Sprite Initializing . . .

Boot success.

Albek shuddered and sat up, peeling a cracker coated in peanut butter off his face. Liyne and Hemash were both slumped over in their chairs. Even Dune was asleep at the foot of the table, taking slow, steady breaths.

He jumped up, running over to shake their shoulders.

“Liyne, Dad! Are you okay? Wake up!”

Liyne blinked blearily and looked around in confusion, but Hemash jerked up with a start, hands reaching for his concealed weapon.

“Whoa, whoa! It’s just me!”

“What happened?” his father asked.

“I don’t know. I passed out, and I think you two did, too.”

They both frowned, pausing.

Albek said, “Maybe it’s some sort of gas leak? We should open the windows and get outside.”

“I will check over the house, make sure nothing is wrong,” suggested Hemash.

The two of them were about to split and go on their contradictory missions when a floating, semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him, grinding him to a halt.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Congratulations! Your world has been accepted as an auxiliary of Embryo!

Many worlds are destroyed upon the formation of a Mana-bridge, but your world, Oitania, has proven more resilient than most. Embryo now extends to you a helping hand. You need only follow the prompts, and a path will be made available to you.

Note: Embryo cannot directly intervene in your world. Support extends to guidance, maintaining statuses, distributing titles, and certain logistical services.

A moment later, a second screen appeared below the first.

FIRST TIME SETUP Please enter name to continue:

Albek blinked. Then he rubbed his eyes. The screens didn’t go away. Looking up at Liyne and his father, he saw incredulity on their faces.

“Are you seeing this?” his father asked.

“I think I am,” Albek said, slowly.

Hemash waved his hand in the air in front of him several times. Albek did the same, finding that his hand passed through the screen as if nothing was there.

“Wait, Dad, can you see this screen?” he asked, pointing towards his box.

“No, I cannot. Can you see mine?”

“No.”

‘They’re invisible to everyone else, huh? Embryo… these screens are like something out of virtual reality. So, some computer program hijacked our minds or something? Is it like this for everyone, now?’

The thought that someone was capable of something like this worried him. No technology he’d ever heard of had come remotely close to this.

He nodded.

‘It’s gotta be aliens.’

The semi-transparent screen remained in the same place in his field of view no matter which direction he turned his head. When he approached a wall, however, the screen gradually shifted to the side so that he could still see it. Albek whipped his head to the side, and the screen phased through the wall like it wasn’t there, then reoriented itself in the corner of his vision like nothing had happened.

The strangest part was that even without focusing his gaze on it, he knew exactly what it said. He couldn’t get rid of it. Even when he closed his eyes, he was aware of its presence and the words written on it. That was the eeriest realization, and what tipped him off to the idea that this couldn’t just be some mass hallucination. He felt around his head for signs of an incision, wondering if a chip had been implanted in his brain while he slept. He couldn’t find any signs of tampering, but that hardly reassured him.

If the information was already transmitted directly to his mind, what was the use of a screen? And how was he supposed to enter his name?

The instant that last thought came to him, the first two screens blinked out of existence and another appeared, this time in the layout of a keyboard that occupied the lower central area of his vision. Albek reached out and touched a letter, finding that there was tactile feedback to his fingertip.

He wasn’t expecting that. He jumped as soon as he touched the thing, trying to smack the keyboard away, but this time his palm passed right through the screen without any sensation. It didn’t even blink or shudder.

He looked at his hand, then back at the screen. The letter ‘A’ was now floating within the little box. Tentatively, he reached out again and poked the backspace button. Once again it felt like there was a solid object there. He tried a few more letters and found that when he was typing, the screen acted like a solid panel, but when he was doing anything else it became completely intangible. Likewise, if he typed with too much force, his fingers would pass through the screen.

Albek sighed.

‘Maybe that cat-monster actually ate me, and this is all just one long fever dream I’m experiencing right before I die.’

He saw a little microphone symbol to the left of the keyboard. He poked it, causing the keyboard to vanish, an empty text box appearing in its place.

Then he spoke: “Albek Shokarov.”

FIRST TIME SETUP

Your name is: Albek_Shokarov

Is this right?

