{[No path is taken for free. Each route is a gamble. Our steps determine who we are and ultimately who you will become.]}

Ashner learned something a long time ago. Experience serves as a teacher.

{[If you’re betrayed, abandoned, or tossed aside, it’s your own fault.]}

Ashner scuffled down the worn-out road that neighbored a thick forest. Not a single street light was lit. His phone gave him enough light to move forward. It was the middle of the night, and the cold was settling in. On his face, he sensed the battered pain of getting punched. Forty pounds of muscle against his own, he was a fool to suspect he stood a chance of winning.

The chilly wind did numb his wound. Alcohol numbed his inner pain. “I was so stupid.”

He had been at a party and locked eyes with the wrong girl. She had her eyes on his flannel shirt and worn-out jeans. The girl occasionally traded glances with him. Ashner kept his eyes on hers and smiled when they locked.

She didn’t peek away. In fact, she giggled and gave him a cute smile.

Alcohol played a factor and created the liquid courage he needed. It’s a shame that’s all it did. After her boyfriend caught on, he took a cheap shot on Ashner, bringing him to his knees. Losing the girl wasn’t what pissed him off.

Losing half his bottle of Jack when he tumbled to the ground did that.

What’s worse, at the end of the whole confrontation, somehow, he was the asshole.

A few people tossed him out into the cold pavement. This time the alcohol didn’t spill.

Nothing had changed. He had done a tour in the military. Fought alongside brave men and women and witnessed a handful of them die. And what did he have to show for it? A dishonorable discharge, an empty bank account, and a shitty apartment that was falling apart. How has the world gotten harder? People weren’t shooting at him. He shook his head and sipped on his metal flask.

“Fuck them all.”

Rain started sprinkling down on him. Ashner glanced up.

Figures.

He sprinted across the road, irritated that the rain was just adding salt to his wounds. He was drunk and found himself struggling with each step. The open road wasn’t helping him. Shelter was nowhere to be found, so he ran deep into the woods where the rain wasn’t as severe.

Jogging and alcohol are a bad combination. Mix it with tree roots and rain, and you have a tripping hazard. About a fifth of a mile into the woods, he discovered something. He was running deeper and deeper with no sense of direction. He glanced back, trying to find his baring but only tumbled down a small path. Mud and clay dug into his pants and his jacket. It was cold but not cold enough to freeze the water.

“Damn it!” Ashner stood up, knocking the mud off his pants. On his hand, he still gripped the flask tightly. He had left it open, covering the rim of the flask in mud. He tossed it deep into the woods. “Fuck it all!”

Irritated and wet, something caught his eye, further down the forest on a path that was unkempt and worn away was a house. It was old and partly burned down, remnants of what might’ve been a road that was now overgrown with grass and some small trees.

Doubt anyone is living in there. But it’s better than the rain.

Ashner stumbled towards it. A part of its roof was still intact. The young man walked in through the part that was charred away. A broken door blocked his path, almost like someone had kicked a hole through it, maybe a homeless man? But he doubted one would walk this deep into the forest since the door handle was beautiful and looked like it was made of gold instead of copper. Luckily the house kept the rain at bay. Some parts dripped raindrops, but they were far and in between. The old home had a couch that was rotting into itself and a few moldy paintings. Oddly they hadn’t been stolen.

The wooden furniture was obviously being eaten away by termites and ants. He found a metal chair and sat on it, taking his jacket off and hanging it on a metal rod that stuck out above the old fireplace.

“Finally, some good luck.” Ashner grabbed an old table and broke their legs off, tossing them into the fireplace with pieces of old newspaper under the wood. He lit it, and the flames came to life. Sliding his metal chair towards the fire he let the buzz hit him.

Ashner giggled to himself, his life had taken so many turns, and he had always managed to make the wrong choices. It happened so often that when something actually went his way, he cherished it. He chose to run away from his past and only found a life full of death and solitude.

