His new downstairs neighbors had just moved in yesterday, and apparently, they had a newborn. A fact he might’ve been able to prepare for had he paid any attention at all to what went on in his apartment complex.
Cursing the baby, its parents, and the landlord who let them rent the apartment right under his, Daniel got out of bed. His first college class on Fridays started at 09:00, with a solid ten-minute bus ride to campus and another ten minutes to get ready that left him with a little over three hours of free time before he needed to start his day. However, he knew that he would never be able to fall back asleep now, even if there were no crying babies to keep him awake.
He made his way to the bathroom, splashing cold water on his face in an attempt to wake up. After throwing on a shirt and grabbing a quick bite to eat, he spent the next three hours reviewing notes and preparing for his classes, resigned to making the most of his downtime, even as the sounds of the newborn gave him a headache. Finally, he grabbed his backpack and stepped into the brisk morning air, mentally bracing himself for another long day of lectures.
He entered the classroom five minutes before the lecture was scheduled to begin and took a seat beside the only person at college with whom he had spoken more than ten words, Harold Garret, as he had beckoned Daniel over the moment he saw him.
“Hey Daniel, how’s it going? Are you free today?” Harry greeted him with far too much enthusiasm.
“Good morning to you, too, Harry. I am doing fine. Whether I will be available for whatever you have planned depends entirely on the activity in question,” Daniel replied tiredly.
“Well, some of our classmates were thinking of throwing a party, and I thou-” Harry started hopefully.
“Pass,” Daniel interrupted.
“Please, I need some help, and you’re my only real friend,” Harry pleaded.
“With what exactly?” Daniel asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I need you to get me and Stacey together,” Harry explained.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’m the expert you’re seeking. What makes you think I’d qualify as a matchmaker?” Daniel questioned, exasperated.
“Normally you wouldn’t be my first pick, but she’s like super smart, and I don’t know how to approach her,” Harry admitted.
Daniel quietly thought they wouldn’t be a good match then anyway, but before he could voice that opinion a professor walked in. It was not their usual professor, however, but a substitute. A substitute that he absolutely did not want to see, because four months prior he’d had a fairly heated debate with them, essentially calling them stupid.
Therefore, he wasn’t entirely keen on subjecting himself to their lecture. Looking over at Harry, who looked back at him expectantly, Daniel quickly thought of a plan.
“Alright, but I need you to do something for me too,” Daniel proposed.
“What is it?” Harry asked hopefully.
“Cover for me,” Daniel answered.
With that, he got up and all but fled the classroom. Once he covered a bit of distance he stopped and pulled up his schedule, because he had only checked his first class that morning and mentally smiled when he saw that both of his remaining classes were canceled.
‘Must be infectious,’ he thought.
Having no reason to stay on campus Daniel headed home via bus. He only had to ride the bus for three stations before being dropped off in front of his apartment complex.
That convenience was not coincidental, nor was the distance. When looking for this apartment he had made sure it was close enough for him to quickly transmute between it and the university and even go by foot should the buses fail or cancel, yet not so close other students could spot him entering or leaving his home. For the same reason, it was in the opposite direction of the city center. And even if someone took the same bus, they would still have to take one inconspicuous corner to discover his apartment. That was why none of his classmates had ever discovered where he lived, not even Harry, not that many had tried.
As he turned the corner to his apartment, he saw a young couple with a newborn entering a car. Quickly connecting the dots Daniel deduced them to be his new downstairs neighbors. Which reminded him of his newfound source of insomnia.
Seeing them drive off a new course of action formed in his mind to resolve the issue before it bothered him again. He grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from his backpack and entered the complex, stopping on the second floor in front of the apartment directly below his.
He finished the loud noise complaint by signing with ‘Mrs. Fletcher, your downstairs neighbor’. He addressed the missive to the Masons which he had read off their name plate. Mrs. Fletcher was a blind old widow who lived on the first floor, which was why he didn’t think they would confront her. He was equally sure that they hadn’t already met as he had seen her be driven home that morning by her son or son-in-law or something.
