《Vanveiss》


 Chapter 1 - Awakening

    ¡®Ah yep, this is the shit¡¯ he thought as he plopped himself down on his white bed. His sheets were pretty much dirty at this point. He didn¡¯t care though, he couldn¡¯t even care any less even if he tried. ¡®Hrm, let¡¯s see here... ah, here it is¡¯ he thought, clicking on the small link of the website. He wanted to read a few more chapters of his favorite xianxia character before going to sleep.


    ¡®Aaah, why aren¡¯t more characters in stories like him? Cold-blooded and just outright fucking cool? I can relate to him so well that I sound like a fucking psychopath.¡¯ He thought with a hum. He was really into reading this certain xianxia novel. Not only were the protagonist powerful and witty, he also acted like he was above the law, the he could kill.


    ¡®Hrm, but the morals in xianxia stories are more or less skewed in favor of the character, like, I can see why people can¡¯t like them.¡¯ He thought. ¡®Hrmmmm... well, whatever. Less whiny assholes, the better.¡¯ He added as he clicked the browser away. He always had a nice little background with a clean desktop. He hated it when people had a lot of unused shortcuts.


    ¡°Ah, fuck, you¡¯re kidding me?¡± he said aloud. ¡°Oh my god, I can¡¯t believe I forgot about the report tomorrow, oh jesus fucking christ save me¡± he said and immediately powered up a presentation program. As he did, a cold sensation overwhelmed him and the last thing he saw was eternal black.


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°rmm.... christ, that hurt.¡±


    He opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the dense leaves in front of him. No light could pass through the canopy. ¡®You¡¯re kidding me? What the fuck? ARGH, FUCK MY HEAD¡¯ his thoughts screamed inside as he held his head with both his hands. He rolled around for a while before calming down and rubbing the backside of his head.


    ¡°God, it feels like someone just took me off my computer, bagged me like some try-hard rapist, gave me a ride to who-knows where, threw me out like a wet bitch, and drove away to kingdom-fucking-come.¡± He said aloud, clearly voicing his frustration and irritation of the current situation. He clicked his tongue and inspected his body. He was wearing a simple white gambeson and brown leather pants and boots with padded joints. The leather boots were plated with iron. ¡°Weren¡¯t these worn by the soldiers in the dark ages? Why am I wearing these?¡± he said as he moved his hands around his body. He gave a sigh of relief when he realized nothing huge changed on his body.


    He searched his person for his phone, but then realized how stupid he was for doing so. He was kidnapped, probably raped too, and pretty much lost all of his posessions. He gave out another sigh, this time, of animosity.


    He stood up and looked around his immediate vicinity. ¡®Man, this place is really fucking dark for a forest¡¯ he thought as he looked on over the canopies. The leaves were thick and their height was absurb. He felt like was inside a jungle with the oversized trees. ¡°What even is this place?¡± He said as he dusted himself off. The ground was thick in dark greenery, even the overgrowth of this place was oversized to hell.


    He explored the entire area with his eyes, only for it to land on a small leather sling hanging down from a branch. ¡°Did those assholes mistakenly threw this off too? Well lucky for me then¡± he said in an excited tone. He felt like a child opening his new present, though this time it was just a bland, leather sling. He pulled it off the branch and examined it. It really was as simple as he thought it was. He could see the white string that tied it all together, there were even very small holes on the sides of it. It looked very well-worn like it had seen usage for more than a millenia. He furrowed his brows as he grew less interested in what it had to offer.


    ¡°Those guys have really bad taste¡± His thoughts slipped off his tongue as he held the sling bag. ¡°Nothing to it, I guess, let¡¯s look inside.¡± He said as he pushed away the leathery flap. Inside were an assortment of items that he hadn¡¯t thought would be inside at all.


    There was an old, unremarkable dagger with a faded crest on the flat, the blade was chipped remarkable well too. ¡®Great¡¯ he thought. ¡®This is as useless as a plastic knife.¡¯ There was also a few pouches of food inside that looked very tasteless and bland. There was a small, rolled up map inside. Upon further inspection, it was lazily drawn by a child with asperger¡¯s. ¡®tasteless joke¡¯ he thought as he rolled it up again and put it back inside. There was also a book with letters and words he couldn¡¯t understand. There was a bunch of 1s and 0s etched onto the pages sort of like a binary code system, though he couldn¡¯t be sure since he never studied programming, he decided, in spite of himself, to carry it with him. ¡®It might have interesting uses later¡¯ he thought as he pushed it back inside. He also found a simple lantern a few number of oil flasks to keep it lit. There was even a match and striker along with it. Lastly, he found a simple note inside the side pouch. It read;


    ¡°Good Luck, Jorn.¡±


    He sighed in frustration as he read the note over. He crumpled it and threw it to the ground after reading it. ¡°You can¡¯t be kidding me, right?¡± He said aloud, to no one in particular. ¡°This isn¡¯t some kind of reality TV shtick, is it?¡± He said, exploring the area with his eyes again, looking for hidden cameras or whatnot. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with furrowed brows. He didn¡¯t expect a bunch of people would be shoving him to a life and death situation like a survival jig. He noisily scrathed his scalp in frustration. He was very frustrated of the whole ordeal. The least they could do was give better terms.


    He reluctantly took the old dagger and tied the strap to his backhip. With no other choice left, he took out the map from the sling and rolled it out.


    ¡°So, right now, I¡¯m in this forest called Blackwoods. Charming name. A few kilometers away from here is a place called Fellhood Grove. After that is an outpost, after which is the city itself. This is a pretty straightforward map, isn¡¯t it?¡± He said aloud to himself. He did so to assure himself of the situation, to wake him up that what was happening right then wasn¡¯t a dream. ¡®I guess I should be grateful that they decided to give me a map in the first place¡¯ he shrugged with that thought. ¡®Doesn¡¯t change the fact that i¡¯m pissed.¡¯ He added as he walked off, map in hand.


    It didn¡¯t take long for him to get exhausted. He was, after all, born a city boy. He didn¡¯t have as much stamina as he liked. ¡®After this whole ordeal is over, i¡¯m going to do some cardio. Geez.¡¯ He thought as he slumped himself down on the ground under a tree. ¡®I wanted to cover as much ground as possible but my legs and heart can¡¯t keep up.¡¯ He added as he looked on overhead. The leaves still covered much of the sky.


    He closed his eyes for a bit, remembering the sweet embrace of his bed, the sweet electronic light that bathed him every day, and the cool air that had enveloped him every day. He gave a wry smile as he opened his again, only to see the depressing situation he was in. ¡°Haha... I¡¯ve always wanted to get off the monotony of my everyday life, and I foud it! I finally did, but this is still quite a depressing situation to be in.¡±


    He stood up from the ground and looked around. He thought that he might as well have fun while he was here. Having that in mind, he pulled out a tree bark from, well, a tree. It was hard to pull out too since it was pretty thick and dry, but he managed. Though sweaty and almost out of breath. He examined the tree bark and found it just the perfect size as a practice target. ¡®This¡¯ll do just fine, it may not be ballistics gel, but it can be fun regardless.¡¯


    He stood himself way out in the center, equally away from any of the trees that surrounded him. He contemplated for a bit about what to do with the bark when it hit him in the face. Literally, the wind blew hard and his grip of the bark loosened considerably and the bark hit him square in the face. He held the bark with one hand and rubbed the point of his nose. ¡°Ouch...¡± He said without thinking.


