《Gaming the Tower》 Birth of the Gamer ((Author¡¯s Note: The observant among you will notice I have another fiction started here on RR that I never got around to finishing or expanding. Truth is, I chose a bad point in my life to start writing a new fiction, and I just wasn¡¯t up to the task of keeping up with it. I do have plans to finish it one day, but this is the one that is calling out to me now, and the one I will be focusing on in the foreseeable future. Sidenote, this is also the first time I¡¯ve done a slightly humorous story, and that wasn¡¯t the plan. But sometimes you write the characters, and sometimes the characters write themselves. If anyone has any complaints/comments about the humour please let me know, as I do not consider that my forte. Thanks to all the readers, past, present and future!)) ******************************************************************************************************** (Dan¡¯s POV) The click clack of keys resounded in the air as Danny typed away madly on his keyboard. There was no reason for the rush as he had no deadline, but he had an unusually focused mind and as always he¡¯d become wrapped up in his work and had forgotten the hour. Just like so the sun set without his notice, putting him firmly in the dark hours of the night sometime between three and four A.M., that moment of time known to some as the Witching Hour. Some did not include Danny of course, whose only thoughts revolved around putting the finishing touches on the project that had been all consuming of late. Besides Danny had never had a high opinion of witches, or of time for that matter. There was nothing special about Danny, to my eyes at least. I saw a chubby man whose glasses slid down his sloped nose and required his fingers to flick from the keyboard every so often to push them back up. There was nothing special about the unsightly pockmarks from the bad acne he¡¯d had as a teen, or his pale skin that almost shone in the dark room as a testament to his aversion of sunlight and all that came with it. No indeed, not even his black hair that fell in greasy strands and shifted occasionally to obscure his view of the bright monitor seemed special in any way, besides adding another lapse in his beat as his fingers flicked it out of his sight without conscious thought. Even this project he was frantically working on wasn¡¯t that special. To be frank, and coming from someone with no skin in the game, it was pretty much trash. A not quite generic RPG style game, one in which he¡¯d neglected the plot, the characterization, the setting and the resolution all to focus on what he¡¯d really cared about creating. A one of a kind skill system, in which the game would spontaneously generate skills based on your actions and decisions throughout the game. I will say that was pretty cool. Too bad the rest of his game was trash however, and would cause any self respecting gamer to turn up their nose in scorn and swear him off as a developer. Perhaps I¡¯m being too harsh, but trust me when I say i¡¯ve seen it all, and Danny¡¯s all was pretty piss poor. Hey don¡¯t worry about the fact this guy sucks at what he does, I already have other plans for Danny. I¡¯m going to make him my Protagonist, so he really doesn¡¯t have to do any of the hard lifting of plot creation and world building. I¡¯ve got all that covered, and really, I just need Danny for those pesky conflict resolution aspects. You might at this point have some questions, and if i¡¯m right very few of them are about Danny right now. In fact I think you might be wondering who I am, how I know Danny, and what I¡¯m doing here, nevermind what in the world I have planned for the poor kid. Well let¡¯s answer them in order. First, I am a being never before seen on this earth and my true name is ancient and full of the sort of power that would cause your eardrums to shatter, your blood to boil, and your soul to seek refuge by escaping your mortal coil. For brevity¡¯s sake you can call me Dan. As for the second question, I met Danny only recently, after he suddenly appeared in my home far, far away on an undefined astral plane approximately an undetermined number of units in a direction inexpressible in your language. Although perhaps you¡¯ll get the gist if I say it¡¯s somewhere in between left and backwards, but not quite because you also have to turn slightly to the side. Which to my knowledge meant that our meeting should have been impossible. As for what I¡¯m doing here, After having a hoo-man pop into my demesne so suddenly I just had to see how he¡¯d managed it. So I utilized a spell to rewind time and go back to now, about five minutes before this meatbag is destined to appear in my realm. I¡¯ve already told you the plan, he¡¯s going to be my Protagonist and make me a lot of money! On a whim I OBSERVED him, which just raised other questions, like how he manages to change his Class in the next ten minutes. Name: Daniel Rosenthaw Class: NEET LV: 1 HP: 85/87 MP: 130/130 Actually I was a bit nonplussed. I hoped this wasn¡¯t the average specimen of man, or Danny would be in for some real trouble when he stepped into the Tower. Nevermind the rest of the competition, the average level one Lillithin had a base HP of 500, and an MP that neared 300. For the life of me I couldn¡¯t remember the last time a Lillithin made it past floor 50, which might give you some idea of how weak Danny appeared in my eyes. Silly me. I forgot you hoo-mans know nothing of the Tower, so I suppose it really doesn¡¯t give you a good comparison of how weak he is. Lets just say that in the Tower¡¯s racial rankings a Lillithin might be considered marginally stronger than an ant. Which would make Danny¡­ well I don¡¯t know really. A bacterium, I suppose. What¡¯s that? You want to know how strong I am? Well If Danny is the microbe, and a Lillithin is an ant and the average challenger such as a Roctgar would be a hoo-man in this weird comparison, that would