After Lars finished taking in the scenery, he turned around and looked over his new house in the anime world. It was a Japanese style one story Minka that appeared to be mid century modern. There were sliding doors, and polished wood floors. It was pretty big for just one person but, you'd never catch Lars complaining about more space. As he made his way through the large house he noticed that his home seemed to be in the middle of the forest. He could distinctively hear the beards chirping and the crickets doing their thing.
Once he made his way to the porch, he took in the authentic zen garden in the backyard. There were loads of beautiful flowers and plants and even a small pond with koi fish. Just as he was about to step off the porch a notification screen popped up in front of his face.
-[Welcome player!]
"Eh?" Lars furrowed his brow at the message.
He had hoped all the annoying screens would stop after he picked the world and his character stats. He moved left and right to avoid the message but the message just followed him staying in his face.
-[Stupid Host has been chosen to go on a quest to achieve great power!]
"Stupid host? Did I just get dissed by a fucking screen message?"
-[You have ten seconds to decide whether to accept or not.]
"Quest? What quest? I thought I was going to be able to resume my peaceful life in an anime world. By any chance can I refuse the quest?" Lars threw a ton of questions at the floating screen.
-[You may but refusal will result in your deletion!]
"So I only get to live as long as I work as a screen's package boy? Fuck that I'd rather die." He said resolutely, crossing both his arms over his bare chest.
-[You have ten seconds to decide.]
-[10]
"Nope not gonna do it."
-[9]
-[8]
"I live my life on my terms, I'm not stopping now!" He yelled confidently.
-[7]
-[6]
"Nope, not changing my mind." He said clearly, more nervous with a slight sweat forming on his brow.
-[5(you will die you know)]
Lars was starting to bite his lip and squirm uncomfortably.
-[4]
-[3]
Lars' heart started to beat loudly, the sounds of drums being audible like King from One Punch Man.
[2!]
[1!!]
"Fine! I accept it! Please don't kill me!" He shouted as he waved his arms frantically.
The countdown stopped right at one blinking red.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Was this thing really gonna kill me?!" Lars breathed heavily after the timer stopped.
Lars held his hand over his heart trying to get his heart rate to slow down. As he managed to calm himself down the message changed again.
-[Congratulations for accepting the quest player! Your path back from a useless Neet starts now!]
"Ok am I just gonna be getting shit on from now on by a stupid screen? Cause if that's how it is just kill me now."
-[Understood]
-[5]
"Wait! I'm joking! I'm joking!"
The timer ceased again leaving Lars with both a cold sweat and a headache.
"Great, I'm being held hostage by a homicidal game screen." He thought to himself.
-[Ownership of the house shall now be transferred to the player.]
"What do you-" Suddenly a bunch of bings started resonating in his head giving him a bunch of notifications.
-[Title master of the house has been granted.]
-[Title lord of the garden has been granted.]
-[Title Keeper of the gate has been granted.]
Lars was on his hands and knees from the searing pain from the "volume" of the notifications. After they finally ceased he slowly rose to his feet, afraid any sudden movement would trigger another mental barrage. Once he was sure it wouldn't start up again, Lars exclaimed his new titles.
"Master of the house, Lord of the garden, and Keeper of the gate." He said aloud.
The description of each of the titles entered his mind. Master of the house gave him complete authority and protection within the house's premises. It had a boundfield that hid and protected him from both mortal and supernatural beings. Lord of the garden gave him the right to enter and eat the fruits and vegetables that were grown inside. The fruit and vegetables themselves seemed to be mystical "super" foods with enhancing qualities. Keeper of the gate was apparently the power to control a doorway to another dimension called Purgatory.
Lars made his way toward the gate which was located in the back of the house. Away from the garden and even the light of day. As he made himself into a small dark room he found the gate in the middle of it. The door was black like obsidian and it glowed with an ominous sulfuric yellow. There were twisted sculptures of demonic gargoyles, beasts, demons, and most of all tortured humans. Lars felt drawn to the door and reached out to touch the handle, but his hand felt scathing hot and was forced to step back.
-[Alert access denied due to player's low level.Requirement level 5.]
