♪Edvard Grieg - Peer Gynt - Suite No. 1, Op. 46 - I. Morning Mood♪
A man. On top of a hill. Jumping. Hands in Pants. Squatting, Locking. Crab walking forward.
[Is the participant ready?] asked the man in a white with colored lines on his overcoat-like suit.
A man. Man with mass. Nods. Breath then kits forehead.
[Consent Confirm!] the man in white chuckled at himself. He waved at a man down the hill and gave him a thumbs up. He stood a further bit away from the man with mass [Applying force in 3. 2. 1. Ju!] as the man in white chomped his hand down. Two-man ran in the direction at the squatted man. One average built yet slightly taller than the other one, one chubby built but still can keep up with the other man-- Correction. They were running... at him. Both were building up momentum then they lunged their shoulder forward preparing for the second moment to shoulder bash the man. As both of them hit the man at the same time, it was obvious that the average built man's force was less compared to the chubby one. Nevertheless, it did what it's intended to do, to launch a fat man into the air.
Hey hey, people, Sephiroth here. //Author's note: Got this from SsethTzeentach youtube channel where his intro is "Hey hey, people, Sseth here"//
Today, you may be asking, What is going on? Why are they tackling him? and What do you gain from launching a fat man into the air? I am here to tell you, that I have no idea. Ask yourself, do you really want to see a fat man got launch into the air for some obscure reason you can only smirk at for a few seconds? If so, good for you. Fret not, I can tell you what lead to this fraternity initiation showdown. Initially, as I was being crushed by Chuni, the others rushed in as soon the door was visible from their side. They, at the very least, glanced at us first before heading on their way and ignoring us. Chuni was unnatural taking his time on top of me due to tripping the way here, so I wiggle my hand close to his elbow and whacking it a bit until it a hit a nerve and jolted him awake to get off. Having a vague knowledge of the human anatomy for untold reasons can be handy at times.
Now, with everyone taking in the view of nothing but grasslands. This was a world inside a world. Or their chance to take in the feel of the outside world other than staring it at a screen. Suddenly, this momentous silence was broken in by the laughter of a man working on his old age. He wagered that he can land down from here to the downward end of this hill on his feet just like what Specs did when he told Sephiroth how to position properly pointing out that it's an easy thing to do and to watch him do this. To Conny, this was an opportunity, an opportunity to entertain himself. To Specs, this was unlikely to happen as there are too many unknown variables at play here, and to me? I have no idea. I was staring at Leth as he knelt beside the sapling, poking at it. I asked him what is he doing and he just looks at me and smiled like an oriental man with his eye slit and didn't bother to make a sound. By the time I concentrated back at the others, they agreed that Antique should be sent down by pushing him down, I saw Chuni, Conny, and Specs eyes lit up when he agreed for being pushed down. To which, this is the first time I saw witness to a murder being planned. 3 man eager to harm a mentally impaired old man. Glorious. Even in rebirth, we are still idiots. Kami-Sama are you happy?
Ahem, I'm getting off-topic. To end this rambling, Chuni and Conny pushed Antique off, he flew for a bit then hit the slope then tumble downward. Luckily, Monk was already down the hill and he thrust his right arm to the side and strong-arming it, Seemingly, it was at the right moment to which Antique was clotheslined in the stomach and stopping his momentum. This instantly created a reaction from everyone involved, from Antique shouting that he won as he landed down the hill on his feet to Conny cursing and spitting on Specs face.
Now that's done, Moving on.
I looked around. Waiting for everybody to say something else other than "What's this place" "how beautiful this is" "how long can you roll on the grass" etc. Waiting for a more significant bullshit comment. I was waiting for a comment about the far end of every direction, I can see a mist of black and white color. Blurring the other side. I thought to myself that this may be another game feature. The one indicating that I haven't unlocked this area yet.
Hmm...
I know I should be jumping in joy right now but It doesn't feel right at all. as I told my self that over and over again. To all of my bullshitting about my special name, my protagonist status, etc. This place was a mystery to me. Having your own world is a plus but why? The only clue I can only understand is Leth. The way he is looking at that sapling intensely is doubtful. An introverted man doing a delicate and time-consuming work means something has caught his eye. From what I can remember, This guy got the cahoots for anything magic. So that means, this little thing is magic... Sorry. Made up of magic was I meant to say. This little ol' sampling. Well, that's that. I have nothing.
I contemplated much before I called Chuni over to discuss this. I told him everything I knew and my speculation about it.
"Do you have anything that might be similar to what's happening?"
He slumped his chin in his hand [Might be] he knits his brows [But there's too many happening that I can't follow each one of them! I might ask Specs-san for help but I need to discuss with him every fiction related material I know and this will take time.]