make me¡­ The sun? Well that sounds about right. A giant burning mass of indescribable glory who¡¯d turn all that oppose me into dust and ash. That¡¯s enough exposition however, let''s get back to the important things, like figuring out how Danny managed to steal across the ephemeral leylines that combined all the varied planes, universes, multiverses, realities, and dimensions into one indivisible whole, landing on my doorstep in the process. In case you were wondering, Danny doesn¡¯t know either. The reason I know that and everything else I know about this planet you call earth, is because I mindraped the intrepid explorer after he¡¯d appeared only to find out he had no idea how he¡¯d gotten there either. What? Don¡¯t look at me like that. I¡¯m a transdimensional being and your insipid ideas of human morality hardly apply to me. Besides, may I remind you that HE broke into MY home. My fortress of solitude, my monument to the intense loneliness and despair I feel, my own personal slice of Nirvana. Ahem. Only two minutes left to go and I¡¯m starting to get impatient. I need to know how this travesty managed to occur, if only to prevent it from happening again. The last thing I want or need is more uninvited guests.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! One minute left to go. My¡­ Well I guess the roughly analogous version would be a foot so let¡¯s go with that, my foot was tapping faster, proof that my agitation was showing. Thirty seconds¡­. Why was I so agitated? Perhaps because this idiot didn¡¯t appear to realize he had a very important meeting to attend soon, and I honestly hated to be kept waiting. Well I suppose I didn¡¯t know he was showing up so I wasn¡¯t really waiting, but the point remains. In about ten seconds he¡¯s supposed to be dropping in on me in the middle of my bat... My intense barechested wrestling match against the sun god himself. Well one of many. The best one. NINE. EIGHT. SEVEN. SIX. FI¡­ ¡°FINISHED¡± Danny yelled, and I watched, brow (technically I¡¯m not sure if what I have counts as a brow, but i¡¯ll use local idioms to help you Hoo-mans understand the meaning of my highly cultured bodily expressions) furrowed, as his pinkie pressed down on the ctrl key, and his middle finger stretched towards the S. As I watched him save his game without a care for whom he might be inconveniencing with his tardiness, I turned green (purple to you hoo-mans) with rage, and bellowed ¡°DON¡¯T YOU HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE?¡± as I reached back, and moving faster than a hoo-mans eye (Or a Roctgar¡¯s for that matter) could see, slapped the disrespectful hoo-man into another dimension. I stood there alone in the silent room for some time. ¡°Huh.¡± I said, rubbing a tentacle? across my chin?. Well this certainly changed things. Or did it? After all maybe this was how it always played out. ¡°Well,¡± I finally muttered to myself after a few more minutes of scratching my chin thing, ¡°It certainly confused things.¡± ******************************************************************************************************* (Danny¡¯s POV) I was so close to finishing I could taste it. My Magnus Opus, a revolutionary system that would redefine gaming. I would do for skills what Mario had done for jumping, what Tetris had done for puzzles, what Metal Gear Solid had done for stealth gaming. There was just one elusive bug to catch, and then the world of gaming would be changed for good. I could taste it, and it tasted so, so good. The taste lingered, it tasted salty, and a little greasy. My fingers faltered for a second as my mind caught up to my senses, and then I spit out the lock of hair i¡¯d inadvertantly been chewing in disgust. Then, like magic there it was, I¡¯d finally spotted the little bugger. The holy grail, the salt on my pretzel, the end of my long hard journey through mediocrity. I tapped on the keyboard like a madman rewriting those few lines of buggy code in a frenzy, intent on the screen in front of me. In that moment I was connected heart, mind, and soul to these lines of code I had written, that I had drug from the depths of my being, kicking and screaming and cast into reality, through my actions changing a probability to a certainty. In this moment these lines of code were an extension of my very being, like a master swordsman who was one with his sword. ¡°FINISHED!¡± I shouted, ecstatic with joy, my fingers dancing across the keyboard one last time to save all my hard work. And then right at that moment, it all disappeared. All that was left was Pain. My world was Pain. For a few brief eternities, or a couple of endless moments, I could not say, I felt my soul being stretched, my very being being contorted, I felt myself expand until I filled every iota of space, and at the same time crushed as me and the space I filled were shoved into the point of a pin. I was stuck there forever, or for no time at all, caught being expansion and compression, at once whole and incomplete. Just like that it was over, and I stood there shakily, clenching my fists with my eyes closed and breathing deep ragged breaths. What the fuck just happened? I wondered, as I felt my heart beating madly and slowly trying to calm down, until¡­ ¡°EEEEEKKKKKKKKK!