Torin had lived a privileged life.
A financially stable family, caring parents, groups of friends - he had everything he could possibly need.
And yet, Torin had always felt empty on the inside. The repetitiveness of daily life slowly bore a hole in him. Sleep. Eat. Study. Play online games. Repeat. The lack of a struggle for a better life, as well as the cruelty of a materialistic world caused Torin to grow to hate society as well. The forced conversations with others. The fake smiles other people bore as they requested something from him. It became exhausting to keep up a mask and interact with others. Torin was tired of this mundane and burdensome way of life.
And so Torin decided to escape reality. Rather than interacting with his peers, Torin preferred to coop up at home and read manga. Slowly, Torin drifted further away and away from others. Of course, he made sure that he studied enough to avoid trouble from his teachers and parents, but things like friends and relationships had faded away from his life. Nevertheless, he was content with the way he lived - out of the sight and mind of others
How he wished life would become more interesting. Maybe then, he would have a reason to live.
---
This time, it was his throbbing head that woke Torin up. His mind was in a haze - all he knew was that he was in danger. He tried to stand up quickly.
"Hey dude, just stay still, it's alright."
The voice of a young man caused Torin to pause.
Torin slowly opened his eyes. He was greeted by the dimly lit ceiling of a room, similar to the one he had woken up in before. His memories started to flood back in. The status system. The goblin. The bony fist that knocked the lights out of him.
Torin subconsciously touched the side of his head, and found it wrapped up in some sort of cloth.
Torin recalled the voices he had heard before he lost consciousness. He must have been saved by someone.
Torin glanced around the room, and found a lone figure crouching by the door. Like Torin, he was donning a hoodie. The figure stood up and walked closer to Torin. Skinny, and with unkempt black curly hair, the bespectacled figure crouched over Torin.
"Here, let me help you."
The figure helped Torin sit upright. He then took a seat beside Torin.
"My name's Scott, what's yours?"
"... Torin."
"You feeling alright?"
Torin touched his head, and winced.
"I guess so."
"So Torin, weird place to be, eh? I don't know if you're a fan of manga, but damn this seems like an isekai story. Like look, we even have our own status systems."
It looks like Torin had found a soulmate. Getting along with Scott wouldn't be an issue. Probably.
There was a notification showing a request by Scott to show his status window. Torin accepted, and a status window popped up in front of Torin.
[Name: Scott Himn
Race: Human
Class: Apprentice (I)
Patron: Atline
Strength: 4 (F)
Speed: 5 (F)
Endurance: 6 (F)
Stamina: 6 (F)
Fortitude: 10 (F)
Mana: 0 (F)
Usable Points: 10
Unique Traits:
Energy Preservation (E)
Dedication (E)
Logos Seeker (E)]
Torin was startled by the appearance of a status window which wasn't his. Apart from the patron, traits and the stats, the overlay of the system was the same. He noticed that Scott had no mana as well.
"So… anything you need?" Scott asked.
"Did you save me?"
"Oh, Daran and I were exploring the place when we found you getting attacked by a walking skeleton. We managed to disassemble him though."
"Thank you."
" No problem dude."
".... Who's Daran?"
"Ah, he's another student I met in the maze. He's out exploring right now."
"By himself?"
"Yep, don't worry, he's pretty damn strong.
Almost as if on cue, the door swung open and a tall, dark-skinned man entered the room, complaining."
"Damn, those goblins nearly ruined the trail I left to get back here."
In one hand, he held a couple of bloodied daggers, and in the other he brandished a torch from the labyrinth. Daran then noticed Torin was awake.
"Hello."
"...Hi."
Evidently, socialising was not Torin's strong suit. A severe lack of interaction with those outside his family was showing. After exchanging formalities, Daran laid the torch next to Torin.
"Sorry I borrowed this without asking, it was a rather handy weapon.
"...Yea…"
"..."
Scott then broke the awkward silence that ensued. "Yo, you must be thirsty." He picked up a weathered waterskin from the corner of the room and gave it to Torin, who gratefully accepted.
After a couple of gulps, Torin asked:"Where'd you get this?"
"From a goblin, why?"
Torin gagged on the water, nearly spitting it out. Although he had yet to see one clearly, the image of one of those tiny little gremlins drinking from the same source was absolutely disgusting.
But then again, he knew he didn't have much choice. In this labyrinth which they did not understand, necessities like food and water were invaluable resources. He slowly swallowed back the water. He then offered the water to Daran. Daran shook his head.
"You keep it, we both have our own waterskins.
"How long was I out?"
"Don't know dude, all our watches and phones were already gone when we woke up. There's no way to tell the time here." Scott interjected.
"We need to find answers, and fast. God knows whether stronger monsters will come."
Torin suggested :"The temples, the ones where we can use our bonus points. Maybe we can get answers from there."
"Those patron deities?" Scott asked. "Might be worth a shot. Ever since Daran found me in this room, we haven't been straying far from here, and we leave pebbles we got from the goblins on the ground to find our way back."
Daran agreed. "We should go soon. The food and water we got from the goblins aren't enough to sustain us for long. The temples should be our best bet. "
Daran stretched a hand towards Torin and asked:"You good to go?"
"Yea."
Daran helped Torin to his feet. The three collected the supplies they had obtained and departed from their safehaven. Three young men, armed with torches and daggers, set off to explore the unknown.