    With the bark in hand and the other tightly gripping the dagger¡¯s handle, he threw the bark way into the air. He waited for a bit until it reached his effective range. In a swift motion, he was able to slide off the dagger from its sheath and managed to do an upward cut on the bark before it hit the ground. By the end, he was smiling as he was able to hit it the first time. He picked up the bark from the ground and saw the damage. The cut was shallow, but that was mostly due to the dagger being the way it was. Since daggers were made for thrusting and stabbing instead of outright cuts. He was still satisfied with the results nonetheless.


    He did this game for a few more times, sometimes mixing it up by either punching or kicking the bark instead of using the dagger. He even managed to keep it in the air by continously slashing and hacking it upwards. It didn¡¯t take long for him to lose all of his enthusiasm and energy, as did the sun as it went about to set the day in.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    He laid himself down on the ground after that excessive amounts of slashing and cutting. He was panting pretty heavily because of this workout he devised. He was all smiles though as he had fun doing so. ¡°Besides... it made for... a great cardio... workout.¡± He said to himself in-between breaths. He rested himself down for a bit until his breathing calmed. It was almost night out too, so he took out the lantern from the sling bag and lit it with the match stick.


    With a deep breath, he stood from the ground. He held the lantern at arm¡¯s length and moved forwards, looking for a place to rest his head. After a few hours of searching the area, he found a small opening on a rockface by the far corner of the forest. The opening was overrun with vines that made it hard to locate, thankfully, he had a lantern that made it easy.


    He pushed away the vines the hid the opening and looked on over. The opening was small but the interior was spacious enough that he could probably stand inside. He set down the latern on the ground and used the dagger to cut off the vines so he could slip in easier. He had a thought as he did. He took the vines he cut off and set them aside his sling bag. He crawled on all fours and entered the small opening. It was definitely more spacious than the opening lets on. He stretched his arm outside and pulled in the latern since he needed it to illuminate the cave.


    ¡®Now, isn¡¯t this a cozy little place¡¯ he thought as he put down the latern on the ground. He then took off the sling bag and set aside the corner as a makeshift pillow of sorts. He was tired after everything that happened. ¡®Tired is an understatement, i¡¯m pretty swamped physically and mentally. I need a good rest¡¯ He thought and slowly lulled himself to sleep.


    ¡°Okay, where am I now?¡± He said as his eyes looked around the area. The place was very pristine and white, with no blemishes on the walls. The side were lined with gold and silver, the ground a clear-cut marble. It felt like he had found himself inside a rich bastard¡¯s abode. He stopped his perverse eyes when he found the only door of the room. It was also in pristine condition, with the doorknob made of clear diamonds on a golden metal mold. ¡°Am I going to meet with a saw-face doll after opening this door? I hope not¡± He said with a laugh before turning the doorknob and entering the other room. There, he met a group of people robed in white and faces hidden under their hood. There was about fifteen of them in the room, all sitting themselves around the table. There was one spot left.


    ¡°Please, sit yourself down¡± One of the men gestured over the final seat.


    He didn¡¯t have much choice in the matter so he did as he was told and took a seat.


    ¡°With all of us present, I¡¯d like to start this meeting with our esteemed guest.¡± One of them started, gesturing over to Jorn.


    ¡°How do you feel, Hero?¡± Another man asked.


    ¡°Wait, don¡¯t fucking tell me you sent me there?¡± Jorn asked, clearly very agitated.


    ¡°Yes we did, the Universe sent you there for a reason¡± One of the men calmly answered.


    ¡°What do you mean reason? Send me back to my home NOW¡± Jorn shouted and stood up fro his seat, with his hand slamming down on the table.


    ¡°Calm down¡± One of the men said. He motioned his hands and returned Jorn to his seat forcefully.


    ¡°Wha¡ªWhat is this?! Some kind of magic bullshit?!¡± Jorn angrily bellowed.


    ¡°What if we said yes? It is magic, Hero, and we want you to calm down. We¡¯re about to tell you the reason.¡± Another man continued.


    Jorn¡¯s eyes widened as he heard this. ¡®Magic? Seriously? What kind of loopy-land have I come to?¡¯


    ¡°We can see the confusion in your eyes, Hero, but all will be revealed soon. Second, if you please.¡±


    One of the men in white removed his hood and showed his aged face to Jorn. ¡°First of all, we¡¯d like to apologize to the rough handling my associates treated you.¡± He said and motioned his hand, freeing Jorn from his restraints.


    Jorn felt the pressure subside as the aged man. ¡®It might really be magic¡¯ he thought.


    ¡°Okay, fine, I forgive you, but you have to tell me why you sent me here¡± Jorn said, finally calming down. Even if he threw a tantrum here, it wouldn¡¯t do much against this all-powerful magical beings.


    The old man smiled and started talking about the situation.


    ¡°You see, Hero, you were sent here to this world with a reason, a very important reason too. You see, the Universe, at large, created and fathered many worlds. He is akin to a God that mortal men loved to worship. Now, the universe has decided to send you from Earth to Vanveiss.¡±


    ¡°Vanveiss?¡± Jorn asked, he could understand what the man was saying, but Vanveiss was a word he didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°The world you now reside in. A world similar, but different, to the fiction of your world. Different races, cultures and supernatural abilities reside in Vanveiss. If I were to use a word from your world, it would be ¡®Fantasy¡¯. Vanveiss is that world.¡± The old man continued to explain.


    ¡°Then, let me ask you, why did the Universe send me there?¡±


    ¡°To be the champion of Vanveiss. To be the hero of the land, though what hero you become is of no concern to the Universe.¡± The man answered.


    ¡°To be a hero... huh, that sounds kind of fun¡± Jorn said, almost the complete opposite of what he was earlier.


    ¡°It seems you are eager, Hero.¡±


    ¡°Kind of, yeah, Its not everyday the Universe slates you as a hero of another land. This is similar to many of the popular fiction stories written back in my world. In that case, do I get a boon from you or what?¡±


    ¡°You already have one. Its the book within the leather bag. Once you¡¯ve held onto it, we want you to activate the book by speaking Absorb. You will assimiliate with the book and will be given an ability unique only to you. We¡¯ve already wasted enough time here. We will answer your questions at a later date.¡± He said, the other men nodding at his words.


    ¡°Good Luck, Hero¡± the words resounded as all fifteen of the white-robed men said this.


    His vision faded as the world before him deconstructed.


