Mature Content Warning: None

Author's Note: 2 things.

1. This is the end of chapter 6 and the beginning of a lot of changes in the world.

2. I had to go to the hospital last night, so It is unlikely that I will update anything else today. I have a killer headache, and need to rest up from being poked and prodded all night. I only updated this because I was nearly done when I had to go.

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Chapter 6.3: Working Hard

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Scott yawned loudly then checked the time again. “Man, I can’t get back to sleep at it isn’t even dawn yet.”

He considered using his night time cold medicine then shook his head. He had a lot of time before he had to head in to work today for his ball-breaking three hour shift as a cashier. Honestly, what was the point in scheduling him as a cashier for three hours? He would not even get a fifteen minute break because he did not have to work for at least four hours.

He’d talk to the personnel people when he got off work. That was ridiculous. There were cashiers who constantly complained that they could not get more than twenty hours a week, yet instead of giving those hours to one of them he was stuck with it. Maybe he would get lucky, and it would be busy. He might have to go out and get carts. That would kill most of his shift.

Scott turned on his television and decided to see if anything on the news was actually interesting. The only movies or shows on this time of day were old black and white movies that looked low-budget even in their own era, and infomercials. His only option was to find a news broadcast and hope for something interesting.

He flipped through the channels and tried to find news that wasn’t related to a farm report or the economy. Eventually he ran across a news cast discussing special measures related to the dream world. Scott turned up the volume then raised his left eyebrow.

“Well, it has been an entire week since the first dream event. In the interest of keeping citizens safe, we urge the local towns and cities to perform a dream census.” said the talking head on television.

Scott shook his head. These idiots were still trying to control something that was out of their hands. He listened to the plans of the federal government for a while then started to turn his television off. However, a breaking news bulleting cut-in.

The talking head placed a hand to his ear for a moment then nodded. “We would like to take this time to inform you that the governors of four states have already declared that their governed states will not perform a dream census under any circumstances.”

Scott blinked when his home state flashed onto the screen. The report went on to cite the belief that attempting to enforce federal laws on the dream states of individual citizens is against the constitution.

“How are they moving on this so fast? It’s only been a week!” said Scott in surprise. It seemed ridiculous that they could not figure out social security after several decades but they were already arguing over laws regarding an entirely different world.

He watched the news footage for quite a while then realized that he was thirsty. He stood up then walked over to his fridge. He looked through his non-caffeinated beverages as he had decided to wean himself away from the caffeinated drink habit. Caffeine was great for those who wanted to stay awake, but he wanted to do the exact opposite.

He grabbed a thick red vegetable drink then poured himself a glass. He put the bottle back in the fridge then started to drink. He loved the stuff, but only the original version. The new flavors did not sit right with him. Besides, he could claim that he had eaten all of his vegetables if he kept drinking the stuff.

As he savored his liquefied vegetables, the first rays of dawn arose. A pinging sound rang in the air and he instinctively

looked toward its origin. His eyes widened in shock and his glass slipped from his hand. It shattered into innumerable pieces. Blood red vegetable gore splattered across the floor, leaving a disturbing visual effect for Scott to clean up later.

He did not care, however. He had seen something truly impossible and it had startled him. The book, he had decided to accept as something special one-time event. This, however, was a different story.

In the air before the man floated a bright blue pane of light surrounded by a crystalline screen. He took a step back and the screen followed him. He shook his head, but it adjusted itself so that it would remain in his direct line of sight.

Finally, he collected his wits enough to realize that the impossible structure had writing inside the blue panel. He leaned forward and the font increased in size slightly.

<<< Message >>>

Greetings Earth NPC Scott Blackthorne, we are contacting you today to congratulate you on being one of the Native Population Citizens of Earth who have achieved level five without dying even once.

Now that one month has passed in the other world since the tutorial began, we feel that the local earth populace has gained enough familiarity with that sort of lifestyle to accept the exciting new changes that will be coming soon.

Since we purchased your planet, we have striven hard to make it the best world possible. As such, we have tirelessly pursued means of increasing the power level of your people. Fortunately, your popular culture has given us many creative outlets and means in which to accomplish the upgrade of your world.

For the moment, you will have to continue training in the other world, with the citizens of that reality. However, we have moved forward and soon your people will become far more capable than they were before.

Now for the moment that you have not been waiting for, but will experience anyway, the tutorial completion report!

<<< Tutorial Completion Report >>>

Due to your valiant actions and consistent dedication to training, we are pleased to present you these fabulous rewards!