¡± The soul piercing shout seemed to come from all directions, boring into my ears and causing my eyes to snap open, where they were greeted with a most unusual sight. I stood on the edges of a marble bath that sunk into the floor, one that stretched further than my eye could see, and looked deeper than I could fathom. Although what really caught me by surprise was the gigantic THING that was wallowing in the depths and threatening to shatter my eardrums. IT was a massively monstrous body, and I could just imagine that I was seeing the tip of the iceberg. It shifted colours and I watched, mostly sticking to various shades of gray scale, but with the odd splash of green or orange in there. From the creature''s body hung or stuck out innumerable protrusions, knobs, ends and dongles. If that wasn¡¯t enough, it seemed to actively shift in shape, and what seemed to be a wing appeared before collapsing into sludge and arising as a tentacled suckered thing. Which promptly grew what appeared to be a round fruit from its end, before the fruit spun around and looked at me, and I found myself staring eye to eye with an eyeball that was larger than my apartment building back home. The Thing seemed to realize I was staring at roughly the same time I realized it was staring. After a moment¡¯s pause, it slowly sunk the rest of it¡¯s mass into the pool until only the eye that was looking at me poked out. The next minute was spent staring at each other, me too afraid to move and the Thing perhaps incapable? I wasn¡¯t sure. I realized that my staring might be interpreted as rudeness, so I finally averted my gaze. Not that I wasn¡¯t loathe to take my eyes off of the monster, but I had no idea where I was, or how to leave, and those both seemed like pretty important things to figure out. Besides it didn¡¯t seem hostile yet, so I should use this opportunity to plan my escape before I became fish food. Was the monster a fish? It was in the water after all, so as long as I avoided that pool I should be good. That was about the time I noticed the second new thing in this strange place. Namely a blinking icon in the upper left corner of my vision. No matter how I turned or where I looked It stayed right there in the same spot, annoying me with it¡¯s incessant blinks in this moment of crisis. ¡°GO AWAY!¡± I thought mentally, willing the little blinking icon to disappear, distracting me as it was with it¡¯s presence. I just didn¡¯t have the time for too much weird shit right now. Then, to my bemusement, a not very helpful screen popped up. 4 UNREAD MESSAGES WOULD YOU LIKE TO TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS? Y/N As I¡¯d been trying, and failing, to see a way out of this room that seemed to stretch into endless darkness, my stress was reaching nearly apoplectic levels. This was just the senseless cherry on top. What messages? I thought to myself helplessly for all the good it would do. YOU HAVE UNLOCKED A NEW CLASS! THE GAMER Change log: Your reality, now gamified! Your body will be restored to peak physical condition upon obtaining full HP! Personal/Racial skill limits broken, All skills are now available! NEW SKILL Free skill, because skills are good! OBSERVE (Active) Lv1 EXP 0.00% Through observation you can discern details about places, objects and creatures, pretty much anything you can see! NEW SKILL Through contact with a transdimensional being and experience with the rigors of interdimensional travel you have unlocked: SPACE MASTERY (Passive) Lv1 EXP 0.00% Mastery over the use and manipulation of space itself. Higher levels improve the damage, mana cost, and spell penetration of all spatial spells. +5% Increase in Damage/Range/Duration -5% Mana cost of Spatial Spells +2.5% Increase in Spell Penetration NEW SPELL Through experience you have learned a new spell! Teleport (Active) Lv1 EXP 0.00% Mana cost: 1000 Teleports the user to any space within 3 meters of themselves. The fuck? I thought helplessly. I really wish I knew what was going on, and this was all very, very, unhelpful right now. The THING was still lurking in the depths of the pool, and all I could think of right now was getting as far away as I could. Go away! I yelled in my head desperately, and to my relief the bright blue screens that had been obscuring my vision disappeared. Which turned out to not be any great relief at all, as I once again had an unobscured view of the THING in the pool. Dread grew in my heart and shivers ran down my spine as I stood frozen there helplessly at what was before me. At some point while I was distracted the thing had brought another appendage above the water. A long mass of sleek flesh curved above the eyeball, poised for all the world like a scorpion¡¯s tail. I gulped as the deadly point wavered mesmerizingly in the dim light, and i¡¯m not ashamed to say I pissed myself. Then, faster than I could blink, the appendage lashed out at me, and my world was Pain. I was Pain. It was all Pain. Welcome to Shark Tank 1 ******************************************************************************************************** (Danny¡¯s POV) I woke up gasping, the memory of that thing coming at me the last thing I recalled. I threw my blankets off of me, and sat up, slinging my legs over the side of the bed. I sat there for a minute with my head in my hands, struggling to recall the dream that I¡¯d had. It was a dream right? It had to be. I was in my bedroom after all. I sat there like that for a time, trying to piece it all together. It had seemed so realistic. I could still recall that massive creature and the strange blue windows, and I was practically haunted by the thought of that giant stinger flying towards me. I sighed, as my heart finally calmed down. I lifted my head from my hands and looked around, reassured by the familiar sight of my bedroom. The common things we never thought about were now somehow the proof of my well being. A window I always left slightly cracked open, the antique dresser my mother had passed down to me that i¡¯d always hated but couldn¡¯t part with. Even the messy closet that I always swore i¡¯d find the time to clean out and never had. These simple things were proof that I was back in my mundane reality, far away where nothing from my dreams could hurt me. Even the sounds in the room were the same, the steady click clack of keys filling up the air as I sat at my computer desk typing away. I paused at that thought. I was in my bed. Which meant that I couldn¡¯t be on my computer at the same time. SO WHO WAS ON THE COMPUTER! The thought practically screamed through my head, and with a startled yell I leaped from my bed, grasping my small nightside lamp as some form of defense. This seemed to have prompted the mystery man, who spun around in my chair at the sound of my voice. ¡°Hi!