Teleporting was something that Barry wasn’t too fond of, he had only teleported a few times before when entering the hidden rooms from the city where the tutorial took place. So when Barry materialized back in his physical form, he felt a bit light-headed but recovered quickly after a while. Before then, Barry was fatigue from his battle with the undead king, but since he teleported to this unknown place, he felt back to normal.
However, when he took a look around the place he was in, he was in disbelief. Barry’s eyes widened when he looked up and thought he was in the cosmos, up in space. He could see stars twinkling, planets in the distance, comets zooming by, it was all so beautiful and mesmerizing. He also wasn’t the only one that was there, all around him were hundreds, possibly thousands of other people. There were also tables of delicious looking food and drinks with cozy couches, chair, etc.
The ground or floor that they all stood on was white and fluffy, almost like they were walking on clouds. There were different aesthetic structures that were placed here and there, such as water fountains, marble pillars, fascinating statues, etc.
Chatter filled the air, mainly about what was going on and if everything was a dream, an alien abduction that happened without them knowing, or something else. People were coming up with all sorts of conspiracy theories to try to explain what was going on.
Although Barry didn’t much like the situation that they were all in, what was more important to him was recovering his lost memories. He was forced in this game of life or death and accepted that there was no getting out of it for now, he held hope that he would break free from the game but for now he was focused on remembering his past life.
Barry tried opening his menu, but was unable to for some reason. He wanted to know what sort of rewards he had obtained from completing the tutorial, especially since he completed it differently than what was intended.
So he picked a cushy chair to sit on and waited for whatever was about to happen.
Barry waited for about 15 minutes when something occurred. Smoke swirled up in the air from the floor, circling around into a sphere until it stopped at a certain size. Everyone watched with curiosity, wondering what was going on with this strange phenomenon that took shape.
After a few moments, the ball of smoke busted out, expanding it into a smokescreen. The smoke cleared away in less than 10 seconds, and there floating in the air was a person, a man with pointy ears similar to elves that he had seen in movies. This elf like person also wore a top hat with light gold shades, he had a sinister smile with his hands behind his back.
The elf then spoke his first words, “Welcome Contestants!” his voice booming in a cheerful tone.
When Barry heard his voice, anger stirred up within as he rose halfway from his chair before realizing that his abilities and menu were locked at the moment. This was the person that was chatting with him from the beginning till now. He wanted to run up and choke the elf, but after calming down, he also realized that it would be stupid to assault someone that could very likely kill him in an instant if they felt like it. Barry plopped back into his chair, feeling defeated.
“I, and many others like me, applaud you all truly for making it past your tutorial! You may call me Ven! I’m sure you all have hundreds of questions that you would like answered, but sadly, I am here to clear away the most important ones before sending you all away to the true start of your ‘Lost Adventure’! The elf chuckled at the last bit he said, people whispered to one another in the crowd.
The whispering stopped when one person from the mass decided to speak, “So you and a bunch of others are responsible for forcing us all into this sick game of yours?”
Ven gave a dramatic expression of shock when he heard them say such a thing, “What!? Me? WHA- nooooo. I’m not the one responsible for getting you all in this at all…I’m simply one of the many moderators who HELP the ones who’ve registered you all in this ‘game’. He replied with a smile.
“Everyone in this place are not the only ones participating. Your whole world, ‘Earth’, is participating. I, and many others like me, will see to it that ‘Lost Adventure’ becomes one of the biggest hits of entertainment out there for the gods that are watching!” When the elf mentioned the word, ‘gods’, the room got even noisier. People were surprised that they were truly being used as some form of entertainment for actual gods, some wondered what they’ve done to anger the gods to force them into this game.
“That tutorial that you all went through was just a taste of the harsh challenges everyone will face in the future. I advise you all to work together as a team in unity, rather than as individuals, if you all wish to survive. And oh, by the way, those enemies that I chose for you all to fight against were my personal choice.” More chatter filled the room, amusing Ven even more.
“I decided on a tutorial around zombies, undead, because of how popular and familiar those types of monsters are to people of your world. And they are my personal favorite when it comes to horror movies and TV shows. Buuut anyway, I should tell you all that despite it being a tutorial. Anyone who died in it, will unfortunately remain dead.” Ven made a frowny face, acting as if he actually cared for those that kicked the bucket.
Cries and sadness filled the place, those who lost loved ones during the event mourned for their loss, wishing this all thing was just a terrible dream. The elf then switched up his expression by turning it into a happy face. “Yes, sad I know, however; any items, rewards, skills, etc. That you obtained from the tutorial, all of that is yours to keep.”