2 Gold Tokens

Level 1 Status

1 Skill Ticket

254.37 of your local currency (US Dollars)

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Due to your overall style and flare you have been granted an entertainment bonus.

1 Gold Token

1 Skill ticket

112.97 of your local currency (US Dollars)

--

Thanks for playing! Take care now and try not to die horribly in the future.

>>

“T-the hell?” asked Scott. He shook his head. This was real? This was really happening? What was really happening?

He still was not certain, but now he knew a little more about the reason behind the emergence of the dream world. At least, he thought he knew.

The information on the blue screen disappeared and a new message popped up. It requested that he place a container beneath the screen in order to collect his prizes.

Scott looked around for a moment then thought of something. He ran to his bathroom and dumped out his laundry hamper. He brought it to the screen and sat it underneath. After it was situated he pressed the accept rewards button.

A split-second later several different things appeared below the screen then fell into the hamper. Scott looked inside then blinked. The bottom was littered with money, and a few random things. He pulled them out and placed them on his kitchen table.

He quickly counted the money up and noted that there was three hundred sixty-seven dollars and thirty four cents. There were two weird slips of paper with the word skill on the front. He counted out three gold coin looking things that had stylized wings engraved on them. There was also a little glowing marble thing.

Scott picked up the marble thing it held it in his hand for a moment. He did not know where the urge came from but he had the sudden, overpowering, desire to eat the thing. In fact, he could not stop himself. His hand moved of its own volition and soon he had plopped it into his mouth and swallowed it.

“What the hell was that about?” He could not control his hand at all at the time. His eyes widened when he felt a sudden, powerful, surge of energy race through his body.

Scott started to panic a little as he felt his body shift and change drastically. He staggered back then started to pant. He made his way to the sink and started to splash water on his face. After a full minute had passed he noticed something strange. His bulge was missing! Rather, a large portion of his fat stomach had seemingly disappeared.

He pulled up his shirt and saw that he was slimmer than before. He was still fat, but it was like he had lost thirty pounds. There was not even any loose skin.

“What’s all this...?” asked Scott.

After he thought about it for a moment, his eyes lit-up. Was it possibly true? He concentrated for a moment then checked his status just like he would in the dream world. His eyes widened and a smile of pure joy slipped across his face when the status window he was used to seeing popped up in front of him.

<<< Status >>>

Name: Scott

Level: 1 Skill Points: 4

Vitality: 8[8]

Weapon Attack: 3[3]

Durability: 4[4]

Speed: 3[3]

Spirit: 10[10]

>>

“Hell yeah! I have a stat window!” His excitement was almost electric. Something he had secretly wished for had come to pass. It was like he truly was a roleplaying game character!

He elation passed, however, as the mystery of his stats overtook him. They seemed different that his stats when he was Blackthorne at level one, and the name was clearly Scott. “Weird that my last name is not up there.”

Scott moved back to his kitchen table and checked the other things up there. The three tokens came to mind first, so he picked them up again. “What do I do with these things?”

He had no overpowering urge to swallow them, but he was still at a loss as to what should be done with them. He put them back on the table then picked up the skill tickets.

The tickets had a little dash-line along one side with the tiny little words “Tear here” printed on them. He shrugged and tried tearing one. Once again a sudden sensation of overwhelming power flowed through his body.

Scott blinked then gasped loudly. “What happened this time?”

He checked his status and noticed that he had acquired ten more skill points. He immediately tore the other ticket and received another ten points. “I’m not sure what I can do with them here, but I’ll take those extra skill points, thank you.”

Thinking about skill points made him think about his skills. He tried to open his skill window.

<<< Skills >>>

Primary Skills

Mana Sense Level 1

Secondary Skills

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Tertiary Skills

Jewelry Crafting Level 1

>>

“That’s just weird. Why only those two skills?” Scott thought about it for a moment. He then thought about his status, and tried to recall what the first message he had received that morning had said.

“It seemed to think that level five was a big deal.” said Scott. He looked at his stats and then at his skills once more. Slowly, he saw the pattern emerge.

“I see... The only way to test it for certain would be to raise my skills to five or ten. That still does not explain the skill points here, since it acted like I would need to train in the other world.” said Scott. He tried to work things out by speaking them aloud, but it was still a little confusing.

The tokens and the skill points would remain a mystery for a while. Either way, Scott was absurdly excited about the possibilities for the future. He was also excited about the money he planned to spend later. He had to see if it was real cash, after all.