Chapter 2: Companion
I slowly approached what looked like a door. I tapped the metal grid and said: "Open."
The door silently slid into the wall.
"Sir, your parcel has arrived," a robotic voice resounded from beyond the door frame.
I observed the robot in front of me with awe. It looked like a big, polished metal cube with robotic arms. The cube's stomach opened, and it grabbed two boxes and carelessly threw them into my apartment.
"Can't you be more careful!" I yelled.
"Thank you for using Galaxon delivery services," the robot cheerfully replied and drove away.
"I guess postal services never change no matter the universe," I pondered.
I closed the door and inspected the two boxes. One was clearly from the Academy while the other one was a mystery.
The first box contained a pristine white, neatly folded uniform.
Next to the uniform was a sleek black smartwatch. The watch will serve as a form of identification while in the academy.
Then I turned my attention towards the second box.
I carefully inspected it for any damage before opening it. Inside was a mysterious black orb and on top of it was a white envelope.
I opened the envelope and read the letter out loud.
"Your reward for finding all the easter eggs has been delivered. If you are expecting to receive some sort of system, then I have to disappoint you. You will be getting some small help but that's it. There is also no main quest or mission that you must complete. You can do whatever you want with your life in this world. I am looking forward to seeing how you are going to change the plot (if you manage to survive for long enough to be able to affect the plot at all).
Cheers
Your favorite game developer."
I tore up the letter.
"There is no way I am going to follow the plot of this stupid story. Surviving in this grimdark universe is practically impossible unless you have plot armor. One small slip up and I die."
Now that I think about it. The game was pretty hard even on normal mode. I had to die multiple times to clear most bosses the first time around.
That makes me nervous. What happens if I die here? Do I go back or is it over?
Well, I would rather not find out.
I need a plan.
I inhaled and exhaled a few times to calm down.
"Anger isn't going to help me."
Then I noticed the black orb. I touched the orb and tried to take it out of the box.
The orb suddenly started beeping. I jumped up in fear.
"Is this a bomb? Is that developer trying to kill me before the story even started?"
The orb floated above the ground and a single lens rotated around before it focused its gaze on me.
"Hello, Elijah Royale."
I searched through my inherited memories for anything similar.
"Are you perhaps some sort of servant robot?" I asked.
"I prefer the word companion," the robot replied with a stern tone.
"What is your objective?" I asked while slowly moving towards the apartment's door.
"My objective is to assist Elijah Royale in his endeavors."
I stopped on the spot where I was standing and fell into deep thought.
So this is the help the developer mentioned. If I wanna survive in this universe I am gonna need to become much more powerful. I still have my knowledge of the game and there are many ways to get stronger in this universe.
There are four main ways to get stronger. Those are cybernetic enhancements, Aether techniques, psychic abilities and one more way that I don't feel like explaining right now.
Looking at my stats they seem to be geared towards psychic abilities with my insane mental fortitude. The other attributes however are completely thrash.
In the game the stronger your physique is the more and better cybernetic enhancements you can get and the stronger your aether core is the better your utilization of aether techniques is.
For example if your physique was Iron III then you could install up to three Iron ranked cybernetic enhancements before your brain would short circuit and if your aether core was in the Silver realm then you would be able to use the first three movements your aether technique. If you went overboard with an aether technique that was too advanced then you might suddenly start sprouting tentacles.
In the game there were many different builds that you could make. From straightforward ones like the cyber samurai to the slightly more nuanced ones like the mentalist octo-sage.
My favorite one was the pure melee galactic demon build. The problem with the build was that you had to be extremely good at the game to be able to make full use of all the abilities and enhancements. Since this is now real life I don't intend to risk my life just so that I could look cool. Actually it would be the best if I moved in a direction that requires the least amount of skill to become strong relatively fast.
Certain sniper builds came to mind but then I had a genius idea. Things could definitely get interesting if I got that item.
After a while, I lifted my head and asked the robot: "Can you buy me a train ticket."
"I am capable of much more than that," the robot sighed with a voice that was oozing disappointment.
I dressed up while the robot moved to a corner of his apartment and silently observed.
I grabbed a coat and was about to leave when the robot said: "If you are going out, you should first remove the spyware from your smartwatch."
The academy put a tracker into everyone's watch for safety purposes and to deter the students from unlawful behavior.
"You can do that?"
"I can do that and much more," the robot replied.
The orb descended above my watch and a small cable came out of the robot and plugged itself into the watch.
"How should I call you?" I asked.
"You get to choose the name," the robot replied.
Arthur pondered for a bit before saying: "Krypto. Your new name is going to be Krypto."
"At least your naming sense isn't that bad," the robot sighed in exasperation.
"You haven't been serving me for more than a few minutes and you are already tired?" I jabbed at the floating metal hunk.
Krypto decided to not respond to my provocation.
After the process was done the lower part of the robot fell apart and a small black robotic spider jumped onto my arm.
I flinched a bit when I saw the spider climb into my pocket.
"It will take me a while to get set up so I gave you a small parting gift that will let us stay in touch," the robot explained.
The robot floated towards the wall and plugged himself in.
I walked out of my apartment complex.
My expression changed as a dazzling view opened in front of me. I could see hundreds of glass spires extending into the sky. The roads were crowded with floating cars and the sidewalk was bustling with people dressed in formal attire. The centerpiece was an enormous white pyramid in the middle of the island. It was so massive that it put the Pyramid of Giza to shame.
This was where the first volume of the story took place: Academy Island. The massive pyramid was the academy itself while the rest of the city was built around it.
The island was artificial and was used as a haven for nobles and important personalities during the last war.
The island was named that because it contained many famous educational facilities and most corporations on the island were built around those educational institutions but when more employees moved here with their families the island was drastically expanded but it still retained the name.
I was in awe. Despite inheriting memories about this world, seeing the futuristic skyscrapers surprised me.
I walked through the streets gawking at the holographic alerts and different futuristic gadgets.
I arrived in front of a train station.
I used my watch to redeem my ticket and noticed that I received a message from Elijah's parents.
They sent him a blank check so that he would have enough money for food and other necessities till the opening ceremony in a few days but the amount of money was ludicrous. Elijah's family was still a noble family despite the recent financial troubles.
It didn't even take an hour for the high-speed floating train to arrive at its destination.
I left the train station and signaled for a taxi to pick me up. I marveled at the floating cars that were in front of the station.
After a short drive to the outskirts of the city, I hiked up the mountain until I arrived at my destination.
I was standing in front of an old, abandoned mausoleum. The entire structure was covered with moss. The temple was built out of giant gray stones. It had a giant dome that was supported by many mossy, thick stone pillars.
I walked under the stone arch that was once the entrance to the mausoleum before the roof fell apart.
I circled the many piles of gray stones and entered the mausoleum.
The mechanical spider climbed out of my pocket onto my shoulder and turned on its flashlight.
"Time to get a cheat," I said with a smirk on my face.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
UnoriginalTomato
UnoriginalTomato Do leave a comment or a suggestion if you liked the chapter.
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