Daniel left the message on their doormat and climbed the stairs to his apartment. He had no qualms about using her name for this as he did think she would be bothered by the noise and the ruse was unlikely to be revealed. Even if it were revealed they had no reason to suspect him because their minds would have already accepted the fact that the complaint came from downstairs.
With no immediate schoolwork to complete, courtesy of his earlier work and his empty school day, and plans for later, Daniel decided to have another go at resting and charging up his energy for the sure-to-be-exhausting aforementioned plans later that day.
He awoke about six hours later to the distinct sound of his phone ringing. Picking it up he was greeted with the obnoxious profile picture of Harry, sighing he accepted the call.
“Hey! Where've you been? I haven’t seen you since you ran out of our first class,” Harry exclaimed accusingly.
“My other two classes were canceled; you should know we share one of them,” Daniel replied.
“I didn’t think you’d get a whole day off, though! Damn, that’s lucky,” Harry said.
“Sure. Anyway, why did you call?” Daniel inquired.
“The party is in two hours, so come and meet me here at this coffee shop. I’ll send you the address,” Harry ordered him.
“Two hours before it even starts?” Daniel asked, surprised.
“I live forty minutes away; doesn’t feel worth it, and I don’t want to wait alone,” Harry justified.
“Fine,” Daniel relented.
Harry instantly sent him the address and Daniel reluctantly got out of bed and made his way to the bus station. The coffee shop was only a short walk from their university, so he got there soon after their talk and bought himself some pie before joining Harry at his table because he hadn’t eaten yet.
“So, tell me what you have been doing for the last six hours,” Harry prompted.
“I was sleeping,” Daniel stated.
“Damn. Why so tired?” Harry asked.
“New downstairs neighbors, and they have a baby,” Daniel explained, annoyed.
“Oof, that sucks,” Harry responded sympathetically.
“It does but never mind that for now. I still don’t get why you need me; aren’t you better at these kinds of things than me?” Daniel questioned.
“Yeah, but I can’t just start talking to her. I need you to be my wingman and break the ice,” Harry insisted.
“Alright, that’s easy. When we walk by her at the party, I point at her and insult her loud enough for her to hear, then you punch me and apologize on my behalf, telling her that you only invited me because you felt bad for me,” Daniel suggested.
“That’s ridiculous and would never work,” Harry retorted.
“Why not? An insult from me would subtly lower her self-worth, while your apparent disgust at me and protectiveness of her will endear you to her. Additionally, apologizing on my behalf makes you seem reliable and mature; telling her that you only brought me along as charity will make you look kind and selfless. Plus, you have an opening to continue talking to her, and I have an opening to make a quick exit,” Daniel explained.
“I... maybe, but we would still be tricking her. If she uncovers that, I don’t think she would be pleased,” Harry countered.
“She doesn’t have to find out if you play it smart,” Daniel insisted.
“That would mean I could never hang out with both of you—” Harry began.
“Real shame,” Daniel interjected.
“—and I’m pretty sure she’s seen us sitting together in class before,” Harry pointed out.
“Ah, the one flaw in an otherwise perfect plan,” Daniel acknowledged, sarcastically.
“...Sure,” Harry agreed amused.
“So, what did you have in mind then?” Daniel asked.
But before Harry could voice his ideas words formed in their minds and sent Daniel’s reeling.
[Initiating System integration of 23rd Universe]
[Preparing to seize astronomical objects, please evacuate - 4:59:58]
As the second message entered his mind something else did too, but before he could properly register it a large portal sprang into existence outside of the coffee shop, in the middle of the street.
“Wow,” Harry exclaimed, his breathless amazement brought Daniel’s mind back to reality as he quickly examined what else he had received from the mysterious messenger and became aware of a large menu that formed in his mind.
Menu:
- Status
- Inventory
- Encyclopedia
- Social
A little unsure of his lucidity he pinched himself, before turning back to his friend.
