BITWORLD

A Misnomer’s Tale

A LitRPG Novel

“Hello, and welcome to Bitworld. Our names are One and Zero. People refer to us as Gods. This world is inhabited by adventurers of all different calsses, each with their own path. Your path…wait, what was your name again?” […GREY…] “Grey. That’s a fine name! You are entering our world in a time of peril. We are no longer in possession of the Nine; the Wizard Alleron Con and his legion of glitches have captured them. Soon, we too, will be corrupted. Bitworld in in danger, it is up to you.”

One and Zero

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C:\Users\grey>run.\program

It is said that all great heroes have one thing in common; they sleep through their first alarm.

Grey woke, already standing, in his bedroom. It was a scattering of dirty clothes, half-finished homework, and posters taped across his walls. The nightmare still ringing in his ears, Grey walked over to the poster of his favorite Hero, Bron, and replicated the muscular legend’s stance.

He caught his reflection and sighed. The tall mirror across the room revealed a skinny, level zero dweeb in a baggy t-shirt. No screen displaying stats or attributes or skills, just the same familiar reflection; bland hair that never seemed able to decide if it was blonde or brown with too many callucks, and the soft eyes of a dreamer. He turned his face to the side, inspecting his jaw, then returned to the poster of Bron.

“Still no cleft chin this morning,” he muttered. “I’m no hero.”

There was a sudden knock on his bedroom door. “Hey Grey,” his mother said, walking in. “Oh honey, are you okay? Do you have a fever?”

“No. Just a bad dream I think.” Grey wiped the remaining sweat from his face.

“Alright,” she said, her voice soothing in the way only a mother’s could be, “Don’t worry. I know it’s a big day, but it’ll be okay. And whatever happens, I’m so proud of you. Whatever it is you choose.”

Grey’s stomach dropped. He had forgotten all about the field test that day, “Oh yeah…Thanks mom.”

“Now hurry up,” she said, smiling. “Don’t want to be late!”

With that, his sweet mother went downstairs to go do motherly things.

The basic blue zip-up hoodie fell over his scrawny shoulders like old drapes; a basic starting off point for any new adventurer. Soon, Grey would trade that zip up for a new suit of armor.

Whatever that may be. Whatever path he chose.

Soon, like all the kids at Bit Academy, Grey’s adventure would start with the field test. This single day which would decide his class, and therefore, his future. He would soon have his own data screen, fitted with attributes showing his class progression. The trouble was, all of that studying only brought him the sinking suspicion that when the time came, he wouldn’t be able to decide which class to choose.

Who was he anyway? A Hero, like Bron? No way. Heroes had courage, very big muscles, and bellowing insecurities. What about an Empath? He cringed at the very idea. That class he’d reserved in his mind for people like Damsel, his tender-hearted best friend. There was also the Rogue, but he wasn’t particularly stealthy. Besides, only assholes like his rival Crow chose that class. And then there was the Wizard class. Gross. The one day at the end of the academy that every student seemed to be so excited for was shaping up to be one of agony for young Grey.

There was a knock at the front door. Grey’s mother called out for him at the bottom of the stairs, “Grey, Damsel is here.”

Grey searched for his small student backpack, stuffing loose papers and books into the bag in no care or order, “Uhh, just a second. I’ll be right down.”

He gazed at his messy room one last time before exiting, as if when he returned from school that day, he would be a hero, or a rogue, or an empath, or something. Either way, he’d be different. Not some hopeless trainee. He looked to Bron plastered on the wall for any last minute advice; he said nothing. But, his hulking biceps winked at him playfully in a jovial gesture of good measure.

Damsel was waiting in the front door, wearing one of her signature outfits, a summer dress with a baseball cap, her hair curling out the back gap there. She beamed up at him, standing on her tip-toes and waved as the young trainee stumbled down the stairs at the sight of her.

“Oh,” Grey said, holding onto the stairwell railing for support as his toe caught on the stair, trying to jump steps (in a rush, as always), “Hey, um, Damsel!”

“Hey you,” she said back, steadying him as he nearly ran into her. “You finally ready? We’re going to be late again!”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. I’m all set.”

Grey’s mother called from the kitchen, “Umm, excuse me, mister. Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Ugh,” Grey walked back to the kitchen and kissed his mother on the cheek.

“That’s better,” she said, before putting her hands on his shoulders, and touching her forehead to his. “And what else?”

Grey sighed. He held tight to the straps of his backpack, and, stealing a sideways glance at Damsel who had already stuck her nose in her book, whispered; “Be careful, and come straight home, I know, mom, I’m not twelve anymore.”

“I know, you’re growing up so fast.” She stepped back and smiled at her son. “I guess I forget sometimes.”

“Moooommmm,” he groaned.