¡±, he said cheerfully, even going so far as to give me a slight wave. I dropped the lamp. My hand rose in an almost half wave in reply before I caught myself. I want to wake up. There were only so many strange things I could take and I was fast approaching my limit. ¡°Who are you?¡± I hissed, scrambling to pick up the lamp I¡¯d dropped. At the same time my brain scrambled tried to make sense of the situation. The man stood up, and my eyes followed as he topped me by at least a head. He smiled at me with that same cheerful expression, his well trimmed beard stretching alongside. Even in the poor light I could see he was exceptionally fit, and had a nice tan that spoke of long hours in the sun. His muscles shone through the well tailored suit that fit him like a glove, and his hair was cut short, in a way that gave him a no nonsense business look that Danny had never had. ¡°You can call me Dan, and I must say, it¡¯s nice to finally talk face to face!¡± The man said, stretching out his arm for a classic handshake. Unsure of what else to do I grasped his hand, and regretted it almost instantly as my hand was crushed by those well defined muscles. I retrieved my hand before permanent damage set in, and tried to get a better grasp on the situation. I could handle a strange man in my room while I slept, I could handle us having the same name. Why though, WHY, did he have to look just like me? Correction. Why did he have to look better than me? Why did he have to look like the Danny that had somehow won the genetic lottery and conquered life? Why was I face to face with a Danny that stood taller than me, was more well built than me, had the sort of smile that was infectious, the kind of eyes that could pierce through your soul, and an air that would make any female weak at the knees? This¡­ Dan, oozed confidence, he embodied it. Even in our brief exchange he¡¯d already dominated the room and captivated his audience. This Dan, where I never was, was Dangerous. To be short, this guy really pissed me off. ¡°You¡¯re not me.¡± I said, kinda defensively to be honest. My nerves were kind of shot by this Aphroditic Doppleganger. ¡°I never said I was.¡± Dan drawled, sounding just like some mythological cowboy. I could just imagine a gun on his hip at high noon, tumbleweeds dancing in the background. Really, what sort of effect did this guy have? Not enough time to think about that. I had much more important questions to ask. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I said, thankful that my voice was returning to normal. ¡°Why Danny, I¡¯m so glad you asked. I¡¯m here to make a deal.¡± He flashed a smile at me, this one all teeth like a certain aquatic predator. He sat back down in my chair, lounging on it like a king on his throne. With a wave of his hand he motioned me to sit, and I started to follow before stopping. It was too late to turn back however, and as gracefully as I could I finished sitting on the side of the bed. ¡°What sort of deal? Why me? I don¡¯t understand any of what¡¯s happening right now. Why do you look like me?¡± There was a hint of pleading in my voice at this point, I just wanted my life to go back to normal so bad. I made a mistake. He picked up on the hint of weakness I showed, and his smile, if it was possible, became even more predatory. ¡°The oldest deal on the books Danny. Your soul for unfathomable power. I chose you because you have skills that interest me, and I look like you because you are the only human I know.¡± He gave me a slight smile when he said this. ¡°I thought it might be more comfortable for you to see a familiar face.¡± ¡°More creepy than comfortable. So you are saying this isn¡¯t what you really look like?¡± I said, a pit of dread forming in my stomach. It just wasn¡¯t possible. ¡°Of course Danny. You¡¯ve already seen what I look like, if I really could be said to look like anything at all.¡± The smile never seemed to leave his face, it just flickered, changing from playful to threatening at the drop of a hat. Nope. Nope nope nope. The loch ness monster was not sitting in my room looking just like me. Besides he seemed rather greedy didn¡¯t he? MY SOUL? What happened to just $3.50? ¡°Umm. Yes. Well.¡± I couldn¡¯t say anything. My hands were shaking, my pits were sweating, my eyes darted around the room avoiding everything but the beast I was trapped in the room with. ¡°Unfortunately I¡¯m not really interested in a deal right now. So, I¡¯d like to, like, umm¡­ respectfully decline?¡± The words practically tumbled out of my mouth, except for the last two, which I enunciated to the extreme. ¡°Denied.¡± Dan leaned back in his chairs, the smile on his face now lazy. He gave off the air of an experienced fisherman with all the time in the world. Slowly tugging at the fish on his line, letting it relax here and there, before reeling it out into the open.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°I don¡¯t understand, Why me? What do you even need my soul for?¡± I finally looked him in the eye. At this point i¡¯d more or less resigned myself to death, but I damn sure didn¡¯t want to die ignorant. ¡°You¡¯ve never been in the Tower before have you?¡± He ignored my questions with an abrupt change of subject, leaving me dazed and confused. ¡°What tower? Which tower?¡± I replied, sweat on my brow. What¡¯s with the vague questions? ¡°I didn¡¯t think so. If you had you wouldn¡¯t have to ask. There is only one Tower. Well not really, but you know what I mean.¡± I didn¡¯t. ¡°That¡¯s the why you as well.¡± His smile turned a bit enigmatic at this. ¡°When one enters the Tower, they enter the game, and for them, nothing will ever be the same. You,¡± He said, standing as he began to pace the room. ¡°Have never entered the Tower, but you have entered the game.