He tucked his hands on his clothes, he looked around for a bald spot in the dirt and as he found one, he starting kicking the earth trying to stir up everything. The dirt wasn't that hard so after unearthing everything, he walked around the plot he made to flatten it. Satisfied, he used the tip of his shoes to draw a box.
[Let's start from the beginning shall we?] gesturing me to come closer [See, you have us, or rather you have yourself plus having us inside your body/soul that itself is a big question mark. I've read some novels that having multiple souls in one body that will cause problems. Personality problems that resulted in multiple souls not agreeing to one single thing all the time. Others have a special item in their person that consists of a soul of someone great that teaches all sorts of OP techniques. You, not only you have multiple souls inside of you, but you have your own soul avatar inside and interacting with them no less without any consequences plus if all my fiction and shounen reading is right, all of us can teach you at some point like what I am doing right now... and maybe teach other somethings?] as he draws the word 'soul' in one portion of the box.
"Uhh. mmm-hmm" as I absent-mindedly replied
He shrugged [Moving on. Next, you have this game system. Everything I can recall that's related to isekai and game system novels, basically it should have 3 things; Introduction and description to the system where you got familiar with the system; interactive system where you get to use it and manipulate it the way you want or can; and an evolving system where the system progresses with the story alongside you. You- Ahem, We. we only have the second one as there is nothing about introducing nor being informed that there is a game feature in here. I thought about it earlier, we can be sure about the 3rd one to happen but do not get your hopes too high. I might be wrong.] as he draws the word 'Game' in one portion of the box
"What?"
[You said it yourself that these are features you are familiar with the most] he replied [I had some time to thought about it too you know. Everything here is related to your name. In short, the system is fixed. It will not evolve to the going plot-- I mean the world.] he draws the word "reality" on the last portion of the box
"How can be so sure?" I glanced at him again as my eyes were trailing the others for a moment. checking on them on what they're doing
He looked at me like I'm an idiot [Weren't you listen?] he amusedly said [I didn't say I was sure! I said I might be wrong]
I scratch my head and nod apologetically.
[Sigh. You said it yourself that this place shouldn't be related to you] he faces the others. [Say-- Funny enough, but what if say this situation do bring up a memory a thing or two?] he dryly laughs. A stroke of an idea surges within him.
We have plenty of time, might as well humor him I thought.
"Shoot," I said.
"I don't know if you know it, there's this one novel-- I forgot its lengthy title name, nonetheless, It's about a kid who got reincarnated to a similar setting like us, and as I said about isekai and reincarnation novels, the kid got a system that has another world attached to him. Interesting thing was that he too was familiar with the system and it evolves along with him." he looked at me and understood that I have no idea what he just said [In short- He got himself his own Farmville]
"What? Farmville? that old thing?" I replied
[Ohh, look at you, I guess you're old enough to remember it] I saw him grin at me in satisfaction. He squatted down. took a deep breath and said some that I thought at first was just a joke yet when I looked at him showed that he wasn't
[What if this is your own Farmville?] as he looked at me intently [We have three things- Soul, Game, and Reality. These 3 things should conflict yet nothing is happening to you except for us annoying you. Your soul, or just you, should have exploded from the sheer force from the unnatural-ness from what can be considered normal as established of all the fiction I can remember. Ahem, the game, or its features should be forward! engaging! informative! and evolving! but we knew close to nothing at the start but with some experimentation we discovered things! and lastly reality! the only explanation that these things shouldn't be happening I can muster is that there are rules that must be followed, a script or a plot. I know, I'm getting real talk on you but can't you see? We just bruise through everything without care and things just go without much trouble. This should be stressing on everyone's mind! on you! on your very being! yet nothing is happening... I'm not even bothered by it from the start... but now, as I think more of it. something is wrong. however, everything seems to be going right and that is so wrong]
"Chuni, you're trailing off... calm down" I cut him off. This conversation was getting nowhere.
[Sigh... The only thing I know from everything you said and I said, this place seems to be the only thing that makes sense to me.] he scattered the dirt where he drew on the ground. [Because this place followed the rules of what I am talking about. This was given to you, a part of you to be exact. The blurred mist you saw was exactly the representation of evolution that you have to meet first the conditions to unlock it which means there are some rules to be followed. and if my hunch was right, if this is your own Farmville, then you, my fancy pants friend, Sephy-San, you might have been given a chance to create your own world]
Having to sit down the with the last thing he said as I completely let it blew in-out of ear the other stuff he said. We stare at the others and the view in silence. I casually flick my hand in the air trying the SAO menu interface. Nothing. As expected.
