Another lousy day here in Atlanta. I have been working for weeks on something that could teach those bastards at GameShed a lesson. They shunned me, ridiculed me, and even marked me as a thief, when the real thief was right under their noses. John Jacobson, the asshole who constantly stole all my projects and ideas as his own. I have no idea how he did it, but no one would ever believe me when I said he was stealing from me, but now, I have a device to get back at them and crush them into the ash. I call it, the GM System, a mobile coding device that would allow software, app, and even game creation anywhere in the world. I hid it in my left lens in a pair of glasses that I normally wear, nobody would suspect a thing. Pleased with myself, I headed outside, walking to the restaurant that I frequented when I still had a job.
It was about six blocks away, a place called Jerry's. It was raining when I stepped out, sounds of thunder resounding in the air. I pulled my jacket to try and block off the storm's cold wind. I did not realize how long I had holed myself up in my apartment. It could have been weeks or even months, but it would all have been worth it tomorrow, when I bring my device up to the committee. I was halfway there when I decided to take a shortcut through an alleyway, my first mistake.
"RICHARD! STOP RIGHT THERE!" someone shouted. I turned around and saw the man who ruined everything: John fucking Jacobson. I gave him a death glare as he sauntered up to me. "What the hell do you want you backstabbing thief?" I angrily asked.
"Not much, I hear you have been working on a literal game changer. I need it, so hand it over." he retorted. I was shocked. I kept the GM System a secret ever since I came up with it. There should have been no way for him to know. I decided to act dumb, my second mistake. "I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't worked on anything since you threw me under the bus."
"You and I both know that's not true, now hand it over, your 'GM System'." I backed away,
"How did you know about that?"
"It wasn't that hard to bug your place. You got drunk so easily after all now," he pulled out a gun, "STOP MOVING AND HAND THE DAMN THING OVER! If you don't, I'll shoot." He was looking desperate, the same look he got when he needed an idea or concept before he got fired, when he first decided to steal from me. Those beady green eyes of his never lied, no matter how much he tried to hide it, though it seems I was the only one who could ever notice. "I honestly don't know what you mean. Now put the gun down, no one needs to get hurt."
"I'm sick of this, it'll just be easier to steal it from your corpse," he raised his gun to my chest, "consider it your final act of charity to me." He smile and pulled the trigger before I had time to panic. I felt a burning pain when the bullets hit, and I fell into the wet asphalt, my blood pooling around me.
[Is this the end? Is this how I die, as a man who had everything stolen from him?]
I felt hands in my pockets. [That dumbass, he'll never find it. Oh?] I saw a slow flash in the sky, slowly descending towards the lens ironically. [It's better this way, he should never get it.] John quickly backed away before it hit, blinding me, the last thing I heard was "GODDAMMIT NOOO!!" before everything faded. [At last, the end of my suffering. I wish I could have lived more, to be able to see the sights, get rich... a pity...]
=Would you like to start a new game?=
>=Yes=
=No=
[What the hell?! What the fuck?!? Was this all just an illusion the whole time?! The hell?!] I was at a loss for words. Was what I lived through a simulation the whole time? I decided to chance it, as if it was just a simulation, then maybe this next run would be easier for me.
[Yes]
=Welcome Soran Magister=
=Transferring avatar...=
=Error with avatar eyes...=
=Avatar transference complete=
=Transporting GM System...=
=Transport complete=
=Downloading soul...=
=Download complete=
=Welcome to Eisencroft=
The messages stopped after that, and everything went black. A loading bar appeared in my vision, so I assumed my consciousness was being transferred. [At least this gives me time to think. It seems I wasn't in a simulation at all. Apparently that lightning bolt fused my GM System into me, or my "soul" it seems.] I deduced this fact as it clearly said GM System in the messages, along with the fact that my user ID I used for it was Soran Magister. What bugged me though was the avatar creation. [Does this mean I was going to look completely different? Will I be ugly? Handsome? Male? Female? I guess I'll have to wait and see...] I stopped thinking as the loading bar was at 99%. It wouldn't be much longer now... [I wonder what Eisencroft is like...] That's when I lost all consciousness.
==Searching For Nearby Civilizations==
==System Error: Spacial Anomalies Detected==
==Relocating==
==Relocation Successful==
==Spawning==
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
~On the Fierce Plains~
A merchant family of 4 was traveling down a path on a beast-drawn carriage carrying their profit from the sales in the town over. It was one of the few times they made a delivery instead of selling it in the shop. The family consists of the father Volun, guiding the beast down the path and smiling as he thinks of all the ways he could now spoil his family, the mother Kara with a new addition on the way, the daughter Leia who was sitting in her mother's lap and chatting excitedly about what she dreamt last night, and the son Varik, relaxing and watching the scenery go by, dreading the return home.
They were on edge as before leaving the small outpost village of Geruoi, news of nearby bandits arrived. It has been two days since then and travel has seemed to be doing well, yet they could not eliminate even the slightest possibility. Looking ahead on the road, Volun spotted a young boy who seemed to have been hurt, lying in their way.
Volun turned to look inside the carriage and said, "Make room back there, I'll be right back!" Then hopped out of the coach's seat and ran towards him. Reaching the child, he saw he was naked and covered in bloody holes as if he was stabbed multiple times, and his left eye looked as if lightning were emanating from it. Grabbing the boy's wrist, he started checking for a pulse before breathing a sigh of relief. "Just to make sure though..." he whispered before lifting his hands, when they started to glow a bright red. He ran his glowing hands down the length of the body, muttering to himself in a weird dialect and as he did so, the wounds started to sear shut. "Stay with me, boy! Don't go dying just yet!"
He picked the boy up and carried him back to his carriage and laid him down in the back. He looked towards his son and said sternly, "Varik, give him some of your clothes, he looks about your height. Leia sweetie, look away, you shouldn't see this at your age."
"Volun, is he okay? Is there anything I can do?" Asked Kaira, the wife. He started pulling out what looked to be a copper tube from the wall.
"Give us a strong breeze, and pray to our Lady that we make it back in time..."
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
I do not know how long I was out, but I could hear people intermittently whispering near me. I couldn't move nor speak, yet I knew I was in a bed and the people were caring for me. They were talking in what seemed like a cross between Gaelic and Chinese, yet I could strangely understand some of what they were saying. I eventually woke up after feeling a burning sensation in my eye, causing me to scream out in pain.
"DADDY! THE STRANGE BOY WOKE UP AND IS SCREAMING!"
"I can hear that sweetie, and you're no quieter. Go fetch your mother and bring her here, quickly now!"
"Dad? Is he alright?"
"I don't know. Go around and hold him down while your mother brings in the herbs. In the meantime, I'll head back out and deal with our customer."
A door closed and opened again, and a new voice sounded out this time. "Keep him still Varik, I've got the freezing salve right here. Now just stay calm, ok? You'll feel a crushing sensation for just a second." A hand then touched my left eye, and it felt as though a semi was pressing down on it lasting for a few seconds. Once it stopped, I could feel myself getting tired again. Soon, everything went black and I slept for the first time since dying.
That night I dreamt of waking up on my bed in my 5th floor apartment, going to that blasted game company, and all my coworkers talking about my death.
The next instant I was at my funeral. John was there as well as all the GameShed employees. They were all laughing and talking about how much of a suck-up I was and pouring their drinks over my corpse. Some even going so far as to piss on me. I sat up in the bed wide awake yelling, "THOSE BASTARDS!!"
"Feeling better now I assume?" Came a feminine voice from the doorway. Looking over I saw a woman with golden hair, and a slim figure. I nod my head. "Good, then you can finally help around the shop."