Chapter 2: Chapter 2
I awake in an empty void, stretching infinitely in all directions, I briefly find myself confused by my circumstance before my memories return, and I remember the absurd events that brought me hear, I once again curse the ROB in my head, but I do not allow myself to dwell on the issue, feeling it is of greater importance to understand the situation, I can always return to my heretical musings later.
Despite my description of my surroundings as a void, it is completely white, similar to the landscapes commonly used in comics and movies when the character interacts with a higher power. it is filled with chaotic and swirling energies, vast rivers of pure energy flowing throughout the endless expanse, creating beautiful tapestries and patterns, I follow one river, dragging my eyes along its length, it moves with no discernible pattern, doubling around itself in a chaotic and ethereal way, I lose sight of it as it shrinks into the distance. I have no way of knowing how long it goes.
It may be that all of the rivers around me are truly one, but it is of no consequence to me at the moment, Even if its existence held the answers to profound secrets, or important knowledge, I have no hope of deciphering such a thing at the moment, so I ignore them for the time being, the pattern of this realm is only broken by one thing, a menu, displayed on the air itself, I read what it says.
[Welcome Host to the "Survivor" trial, a realm designed by the Administrator to test those who have showed themselves worthy of potentially gaining the "Survivor" trait, an ultimate tier trait, commonly only attainable by beings preparing to ascend, you are the first "Mortal" level entity to gain access to this trial, worry not, as the trial is adapted to one's abilities, you will not be expected to go through the same trial as a demigod.]
Well thats alot to take in, the insinuation that this is a trait saved for those on the level of minor gods is a tough pill to swallow, well honestly this entire situation is, I always lived my life as an atheist, I did not believe in the concept of a god, and was a firm believer in materialism, although I did not exclude the possibility of a god, I found it improbable, although the notion that these "Gods" are neither omnipotent nor omniscient goes a long way in easing my worries.
[Would host like a tutorial on how to work the trial system? [yes] [no]]
Yes please, I always did the tutorial for every game I played, was it sometimes unnecessary? Yes, but is the fact I always adapted to a new game much faster than my friends proof of its importance? Yes, not to mention the fact that I am now being asked to use a system designed and built by what are likely gods for some sort of trial, and you'd be insane not to take the tutorial, I am no anime protagonist, I am not so delusioned that I believe everything will go my way nor that I am so intelligent/powerfull/lucky to do everything perfectly.
[Very well, to begin, Welcome to the "lobby" space, the realm you currently find yourself in, it is a representation of your soul, and contains all your knowledge and experiences, you may come here to train, relax, and enjoy yourself between "trials" it is currently blank aside from your experience's outside of the trial realm, and as a representation of your soul, you are free to manipulate and change it to your will.]
Quite the interesting thing this system is, although the insinuation that my soul is a white void filled with meandering rivers of chaotic energy is slightly unsettling, I have no precedent to compare, and as such this may be entirely normal, or strange, it matters little to me, as a quick test I will my surroundings to change, and I find myself standing atop the deck of a beautiful austrian hut situated between towering cliffs, a glistening lake to one side, and a forested valley to the other. I find it strange to see that time seems to be frozen, I see myself leaning against the railing, random people walking around, eating, drinking, and making merry, frozen in place, like the worlds most realistic painting, but I attribute the phenomena to the fact that I had chosen a memory as the base, and as such it was simply a still image of the picture I had chosen, as a quick test I willed all the other people to disappear and they did so, I briefly took in the view, before refocusing on the system tutorial.
[Congratulations host on manipulating the lobby on your first try, your ability to adapt is astonishing, moving on, I will explain some of the capabilities of the lobby, as you have already discovered you may change it to your will, and summon anything you wish, including things you have had contact with, experienced, or seen, as well as anything that you can create a mental picture of, but this is simply the lobby of the trial, the true part of the trial is the "run" system, simply think "Open run menu" or anything you attribute to the action, and a menu will appear, try it.]
