. Read a page, flip to the next, pause, and take a drink of coffee. It was the exact sequence without fail. I shifted my attention to the book. The page would fall back into place as she took a sip of her coffee for her to read again. Her wide, cheery stare locked onto me as I stepped closer. "Hello, dear," she said with a smile. "How can I help you?" "Something is going on," I blurted out. "A guy attacked me, the building is different, and I just... I don''t know what''s going on." My heart started to pound again as I spoke. Relief had given way to panic. I slumped onto to the counter. My breath began to quicken. I wanted answers. More than that, I needed to get the hell out of here. My head started to spin. I took a deep breath and let it out. My entire world focused on the stretch of the stone counter between my hands. The pounding in my ear began to pass.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The same wide, cheery stare greeted me as I looked up at her. "Hello, dear," she said with a smile. "How can I help you?" "I need help," I said slowly. "Of course, dear," she replied. "Here you go." A small package wrapped in beige clothe appeared on the counter before me. I picked it up. [Starters Bundle 1x] The text hovered in the air above the package. My hands trembled. I looked back to the woman only to see that she had returned to her loop. My phone. There had to be someone I could call. Emergency services at least. Failing that I''d settle for my parents. I had it before the clown attack. Did I put it away? I patted my pockets. The stone slate appeared in my hand. I stared at it for a long moment. A new line of text had joined the list. [Character Sheet] I stumbled over to a bench and took a seat. "Fine," I muttered. "This is a game." [Mason Yannick. Level 1. Quick. Total Experience: 300.] [Strength: 9] [Vitality: 9] [Agility: 12] [Charisma: 9] [Perception: 11] [Will: 7] [Skills:] [Simple Weapons] [Improvised Weapons] Tabletop games and video games were something I was familiar with. It wasn''t the worst build, if the stats were on a scale of one to twenty. I never did do the min-max thing. My stats certainly not the best, that was for sure. I put my tablet back in my pocket and turned my attention to the package in my lap. How did I open it? My backpack didn''t have a zipper anymore and my phone had just appeared in my hand. I settled back into the bench. The stiff wood seat pressed into my back just below my shoulders. My bag was gone. I felt where the straps were supposed to be. [Backpack- 10/15 Available.] [Skill Book: Charisma +1] [Yannick Household Key] [Codex 000: A New World] The display hovered in the space before me. I looked around the room. Everyone else continued in their tasks. "Menus don''t pause the game," I whispered. "I''ll have to keep that in mind." I tapped on the Skill Book. [Activate? Yes/No] "Sure," I said and accepted the action. [Charisma +1] [Backpack- 9/15 Available] I backed out of my inventory. The Starters Bundle glowed green where it rested on the floor near my feet. I touched my pocket, the tablet appeared in my hand, and another touch made it disappear. The inventory window showed up when I tapped just below my collar bone where the straps should have been. Lowering my hand closer the window. The mechanics were simple enough. I picked up the Starters Bundle and tapped its top. A stack of text popped up in the air above it. [Dagger 1x] [Apple 2x] [Cheese Wedge 2x] [Simple Leather Armor] [Minor Health Potion 1x] My shirt shifted as the text faded. I could feel the weight of the leather armor on my torso. It didn''t feel much heavier than wearing my backpack. My right hand rested on the hilt of the dagger that had appeared on my hip. I leaned back to get a better look. It wasn''t attached to a belt, but something held it in place. "If the office is here, the doors should be too," I said as I stood. It felt good to hear a voice, even if it was my own. There had to be someone else like me around here. I scanned the room again. It only took a moment to see that the staff ran on a loop like the lady at the counter. I drew my dagger and paused waiting for some sort of reaction. No one cared. It was longer than I expected, but it wasn''t too heavy. Looking at the blade quieted the gibbering panic in my head. I wasn''t helpless anymore. I could do this. Whatever that meant. 4. First Encounter The longer I stayed in the office the more it made my skin crawl. Everyone was busy, but they were on a loop. Whatever had turned that guy into a clown had made these people NPCs. I couldn''t be the only player, there had to be more. There was only one way to find out. I stood beside the doorway and watched the light play on the stone floor of the hallway. I reached down toward the dagger. It jumped from its perch to my open hand. My plan was to keep it simple. Front door, outside, and then home. I had ridden a bus this morning. Even if they still functioned in some form I doubted that I would be able to get a ride home. The route was easy enough to remember. Turn right out of the parking lot, another right at the light, and then three miles straight out of town. I hunched over as I crept out into the hallway. A dagger and leather armor did help with my confidence, but I had no idea what was beyond the patches of light. I kept a slow, steady pace directed toward the front door. How long had I been at this school already? It took a couple minutes to walk across the parking lot and quad. Maybe another two or three to get downstairs. I had no idea how long that clown thing chased me. With all that it probably still had only been an hour at most. I did not need another run in with some crazed classmate. [Skill Unlocked: Sneak] I crouched lower and scanned the area. Sneaking usually meant that there was someone out there searching. Something scuttled along the stone at the edge of my vision. My gaming experience told me that nothing good ever scuttled in a dungeon. "Don''t be a giant spider," I whispered as I continued toward the front door. I didn''t mind spiders, as long as they kept their distance and weren''t bigger than a cricket. Unfortunately, the giant kind were a common baddie in dungeons. Spiders, skeletons, and zombies were standard fodder of the genre. Considering how my luck was going they would probably be poisonous whatever it turned out to be. The scuttling sound stopped. I did too. It was replaced with what sounded like a wet towel being dropped on the floor. The plop-squish repeated and turned into a steady beat. Strangely enough, I wasn''t comforted by this change. I wasn''t surrounded by complete darkness. The orbs of light spaced along the ceiling provided some illumination, just not much. Each flickering orb lit up about five feet which left at least double that in varying degrees of dark. I angled my path into the deeper areas of shadow. Whatever was in here needed to find me to attack.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. My eyes tracked movement to my right as the plop-squish beat got closer. A translucent blue slime shaped like a gumdrop wobbled as it landed nearby. A pair of empty white orbs that kind of looked like eyes floated around the top of the blob. A partially dissolved spider the size of a dinner plate hovered in the goop. The slime wiggled back. It let out a plop as the edge lifted off the stone. The squish was when it landed. That answered that question, and the giant spider one too. There was only one effective way I knew how to defeat gelatin. Unfortunately, I didn''t see a hose anywhere at hand. "Nope," I said. I bolted toward where the door was supposed to be. A dagger against slime didn''t feel like a good idea. The darkness gradually faded with each step. I laughed as a door took form ahead of me. [Skill Unlocked: Dash] I broke into a sprint and launched myself at the door as I got close. My foot connected with the door. The impact rattled my teeth, but I didn''t care. The door swung open and I landed on the sidewalk. My moment of ecstasy was ripped away as I looked out onto what had become of the quad. The flat area with a flagpole had been transformed into an open stretch of a ballroom. Tall barred windows decorated its length of the hall. It widened where the parking lot had been. I could see the start of three vast doors spaced out along the far wall. My shoulders sank as I looked up toward the sky. The ceiling of the