“This is impossible,” the young man muttered in disbelief. He stood and found himself on a grassy hilltop, breathing in a gentle breeze tinged with the scent of various evergreen trees. The wind flowed steadily from the snow tipped mountain range that heaved like jagged teeth towards the heavens and descended into a rugged arc to his left. In front of him, planted along the slope and spreading out almost to the horizon, was a sea of trees and shrubbery. His eyes drank in the scenery. His nose breathed in the smell of the ground, the trees, and the wind. His ears listened to various insect sounds and birdsong around him. His skin felt the chill from the breeze and the warmth from the sun.

“Toto I think we’re not in Kansas anymore,” he nervously said to himself. He’s no longer in his own world. Even the clothes he’s currently wearing is evidence of that.

He was wearing a brown, nondescript coat over a simple white shirt. The pants were the same color and material as the coat, while the ankle-high moccasins on his feet were made of sturdy but comfortable leather. He has no recollection of ever wearing these garments before. As he tried to recall his previous attire he was assaulted by a sudden, piercing headache that brought him to his knees. The ring fell from his fingers as he instinctively clutched both hands to his head.

“No!” he shouted in panic as he realized his mistake. Groping around the grass, his heart pounded loudly in his ears as his headache slowly dwindled to a low buzzing pain. He can’t lose that ring, he thought to himself, feeling somehow that the ring was his most important possession, far surpassing its material worth to him. A brief flash of silver near his eyes caught his attention, and again he saw the strange text floating above a half-hidden piece of jewelry.

Engagement Ring. 3 grams. A ring used for proposals of marriage. Common. No bonuses. Restrictions: female only.

“I was about to propose to her,” the man on the ground mumbled. He collapsed to the ground in shock. He stared numbly at the strange world in front of him. He shivered uncontrollably, teeth chattering as deep sobs shook him. Tears fell uncontrollably from his face as curled into a fetal position on the grass, clutching his knees tightly to his chest as he rocked back and forth. A waterfall of emotions cascaded through him, filling him to overflowing and then some. He was terrified of the unknown and surely dangerous world that he found himself in. He cried in grief and sorrow, from being parted suddenly and with no explanation, from his world and the person he loved with all his heart. He howled in rage at whatever cruel existence that subjected his soul to this extreme torture and punishment. He bobbed back and forth in despair that he may never see his loved ones again. He cried for what seemed like a very long time. Finally the tears stopped falling. The sobbing ceased. The shuddering faded as young man took a few deep, long breaths. He got up slowly and opened his eyes, as if seeing the world for the very first time. Under the pain, the fear and the bitterness, he discovered another emotion hidden beneath all his negative feelings: excitement. Memories of his younger years flashed through his mind. In a blaze of remembrance he saw all the countless stories, comics, TV shows, and movies from the world he left behind. It told the same tale, the culmination of his childhood dreams: the hero, against all odds, defeating the evil that threatened the world, and riding towards the sunset with the love of his life in his arms.

He stood up, staring with renewed determination at the world in front of him. Two absolute truths now governed his life, his new purpose: the love of his life is waiting for him back in their world, and he will stop at nothing until he is in front of her again, asking for her hand in marriage. He swore this on the ring clutched tightly in his hand.

“Wait for me. I’ll be there no matter what it takes,” he announced, raising his fist towards the heavens, declaring his personal war against whatever existence will try to prevent him from going back home.

He placed the ring in his coat pocket, patting it as it lay across his chest as if to safeguard not only the ring but his heart as well. First of all he tried to think about his strange circumstance, pondering over what to do. From memories countless role-playing games he understood what the strange floating text on top of the ring meant: it was an item description screen. Steeling himself against the pain in his head, he struggled to grasp a coherent recollection from his hazy memory. Images flew in a jumbled cacophony. In the end he discovered something strange about his recollections. He can remember random pieces of his old reality, from pop culture to movies, books and conventional education. But any attempts to recall details specific to himself and his personal life instantly shatters his thoughts into an inconsistent mess, like some sort of neo-modern surrealist painting; a memory Frankenstein of incomprehensible nonsense. He knew with certainty that he loved **** and wanted to marry her, but trying to remember anything other than that leads to jarring pain and chaotic thought-streams, as if that part of his mind was a scratched, heavily dented CD that played with difficulty, if it didn’t corrupt the machine it was playing on.

It hurt his heart not to be able to think of her. Instead, he decided to use what he can from his memories to help him survive and succeed in this new world. The item description screen is the key, he thought to himself. He needed to know just how much of this world is influenced by RPG elements, and how he can use that to his advantage.

He decided to test this theory out. “Status screen!” he shouted.

*ting!* He jolted back as his vision was suddenly filled with a familiar yet eerie information screen.

