Eric yawned, bored. He had absolutely nothing to do and had already played all the video games he had on the computer. It was only at times like these that he thought about going "hunting" again, as he liked to call it.
The risk was wonderful and the adrenaline that coursed through his veins in those moments was what he lived for. The problem was dealing with the police and investigations afterwards. For now he had managed to get away with it, but last time it had been close.
His thoughts were interrupted by an unexpected phone call. He got out of bed and grabbed his phone.
"Nyl? Tell me there's something interesting."
<"Well, yes, a party at my suburb. It's in a few hours, but if you want to come early. It's in the square, the same place as usual."
"Okay, wait for me."
Eric hung up. He wasn't really looking forward to going to that party, but he figured he could at least entertain himself with something. Besides, Nyl always managed to invite interesting girls. Maybe one of them could be his next victim.
Eric immediately dismissed that idea, it was the perfect way to drop hints. He had learned that he had to be more selective when choosing if he didn't want to end up behind bars. Although sometimes he wondered if his life wouldn't be a lot simpler if he just let himself be captured. Boring, yes, but not as complicated and exhausting.
Eric prepared to leave. A few hours later he met up with Nyl and a couple of friends at "the square," the name of which he hadn't even bothered to learn. The same was true of most names of people and places, which is why people used to say he was so absent-minded.
Everyone ended up drinking and by the time the party started they were drunk. All except Eric, who didn't drink much because he didn't like it. The square had filled up with people and someone had played loud music. It wasn't even dark and the party had already started. Everyone was dancing and drinking like there was no tomorrow.
Eric soon got annoyed, so he tried to climb the biggest and thickest tree in the square. The times he had been there he had done the same thing. He liked to sit in the thick branches and watch all the guests.
Then he heard a strange voice.
[Initializing System... Loading data...].
For a second he thought he had gotten really drunk, but he noticed that many people at the party seemed to have heard the same voice, as they looked confused.
[The simulation known as Earth has collected enough data... Initiating the second phase... Considering all the interesting information gathered about planet Earth, from its mythology to modern popular culture, a new world will be started. The goal will be to survive all the dangers that will be generated].
He barely had time to process the second message when, in the blink of an eye, everything went dark. Eric looked around, completely confused.
[You will proceed to generate your own personal system based on the cultural phenomenon known as video games. Due to the large amount of data, it has been decided to show only a simplified system].
[Name: Eric Alvia]
[Title: none]
[Primary class: none]
[Secondary classes: none]
[Race: human]
[Talent: none]
[Number of skills: 0]
The situation was starting to get ridiculous, but Eric soon calmed down and decided to go with the flow. He pushed all doubts out of his mind and began to listen attentively to all the strange messages.
[All preparations for the next stage of the simulation have been carried out. The next step will be the update of his status. Depending on the individual's innate abilities and those developed while growing up, he will be granted a talent and allowed to choose a Class. Good luck].
When Eric heard this message, he began to laugh uncontrollably. If the world was going to become a video game, he would probably never be bored again.
[Based on all the data collected throughout your life, you will be granted the talent of "innate killer". Updating status, please hold].
Eric let out a grin from ear to ear. This strange presence knew all about his life and had not hesitated to give him a talent that represented him very well. More importantly, there was no reprimand of any kind for it, which pleased him even more.
[The next step is the choice of a Class. To begin with, you will be allowed to choose a basic Class. It is important to know that there are Classes for everything imaginable. Moreover, all of them have combat potential. The initial choices are as follows:]
[Warrior].
[Mage].
[Archer].
[Healer].
[Rogue].
[After analyzing the skills and life of the subject Eric Alvia, he has been allowed to choose an extra Special Class for which he meets all the requirements].
[Assassin].
Eric smiled and was about to select [Assassin], but then stopped. One option appealed to him very much: [Mage]. Driven by the desire to experience something completely new he selected this Class.
To the following messages he hardly paid any attention, for he was beginning to get impatient. He wanted to get out of that place fast, so he barely paid attention to his new list of skills. This changed when he felt a horrible headache from the huge amount of information that entered his brain all of a sudden.