Accept / Decline

‘Should I accept?’

Seeing his family’s inquisitive gazes, he explained what he'd done.

As a test, he hit “Decline,” but it only brought him back to the previous section, making him repeat the process again.

Seeing no other options, Albek finally hit the “Accept” button and the screen vanished. He had a short moment where he realized that he hadn’t read the terms and conditions yet, but a moment later, another box appeared.

FIRST TIME SETUP Assessment in progress. Please remain calm.

‘Remain calm? Why—'

An immediate and disturbing sensation stopped his thoughts as something invasive began to move inside Albek’s head.

His ears began to ring, and he groaned, clutching at his temples.

The “assessment” swept through his body, starting at the top and moving down. His vision went white and he thought he’d gone blind, but once it reached his throat, his eyes cleared even as breathing grew difficult. When the presence reached his chest, his heart and lungs fluctuated, compressing and decompressing, making him think he was having a heart attack. His stomach churned next, and he barely avoided spilling his lunch. Albek gripped at the table with whitened knuckles to steady himself. Liyne ran over to support him, but she couldn’t be of much help. Then, it finally reached his arms and legs, which bothered him far less than his torso, but it still made him shake when he felt things begin writhing under his skin. After what seemed like forever, it reached his fingers and toes, stopping as quickly as it had started.

“Son! Are you okay? What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Albek gasped out, “Don’t—don’t hit that accept button.”

He’d broken out in a cold sweat and still felt a little weak. Though the sensation had vanished, the memory of it made him feel like he’d been through a surgery.

FIRST TIME SETUP Assessment complete. Please review status.

The instant he wondered how to do that, a screen once again popped up, this time in his upper left-hand corner.

BASIC INFORMATION Name Albek Shokarov Titles N/A Race Human (Low)

Age 16 STATISTICS Strength 11 Vitality 11 Stamina 9 Agility 10 Dexterity 13 Thauma 9 Ki 0 DETAILS Skills N/A Talent Ki (4%) / Magic (96%) Status Effects M✺【k %f th ⊨ Gra Ѷ Fa#r π

A concerned voice broke through his trance.

“What is the matter? What did it do?”

Albek must have looked quite the sight, because his father rolled over to inspect him and was holding a hand to his forehead.

‘This is a role-playing game. I’ve died and entered a game. But what’s with these messed-up characters after ‘Status Effects?’’

“I’m okay. Just, um, thinking,” Albek said.

He shook himself and looked over his body, finding nothing out of place. He felt well enough now, the disturbing sensation of the assessment quickly becoming just another memory. He viewed his status in dull amazement. He wondered if it would always be there, an ever-present box in the corner of his vision, when it suddenly vanished.

‘Where’d it go?’

The box reappeared before he finished the thought. It seemed that it responded to his will now, disappearing and reappearing freely.

‘Convenient, but also worrying.’

Albek told the others about the unpleasantness he went through from the assessment, giving voice to his concerns that the program was rooting itself more deeply into his mind.

“It’s reading your intentions? I see. Don’t worry, we will not accept,” Hemash said, giving a look to Liyne to make sure she understood. “Perhaps these prompts will vanish on their own, yes?”

This hope was abruptly crushed when their screens began flashing red and a timer began counting down from sixty seconds. If they did not enter a name, according to Hemash, they would be automatically assigned one.

His father swore at this, and growled upon finding that his name was apparently already taken by someone else.

‘Really? Everyone on Oitania chooses from one name bank? Boy, I’m lucky.’

After some momentary discomfort and a few more minutes of family discussion, Albek watched as his father and little sister waved their hands through the air, making little noises of discovery as they inspected their status.

He scratched Dune behind the ears.

“It’s been a weird day, dog.”