    ¡°...?¡±


    ¡°hm...?¡±


    ¡°Ah... shit, my head hurts again.¡± He said, holding his head with one hand and the other pushing himself out of bed. His entire body was covered in sweat, it seemed like that dream took a toll on his body. It wasn¡¯t anything severe, just pure exhaustion after waking up. He didn¡¯t think a dream would tire him out so much. ¡°Seriously¡± He said, one hand still holding his head. The headache was pretty bad, but not unbearable.


    He sat upright from the ground and messily took the book of 1s and 0s from the sling bag. ¡®What did the old man say again... oww... absorb, right?¡¯ With his free hand, he took the book at arm¡¯s length and said [Abosrb]. As he did, the book glowed an extreme white light and bathed the entire cave with it. The book steadily vanished inside his body, assimilating pages and pages of information inside his brain. He felt like his cranium would crack from the pressure. It felt as if numerous metallic tendrils pushing computer data inside his brain. It was a pain that could only be surpassed by a surgery without a single drop of anesthesia. It was a pain so great that he wanted to smash his head on the stone floor and kill himself. He held is head with both his hands and rolled around in suffering. He screamed in agony as he went through the pain. The pain was for only about a minute at most, but it felt like an eternity to Jorn. By the end of the ordeal, he almost seemed like he had taken a shower due to the immense amount of sweat. Jorn just laid there on the ground, breathless and panting heavily for air.


    It took him an hour before he could fully calm himself down from the pain. he could still feel a trivial pang or headache, but considering what he went through, he didn¡¯t even mind it anymore. After the headache subsided, he was greeted by a screen in his line of sight.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± He said in disbelief. ¡°No way, you¡¯re kidding right?¡±


    [Acquired the following skills]


    [Heroic Constitution] | [Absorb Knowledge] | [Inspect Item]


    What he saw was similar to video game screen, not only that, but it also gave him very video-game like skills. ¡®I must be imagining things¡¯ he thought and rubbed his eyes and moved his line of sight left and right, but the screen followed it around. ¡®You¡¯re telling me this is the boon they gave me?¡¯ he asked and laughed quitely, in spite of himself. Who would have guessed that the skill they gave him was similar to the games he played back in his own world. Resigned to his fate, he tried tapping the screen away and it did just that, though a new screen appeared.


    [New Message Acquired]


    ¡°What the hell is this, a magical phone? Whatever¡± he said and tapped the screen for confirmation. A new screen appeared, he assumed it to be the mail system.


    [Message from the Collective]


    ¡®Collective?¡¯ he thought ¡®The group of white-robed men that I met in my dream? I hope they are, or this would be creepy.¡¯ He added as he tapped the screen to read their message.


    [Hello, Hero. If you¡¯re reading this message, then the Collective can safely assume that you¡¯ve used your absorb ability on our gift. That is terrific news. Hero, think of this new ability of yours as a codex for your adventures as the chosen champion. It will collect and display any and all information you acquire in your journey.


    The codex will also let you communicate with us, the Collective, without having to invade your brain everytime you slept.


    It also displays the skills you acquire throughout your journey. If you want more information on skills you¡¯ve acquired, tap the name it will lead you to a screen detailing it. As you have seen when you booted up the codex, you were given three skills. [Heroic Constitution] was given to you by the Universe as proof that you are this land¡¯s champion. [Absorb Knowledge] and [Inspect Item] are skills given to you by the Collective to help alleviate certain problems that you will encounter in your journey.


    Lastly, if you require to open or close the codex, just pass a thought through your head and it should do as you will.


    Good Luck, Hero.]


    He gave out an almost tired sigh. He was expecting a fantasy-like skill. ¡®A sci-fi codex like this really came out of left field. Like, shit, who expects that?¡¯ he thought with a grin. It was a silly ability to be given in a fantasy-like world but it was useful, far more useful than a combat ability that he could learn in this world. At least what he had wasn¡¯t something anyone could just get.


    He stood up from the ground and used the hem of his gambeson to wipe away the sweat on his face. He picked up the sling bag and the unlit lantern from the ground and stuffed it back inside the leather bag and slung it around his shoulder. He took a deep breath before crawling himself under the cave opening. The day was as sunny as ever, but the area didn¡¯t let any of it pass throug the thick canopies. It was depressing but he didn¡¯t mind the cool shade anymore. He looked on over to the direction of the grove.


    ¡°Its time to start this adventure seriously¡± he said with a smile and took confident strides to Fellhood Grove.

 Chapter 2 - To Fellhood

    He trudged himself through the dense and thick woodland area. Not a single ray of light had passed through the canopies ever since he found himself in this world. The forest was really dense too but it didn¡¯t have any of the annoying problems that jungles had. ¡®What am thinking, I haven¡¯t even been to a jungle in the first place.¡¯ He said with a sigh.


    As he walked on further through blackwoods, he noted one thing in Blackwood. The further he walked towards the plains and eventually to Fellhood Grove, the less dense the forest became and rays of light actuall shone through the canopies. He jumped the moment he saw a large patch of sunlight in one area of Blackwoods. ¡®Finally, some sunglight¡¯ he thought. After soaking up for another minute, he further on the road.


    It was relatively easy to navigate through Blackwoods, there was a beaten and well-used dirt path that lead outside. It was the only part of the ground that wasn¡¯t overgrown with patches of greenery. He was lucky enough to stumble upon the path. He rolled up the tattered map in his hands since he didn¡¯t have much need for it anymore with the path laid before him.


    As he walked on forward, more and more rays of sunlight penetrated the thick forestry. It took him a few hours until he finally found the opening of the forest. With heavy steps, he ran through the opening. Bouts of sunlight bathed him and strong winds had almost pushed him down. His long hair danced around with the tune of the wind. He took a deep breath of the warm and fresh air that he had long sought after. It was a great contrast from the cool and shaded Blackwoods.


    He sat himself under a tree to take a rest and admire the view for a bit. It truly was fantasy-like. He expected a darker and far more depressing setting, though he didn¡¯t mind this at all. ¡®Though I would be lying if I said I¡¯d rather have this setting than a darker one, ah well, whatever.¡¯ He thought as a small smile crept up his face. While resting, he mulled things over in his head. The abrupt kidnapping case of the Collective, who also probably raped him in his sleep. The huge information that would rival any horrible exposition. The matter with him being a ¡®chosen hero¡¯. Het let out a tired sigh as thought of all these, and this all happened within the span of a day. If that wasn¡¯t eventful, he wouldn¡¯t know what is.


    As he sat under the shade with the warm air breezing through every so often, he had a thought. He took out the tattered map from his sling bag and held it at arm¡¯s length. He gulped with beads of sweat forming on his furrowed brow. He wanted to try absorbing the map but he feared that it would be just as painful as last time, though he thought that it might not be the case since this was a drawing and not a string of 1s and 0s. ¡®Please for the love of god, don¡¯t be as painful as last time¡¯ he cursed his fate. It was do or die time, at least he thought so.


