Ugh, my head; wasn't I just at work? Why does it stink like boose?
[Skill System Activated]
My eyes jerked open, and I sat up, looking around, confused. Where was I? I was just in my office working on the market campaign for Mr. Lin...I had finished my work and put my head down on my desk, but now I was in a dusty downtown bar.
I looked around, but there was only one person, and she was sitting at the bar with her back turned, nursing a drink.
"Excuse me, but do you know how I got here?"
In a smooth red dress and a white fox fur over her shoulder, the woman picked up her drink of green liquid that almost glow. She turned to me, and I was startled to see that her eyes glowed green. The woman put the highball glass to her lips and drained the glass of its contents before finally looking directly at me.
"Hmm, another Death March from the Human Realm; what is your name, Miss?"
My name? That wasn't a hard question...was it? Why couldn't I remember my name?
"Don't panic child, it happens. How long did you work on your last project? My name is Galvia, and I am your System, but answer my question before you start asking me yours."
"My last project...I have been working day and night to complete the marketing strategy for a new make-up line...I had just finished and..."
"Now we are here, in your head."
"Does it smell this bad inside my head?"
"Sorry, I am a sucker for realism; you see, this isn't my first gig."
"Gig? What are you, and what am I doing here in my head?"
"Take a deep breath...Sona; that's what your name will be!"
I took a deep breath as my heart started to pound in my chest. People only asked you to breathe deeply when they are about to tell you bad news! I began to panic from the unknown, but Galvia came and put an arm around my shoulder.
That's when I noticed my clothes were different; I backed away from Galvia and examined myself. White skirt with parallel blue lines running down the sides; that would get dirty fast. My top was white and brown with a blue ribbon frontal corset; this pushed my chest up into my face if I looked down.
"Where are my clothes?"
"Okay, sit down, please, Sona. It will be easy to explain if your sitting."
I didn't want to, this lady was already freaking me out, and I half expected that I already knew what she was going to say. I didn't have many other options, but I wanted to check them all, so I walked over to check one of the doors. There were no windows in the bar, so I had to assume that we were underground.
"Don't open that door."
I stopped three steps from the door and turned back to Galvia. Now she was trying to stop me from leaving?
"I'm not trying to stop you from doing anything thing, but opening that door will not help you understand any of this. Please come sit down; Open it if you must, but please hurry so we can talk like this before you have to go."
Go? Part of me wanted to know what was on the other side of that door, but I also heard the urgency in Galvia's voice. I walked back and sat down at the table and waited for Galvia to join me, but she remained standing, watching me with those glowing eyes. Finally, she pulled a chair out across the table from me and sat down.
"There is no easy way to say this, but..."
"...I'm dead, right?"
"Very wise, and you're not falling apart yet! You are already leaps and bounds ahead of the rest! Alright, Sona, you died, but you're not done yet! For every person in the Human Realm, there is an Otherside!"
"So I'm on the Otherside now? You also said you were my System; what does that mean?"
"No, not yet, we are still transferring over, think of this as limbo, the Inbetween. As for me being your System, you will be transported into the Otherside, a carbon copy of the world you just died in, but the colours will be different, and inhabitants of this world are monsters. You can do whatever you would like when we get there, but I will help you learn new skills and earns skill points to make those skills better with missions I received, got it?"
"Do I have any choice?"
Galvia laughed out loud and stood up. She walked back to the bar and reached over with both arms, producing another glass and a clear bottle of the same green liquid she just finished. Galvia turned around after picking up her glass and sat back down; she handed it over to me after filling the two glasses.
"I know this is a lot to take in, but relax, there are no demon kings to slay here, yet. Let me explain a couple more things since we have time. Firstly, if you need anything thing done, ask me. I can display your current stats and skills once we in the Otherside; you also have an item bag that can hold up to ten non-living items of any size."
"What about money or a place to stay? Am I just getting thrown on the streets with just my clothes and a name you gave me?"
"Hey, I will be there with you, in spirit!"
"That's doesn't make me feel any better about this."
"I know; it's so hard to get a second chance at life when you waste your last one working yourself to death."
Hmm...Galvia had a point. I should be more excited, but I had put a lot of work on that project! I just hoped Mr. Lin got my project.
"Okay, sorry. It's just a lot to process."
"No need to apologize, my dear, just get ready. You won't get a lot of warning when..."
Hot air and the smell of sun-baked black asphalt assaulted my sense as I started to open my eyes, but I was shocked when I finally did. I was standing on the corner of an...orange sidewalk...and blue asphalt with multi-coloured buildings. Where was I? This place seemed like a small town, but the colours were distracting me
"Where am I? ...now
Someone walked into me, almost knocking me over and caused me to stumble. I looked back to give the person a piece of my mind, but I decided he probably didn't want to hear about it as the large lobster-like man continued walking down the orange sidewalk. I think he was muttering about the younger generation doing drugs; honestly, I was having trouble forming an argument against his accusation.
[It's a lot to take in at first] -Galvia.
I barely held my bladder in check as Galvia spoke in my head. I should have expected this, but I was still startled. I shook my head and backed up against the wall of an unmarked green building.
[On a brighter note, you gained two new skills!] -Galvia.
Suddenly two small grey bars popped into my field of vision.
[Survival Insincts]
[Physical Damage Resistance]
How? I didn't do anything?
[That's how I work. I take all the experience you get and turn them into skills that you can use points to improve!] -Galvia.
So, just from getting ran into and knowing that I shouldn't confront that...thing, I gained these skills? What about points, then? How do I get those?
[You have thirty starting points from your Death March Bonus; you will earn points from doing missions that I will give you when the time comes.] -Galvia.
Okay, so then, what's the point? I mean of this all? Am I supposed to do something? This whole thing all feels very game-like, not something I had a lot of experience with, but I knew there always had to be a goal.
[For now, no, there is nothing you need to do. Well, there is the whole finding food, a job, and a place to live. Let's put those in the mission parameters for now and go from there!] -Galvia.
For a System, even though I have never met one, You seem a bit... lacklustre. I expected you to be pushy and force me to do things—instead, you're just leaving things for me to decide.
[Yes, well, your my first female host in... a long time. I have faith that you will do the right thing. After all, you are a woman; I believe that you will make good choices with your abilities.] -Galvia.
That might be a bit sexist, but we were both women here. I could only imagine how many other men she has had to drag kicking and screaming, so maybe she thought of this as more of a vacation? Regardless, I was getting nowhere standing here.
I looked around again; Okay, of this it the Otherside, show me a new world!