- - -

The Shokarov family had done their best to adapt to the Apocalypse. They didn’t go out much, except for when Albek was forced to go foraging. This might seem sensible, surrounded as they were by unknown monsters, but even without their threat they had little choice. Hemash was wheelchair-bound, and though he wanted to start a garden, they lacked the seeds. Even if Albek managed to find some, their soil was rather poor and they didn’t get much sunlight through the trees, so their plants wouldn’t exactly thrive. Watering them was another problem. They’d gathered rainwater from their gutter system or in inverted tarps which they then fed into the largest containers they could find, but most of it was already used for drinking and washing. They had enough water stored to last them several weeks as long as they only used it for drinking, but watering plants would steeply decrease their reserves.

A week ago, Albek decided to repair the fence around their property, but with his father unable to help and the knowledge that there was very little good that a wooden fence would do against the monsters that roamed the night, they decided against it, leaving the lumber Albek had gathered piled up in the garage to be used for other projects.

In the end, they were just a family of mortals surrounded by the supernatural. Their means were limited. They realized early on that their best bet was to hole up with as much food and water as possible and wait for the Federation government to bail them out. They couldn’t allow themselves to think that the Federation, the nation possessed of the strongest military on Oitania, had completely dissolved. If it had, what would their future look like? Whose country were they in?

As it stood, the current circumstances of the Shokarov family led to mornings being their busiest time of the day, where they would complete chores, forage, or work on the house. Their afternoons were typically slow. When they weren’t sleeping, they’d hold “school” for Liyne, play games, or just talk.

The developments during lunch made for a different scene this afternoon.

Though still uncomfortable with the idea of a computer in their heads, the Shokarovs decided that if they were stuck with it, they should at least learn as much as they could.

The first thing Albek decided on doing was getting his family to write down their status so that he could compare scores and verify their accuracy. In a normal game, Albek would expect to start a character off with an even spread in all stats, but the nature of the distribution he was seeing on his own sheet made Albek think that the system was showing him the numbers of his actual physical abilities around some human baseline. If ten were the average, which he assumed it was, then he would be above average in most of his stats.

He watched expectantly as his father and sister noted down their various stats on pads of paper. More existential questions were temporarily taking a back seat in favor of exploring the functions of this new system.

BASIC INFORMATION Name Hemash Shokarov Titles N/A Race Human (Low)

Age 58 STATISTICS Strength 14 Vitality 10 Stamina 9 Agility 7 Dexterity 11 Thauma 0 Ki 2 DETAILS Skills N/A Talent Ki (77%) / Magic (23%)

Albek observed the statuses his family had written out on slips of legal paper and compared them with his own. Starting with his father, all the stats listed seemed about what he’d expect. He already knew his father was stronger. Thanks to pushing around his wheelchair everywhere, his muscle mass still hadn’t deteriorated too much. The lower score in agility also confirmed his suspicions. If agility determined movement abilities, then Hemash’s disease would make him have a lower score there.

He hadn’t written down his “Status Effects” section, but Albek chose not to bring it up.

BASIC INFORMATION

Name Liyne Shokarov Titles N/A Race Human (Low)

Age 9 STATISTICS Strength 3 Vitality 9 Stamina 6 Agility 7 Dexterity 8 Thauma 121 Ki 0 DETAILS Skills N/A Talent Ki (1%) / Magic (99%) Status Effects N/A

Almost all of Liyne’s scores were roughly Albek expected, seeing as she was nine, save for that absurdly high “thauma” stat.

“Liyne, is your sheet written correctly? Are you sure you didn’t accidentally write down an extra number down here?”

She shook her head and pointed at her paper with confidence.

“…Are you really sure?”

He kept questioning her, upsetting the girl to the point that Albek was eventually forced to take her word for it. He still didn’t quite buy it. Over one hundred? Didn’t that seem a little ridiculous when everyone else’s numbers were around ten?

The question they still had to puzzle out was what, exactly, the stats meant.

‘Strength is straightforward enough. Vitality usually means health or defense in a game, so it’s probably something along those lines. How health and defense translates to the real world is another story—I mean, is this even the real world anymore? Ok, not a helpful thought. Hm. Agility and dexterity are both on the sheet, but I don’t really know what the exact difference between them is. My dexterity is my highest stat at thirteen. Does it have to do with… my hands?’

Moving to the bottom of his father’s sheet, a sense of unease fell over him. “Hey, Dad.”

“What is it?”