“Please tell me I am not hallucinating,” Daniel requested.
“I wish I could, but at least this seems too elaborate for my mind to make up,” Harry replied.
“Well, operating under the assumption that we are still sane and actually sitting here, should we go investigate that portal?” Daniel questioned.
“I’m not sure; for one, I’m not certain we should be listening to unfamiliar and possibly hallucinated voices that only exist in our minds. Then again, ‘seizing astronomical bodies’ would include Earth, and we already saw what this thing can do when it opened a fricking wormhole in the middle of the street. I’m not sure if we should be around when it ‘seizes’ the planet we are standing on,” Harry reasoned.
“True, but who says how that will happen? Maybe that portal is the way it's going to happen, and we are just accelerating our demise by entering it,” Daniel countered.
“I don’t think something that could kill everything on this planet with ease would warn us and give us the exact moment it’ll happen,” Harry argued.
“Maybe it can’t kill us and just wants to scare us into entering the portal. In any case, we should go through this menu first and look for more information,” Daniel suggested.
Harry nodded his head at that, knowing he had a point, there was still unexplored information available. Looking the remaining options over Daniel decided to start with Status.
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Status:
- Identity:
-
- Name: Daniel Wright
-
- Race: Unadorned Human (Level 0)
-
- Class: Unadorned Class Selection available
- Attributes:
-
- Fortitude: 4
-
- Vitality: 4
-
- Strength: 4
-
- Agility: 3
-
- Endurance: 5
-
- Intelligence: 8
-
- Wisdom: 7
-
- Free Points: 0
- Resources:
-
- Health: 50
-
- Stamina: 40
-
- Mana: 70
- Skills:
-
- General Skills: Identify (Common)
-
- Class Skills: N/A
- Traits:
-
- Core Trait: Mana Crown (Unique)
-
- Class Traits: N/A
“This is like a game,” Harry stated, astonished.
Daniel only nodded with wide eyes and continued on to inventory, where he observed 50 empty slots and one section that apparently displayed his gold, which sat at 0.
“Have you looked at the class selection?” Harry asked excitedly.
“No, I didn’t see that option,” Daniel replied confused.
“It’s on the status page,” Harry explained.
Intrigued Daniel went back to the status page to examine it more closely and soon found the option under Identity.
Unadorned Class Selection:
- Brawler (Common)
Melee class that focuses on durability.
+3 for, +2 vit, +1 str, +1 free point per Level
- Striker (Common)
Melee class that focuses on damage.
+3 str, +2 agi, +1 end, +1 free point per Level
- Scout (Common)
Ranged class that focuses on reconnaissance.
+3 agi, +2 str, +1 end, +1 free point per Level
- Mage (Common)
Ranged class that focuses on magic.
+3 int, +2 wis, +1 vit, +1 free point per Level
- Healer (Common)
Support class that focuses on healing.
+3 wis, +2 int, +1 agi, +1 free point per Level
- Crafter (Common)
Non-combatant class that focuses on crafting.
+3 end, +2 wis, +1 str, +1 free point per Level
Notice: Choosing a class will grant you your first Level, class-appropriate equipment, and a class-related skill
Looking the selection over something caught his eye he had previously not focused on.
“What is up with the unadorned thing? It’s in my race and this class selection as well,” Daniel asked, furrowing his brow.
“Maybe we are just a subspecies of humans,” Harry speculated.
“Maybe, but it feels like there’s more to it,” Daniel replied, shaking his head.
“Don’t worry about it. What do you think of the classes? I think Striker sounds reasonable,” Harry suggested.
“We should probably look for more clues on our core traits first. I’m unsure of what it does, but I assume it’s unique to you and could influence your choice,” Daniel reasoned.
“I just thought they were actual traits of ours, because mine says ‘Flawless Body’,” Harry joked.
“As accurate as that is,” Daniel replied sarcastically, “I don’t think I have a mana crown on my head.”
“Eh, maybe they are passive abilities for us, video games often have those, and this seems like a copy of one,” Harry theorized, “but I don’t know what they should do and there is no further explanation here.”