¡± He shook his head as he looked at me. ¡°What do you mean I¡¯ve entered the game?¡± I muttered under my breath. The events from before were whirling through my head again, creature, screens, creature, screens. Screens, Skills, Spells. Wait. He remembered something from one of those screens. Something, that might just be useful. Ilooked right at the creature and spoke, the word felt like pulling a trigger on a gun. ¡°Observe.¡± ??? 3.14159265359 Lv: ??? Class: ??? HP: ???/??? MP: ???/??? I blinked. That looked familiar. ¡°Pi?¡± I said out loud. Dan shot me a look of deep displeasure. Then he walked over and punched me right in the face. You¡¯ve received Physical Damage -26 HP I groaned as I sat back up, already feeling my eye swelling. ¡°What did I do?¡± I practically shouted at the creature wearing my face. Dan didn¡¯t seem too happy either as he stared back at me. ¡°I will not have you sully my name with your primitive backwoods jargon.¡± He stalked closer to me and pushed his face near mine, momentarily distracting me with the soft feeling of his luxurious beard. ¡°You are not allowed the luxury of making up nicknames for me, or calling me anything you damn well please. At least call me by my proper name, if you can¡¯t show me the courtesy of using my alias.¡± He sat back down in my chair in a huff. He then proceeded to spend the next few minutes educating me about all the idiots on backwater galaxies who thought they were so smart and could just call something by whatever term their idiotic minds decided. ¡°I mean I¡¯m a fundament of the natural order here,¡± His voice was the one that was pleading now, and his eyes shone with a sort of desperation. ¡°By my very nature I can¡¯t be explained and you idiots insist on giving me a name and calling it a day! And just two letters? TWO BLOODY LETTERS? YOU THINK YOU CAN SUM MY BEING SO EASILY?!¡± He was working himself back into a rage, and that wouldn¡¯t be good for either of us. ¡°No, no of course not!¡± I hurriedly replied. ¡°Valid points! Each and every one of them!¡± I put my all into comforting him then. After all a happy Pi was one less likely to eat me. One thing was certain, he¡¯d cemented the name I¡¯d think of him as. ¡°It¡¯s easy to be misunderstood. Like right now, I feel a bit misunderstood, as you seem to think i¡¯m valuable to you in some sense.¡± I tried to laugh with him, like it was some big joke. Except he wasn¡¯t laughing. ¡°Trust me, i¡¯m worthless!¡± I said in one last desperate attempt. He merely shook his head at me. ¡°I¡¯ve already told you. You are part of the game now, and your life will never be the same.¡± Then he grinned, all of his former angst washed away. ¡°And I think you are far from worthless.¡± ¡°What could I possibly offer? I¡¯m just some nobody who was programming games just yesterday. Nothing''s changed.¡± Yet something had. I could feel it, even if I was just lying to myself. ¡°It certainly has.¡± He nodded as though I¡¯d said something sage like. ¡°You and the tower are now intertwined, and you are fated to it. No idea how that happened.¡± Was it just me or did he look a bit guilty then? ¡°You are unique. A gamer that, for now, is outside of the game. That opens up opportunities. Something that I plan to take full advantage of.¡± His smile was certainly predatory now, but it didn¡¯t seem directed at me. ¡°So let me get this straight. You think I am special, which probably has something to do with these blue boxes that just pop up. Because of this, you want me to enter this game, at this tower, and fight? And somehow, you will use this to your advantage, to profit you.¡± Seeing his nod of confirmation, I couldn¡¯t help but sarcastically say ¡°Great where do I sign?¡± He flicked his hand and an old fashioned scroll appeared out of nowhere along with a quill. I gave him a look, which he returned with a shrug. ¡°Dramatic effect.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°And my soul?¡± I said, scooting back a bit on the bed away from the scroll he held. ¡°Remuneration of course. You wouldn¡¯t survive seconds in the tower as you are. For that you will need my assistance, and it is my belief that in your current circumstances I will be able to make you exceedingly powerful. Of course all that effort deserves a price doesn¡¯t it?¡± He said, his smile leaving me feeling cornered. ¡°What if I refuse. If I don¡¯t want to play this game, or climb your tower?¡± I said, mustering my courage. ¡°Then I kill you.¡± He replied simply, with no hint of a smile. I thought about it. I really did. What could I do, Pi thought he had me against the ropes, and to be honest so did I. I still had one trick up my sleeve however. No one knew how to bargain like Daniel Rosenthaw. I¡¯d learned from my father after all. ¡°I really don¡¯t think you are offering me enough here. You offer me power, although you don¡¯t specify in what manner, all for the low, low price of my soul. I mean who could resist?¡± I was getting flippant again, but hey, who could blame me? ¡°Yes Danny.¡± Pi replied, stretching out my name. ¡°Your soul. If you have anything else of Value I have yet to see it. I¡¯m going to throw you into the Tower whether you like it or not. Selling your soul is the only thing that will allow you to see another day after I do.¡± He was relaxed, one hand clutching the scroll while the other stroked his beard. Well if I have to bargain with my soul then so be it. I wouldn¡¯t sell it cheaply that¡¯s for sure. And if it was about games then that¡¯s fine. I knew all about those. ¡°If that¡¯s how it is then fine. I¡¯ll offer you 5% equity in exchange for power leveling, body strengthening and direct knowledge of 3 spell domains. I also want you to explain everything you know about the Tower and my situation.