He didn’t want to sleep inside this house, perceiving his luck, wolves or bears would attack him while he slept. Instead, he tossed in a few more pieces of wood to keep himself warm. Next to the fireplace was a large mirror, it was faded, but it still worked, he caught a glimpse of himself.

When did I stop caring?

Ashner meddled with his unkempt hair. It was curly and filled with traces of mud. Facial hair had grown everywhere around his face. But the one thing that had changed was his eyes. They were empty, a reflection of his soul.

Behind him, the broken door slowly faded away. Ashner regarded the mirror and shook his head, debating if it was the booze playing mind games, but it wasn’t. The door faded away completely, and in its place, a new door started appearing. He slid his chair around, both curious and scared.

The door appeared and disappeared like a ghost. This new door was complete. It wasn’t broken, and it was elegant, too elegant for this house.

It was made of redwood, and carved into it were dragons, mountains, and clouds. The lower it went, the more the carving shifted into something similar to an ocean and even some lands with trees. Ashner took his phone out and snapped a picture. He didn’t really digest why but he wanted to remind himself when he was sober. Maybe he would laugh at himself, or maybe he was just going crazy.

Losing your mind to this world was reasonable for him. After all, only the lucky ones live with stability, respect, and love. He walked towards the door and gripped the handle, still buzzed, and with his face still numb, he twisted the knob and opened it. Beyond the door was a white room.

Something out of all physical possibilities. Ashner scowled inside the doorway awkwardly then back outside. His world was raining and dark, but this room had candles and was dry.

I can’t be that drunk.

He stuck his hand in and fathomed something.

It was warm inside.

He reached into his cargo pocket, pulling out a switch knife. His instincts told him he was safe, but he wasn’t foolish enough to trust himself sober, much less drunk. Keeping his knife at the ready, he walked around the room.

Candles flickered as the cold air merged with the warmth of the room. Inside the room were a bed, a bookcase, and a drawer for clothes. Stepping deeper into the room, Ashner inspected the candles. None of the wax had melted, and not a speck of dust was visible.

On the drawer lay a golden key, with the same design as the handle.

Ashner reached for it curiously.

Traveler Role Accepted.

XP: 0.

Ashner stepped back, tumbling on the bed. A pop-up, similar to spam, popped up in front of him. Wherever his eyes went, the sign followed.

Unraveling the window wasn’t hard. He focused on the pop-up. It was simple, but it would only show his XP level and his role. Ashner imagined it fading away. It did.

“That was weird.” He tossed the bed covers over himself. “Whatever.”

Waking up came with dehydration and the same pop-up screen.

“So I wasn’t that wasted.” He stood up once-overing the room. The candles were still lit, and none of them had so much as melted with the flame. Another thing caught his eye. The room had two doors. Ashner stood off the bed, leaving the covers tossed to their side.

“Which door was it?”

He paced towards the closest one. Gripping the gray doorknob, he turned it and casually opened the door.

Darkness and humid heat hit his skin. “This doesn’t seem right,” Ashner stepped in, and the door closed behind him.

“Fuck.”

Fiddling with his pockets he brought out his phone, tapping on the light something illuminated brightly in front of him. Glistening with the light was a blue ball. It had no eyes or a face. “Okay?”

It lunged forward, attacking Ashner’s leg, tumbling him down on his ass.

“OW, FUCK, FUCK! … Wait, that doesn’t hurt…”

Flailing his leg, the small ball wouldn’t let go. Like a horny chihuahua trying to establish dominance… It was a joke.

Ashner opened the door behind him, allowing the light to clearly identify the thing on his leg.

It was a slime.

Just like the monsters you fight against in a video game.

A ball of slime with an odd dark ball floating in its body. The monster was attacking. It just wasn’t very strong.

Ashner’s jeans were melting, slowly.

Reaching for his switchblade. Ashner jabbed it into the monster’s body.

Nothing.

“Of course, it’s just like the video games.” He pulled the blade out and stabbed again, this time aiming at the ball in its body. Once it struck, the monster’s body disappeared in a black mist.