“Maybe the Encyclopedia has some information on them,” Daniel contemplated.
Going back to the menu Daniel found the option he was looking for.
Encyclopedia:
- Materials (0)
- Class and Skill Recipes (0)
- Attributes (7)
- Skills (1)
- Traits (1)
Seeing that it did have more information he instantly opened the ‘Traits’ option
Traits:
- Mana Crown (Unique, Core, Active):
-
- Temporarily empowers all spells and increases mana regeneration
“Seems like I should pick the mage class,” Daniel said, looking at Harry.
“I’m not quite so sure, it says my trait removes all my weak points. Does that mean I don’t have a brain anymore?” Harry asked, a little disturbed.
“Try to feel your pulse,” Daniel suggested.
“Oh, thank God. It’s still there,” Harry declared, relieved.
“Weird, the heart should definitely be considered a weak point,” Daniel pondered, bemused.
“Wait, I don’t feel my heartbeat, does that mean my blood is just pumping on its own?” Harry questioned, confused.
“Maybe all of your vital functions are now just being handled by each of your cells,” Daniel suggested.
“Which would mean no matter where I’m hit the only thing that determines the damage, I take is the size of the area damaged,” Harry concluded, impressed.
“I guess that makes you a pretty good tank,” Daniel remarked.
“I suppose I should choose brawler then,” Harry noted.
“We should probably still go through the rest of the information, but we would at least have a good combo with back- and frontline,” Daniel agreed.
He was still curious about the Encyclopedia, so he looked at the other two options.
Attributes:
- Fortitude
-
- Determines the damage you can take
- Vitality
-
- Determines health capacity and regeneration
- Strength
-
- Determines your physical strength
- Agility
-
- Determines your speed and maneuverability
- Endurance
-
- Determines stamina capacity and regeneration
- Intelligence
-
- Determines your magical power
- Wisdom
-
- Determines mana capacity and regeneration
Most of the information was expected, but it was good to be certain what each of the attributes did.
Skills:
- Identify (Common, General, Active):
-
- Discerns the characteristics of an object and stores information in your Encyclopedia
When Daniel used it on Harry it worked fine.
[Harold Garret, Unadorned Human (Level 0), Class: None]
But when he tried to use it on the table in front of him it didn’t work. He guessed it wasn’t integrated into the system yet, so he opted not to use it on the rest of the items around him for now.
The only other thing on the menu he hadn’t checked out yet was the ‘Social’ option, so he did just that.
Social:
- Friends
- Party
- Guild
Intent on using the system he opened the ‘Friends’ page.
Friends:
- Add Friend
- Current Friends (0)
The add function seemed logical, but no further page opened up. Puzzled Daniel mentally clicked the text and thought of Harold Garret.
“How did you do that?” Harry questioned, surprised.
“I just thought your name while mentally clicking the ‘Add Friend’ function,” Daniel explained, “now accept I want to see if we can form a party.”
Daniel saw the Current Friend option change from 0 to 1 and opened it.
Current Friends:
- Harold Garret
-
- Remove friend
-
- Add to party
-
- Message
Exited Daniel quickly tried the ‘Message’ function
‘Can you see this?’ Daniel thought after activating the function mentally.
“That is cool,” Harry grinned, “do you think there is a distance on this thing?”
“I hope not,” Daniel replied with a matching grin, “but we can’t really test that right now. I’ll add you to my party now.”
After Harry accepted that request as well Daniel looked into the ‘Party’ option.
Party:
- Daniel Wright (Leader – Level 0)
- Harold Garret (Level 0):
-
- Remove
- Add Member
- Message
Not expecting anything vastly different Daniel opened the ‘Guild’ option as well.
Guild:
- Create
- Join
When he tried to use the ‘Join’ function nothing happened, so he guessed he would need a specific name there too, so he left guilds alone for now.
“I don’t think there is anything more to do now, is there?” Daniel questioned, focusing back on Harry.
