Jacob winced as he opened his eyes. Again, he found himself sprawled on the hard ground. After falling aimlessly, the endless white gave way for a night sky, and before he could register the change, he crashed onto the hard rock surface of a cliffside. He winced as he slowly pulled himself up, a dull ache radiating throughout his body. Tasting dirt in his mouth, he spat.
What had just happened? Who was that man?
He noticed that beyond the end of the cliff was a grand cityscape, he took careful steps towards it, he didn't recognize the city at all.
Above the city, looming over it was a dark black mark in the sky that seemed to consume half of the night sky. Surrounding it were bright purple and blue light as if the planet was approaching a black hole that was surrounded by.
"What on earth?" he said. Then paused. His voice wasn't what he remembered. It was smoother, deeper.
Raising a hand to his lips, he noticed his hands were different too, bigger than what he remembered – they seemed stronger.
He was taking a proper look at his body now. This wasn't him. This wasn't the scrawny eighteen-year-old body he remembered – this was a man's – strong and fit. Dressed in black trousers and a white dress shirt with a black tie. He could tell, even underneath the clothing that this body was muscular. He clenched his hand into a fist and observed the veins that bulged on his forearm.
Then suddenly, the screen appeared.
[NEW USER DETECTED. LOG IN TO JOIN.]
"Again? What the hell is this?"
So he hadn't been dreaming? When he saw the screen as he was falling, his flapping limbs seemed to distort the screen and make it disappear.
Jacob waved his hands in front of him. The screen distorted before disappearing.
Thoroughly confused – Jacob returned his gaze to the cityscape in front of him. Concrete buildings buzzing in the glow of yellow lights that seemed to compete with the darkness of the black-hole sky.
He took another look down at his new body, moved into a lunge and then launched into a sprint towards the cliff's edge. Feeling the tremendous strength of his legs, he moved to an abrupt stop at the edge of the cliff. He whistled, impressed.
"I could get used to this," he said – chuckling.
At this point, he had determined that this was an insane dream. There was no other explanation.
Standing at the edge of the city scape, he wondered if he jumped if this body could also fly. Looking down at the legs of this impressive body – he wondered what else might be impressive and began to undo his trouser zippers.
Then, someone spoke behind him.
"Of all the souls to choose from, the Great One picked a pervert."
Jacob froze, immediately rezipping his trousers and turning around to see Viel sat atop a rock.
"There isn't time for fooling around – your mission already began. And I come here after transporting you all this way to find you playing around." Viel said, his nasally voice hissing.
Jacob, embarrassed, decided not to address the awkwardness and turned fully around to face Viel and shrugged.
"Is this hell, or am I dreaming?" he asked.
Viel didn't reply.
"I know I am dead," Jacob said. "Somehow deep down, I know that I am – yet I can't explain all this."
He looked back at the terrifying night sky.
"This doesn't seem like heaven, is it hell? It's okay you can tell me – I wouldn't be surprised."
All eight of Viel's legs seemed to twitch.
"You really are dumb. Dumb and a pervert. God, this is going to be a long three days."
In the distance, Jacob heard sirens.
"Listen carefully," Viel began, "because we don't have much time."
Viel clenched his eight legs into what looked like a bow before he launched and sprang directly to Jacob's face and piercing his neck with his pincer.
Jacob gasped and fell back from the shock and pain. Before he could move Viel away, he had already jumped back to his perch on the rock.
"This isn't a dream Jacob. You're back, it's been fifty years since you've died, things are different now."
Still on the ground, Jacob grasped at his throat as he felt it closing in, slowly losing his ability to breathe.
"Repeat after me." Viel said. "Log In."
Face turning red, Jacob mustered as much spirit as he could to spit out a hoarse, "Log…..in"
The screen was back.
[NEW USER – LOGGING IN]
A flash of black made Jacob think the toxin had finally taken him over. But just as instantly he opened his eyes and saw that he was in a dark cave illuminated in a green light.
[NEW USER – LOGGED IN.
USER CLASS: WARRIOR
LEVEL: UNKNOWN
LOCATION: THE GATEWAY]
Jacob's body began to twitch, desperately seeking oxygen
[IMPAIRMENT DETECTED – TOXIN
USER MUST FIND ANTI-TOXIN.
HINT: ANTI-TOXIN CAN BE FOUND AT THE MARKET]
Scrambling to his feet – half conscious now as his body was wobbling – Jacob desperately looked corner to corner – his clouded mind acting totally on survival instinct now. Eyes watering, he turned and saw that the massive cave had several doors, and his delirious eyes landed on one, a heavy brown door, instinct called him to walk towards it. As he did, a small visual popped up – like the screen. It was a description:
[WARRIOR'S MARKET]
This was the place. He walked towards it, one hand at his side trying to keep his balance, the other hand grasping at his throat that was fully closed now.
His hand reached for the large brass handle on the door.
[ENTER? Y/N]
He mustered all his strength to whisper a harsh "Yes."
The door opened and Jacob was enveloped in a warm yellow light. The sounds of loud chatter and laughter poured through the door. As he saw a massive market ahead of him, he noted the cobblestone floors that lead to wooden markets with signs like "Weapons", "Gear", Restaurant". On the streets, men and women dressed in armor and other gear walked through. Some shops looked modern with large LCD screens advertising some gadgets he couldn't recognize. Others looked like they came right out of a medieval village.
Jacob had no idea what he was looking at, but his throat was fully closed now – and he saw in the corner of his eye an older looking store, a shack, really, with the sign: "Apothecary"
Stumbling towards the apothecary, Jacob didn't pay attention as the patrons around him seemed to look at him with concern. He stumbled through the Apothecary doors so flimsy he felt he might have broken them.
Then everything went black.