    [Abosrb Knowledge] he activated through a voice command and the map shone in a brilliant white and dazzling light that blinded him. This time around, the majority of information wasn¡¯t being sent to his brain, it was being sent to his eyes. ¡°AH FUCK YOU¡¯RE KIDDING ME¡± He bellowed angrily as he covered his eyes with both hands. The pain was weaker in comparison, but it was still fairly painful since his eyes were being bombarded with geographical information of the land. To him, it felt like an amateur was inking his eyes with a sharp needle, then moving it around the eyeballs because he was a fucking idiot that positioned the syringe wrong and tried to fix it by moving it around. The excruciating pain lasted all about half a minute, yet to him, it still felt like an eternity past.


    His arms and body went limp on the tree when the pain subsided. He was breathing as heavily as the last time he absorbed a book. ¡°Jesus fuck¡± he cursed ¡°Who the hell thought it was a good idea to have an absorb knowledge skill that almost puts the user into an induced coma?¡± He said in between breaths as he opened up the codex by passing the thought through his head. A skill screen appeared, enumerating the skills he had at the moment. He tapped the [Abosrb Knowledge] link and it opened a new screen.


    [Absorb Knowledge forcefully turns the raw data on hand to recordable data. The process is done on the brain in most cases, sometimes a different body part if the brain is not applicable. After the forceful data conversion, the user can use and read the information through the codex or through his data banks in the brain.]


    ¡®Ah... Now I get it. The book of 1s and 0s basically made my brain into a computer. The screens i¡¯m seeing right now are windows of that computer.¡¯ He thought. We was slightly irritated that the Collective didn¡¯t tell him outright about it. Though if they did, he wouldn¡¯t have absorbed the book in the first place. ¡®Converting your brain into a computer isn¡¯t exactly a savory choice, is it?¡¯ he thought accompanied with a sigh of his own. ¡®So my computer/brain regulated my bodily functions now, that means I could probably tweak how my body works... I¡¯ll do that later on¡¯ he thought ¡®so wait, wouldn¡¯t that mean i¡¯m a biological weapon now?¡¯ he entertained the idea in his head, imagining the certain things he could do and laughed about it.


    He tapped the screen away only to be greeted with another one.


    [Geographical Information Updated] | [Would you like to activate the minimap now?]


    [Yes] | [No]


    He furrowed his brows and thought for a minute. ¡®Minimap? What the hell does that mean? Am I getting a minimap screen now?¡¯ he thought as he pondered the idea over. After seemingly no answer to be thought of, he pushed [Yes] on the screen. The confirmation screen dissapeared and what replaced it was a small minimap on the far right of his vision. He could see the minimap just fine, and the transparency was just right that it wouldn¡¯t impede his vision. The minimap was reminiscent of the video game minimaps he was used to as there was a red dot with a point in the middle. The point was facing northeast to Fellhood Grove, just as his body was.


    ¡®Okay, I have to admit, this is kind of cool. It feels like i¡¯m wearing 76¡¯s visor.¡¯


    With that in mind, he thought of inspect his other abilities. Using his head, he opened a previous screen. The skills screen since he wanted to know more about the other two skills granted to him. He tapped the [Heroic Constitution] link and read the entry.


    [The Heroic Consitution skill begets the rise of a champion, of a hero. The hero is favored by the Gods. The Hero has increased Vitality Energy, increased Spiritual Energy, increased Durability, Strength, and Agility.]


    ¡°Haha, this is almost like a cheat, like seriously!¡± He said aloud without thinking. He trully did feel like a cheater. It was akin to a feeling of making an account in an MMORPG and finding out that your character is actually a special entity that everyone wanted to be. ¡®Hah, I could think of one old MMO in my world that had that system, too bad it went to shit after a certain game released and the devs wanted to cash in on its success.¡¯


    ¡°Still, this a pretty useful ability, I had hoped it could at least increase my stamina but I guess i¡¯ll have to develop that as I journey on¡± he thought aloud and returned to the skill selection screen. The only skill left was his [Inspect Item] skill. He tapped the screen again for information.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    [Inspect Item, well, inspects items. What did you expect, Hero?]


    He could feel a brain aneurysm as he read the entry. He gritted his teeth because he expected a serious entry, but who would have thought that even the Collective would have some fun with him. ¡®You guys are pretty willfull for your age.¡¯ He thought as he tapped the screen away and held the bridge of his nose. He gave out a long sigh afterwards.


    ¡°Well, whatever, let¡¯s try the skills out.¡± He said before standing up from the ground. He took a few ways off from the place he had sat on and stood there silently, contemplating at how he should try out his [Heroic Constitution]. It didn¡¯t take long when he remembered how people played around with knives and posted it on the internet. He¡¯d always wanted to try those things about because it looked cool, but he was too much of a pussy to actually try it and injure himself.


    He inched his hands to grip the old dagger¡¯s handle from behind his hip and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and started thinking of his [Heroic Constitution] since he wasn¡¯t sure if it was a passive skill or an active skill. It only took a few seconds for him to make up his mind. In a swift motion, he slid it off from its sheath and hacked and sliced the air twice. The first downward cut then the second upward slice. He used the momentum of the second upward cut to throw the dagger in the air. He looked above and readied his hands to catch the handle. As the dagger fell, in a single motion, he catched it before it landed on the ground and slid it cleanly inside its sheath.


    He took another deep breath as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead to his nose. He bit his lips and had almost deathly eyes. He trembled in place before going down on all fours and breathing heavily. ¡°Jesus fucking christ that was scary.¡± He said in between pants. He felt light-headed and queasy after what he did. He didn¡¯t actually expect he would be able to pull it off perfectly. He rolled around and laid on the ground with boths arms and legs outstretched. He laughed in spite of himself. He did it, he was able to do something he wanted to do for a long time now.


    He found it odd though that his body reacted quite naturally from using the dagger, almost like he knew how to use it for a long time now. He didn¡¯t think it would be the [Heroic Constitution], it was probably something else. It was akin to a feeling of having used a keyboard for a long time that you didn¡¯t even need to look at the keys to type. It was very similar to that feelings, as if he was a well-trained elite with the dagger. His muscle-memory did all the work. ¡®This is really strange... Do I have another ability that gives me dagger proficiency?¡¯ he thought and opened the codex skill screen, though found only the three skills listed. He thought deeply for a minute before closing the codex. ¡®I¡¯ll have to ask the Collective later on about skills that don¡¯t appear on the codex.¡¯


    He kept resting on the ground as the midday sun¡¯s rays bore down on him. It didn¡¯t feel unpleasant at all, far from it, it felt very refreshing to him. He slid the dagger off from its sheath and looked it over, having it blot out the sun¡¯s rays. ¡°[Inspect Item]¡± He said as the voice activation system recognized it. A new screen appeared, showing the details of the old dagger.


    [Old Hana Family Dagger]


    [A very old dagger of the Hana Family. The ¡®Fish of Legend¡¯ crest found on the flat of the blade has faded considerably.]