ballroom was painted a brilliant cerulean complete with fluffy clouds. A steady plop-squish only helped to fuel my spirally madness. "Fine," I yelled as I turned to face the slime. "Come and get me." I felt the blank eyes of the slime settle on me. It hopped forward. I charged to meet it. My dagger sliced cleanly through the bouncing goop. Pins and needles danced along my skin where flecks of slime landed. I bounced to the side and chopped down. The slime split into two smaller chunks and both continued to hop around. I kept the dagger between me and them as I backed up. Each slime had one eye. A spark of a plan formed in my mind. I swiped at the closest slime, separating the chunk with the eye from the rest. The goop wiggled as the majority of its body liquefied on the stone below. I sliced the white orb into two pieces and the rest of it melted away. The moment of victory was cut short as everything below my left knee went numb. I looked down to see the other slime happily wobbling on my leg. A shot of pins and needles raced up to my hip. I gritted my teeth and watched the slime grow. Its eye rested against my shin. "This is going to suck," I growled. I took aim as best as I could and chopped down. The dagger slowed as it got deeper into the slime. Splatters of the goop splashed onto my hand. Keeping hold of the dagger was getting harder by the moment. My vision started to blur. Its blank eye wobbled happily as I tried to pull back for another strike. The dagger fell out of my hand. I tried to make a fist to bash the thing off of my leg. "Hold still," a voice ordered from my right. I turned to see the vague shape of a person. My tongue was heavy. I couldn''t feel my legs and it was taking more energy than I had to simply keep my eyes open. There was something important I needed to do. It would come back to me once I got some sleep. 5. Tell Me I was Dreaming My mouth was dry. The sandpaper texture of my tongue didn''t make me want to wake up. I rolled onto my side and tucked my pillow under my head. It didn''t help. I knew that moving was going to be rough, but I didn''t expect it to take such a toll. The weird dreams, flat pillows, and the strong scent of rotten fruit were not a good way to start the day. On top of all that, my left sock was wet. No. It was my entire leg. I opened my eyes and looked down at my foot. "Oh, come on," I said. I was lying on a patch of clean stone. A few puddles of goo dotted the floor by legs with a bigger nearby. [Health 5/25] [Mana 5/5] [Energy 3/25] [Status: Stunned] [Codex Entry Added: Slime] [XP: 10] "How are you feeling?" A garbled voice asked. The world spun way too fast as I tried to find the speaker. "Woah," I drew the word out as I spoke. "Stunned." "Are you a person?" They asked. I closed my eyes. The spinning was not helping things. "Yeah, I think so," my slurred words came out slow. "Are you?" "As far as I know," the voice replied. "What''s your name?" "Mason." "I''m Ashley," they said. The spinning stopped. I opened one eye. It seemed fine. I turned my head to the right to see Ashley sitting on a stone bench nearby. Her raven black hair was in a messy pixie cut and shaved on the side. We wore the same leather armor, but she had a bow instead of a dagger. "I don''t know you," she said after a moment. "I''m new," I replied as I sat up. "Please tell me you''re seeing this too?" "Seeing what?" I waved a hand at my armor, the remains of the slime, and the room around us. "That was sarcasm," she stated. She stood and offered me a hand. Her dark amber skin made mine look pale in comparison. She helped me to my feet. I was taller than her now that I wasn''t on my back.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "What level are you?" She asked. "Level one, quick," I answered. "You?" "Level one, agile," she replied. "Where did you get your gear?" "I got a starter pack from the office," I let the words hang to see if she would say more. "Are they stuck in a loop?" She asked. I nodded. "There goes my plan," Ashley muttered under her breath. She tapped her pocket and held up her tablet. "Do you have any idea how this all works?" I equipped mine. "I''ve got my HUD and mini-map setup," I said with a shrug. "There''s not much else." A blinking line of text caught my attention. [Contact Added: Ashley Wright] "I have no idea what that means," I said. She stared at me. "I know you''re added to my contacts, but what does that actually do?" I continued. "It probably means that we talk to each other," she replied. "Sarcasm is your default setting, isn''t it?" She nodded. "My plan was to get answers at the office," Ashley said. "That''s not going to happen if they''re in loops. You looked like you were going somewhere." "Get outside and go home," I said with a smile. "This isn''t outside." "No, it isn''t," she said as she put her hands on her waist and looked around. "Home sounds like a good idea as any." She started off toward the doors without another word. I caught up to her easily enough. Our footsteps echoed in the vast, empty room. Nothing moved. We were completely alone in the ballroom. "How did you get here?" I asked. "Same as you," she replied. "I found a door that led to the quad." "Where did you get your gear?" "My math teacher," she said with chuckle. "I stopped in before class. There was this flash and I got a killer headache. Everything was changed when it wore off. I tried to talk to him. He gave me a bow and this leather armor." "Have you seen anyone?" I asked. She looked back toward the doors. "Come on, we''re almost there." "There was a guy," I spoke slowly. "Before all this, he pulled a trick on me. I asked where my class was and he locked me in a basement. After the change he turned into a clown." Ashley looked over her shoulder at me. "An evil clown." "Are there any clowns that aren''t evil?" I shook my head and kept walking. The doors were bigger than I had thought. They stretched to the ceiling and were a good twenty feet wide. We started to jog as we got closer. A screen shifted into view before us. [Key Required] "Where do we find the key?" I asked. "How should I know?" She snapped. [Quest Stared: The Lost Key] [Retrieve the Gate Key from the Troll Jarl] [Quest Reward: 5000 XP. Gate Key. 1000 Renown] [Trolls -500 Renown] "Troll Jarl?" Ashley looked over to me. "A jarl is kind of like a noble," I said. "The troll part," she shook her head as she spoke. "Are we talking about the ''who''s that clip clopping on my bridge'' kind, or ''they''ve got a cave troll'' type?" "I guess we''ll find out," I said as I turned back to look at the stretch we had just crossed. [Quest Marker Added] I pulled out my tablet and navigated to my map. It was a top-down view of the campus. "Where is this?" I showed Ashley my tablet. "That''s the practice field," she said with a sigh. "It''s over there," she pointed the way she came. "Through the building, across a street, two parking lots, and the gym." "I was in that building for like twenty minutes," I said. "I ran into an evil clown, a giant spider, and a slime that nearly killed me." "Well," she took out her bow as she spoke. "You could setup camp here and wait for me. Unless I find another gate, the key can open. It''s not like you owe me for saving you from carnivorous hospital food." I stared at her for a long moment. "Ladies first," I said with a small bow. 6. Onward She led the way to the door to our right. We passed two doors as we moved closer to the wall. Ashley gave them a wide berth. We finally made it to the door in the corner. She pulled on the dark metal handle. The door didn''t budge, but another readout appeared in front of her. "It''s blank," I said. "What?" "It''s blank," I repeated. "It says it''s locked," her brow wrinkled as she spoke. "You really don''t see anything?" "Just the window," I said with a shrug. "Can you pick it?" She stared at me. "Let me try," I said and stepped around her. A window popped up in front of me. [Lock Picking Tutorial: Complete the Circuit] "What''s up?" "It''s a mini-game to pick the lock," I replied.
Lock: Simple *
Attempts: 3
*
"It seems easy enough," I said.
Lock: Simple *
Attempts: 3
* >> >> X
The window shifted back to its original view.
Lock: Simple *
Attempts: 2 >> X
* >> >> X
"I need to get some lock picks," I whispered. "What?" Ashley asked as she leaned in to try to look at the window.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "On my last try," I said.