Basic Information Attributes Status information Class Name **** STR 11 HP 350/350(+.0043/sec) none n/a Level 4 AGI 10 MP 140/140(+.0033/sec) Class none VIT 13 SP 39/41(-.0002/sec) Age 22 INT 18 PHY ATK 16-18 Sex Male DEX 10 PHY DEF 11 Race Human INS 16 MAG ATK 24-26 Experience 400/3000 MAG DEF 14 Condition normal Weight Limit 2/41 kg

It showed everything. Instinctively he understood all the details of his Basic Information, Attributes, and Status Information bars. He understood that race affects the average longevity of a person, rate of experience accumulation, speed of acquiring classes and skills as well as the growth rate of attributes per level up. He knew as well that his attributes have complex effects on his status. Strength or STR directly impacts his physical attack, or PHY ATK, but he also knew that it almost impacts his Weight Limit or the amount of weight that he can safely carry. He knew that going beyond 50% of his weight limit increases the rate of his stamina degeneration as well as slowing his overall movement and attack speed. In the few moments that it took to absord and grasp the information in front of him, the young man was already able to form a conclusion regarding his overall status.

“It’s… pretty weak.” he mumbled. He nervously read through the description, more information appearing as his eyes focused on each detail. However, even with the discovery of his status screen, one thing was evident: he has neither a job class nor skill that would help him survive this world. He is, no mistake about it, just a regular human in a world that had RPG elements. At level 4, with no weapon or combat abilities, he would probably be killed in an encounter with hostile creatures more powerful than a single goblin. If the little goblin didn’t kill him first. Despair wrapped its icy tendrils on his heart as the gravity of his situation sunk in. He looked wildly at his surroundings, paranoia settling in as his mind created monsters out of shadows, creeping slowly towards him from every direction. His body shook in anger and desperation. He has to survive this forest. He has to go to civilization. He needs to acquire power to protect himself. And above all, he needs power to go back home.

“I can’t die here,” he swore angrily. He stomped the ground angrily, grass crushed into the earth with each kick. "Fuck! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! Damn it!” He roared in frustration.

There must be something I can do, The young man thought desperately. Some secret to this place. A hidden cheat. An OP skill. A guardian angel. A game master. Anyone, anything that can help me survive in this place, or better yet allow me to go back to my world. I need POWER. I will give anything for it.

DO YOU DESIRE POWER? A voice rumbled inside his head, driving all thoughts and emotion away by sheer force. The young man shivered as the voice boomed ominously. IT CAN BE DONE. POWER UNIMAGINABLE IN YOUR POSSESSION. ALL YOUR HEART'S DESIRE WITHIN YOUR GRASP. FOR YOUR NAME AND FOR YOUR SERVICE, I CAN GIVE IT TO YOU.

“Y-you,” he stuttered. “You will give me power and I can go back home to her? What do you need my name for?” he asked, fearful and hesitant.

NAMES GIVE POWER. YOU WILL HAVE POWER, BUT I WILL HAVE POWER OVER YOU. YOU NEED BUT SERVE ME AND YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN TO YOU LOVED ONE. IF YOU PAY MY PRICE. It thundered. The young man waited in the deafening silence that followed.

“My name for power,” he said quietly. He made up his mind. “Whoever or whatever you are, as long as you fulfill your end of the bargain, I will do anything and everything you ask,” he answered to the voice.

DONE. The voice exploded in his mind. Darkness swallowed his consciousness as white flames consumed him once again.

He woke up a couple of hours later in waning light of the afternoon. His headache was gone, and for the first time in what seemed like forever his mind was lucid, his thoughts clear and wiped of distraction.

“Status,” he said, certain of what he would see.

Basic Information Attributes Status Information Class Name Zero STR 11 HP 350/350(+.0043/sec) Name Level Level 4 AGI 10 MP 140/140(+.0033/sec) none n/a Age 22 VIT 13 SP 36/41(-.0002/sec) Zero Variable* 1* Sex Male INT 18 PHY ATK 16-18 Race Human DEX 10 PHY DEF 11 Condition normal INS 16 MAG ATK 24-26 Experience 400/3000 MAG DEF 14 Weight Limit 2/41 kg Skills Name Level Description MP Cost n/a n/a n/a n/a Return to Zero* max Allows user to consume souls of sentient beings. User is able to access the class, skills, and memories of consumed souls. Consumed soul adds its total HP, MP, Stamina and attribute points to user n/a

IT IS BUT A SEED. The voice echoed in his mind, the thoughts slowly fading slowly away. CHERISH IT, GUIDE IT, AND LET IT GROW. KILL ALL THE GODS AND TAKE THIS WORLD. YOUR NAME IS ZERO, AND YOU SHALL BE MY CHAMPION. The voice vanished with its final instructions, and all that was left was a young man sitting on a small hill, a hint of a smile present on his face.

“Excellent,” the man reborn as Zero said in grim satisfaction.