“Sorry. Look, Grey. Fourteen or not, still be careful okay? Just yesterday Crow’s…”

“I hate him, he’s always so mean.”

“Be that as it may, his parents are good friends, and as you know, his mother is a bit of a gossiper, and well, just yesterday she told me that she heard from her cousin who heard from the florist who heard from the...I forget, but that’s not important. What’s important is that the smoke we’ve been seeing over the mountains were made by a dragon.” Shuddering as she finished the word dragon, she looked off with a sense of terrified wariness in her eyes. “Just head straight home, okay? I can’t lose you too.”

“Grey!” called Damsel to the rescue.

“Are you alright, mom?”

She nodded, wrapped her arms tight around herself, and just stood there, looking out the window for a moment. Finally, she wiped her cheek, forced a smile, and ruffled her son’s hair.

“Don’t worry about me, just go out and do your best!”

Grey tried fixing his hair, to no avail, and scrunched his face. “Well, all right. You’re weird sometimes mom.” He turned toward Damsel, then paused, something clenching in his gut and looked at his mother. “Hey, if you want to play that, um, silly board game you like later we could.”

“Thanks honey.”

A warmth swept over her soft face then, and Grey felt good about that. He hated seeing his mom sad. He whispered; “I love you,” one last time, then ran to Damsel.

“Good luck you two!” the kind widow called.

“Thanks!” Damsel waved to Grey’s mother and skipped out of the entryway.

The two started on their way to school. It was a short walk through their village and a few other neighboring villages along the way. The school sat atop a massive hill. It could be seen from almost everywhere in BITworld. An impressive structure boasting architecture that could be seen from miles away. An elite institution that had been the starting place for seemingly every great hero in BITworld. Damsel felt lucky to be in that elite company. Grey, wore that pressure like steel plated armor that was three sizes too big.

“Alright Grey, today’s the big day.” Damsel jumped a few steps in front of Grey as they walked, facing him, “Soo...what’re you gonna choose?”

Of course he had been deflecting the question for months, years even, “I don’t know. Guess I’ll let the test tell me, you know? Isn’t that kinda the point?”

Her excitement faded into a sort of pity. Grey loved that, “Well, yeah. I mean I guess. But most people usually know already what they want to choose.” Seeing the anxiety dragging Grey’s face down to his shoes, “Look. Grey. It’s okay! I’m sure it will work itself out, you know? I believe in you.”

Grey smiled. Appreciating the social awareness shown by his best friend. Damsel had that way about her; knowing more about what he was feeling better than he did himself. He was envious in that way about her.

With their small village behind them, Damsel and Grey took their usual shortcut through the Illustrious Forest. He pulled aside the drapery of low hanging vines and gestured for his friend to go first;

“Oh, Grey,” she chuckled, “you know you’re safe here if you’re with me. I let them know we were coming. Silly.”

He shrugged and shook his head.

With her typical cute giggle, she held the top of her hat, ducked, and walked under the parted vines into the forest. Grey followed suit.

Inside was a mass of dense green and vibrant flowers. Small wildlife ran about and tiny fairies could be heard rushing between the branches with their glimmering bodies like sweet bells in the distance. Grey eyed them carefully, and stayed as close to his best friend as possible. It was well-known that Fairies were gorgeous little creatures, but like anything beautiful, complete assholes to Grey and pretty much anyone that wasn’t Damsel (they left her alone, partially out of fear). But, because of its seclusion, the pair often thought it their own little paradise, an escape from the rest of the world. A thin walking trail had been blazed through it in a quest years ago and the two had used the trail to make it to school faster ever since.

“Don’t you just love it here?” she asked, putting out her hand for one of the little forest sprites to land on. She kissed its beak, and it flew off. “We could build a home here someday, I bet. I mean…”

“What?” he asked, rubbing his ears, unsure if he’d just imagined that.

“Haha, oh nothing,” she said, “come on!”

Winding this way and that way, the two walked through the forest. The level ground gradually rose into a craggy hill and the trees became sparser, the floor replaced by high rising beds of flowers intermixed with large boulders that only occasionally were dangerous, and only when the moon was full. They scrambled over the slumped backs and heads, and with each one, Damsel patted the surface and cheerfully said; “Sorry, Stumplemut. Sorry Phlemgerd.”

“Can they really hear you?” Grey asked, jumping from one head to the other.

“No, but I can feel them even when they’re asleep.” She smirked. “I wouldn’t jump on them if I were you.”

Grey gulped, and they hurried on, climbing the ever steepening hill to the campus grounds which laid on the plateau. Its grounds st across the Illustrious Forest, and even the lifeless terrain of the Rover Desert.

In one of the towers of the east side of the academy, a massive iron bell bounced the weighted core around its insides, signaling the start of first class.

