Today, Verity woke up feeling quite groggy, more so than usual. His back hurt like hell, and his head felt like it was about to split open, if it hadn't already and he had awoken as a paranormal spirit.
'As if.'
The idea was too far-fetched, even for him who loved surreal stories, but still everything did hurt, a lot. In his place, others might have been worried, but not Verity. Though today might have been more intense than what he was used to, this had become a routine for him.
'Stupid headache and even stupider back pain…'
When he was fired from his job due to lack of productivity, Verity locked himself in his small studio apartment, and had been eating nothing but instant ramen noodles for the past three weeks, that, and pizza at times when he sought diversity, even though he was lactose intolerant. Truly, It's no wonder his body was scorning him and protesting his actions. He was nearly starving and he hadn't seen the sun in days.
'Ah, who needs the sun? The light from my monitor is more than enough.'
He might have thought that, but today Verity absolutely needed to leave the comfort of his home. His rent was due, and even though he had been fired, the severance check from his workplace never arrived in the mail, despite how patient he had been. Sighing heavily, he picked out a pair of jeans that had been laying on his bed and an old t-shirt with a graphic he did not know the meaning of. The two hardly went together, but Verity could not care less, he wasn't going to a fashion show after all.
'I'll be outside for twenty minutes at most.'
Any normal person put in his position would have surely raised hell and even hired lawyers if need be, but not Verity, he couldn't be bothered to claim what was his, or at least that's what he tried to convince himself of. Deep down, he knew that he just couldn't handle confrontation, especially not if he had to confront that tyrant of a boss he had. He shivered just remembering how incessantly he was yelled at and abused by her.
'Hmph, they're lucky I don't feel like going back!' He thought, looking across the street to where he used to work.'
He had hesitated for a moment, considering the option of homelessness, but when he had finally laced his shoes tight, Verity stood up, and opened the front door. As his hand turned the knob, he realized that he had almost forgotten this feeling, and for a moment, felt ashamed that he had reached a point where such a thought crossed his mind.
'Argh, whatever, let's just go.'
Surprisingly, despite being a homebody, and despite never really crossing the doorstep of a gym, Verity wasn't unfit. A walk that would take a normal person ten minutes only took him seven, and he wasn't short of breath at all. Of course, he didn't notice this as he was too focused on entering the bank and leaving as fast as possible.
He was relieved when he stepped inside. Unlike the scorching summer heat that permeated the outside world, the interior of the bank was well ventilated and surely a fancy cooling system had been installed within its walls. Verity felt refreshed upon entering, but this brief moment of relief was quickly washed away once he saw the line before him.
'Did the entire city decide they needed to be at the bank today?!'
He could complain all he wanted, but he knew that he had no other choice. So, after a gruelling wait, Verity was finally called to the counter where a pretty black-haired lady greeted him with a smile. Verity knew that she was just doing her job, and that smiling was part of it, but he still looked away, slightly embarrassed.
"How can I help you today, sir?" She asked him, her gaze scrutinizing him.
"I'm here to take out a loan."
Her smile beamed even more. She asked Verity to provide a form of identification and his account number, and so he did, handing his driver's license to her. She had been doing this job for a few years now, so she had seen her fair share of strange names, but the one before her just now still caused her left eyebrow to raise. She looked at it for a second more than she usually would, and Verity did not miss it. He was used to that reaction.
"Yes, I know, my name's weird." He said, holding back a sigh.
The woman's face flushed. She was a professional, she couldn't let something like this destabilize her. "N-no at all, sir! I was just thinking that it was a very pretty name!!" She frantically replied, her eyes darting back to her computer screen.
Watching her try to salvage the situation, Verity simply rolled his eyes and waited for her to open his account.
"How much would you like, sir? We have multiple interest packages if you'd like me to list them ou-"
"Fifteen thousand."
He knew that this was no small sum, just as he knew how ridiculous it was to take out such a loan to pay rent, but he really had no other choice.
At his reply, the woman's eyes widened slightly. She never felt comfortable telling customers that they were 'inadequate' for a loan, but today she had to. "W-Well, your past income certainly would have permitted this loan, but since you've recently been laid off…I'm afraid such a sum won't be possible, sir."
He knew this of course, but Verity had hoped he could pass the wool over her eyes.
