“Hello!”

I stop walking and stare at the kid in front of me. I was walking home from school, turned a corner, and bam! There he was. And boy is he weird.

He looks around my age, so probably around twelve. He has golden-blond hair and violet eyes, and a big smile on his face, complete with dimples. He isn’t showing his teeth in his smile, though.

His shirt is a glittery gold, his pants, a glittery silver, and his boots, a glittery copper. He looks weird.

The heck is up with this kid’s outfit?

“Theoretically,” he says. “If you were to be offered to be sent to another world, would you take the offer?”

“Why?” I ask.

“Just curious,” he says. “Would you?”

“Depends on the world,” I answer. “Is it better than this one? Is it worse than this one? How would I live? I’m twelve, so it’s not like I could really do much. Would I still live in poverty, surrounded by bullies?”

“Well,” he says. “It’s a mix of medieval and technological. There’s a game system, like in those stories you read. Levels, Classes, the whole shebang. Quests, Skills, fun – it’s all there!”

“And the rest of it?” I ask.

“That depends on you,” he points at me. “You’d start off in a town with no other people. It would just be you and the god who sent you there, to start off. The god would train you in combat, hunting, survival, and so on. Once he felt you were ready, he’d unleash you upon the world. Of course, he wouldn’t teach you everything – he’d only be giving you Quests to help you learn and get stronger. You’d still have to figure stuff out on your own.”

“How long would that take?” I ask. “I don’t think I like the idea of doing nothing but training.”

“You wouldn’t be,” he pouts. “That wouldn’t be very fun, unless you enjoyed training, and I know that you, right now, don’t. You’d have other stuff to do.”

“And after?” I ask. “What, exactly, would I be doing after?”

“That’s up to you,” his smile returns. “Take on more Quests, work for a king, start your own guild, become an Adventurer and do various Quests and capture criminals, and soooooooo much more! The possibilities are endless! Everything would be up to you.

“Of course,” he says. “In the theoretical situation of this, the god wouldn’t want you to be defenseless, so he’d keep offering the training Quests until either you decided to leave the town, or he felt you were capable of handling things on your own.”

“Would I remain human?”

“If you wanted to,” he says. “The god could also change your species, sex, or even just your appearance – though your physical looks would also change based on stats, so saying ‘I want to be skinnier’ wouldn’t really do much, because as you increased your STR and AGI, you’d grow more muscular and slender. Plus, you’re already a scrawny little thing who looks younger than his years due to malnutrition. Getting skinnier wouldn’t be advisable. Having more meat on your bones… yeah, that might help you a little, but it’d change based on your eating habits there, and your stats. The god could make you taller or shorter, older or younger, and so much more.”

That sounds like a good deal. I don’t think I’d change my appearance, though. Especially since, from what he says, I know I’d be eating regularly. My growling stomach says it likes that.

“You said,” I say. “A mix of medieval and technological. How?”

“Some things,” he says. “Were developed through magic. There aren’t cars, but there are airships. They use magical crystal screens as a form of television. There is actually a duo of towers there for people to try themselves in combat, each with two hundred fifty-one Floors. If you win, you get money, if you lose, you don’t. You need to make so many wins on a Floor without too many losses to advance to the next Floor, or you drop down a Floor. If you wanted to try those after your training finished, you’d be more than welcome to – it’s your life, after all.”

He talks like this is a real situation, not a hypothetical.

“Sounds interesting,” I say. “Is there magic?”

“There are two,” he says. “Types of resource you can consume for Skills: Magic and Aura. Magic is magical energies you produce, while Aura is life energy you produce. They’re each difficult in their own rights, and it’s not easy to learn both – doing so usually results in a sacrifice of actual skill with one, or being weaker with both than someone who learned just one. It’s rare to find someone with talent for both.

“Sounds interesting,” I say. “I think I’d take the god up on the offer.”

“Cool!” He exclaims, and the world spins around us, turning into a town of brick and wood buildings, not a soul in sight. “Welcome to Eisar!”

It wasn’t a hypothetical situation, after all…

“Good,” he says. “No freak-out or anything! Or are you in shock.”