“FUCK YOU! We didn’t ask for this, you shit bag!” A man with tears, but full of rage, barked at Ven. The man began throwing whatever he could up at Ven, each object or food bouncing off an invisible force field that seemed to surround him.
A bunch of other people joined in, tossing stuff at Ven despite nothing being able to reach him, the people were simply doing so as a way to vent out their frustration and depression. The elf remained still in the air, this time with a blank expression, as he watched these guinea pigs throw a tantrum in his eyes.
Barry was expecting the whole time for Ven to retaliate back at these people for trying to defy him, but was amazed that Ven did nothing to stop them, he remained still and allowed them to vent. Barry understood the anger the people were feeling, not loss, but angry that they were all being used as entertainment.
A few minutes went by until the people calmed down, still hurt inside, Ven then spoke with the same poker face “You all done now? Have you all had your fill?” He asked in a calm tone.
This sort of shift in mood sent chills down most of the people, the room went silent, expecting Ven to thrash at them for trying to attack him. After a couple of seconds, Ven’s blank expression turned back into his usual happy attitude. “Alllllrighty then! I shall continue where I left off, where was I? Oh! That’s right, I should inform you all about something unique and interesting that will help you all a ton.”
Ven then removed his hat from his head, revealing his spiky blonde hair under his hat that stuck up like tall grass. He reached his hand inside his hat, pulling out random trinkets and miscellaneous items, until he stopped after pulling a massive dry-erase board for everyone to see, along with a hand pointer stick. Some people were amazed of how the board could fit in a normal-sized hat.
The board floated in the air with him, he tapped on it with his stick, getting everyone's attention. “Allow me to start by informing you all on ways to obtain more experience points that will help progress your way to leveling up and becoming even stronger.” Drawings were magically forming on the board, with Ven not having to do anything but provide helpful advice to the contestant.
“As you all know, when you level up you receive a small increase in some of your stats such as your health, stamina, and mana, but more importantly, you receive some stat points that you can use to invest in whatever stat line you choose of your own choice. Allowing you to make the best build possible that works for you. And with each level you gain, the required experience points needed for the next level is increased and so on. You receive exp, experience points for short, from performing a couple of things. Those actions being; slaying monsters, completing quests, using specific items that grant you more exp, discovering secret areas and much more.” Ven’s board assisted with his explanation to the contestants, pausing for a moment to give them a moment to digest the information he provided.
He then continued giving advice after a moment. “Now, when you reach level 10, something special happens to you all! Well, maybe for some of you it may seem special, others not so much maybe? But when you reach level 10, you will all obtain a Class, which is basically something that you will specialize in. A Class is created for you based on who you are as a person, that means reading into your past lives, your personality, EVERYTHING! Even your darkest, most humiliating secrets that you have been keeping locked away. But anyways, I say that it won’t be special to some or most of you all because there is a likely chance that people will have the same kind of Class. But that’s okay, because at a higher level, a special surprise will occur that will make those who don’t feel special, feel extra special.”
When Barry heard him explain about Classes, he thought about his chance to obtain a Class during his fight with the undead king but was denied one because the system apparently didn’t have enough information about himself. He then also thought about Anna’s ability to teleport and figured that she must have obtained a Class that specialized in being stealthy and tricky.
‘Is the reason why I was denied a Class because I don’t know who I am myself? Therefore, meaning, the system doesn’t know either so it can’t make one based on who I am?’ That was the only possible explanation he could think of to explain the error that had occurred.
Not having a Class was definitely going to make every challenged he faced a lot harder. He would have to compensate for not having a Class of his own somehow. Be it having stronger items, having better tactics, or even obtaining more skills/abilities like how he got his ‘Enhanced Vision’ skill.
Ven picked up where he left off after giving the people sometime to talk amongst themselves. “Aside from gaining a Class once you have all reached level 10, I want to talk about the trials and quests that you all will be facing as you try to survive on your journey through ‘Lost Adventure’. I’ll begin with talking about the quests you all will be facing, the difficulty of the quests will depend on your capabilities, I’ll say. So if you are a weak person, your challenges will likely match up to your level…however, if you stay weak for too long and provide no form of entertainment for the gods, then I will have you kick the bucket by cutting your lifeline with an impossible challenge.” A sinister smile creeped around his face as he chuckled a bit, this made most of the people nervous, hoping that they would find a way to get stronger fast.