Lock: Simple >> >> CONNECTED
Attempts: 1 >> X
CONNECTED >> >> X
The window disappeared. A moment later the door gave solid, satisfying metallic thud and shifted open. [XP: 100] [Skill Unlocked: Lock Picking- Simple] "Got it," I said as I stood. "What''s inside?" "There''s a lounge we can cut through," Ashley circled around to my left side as she spoke. "Then we can go through the teacher parking area along the back road to the gym." She knocked an arrow. I hunched down lower and pulled the door open. "Looks clear," she whispered. I nodded, drew my dagger, and crept inside. The passage was lit by beams of sunlight filtered through a glass ceiling. Verdant vines stretched along the right wall. A grand wrought iron fence on my left separated the passage from a sun drenched market. Brightly colored stalls lined the square. The slabs of stone floor were replaced by smaller crafted bricks arranged in wide arcs. "That''s some lounge," I whispered. "Check the gate," Ashley said moving to put her back to the wall. Manicured vines and curved iron accents made the gate easy to find. I stayed low as I hurried over to it. The gate opened without a menu screen or mini-game. Something didn''t feel right. Aside from my life suddenly becoming a video game, that is. The care put into this are for people to admire it. The space should be packed with vendors, barkers, shoppers, and probably a few thieves. I looked back at Ashley. She shrugged. A small push swung the gate open even farther. I stayed hunched over a bit as I moved into the market. Ashley followed a few steps behind and a little to my left. The faint scent of bread lingered around the first stall and a wisp of strawberry came from the next. "Who usually hangs out here?" I asked pushing open the gate. "In the morning?" Ashley tilted her head to the side in thought. "The chess club, I think." "So," I drew the word out. "The type of people who would probably set a trap if they were turned into monsters?" Ashley stopped. We were three stalls into the market now. She scanned the area. Almost as a second thought she shifted her search to include the tops of the stalls too. "Damn it," she muttered. She snapped her aim upward as a crowd of dark shapes sprang into the air. They had us surrounded and outnumbered. We moved closer to each other until we stood back to back. "I count ten," she said. "Same," I replied. Their tawny fur covered bodies were short with spindly limbs, pointed ears with tufts of hair at the end, and a tail that would have fit on a lion. They would have been cute, if not for the claws and sharp teeth. The only thing that remained of human features was the odd shape of their noses stuck halfway between the snout of a cat. "Maybe they''re friendly?" I offered. The moment broke as a scream spurred the creatures into action. Ashley shot one out of the air as it leaped toward us. I lunged, dagger first, as another jumped at me. Only the cross-guard stopped the blade from punching completely through. The creature shimmered and disappeared in a silent explosion. My wonder was interrupted by another attack. A clawed hand ripped down across my chest. [-5 HP] The text drifted into the air before me. I rocked back onto my heels, shifted my feet, and sprang toward the creature. My shoulder hit it square in the chest throwing it off balance. I pressed my attack with a back-handed slash to be awarded with another silent explosion. An arrow zipped passed me. I followed its path into the chest of a creature that I was about to take a bite out of my back. A quick stab finished the sneaky thing. I turned to thank her only to find three of the creatures closing in on her. She held her bow horizontally in front of her to keep them from getting too close. Her last arrow had disappeared with the one I had just popped. "Ashley," I called. She looked over her shoulder. I tossed her my dagger, hilt first, and sprinted toward her as it sailed through the air. Her bow vanished as she deftly caught the other weapon. The sculpted bricks thwapped against my legs as I slid toward the creature closest to me. There wasn''t much that stuck with me when I played soccer as a kid, but I tackling each other had been fun. The creature tumbled over me. It landed headfirst with a dull thud. I could see one of the creatures pop in my peripheral vision. "Mason," Ashley said. I held up my hand. The dagger landed neatly in my palm. I brought the blade down onto the creature next to me. "Here," I said tossing the dagger up. I hopped to my feet and scanned the area for the next threat. A single creature stared back at me. Ashley stepped up to my side. The fuzzy thing held its hands above its head. "You win," It squeaked. "I surrender." [Area Cleared] [The Market is now available] [500 XP Awarded] [200 Renown Awarded] [Current XP: 910] [Level 2: 1000 XP] [Codex Entry Added - Goblins] I looked over to Ashley. She held out my dagger. I squinted as I studied her. "You keep it," I said getting to my feet. "You sure?" "You can give it back when you get more arrows," I said as I finally figured out what had changed. "What?" She asked. "Did you always have pointed ears?" I asked. 7. Read The Instructions Ashley ran a finger along her pointed ears. "This is weird, right?" I asked. "You didn''t have those a couple of minutes ago." "I leveled," she replied absently. "Maybe that has something to do with it." "You guys are kidding, right?" The remaining goblin asked. We both stared at him. "You didn''t read the codex?" "No," I replied. "I was a little busy being attacked by monsters." Ashley shook her head. It was the goblins turn to stare at us. The gates opened before we could say anything more. We froze. A string of people strolled into the space and began setting up the stalls. None of them even looked in our direction while they worked. "This is creepier than the empty room," I whispered. "Where is the shortcut?" "Back this way," Ashley said walking away. The goblin followed close to her and I stayed a step behind him. It had already ambushed us once, I didn''t want to give it another shot at a sneak attack. "You said you leveled?" "Yeah," she didn''t look over her shoulder as she spoke. "You didn''t?" "I''m ninety points short," I answered. "What does your sheet say now?" She pulled out her tablet once we were out of the main stretch. "Level 2 Agile. Elf," she read. "I unlocked a couple of new skills too. Synergy and Minion One." "Leveling up turned you into an elf?" "I am not a minion," the goblin chimed in. "Shut it, minion," Ashley snapped. "I have a name." "I know," she stared him down as she spoke. "I don''t care." I pressed the palm of my hand into my forehead. The pressure felt real. My had was warm and a little sweaty. Was I passed out on the floor at the bottom of the stairs? Had I slipped and knocked myself out? This was all just a dream. People didn''t turn into elves, clowns, or goblins. They didn''t shimmer and explode. So far this morning I had battered a clown, sliced a slime into mush, and dispatched a a few goblins. Dinner had been cold pizza. This was a weird dream brought on by indigestion and my alarm was going to go off soon. "Mason," Ashley said. Her voice was louder than usual with a slight cut to it. I looked up at her.