¡± Hell I don¡¯t really know what to ask for, but more magic seemed like a good start. The window that mentioned Space mastery had to imply there were more out there. Pi literally laughed out loud, holding his stomach and howling until his eyes watered. He wiped his tears away as he smiled at Danny, this time with a hint of mirth. ¡°5%? I don¡¯t even get out of bed for 5%. Just for that, 10% is the baseline to keep me from throwing you into the tower right now. I will give you complete mastery over two domains of magic for a further 60%, I will give you intricate knowledge on the layout, customs, rules and regulations of the tower and the myriad creatures that inhabit it for a further 10%, and I will remake your physical body into an indestructible vessel for the remaining 20%.¡± Pi shot back at me. Now we were getting somewhere. He was playing my game now, and I just had to play my cards right. ¡°I refuse to give you more than 49%. I will retain ownership of my soul, or you really might as well throw me in the tower right now. I also want buyback options. I will offer you the 10% outright, as a sign of trust in our partnership. I¡¯m willing to sign over another 23% in exchange for a training regimen, information and knowledge of 2 more domains of magic. I don¡¯t require you to remake my body, as long as i¡¯m capable of doing it through effort.¡± Or levels, I thought as I waited with baited breath. I knew he would have a counteroffer, but after that it would just be finalizing the negotiations. I needed him to bite on this. And bite he did. ¡°1/3rd? Don¡¯t be greedy Danny boy. I¡¯m worth much more than a 1/3rd of you. I think you are undervaluing my help Danny. I¡¯ll give you the training regimen, some information and access to one additional domain for 40%.¡± He smiled slowly, flashing that predatory grin. ¡°Plus the 10% you¡¯ve already promised of course.¡± ¡°What about marketing? We haven¡¯t even discussed licensing rights!¡± I replied, heading him off and putting us on a tangent. We went back and forth a few more minutes before finally settling on an acceptable deal. A personalized training regimen, Access to one more Domain of magic, some basic information on the tower, and a boost in mental capacity Pi threw in for free after mocking my pitiful mana pool a few times. In exchange he received 40% of my soul and all marketing and licensing rights. I guess it could have been worse. NEW SKILL UNLOCKED Trader (Passive) Lv6 EXP 33.24% You drive a hard bargain! Chance of getting better deals increased. Merchants and traders will recognize you as one of their own. Chance of unique deals increased. NEW SKILL UNLOCKED Haggling (Passive) Lv5 EXP 27.77% The skill of convincing others that things are worth more or less what you say it is. Higher chance of others agreeing with overvaluation. Higher chance of discerning undervalued items. NEW PERK UNLOCKED Deal with the Devil You have made a deal with an enigmatic being, and you made it out alive! You will never feel pressure when negotiating. You will exude pressure when negotiating. NEW STAT UNLOCKED Charisma +10 Charisma is the art of getting what you want by being who you are. All being¡¯s will find you more attractive and your words more persuasive. Afterwards I stared dumbly at the glowing blue screens that seemed to be the cause of all my problems. Why me? And why did I feel like Pi had everything to do with it? Welcome to Shark Tank 2 ******************************************************************************************************** (Danny¡¯s POV) I stayed up a long time after the monster finally left. And by left I mean he just up and disappeared after a quick see you later. I didn¡¯t even move from the bed, caught as I was between terror and frustration. Oh i¡¯m sorry, did you think I was taking this well? In truth it was anything but. See, the thing is, when people¡­ or things¡­ are sitting there talking to you, they aren¡¯t ripping the flesh from your bones and eating you alive. So I felt it was entirely in my best interest to hear him out and survive a few more minutes. And now? It¡¯s been four hours since Pi left me, and i¡¯ve spent the majority of the time gazing at my darkened window and contemplating exactly how far i¡¯d have to run to escape a teleporting, shapeshifting monstrosity from beyond our Universe. I sold my soul too. Or at least part of it. That¡¯s also something I¡¯ve been running over in my mind, like a dog gnawing on a bone. I¡¯d given it a lot of effort and I still haven¡¯t made a dent in it, with nothing to show for my ruminating but more questions. First was it even possible to sell your soul? Was it really as easy as signing on the dotted lines? To my dismay, my gut instinct seemed to say that yes, yes it was. And if it wasn¡¯t, if there was somehow more to it, who would know better than some transdimensional being who seemingly dealt in souls? Not me, that¡¯s for sure. Which was why my first stop when I left this room would be to run as fast as I could to my local church or synagogue or whatever was closest. With my soul on the line I wasn¡¯t feeling too picky about who could save it, and whoever could help me out would have a lifelong believer. I think there is a mosque a couple blocks from me, so that might be the closest stop. I don¡¯t really have any plans after that. I¡¯ve got a couple grand in savings. Maybe i¡¯ll just hop on a greyhound bus and just ride around the country. I¡¯m definitely not coming back here. How long do you think it¡¯d take before he¡¯d give up on chasing me? I think a week or two would be good enough. Then I could settle down and start a new life. Maybe somewhere near a beach. My mood was lifted a bit at the thought. It might even be like a vacation, just a couple weeks of travel spent seeing exoctic places. Sleeping in cheap motels where i¡¯d poke through the blinds like an early morning tweaker all paranoid that the man was watching him. Yea. Not the ideal situation one wants on their vacation but it¡¯s not like I have much choice. I let out a low sigh as I gave a final glance around and stood up. It was late enough, the digital clock that blinked on the side of my bookshelf telling me it was currently 12:03 just after midnight. I took a step towards my front door, before freezing in place as the floorboard I stepped on gave a long creak. I chuckled nervously to myself as I glanced around, making sure that there was no one watching me. Which there wasn¡¯t, but really the fact that I didn¡¯t see anything didn¡¯t make me too confident. I mustered up what courage lay in me, and took the last few steps towards the door. I grasped the door handle, and pulled it open, smiling wide at the thought of putting this nightmarish time behind me. My smile froze. Then it slipped a bit, cracked and shattered into a thousand pieces. ¡°Seriously, what the fuck!