Despite feeling guilty about reminding his father of his condition, Albek pointed at his own paper. “Don’t you have this section at the bottom called “Status Effects?”

Hemash flexed his jaw as he chewed over a response.

“Yes. My disease is there,” he said. “I did not write it down. Is something showing up on yours?”

Albek picked up a pen and copied the gibberish he saw on his screen as faithfully as he could. Hemash picked up the paper and read it over, mumbling to himself.

“Strange. The writing truly looks like this?”

“Yeah, it does,” Albek said. “Just a bunch of weird symbols. Is yours anything like that?”

“No. Mine is written in perfect Kalkian.”

“Kalkian? Huh. My status is in Ingri.”

The conversation petered out as neither of them were able to discern the meaning of the text.

Liyne chose that moment to interject, bringing up the word that Albek had been glancing over, the thing that filled him with an anticipation he hadn’t felt in years.

Her small voice leaked out, “It says magic.”

A smile worked its way to his lips, even as he tried to fight it down. He’d wanted to verify that everything else was true before tackling this, but Liyne was jumping straight to what interested her a few steps ahead of everyone else. It was just like her.

“Yeah,” he replied. “What do you guys think? It might not be real, but if it is, how do we use it?”

He paused, letting his next statement work its way to his lips through his resistance.

“…Or should we?”

The family of three went silent. Embryo had hardly done much to earn their trust. He wanted to believe in it, but when magic came in the form of an invasive program, expectations would be tempered.

“Either way, I will not be any good at magic, according to my talent,” said Hemash, with a hint of good humor. “But I can see you being a wizard, Albek. And Liyne, of course,” he added.

Albek gave a wry smile.

“I haven’t shot any spells in years, Dad.”

“Hm. I remember you being quite deadly with… fireblast, was it?”

Seven years ago, shortly after they moved to the Federation, Albek was still striving to forget that missed his home. He’d gone on a big fantasy kick, spending most of his time playing games or reading sword and sorcery books. He and his friends sometimes role-played as adventurers, tearing around the yard swinging sticks and pretending to shoot spells at each other. Those moments were some of the best of his life.

That period ended abruptly once their parents learned who his father was. His friends downgraded into acquaintances, and after a few more years, into strangers. Liyne was still young, so the only games left to him were ones that he could play by himself, but they never held his attention. His interests slowly turned inward, to books or movies.

Shrugging away the memories of the past, he went back to inspecting his screen.

After a while, something changed while Albek was eyeing the status screen on the section labeled “talent.” He’d been wishing that he could interface with Embryo like it was a desktop computer, imagining he was holding a mouse and using it to browse the window.

A finger twitched while he was looking at the section labeled “Talent,” when it suddenly lit up and the screen shifted over, revealing new information.

‘You can select the sections!’

Talent

A measure of latent energy, displayed as a percentage. The two energies are refined over time by your soul and can be considered your base mix. This value will not change.

Only a single path can be pursued, so it is recommended to choose the one you possess more talent in.

Albek eyed the back button that had appeared in the corner and imagined himself clicking it with his cursor. When it returned to the previous screen, he selected “Ki,” then “Magic.”

Ki

Vital essence. An energy manufactured by the soul, ki is the measure of your presence in the universe. Cultivation of ki requires either frequent conflict or diligent meditation. It results in a powerful body and mind. Magic

Thaumic essence. An energy manufactured by the soul, thauma is the measure of your influence on the universe. Training in magic requires years of study and practice. Results may vary.

While reading over the descriptions for these stats, Albek felt a strange connection form in his head, like a switch had been flipped inside him, turning on a sixth sense he never knew he had. He was surprised at the new sensation at first and recoiled, but steadied himself after a moment, realizing it wasn’t harmful. Intuitively, he knew the sense somehow let him connect to the two stats he was reading about. While examining the section on ki, something like a small hole—little more than a pinprick—opened up in his stomach, and he felt that he could squeeze his consciousness down that hole to find what lay within.

With magic, it was different.