'How does she even know that?!' He asked himself, wondering if the bank had private investigators check up on all their customers.
He bit his lip in frustration, and leaned in closer. He did not need the whole city to hear that he was unemployed. "...Then how much can you give me?"
She tapped on her keyboard a few times, her fingers moving at lightning speed, and came up with an answer. "Eight thousand would be the maximum sir, but the interest would be-"
"Fine, give me that."
Verity did not care about the interest, and that was because he had a plan… probably. When she heard him, the woman was confused, but the customer was king at the end of the day. If he did not want to know that the interest was crippling and that this was an incredibly unfair loan, she couldn't force him to listen. Thus, restraining a grimace from forming on her face, she finalized the matter for the young man and bid him farewell.
'This should last me a while.' Verity thought as he exited the bank, a new source of funds acquired.
The first stop had gone well, and his next stop for the day was the supermarket, where he was to obtain more instant noodles. Then, he would return home as fast as he possibly could. He couldn't stay outside for too long, a new chapter of his favorite webtoon was supposed to come out today, and he wanted to be the first to leave a comment. However insignificant it was, he secretly loved the recognition he obtained from being the first, and would sometimes be frustrated if someone commented before him.
'It's fine, I still have a lot of time. I made sure I would make it even if the sky was to fall on my head.'
Surprisingly, as if it heard his challenging words and thought 'So you really think you'll be fine even if I try to stop you?' , the sky responded. A sense of dread filled his immediate surroundings, the clouds gathered and the color of the sky itself began to change from a pure blue to an ominous and sombre color.
'What the…?'
There hadn't been any warnings of a storm in the weather forecast, and he surely had never seen one form like this. Verity was quite confused at the sight above him, and so were the other people around him. Everyone looked to the sky with curiosity, unsure as to what was happening. Despite their confusion, it was happening, and It happening fast. Out of nowhere, a veil of clouds formed, obscuring the sky, and thunderous noises roared from it. It was concerning, frightening even, and yet, nothing else really happened.
Eventually, after a minute had passed with no other changes, Verity's curiosity still hadn't quite subsided, but he was not a weather scientist, and so looking at the sky longer wouldn't give him any answers. Still perplexed, Verity assumed that this was indeed the formation of a storm of some kind, and decided that he had better run back home if he didn't want to end up drenched, or worse.
That's when he heard a strange voice in his head, and that's when an even stranger interface appeared before him.
[Congratulations! You have met the requirements to awaken as a challenger. You will now be transported to the tutorial area!
Good luck ;) ]
"What the fu-"
Verity blurted the words out loud, but before he could finish his sentence, a lightning bolt descended from the sky and struck him. Instead of dying, however, Verity was transported to a place resembling a colosseum, much like the one the Romans had built in the past. The spatial transportation had been very disorienting, nearly causing him to regurgitate his breakfast, or maybe last night's dinner since he hadn't eaten this morning. However, glancing at his surroundings, he quickly noticed that there were many other people, and they were just as confused as he was, some actually spitting out their breakfast.
Not giving them enough time to compose themselves, from the sky, a voice resonated.
"Welcome, welcome to all of you! I'm elated to see so many of you here today!"
The voice was soft, yet harsh at the same time, as if the words of welcome were not meant literally. Hearing it, the only plausible action was to look up, and so that's what all present did. Verity did not know what he was expecting but what he saw when he raised his head was something that couldn't be described as anything else but an imp. A small devil-like creature floating above them with two horns and a set of bat-like wings. It was strange, sure, but he didn't know if he could describe it as menacing.
The imp took a deep breath and spoke for all to hear. "Rejoice! You've been selected as participants for this place's apocalypse, meaning that you are the chosen ones who will save the world!"
The initial shock now fading, those words made something click within Verity.
'There's… no way..!!!'
The imp kept on talking, uncaring for his realization, however. "There is a lot to explain, too much even! For now, I want you to think 'status' and wait for something to happen."
Verity immediately thought, and he thought hard.
'Status!! Status!! Status!!'
Soon after, a window appeared in front of him.
Status Window
Name: Verity
Age: 22
Level: 1
Alias: N/A
Class: N/A
Traits : Shut-in, Unemployed, Listless
Skills: N/A
Sponsor: [-Error-]
'This is real!!! It's really there, the status window!!'