“Alright, Grey, this is it.” Damsel clutched her belongings close to her chest, taking a deep breath in as her eyes gleamed in eagerness, “I’ll see you after the field test, okay?”

She jumped onto Grey with her arms outstretched, hugging him as he nervously reciprocated, “See ya, Grey!”

Not even getting a word out, Grey smiled bashfully and waved to her as she skipped along. Taking in his own massive breath of air, he shakily blew it out. There was no getting around the field test. Luckily for him, the test took place at the end of school. He had all day in his other three classes to dwell on it in preparation.

The halls were packed with eager students. Grey stood at his locker, fiddling with the numbered lock with his clammy hands. Amongst the dull roar around him, the whisper of footsteps from tall, black leather boots smacked on the linoleum floor. The wearer of them was a tall, hooded student with a black leather jacket, and even blacker hair that covered his face in such a macabre fashion that it’d come as no surprise to anyone that he was the school’s Rogue prodigy (his Angst regeneration ability unparalleled). All of the students watched as he passed in the hall. The boys; intimidated. The girls; swooning. His hands rested in his pockets, while his eyes surveyed only the tips of his footsteps.

Standing at his locker, Grey felt the heavy shoulder of the much taller student bump into him. He fell into the open door of his locker as the boy looked back at Grey, giving a menacing glance through the one eye not concealed by his straightened black hair. Passing so close to Grey, he could hear the music playing through the tiny earbuds the boy wore. A banging of instrumental metal carnage.

“Asshole,” Grey whispered under his breath, gathering himself at the foot of his open locker. He fumbled around the heavy textbooks; a shadow looming over him. Grey could suddenly hear the monotonous thumping from Lars Ulrich’s kick drum sounding behind him again. He turned slowly. The shadow revealed itself as a nightmare.

“Um,” Grey said. The boy brushed his bangs to the side and glared at Grey; a well of darkness that followed the trail of his gaze sent a shudder up Grey’s back. “Um?” he said again.

The boy cracked half a smile, sending a short puff of air through his narrow nostrils in a demeaning tone, and scoffed; “You’re such a fucking noob,” then he walked away.

It was Crow. He was in many of the same classes as Grey, but it was tough for him to consider Crow a ‘peer.’ He had seemingly grown up with the mysterious boy, but always kept his distance. There was something off about him. Rumors spread here and there about Crow, and Grey chose to believe all of them. Some of the students would say he conjured dark magic outside of class. Sacrificing small creatures to Beelzebub and whatnot. Whatever it was, Damsel once admitted to Grey she thought he was cute, and that was reason enough to hate him.

Grey shook his head, and rummaging through the papers in his locker, checked to make sure his rival was out of sight, then cursed quietly. “I don’t care if he is a prodigy, he’s still an asshole. I don’t know what she even sees in him; anyone with an hour and a hair straightener could look like that.” He unconsciously licked his hand and tried pushing his own hair down, but it just shot back up. “Okay, maybe it’d take two hours.”

That massive bell tower did its job once again. The massive gong sound reverberated through the halls, vibrating under the desks and feet of the soon to be adventurers. Scared by the sound he had waited an entire hour for, Grey snapped his pencil in half. Perhaps he was stronger than he thought. Driven by fear.

His hands shook as he fitted his tortured notepad into his bag. Pushing his chair in slowly to somehow delay the fact that the field test was right there in front of him.

The teacher gave some last words of advice, “Alright guys, it’s field test time. When we see you tomorrow, you will all have a class. Remember, this is just the beginning of the. Rest. Of. Your. Lives.”

“Yeah,” Grey muttered under his breath, “no big deal.”

It somehow didn’t ease any of the tension in Grey. The words echoed and bounced around his nervous mind. Rattling whatever room wasn’t taken up by the flutterbees dancing around his stomach.

Field tests were being held in the simulation/training room. He waited in line with the other students. While they all conversed like it was just another day, Grey stood amongst them. Nervously biting his nails. Letting other students cut in front of him as the entrance reached ever closer to his place in line. There was no sign of Damsel, she must of been one of the first in line. Eager to complete what she had been training for. Only a few students remained in the line of nervousness as Grey reached the entrance, the others were the usual sorts of outcasts he expected to be clumped with: Ingred, she famously sat alone at lunch and casted spells on the other girls she hated; Alastar, he was about as terrifying a troll as any but really was just a big softy; Stephen, well, Stephen’s father was a fire-swallowing ghoul and his mother was a 3000 pound Land Fairy, so mostly people just felt bad for him; and Grey himself.

His mother told him stories of his father and their elite group of heroes they were surrounded by awaiting their field test. Chatting about how they would crush the test, and then scores of enemies in the levels they would charge towards afterwards. Grey looked around to his peers at the back of the line. Was this his elite group? Was this Grey’s destiny?