Barry felt frustrated as he explained about the quests and challenges being matched based on their current capabilities. From Barry’s previous experiences, every time he got stronger or seemed like he was doing well, Ven would throw more bullshit at him, making things even worse than before. He knew that based on what he knew about Ven, becoming stronger quickly would only up the difficulty for himself because Ven would make it so. But Barry couldn’t afford to remain stagnant or weak forever, he would eventually have to grow strong enough to overcome the challenges he would face. Barry would have to accept whatever Ven threw at him.
A random person then raised their voice to ask Ven a question. “So if everyone on Earth is apart of this life or death sort of game. What do we get if we win?”
There was a moment of silence from Ven while the people chanted in agreement, wondering what would happen to them if they survived to the end of the supreme beings sick game.
Suddenly, Ven bursted out laughing like a maniac from a prison asylum. The audience was filled with a mix of confusion, fear, anger, and distress. “Haha, wh-what do you all get if you win!? That’s hilarious!” Ven couldn’t stop laughing for a bit before calming down.
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“Ahem, I’ll tell you all what you get from overcoming the harsh, dangerous, extravegant trials that ‘Lost Adventure’ will have to throw at you all…” Ven then paused for dramatic effect and weirdly enough the sound of drum rolls could be heard from all around.
“...a wish, anything that your heart desires or even wants from your dreams. If you make it through to the end, the all mighty ones from the beyond will grant you what you want most. So with that said, fight and struggle till there is no more life within you!” Ven encouraged the people, who responded with mixed feelings of hope and doubt.
Barry didn’t believe a damn word that came out of Ven’s mouth, this elf was a total nutjob in his eyes. A wish that would be given to anyone that was able to clear this stupid game was too cliche and likely a lie.
“Annnnd in case anyone is concerned, which I know most of you are, Earth is in chaos as ‘Lost Adventure’ is going on. However! You and the rest of the people of Earth can still save it as you progress through ‘Lost Adventure’.” When Ven said that Earth could be saved as they go through ‘Lost Adventure’, all eyes were locked on Ven with attention.
“As you try to clear each ‘level’ or ‘world’, whatever you want to call them, there is a chance that you might encounter a way to travel back to your world for a certain amount of time. You may return to your world to help fight and reclaim and rebuild what was lost during your time before you are pulled back into the world from whence you left. Of course, we and the gods will obviously still be watching you all from afar for the entertainment that you all will graciously provide for us. But you will have a moment to visit your once lovely world once more, so it’s a win-win in my perspective!” Ven cackled, receiving a lot of groans from the crowd, they were getting fed up with Ven’s jokes.
Ven placed both hands on the side of his hips with a pouty face. “Awww, don’t be like that everyone. Here, I’ll tell you all something that will surely give you all some ray of hope that I’m sure you all will want to hear!” The people began to quiet down, despite Ven being a total asshole, they all figured it was important to hear whatever he had to say.
“Now I understand most of you only made it this far because of others or by sheer dumb luck, but I’m about to inform you all that the gods will now, from this point on, be allowed to sponsor you on your journey. That means, providing you assistance through means of resources, information, or even skills/abilities. Of course, there are limitations of what they can provide as you progress, but it’s still valuable to have the assistance of a god by your side. But I will tell you, choose wisely, because you are only allowed one god as your sponsor!” Ven informed.
Suddenly, shortly after Ven speaking, Barry began to see dozens of notification windows popping up in front of him. Each one reading something like ‘Majestic Topaz Dragon offers to be your sponsor! Do you accept?’ or ‘The Blazing Fist of Justice offers to be your sponsor! Do you accept?’. All sorts of offers were given to Barry from various different gods, demigods, deities, etc.
A bunch of other people from the crowd seemed to be amused by the different gods that were willing to offer their aid to them. Barry continued to receive offers from all these powerful higher beings, it honestly intrigued him how many offered.
He knew that having the help of a god would be very beneficial for him during his journey, especially since he didn’t have a Class at the moment. However, he didn’t know any of these gods or how strong each of them were, who was the strongest or would benefit him the most. It would be like taking a gamble of whom to choose.
“You don’t have to choose a sponsor as of now, contestants. But remember this…” Ven spoke raising his voice to make sure everyone could hear him. “You are only allowed ONE sponsor, so once you decide on one, you can’t have another. But if you decide at a later time, you are probably dead already.” Ven smiled as he pretended to slit his throat with a toy knife.