Lars looked over the door and gazed at the troubled visuals of the humans whose eyes seemed to follow him. He felt a cold shiver run down his spin as he looked at their painful expressions.
"Yup that's probably a good call."
He nodded his head and quickly exited the room, but not before closing the door on his way out. After returning to his bedroom to change into some actual clothes. Once he entered the room the smell from the vomit was starting to bother Lars so he decided to change them first by throwing the dirty ones in the hamper. He then got dressed in a matching pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt.
Lars was amazed at the array of clothes that were available for him that all seemed to fit his new body perfectly.
"Well at least I won't have to make a trip to the mall anytime soon." He thought.
Once he made his way into the kitchen his eyes went wide from the layout. The countertops were white marble with a full size sink and dishwasher. There were dozens of cabinets, and drawers that contained numerous dishes and utensils. The kitchen island had an oak butcher block, with four black stools on the right side. There was a large rectangular dining table with matching marble and six white chairs at the ends and the sides.
"Grr" Lars' stomach started to growl from his lack of food, and from puking his guts out from the cosmic migration thing.
Lars made his way to the giant metal fridge that had a full size freezer underneath. After opening it his face shifted into horror. Inside the gargantuan sized fridge there was only fresh vegetables, fruits, and lean meats. When he looked inside the otherside there was just water and tea.
"What the fuck is this?!" He yelled
He tried to check the freeze for any of his familiar meals but only found frozen meats and more vegetables. He then checked the pantry and found there were no microwave instant noodles, instant rice, or even Mac and Cheese.
"There's no food here, how am I supposed to survive?!"
Lars put on some black sneakers and made his way to the door. As he reached for the handle a message popped up in front of him.
-[Alert player cannot exit due to current level. Requirement level 7.]
"So I'm stuck in here with nothing but vile weeds until I level up? This is bullshit!"
Lars was seriously starting to regret his decision of answering that stupid email. He pinched his nose and then addressed the screen.
"How exactly do I level up?"
-[Alert the system will assist with player's growth.]
-[If the player fails to follow the system's instructions, there will be punishments.]
-[If the player completes the system objectives, the player will receive rewards.]
Lars perked up upon reading the word reward. Maybe he could gacha some real food in his prison if he did what it wanted. As he thought this over a new message entered his inbox.
-[Daily Objective: Path back from useless has arrived.]
"Check" he said aloud but was getting annoyed with the bluntness of the system.
-[Daily Objective- from weak to strong.]
Goals:
-Push ups: [0/100] Status [incomplete]
-Sit ups: [0/100] Status [incomplete]
-Pull ups: [0/100] Status [incomplete]
-Squats: [0/100] Status [incomplete]
-Sword swings: [0/100] Status [incomplete]
- Run: [0/8 km] Status [incomplete]
-[Warning- Failure to complete the daily objective within 24 hrs will result in punishment.]
"Uh is this some kind of joke?" He asked no one in particular.
-[Negative]
"Are you shitting me?! First you take away all the good food and beer, and now I have to exercise too?!"
-[Correct]
"I never worked out a day in my life in my previous world. Why should I start now?"
-[Answer: it is the only way to grow your level and to keep your body from returning to its previous bloated state.]
"Huh?"
Lars was somewhat taken aback by the screen's blunt attitude, which he hadn't gotten used to yet. He tried to rack his brain around how to escape his current situation but he just drew a blank. So he ultimately relented and accepted the daily workout regimen. Though there wasn't much choice in the matter, after all the death threat from earlier still rang in his head. After clicking the screen he was directed out into the garden, and as he made his way in deeper he found a closed off workout area.
There was a miniature jogging track, along with a wooden pull up bar stand. As he came closer he noticed there was a giant wooden training sword that looked like Gut's from Berserk. Next to the pull up bar stand, there was a wooden dip station and a round tire.
Lars looked at the situation with a raised eyebrow. There was equipment here that wasn't even part of the objective requirements.
"Does it think that I'll grow to enjoy working out with time?" He wondered to himself.
"Well expect to be disappointed." He said with a smug look as he approached the outdoor gym.
After arriving in his new torture chamber he spit into both of his hands.
"Alright let's get started."