Verity's eyes widened as much as they physically could. He simply could not believe this was happening. How many times had he read this exact plot in the webtoons he loved so much? How many times had he wished he could be the main character of those stories? The answer was simple, more than he could count!
Sure, at first glance, his skills and traits seemed lackluster. Why was his status window insulting him? Unemployed? Shut-in? In all fairness, it was true, but even then.
Verity quickly pushed those thoughts away. He wasn't pleased by his traits, but still, he couldn't let that bother him right now. There was something much more important that deserved his concern. Thinking of it, his emotions were on the verge of exploding outward.
The imp continued. "Now, I'm sure you've all opened your status window. If you focus on certain words, such as a specific skill, trait, or, although none of you have one for now, a sponsor, an additional window will appear, giving more information. On that-"
Verity did not bother listening to the rest of the explanation, and immediately focused on the words which had piqued his interest the most. With all his might, he focused on his sponsor, and an additional window popped up.
Sponsor: [-Error-]
Description : A being who [-Error-] who does not wish to identify herself has taken an interest in you and declared herself your sponsor, disregarding administrative norms. She is [-Error-] She is [-Error-] She is simply observing.
Sponsorship Perks : [-Error-]
This was his breaking point, Verity could contain himself no longer. The words were there, and he had seen similar things happen to his favorite characters much too many times. He knew exactly what this meant. He felt it, deep within him, and so he cried out, louder than he meant to.
"THIS IS IT!! YESSSS, I'M SPECIAL!! I'M A MAIN CHARACTER!!"
Everyone heard him, and everyone turned to look at him. When he realized what he had done, he felt a bit embarrassed, but nothing could extinguish the flame of his excitement. Verity clenched his fist in joy and looked up at the sky once more, thinking he should at least listen to what the imp had to say. In the stories, these types of guys were ill-intentioned, but often provided good advice at the start.
When he looked up, however, what he saw was not an imp rambling about how everything worked, but an imp who was looking back at him, and the imp spoke.
"I hate being interrupted more than anything." The imp said, its gaze piercing through Verity.
He felt a chill run down his spine, and in the next moment, Verity's vision had turned upside down.
'Eh?'
His head then rolled on the floor, a few others around him screamed in horror, watching his body fall to the ground. His head separated from his body, his consciousness rapidly faded and the world turned black.
The end.
Or it should have been.
Instead, Verity found himself in an even stranger space where he felt as though he was standing on the void itself, but where he could not tell up from down or left from right. Around him was nothing but darkness, pure, absolute darkness, and from that darkness, a voice emerged.
"HAHAHAH!!!!! YOU'RE HILARIOUS!!"
The voice wasn't ominous, or god-like, or otherworldly, it was laughing, and hysterically at that, as if it had heard the best joke in existence.
"I MEAN, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YELLING LIKE THAT? ARE YOU FIVE YEARS OLD??!!! HAHAHAH!!!!"
Verity frowned. 'She's… mocking me?'
The voice imitated the way he spoke. "I'M A MAIN CHARACTER!!" and then it burst into laughter again. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THAT'S JUST TOO FUNNY!!"
The space lit up, ever so slightly, and what he managed to see across the endless void was a female looking silhouette. Strangely, he couldn't quite make out any of her features, the color of her hair, her height, and what she looked like, he had no idea. All he knew was that the entity was indeed female and that she was clutching her stomach laughing at him.
Soon, when the laughter did not subside, and the mockeries did not end, Verity began to feel embarrassed. "A-are you done?! I get it alright!!" He said, irritated.
"Sorry, sorry! But not yet! This is the hundredth time!! Allow me to laugh a bit more!!!"
Her words rang in his ear, but he did not understand the meaning. "The hundredth time?"
Finally, the laughter died down, if only a little, and the entity did something that resembled wiping tears from her eyes. "Yes! It's now the hundredth time that you've died on the first day of your apocalypse!!"
Verity frowned. "...What?"
She wasn't done, however. "And the best part!? Half of it was because you kept yelling out something stupid when the imp was talking!!" She took a deep breath and faced Verity. "Do you get it??? Half the time, you don't even get to the first trial of the tutorial! The tutorial!!! HAHAHAHA!!!"