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but vent my frustrations. ¡°Sorry Dorothy, I thought you knew.¡± The voice came from behind me, brimming with mirth. I turned around, dread smothering the flickering flame of rage I was feeling moments before. Of course I¡¯d had no doubts, but there he was. Pi, Dan, Me, smiling back at me, eyes dancing with laughter. I just stared at him, eyes dead as a fish, all hope extinguished. ¡°Know, what?¡± I said, regretting my question before the words left my mouth. ¡°You¡¯re not in Kansas anymore.¡± He said with a laugh. The rage came back, fueled by his utterly cliche line. ¡°Where am I? Besides my apartment.¡± I said, gesturing towards the inky void that seemed to be all that existed outside my door. ¡°Mi casa su casa, Danny boy! I thought you¡¯d like to be comfortable so I recreated your apartment from memory.¡± He said, the generosity in his voice thick like honey. I stood there, broken a bit. My final hope that this might be some sort of dream had just disappeared. Any thoughts that I might be able to escape, that I might be able to outrun this eldritch horror vanished in an instant. In there place was just asinine questions. A lone apartment building suspended in the void made zero sense. It broke nearly every law of physics I knew. Why was there gravity? How was I alive and breathing with no atmosphere? Why wasn¡¯t I frozen to death in a place so far away that the nearest stars didn¡¯t even shine through? Pointless. Just rogue thoughts rushing to fill the void, now that my train of thought had been ground to a violent halt. What did any of that matter when I had this flagrant scofflaw standing in front of me. If I was any judge, Pi seemed to be the rules were made to be broken sort of type, and I doubted he cared about any of those things. With a heavy heart, I walked the few steps towards my bed and curled under the blankets, ignoring Pi¡¯s few painful attempts at conversation before the silence set in. At which point I assumed he¡¯d decided to go torture some other poor sap for a time. I almost felt sorry for the poor guy, but I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. Like that, eight hours passed by. I lay there under my covers basting myself in pity, wondering what I¡¯d ever done to bring all this upon myself. My brain happily took it upon itself to lay out every mistake i¡¯d ever made, in chronological order.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Just when it was getting to the good stuff a series of loud thuds came from the door. Something new. That made me perk up. I doubted it was Pi, as so far he¡¯d shown little regard for things like doors and courtesy. I stumbled out of bed, more driven by the intensity of the noise than any desire to actually open the door. It sounded like a battering ram was trying to break into my room. After opening the door, I found this wasn¡¯t far from the truth. The first thing that drew my eye was the massive creature standing nearly 8 feet tall and filling my doorway. The second thing was the massive ham sized hand that was raised to rain more blows on my fragile wooden door. The third, was the sunlight that poured in around him and reflected off of the bright blue grass that he was standing upon. I won¡¯t lie, my eyes teared up a bit at that. I wasn¡¯t sure I would ever see the sun again, although if you¡¯d told me a few days ago it might be a possibility i¡¯d have scoffed and said so what. That couldn¡¯t hold my attention for long however. Really not more than a split second before the thing that filled my vision drew my eye back to it. I really had no idea what it was. It was clearly a reptile of some sort, but the kind that stood on two legs and stared at you with creepily intelligent eyes. Even reptile didn¡¯t do it justice really. Maybe it¡¯s be more accurate to say that it was almost like a dinosaur, some prehistoric t rex genetic line that had carried on through the ages. Or perhaps even draconic might be the right word, Although I had my doubts with that one too. He wasn¡¯t snakelike in the way a chinese dragon might have been, and while he was broad and bulky enough to be a sort of western dragon, the lack of wings and his fat, stubby snout reminded me more of an iguana. His scales shone with a strange luster, the ones covering his abdomen and chest larger than my palm, before tapering into finer, more petite ones covering the areas that required mobility. All in all it was the sort of sight that would make you shit yourself. If i¡¯d eaten anything since the last time I¡¯d shit myself, I might just have done it again. We stared at each other in silence for some time, before finally he nodded at me. ¡°Good,¡± He said, his voice not at all filled with hisses like I¡¯d expected, but rather a rich and deep baritone that would put any singer to shame. ¡°I was afraid you might oversleep and I¡¯d have to drag you out of bed.¡± His words gave me a bit of a pause. How long had it been since I¡¯d woken up? Twelve hours? More? Yet I didn¡¯t feel tired at all, not in the least. It was rather strange but I had spent the majority of it laying in bed anyways. Nothing to be worried about. My nerves were probably so on edge I wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep even if I¡¯d been up for 4 days straight. ¡°Umm. Well I am awake. How could I help you mister¡­?