My body has returned, and I could see my hands. Just before getting up, I noticed that I wasn't the only one in this area. There are thousands of individuals, all different from each other. Some are dressed in noble attire, and some wear armor with strange symbols and even helmets of various shapes.
Panic was strongly present in everyone, and I could see that most of them were speaking foreign languages. No one seemed to have the courage to move from their spot. I scanned the crowd in front of me. Maybe Amelia is here?
Taking action, I began to navigate through the throng, searching the surroundings. It wasn't long before I spotted Amelia nearby. "Amelia, I'm here! Wait, I'm coming," I called out to her.
Surprised and relieved, she responded with a shout, "Okay!"
Determined, I pushed through the clusters of people, hastening toward Amelia and enveloping her in a tight embrace.
"Darn it, I thought I'd lost you," I confessed, holding her close.
"Same here, I feared I lost my best friend," she replied, tears glistening on her cheeks. "I'm relieved we're together now," she added, meeting my gaze with gratitude.
I was relieved to know she was out of danger and asked her if she had been transported to some kind of room filled with darkness. "Yes, and letters appeared in the air, just like the ones we saw in the attic," she replied, thinking.
"Hmm, I see," I said, looking around us.
"There are so many people, far more than there are in our little village," Amelia remarked curiously.
Most of the people seemed to be around our age, but I could see a few individuals who were older than the Elder of our village, which was quite impressive, considering she's already quite old...
Although we've been here for some time, some were starting to lose control of their emotions, whether it be anger, sadness, or despair. Most of them must have families, and they've all just lost them. The image clearly stated that it was impossible to return home.
I looked at Amelia, grateful to be with her even though I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. "Amelia, I have to tell you, when I was in the room with the image, I asked if we could go back home, and it said no," I said, sounding desperate, staring at the ground.
"Seriously? Why are we here then? Are we going to fight one by one to have our wish granted or something like that, as it was written in the letter?" she asked, her voice filled with stress.
"I don't know any more than that, but I suppose that thing in the middle will answer our questions," I said, pointing to a sphere in the center of the crowd, which formed a circle around it. The sphere, split in half, was completely white, with no visible details around it, and it was surrounded by many giant rotating objects.
After a long wait, the sphere began to glow, surprising most and silencing the majority of the people. It was then that the sphere started to speak, its emotionless female voice resonating in the air.
[WELCOME TO THE 50,000 PLAYERS]
Many began to fear this entity that spoke. It had no human form, so why could this immobile object speak, most likely thought.
[YOU MUST HAVE MANY QUESTIONS...]
[I AM WHAT IS CALLED THE SYSTEM, AND I WILL BE YOUR GUIDE IN YOUR NEW ADVENTURE]
[YOU WILL ALL BE BROUGHT TO THE DIVINE TREE NAMED ERLMA, AND YOUR OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO CONQUER ITS CORE SO THAT YOUR WISHES MAY BE FULFILLED]
[TO ACHIEVE THIS, YOU MUST PASS THROUGH NUMEROUS TIERS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, EACH DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS]
[FINALLY, AT THE TOP OF THE TREE LIES THE GATE TO THE CORE, AND TO REACH IT, MANY SACRIFICES MUST BE MADE]
[OF COURSE, YOU WILL NOT BE SENT WITHOUT WEAPONS, ARMOR, AND ALL NECESSARY SUPPLIES]
[PLEASE LOOK UP TO THE TOP LEFT OF YOUR VISION, YOU WILL NOTICE YOUR NAME WITH A BAR REPRESENTING YOUR VITALITY IN GREEN AND MANA IN BLUE]
[NOW, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND WITH YOUR INDEX FINGER AND SWIPE YOUR FINGERS TO THE LEFT]
Everyone followed the system's instructions. In turn, I pushed my index finger to the left, surprised to see an image appear, and I was not the only one startled.