“What are you a god of?”

“What do you think I’m a god of?” He asks, and I stare at him, trying to figure it out.

He’s been smiling almost the entire time, apart from when he said something wasn’t fun. His appearance is weird, yeah, but… gold, silver, and bronze…

“Games,” I say. “You’re a god of games.”

First, second, third. Places in games.

“Yup!” He grins at me. “Games, fun – they’re my domain! Think status to open your status window.”

Status.

Name: Colton

Age: 12 years

Sex: Male

Species: Human

Class: None

Title: None

Level: 0

Experience: 0/10

Mana: 4/4

Aura: 4/4

STR: 5, AGI: 9, END: 5

INT: 10, VIT: 10, WIL: 10

PER: 9, LUK: 10, LIF: 12

“Focus on them to know what each one does,” he says. “Also – do you want to change anything about you?”

Do I want to change anything about me? Yeah, lots. I’m small, I’m scrawny, I’m weak. My platinum-blond hair really stands out. People treat me like a kid and won’t let me do anything.

I’m about to accept his offer when I stop. Would he leave me in a world where a kid can’t do things? And he’s going to train me, through Quests.

“Yes,” I answer. “But I’m not going to.”

“Cool,” he smiles at me. “Look at your stats, now.”

STR: Physical strength, affects how strong you are

AGI: Agility, affects how quick you are, and how quickly you can react

END: Endurance, affects how durable your body is, how resistant it is to physical attacks, and how quickly you heal from injuries

INT: Intellect, intelligence and smarts, affects how powerful your magic is

VIT: Vitality, how healthy you are, affects how healthy and young you appear, as well as how quickly you heal from illness

WIL: Willpower, the strength of your mind, affects how resistant to magic you are, as well as how quickly you recover Mana

PER: Perception, affects how much of your sensory input you perceive

LUK: Luck, affects how often lucky things happen (loot drops, rarity of loot drops)

LIF: Lifespan, affects your natural death, at a rate of one lifespan to five years

“It doesn’t mention Aura in any of them.”

“Indeed,” he nods. “Aura is different from magic in that way – no stats affect it. However, it can affect your strength and speed, as well as your physical defense, depending on how you use it. In either case, you shouldn’t worry about either for now, unless you wish to go the magical route. Is there any particular style of fighting you wish to learn?”

“Swords,” I nod. “I’ve always wanted to be a knight. But I’m too small to really be a soldier.”

“Hah!” He laughs. “That’s a good one! They make short swords, you know!”

A wooden sword with a blade only about three feet in length forms in his hands, a rubber grip around the hilt. He tosses it to me, and I catch it clumsily, nearly dropping it as I do. It’s so heavy…

“The thing about swords,” he says. “Is that they’re lighter than most people realize. Yes, they’re made of metal, but they’re also thin and light.”

“It doesn’t feel light to me.”

“That’s because of your current strength,” he turns and starts walking. “Send that into your inventory and follow me.”

“My inventory?”

“It can hold up to ten items, to start,” he says. “Visualize a hidden space, and your sword entering it.”

I do, and the sword vanishes.

Inventory.

Wooden short sword x1

0 tyri

Tyri must be their currency.

The god leads me to the castle at the back of the town, then into a courtyard with a grassy ground, several training dummies stuck into it.

Quest: Increase STR I

Increase your Strength

Requirements: Increase your STR by 1 Point

Reward: 1 EXP

Accept: Y/N?

“Do I have to do it now?” I ask. “I’m kind of hungry.”

“Of course not,” he says. “You can do it whenever you feel like. Just do pushups or something until it goes up. Pushups, situps, stuff like that. Food’s this way.”

He leads me into the actual castle itself, and I look around. It’s old and musty, with cobwebs everywhere, but the wooden doors still stand strong, the stone itself giving me a faint feeling of power.

After a few minutes, we arrive in the dining hall, where two places have been set at a table, a roast, some salad, some rolls, and pudding sitting on the table between them.

“Let’s eat!”

“Gods eat?” I ask in surprise.