Barry thought about the offers some more, continuing to receive multiple notifications asking for him to accept one of them, he didn’t have to choose one at the moment so there was no pressure. But ultimately, it wouldn’t matter to him because he had already made up his mind easily.
“No,” Barry said firmly, directing it towards the higher beings that watched over them like playthings for their enjoyment. “I never want to be under somebody’s thumb or be treated like a pet or servant of any kind. I’ll walk through this journey with my own strength or die trying. Call me ignorant or a fool, I don’t care. I won’t be accepting any of your offers, so fuck off!” He insulted the ones above all, flipping them the bird.
Barry stood his ground, meaning every word that he said. His words sparking a fuse in the constellation of gods and such. He would then start receiving death threats from what appeared to be his inbox for messages from all kinds of higher beings that tried asking to be his sponsor. There were very few that sent him messages, admiring his choice to refuse any sort of help, but overall, there was a lot of negative feedback.
After giving a bit of time to the contestants, Ven resumed his talk. “Now I know that you all are curious about many other things, such as explaining how your stats work, what sorts of items you might find, or how to use the gold that you might have obtained but sadly this is where I cut you all off for now. I hope that you all manage to put on a thrilling show for all of us watching from the comfort of our homes! Continue to survive through ‘Lost Adventure’ and we will eventually meet again!”
And with his final speech and a snap of his fingers, all the people in the place began to glow and teleport away to their next unknown challenge.
Barry awaited his moment to disappear as he looked at Ven with hateful eyes. And just before it was Barry’s turn to go away. Both of their gazes met and Ven smiled, waving at him. Barry could then see him mouth the words “See you again…”
Barry’s body emitted a glow of light and disappeared from the cosmos. He could see nothing again until something strange appeared in front of him.
“Error! Breach into ‘Lost Adventure’ from unknown source” A blue screen with the text read.
Barry was getting curious about these errors he was getting, he was beginning to think this game ‘Lost Adventure’ was maybe incomplete or something with these errors.
“Unknown file now being uploaded” Barry read, he wondered what could be breaching into the game and what the file contained. A progress bar was on-screen now, and Barry watched until it filled in completely to 100%.
“Resuming contestant’s transfer to “Unknown World”’ Barry was getting very interested about this. It could be dangerous with whatever world he was about to be transferred too, but the words “unknown” and “error” made him really want to see it all.
Barry’s transfer process continued until he finally materialized to the world that he was being sent too.
He reappeared, falling a couple of inches above some colorful green grass. All around him were lively looking trees and bushes, he was in a forest with healthy vegetation and saw a flock of birds soared past him from above in the sky which was a light blue clear sky. Rays of sunlight beamed through the small gaps in the trees.
Barry got up on his feet as he scanned his surroundings. Nothing dangerous seemed to pop out anywhere, everything just looked peaceful. He then remembered the rewards that he had obtained from clearing the tutorial.
He could now open up his menu and sift through his inventory for the rewards that he had obtained. Those rewards being; 20k gold coins, a “Ring of Regeneration” (Rare), a pair of gloves called “Explorer’s Gloves” (Rare), and finally a random Grade B Skill obtained from the Undead King based on the description it had. Barry assumed that the skill had to better than his “Enhanced Vision” skill because it was a Grade D.
He equipped the ring and the pair of fingerless-gloves, he also consumed the “Potion of Endurance +2” that he wasn’t able to drink from when he obtained it at the park in the city. The ring granted him a +20% boost in Health Regeneration; and the gloves provided him a +5 Agility, +10% Attack Speed, +10% Sleight of Hand, and 10% Climbing Speed. Barry felt goodness in his heart, receiving rewards as great as these made him as happy as a person that just came back home from shopping from a mall.
Barry’s eyes then fell upon the consumable skill from the Undead King. The skill was random, but also a Grade B, so it had to be good; especially if it was a hidden reward that he had obtained from the tutorial.
Barry selected the skill and consumed it. When he did, an orange orb of light appeared out from his inventory screen and spiraled around him until eventually being absorbed inside his body. His body began to change internally, he could feel himself getting stronger physically, his mind being more clear as well.
“Grade B - ‘King’s Commanding Presence’ Skill Obtained!” A notification read. He then looked over the description of the skill “Passive: +25% Strength, +20% Agility, +25% Endurance, and +10% Armor Rating to user and allies. Activation Ability: +25% Strength, Agility, Endurance, and +20% Armor Rating (300 Second Cooldown/120 Second Duration). Grade B Exp: 0/50,000 Till Next Grade Level.”
