Varhram's Note: The basis and the person who wrote the most was my friend. So if you notice a difference in my writing, I only wrote the Art parts. "In short, is this story from your friend?" Yes, exactly that, that's why the writing will be different from usual and I was the one who asked to be able to post it, since he probably won't post it with his Webnovel account (he didn't even tell me what his account name is;-;), he'll post it on Wattpad.
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Shindo Life is a Naruto-inspired game on Roblox, regarded as one of the best and most complete, featuring alternative powers inspired by other universes, making it very interesting. It was so popular that 20,000 Roblox players used to play it, and among them were two friends.
Both played together constantly, fostering a near-rivalry in the game as they competed against each other. Some might have called them addicted, but they saw it simply as a friendly rivalry between friends or even like brothers.
One day, after another PvP match, Raph came out victorious this time.
(N/A: It can be pronounced as "Raf" or "Rav")
"I won this time," Raph said over the Discord call, smiling even though his friend couldn't see him.
"Nice, you played great!" his friend replied, his voice also coming from the call. Even though he had lost, the happiness for his friend's win was still evident in his tone, and Raph knew that Arthur was smiling as well.
"Well, I better head to bed since we have school tomorrow—Huh?" Raph looked at his screen and noticed something in the corner.
It was a notification, but… it was strange, bouncing and moving from side to side.
"That's weird."
"Dude… did you also get a weird notification that's bouncing around?" Art asked, genuine confusion in his voice, while the sound of someone sharing their screen on Discord could be heard.
"Yeah, it's here on the side. It's odd since I disabled my computer notifications, but maybe it's an important email. Hold on." Raph moved his mouse and clicked on the notification, and something immediately opened on his screen.
"So, what does it say?" Art asked as he stopped streaming his screen. For him, it was even stranger since he was on his iPad.
"This has got to be a joke, right?"
[You have been selected for a new game by Rell Games! After the countdown below, you will be taken to a Private Server!]
00:05:00
The countdown began as Raph felt excitement. A new Rell Games game? Could it be Rell Seas?
"There's no way something like this…" Art spoke, slightly incredulous, but he calmly opened the notification and read the same message his friend had seen. It was identical, down to the last comma.
But he found it odd—after all, Raph had disabled his computer notifications. So how did it reach him? And even stranger, how did it reach Art, who was in focus mode, where notifications should be blocked unless he disabled it himself.
"Five minutes is a lot of time; maybe I should check it out tomorrow," Raph said as he went to turn off his computer but then paused. "What if it's a limited invitation? What if tomorrow I can't access the private server because I'm offline? What a dilemma."
Sighing, Raph took his hands off the keyboard and picked up his phone.
"I guess I'll wait."
"Look, since I'm super curious, I recommend we accept. Worst case, we end up with a virus. Muhahaha." Art laughed playfully, with a hint of irony. He wasn't particularly worried about viruses since his iPad was well-protected.
"You're making it sound true, haha." Raph chuckled as he looked at his phone, but then something changed, and another notification popped up. "Another one?"
Moving his mouse, he opened the notification.
[Mandatory Questionnaire.
This is a questionnaire that must be completed before the five minutes run out; please respond.]
"A questionnaire? Let's see." Raph clicked the link and was taken to a form with a questionnaire.
"Ugh, a questionnaire? This feels like a fanfic," Art joked sarcastically, recalling similar story scenarios he'd read.
"Don't remind me," Raph replied, moving on to the first question.
[1. The last game you played.]
Raph typed "Shindo Life." Five questions in total, four left.
[2. In this last game, were you strong or weak? Meaning, were you good at it?]
Typing away, Raph answered, "Yes, I am strong and very good."
[3. List the abilities you were using at that time.]
Raph paused to think before typing. There were many abilities, but he didn't need to be too specific.
His response: *Narumaki-Yang, Deva-Sengoku, Earth Style, Yang Style, Tailed Beast Spirit: Kor, Companion: Sarachia Akuma.*
"Two questions left."
"The questions are simple but weird. Man, these don't seem like questions an admin would ask players if they were testing a game, like Rell Seas," Art commented in a calm voice. He thought the questions were a bit peculiar. Sure, he hadn't ruled out a highly unlikely possibility, but he kept it to himself.
"Hmm…" Raph considered before continuing.
[4. What were your character's stats? List them below in numbers.]
"Ah… this one's tedious to type," Raph muttered as he began typing.
His answer:
CHI: +4716
NIN: +4824
TAI: +1787
HP: +2283
"Last question." Raph moved to the fifth question.
[5. What abilities did you acquire? Do you still have them? List them.]
Raph took a deep breath. "This is going to be a long list…"
After about two minutes of typing, Raph finally finished.
"Man, what if I tell you I just answered with a 'yes'?" Art said, barely holding back laughter. He practically had everything in that game, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he'd spend over five minutes typing.
"Hope that counts as an answer, hahaha!"
"If it doesn't, I'm gonna tell them all to screw off," he laughed, a moderate chuckle.
Watching the countdown, only one minute remained.
"One minute—it'll end soon."
"So, do you think we'll get a response when the time's up? If this is real, at least someone should send a message to our emails," Art commented, followed by a cracking sound as he stretched his joints. He liked to joke that he was "crispy."
The countdown gradually reached 40, then 30, down to 20, and finally 10 seconds.
[00:00:09]
[00:00:08]
[00:00:07]
[00:00:06]
[00:00:05]
[00:00:04]
[00:00:03]
[00:00:02]
[00:00:01]
[00:00:00]
A screen appeared, displaying:
[Enter your name: ________]
Raph typed his name:
[Ryu Shingen]
Then, the surrounding space turned white.
...
Meanwhile, Art calmly typed what he thought would be his nickname, but to mess with some fans, he typed:
[Medaka Kurokami]
Yes, he chose this name because he had a story idea involving a transmigrator going to another world in Medaka's body. Even though it was no longer improper (post-epilogue) to call her a great beauty, it still felt odd because of her 16-year-old appearance. But it would be perfect to fool some fans since he could imitate a female voice.
But as he pressed what he assumed to be "ENTER" on his iPad, a white light immediately filled his room. It cast no shadows, illuminating even beneath his bed. Even the glass bottle in the upper right corner of his bed couldn't reflect the light. And when it faded, the young man was no longer there, as if he had simply ceased to exist.