¡± I trailed off, not having the least idea what to call him. ¡°Stop wasting my time would be a good place to start.¡± He ignored my unspoken request, with peeved me a little bit. Well if he wouldn¡¯t give me a name for him I¡¯d just have to come up with one on my own. Or.... ¡°Observe.¡± ??? Roc¡¯thalous Talmon Roct¡¯arious Lv: ??? Class: ??? HP: ???/??? MP: ???/??? I was getting pretty good at this if I do say so myself. I still couldn¡¯t see any of his information but getting his name was good enough for me. Although I¡¯d be damned if I was going to try and pronounce that mouthful. Hmm. Well he did look like a giant ass boulder so he fit the profile. Rocky I decided. That was about the time he hit me and I discovered how flimsy drywall could be. His casual backhand had caught me with it¡¯s irresistible force and thrown me across the room, and through the wall, where I tumbled across the newly sprung up grass for a little bit. You¡¯ve received Physical Damage -69 HP By the time I could finally focus on what the screen was trying to inform me of this time, the big guy was already back in front of me. Of course he chose to get there by walking through my apartment, leaving a gaping hole 3 times larger than the one I had. And why, some distracted part of my mind thought, did Pi¡¯s punch do 29 damage and barely move me, whereas this guy sent me flying and only did about three times as much? I supposed they could control their strength, I certainly had no other explanation on hand. I finally forced myself to stand, staying on edge against any incoming strikes. Although I severely doubted my ability to see them, let alone avoid them. After a short yet intense staring match he spoke again. ¡°Are you ready yet? Or will you continue to waste my time?¡± The way his hand twitched I knew what the right answer should be. That didn¡¯t mean I was going to ask it however. ¡°Ready for what exactly?¡± I said, as I backed away slowly. He did nothing to follow me, and stood there watching me impassively. ¡°Your training of course.¡± He folded his arms as he said this, his apathetic expression slowly turning into a frown. Of course. My training. The training I didn¡¯t really want, or ask for. The training that I had bargained for thoughtlessly, intent as I was on escape at the nearest opportunity. Well thanks but no thanks. Getting my ass handed to me by some giant lizard was low on my list of priorities, but I had the sinking feeling that I didn¡¯t have much choice here. ¡°Run.¡± He said, lifting up a scaly finger and pointing off into the distance. I hesitated for a second. ¡°Or I hit you.¡± He offered. I started running. I promptly tripped. Now, I¡¯m no cross country athlete, or a sprinter. Honestly though, how the hell could I fuck up running? It¡¯s something humans have done since the dawn of time. It¡¯d be no exaggeration to say that our bodies were designed to sustain running at an elevated speed for a long period of time. How was it possible, after hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, that I managed to fuck it up? Nothing to do but keep going, I decided as I stood up, looking behind me to see the lizardman approaching at a leisurely pace. I took off running again. This time I went at it like a bat out of hell, gratified to see I¡¯d forced the new nightmare behind me to pick up his pace a bit. Of course that quickly turned to ashes when I realized that meant fuck all as I still had an eight foot tall behemoth lumbering after me. I ran my little heart out I¡¯m pleased to say, straining until I could hear my breath rasping in my throat, and my legs felt like little volcanoes were exploding with every excessive push. Of course this wasn¡¯t hard to do, as every time I began to slow down I had hot lizard breath all over the back of my neck. It took all of a minute and a half before I collapsed. My heart was racing and I was seeing stars, and I¡¯d given up all hope at surviving the day. Death wouldn¡¯t be so bad, I thought as I imagined the lizard cracking open my bones to drink the marrow. At least all of this would be over with. My contemplations were interrupted, not by as I¡¯d assumed, some angry lizardman coming to eat me, but rather by the crashing noise of several blue screens popping open at once. NEW RESOURCE UNLOCKED Stamina 0/50 Through physical exertion you have unlocked a very standard resource. Rarity N/A STAT BONUS Dexterity +1 STAT BONUS Dexterity +1 All my worries disappeared like that, and a goofy grin took it¡¯s place. Two stat gains for such minimal effort, a trade I would have made in any game I¡¯d ever played. This was also the first time I¡¯d seen any sort of stat¡¯s, and the idea that I might have them and they might be improved gave me some desire for the first time since this whole fiasco started. Rocky crouched down next to me, seeming to understand that I¡¯d stopped running not because I wanted to, but because I just couldn''t anymore. Although I was still wary about the big guy, I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to retreat any further. Hitting 0 stamina made my body feel as though it was filled with lead, and I couldn¡¯t move if I wanted to. As I lay there gasping for air, Rocky gave me his verdict. ¡°Weak.¡± He said, his taloned thumb and forefinger curling around my bicep. Yes I know the term might be a bit generous, but really, we all have biceps it¡¯s just basic science. Even me, although you couldn¡¯t tell by looking. ¡°Soft.¡± He continued, poking my belly with another one of those wicked talons. Any harder and he would have poked right through me. ¡°Slow.¡± He said a final time, prodding my twitching legs. Was that a hint of pity I heard in his voice? I looked up towards him, and he met my eyes. Yep. Definitely pity in those cold snake like eyes. My opinion of Rocky rose like an elevator. After all we now had something in common. I pitied me too.