Barry was amazed by what the skill provided him, especially since it offered him a passive buff in his physical prowess and granted him an even further buff if he chose to use its activation ability. The part about it being applied to allies that he deemed friendly was also a nice touch, possibly in the future he will have to work with others, but for now it was just him.
He had no proper fighting style and mainly relied on his instincts and physical stats to overcome the enemies that he had faced so far. His fight with the knights and the king were examples of how inexperienced he was, the necklace he had obtained at the end carried him so far with the massive boost in stats it provided. ‘I’ll need to learn or obtain someway that will help me fight better than just relying on pure stats alone. Being scrappy will only take me so far till I hit another wall.’ He told himself.
As he was thinking to himself, he heard the cries of what seemed to be children in the forest he was in. Barry stopped what he was doing and rushed off in the direction of the noise with haste.
‘Great, just when I finally have some time to myself, some bullshit has to call for me to intervene.’ Barry complained, sighing, but still making his way to the commotion.
It was not long till he was able to track down the source of the cries. There, surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves, were a group of children in terror. ‘Ah, actual living wolves instead of undead ones, still dangerous as ever.’
Every time the children tried to move, the wolves would snarl at them, causing them to react with more cries. Barry watched from behind a tree, waiting for the right time to jump in. There were 5 wolves, one of which seemed to be the alpha of the pack based on its size and darker fur color.
Picking up a couple of rocks, he tossed them somewhere farther from the children but nearby.
The distraction from the rocks caused the wolves to look away from the children, giving Barry enough time to dart towards the leader of the pack.
He propelled off the ground forward, locking onto the alpha with fists at the ready, zooming past the other wolves, sucker punching the animal with a right hook into its snout. Barry saw that his punch had dealt around 30% of its health as damage from his “Enhanced Vision”. The alpha was caught off guard and stunned from being hit in the nose, allowing Barry to continue to wail on it fast enough before the other wolves had a chance to defend their leader. The alpha was no more.
The children were both shocked and happy to see that someone had arrived to their rescue, they then all rushed to get behind Barry for cover.
Two wolves from the pack leapt at Barry from his left and right, but he managed to catch both of them by the necks, halting them. “Sit. Down.” He commanded with authority before throwing back the wolves against some tree trunks.
The wolves looked at Barry and then at their fallen alpha, they were able to rack their brains together and came to the conclusion to run far, far away from the new alpha on the scene. All together, they backed away and retreated deeper into the forest.
Barry turned towards the children, checking if any of them were severely hurt. “Are you all alright? Anyone bleeding or anything bad?” He asked with concern.
They looked at each other, making sure none of them were harmed, before one of them replied. “Y-Yes sir, I think we’re all okay.” A boy spoke, seeming a bit rattled still.
Barry looked at all the children once more, then nodded. “Good, then carry on and hurry back home before those wolves return.” He told them, then turned away from the children, walking away on his own.
He walked for a few moments before noticing footsteps from behind himself. When he looked back, he balled up his fists, prepared to clock whatever was following him. But to his surprise, it was the same group of children he had saved. The kids were startled at first from seeing how quick he spun around with his fists ready to pound them it seemed.
Barry instantly lowered his guard, realizing it was them, and spoke. “Do you all need something? Why are you all following me?”
“W-We’re s-scared sir. We don’t want to go back alone.” One of them said, all the children nodding in agreement. “Can you take us back home?” Another asked, there were still tears in their eyes.
Barry was befuddled, “W-What? Listen, I can’t-” He stopped speaking mid-sentence, he was going to deny them, but once again he felt the same feeling he would always get at times. The urge to help.
“I-” He was not able to deny them help, no matter how hard he tried. The kids watched him deep in thought, almost like he was struggling against some unknown force.
And in just a few more moments of watching Barry battle against himself, he finally caved in. “Aaaagh! Fine!” He shouted, spooking the kids once again.
He calmed himself down, stuffing his hands in his pockets and letting out a heavy sigh. “Sorry, I’m sorry…gaaaah.” He apologized for his outburst. “Lead the way kids.” Barry told them, sounding defeated.
The kids huddled up in front of him, guiding Barry back to their home with Barry tailing from behind, hands still in pockets with a mellow look. ‘Why the fuck can’t I say no to anyone. Why!?’ He thought. ‘This shit’s really pissing me off every time.’