    ¡®So i¡¯m guessing this old dagger once belonged to a noble.¡¯ He didn¡¯t know much of Vanveiss, but he knew what it meant to have a family crest. It meant that the dagger belonged to a noble and the old farts from the Collective probably stole it for him to use. ¡°They seriously are willfull for their old age, weren¡¯t they some kind of warden for the different worlds, what the fuck are they thinking, doing something like this... christ¡± he thought aloud, he didn¡¯t know for sure, but it was a fun thought.


    He slid the Hana Dagger back in its sheath and kicked up, landing on his feet in a clean motion. The [Heroic Constitution] really did increase his agility as he wasn¡¯t even able to do this before in his world, not even close to being able to. He dusted himself off and walked off to the direction of Fellhood Grove.


    Since it was the plains, you coudn¡¯t really get lost in it. There was also a brow dirt path that he assumed would take him to Fellhood Grove. There were splits here and there but the minimap helped him sort out the direction of the Grove. Eventually, he grew bored of walking because he thought it was way too easy to get to the city. That was until he saw a group of small human-like creatures with red skin. They were hunchbacked and held wooden clubs, three of them at least. The last goblin held a bow in his hand and a quiver slung behind him.


    When he saw these goblin-like creatures, he immediately went prone. If there was something he learned from his video games like that one game with dragon and dogma in its name and the novels from his old world, it would be that goblins were aggressive creatures that will attack anyone on sight. He couldn¡¯t be sure though, since this was Vanveiss, but the Collective did say that this world was similar to the fiction of Earth. He crawled on all-fours to the nearest shrubbery and squinted his eyes to see better. The group of goblins were wearing chest plates, though what material it was, he didn¡¯t know. Upon closer inspection, they really did look like goblins.


    ¡°Nothing to it, I guess i¡¯ll be having my first kill¡± he smiled as he said this. He hasn¡¯t done anything heroic for the past few hours since he¡¯d been here. The forest didn¡¯t have creatures or predatory animals in the first place. Looked like these poor old goblins would be his first kill. Of course, just because he was a hero didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t nervous of fighting against them. First of all, this would be his first fight. He hadn¡¯t had experience fighting before. Secondly, they have number advantage. Thirdly, he didn¡¯t know how powerful these goblins were. He was kind of wary too since in one of his games, he couldn¡¯t even kill a single goblin alone. He had to be cautious.


    It seemed as though the goblins were heading towards Blackwoods, so he waited near the shrubbery to strike. He held the dagger¡¯s handle tight and pushed away the branches to get a better look. He bided his time, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.


    After a few minutes, the goblins eventually walked past the shrub he hid in. He waited for the archer way behind their group to pass him and drag it inside the bush for a stealth kill. He brandished the dagger and held it backwards so he could easily stab the goblin¡¯s neck. Finally, the archer walked past, he moved fast and silent and covered the goblin¡¯s mouth to keep it from screaming. He then used his foot to kick the back-knee of the goblin to make it easier to bring him inside the bush. After doing so, he held the goblin by the neck and dragged him inside where the blade of his dagger met its throat. Blood gushed forth from his wound and its mouth and slowly, the life vanished from its eyes.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the other goblins to realize that their bow companion was gone. They all shouted looking for him. After a while of no response, the leader of their pack seemingly orders the other two to spread out and look for the fourth goblin. One of the goblins ran past the shrub to look, the other walked slowly to the shrub as it thought that it might have knocked itself unconscious, while the leader stood his ground and looked around the area.


    The second goblin met its fate the same way the fourth did. Jorn stood from the bush and covered the goblin¡¯s mouth to muffle its scream, then used the dagger on his right hand to push the blade to its gullet. Blood burst forth as he pulled the body back inside the shrub without the leader knowing.


    ¡®Only two left...¡¯ he thought, stifling his breathing. He looked on over again and found that the first and third goblin were conversing in their language, though it seemed like they had an agreement to turn tail and retreat as they ran past the bush he hid himself in and back to the direction of Fellhood Grove. After making sure that the two goblins were out of sight, he heaved a sigh of relief and quickly left his hiding spot.


    He expected that he would be nauseous by then since this was the first time he killed someone. But he didn¡¯t, he didn¡¯t feel lightheaded nor queasy at all, and it he found it disturbing himself. ¡®This is very, very odd¡¯ he thought. ¡®There must be something at work here, what it is, I don¡¯t know.¡¯ He added. He took a deep breath and looted the dead goblins.


    The took the dead goblin¡¯s chest plate, bow, and quiver since he needed as much as hecould get for his survival. He didn¡¯t really want to do this, but he had no other choice. Looting bodies shamelessly was a far better alternative to being a dead man, in his honest opinion.


    After taking the gear, he wore the chest plate and slung the bow and quiver on his shoulder. He wanted to get through Fellhood Grove as fast as possible and get to the city.

 Chapter 3 - Death, kind of

    After a few minutes of walking down the path to Fellhood Grove and cleaning his equipment along the way, it was then he realized that he felt dizzy, sick, and very afraid. It was a sudden surge of feelings and emotions being sent to his brain. To him, it felt like something inside or outside of Vanveiss was holding back his feelings and emotions during the earlier fight with the goblins.


    Sweat came out in droves and trickled down from his face and his entire body trembled from what he experienced. It was to a point where he almost passed out, but he managed to keep himself in check by falling down on all fours. It was such a sudden movement that the chest plate and bow he had fell off to the ground.


    ¡°God damn it... what the fuck even is this.¡± He said, clearly disturbed by himself. Eventually though, his vision darkened and his whole body went limp.


    He woke up a few hours later, locked behind a metal cage being transported by a mule cart. ¡®ugh, my head, where am I?¡¯ he thought as he looked around. The sun had almost set and he could see a group of goblins just outside the cart. There were wearing far more intricate armor pieces than the last one and holding spears and halberds. It was a weird sight consdering how large these weapons were compared to their diminutive stature and posture.


    Eventually, one of the goblins noticed him awake and called for the leader in their language. One of the goblins leading the mule cart turned his head when it heards his subordinate¡¯s cries. He walked on over to the soldier and talked with him, passing his glance at Jorn before doing so. As soon as the other languages heard it, all of them stopped in their tracks, even the one holding the reigns of the mule. Their eyes showed clear hostility as they inched closer to the cage, weapons in hand. Luckily enough, the leader bellowed angrily and all of them stayed their hand. The leader looked at each of his soldiers menacingly before climbing up the cart.


    It stood in front of Jorn in the cage and cleared his throat. The goblin tried talking in their language, but since he had never heard it once, he couldn¡¯t understand anything. Eventually though, the goblin grew tired and took the gambeson¡¯s scruff forcibly and took out a pellet from his pouch. He shoved the pellet to Jorn¡¯s face, non-verbally telling Jorn to eat it. Since he had no other choice but to do so, he did. ¡®tastes like candy¡¯ he thought as he slowly swallowed the small green pellet. After that, the goblin also swallowed a green pellet.


    ¡°Can you understand me now, human?¡± the goblin asked, looking at the human angrily.


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t¡± he replied, looking straight at the goblin.