Dropping something metallic.

XP:2

The screen popped up. It was there but transparent enough to gaze at his environment clearly. His pants had torn a bit. The monster had eaten the fabric.

But that wasn’t what held Ashner’s interest.

Two coins were at his feet.

He grabbed them, decoding something. “Are these gold coins?”

Ashner stood and brought his finger to his chin. “This room isn’t part of our world. It’s a door between. He walked back into the white room. Inspecting the bed brought a shiver down his spine. The bed’s covers were perfect, but he had only closed the door for a few seconds.

“Magic?” Ashner stepped towards the bed and grabbed the key. “If this is a door to another room, then is this the key? I don’t want to have to fight a mob of those slimes with just a dagger. But if these are real coins. Then the value of gold in that world must be underwhelming. While in mine, these coins can easily go for a thousand, at least.”

Gripping the other door, he opened it to a familiar sight.

The house hidden in the woods.

He stepped out and closed the door. The handle shifted back to its original form.

He grabbed the key and tapped it against the handle. Slowly but surely, it shifted back to its golden color. The broken door shifted to the rich wood and designs. Ashner stepped away, and the designs faded.

“Is it just this door?”

He tested it with another door. It shifted to pristine wood. He didn’t have to return to the middle of the woods to go to that world. As long as he used the key in his hands, he had access.

Ashner smiled. His bruised face hurt, but he finally got some good luck.

The ex-soldier walked home, walking past a freeway, keeping to the path right before the woods. He reached into his pocket, inspecting the gold key. He wanted to wrap a string around it and keep it as a necklace.

This is the most dangerous tool in our world. I found gold, but I was also able to breathe, so it has an atmosphere, so that means water… vegetation and with that then more forms of metal. The gravity was exactly the same as our worlds, so that means it’s possible for us to live there… Maybe other types of humans live there? Or human-like creatures. This is a gamble. If their technology surpasses my own, they might use the key to enter our world and do, who knows what to it. But if my world has superior technology, I can stand to obtain wealth… Then again, it could be a world filled with monsters, and frankly, I’d be the monster if I showed my face. I need to plan this carefully. Only an idiot enters this type of world without preparing themselves.

“First things first.” He reached into his pocket, glancing at the coins. “I can’t let anyone suspect anything from this side either.”

These designs are going to draw suspicion. I can’t let anyone see them. And I’m not entirely sure if this is truly gold.

He glanced towards a hardware store. “One way to find out.”

Ashner got a few odd glares.

His black eye made him stand out.

People minded their own business.

He found a magnet, ensuring nobody was around, he put one coin down and moved the magnet near it, back and forth.

It didn’t move.

“So you might be real gold.” Ashner studied his wallet. He had enough.

Not having a car made it more tedious to walk home, but he didn’t mind it. If he wasn’t so dehydrated, he would gladly run home.

Deep in the worst part of town, where homeless drug addicts stood around every corner asking for money, lay a shitty apartment complex. Ashner carried his bags with his knife under his sleeve. It wasn’t uncommon getting targeted around here.

Luckily nobody tried to stop him. His apartment door was caved in.

Figures, I don’t have anything they can steal anyway.

“Ashner.” Her voice irritated the former soldier, “you’ve had me waiting for over an hour.”

He turned back. A woman stepped out of her BMW. Someone he used to call his friend was sitting in the front seat. He hadn’t spoken a word to him for a few months.

“I’m here to collect your child support.” Her high heels clicked against the faded out driveway.

Ashner gestured to his door. “Iris, someone broke into my house.”

“I saw that. I don’t care. You need to pay up.”

“Did you bring him?” Ashner asked, referring to his son.

“No, after your dishonorable discharge, I can choose if you can see him.”

Ashner brought his head down. He hadn’t seen his son in over a year. And to top it off, the man driving the BMW was his childhood friend and Iris’ new boyfriend. As long as his son was safe, he didn’t want to create a scene and, in the worst case, be barred from seeing his son. Not that Iris cared. She kept her son as far away as possible from him.