“Of course we do!” He grins at me as he takes a seat, then gestures for me to sit. “Why wouldn’t we? I mean, sure, we can go without food, but it’s sooooooo delicious! Let’s dig in!”

I sit down, and watch as the god in front of me devours food with a fervor I think I’ve only ever seen in cartoons and anime. I eat as much as I can, but that’s not much. My body doesn’t really feel like food, probably because of how little I’ve been able to eat in my life.

After we finish, the god takes me to a garden, telling me that it’s important to rest after a meal, and not go straight into training, or I’d get sick.

The garden is filled with flowers of bright colors, of every color. It’s beautiful.

When he decides it’s time to see about training again, he changes my outfit, so I’m wearing a dark purple tee, black shorts, and black boots.

“There!” He says. “Now you’re more fitting your style!”

“I don’t think-” I start to protest.

“Do you know how many pushups and situps you can do?” He interrupts me.

“Four and three.”

“Cool,” he says. “When training, don’t do all four and three each time. Do three and two in each set. Every time you finish a set, start over. Can you do planks?”

“To the count of four.”

“Count of three,” he says. “And there are some other varieties you can do, too, to help. It’ll help build muscle, core, and constitution. Squats?”

“Three.”

“Two,” he says. “Let me show you the planks.”

He shows me two different types of planks, each of which works one side at a time, so I would have to switch after.

“If you want to go for training,” he says after showing me planks. “Do the pushups, situps, planks, squats, in that order. Three sets of them. If you want to work on your agility and speed as well, run around the training courtyard, doing three-quarters your normal distance, then walking a lap, then a set, then repeat. Actually, do the laps first.”

Quest: Increase AGI I

Increase your speed

Requirements: Increase your AGI by 1 Point

Reward: 1 EXP

Accept: Y/N?

“I haven’t even completed the first Quest yet.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t work on the second at the same time!” He sticks his tongue out. “So – do you want to train?”

I nod, so he leads me back to the courtyard, and I go at his recommendation. I want to give up after just the first set, because I’m so sore, but he cheers me on, telling me I can do it, so I keep going. The third set, I barely make it through the final squat before I collapse on the ground.

He disappears for a little while, returning with a tray of fruits, some bacon, and orange juice.

“Here!” He says. “Eat up! You burned some calories doing that, and need to build your muscles, so this will help you recover and get better.”

After I drain the orange juice, the cup refills with water.

My body is so sore, far more than it’s ever been before.

But at the same time…

That was actually the most fun I’ve ever had. No one’s ever cheered me on for anything, before. My parents and siblings ignored me. I know they have some secret they’re keeping from me. Even my little brothers and sister are in on it. But I’m not allowed in on it, because I’m just too pathetic and worthless.

But the god made me feel good about it, and made me feel good about the exercise, too.

+1 STR!

Quest Increase STR I Completed!

+1 Experience!

“Sweet!” The god grins at me. “You’ll probably gain a point of AGI shortly. Want to try hitting the target?”

Quest: Sword Training I

Train with a sword

Requirement: Strike a wooden training dummy ten times

Reward: 1 EXP

Accept: Y/N?

“Today?” I ask him, feeling way too sore to continue.”

“Whenever you want,” he shrugs. “Like I said – it’s all up to you.”

I look at my hands, which are red from the exercise and having my weight on them so much. I’m sore, and exhausted, but at the same time… I feel stronger. Not a whole lot stronger, just a little bit, but the difference is there.

“Do you think I could now?” I ask.

“You’ll be even more sore the next few days,” he smiles at me. “But yeah, you could do it now. And the best way to get rid of the soreness is to just exhaust your body to the point where it goes ‘nope, not even gonna bother being sore anymore’. You’ll be stiff, but not sore.”

“Okay,” I say. “Can you let me know when you think I’m good for the day?”

“Sure!” He grins at me. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself while training! That wouldn’t be any fun at all!”

I pull the sword out of the inventory, then realize something.

“You never told me your name,” I say.

“Tyr!”

“Tyr?”

“Yup!” He nods. “I’m Tyr, the god of fun and games!”