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Are you done spacing out?" She asked. "The door is locked and I need you to open it." "Yeah, right." I stepped up to the door. The lock picking interface popped up. A five tall by twenty wide grid stretched the length of the panel. "Small problem," I said. "What?" Ashley stepped in closer. "This is way more complicated and I only have on try," I paused. "Don''t elves have really good eyesight and stuff? You could give it a try." "I''ve been an elf for like five minutes," she said with a sigh. "How am I supposed to know?" "Read. The. Codex," the goblin said. "Fine," I growled. "Watch my back." I pulled out my tablet and opened the option in the settings menu. [Codex 000: A New World] [Your world has been found to be functioning inefficiently and has been restructured to improve performance. The world and its workings have been adjusted by taking a sample from the collective unconscious from the dominate sentient species. Please be aware that there will be some regional differences.] I looked up at the goblin. He shrugged. [Assignment] [To further streamline performance of your world each individual will undergo an assessment and assigned a function. These options will undergo a brief period of calibration to adjust to new world. Those who do not fit a broad category will be placed classified as an ordinary and given a brief period of time to present a dominant trait.] "This is a joke," I muttered. "This has to be a joke." [Progress and regular maintenance will begin once the new system has reached an efficient percentage. This will advance the connection an individual has will their assignment. Assignments are meant to be permanent, but it is possible for radical progression to cause the system to adjust] [Enjoy your new role in your efficient world!] "It''s a world class practical joke," the goblin piped up. "What are you thinking, share mass hallucinations? Or illusions?" "Shut up," I snapped. I filled Ashley in on the details. She glared at me and then read it for herself. "What the actual BLEEP," Ashley said. "Wait. BLEEP. I can''t say BLEEP." "BLEEP," I tried. "BLEEP hell BLEEPING damn BLEEPITY crap BLEEP." I looked at the goblin. "The codex didn''t say anything about that," he held out his hands as he spoke. "Okay," I said slowly. "We can''t get through this door, so what''s the plan?" "We go the long way," Ashley replied. "I''m going to sit down for a bit," I said leaning against the wall. "Just, you know, for a couple of minutes or so." "Are you going to freak out?" The goblin hopped a couple of feet back. "Are you going to puke? Please don''t puke. I can smell everything now." "I just need a minute," I said as I sank down to the floor. "Were those other goblins people?" "Yeah," the goblin nodded. "They were the rest of the chess club." "Oh, okay," my voice dropped to a whisper. "That''s good to know. I just killed like six of them." "More like four," Ashley corrected. "I got the rest." "Well that makes it all better," I whispered. The brick floor was warmer than I expected. I tried to keep my breathing slow and controlled. The codex said that the entire world had been changed. What would I do once I got out of here? Was there an actual outside anymore? Maybe my house would be a safe zone like a player home. I was a player and it was my home. A scream bounced around the market. It hadn''t come from me. "What was that?" Ashley asked. "Let me look," the goblin hopped onto the top of a nearby stall. "What is it?" "Uh," the goblin said. "It''s a clown? Uh, we should run." I jumped to my feet. "We need to get out of here." "Okay, why?" Ashley asked. "Now there''s three of them," the goblin called down. "It''s a clown plague," I said drawing my dagger. "You''re BLEEPING with me." "I told you I got attacked by a guy who turned into a clown. It was like a disease that changed him. A clown plague," I said. "We''re in an enclosed space with plenty of people to catch it. Please, just trust me and run." "There''s a lot more now," the goblin called again. "And he just summoned some monkeys wearing vests. No, those are goblins. I think they''re the chess club." "Running sounds good," Ashley said with a nod. 8. Send In the Clowns A chorus of hysterical laughter grew louder with every newly infected NPC. "They have blocked the main gate," the goblin yelled from his perch. "I can''t crack this door," I looked at the vast puzzle screen again as I spoke. "The other hall," Ashley said. "I''m still out of arrows. Do any of the stalls have stuff yet?" "Nope," the goblin replied. Ashley moved to the edge of the stall where her minion was perched. She leaned out for a quick look. The laughter faded to a rumble of chuckling. "Where are we going?" I asked in a low whisper. She pointed to the other side of the room directly across from us. I could just barely see the top of the doors. "Minion," she whispered. "My name is Bruce," the goblin cut in. "Minion," she repeated. "Stay out of their reach. Get to the other door." "Great plan," Bruce said. He leaned back on his haunches and sprang across the pathway between the rows of stalls. The goblin landed smartly on the fabric top of across the gap. He looked back over at us and gave us an elaborate bow. Then the fabric gave, dumping him into the stall below. It wasn''t quiet. The steady rumble of chuckling spiked into a rolling giggle. Ashley sprinted across the gap. The giggles got even louder. Their awkward footsteps slapped against the brick as they came closer. Ashley pulled Bruce up to his feet. She looked back at me. Every part of me wanted to tell her to come back. Help me, damn it. Here lies Mason, he was killed by a crowd of clowns. I waved her on. At least I could make my last act making sure they got away. Best case scenario, I would turn into a heroic clown. The worst, well, I didn''t want to think about that. I launched to my feet and rushed from my hiding spot. ??Time slowed to a crawl. The crowd of clowns were within reach. Stark white veins clustered around their eyes and slithered out along their faces. They were close enough for me to see that the plague affected each person in their own way. The pox I had seen before came in purple, blue, and red. Some were losing chunks of hair while others had patches of dark stubble coming in along their jawline.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. In the middle of the crowd, leading the charge, was the original one from earlier. The plague had progressed even further along on him. His hair was completely blue and his pox covered clothes had merged into a single piece of baggy coveralls. My brain filed the observations away as I moved. I clenched my left hand into a fist and launched it into the face of my clown stalker. My momentum drove the punch harder than I thought possible. His head seemed to deform around my hand. Punching someone in the face wasn''t a common thing in my life, but even with my limited experience I knew it didn''t feel right. His skull had a squish to it like a sack of sand rather than solid bone. The clown went ridged and fell to the floor only to bounce back into place. I stayed in motion. Another clown stepped into my path. I lowered my shoulder and rammed the creep out of the way. It let out a little giggle as it collided with a couple of others nearby. All of the details around me blurred as I pushed myself faster. The energy bar along the bottom of my vision dropped rapidly. A swatch of garish color zipped over my head. Three more followed before I found my route blocked by a wall of clowns. One in the middle exploded in a puff of confetti. The two beside it looked at each other in exaggerated shock. They bounced out of reach before Ashley could get another sneak attack. It wasn''t much of an opening, but it was better than nothing. A slide tackle had worked with the goblins. Hopefully the same tactic would do for the clowns. I slid across the decorative brick tiles with one leg extended. Two of the clowns had bunched up to avoid the dagger that had popped their compatriot. They tumbled like bowling pins as I crashed into them. I hopped to my feet as the two more creeps bounced nearby. "Come on," Ashley yelled. She dashed to the door behind her. I kicked one of the clowns as it bounced closer to me. It sailed through the air and turned to a puff of confetti as it hit the side of a stall. The other one hopped up to its feet. I planted my foot and launched a fist at it. Muscle memory rotated my hips to add extra power. My parents definitely didn''t have punching clowns in mind when they sent me to baseball camp last summer. My target was too distracted miming tears to dodge my punch. The clown bobbled and exploded. These infected weren''t as strong as patient zero. That didn''t sound right. Clown zero. Bozo the Carrier. Clown prime. Zero the Creep. Zero, that had the best fit to it. Bruce opened the door and waved us through. He closed it behind us. I yanked Ashley to a stop once it shut. Her brow wrinkled as she glared at me. Something slammed against the door. "We need to block it," I said. She nodded. Bruce grumbled under his breath as he pushed against the door. I scanned the area around us. We were in another passage way, this one wasn''t nearly as bright or finely decorated. The walls were wood rather than stone and were lined with small shacks. I forced my mind back to the task at hand. Barricade now, get confused later. "Here," Bruce squeaked. "There is a bar, lock thing." I rushed over and slammed my shoulder into the door. It fit flush against the wall. Ashley slid the bar into