A river flowed out from the top of his head, gushing upwards until it vanished somewhere far away, an infinite distance beyond the clouds. He felt a moment of vertigo when the feeling first assaulted him, but he soon grew used to it. It was as though all he needed to do was flex a single invisible muscle and his consciousness would be vaulted upwards, beyond the gravitational pull of the planet. The notion scared and thrilled him. It was the first thing that truly felt magical to Albek.

After experiencing the two opposing forces, he paused to think. He could only pursue one of these paths, according to Embryo. The difference in sensations probably had to do with his difference in talent for magic and ki. It was clear that magic was the path most suited for him—it would take almost no effort to go up that river. It was like a geyser bubbled beneath him, ready at any moment to propel him into the stars. He had to force himself to close the screen, afraid that he’d accidentally be whisked away somewhere on an impulse.

Ki, on the other hand, felt more like he would have to strain himself to fit inside the tiny, unaccommodating opening located in his stomach.

But one thought stuck with him through all of the alien sensations, through all the allure that magic offered.

“Results may vary?’ What the hell kind of shitty advertisement is that?’

Albek was concerned about survival. Ki offered a “powerful body and mind”—something that sounded immensely useful for surviving in this apocalyptic world teeming with monsters. But magic? Years of study and practice, and then a “results may vary” gets thrown in there? If he took the path of magic and didn’t have anything to show for it, he wouldn’t just be disappointed—he’d be dead. With his apparently high talent in magic, a lack of results seemed unlikely, but he was more worried about the coming month than he was the next twenty years.

‘But what choice do I have when my talent for ki is so low?’

“Albek, are you feeling well?” His father asked.

Albek hadn’t noticed that he was fidgeting.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Uh, I figured out another way to mess with the screens,” he said.

“You did?”

Albek explained, “Try imagining the status screen as a computer monitor. Then pretend there’s a mouse or a keyboard in front of you. In my head, when I move the cursor, I can select whatever I imagine the cursor hovering over. It also works for a keyboard—when I move the arrow keys, different sections light up, and I can hit enter to select them.”

Hemash furrowed his brow as he concentrated on a spot in the air in front of his forehead. Albek grinned, pleased that his discovery could prove useful.

Liyne tugged Albek’s hand. He leaned over to listen.

“Wanna know a secret?” she asked.

“What’s that?”

“You don’t need a mouse. You can just click it with your finger. I’ve been looking at this stuff for a while.”

His lips twitched.

“Then tell us about it earlier!”

After the mild scolding that didn’t have his heart in it, Albek followed her example, reviewing the rest of the items on his status screen.

Race

The user’s recognized ancestry.

Race defines the statistic value for the user, with the standard for untrained members of that race always averaging out at ten.

Human (Low)

Nearly ubiquitous throughout the planes, the remnants of Adahmu’s children have adapted to survive anywhere.

Humans are among the most feeble of the races, but within them lies a vast potential.

Title

A title is gained upon the user being recognized by a large number of beings.

Titles may also be bestowed by one or more powerful entities. Titles generally provide a number of useful benefits to the user, varying with the amount and status of the beings who recognize that title.

Age

Age in years.

His hand drifted over the screen until it fell upon the final word. It lit up, revealing a new window.

Year One year is measured by a complete orbit of Oitania around its star.

‘So, you can select words if you don't know them? I guess Embryo's a dictionary, too. Just what can’t this program do?’

He scratched his chin.

‘…Wait. If I can look up words…’

Going back to the earlier screens, he located the “Race” section and tried clicking the word "low" that was in parentheses, then “planes” and “Adahmu,” but nothing went through. Instead, he received three messages that read:

ACCESS DENIED

Priority level not high enough.

Raise priority level to gain access to this information.

He even tried selecting the words “priority level” but got the same message again.

‘How can I raise my priority level if you won’t tell me how?’

He decided to move on before he tried to punch a screen.

STATISTICS

Strength: 11 [11.21]. A measure of muscular strength. This statistic affects the level of power that can be applied to physical tasks. It influences things such as lifting power, running speed, and physical defense.

Vitality: 11 [11.49]. A measure of the body’s vigor and regenerative capabilities. This statistic affects resistance to toxins, disease, and extreme temperatures.