“We could create a guild,” Harry suggested.
“I don’t think we need a guild between the two of us.” Daniel argued.
“True,” Harry agreed, “but they could lead to benefits further down the line.”
“Maybe, but we could also lock ourselves out from ever joining another one, which would probably offer more benefits than anything we’d be able to accomplish,” Daniel countered.
“I guess,” Harry conceded, “so should we select our classes now?”
“Yeah, I don’t see why not,” Daniel agreed.
[You have gained the Mage (Common) class]
[You have gained 1 Level (Level 0 —> Level 1)]
[You have gained the skill Mana Bolt (Common)]
Daniel didn’t feel any immediate effects from his newly gained attributes, besides an odd warmth that did not linger for long, but he could see that they went up in his status. Not certain what the future would bring he decided to bank the free point for the time being.
The skill he gained was his first Class Skill, but it was still fairly unimpressive, at least per Encyclopedia-description.
Skills:
- Mana Bolt (Common, Class, Active, Spell, Neutral):
-
- Releases a small bolt of mana that deals magical damage upon impact
Noticing that he hadn’t received any equipment Daniel opened his inventory and found a cloth armor plus a wand. When he focused on them additional information appeared.
Wand (Common):
- Decreases cast time and mana cost of spells
Cloth Armor (Common):
- Increases mana regeneration while equipped
Not seeing any option to summon the items, Daniel tried to will the wand into his hand mentally, and it worked. It appeared directly in his hand, with no sound or light effects, while the inventory simply ceased to show the wand. His cloth armor appeared in a similarly uneventful manner, and he now sat with cloth armor and a wand in a coffee shop. Harry looked equally ridiculous, clad in full chainmail armor, holding a large shield, and wielding a mace.
“We’d at least make good cosplayers,” Harry joked while trying to get comfortable standing in his new attire.
“I think we’re ready to check out that portal now,” Daniel stated.
As they made their way out onto the street, they noticed a small crowd had gathered around the anomaly. It had been 15 minutes since the messages appeared, but it looked like no more than 15 of the gathered 100+ people were dressed in a similar fashion to them.
As they made their way past the crowd to the portal the attention of those gathered shifted to them, anxiously awaiting the result of them nearing the unknown phenomenon. When Daniel got within 4 meters of it another message appeared.
[Enter 23rd Universe Tutorial World No. 1332 with your party?]
After Daniel confirmed the prompt, Harry got one as well asking him to consent.
“You really want to do this?” Harry questioned skeptically.
“I don’t know about you, but I think this sounds like a lot more fun than going to lectures next week.”
Daniel's Status:
Status:
- Identity:
-
- Name: Daniel Wright
-
- Race: Unadorned Human (level 1)
-
- Class: Mage (Common)
- Attributes:
-
- Fortitude: 4
-
- Vitality: 5
-
- Strength: 4
-
- Agility: 3
-
- Endurance: 5
-
- Intelligence: 11
-
- Wisdom: 9
-
- Free Points: 1
- Resources:
-
- Health: 50
-
- Stamina: 50
-
- Mana: 90
- Skills:
-
- General Skills: Identify (Common)
-
- Class Skills: Mana Bolt (Common)
- Traits:
-
- Core Trait: Ice Crown (Unique)
-
- Class Traits: N/A
Harry's Status:
Status:
- Identity:
-
- Name: Harold Garret
-
- Race: Unadorned Human (level 1)
-
- Class: Brawler (Common)
- Attributes:
-
- Fortitude: 7
-
- Vitality: 6
-
- Strength: 5
-
- Agility: 3
-
- Endurance: 5
-
- Intelligence: 6
-
- Wisdom: 5
-
- Free Points: 0
- Resources:
-
- Health: 60
-
- Stamina: 50
-
- Mana: 60
- Skills:
-
- General Skills: Identify (Common)
-
- Class Skills: Heavy Strike (Common)
- Traits:
-
- Core Trait: Flawless Body (Unique)
-
- Class Traits: N/A