place. The door bounced a few more times, but it held. "How did I miss that?" I asked. "I don''t know," Bruce wheezed as he leaned against the wall. "This isn''t going to hold for long," Ashley watched the door as she spoke. "We need to move." I nodded. My pocket vibrated. I looked at Ashley. She was too busy staring at the door to pay any attention to me. My pocket vibrated again. I slowly pulled up my tablet. [500 XP] [Level Up!] [Level 3: 1410 / 4000] [Advanced Class Assigned: Brawler] [Ally Gained: Bruce. Goblin Minion] [Class Skills Unlocked:] [Medium Armor] [Unarmed Combat] [Special Move - Slide Tackle] [Health: 30] [Mana: 10] [Energy: 45] 9. Loot the Halls "You look," Ashley titled her head as she spoke. "Different." I rolled my shoulders. "Something feels different," I replied. I pulled up my information on my tablet. [Mason Yannick] [Level 2 Quick Brawler Total XP: 1410/3000] [Felspawn: +2 Agi, +1 Vit] [Strength: 9] [Vitality: 10] [Agility: 14] [Charisma: 10] [Perception: 11] [Will: 7] "I''m a Felspawn," I said. "What does that even mean?" Now that I had the time to pay attention my lower back felt weird and my forehead was sore. "Do I have horns?" I asked rubbing my forehead. "No," Bruce said. "You''ve got a nice set of fangs and your ears are pointed." "Huh," I grunted. I ran my tongue along my teeth. My incisors had elongated into a full set of fangs. I shook my head to get back to the moment at hand. "What are these shacks?" I stepped closer to one as I spoke. "Lockers, I guess," Ashley said leaning into the doorway of one. "This hall was lined with them." "We should look for loot," I said. "The stuff in my bag changed into items." I opened the thin wooden door of the closest shack. A New World Codex sat in the middle of the floor. I moved on to the next. "Loot?" Ashley asked. "You realize how weird you sound, right?" "I know," I didn''t stop my search. "I could just be passed out at the bottom of the stairs in the main building. There was a leak in the chemicals and I''m tripping out of my head. This could all be a dream. Until I wake up, or whatever happens, I''m going to just go with it. Our lives are a game now. You''re an Elf, he''s a goblin, and I''m a Felspawn. It doesn''t matter if you believe me. Trust me for now and look for something useful." "Found something," Bruce called from across the pathway. I looked over my shoulder. He held a tablet up to show us. His head tilted to the side as the thin stone rectangle began to glow. Tiny globes of light drifted along his arm before surrounding his head. His entire body began to glow. Bruce screamed as he disappeared in a flash of light. A vague afterimage of his form danced before my eyes. My ears were ringing. I leaned against the shack to keep my balance. My vision was too blurry to make out anything beyond fuzzy blobs of color. I fumbled my way into the shack I had just searched. It was a tight fit, but it got me out of the hallway. The clowns were still on the other side of the door. I would be completely useless if they broke through now. My vision finally started to clear in the dim shack interior. [Contact Added: Bruce Nome]This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Bruce?" I called. "Here," he warbled in reply. "What happened?" Ashley asked as she came out from one of the other shacks. A window hovered in the space before the goblin. "Tablet synchronized," he read. "Class unlocked. Attributes activated. Quests unlocked." "You''re a PC now," I quickly added. "Player character." "I know what a PC is," Ashley said with a sigh. "What does the rest of it say?" "Level zero goblin minion," he muttered. "That will change," I said. "I think. Maybe. Focus on looting." "You know what''s odd? None of the mobs have dropped loot," Bruce said. "How do we know?" Ashley called from inside her shack. "We haven''t had time to check." [Studded Leather Armor - Medium] [Durability: 20/20] I didn''t hesitate to equip the new armor. "Bruce," I said. "Can you wear light armor?" "I guess," he answered. "Try it," I said as I tossed my old armor over to him. The leather armor snapped into place as it touched his outstretched hand. "That''s," he looked down as he spoke. "Interesting." "I''m finding a lot of codex," Ashley said as she came out of a shack. "Anything?" "I found some medium armor," I said with a tap to my chest. "Bruce?" "A backpack and a book that gives a plus one to vitality," he said holding up the book. "What else in down this hall?" I asked. "Classrooms," Ashley replied. "It heads back to the main building, but doesn''t connect. There''s a little garden space and an access road. We can follow that up to the Troll Jarl." "Troll Jarl?" Bruce chimed in. "Seriously?" "The front doors are locked," I said as I pulled out my tablet again. "Let me see if I can share the quest with you." "He''s my minion," Ashley said with a chuckle. "I''ll do it." "I''m not your minion," Bruce snapped. "Really?" Ashley held up her tablet. "I''ve got this new option on my tablet. Minion commands." "What?" "Let''s try it out," she said with a tight smile. Bruce crouched. "What are you doing?" "Hide," Ashley replied. "What about this one?" Bruce stood up and walked over to where Ashley waited. "Regroup," she said. "I wonder what this last one does." "Fine," Bruce muttered. "I''m your minion." "Cheer up," she said as she tapped the last option. "What did you do?" "Dismiss," her smile turned genuine. "You''re a real boy now." Bruce pulled up his tablet. He read something and then looked up at her. "I''m not a minion," he whispered. "Sure you are," Ashley cooed as she patted him on the head. "But now you''re a useful minion." "Ha. Ha," the goblin deadpanned. "We should check if there is anything useful in the classrooms." Ashley pulled ahead as we started down the hall. The door behind us had quieted down. For some reason, it didn''t make me feel any better. Zero was probably trying to find more people to infect. I had been in close contact with him twice now, but I was still fine. Ashley didn''t show any signs of infection either. I didn''t think Bruce had gotten close enough to be at danger. Regardless, Zero could spread the plague and had raised the dead goblins. "The other goblins," I asked Bruce. "Were they, you know, aware?" "I guess," Bruce said with a shrug. "They seemed normal enough, aside from the tails and fur." "I''m trying to figure out this clown thing," I replied. "It certainly is weird," he said nodding. The merchants hadn''t tried to escape. Before that none of them had even looked at us. I could almost feel the click as my thoughts connected. The merchants were NPCs. Zero could infect them, but not players. He raised the goblins as special minions. Did that mean that he was a player? Was Zero some special kind of monster? He could be some sort of mini-boss. "Did you get the quest?" I asked. "Get the key from the Troll Jarl," he answered. "Yep." "There''s a door here," Ashley said. "Is it locked?" I asked. "Nope," she said opening it. "Holy BLEEP." "What?" Bruce and I broke into a run. He easily outpaced me as moved on his hands and feet like an ape. Each step was accentuated by the click of his claws on stone. He slid to a stop next to Ashley. I joined them a moment later. "What room is this?" I asked. "I don''t know," Ashley replied. "I don''t have any classes in this building." I stared at the sprawling field of wild grass on the other side of the door. A village rested a short distance away. I looked up to the sky. Plump clouds drifted lazily in a faint breeze that drifted through the lattice ceiling. We were still inside. "Let''s take a closer look," Ashley said. "I need more arrows." "Yeah," I whispered. 