SELF-PAYING DEMONIC DEFENSE.
Now, Chian was a video game fanatic, but even this didn't ring a bell. If he had known first hand, then he wouldn't have bought it. He wouldn't have been picked it up when offered. A definite no.
He stood still, blinking, in the middle of a sewer. The walls were a mixture between grey-black, tiles plagued with moss and bacteria, and the sewage waste water fluttering in shallow breaths at his side.
Other than himself and the flowing waste, he was all alone. Blank and confused, as he stared at the never ending circular walls of the sewer, the vents positioned up at the sky and the floors feeling like slick marble and tar.
"Where the fuck am I?"
It was a question, but spoken more of a cry. Because of course, Chian was extremely dejected and puzzled. He had played games, sometimes he had even read a few novels, and even then when that type of media would include the protagonist finding themselves stuck in whatever peice of media they had been using, it felt like some shit the author would add for the sake of adding the archetype which was obviously overused because everyone else was using it. It wasn't real. It wasn't real, yet still Chian found himself here...
No! For sure I'm not in the game, that's ridiculous! I'm... hallucinating! Yeah, because of that old woman, oh...! That hag!
Chian crossed his hands over his chest and scoffed, he glared at the flowing water.
If this truly was a hallucination, he needed to snap out of this state and return home. With that, Chian punched his gut hard.
"Ack...!"
With the pain subdued, nothing else happened. He bent over in pain, hands tight across his pained abdomen as he suppressed a groan that was now stuck in the lump of his throat.
Usually, being hurt or being caught in a surprise would just snap him back to reality during a hallucination. But that wasn't quite right here, nothing happened.
Well, other than the new presence of something.
[ CHARACTER Chian PAIN DECREASE -10 HP POINTS ]
...
Character?!
He was sure he was a player. This stupid game—whether a hallucination or not, it was really pissing him off. Of course he spawned in a sewer, and even now could he hear the faint squeals of rats in the vents above. It made him grimace and inch further away.
Chian searched the outskirts of the sewer around him. He was alone here, but he could hear something else other than rats... something just like...
It sounded like the pixelated sound effects from the game console.
Soon enough, that same black dragon from the loading screen appeared in his main vision, floating with its face staring at the side. It's pink eyes caught Chian, and in a sudden flash, it appeared at his side.
"Ah! Finally, you're here!"
This voice was robotic and inconsistent in vocals, going from high pitch to low. Just the sound made Chian feel like his ears were on the brink of bleeding.
But this creature seemed cool, it was all pixels and it was a 2D creation, and yet it seemed appealing. If not for the current circumstances, Chian felt like he would have bought a poster of this thing. Just because of its design, not that it had any other good qualities.
"...What the fuck am I doing here?" His voice was disgruntled as he glared at the dragon.
"You're Chian, am I right?"
Chian groaned, "So what if I am? Tell me where I am!"
Here in the sewer, he felt as if his mind was blowing up into tiny little pieces, and he was unable to pick them up and put them back accordingly. He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to go home, but he was certain that anything would be best than wherever he ended up now.
Or perhaps he was just dreaming, that could be a plausible justification to whatever scandal he was facing.
Oh, let us please be dreaming. Chian thought to himself. That way, he could just forget this all happened once he was awake.
"This is the game, Self-Paying Demonic Defense. And you, Chian, are a character! All because you started the game! Eeeh~ how fun!"
Chian huffed. "Not so fun,"
Really, what was with this thing? The longer he stared at it, the longer he knew that whatever this thing was really was just going to be nuisance if he stayed longer in its presence. He should opt to leave now, but he desperately needed answers.
"The console was magic!" It said with glee. "You're the first to ever have played it, and so we're all just happy that you're here now!"
This robotic voice of its was starting to piss Chian off. He rolled his eyes and wished for it to stop speaking.
"Whatever..." He sighed.
So, he was stuck in a video game console. He didn't have so much as to think about anything else now that he was here. What about his family, his friends, anyone? Well, that apparently didn't matter to fate, so Chian decided not to think about it and move along until he could find a way to get himself free.
Of course only if there was a way to do that.
"Call me Doku," It said.
"..."
Really, Chian didn't care. But there was, for some reason, a familiar warm sensation of bubbling cooing at his insides just at the thought of this little dragon. It reminded him of something he didn't quite know, his memory gone foggy, but the faint memory made it feel like nostalgia.
Deciding he hated the feeling, Chian straightened his back and glanced at Doku with a serious face.
"So, elaborate further about the game then. I'm assuming this is going to be like a fight, right?"
Doku's pink pixelated eyes twinkled.
"Kinda~! This plot of this game revolves around defeating the Primal God, who is the main antagonist. If you do so, you'll finish the game and end up back home! But there's a few quests and side quests that will lead you to your ending fight!"
Well, if it's a chance to go home then surely he won't back down.
"Alright," Chian nodded his head, "Is there going to be a quest now then?"
Doku smiled, "Yep! Just wait for the systematic notification~! I'm gonna be your second-hand man from now on, so treat me well Chian!"
Fuck! This thing is annoying... can I kill it?
"OK," He rolled his eyes.
[ SYSTEMATIC NOTIFCATION:
BEGINNER QUEST: DEFEAT THE SEWER MONSTER
QUEST RANK: LEVEL 1 (ASSISTED)
QUEST TYPE: GOAL
REWARD: (?)
SANCTION: (?) ]
Oh. The systematic notifications were displayed across a black floating box and written in find white font. Similar to the loading screen.
"...I have to defeat a monster? How will that help me defeat a God?" Chian rubbed his temples quite harshly as he narrowed his eyes at the dragon. Really, Doku seemed like a petulant child.
"Don't speak ill of the system! It means so much to me~!"
"...whatever,"
"Oh, but before anything, you need a weapon right? You can use the beginner sword in your inventory!"
Chian hadn't realised that there was more to this.
"Where is it?"
Doku giggled, "Just say inventory,"
With those pink eyes boring into him, Chian felt both obliged and weary. Perhaps this creature was praying on his downfall just like Chian was praying for Doku's own.
"Inventory,"
A black box filled his vision. It was empty, but he could definitely see the labelled sword as the 'Beginner's Right' and without much of a thought, he pressed on to it.
"Handy, right?" Doku giggled again as Chian felt the sword teleport from the inventory to his hand. It wasn't a wooden sword like usual beginner swords he'd seen and was familiar with, it was made of steel and looked plenty good enough to deal with a monster. But he knew there was better than this.
"So I have to slay a monster then?"
Doku made a sound to show his affirmation, but it really just sounded like a whistle.
Chian didn't exactly know how to use a sword properly. Therefore, going into this fight would be just an unfortunate disaster, one of many that he would face as a character in this game.
"I can't use a sword,"
The same black screen of the inventory popped up again the moment he spoke. But it wasn't the inventory this time, as the words 'SHOP' were big and bold at the top.
With a pointed finger Chian scrolled through the seemingly endless variety of items and skills, all of which worth more than his existence.
"Just buy the skill," Doku pointed out lamely.
"I have no money to,"
Doku groaned and the black screen popped up in front if it as well. In a moment's time, Chian noticed his bank account in the corner of the screen that had always, since opened, consisted of '0 coins' turn instantly into '450 coins'. Then he noticed the skill 'Weapon Mastery: Skill Level 1 (Basic)' which cost exactly 450 coins.
"Well, hurry with your quest then~!" Doku chimed as Chian bought the skill. It was at basic level, but this quest was also just a beginners, so surely it wouldn't be all that bad.
With a determined nod of his head, Chian swiftly gripped tight onto his sword the moment the monster swung up from the sewage waters.