[The initialization process has finished...]
Eric stopped listening, he had had enough. Luckily, he found himself back in the tree so suddenly that he almost lost his balance. The first thing he did was to look around, but he was in for a surprise to find that strange humanoid shapes appeared near the perimeter of the square.
[Zombie stalker]
To the misfortune of all the participants, the zombies were quick to spot them and before anyone could come to their senses, the Stalkers began a massacre.
Eric began to laugh as he watched the group of losers die as they panicked. He would never have thought that the habit of climbing this tree could save his life. Next to it, hanging from some branches, Eric found his special package. With some curiosity he opened it and found potions, books and some leaves that he didn't bother to check.
The book caught his attention because of its blood red color. It turned out to be a spell and when he read it, he couldn't help but smile again.
[Corruption of the body (spell)]
Eric was excited at the thought of learning the spell and it didn't take him long to find out how easy it was. Armed with a new spell, he decided to try it out. He looked around until he found the perfect test subject. His friend Nyl was fighting near the tree, he seemed to have chosen [warrior], for he was using a sword.
Eric paused for a moment to think about the consequences of what he was about to do, but soon realized that it didn't matter. As far as he knew, everyone had become a complete mess. With a smile, he took aim and fired his spell.
This was in the form of a small red ball that upon impact with Nyl distorted his body. His entire left arm became a mass of hideous flesh. Eric had to hold back a smile as he watched Nyl panic, lose his sword and be devoured by a zombie. Without much thought, Eric shot the zombie and it too ended up distorted, with half of its body transformed into a mass of flesh.
Eric began to cast the spell, affecting both humans and zombies. At no time did he stop smiling. He was going to enjoy himself as never before in this new world.
Back in the present, Adam continued to fall indefinitely. For a moment he panicked, as he thought he had returned to the void, but soon calmed down when he realized that it was not the same. No doubt the flesh monstrosity had affected him with the attack and, if Adam was not mistaken, he believed it was the same one that kills instantly.
However, he wasn't dead or at least not yet. Adam remembered Noah's words and clung to them. Maybe they were wrong, it wasn't an instant kill attack. Adam tried to concentrate and find any danger that was within reach.
But then, he got an unpleasant surprise.
[It will generate... personal system... in the cultural phenomenon... video games... a simplified system].
The system message came to him distorted and incomplete. Adam had to concentrate to remember why it seemed familiar. It was the message he had heard when it all began, in that dark room where his class had been chosen for him.
[Name: $%&!"ª@aa]
[Title: &/==?-$]
[Main class: &%$-"]
[Secondary classes: &%$=)]
[Race: human]
[Talent: -"$%&]
[Number of skills: ()=?¿] [Number of skills: ()=?¿] [Number of abilities: ()=?¿]
What the hell was going on? Adam thought when the system showed him the distorted status. He tried to calm down and think clearly. Just now the system should assign him his talent and take him to the class choice.
Indeed, the next message was a distorted copy of the notice that the system was ready for the next stage. However, and to Adam's concern, his talent was not chosen. As if the system had flipped a switch, the effect of [Tranquility] disappeared completely. For the first time Adam understood how important its effect was. A horrible fear came over him and Adam could not fight it. Usually he managed to calm down soon after, but this time that would not be so easy.
The choice of class didn't help him calm down either.
[Warrior].
[$%%%-"].
[!ª"-$%].
[¿?=)(/&].
[$$%-"].
The only valid option turned out to be Warrior, as when trying to select any other, Adam could feel a slight headache. Still not understanding what was going on, Adam selected Warrior and hoped that all would soon become clear.
The next few messages passed quickly as Adam expected to appear any moment back in the car. But there again he was wrong.
He appeared in the middle of the square, next to a group of people as confused as he was. Adam looked around and realized that he still was in his suburb and appeared to be at a party.
Before he could understand more, panic set in as the Stalkers began to attack. Adam looked at the zombies and a lump rose in his throat. He was level 1, he was unarmed, with an unknown Class and in the middle of a large panicked group. Besides, he still didn't understand what had happened. It wasn't an instant death attack, but Adam thought bitterly, it very well could be.