10. Insert Witty Title We stepped into the clearing and closed the door behind us on its own. The wall was made up of dark stone slabs easily as long as I was tall. Wild flowers and ivy dotted the spaces between. A gentle breeze carried the scent of baking bread and wood smoke. I looked at the sky again. It felt like we were outside, but the lattice only let in the wind and sunlight. I had to concentrate to see it. It was light blue with random patches of white to mimic a cloudy sky. [New Area Discovered ¨C 100 XP] "We need to be careful," Ashley said snapping me out of my fugue. "This was the life skills room," Bruce cut in. "Life skills?" I asked. "Cooking, sewing, how to make a budget, and stuff like that," he answered. "The guy who teaches it is a little weird, but you get to make cookies." "Did you recognize any of those merchants?" I asked as we walked through the field. "Before they were turned into clowns, I mean." Ashley shook her head. Bruce thought for a few moments. "No," he slowed down as he spoke. "I don''t think I ever saw any of them before." "What was the room like before all this?" "It was an open area with a couple of benches, some of small tables and chairs, and vending machines," Bruce said. "Why?" "When things changed the stuff in my bag did too," I explained. "I''m just trying to piece things together if this happened everywhere."The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Those stalls were the vending machines," Ashley said as she led the way. "Yeah. Kind of figured," I said nodding. "But what about the merchants?" "What?" She looked over her shoulder at me. "The merchants," I repeated. "Where did they come from? You didn''t recognize any of them so who were they?" "I don''t know," Ashley said turning back to face our destination. "Does it matter?" "You need to think of all of this like it''s a game," I continued. "Those people were NPCs. Just like your math teacher and the staff in the office. The codex said that the world was more efficient now. It takes people, assigns them to a new role, and then puts them where they are needed." "So, who were they?" Bruce asked. "That''s what I''m trying to figure out," I said after a moment. "The people in the office made sense. They worked there, now they are NPCs on a loop. The merchants in the market took the place of vending machines. Where would that connect?" "The people who stock them?" Bruce offered. "That''s a good guess," I replied. "He''s a useful minion," Ashley said. "I am not a minion," he said staring daggers at her. "Quiet," she said. "I am not-" "I said be quiet," she snapped. She tilted her ear up to the sky and stretched upward onto her toes. Ashley dropped into the wild grass. It was tall enough to cover her with a few inches to spare. "Get down," she whispered. "Someone is coming." I turned to say something to Bruce. He was gone. I turned back to talk to Ashley only to find myself looking at a group of three riders rapidly approaching my position. They would see me if I tried to hide and then they would probably look for the others too. We couldn''t fight people on horses with a single dagger. "Stay where you are," one of the riders yelled. "Identify yourself, demon." "My name is Mason," I replied. "I''m not a demon." "What is your business here?" "I going to the town," I said. "Oh," the rider on my left said leaning forward in his saddle as he continued to get closer. "If that is the case, we''ll be happy to escort you. There''s all sorts of strange things going on lately." It wasn''t a request and I was in no position to argue. "Lead the way," I replied. [Speech Check Failed ¨C 10 XP] 11. Embrace the Game One rider took the lead while the other two dropped back to my right and left. They wore chain mail shirts with a matching tabard. It was deep purple with gold stitching along the edges. I couldn''t get a good look at the symbol on their chests. It was hard to tell if they were NPCs while they were riding their horses. The one who had spoken to me before sounded like a normal person. We moved from the clearing to a packed dirt road that transitioned into stone. The village consisted of ten main building surrounded by a cluster of cabins. In the center of it all was a small castle that with a moat. It was made of clean-cut white stone and practically glowed in the mid-morning light. Two footmen flanked the drawbridge. I stole a quick look at the village. There weren''t nearly enough people to fill a place this size. Counting the three riders and two guards, I could see maybe twenty in total. They watched us as we approached. No one had fallen into a loop. Yet. [Skill Unlocked: Assess 1] Little health bars appeared over all of their heads. The ones above the guards were the same size as the villagers. They were probably level one or possibly still an ordinary. The riders dismounted once we reached the drawbridge. They kept the formation of one ahead and a guard on each side as we moved closer to the castle. They didn''t seem bothered that the doors were already open. "This way," the lead guard said. It wasn''t hard to see where we were going. The room an open dining hall with tables laid out in a U shape. A bored girl sat on a throne placed on a raised platform. Her dress was the same purple as the tabard worn by the guards. Beside her stood a short man with drab hair slicked along the sides of his head and a vacant stare to his eyes. "My queen," the lead guard said as we approached. "We caught this intruder." I raised my eyebrows and looked at him. Honestly, this place wasn''t big enough to warrant a mayor let alone royalty. Now that I was closer, I got a better look at their queen. She was tall, fit, and her crown balanced expertly on her head. "What are you supposed to be?" She asked as she turned her gaze to me. "Mason," I replied. "What''s a mason?" She wrinkled her nose as she said my name. "My name," I said slowly. "Is Mason." "And what are you?" She wiggled her fingers at me. "I''m a Felspawn," I replied. "Things have changed and I''m trying to figure out what is going on." "Not much has changed," she said with a slight pout. "People still worship me. This," she didn''t even bother addressing the man beside her. "Still thinks I''m perfect. And, I am." "Who is that?" "The court fool," she replied. "Wizard," the man cut in. "Fool," the queen silenced him with a sharp glare. "What have you found out about this new world of ours?" "Did you read the codex?" I asked. She looked at me for a long moment. "I''ll take that as a no," I muttered. "To put it simply, our world works like a video game now. Adventurers, monsters, treasure, and all that." "Treasure?" She perked up. "Such as?"A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "I''ve mostly found gear," I said tapping the armor on the chest. "There''s probably gold and jewels out there too." A tight smile spread across her face. Her gaze shifted to the guards that had been my escort. "What else can you tell me?" There wasn''t any point in lying to her. She would find this all out eventually and I didn''t want people to die if I withheld what I knew. That and I had no idea how the clown plague actually spread others. I didn''t want what had happened to the merchant happen here too. "The market at the end of the hall was overrun by monsters," I said. "This is the first room I''ve checked out other than the office in the main building." The queen nodded. She tapped her chin as she took a slow breath and let it out. My contact window hadn''t been updated with a quest, or contacts. It didn''t feel like a good sign. The queen clapped. "Lock that in the dungeon and gather my men," she ordered. "You aren''t serious," I said. The three guards drew their swords and started to close in on me. A line of text appeared on their HP bars. [Swordsman: Level 1 Minion] [10/10 HP] My experience with swords didn''t extend beyond hitting my friends with sticks and making sound effects. There was a chance that these three were coming from the same skill level. Fencing wasn''t something most schools offered these days, but I was getting the hang of this brawling thing. I hoped. The guard closest to me wound up like he was ready to serve a tennis shot. I dashed forward and planted my elbow in the middle of his chest. It was wasn''t gentle, but it was better than a sword. His arm drooped as his breath was forced out of his lungs. I grabbed it and twisted. He flipped onto the stone floor with a clink-thump. I wouldn''t get any points for style, but it worked. I slapped the next blade away as the swordsman stared open-mouthed at me. The confused look on his face went slack as my fist slammed into his nose. I turned to face the last guard. He held his sword with both hands and wound up like he was chopping wood. [Dodge Failed] [Dash Failed] [Not Enough Energy] The notification blinked at the edge of my vision. How had I used it up so fast? I really hoped that I could recharge my energy before he could finish me off. An arrow appeared in his bicep. He let out a yelp. The sword tumbled out of his hands landing point first onto the floor. Somehow missed both of our feet. "Found some arrows," Ashley called from the