Death
A young man about the age of 20, fairly tall, has a noticeable acne problem on his face but mostly on his neck.
He was in his parent's basement doing what any other man would do, doing Minecraft videos in vr and uploading it to Youtube. There was a computer set up not too far away from him, which let him record his gameplay in Minecraft vr.
"Oh god, why am I doing this to myself. This challenge is torture."
Will is currently doing a challenge that he thought would net him some views, playing Minecraft for 24 hours straight while in hardcore mode in vr.
He had tried to play vr with mods, but playing regular Minecraft in vr is proving to be a nuisance alone.
His only goal right now is to become a famous Minecraft Youtuber.
"I have been playing for 23 hours and 10 minutes. Just 50 minutes left. I am going to attempt to kill the Ender Dragon right now in hardcore mode. Everyone watching, wish me luck." He downloaded something on the vr to tell him how much time he has been playing since the beginning of the challenge.
Will's voice was devoid of life, not a hint of emotion could be heard in his words. He sounded boring to listen to and he wasn't a creative person to begin with. Like listening to a boring english professor.
His house in Minecraft was made up of wooden planks and some dirt on the walls. That is how Will built it in the beginning of the challenge, and hasn't made the slightest effort to change any of it. It was a 10x10 house with 2 floors filled with many chests, a crafting table and some torches. There were only 2 furnaces and so on.
It wasn't just his house that was plain, his other buildings were also plain too. Will thought that since he only had 24 hours to complete this challenge he shouldn't worry too much about the design, as long as it had a bed and could protect him, he didn't need anything else.
And also he sounded like a boring professor at a high school, who was giving a boring lecture that nobody wanted to hear.
The reason he sounded boring, is because that is how he is. As much as Will wanted to be a famous youtuber, he failed to have the charm to do it.
So far, he only had 35 subscribers, and most of his videos only have less than 1k views in them, his most viewed video having 1.4k.
This video is not live streamed as many people would expect, that is because even Will didn't believe that he would have survived that long. Which is why he wanted to edit the video or try again and avoid the embarrassment of failing a challenge in front of a live audience.
"Now we are here, at the End." Will was decked out in full enchanted diamond gear with a trident and a bow, and also had golden apples with him and 2 god apples, and a water bucket. This is before the nether update.
"Brother… are you seriously still doing that stupid challenge?"
A young voice of a kid spooked out Will. That kid is his 7 year old brother, Nathan.
"Nathan, not now. I am so close to finishing the challenge, now please go away." Will could not afford any distractions, imagine dying when he was so close to being done.
"I can see you are in the End in hardcore mode VR. Wow, that is actually pretty good." Nathan could not help but praise his brother for reaching the End in 24 hours in hardcore while in VR, not something many people could accomplish that.
It wasn't because Will was good. Only God knows how many times he had to repeat this challenge.
Nathan could see Will playing on the computer screen that was connected to the vr headset.
Most people in Hardcore would just dig a hole under them and not come out. Anyone who plays Minecraft would know that if you die in Hardcore once, it's over.
"Thanks, but please go. I have to kill the Ender Dragon."
"You couldn't have done this challenge with the rl craft mod? That would give you more recognition."
"Do you think I am God? No one can defeat the entire game in rl craft in less than 24 hours while in vr. Now go!" Will raised his voice higher as he was pissed and angry. He was getting a bit cranky due to lack of sleep.
Will had not slept during the entire 24 challenge. Wasting even a minute could hinder his character's progress, or so he thought. He wanted nothing more than to gain fame by doing Minecraft videos. And also because he couldn't sleep.
"When was the last time you slept?"
"The same time I had my last shower… which is like 3 or 4 days ago?"
"Did you not take your sleeping pills?"
"No, Mom." Will said in a sassy tone.
"Um… is this challenge like a warm-up or something? For the real thing? " Nathan asked after he took a good look at the computer screen, he didn't mind Will's attitude.
"What do you mean- OH GOD!!!" Will was flung up high by the Ender Dragon, so he quickly placed water underneath him with a bucket just before he hit the ground, thus saving his life. His reflexes are good despite playing in vr.
"Are you supposed to be recording?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Because… the recording screen... You are not recording anything."
"..." when he heard those words come out of his mouth, Will felt his limbs were numb, his mind was blank, and something struck him hard on the inside.
There is nothing more upsetting and infuriating than a youtuber to have done something and not being able to record it. Will could not even see it because the VR headset impeded his vision.