    ¡°You have a pretty smart mouth there, human.¡±


    ¡°What can I say? I was born this way¡±


    ¡°You... no, tell me, did you kill my men?¡±


    ¡°Men? What are you talking about?¡± Replied Jorn with a puzzled look on his face. He knew what the goblin was talking about, of course, but he had to play dumb if he wanted to survive.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb with me, my men saw you collapsed to the ground wearing my men¡¯s equipment!¡±


    Jorn¡¯s brain worked fast and he found a good answer. ¡°I found the two dead goblins on the ground so I took their stuff, after that, I hid their body behind a bush. I collapsed to the ground because I had been travelling for quite a while now that I was absolutely exhausted.¡± He was lying through his teeth, but he didn¡¯t have much choice.


    The goblin looked doubtful as he listened to Jorn¡¯ story. Of course he would be after seeing his men¡¯s corpses and a human looter that had their equipment. It could also be that the killer was another goblin since the patrol didn¡¯t see their assailant¡¯s face.


    ¡°Whether your story is true or not, i¡¯ll let the king decide¡± the goblin said, turned his heel and climbed off. He shouted something in his language and the other goblins immediately started back to the path.


    ¡®There¡¯s no turning back, I¡¯ll have to flesh out this story for quite a bit if I want to survive.¡¯ He thought and laid his body down to think. Though the soft rocking of the mule cart would be enough to lull him to sleep, he managed to keep himself awake to develop his story and in turn, survive.


    It took a little more than two hours when they finally arrived to Fellhood Grove. The place was riddled with goblins just at the entrance. Many small to large huts lined the open patches. Many of the goblin passersby turned and look-in curiously to a human in a cage. It was really quite a shameful display.


    Though they had already arrived by the grove, it took another half an hour before the cart mule stopped. Jorn looked over in front of him to see a stone castle, very unlike to the outers ones. The leader of the goblins climbed up again, holding a wood cuff to restrain Jorn with.


    The goblin opened the metal cage, holding the cuff and a short sword.


    ¡°The pellet should still be in effect, hold your arms outright and we won¡¯t have to get bloody¡± the goblin said, dangling the wooden cuff in front of Jorn.


    Jorn sighed, he didn¡¯t have much of a choice, did he? He moved his hands and let the goblin leader cuff him and push him outside the meal cage. Many of the soldier goblins made way and escorted him, along with the leader, inside the rock hut.


    The stone castle was really large, they had to navigate their way through quite a bit of rooms before they managed to get to the king¡¯s study. It was an overly large room with quite a bit of green and red furnishing. The walls were lined with rows upon rows of bookshelves. At the middle was a table made hardwood and the Goblin King sat on the chair just behind.


    He showed a surprise look when the goblins entered one by one, holding Jorn with them. He closed the book He was reading and gave out a tired-sigh. He spoke something to one of them in their language and returned the book to the bookshelf behind him.


    Of course, Jorn couldn¡¯t understand anything and felt apprehensive of the situation. He waited until the Goblin King looked to his direction as they spoke, it seemed like they were talking about him and his crimes. The king gave out another sigh and took the gold staff from his table and used telepathy to communicate with Jorn.


    ¡°Hello Human, how are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Bad, I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d wake up to being locked in a cage after collapsing.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to excuse us for that, you are a suspected murderer of our kind.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t even kill them!¡± Jorn asserted.


    ¡°Whether or not you did, the decision lies with me, though don¡¯t worry. The reason I had wanted to talk to you was because i¡¯ll be taking a peek inside your head.¡±


    ¡®SHIT¡¯ Jorn thought. ¡®I didn¡¯t think they would have that kind of magic, what the fuck?¡¯ he added. If it were just verbal communication, he could get away with it since he was an experiened liar, but reading his mind was entirely different.


    ¡°Err, can we, ehm, talk this out?¡± he said nervously to the king.


    ¡°No¡± the goblin king said and cut the telepathy short.


    Jorn was nervous to. Of course he would be. He stood at death¡¯s door without controlling his own fate. Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be the chosen hero? The champion of the land? It would be quite an absolute joke for fate if he died because of this.


    As he thought this, the goblin king motioned his gold staff around his head and said something in their language. The soldiers only looked on eagerly, they wanted to hear if he was trully the suspected killer or an innocent.


    The goblin king chanted and as he did, streaks of green light passed through his head. He could feel someone molesting his brain as he sat back, cuffed, with nothing else to do. The brain reading of the goblin king felt very smooth at times, but then painful the next, though it wasn¡¯t the same pain he experienced when he absorbed the computer book. In comaprison, it was a breeze in the park.


    The king did this for an hour before he finally stopped and plopped himself back to his chair. He looked extremely exhausted by the affair. He bellowed something in his language and pointed at Jorn. The goblin soldier gave a pellet to the king then forced another green pellet down to Jorn¡¯s throat.


    ¡°You have been tried by the King of the Fellhood Goblin and found guilty of murder. Your execution is set tomorrow. Guards, sieze him.¡± The king said.


    The soldiers looked on in horrid disgust at Jorn when they heard this and roughly handled him to the dungeons. The goblins dragged him to the lowest level of the castle and held him there behind a metal door.


    ¡®Ahh, this is it for me, huh? I couldn¡¯t even enjoy this place¡¯ he thought as he gave out a defeated expression. He opened the codex and sent a message to the Collective.


    [So, in the end, I¡¯ve been tried and found guilty by the Goblin King. I can¡¯t really do much now but wait a certain death. Can¡¯t you guys do something about this?]


    [We certainly can, we have enough power to influence the minds of that world¡¯s denizens, but we won¡¯t. If this is how the Hero of the Universe meets his fate, then so be it.]


    [Man, you guys are harsh, and it hasen¡¯t even been a week since I got designated as the Hero.]


    [This is the consequence of your actions, find a way out yourself, or accept your death.]


    He closed the codex after that exchange and stopped communicating with the Collective. They are right though, this was something he did and he should find a way out by himself, then he could give the collective a huge middle-finger.


    He thought of many ways he could break out, but none proved feasible enough to do so, this was because he was under a damn castle. The hallways would be riddled with goblin soldiers eager to gouge his eyes out. Though he was sure that he wouldn¡¯t have much problem because of [Heroic Constitution], the problem lay with his stamina.


    As the hour grew closer to his execution, he grew even more desperate to get out, he tried calling out to the goblin guarding him to talk to him, but he forgot that he couldn¡¯t speak or understand their language. He though he could knock the guard out by faking a problem and having the goblin enter the cage, but it was far more intelligent than he gave credit for.


    ¡°FuckfuckfuckhowamIsupposedtogetout¡± he said to himself, sweating profusely at the thought of heaving his head lopped off by an axe or a guillotine.


    In the end, he couldn¡¯t think of anything and could only accept his fate. There was nothing much he could do now but just wait for his death. Even if he managed to escape the guards that were escorting him to the site, it would prove still fatal as Fellhood Grove was large. There was also the matter with the Goblin King, who is probably a mage.