doorway. "Some neat armor too," Bruce said as he bounced into the room. He wore a chain mail shirt instead of the leather armor I had given him. The goblin jingled as he found a perch on the edge of one of the tables. "Laura," Ashley said readying another arrow. "Still a BLEEP I see." "Bleep?" The queen, Laura, asked. "Can''t curse," Ashley answered shrugging. "I meant to call you a BLEEP." "This thing is a friend of yours?" Her gaze drifted somewhere that address all of us without actually focusing on anyone. The swordsman still stood before me with an arrow in his arm. His cries of pain accentuated the conversation, but the room wasn''t big enough to really appreciate his vocal range. "I guess," Ashley said with a nod. "Mason, did you break her toys?" I looked at the guard before me. A solid punch sent him sprawling on the stone floor. "Yeah, you could say that," I said before I turned my attention to the queen. "Pull your head out of your BLEEP. I said there were monsters around now. Look at me. I''m turning into one. Treasure isn''t worth anything if you''re dead." "Aw, are we going already?" Bruce asked. I looked to Ashley. She nodded. "I want to see what''s in the next room, you?" I asked walking over to my new friends. "In a moment," Ashley said. "The villagers weren''t happy to see us." "Mostly me," Bruce said as he joined us. "I''m just too pretty." "Sure you are," I chuckled. A group of villagers were waiting for us outside. The two guards who had been at the drawbridge were now face down in it. One had been stripped. "What''s going on?" A villager called. "Revolution?" I said with a look to Ashley. "Revolution," she agreed. "Read the codex," Bruce yelled. "Bruce is out, peace." [Aggressive Negotiations 1,500 XP] [Guard 2x ¨C 400 XP] [Assist ¨C 100 XP] [Level Up!] [3,520/6,000] [Health: 40] [Mana: 15] [Energy: 55] Ashley shook her head as we walked through the crowd. She tried to hide it, but I could see her smile. The feeling in my back had shifted from soreness to a cramp. "Bruce," I managed to whisper. "Could you look to see if I have an arrow in my back?" The goblin hopped behind me and gave me the once over. "You owe me for this," he muttered. "For what?" He grabbed the back of my pants and tore. The cramp faded. "What did you do?" I asked. "Your tail was stuck," he mumbled as he moved on. "My tail?" I looked over my shoulder. Sure enough, I had a tail. It started in the small of my back and stretched to around my ankle. The skin had a crimson sheen to it and the end was shaped like an arrowhead. I held up my hands. Streaks of crimson stretched toward my elbow. No wonder they thought I was a demon. "That explains the Felspawn part," I whispered. 12. In the Halls of the Clown King "Where did you get the arrows?" I asked. Ashley pulled open the door to the hall. Bruce bounded out first. His claws clacked against the stone. He''d be one weird looking dog if his ears were longer. "There was a general store," she said. "There wasn''t much, but they had arrows." "What else did they have?" I stole a look back toward the village. "Anything good?" "Fishing nets," Bruce said. "Rope, and not much else. The bow they had looked like junk." "Is there anything special about the classrooms on his hall?" I asked. "The chemistry lab is across the hall," Bruce said. "There''s two of them. The rest are just classrooms." "Do you want to go one by one until we hit the end?" I asked. "Just so you could get captured again?" Ashley did smile this time. "We might be able to find something useful," I replied ignoring the comment. "Did you find anything else interesting while I had an audience with her majesty?" "There was something weird with the walls," Bruce said. "There''s something weird about all of this," I said looking around. "In there," Ashley corrected. "The wall it shared with the next room was odd. It was stone, but it wasn''t. Like that plastic stuff they sell for landscaping that looks like rocks." "Huh," my voice trailed off as I rolled through information around. "Want to check it out?" "How about we come back after we get the key," Ashley said. "You''re not curious?" I asked. "About?" "All of this," I said waving a hand at the world in general. "The school and the other classrooms." "You mean, am I wondering how I''m turning into an elf, your skin has started to get a red tint to it, and why Fuzzy-Wuzzy here has fur?" She finally stopped and looked at me. "I thought I was going crazy, and then I found you, and you think you''re going crazy. Does that mean that I am, or that you are? Does a hallucination think that it''s real? I could be in a car crash for all I know. This could be your weird nightmare acid-trip breathing in fumes from the janitors'' closet. So, no, I don''t care about a stupid wall. I want to get out of here and find someone who knows what the BLEEP is going on. Why can''t I BLEEPING curse!?" "Did you read-" She snapped her attention to the goblin. "If the next words out of your mouth are ''the codex'' I will play William Tell with your nose." Bruce bobbed his head and stopped talking. He started to inspect the patterns in the stone floor. The process led him out of her line of sight. "This feels real, or at least close enough. I don''t know this place, or these people, but it doesn''t feel like a dream. Yeah, I''m turning into a Felspawn, you''re an elf, and minion is a goblin," I said. "I''m not a minion," Bruce said. "Not the point," I continued. "But this has its own logic going. Dreams don''t work like that. The lounge turned into a market. That classroom was a village and I''m guessing the queen," I looked over to Ashley. "Laura," she offered. "Laura was a," I paused. "Queen bee?" "I have arrows," she said. "No more puns." "Do you see what I''m saying?" I asked. "Dreams don''t stay on track like this. At least mine don''t." "That doesn''t help my calm," her voice dropped to a whisper. "Every game has rules," Bruce stepped between us as he spoke. "The codex said that this was all set in place to make the world run efficiently. Assigning classes, stats, and all that is a lot easier to handle." "Okay," I said turning my attention to him. "What are you getting at?" "Every rule has a loophole if you look hard enough," Bruce said with a smile. "You want to cheat?" Ashley asked. Bruce flinched. The smile faded, "no, never." No one spoke. "It''s not cheating if we don''t break the rules," he said as his smile returned. "Bruce," I said. "Yeah?" "I have some experience with MMOs," I said stepping closer to him. "What happens when someone is found bending the system?" "They get banned," his face dropped as his own words registered. "I don''t want to find out what that means now, do you?" The goblin shook his head. I looked over to Ashley. "We stick to the plan. Get the key from the Troll Jarl?" She took a long breath and let it out. Ashley reached over her shoulder. An arrow snapped into her open hand. She looked at it for a moment before setting it into position on the bowstring. "We''ll have to take the long way with the market overrun," her voice was just above a whisper. "The door at the end of the hall doesn''t connect with the main building. We can take the access road along the back of the building and up to the quest marker." "Did you already say that?" I asked as we started continued down the hall. "We got distracted," she replied without looking at me or Bruce. "You both know the plan if we get split up." "Do you smell that?" Bruce asked.