What is life? What is death?
These concepts have been philosophized since the beginning of time, yet there is still no conclusive answer on to what these ideas are. The general consensus is that life is precious, but that death is inevitable.
With my last glimpse of life I saw my sister; sobbing and in unimaginable pain, as she held my hand and I passed on.
My body felt like gelatin. My eyes were shut, and I felt like I was at peace. Just when my consciousness was about to fade away, I awoke, and I found myself in another realm.
I was inside of a large, polished stone monument. It was the equivalent of Stonehenge in my world but for some reason a bunch of people and odd creatures started looking at me.
"The third one this month, huh? What a waste."
"His stats are all below average. Pathetic."
"Look at that noob! Ha! What a weakling."
A bunch of shouting and whispers filled my eardrum, I could hear everybody but when I tried speaking my vocal cords were silent.
I tried desperately to say the many things on my mind,
"Where am I?"
"How do I go back?"
"What about my sister?"
To no avail.
I couldn't move at all from my position. I was completely frozen.
Suddenly, in front of me I saw a sky blue GUI pop up:
Name: Yuto Sakigami
Age: 17
Status: Healthy (15/15)
Runaan: 10000
Attack: 6
Defense: 10
Magic: 9
Ability: Pickpocket
Do you accept these conditions? (Refusal will lead to your death.)
[Yes] [No]
Well, an obvious choice. Except how do I even choose yes?
I try to say yes out loud but again my voice is silenced.
Suddenly I hear chuckles from the people outside this monument.
"Does this guy not even know how to operate a GUI?"
"Has he never been around technology his whole life?"
The scorn around me hurt so much, I was very anxious and scared. I desperately screamed at the top of my lungs but nothing came out of my voice. Then, I punched the dialog box until it changed screens.
Conditions weren't accepted. Terminating User.
Everyone was in silence when they saw me. Some of them laughed at my misfortune while others felt pity towards me. I guess I am an idiot for hitting that option on accident. Am I really going to die?
Suddenly, a jolt of lightning hit the top of my head.
I was teleported into a small room, there I was standing in the middle of the room in front of six people who surrounded me in a circle.
A loud and commanding voice spoke, "Mortal, do you truly wish to be killed? Speak Now."
I stuttered but mustered up my courage and said, "I wish to live."
"Why did you click 'No' then?" He responded back in a grim manner.
"I... misclicked. I didn't understand how to use the dialog box that popped up."
I spoke in complete shame.
"Very well. It has been some time since we have met a traveler as.. unique as you. Therefore, we will be giving you a special gift to help your adaptation in this new world. Now, go back, to the realm of living!" He shouted as the lightning jolted my head again.
What's going on? I thought to myself.
Suddenly, my head was filled with an abundance of information. All about this world. It really hurt. So much. It felt like the biggest migraine in the world. After what felt like an eternity, it finally ended.
"I must survive."
It's funny though. The one thing I have to do is what I had failed at in my own world.
This world is separated into many different regions across the land. The sizes of these regions vary completely, there are some land masses claimed that are a few miles long while there are others that stretch out to the equivalent of an entire continent. These regions are all owned by different factions. In order to survive, I must join an already existing faction or I must make my own faction and claim land. Maybe one day I will be able to create my own faction, but at this point in time I will have to be dependent if I wish to adapt and survive in this new world.
Just a minute ago, I was teleported to the Six Sage's Office. They are the ones who bring order to this world and settle disputes. The location I am in currently is known as the Safety Zone. This is a place where fighting is disabled and is a PVP-Free zone. In order to live however, we have to venture out of this safety zone to obtain the basic supplies and shelter.
These places located outside of the safety zone are known as the Wild Lands. Apparently, the world we live in is surrounded by Wild Lands. They're all zones where combat is enabled.
In the Wild Lands, many factions have made claims to land. Trespassing in these territories will get you killed.
Now, let's look at the events leading up to now.
The place that I was transported to from my world is known as the Origin. Apparently, people come from there every week in this world. These people all come from different worlds, I guess I am weaker in comparison to these newcomers for some odd reason.
The first order of business for me is to look at the list of factions. I pulled up my GUI with a fast vertical swipe and saw a digital map. The Safety Zone is shaped like a perfect circle and surrounding the outside of it are the Wild Lands, which are completely owned by a bunch of different factions. Names like Inazu, Vortex and The Red Knights filled up my GUI as I hovered my hand over the land claims.
I ignored these and navigated towards the building known as the Faction Finder, this was conveniently located in the Safety Zone but right next to many of the factions land claims.
I saw a bunch of beautiful trees, flowers, and fountains on the way there.
Since this is a Safety Zone, I am unable to interact with the environment here. Once I arrived at the doorstep of the building, I tensed my muscles and entered inside.
There, I saw a man at the counter with a nametag: Ravio.
I slowly walked up towards him until I was in front of the counter.
"Hey buddy, how can I help you today?" He said with a voice that could bring tremors.
"I am looking to join a faction." I spoke with my dignity intact.
"Just a second." He responded and analyzed me.
"Wait right here." He went into the backroom for a few minutes.
After a few minutes had gone by, I got a tap on my shoulder, a woman with beautiful blonde hair and seductive blue eyes said, "Hey, don't I know you?"
It was at that moment, I realized, I f*cked up.