Jamie blinked, staring at the frozen creatures in front of him, their hungry gazes locked onto him. The prompt glowed in his vision, as though waiting for him to make sense of it.
Would you like to toggle character roles? Choose a persona to increase your chances of survival.
"Character roles?" he muttered, shifting his gaze over the prompt. "I don't even know what that means."
As if on cue, a series of text boxes appeared in his view, listing options. Each one had a title: Extra, Villain, Protagonist. For now, the only options highlighted were "Extra" and "Villain." The protagonist role was grayed out, unavailable, as though locked behind some invisible paywall.
"Figures," he murmured, reading through the descriptions that popped up beneath each option. The Extra persona read:
"In my hollowed mind, I remember I am bound for greatness."
The word "for" was emboldened as opposed to the rest, it hung in his mind like a placeholder, as if that alone was supposed to define the character's personality. It was cryptic, ambiguous. And then his gaze landed on the Villain persona:
"My descent into madness was swift and all-consuming."
He felt an odd tug at those words, an intensity they seemed to radiate. There was something thrilling about the idea of letting loose, even if he wasn't quite sure what "madness" was supposed to entail. Maybe, just maybe, it could give him the power he needed to survive.
"All right, 'Villain' it is," he muttered. He selected the option, and a new screen appeared, listing several tiers of Villain personas. Only F, E, and D were available to him now, while the others were grayed out.
"Let's go with E," he decided, tapping the E-tier persona before he could overthink it. The screen dissolved, and a chill ran through his body, as though ice water had replaced his blood. He felt his muscles tense, his posture shift. When he glanced down, he noticed his hands had changed—longer fingers, darker skin, nails sharpened to points.
Another prompt appeared:
Persona Activated:
Title: Claw fingers
E-Tier Villain.
Description: "My descent into madness was raw and cathartic."
Jaime blinked. "It… changed." The words had changed. It had initially been swift and all-consuming, yes? He rubbed his forehead, hoping he wasn't losing his mind.
Not exactly comforting, Jamie thought. But beggars can't be choosers.
He let out a breath, his mind shifting, a new type of focus settling over him. Instinctively, he felt something different, an awareness of an ability he hadn't had before. He didn't know what it was, but he felt a surge of vicious energy pooling in his palms, like he could tear through anything in his path.
Something, he couldn't tell what it was but he found himself raising his hand and darting his tongue out to flick at his claws. The claws nicked his tongue, drawing blood.
He found himself chuckling.
"Sharp, I'll name you Rend," He spoke to the claws. "Not very fitting but I've always been terrible at naming things,"
He tsked.
The creatures in front of him unfroze, snarling as they advanced. Jamie raised his hand, almost on instinct, feeling the power coil around his fingers like an invisible blade. He stepped forward, a smirk crossing his new face as he sized up his foes. This wasn't Jamie Wentworth, passive and observant. This was someone else, someone who relished the coming fight.
"All right, you ugly little monsters," he sneered. "Let's see what you're made of."
The first creature lunged at him, its sharp teeth snapping dangerously close. Jamie sidestepped with surprising speed, his new persona's reflexes more agile than his own. He brought his hand down, releasing Rend in a swift arc that cut through the creature's skin like it was paper. Black ichor sprayed from the wound as it screeched, stumbling back.
The next creature came from his left, claws swiping. Jamie twisted around, dodging the blow, his mind calculating every movement, every potential point of attack. Basic physics, he thought. Newton's Third Law—every action has an equal and opposite reaction. He threw himself backward as it swiped, letting its momentum pull it off balance before he jabbed forward with Rend, slicing cleanly across its neck.
"Is that all you've got?" he taunted, the Villain persona's voice harsh and taunting, as if it thrived on pushing his opponents. He almost didn't recognize the sound coming from his mouth.
Two more creatures snarled, advancing in unison, clearly wary after seeing their comrades fall. Jamie's mind raced, analyzing their positions, the narrowness of the tunnel, the broken debris on the ground. He could use the space to his advantage—force them into a line, make it harder for them to swarm him all at once.
"Come on," he growled, moving backward down the narrow path, leading them like he was laying a trap. "You're not scared, are you?"
The creatures seemed to take the bait, following him down the cramped section of the tunnel. He clenched his hand, feeling Rend crackle at his fingertips again. The power felt good, intoxicating almost, like nothing he'd felt in his own skin. It was thrilling in a strange, unsettling way.
As they advanced, he struck. The lead creature snarled and lashed out, but Jamie brought his arm down in a vicious arc, slashing it across the face with Rend, then pivoting to hit the second creature in its side, leaving it howling and flailing.
"Too easy," he muttered, letting out a dark chuckle. But as the thought passed through his mind, he felt a sudden jolt, like static snapping against his skin.
Warning: Out of Character Detected. Reverting to Original State.
The power drained instantly from his body. His arms felt weaker, his legs heavier, and he stumbled back, catching himself against the wall. His hands had returned to normal—no claws, no sharpened nails. The creatures were still reeling, but his mind whirred with confusion.
"What the—?" he muttered, glancing down at his hands in frustration.
Then a new message blinked in his vision:
Kicked out due to improper character behavior. Persona on cooldown.
"Kicked out? For what?" Jamie hissed under his breath. He hadn't expected there to be rules for how he acted, especially not rules that could get him thrown out of a persona mid-fight. So what, I have to behave like I'm actually a villain? The thought was ridiculous, yet oddly logical—this was a simulation, after all. Maybe the "characters" had to play their roles, or they'd be rejected.
But there was no time to dwell on it. He could hear the creatures recovering, snarling as they turned their beady eyes back to him. His wound throbbed, and he knew he couldn't handle another fight like this without the enhanced abilities.
"All right, think, Jamie," he muttered to himself, pressing back against the wall as he tried to come up with a plan. "I've got nothing left to work with… except…" His eyes flicked to a weak spot in the tunnel ceiling, the rocks damp and brittle. Maybe he could use it to his advantage.
Quickly, he grabbed the rusted pipe he'd held earlier and jammed it into a crack overhead, wedging it with as much force as he could muster. The creatures were advancing, snarling as they closed in.
"Just a little more…" he muttered, digging the pipe in deeper. The stones shifted, dust sifting down as the ceiling groaned, ready to give.
One of the creatures leapt at him, claws extended. He yanked the pipe free and rolled to the side as the ceiling collapsed in a small avalanche of stone and debris, crushing the creature beneath it. The others snarled in alarm, momentarily confused by the sudden destruction.
Jamie's lips curled in a small, grim smile. "Still alive," he muttered, breathless. But the remaining creatures had regrouped, circling him with cautious, predatory eyes. He braced himself, calculating his next move, when something strange happened.
The tunnel shuddered again, this time without his influence. The creatures froze, and a blinding light burst forth from somewhere behind him. He turned, squinting against the brilliance, his mind racing with questions.
A new prompt appeared:
Path Unlocked. Mission Update: Follow the Light.
"Perfect timing," he said aloud, letting out a small, shaky laugh as he turned toward the light.