Stamina: 9 [9.38]. This statistic affects the body’s ability to sustain physical exertion or go without sleep for long periods of time.

Agility: 10 [10.92]. A measure of the body’s gross motor skills. This statistic affects the speed of reflexes and many of the body’s senses, including balance.

Dexterity: 13 [13.73]. A measure of the body’s fine motor skills. This statistic affects finesse, skill at utilizing various weapons and tools, talent for crafting, and some of the body’s senses, including touch.

Thauma: 9 [9.51]. This statistic determines the level of thauma within the user, which affects magic.

Ki: 0 [0.01] This statistic determines the level of ki within the user, which effects physicality.

Some of the ideas Albek had concerning stats seemed to be wrong, but just as many were right on the money.

‘It’s odd that strength affects so many things… vitality is normally the defensive stat, and agility usually has something to do with running speed, but in this case defense and running speed fall under strength. Vitality and agility here are more like support stats.’

As for the two numbers after the decimal point, Albek guessed that they indicated how close he was to leveling that stat up.

‘Agility must nearly be level 11.’

Then there was thauma. It followed his expectations, being a stat that affected magic, but Albek found himself wanting for information. The description really gave no insight into how it worked.

‘And it’s similar with ki.’

Selecting the words “magic” and “ki” didn’t bring up anything useful, either.

Skill A skill is an ability that can be gained through practice. Abilities that are learned will appear here, and can be leveled up. Experimenting is encouraged.

‘No skills, no use whining. Time to see what this annoying text is all about…’

Albek glanced over his "Details" one more time before selecting the final section, but what he saw at the bottom surprised him.

Status Effects ʊ ✺【k %f t ⍹ ⊨ G ⌲ a Ѷ ╕ ≬ #r ⍒

‘Huh? The text changed? There’s even more gibberish than before… is this like some sort of changing effect?’

He stopped as the idea came to him.

‘Am I being changed right now?’

Albek tried to remember what the text had read before, but it had all looked like a bunch of nonsense to him, even then. As he watched, another character flickered and changed before his eyes, accompanied by some static. He focused on his body, trying to sense anything changing within him, but even when the next character changed, he didn’t feel like anything was amiss. Releasing the breath that he didn’t know he had been holding, Albek investigated further, finally selecting the text to see what it meant to have a status effect.

Status Effect

Status effects exist in a wide variety of ailments, injuries, blessings, curses, and states of mind or being, either magical or physical in nature.

A status effect will often be a hindrance, but some status effects are very powerful and are widely sought after. These powerful effects are called blessings.

‘That’s similar to what I expected, but… blessings, huh?’

He thought back to earlier today. It wasn’t difficult for him to remember his near-death experience, despite Embryo’s appearance. The Voice had granted him something. An ‘aegis,’ it had called it. Something that protected.

‘Maybe this is a good thing?’

He shivered. He wasn’t sure about that. Best to make sure. Albek selected the garbled text to see what the system had to say about it.

ʊ ✺【k ╚ ✇ t ⍹ ⊨ ∝ ⌲ a Ѷ ╕ ≬ #r ⍒ ERROR. Cannot access requeste≯ inf⍢rma∪ion. Pleas⍸ ⌾ry a✻ga—

The screens all vanished as something new took their place.

It wasn’t really a screen, but a hole. A nebulous stain on reality ripped open in front of Albek, shifting before his eyes even as the letters upon it remained constant.

ENDURE.

UNTIL THE HATED ONE COMES FOR HARVEST, ENDURE.

FEAR DEATH. FEAR HER. TERROR IS WISDOM. SUBSERVIENCE IS TRANSCENDENCE.

HATRED IS INESCAPABLE.

ENDURE.

Albek decided he didn’t have a good feeling about this status effect, after all.

BASIC INFORMATION Name Albek Shokarov Titles N/A Race Human (Low)

Age 16 STATISTICS Strength 11 Vitality 11 Stamina 9 Agility 10 Dexterity 13 Thauma 9 Ki 0 DETAILS Skills N/A Talent Ki (4%) / Magic (96%) Status Effects [ERROR]