The tutorials manner of communication is uncomfortably sentient, but I have no way of telling if it is simply pre programmed, reactive, or governed by an active sentience, but I will worry about that later, for now I simply think "Open run menu" and before me, another menu appears, different from the tutorial menu that greeted me upon my arrival, this one is a black bordered box, displaying three options, "New run", "Current saves", and "Past runs".
[This is the run menu, it is separated into three sections, the "New run" section allows you to generate new runs, choose your character traits, spawn location, etc, for host's sake it has been modeled after the game "Project Zomboid" although with distinct differences, as the host will retain all their memories during and outside of runs, you are unable to choose traits related to knowledge, skills, mannerisms, or the like, and only be able to choose traits related to your physique, it is important to know that you will not maintain your physical abilities between runs, and must start anew during every new run, it is also important to know that all runs will end after the hosts death, and you will be sent back to the lobby to start again, however when in a safe and secure place, you may "save" your run, and return to the lobby, while being able to return to the run later, this is useful when you need to relax after a stressful situation, or refresh your knowledge and train in the lobby, physical gains made within the lobby do not transfer into runs, only knowledge, you may only have two active runs at a time.]
Now this is interesting, I have always loved zomboid as a game, it is an immersive experience that allows you to play the game in many different ways depending on the traits you chose for your character beforehand, as well as their backstory, and game settings, although it seems that the trial system does not allow me to manipulate game settings, and does not allow me to gain knowledge or experience based on my traits, I prefer it this way, I would prefer to be able to accumulate skill, knowledge, and experience between runs instead of having to relearn everything every time, although having to train my physique after every new run will get boring fast.
[The third and final section of the run menu, is the past runs, this is more of a quality of life tool, and more easily allows you to run through every past run, as well as quantifying each run's statistics, as opposed to having to manually run through memories in the lobby.]
That will certainly be nice but there has been no mention of the trial itself, or how to beat it.
[The trial itself will be to survive the post apocalypse, your goal is to survive, however the true end goal is more than that, you will have to discover that on your own, for some final information, you have access to a "skill menu" this menu works to quantify ones skills and knowledge, in the lobby it shows only ones knowledge, separated into many sections such as "technology" "biology" "science" etc, each broken down into many, many, sub sections on more specific knowledge, while in a run, it will also include things like physique, nutrition, etc, although it will tell you your physical health such as if you are eating/exercising enough, it is important to know it will not tell you if you are injured, sick, or close to death, this is the end of the tutorial, I wish you luck.]
And then the tutorial disappears, and I am left, standing in the perfect rendition of the alps, if not for what just happened, as well as the black menu box still floating before me, I would be convinced that I was simply hallucinating while on a hike, but I was not, and denial would do me no good, I knew this, but despite my rational mind, I sunk to the floor, laying on my back, I felt the grains of the wood against my arms, the cold of the wind, and the warmth of the sun.
After removing the humans and animals, I had managed to make time return, although all it did was bring wind, sound, and feeling, I listened to the whistling wind, and the quite splashes of the lake, as I curled up in a ball, I was tired, my mentality was crumbling before the pressure of such a strange world, I was just a human, before this I was a normal teen, well normal is a stretch, I was strange by many margins, I was a loner, a sociopath, my mind was a chaotic and messy thing, contradictory, and stressful, but in the end, I was just a human, I was not a soldier experienced in combat, nor some chosen protagonist, I was smarter than most, more practical, more realistic, but in the end, I was simply human like the rest, and like the imperfect, inexperienced human I was, I was overwhelmed by my entire reality being flipped on its head in but hours, and so I collapsed there, staring at the bright sky, as my weary mind fell into sleep.
(An, I hope you guys like this chapter, I think it turned out well, it was mostly for character and world building, but I still think it turned out good, sorry for the late upload, I had a week long school backpacking trip, and was in a terrible mood when we returned, so I needed a day to myself, I decided on danmachi for the isekai world, but do know it will be a few chapter till he gets there, although I won't go to in depth on the trial, I want to do at least one chapter on the beginning, and one chapter on right before he escapes.)
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