    The hour grew closer and closer until a goblin soldier tapped his jail cell. He looked at the goblin and smiled before standing up by himself and letting the goblin tie his wrist. The smile creeped out the goblin though as he escorted him out of the dungeon. After leaving castle grounds, three more goblin soldiers escorted him to his execution grounds.


    It took them about 20 minutes when he saw a large number of goblins, since their stature was small, he could easily see the guillotine at the middle of it. He gave out a sigh of relief as he knew that at the very least, his death would be fast and painless.


    He climbed and found the king watching by a shade, with a group of soldiers guarding all corners. It seemed like the king wanted to see how the execution would go. There were also flocks of goblins watching all around the execution grounds. The world was modelled around the dark ages, if the clothing and the weapons are anything to go by, at least he thought that way. He let out a sigh and gave out one last curse to the Collective before being put down on the guillotine.


    There was a goblin who wore intricate clothing, doing a speech in front of the masses. He couldn¡¯t help but think ¡®just this over with¡¯ as the pompous noble goblin jumped around.


    By the end of it all, a group of goblins wearing execution hoods climbed up the stairs to the stage. ¡®I guess this is it. Fucking collective assholes sure aren¡¯t doing anything, are they ?¡¯ he thought and gave a defeated sigh. He accepted his fate already, but he is a vengeful spirit. He wanted to give the Collective the middle-finger but now he couldn¡¯t.


    He kept a smile as he was strapped to the wooden restraints, the blade loomed ever-so mysteriouly and beckoned the blade on his neck and wrists.


    And that was it, the blade fell and cut off his head. The last thing he saw was the world deconstructing the same way he when was sent to the Collective¡¯s abode.


    ¡°Oh c¡¯mon Anderson, this is the 89<sup>th</sup> time you¡¯ve died already!¡± A man in a labcoat said.


    ¡°Oh, piss off, its not like its my fault. You guys keep wiping my memory every time we do a dive¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t wipe it off, we block it¡±


    ¡°Same fucking thing¡± Anderson said, jumping off the white pod after the glass covering ascended.


    The room was pure white, lined with numerous wires and thick machinery. There were also a number of screens hovering about in the room. At the middle was a white pod, connected a tube with a number of wires connected to the control console on the other room. Anderson looked up to see an aged man with a willfull haircut. He sent the man a middle-finger before walking off to the automatic door.


    He truly didn¡¯t mean it, of course. They were the people that helped him survive the entire flash-freeze phenomena. This was more of a sudden irritation more than anything.


    He walked down the ever-familiar hallways to the other room, where the aged man in a labcoat resided in. The room was messy, with a bunch of papers and books strewn about. There were about 3-4 screens and two servers docked in by the side of the room. It was a classic mad-scientist feel.


    ¡°Mihel, you fucking cunt. I hope you realize by now that dying is a painful experience. You should try experiencing once in the simulated world.¡± Anderson said, walking to the far right and taking a cup of coffee from the table.


    ¡°Then stop being a loser and do things right for once¡± He replied, searching through his desk for his electronic tablet. The stacks of paper fell to the ground as he clumsily took out the tablet.


    ¡°Then don¡¯t wipe my memory every time I dive!¡± Anderson angrily said as he took a sip from his cup of coffee. While he had been in the simulated world for about 2-3 days, it only attributed to about a day in real time. That didn¡¯t change his craving for coffee.


    ¡°I have to! Its my experiment. You agreed to all of it, so you don¡¯t have the right to complain.¡±


    Mihel was right though, Anderson couldn¡¯t really complain because he agreed to being his lab sample for the SWR project he had been working on.


    ¡°But the other SWR projects don¡¯t even wipe their memories.¡±


    ¡°Because their projects have no need to block out their Guinea p¡ªlab sample¡¯s memory.¡±


    ¡°Ah! You were about so say Guinea pig, weren¡¯t you? You sadistic, perverted old man.¡± Anderson said and threw the cup at Mihel¡¯s way. It didn¡¯t hit Mihel because of how agile he was for an old man.


    ¡°Ahhh, you know what, get the fuck out of my office. I¡¯m going to create another personality program for your next dive.¡± He said as he pushed his office chair to the computer table and strapping it to a keyboard. ¡°Shoo shoo¡± he added.


    ¡°Fine, i¡¯m going to roam around. Call me when the new program is finished.¡± Anderson said, turning his back and walked off to the hallway. As the door closed behind him, the old man couldn¡¯t stop a sigh from letting out. Mihel pushed the support button and asked for a janitor to clean his mess up.

 Chapter 4 - To Vanveiss

    As ever, the North Pole branch was as white and shiny as ever. The sides of the walls were lined with blue and orange stripes, a contrast to the white that covered the place all around. Along the hallways were many scientists in lab coats moving to and from the area, it was a pretty busy day for them since it was never as lively as this.


    After greeting a few friends that walked by, he finally stepped inside the main hall. There stood an android in the shape of a female attendant by the center, just behind a white table. He looked around for a bit, looking for the person he wanted to find, but there were only lab coats passing by. Slumping his shoulders, he walked towards the small feminine android.


    ¡°Hello, I have an inquiry about, er...¡± Anderson trailed off, he was trying to remember the person¡¯s codename when he remembered the events at Vanveiss. ¡°Codename: UNIVERSE. Where is he right now?¡±


    The android processed the request for a few seconds before asking for his credentials. He took out his member card and showed it to the android for scanning.


    ¡°Codename: ASKELADD. Rank Satisfactory. Codename: UNIVERSE is currently in testing grounds TG-31¡± It replied in a mechanical tone.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± He thanked the robot and went on his way to the grounds.


    He took right from the main hall to the elevator tubes and took to floor 12 further underground. He stepped inside and waited for the elevator. When he finally reached the floor, he went straight to TG-31. There, he saw Ser Nuive, the SWRC director. The man was strapped to the same white pod he was in before. Connected the to the white pod was a huge screen over the other side of the wall.


    When the other scientists saw Anderson walk over, they immediately stopped the test simulation and ushered him in to the room of Ser Nuive. He was an energetic old man who could easily be Anderson¡¯s father. He sported the same white lab coat as the others.


    ¡°Anderson, its been a while, how¡¯s your experiment with Sir Mihel?¡± The old man asked all the while removing his lab coat and hanging it by the table.


    ¡°He¡¯s still as sadistic as ever, he doesn¡¯t tone down the pain simulator to manageable levels, he always wants it set to maximum.¡±


    ¡°You already know why, suck it up. Besides, you agreed to it, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I know, I just wanted to complain and vent off¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve always been like that, haven¡¯t you?¡± Ser Nuive said in a happy tone and rubbed Anderson¡¯s head.


    Anderson slapped his hand away and turned his back. ¡°I¡¯m a grown adult, stop doing that¡± He said in an embarrassed tone. He actually liked the gesture a lot, but there were a bunch of scientists on the other room and he had an image to keep. ¡°At least convince him to stop the ridiculous pain level.¡± He said before walking off.