I tried things that I can remember from all the anime and amusingly not much has worked.
[HAHAHA!] Chuni rolled around laughing [You- You actually did it! HAHA! You look like a crazy person shouting 'Alt-e' 'Seeds' 'equipment' 'item box' and poking the air repeatedly]
"Shh! Sh- Shut up!" my cheeks rose in embarrassment. "Not like I wanted this in the first place... I tried calling out, I tried touching things, I tried thinking things, and I tried a combination of qwerty key codes... nothing worked."
[Haha! I noticed.] Chuni wiped his tears away from all that laughing. [Maybe you haven't tried the simple things like 'Item open' or 'sphere grid open' etc. somewhere along thos-- Ay ay ay! it worked!]
The moment Chuni said 'item open' my mouth followed it and lo and behold, an Item Screen opened up. The design looks like a Ragnarok online item category with things mix with it like on the top left corner there's a sims crystal rotating, the item category list looks like a UI from Skyrim, and the outer edges look like the text box from those old final fantasy games or 2bit adventure games. Too bulky and does not contrast too well. Ughh. It's one ugly thing to look at. But I can't complain much, at least I have something than nothing.
[Anoo. You have only one object in it] he said. He keeps on point at it but his finger is just passing through it.
I trailed my finger around the item and once I hovered my finger over it, A description box suddenly emerged beside it.
=====================
EGG
- It's an egg
=====================
*Insert popped veins sound here*
So this- This is one of those stupid systems huh.
[Sephy-San, what'd it say?] as he can't make out the words. it was too small for him to read.
"It's an egg" I replied
[And?] as he eagerly waited for more.
"That's it. It says here that it's just an egg" I shrugged. pointing with my hand though I realize too late that he can't read it even with its small font size.
[Try bringing it out] Chuni said excitedly. he called everyone over.
Right now, I just discovered that I do not do well under pressure in the presence of others? What? What you mean it's B.S? you mean I can run perfectly fine running away from a bear? Of course, it's different. It's trying to keep yourself alive from potential harm and one is running away from a bear.
I keep poking at the stupid egg icon and holding it down then dragging it away but it seems to be not budging away at all. Now, everyone is behind me and their chatter is not helping at all. Can I add that Antique is staring at me from my left side so adamantly? Is he not blinking?. Damn it old man! not now! Can someone help? anyone?
Tension is now building up inside me. In my frustrated self, I pinched the small thing. I was startled for a moment because I can feel a small thing between my fingers. I took a closer look, I saw it sandwiched between my 2 fingers. Rather, than a realistic image of the egg, all I got is the cartoony looking egg thumbnail you got from Minecraft. Its 2d.
I looked at my fingers, amused. I showed it to the others which resulted in mixed reactions. Monk was positive about the things I learn even if he can't understand most of it. Specs was asking me a lot of question. Antique was saying 'egg' over and over. Leth too was staring at the egg with a creepy smile. Lastly, we have Conny who just scowl at me for wasting everyone's time.
I smiled back at Conny, I don't know what is his deal was why he's getting mood swings all of a sudden. I wanna know... but I also want to keep on pushing his buttons so I aimed my occupied hand at him, now with my tongue out trying to mock him. This does not bode well with him. He shouted with a voice that ranges like Monk. We were all surprised he can do that. I was particularly surprised. So surprised that I instinctively threw the contents of my occupied hands. Along the way, even for a split second, I swear the egg got a bit bigger- No! It already got bigger! Oh hey isn't that egg we grabbed from the winged beast earlier?
*Thud*
Conny took a step back and was on his knees. He was blinded by the fact that the little thing Sephiroth threw grew large in an instant causing it to land on his forehead.
[Aughh! Okay, kid] Dazed. He weakly stood up [I, I-] then he dropped on his knees again luckily he was quickly grabbed hold of by Specs.
I was taken aback of what happened. It was never my intention to harm him but it did accomplish my intention to annoy him.
I look around. Taking in my options. Chuni, Antique, and Leth were circling the egg like some vultures. Specs was giving Conny some aide to lessen the concussion I'd given him albeit while laughing at the expense of Conny. The last one is Monk... Why is it hard to find a large, black, orange wearing monk? As soon I saw swerve my head behind me, I saw a fist come barreling to my sight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sephiroth woke up screaming at my bed.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Startled. Syris accidentally threw the bucket of cold water at him
"AHHHHHHHHHHHAGHUCKAHAHHHHHHHH"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
In the soothing afternoon, on the top of a carved up mountain, inside a castle.Inside the Consciousness, On the wall side, tapping at the walls
Everyone is screaming.