Jim grinned widely before standing up and extending his hand. "Welcome to the team, Halberd!" he said warmly as we shook hands.
He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box which he set down on the table. "This is your Chaos Trigger. Use it wisely and remember that you have the power to control the chaos now".
I nodded slowly, my heart beating wildly in anticipation. Maybe this was crazy, but I knew that I had to take this chance. It was my only way to finally take control of my own destiny.
I picked up the Chaos Trigger and placed it inside my coat pocket before glancing over at Jim. "Thank you," I said quietly.
He smiled kindly before laughing heartily. "Great, Halberd!"
I was feeling uneasy about the situation I was in and wasn't sure if I had made the right choice or not. I had agreed to become a part of this group, whatever it was, but I wasn't sure what that entailed. What was going to happen next?
The man who had found me, Jim, went off to fetch something from his jacket pocket and came back with a small stack of papers that he had set down in front of me. I frowned deeply as I picked up the papers before starting to scan through them. It was all legal mumbo jumbo that I didn't really understand, but from what I could make out, if I signed this paper, I would be tied to their organization forever. There was no way out.
I sighed deeply as I signed the contract without even reading it thoroughly before handing it back over to Jim with a tired expression on my face. "There, now can I go?"
"Yes, you are free to go soon. I just have to go fill some paperwork out," Jim said plainly as he placed the contract back into his jacket pocket before walking towards the door. "Oh, and Halberd?"
"Yeah?" I asked without looking up from where I was putting on my jacket.
"You're going to do great," he said before walking out of the door, leaving me alone in the room.
Something told me that I should have read the paperwork better, but at this point, there was nothing I could do. My old life sucked, so I was willing to take any chance of a change. As soon as the thought had crossed my mind, the room filled with gas, and within moments I was out cold.
When I awoke, I was sitting on what looked like a godly white and gold subway train. Outside I could see a myriad of rainbow colors streaming by, and in the seat in front of me sat a young girl. She had long blonde hair and was wearing what appeared to be a typical high school outfit. She didn't say anything, and I was too surprised to utter a single word at first.
"Where am I?" I finally asked her after having regained some of my senses.
"Ah! You're finally awake!" she exclaimed as she turned around to face me with a wide smile on her face, and I frowned deeply.
At this point, it felt like the world was in flames, and I was looking for a cup of water to put it out! I had just been in that white room with Jim, and now I was riding the holy rails of all trains!
"Who are you?" I asked as I rubbed my head, a headache coming on.
"Oh! I'm sorry! My name is Chloe, and I will be your guide in this new world!" she said as she extended her hand towards me, and I looked at it warily for a moment before shaking it.
"What world?" I asked cautiously as I looked around the train car we were in. It was very spacious, with big fluffy chairs and couches placed around the room. There was even a small kitchen off to the side!
"The first world, of course!" She exclaimed as if it should have been obvious, but I still had no clue what was going on.
I sighed deeply as I rubbed my temples tiredly before looking back up at her. "Look, can you just start from the beginning? You are losing me here."
Chloe nodded her head eagerly before coming around to sit beside me on my couch so that she could explain everything better. "Of course! So as I said before, my name is Chloe, and I am your guide in this world. The first thing you need to know is that all worlds run off of a currency called Mana. You will use Mana for everything from buying food to upgrading your weapons and armor to even learning new skills! It is very important, so you will need to make sure that you are always stocking up on it."
I nodded my head slightly as I took in her information. So far, so good, but I still had no clue what was going on. "So where does one get Mana?"
"Well, there are many ways," she said before pausing for a moment as if she was trying to decide where to start. "The most common way is by defeating monsters and then selling what they drop in this world. Other worlds have different ways."
I shook my head in disbelief at the absurdity of our current predicament. It seemed as though we had stumbled into a horror movie, and now it was up to us to figure out how to survive. To make matters worse, I knew there was no way to escape this nightmare without facing whatever monsters lurked on the other side of that door. We had definitely gotten ourselves into a mess, but I steeled myself for the challenge ahead and prepared to confront whatever creatures awaited us.
"So monsters are real?" I asked slowly, and Chloe nodded with excitement, but I didn't share her enthusiasm.
I had signed up to kill people, and I was not very excited about that, but I do not remember reading anything about monsters!