    As he walked out of the room, he recieved a message from Mihel ordering him to get back to the lab. ¡®He sure works fast for an geezer¡¯ he thought and gave a long sigh, he hadn¡¯t even had a good rest yet but orders and orders. In a simple motion, he fixed up his labcoat and walked off to the lift. He wanted to get to the lab as fast as possible and get the new simulation ready. He also wanted to convince the old pervert about the pain levels.


    It only took him a few minutes, but he finally found himself inside the professor¡¯s lab. It was still as messy as ever, though what bugged quite a bit was that the room on the other side of the glass now has two white pods. The other was battered up and torn, while the other was brand new. He thought it would be just a new replacement. ¡®Why the second server though? Wouldn¡¯t one suffice?¡¯ he thought as he looked over the servers from the corner.


    ¡°Mihel, what¡¯s up with the new simulation pod and the new server? A replacement?¡± Anderson asked, it really did bug him.


    ¡°No no, it¡¯ll be an interesting addition, mind you¡± Mihel replied vaguely with a smile on his face, the smile of a child excited for his new toy.


    ¡°I wonder... anyway, is the new personality program finished?¡± He asked, though other experiment had no need for personality programs, Mihel¡¯s experiment does.


    ¡°It is, want me to give you the details while we wait?¡±


    ¡®wait for what?¡¯ he thought. ¡°Well, whatever, sure. Give me the details.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°As always, you¡¯ll be sent back to Vanveiss for the Simulated World Research Collective. Under the expressed consent of Ser Nuive Codename: Universe. Under Vanveiss, you will be given the name Askeladd, as per your Codename. All of your memories will be blocked, even the memories way before your coming here to the SWRC. This won¡¯t be the same dive as the other failed ones, mind you.


    Your personality program will have data concerning your background and personality you will take in Vanveiss. You were the son of an well-respected writer in Vankerns Republic. Due to the death of your father, you were sent to the army under the Riflemen corps. After your extensive training as a riflemen, you were sent to the front lines against the Tribble Empire, but you were quickly dispatched off by one of their Armored Wyrm Cavalry. Under desperation, you were saved by Codename: Alandra.¡±


    ¡°Alandra? Wait, so the reason why you have two simulation pods and two servers is because of that?¡±


    The old man smiled, excited of the fact that he¡¯ll have two samples to work with. ¡°Yes, you will diving with another Lab Sample. From what I know, she was found in about the same state as you, frozen solid. Our team found her in Romania, after the team saved with nothing else do that after the Flash freeze, she agreed to being turned into a Lab Sample. We were thinking of having her on standby until you finish your simulation, but you being such a loser, we will be having in the simulation as soon as both of you are ready.¡±


    The young man gave a sour face, he didn¡¯t like being called a loser, but it was a fact that he was pretty bad in the simulated world.


    ¡°With that out of the way, i¡¯ll return to the specifics. Alandra will save you from your desperation to live. But she does so by turning you into an abnormality of Vanveiss. Both of you will start the simulation as Vampires.


    Though, you¡¯ll be experiencing the war against the Tribble¡¯s army before Codename: Alandra saves you. In other words, you¡¯ll be experiencing a hell of world of pain¡± Mihel explained with an amused face.


    ¡°WHASDAFS WHY?!¡±


    ¡°You called me, and I quote, Fucking Cunt¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a respected old man, stop being childish, jesus¡±


    ¡°Haha, no can do, your father already approved of the situation.¡± The old man said, sticking his tongue out as he showed Anderson the Approval Signature on his tablet. ¡°See?¡±


    Anderson held his head and sat on a free chair beside him. ¡°Ok, fine. Where is this Alandra anyway?¡± As he asked, the door opened. A group of volunteer workers walked in, escorting the newly arrived Lab Sample.


    She had flowing, blonde hair and a really pale face. She looked like a real vampire. It was fitting that her new role in Vanveiss would be vampire too.


    ¡°Ah, welcome Codename: Alandra to my lab¡± Mihel greeted and walked on over to her to examine her build. ¡°So you¡¯re the new Lab Sample, not bad, not bad. You¡¯ll do just fine in Vanveiss. The report didn¡¯t say anything, but what¡¯s your name young lass?¡±


    ¡°Meia¡± as she answered, she looked around the messy laboratory. It was faint, but she had a disgusted look on her face. Her face also showed a tinge of discomfort when Mihel checked her physique out. If one weren¡¯t used to hiding their emotions, one wouldn¡¯t have realized it, but Anderson knew. ¡®Heh, great¡¯ he thought and stood up.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Meia, i¡¯m Anderson Nuive. I¡¯ll be your dive partner in Vanveiss.¡± He said, he looked her straight in the eye and held his distance. He didn¡¯t want to sour his relationship with this person, especially since she would be the one to save him from death in Vanveiss. ¡°The disgusting pervert over there is Professor Mihel Adeson.¡±


    Mihel held out his hand for a handshake. She reluctantly shook his hand. She really did hate personal contact with other people, but she didn¡¯t let this on her face nor her actions. ¡°Anderson, you too, shake her hand¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll like it, so no, I¡¯d rather not.¡±


    ¡°Well, okay, I just hope theboth of you cooperate well inside Vanveiss. I will be blocking both of your memories¡¯ but... oh well.¡± Mihel shrugged his shoulders and walked on over back to his desk, taking a good look at the tablet.


    ¡°Well then, Meia, would you like an explanation of your role in Vanveiss?¡±


    Since this would be Meia¡¯s first dive, she was pretty confused, but she nodded anyway.


    ¡°Great, Meia, in Vanveiss, you will taking on the name of Alandra. My team and I will be blocking all your memories concerning Earth. Since you¡¯ve already agreed to being a Lab Sample, you cannot back out now.


    In Vanveiss, you were a dauhter of an impovered noble family in Tribble. Due to that, you were sent to Mein Kingdom to learn of different magical abilities but because of an accident in your teenage years in Mein, you were left gravely wounded. In an effort to survive, you made a pact with a Vampiric Spirit, where you given the blessings of vampirism. Because of the discrimination in Mein for the abnormalities of the magical world, you were left with no other option to escape.


    Then and there, you lived the life of a vagabond vampire, doing mercenary work all around until you were sent to the battle against Vankerns and Tribble. There, you meet and befriend Askeladd and eventually save his life.


    That concludes the befriefing. Now I know I might be rushing things, but I will be strapping both of you to the simulation pods right away.¡±


    ¡°Fine by me¡± Anderson said and walked on over to the door. ¡°Meia, let¡¯s go¡±


    With nothing else to do, she looks him over and walked behind him to the simulation pods. The group of scientists helped Meia accomodate herself in the new Simulation Pods, as did Anderson.


    ¡°Good Luck, both of you.¡± Mihel said over the radio and pushed a button on the control panel. As he did, the glass covering of the pods closed and released a potent sleeping gas. Effectively putting both of them in REM sleep.


    ¡°Everyone, the new Vanveiss simulation will start in 3... 2... 1... 0¡± As soon the countdown hit zero, he pushed the start button and the multiple screens all around them lit up. A simple message appeared.


    ¡°Simulation Start¡±