“I don’t have anything.” He reached into his wallet and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. Iris snatched it up before he uttered a word.

“This will do.” She skipped back towards her car and sat in the passenger seat. Opening the window, she gave him some last-minute advice. “If you don’t start paying regularly, I’ll make sure you go to jail.”

With a smile, she left. Leaving Ashner alone and broke.

That bitch!

He shook his head and walked into his house. Sure enough, some oddities were stolen.

Someone had torn a hole in his mattress and couch, more than likely searching for stashed items. Ashner shrugged it off.

He rubbed his face. “This black eye is a pain.”

Instant Light Wounds Heal For 1xp?

The menu popped up in front of Ashner.

“So you can more or less sense my thoughts.” He sighed. “I wonder… Show me all stats I can update.”

The blue menu opened up into three categories.

Physical, Mental, Social.

Ashner pressed the physical button. The menu lit up, thousands upon thousands of options opened up before him. He studied the first one.

Physical Health Increase.

He tapped on it, and the first one offered to heal his wounds. But it didn’t stop there. He scrolled through the menu, stopping it at random.

Physical Resistance in Left Collar Bone + 10 per XP.

He scrolled through it again.

Animal Bite Poison Resistance – 1XP Per Animal you select.

He scrolled again.

Hold Breath – 1XP Per Extra 30 Seconds.

“They’re all helpful in one way or another, but they’re so specific. Luckily they’re all cheap to purchase. I wonder.”

Ashner went back and clicked on the Mental list.

“Say I want to have the same knowledge as a surgeon.”

The menu moved on its own, taking him to the options and skills of a surgeon. Before reaching that level, he had to master a few things. He tapped the screen, curious.

Basic Medical Knowledge – Advance Medical Knowledge – Understanding of illnesses and viruses (Fifty required to advance) – ((Need Steady Hands and Steady Heartbeat from Physical to reach Surgeon.))

Ashner did the math in his head. If each slime gave him 2xp, then he would have to kill at the very least three hundred to reach that goal. The system was useful but also useless in its own way.

{[When life is nothing but unfortunately unlucky series of events, nothing phases you anymore.]}

Today was different. Today he had the option to change his luck. He dug into his bag and took out a graphite cup, heat resistant gloves, and several propane torches.

Ashner dug into his cupboard, bringing out a cupcake pan.

Fiddling with the coins, he observed the dragon’s design on them. It was almost a shame he had to destroy them. Even so. He dropped them into the cup and heated it up. In a about an hour, it was molting hot. Next, he used tongs and spilled it into the pan.

Hammering it out, he went to his next destination.

A pawn shop.

The owner gave him an odd glare after he tested the gold. It was pure, bring up its value, but this owner was used to suspicious people.

“How did you get this?”

“I found a box of old cell phones and broken laptops. I stripped the metals out and dissolved it.”

“Alright,” He interrupted. As long as you sound smart, he stopped caring.

“I can give you a thousand for this.” Ashner nodded with a smirk

*******

Ashner found himself at an old storage, a place he hadn’t stepped into in months. Finally, having the money to pay for it, he found himself smirking.

He opened the door to his storage and clicked the light on. A life he was kicked out of lay in front of him.

His old military armor and uniform.

An M-4 carbine.

Dozens of magazines and boxes full of ammo.

And a few odds and ends, it pays to have tanker friends. A tank has plenty of places to smuggle things.

“My life is a mess…” Ashner confessed to himself. “I’m a felon with no job, no friends, no girlfriend.”

He put his gear on, reminiscing on the day he spent in the military and how much he both hated and loved them.

“I’m a loser… Even so, I won’t change anything if I stand back and let this world beat me until I’m numb.”

“I’ll level up. I’ll become everything I want. I’ll achieve all my goals.” He locked and loaded his rifle and put his helmet on. “I’m done surviving. From now on, I’m going to actually live.”