[AS YOU CAN SEE, AN IMAGE WITH MULTIPLE VALUES HAS APPEARED BEFORE YOU. THIS IS THE SYSTEM, WHERE YOU WILL FIND A DESCRIPTION OF YOURSELF WITH YOUR SKILLS, STATS AND AN INVENTORY THAT SERVES TO STORE ITEMS FOUND DURING YOUR EXPLORATIONS]
[IT WOULD BE WISE TO LEARN TO USE THE SYSTEM]
I could see by looking at the system that most of the details about me were indeed there. I noticed that others also had their system open, but the information was blurry. Certainly, I should take a look at the stats she was talking about:
((
SYSTEM MENU
[MAO]
Age: 15 years old
- Level: 1 -
(Class: none)
--
[HP: 60]
(Stamina: 30)
<
[Resistance: none]
--
[Strength: 1] | [Endurance: 1] | [Agility: 1] | [Charisma: 1] | [Intelligence: 5] | [Perception: 2] |
[Luck: -999]
--
[Inventory] Please press
--
[Skills]
<
--
[[GUIDE]] Please press
...
))
I was taken aback as I glanced at my Menu. "What in the world is this?! Why do I have 1s across the board? And -999 in luck!? How is that even possible?" I couldn't help but exclaim. Are such low stats normal, or is it just me? Some aspects are even at zero, like 'mana'. I'm not sure of its significance, but what's up with this completely dysfunctional setup?! Isn't my luck bad enough in life already?
I think I get it now; that's probably why the system in the dark room warned me of slim survival odds. But how will understanding these 'aura' things help me stay alive? What a tasteless joke.
Glancing over at Amelia, she appears content with her stats. I asked her if she got anything good, to which she replied, "Yeah, I've got plenty of stats hitting 50 or even 100, it's odd!" she said with curiosity. Hearing that, I started angrily twirling my hair, wondering why I didn't get any of that!
[GOOD, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE ALL SATISFIED WITH YOUR STATS]
Except me, I silently screamed in my head!
[NOW, PLEASE CHECK OUT THE "CLASS" SECTION IN YOUR MENU. AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU HAVE A PREDEFINED CLASS THAT SHOULD SUIT YOU BEST, BASED ON YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH WEAPONS OR OTHER VARIABLES DURING YOUR ADVENTURE]
Trying to click on the "Class" section, I found nothing! Am I really supposed to have something, or am I just too incompetent to get one? This predicament was starting to make me break a sweat.
[SO IT'S POSSIBLE TO CHANGE CLASS WITHOUT THE SYSTEM'S PREDEFINITION, THROUGH QUESTS THAT YOU'LL PICK UP IN ERLMA]
Yes! That's not too crazy, I thought aloud. I could just earn a class from a quest, I mused with a smile.
[TO ENSURE BETTER COMMUNICATION IN ERLMA, ALL LANGUAGES WILL BE TRANSLATED BY THE SYSTEM]
[FOR ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO THE GUIDE LOCATED IN YOUR MENU]
Great! I genuinely believed we'd be thrust into this world with no guidance. This will be incredibly helpful.
[BEFORE WE CONCLUDE, IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT IF YOUR VITALITY DROPS TO ZERO, YOU'LL BE ELIMINATED, JUST LIKE ON EARTH]
After the system shared this chilling fact, several players, including Amelia and me, were visibly shaken. The tension soared. If we perish in this new world, it's over for us.
[YOU'LL NOW BE TRANSPORTED TO TIER NUMBER 1, IN THE BASE TOWN]
[GOOD LUCK, EVERY PLAYERS]
Following the System's instructions, the world began to dissolve into orange particles drifting through the air. I quickly urged Amelia, "Amelia, we need to regroup in the town, so don't stray too far!"
Amelia nodded confidently. "Got it, I'll see you on the other side!" she replied.
My hands were already beginning to fade away, and I silently prayed that our journey wouldn't be too arduous. Surviving in an unfamiliar world will be quite the challenge.