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. I sniffed. There was a sweetness to the air like finding a stash of Halloween candy in April. Something about it wasn''t quite right. The stale sugar mingled with something akin to swamp water. "Cotton candy?" Ashley asked looking back at us. A chorus of chuckles erupted from the shacks along the hall. Clowns tumbled out of the shacks around us. We were completely surrounded. The fresh infected still had some resemblance to what they had been before. A large portion were guards similar to the ones we had just dealt with. Zero stood in the middle of the hall where we were heading. The barricade on the market door had melted swathes that were still sizzling. I had seen something like this before. My attention snapped back to Zero. A bright yellow flower was affixed to his chest. He stared right back at me studying my new form. His eyes met mine. A too-wide smile spread across his face. He barked out a shrill cackle that spurred his minions into action. Something white and circular sailed through the air before me. It hit a clown that was in the middle of bouncing closer to me. I had just enough time to register that someone had just thrown a pie at me, and that the topping was now spreading across the minion it had hit. I planted my left foot and sent my right hand into the stomach of another oncoming minion. It tumbled backward into a few others knocking them down like bowling pins. The clown and one other popped. [Minion 2x ¨C 400 XP] I turned to intercept the clown that had tossed the pie. A solid clothesline across its chest knocked it flat. It pinwheeled along the floor before popping back up on its feet. Another pie appeared in its hand. I rushed forward, grabbed the hand holding it, and jerked it up into the clowns'' face. The cream connected with a splat. Strands of topping wrapped around the clowns'' head until its head was completely covered. It exploded into confetti a moment later. [Minion ¨C 200 XP] Ashley was popping minions with a steady stream of arrows. Bruce was a blur of motion watching her back. Somewhere along the way he had picked up a curved sword that looked like the love child of a dagger and a scythe. Every minion that exploded into confetti was replaced a moment later. A thought sparked in my head. Video game logic. Ashley was our DPS, Bruce was the support, and I was the tank. We needed a healer. Zero was going to throw waves of minions at us. He would probably hit us with an AOE attack or some debuffs to slow us down. It was a simple numbers game, we were going to lose eventually. I did not want to find out if we could respawn. As a tank I need to pull aggro. "I''m going after the big guy," I yelled as I sprinted toward Zero. I dropped my shoulder and plowed through a few clowns that didn''t see me coming. [Sneak Attack Combo 3x ¨C 450 XP] Zero let out another long stream of shrill laughter. He puffed his chest out. A stream of bright green fluid squirted from his new flower. I hopped to the side. A shot of molten pain raced up my spine. My step faltered. I pulled my shoulder and managed to stumble into a roll. My tail curled up along my waist. I winced as raw patches brushed against my shirt under my armor. I needed to get in close to take him down, but that acid would be impossible to avoid. Zero stared at me as he swayed in place. His smile spread almost the entire length of his jawline. The ground before him sizzled with every stray drop of acid from the flower on his chest. He put his hands up to his eyes and mimed crying. "You''re really getting on my nerves," I growled. My feet kicked up a cloud of dust as I burst into motion. Zero let loose with another spray of acid. I dipped to my left, jumped over the spray to the right, and launched myself directly at him. My arm cocked back as I sailed through the air. The air felt hot around me. Light flickered in the corner of my vision. My fist smashed into the center of his shocked face. It was only after the punch connected that I realized that my hand was on fire. The distraction took me out of the moment. I crashed into him sending us both sprawling to the ground. My hand wasn''t on fire anymore. The heat had faded. It didn''t even hurt. Movement ahead of me ended the inspection. [Special Move Unlocked ¨C Blazing Fist] [1,500 XP] [Level Up!] [6,070/10,000] Zero stumbled as he regained his feet. His starch white face was marred with the charred outline of my fist. I raised my fist to my lips and blew a wisp of smoke away as I stood. He tilted his head to the side studying me. I closed the short distance between us. A hard-straight kick to his stomach folded him nearly in half. I grabbed him by his waist, lifted him above my head, and slammed him back to the ground. It wasn''t pretty, but all those years of watching professional wrestling were starting to pay off. He bounced up to my eye level and exploded into a storm of confetti. The clown minions dropped to the ground in unison. [Adversary Defeated 3,000 XP] [Clown Plague Destroyed 1,000 XP Renown 50] [Market Reclaimed 500 XP Renown 100] [11,070/15,000] [Level Up!] [+1 Strength] [+1 Vitality] [+1 Agility] [Advanced Class Unlocked at Level 5] I could feel my body change as my stats increased. The armor around my shoulders stretched as my muscles grew. My tail felt more natural with the agility increase and the injuries I had sustained disappeared. I tapped my pocket and scrolled to my character sheet. [Mason Yannick - Felspawn] [Level 5 - Quick Brawler - XP: 11,070/15,000] [Strength: 10] [Vitality: 11] [Agility: 15] [Charisma: 10] [Perception: 11] [Will: 7] [Renown: 350] [Health: 50] [Mana: 20] [Energy: 60] The inventory tab at the top of the tablet blinked. I tapped on it. A picture of me slowly rotated in the center of the screen. My skin now had a strong crimson undertone and a couple of nubs had appeared on my forehead. I gently touched the sprouts of horns. It didn''t feel much different than before I had them. The horns were harder and somewhat pointed, but they weren''t sensitive. I turned my attention back to my tablet. The armor on my chest was flashing yellow. [Studded Leather Armor - Medium] [Durability: 8/20] "It''s official," Ashley said walking over to join me. "I hate clowns." "And confetti," Bruce added. "I could go a few months without seeing either," I said turning to look at them. "Are they moving? Do you think we''re going to have to finish them off?" "Nah," Bruce said. "It looks like they''re going back to normal." "Did you guys level?" "Yeah," Ashley said. "Me too," Bruce replied. "You?" "Level four," I answered. "I''ve got some horns now too." "I noticed," Ashley said. "Did you notice anything about me?" Bruce asked. I turned to look at him. He stood straight with his hand on his hips. The fuzz on his ears was neatly trimmed. Altogether, it looked like he had been groomed. "Yeah," I said slowly. "What''s happened?" "I am a High Goblin," he said proudly. "Okay," I replied. I looked to Ashley. She shrugged. "Come on, guys," Bruce grumbled. "Even the claws on my feet are fancy." "Have you looted yet?" I asked. "No," Ashley answered. "I needed a breather." I crouched and tapped the pile of confetti that had been Zero. [Ring of Rebound] [Immediately regain footing when knocked down] [2x Per Encounter] "Anything good?" Bruce asked. "Magic ring," I said sliding it onto a finger. The goblin huffed. He turned back toward the minions and started looting. Ashley joined him a moment later. I walked over to the spot where I had been fighting the clowns. [Plague Essence 3x - Alchemy Ingredient] [Clown Nose - Junk] [Empty Pie Tin - Junk] Our looting was interrupt by a sound ahead of us. I stepped to the front. Ashley took a spot to my left with an arrow at the ready. Bruce shifted to back and to my right. A steady click-scratch-ping grew louder with each passing moment. "Do you see anything," I whispered. "No," Ashley replied. "There," Bruce said. A metallic oval head bobbed into view. What I thought was a helmet turned out to be a head. It was maybe two feet tall. Metal that had been hammered into curved plates capped its shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. Its hands and feet were bundles of thin strands of metal held together with rings that had pronounced weld lines. "Is that a robot?" Ashley whispered. The bot stopped at a polite distance and looked us over. "Greetings," it said in a chipper voice. "You appear to be in need of rest and recuperation. My creator happily invites you to join him. Please follow me." The bot turned and started to walk away. "What should we do?" Bruce whispered. "We were heading this way already," I replied at the same volume. "I nominate Bruce if this creator needs a bride," Ashley said taking the lead. Status As of now, April 2nd 2019, High School Dungeon Crawl - Level One, is complete. Level 2 is on hiatus so I can focus on my current projects. Thank you for reading. It means a lot to me. If you have enjoyed this story please check out my other stories here.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Westward Soul is a LitRPG in a Wild West complete with fantasy, steampunk, and monsters. It has stats and character-sheets for those who like the crunchy bits. Life in a Galaxy Far, Far Away is a fan fiction Gamelit set in Star Wars the Old Republic. I don''t currently have plans to continue it.