It's like when a author wants to write his book, only for something to come by and delete his entire hard work.
"What did you say?"
"The computer screen says 'not enough space available. It stopped recording on the first hour of your challenge.'"
At that point, the Ender Dragon flung Will off but this time he flung him so far back that he fell into the void and died.
Will did not react, because if what his brother said was true, then all of this pain and suffering he went through the last 24 hours had been for nothing.
"Sorry, Bro." Nathan did not feel anything for Will, not because he was glad that he did all that work for nothing, but because Nathan felt that Will's future as a youtuber will not go well, he's 15 years old and he already knows better than Will.
Not many people who want to be a youtuber will make it to become famous and rich. Some do make it, but what are the odds?
Nathan left Will alone to his own devices.
Will sat down on a swivel chair that was behind him. He was silent for a moment. He flung his controllers angrily at the floor, which didn't crack but were indeed damaged. Indeed what Nathan said was true, his computer stopped recording in the first hour of his 24 hour challenge.
"Dammit." Will began to cry a bit. He felt that even the Gods were against him being a youtuber, not really because it was his fault for not checking if his computer had enough space available.
It was the only computer in the house, and everybody in the family used it for work, school, or games. Will took up most of the space because of the many games he had downloaded. The rest used laptops or tablets.
He knew from the bottom of his heart that he is not a good youtuber, but many other youtubers had inspired him to be one, like MrBeast, Pewdiepie, CaptainSparklez, Smosh, Dream, and so on.
With Minecraft rising from the grave like a Phoenix, Will knew that being a Minecraft youtuber would make him popular.
He never had friends, so he couldn't play with anybody. His brother knew how to play, but he was too young and preferred Fortnite over Minecraft. Someday Jonathan would regret making that mistake.
He did have a girlfriend, but she broke up with him recently. It wasn't because she preferred a rich man. It was entirely Will's fault that she broke up with him.
And he knew that his appearance would not help him gain views. In a world where looks only matter, Will knew that his appearance would only push people away. He also judged people before he got to know them.
Trying anything else would not be any good, because Will had no other skills but to play video games, and his skills are only so-so compared to actual pros in youtube.
He had tried many other games like Terraria, but his videos were not as popular as the ones he had uploaded about Minecraft.
"What was the point… even if I did complete that challenge, at most I would probably only get like 2000 views…"
"Maybe what Jonathan said was right. Doing the challenge in rl craft would be better, but it is so hard… but that is the greatest thing I have ever played in a long time."
Will thought about it. Despite only playing like 60 hours of rl craft, he had fallen in love with it. But that still didn't mean that it wasn't tough to play. And some keyboards and mouses were smashed in the process.
Feeling tired of this, he was about to take off the vr headset, take a shower and keep playing games despite showing obvious signs of tiredness.
Then, all of a sudden, there appeared big bold letters in front of his screen. They were not only red as blood but the words were literally dripping blood. The entire screen was black and nothing could be seen, except those letters.
Will scratched his head, was that a mod or something?
"Nathan, not this crap again."
Will had many reasons to believe that his brother was up to this. One time Nathan downloaded a Herobrine mod on his server, and it actually scared the shit out of him, only to find out Nathan did it sneakily. If it weren't because Nathan failed to control his laughter, Will would still believe that Herobrine actually did come to haunt his computer.
It wasn't only a one time thing, Nathan had downloaded more creepy things into his other video games, sometimes even sabotaging his character and the items he worked so hard for.
Of course, Will also had his revenge by dressing up as Pennywise and hiding in his room. Clowns are feared by most children, and Will can completely agree with that.
And also, he blamed himself for Nathan being so mischievous. He too had his fair share of pulling pranks not only on his brother, but also his classmates and such.
The big, bold, red letters read:
{FOR A PRICE, HAVE THE CHANCE TO PLAY THE GAME LIKE NEVER BEFORE AND BE REBORN}
{YES. }
{OR.}
{NO.}
"I swear, if something pops out of nowhere, Nathan, I will do worse than to scare you with a clown costume."
Will hesitantly clicked no, afraid that it might be a trap.
{FOR A PRICE, HAVE THE CHANCE TO PLAY THE GAME LIKE NEVER BEFORE AND BE REBORN}
{YES.}
{OR.}
{NO.}
Will clicked 'no' again but nothing happened. He kept on clicking 'no' repeatedly but nothing happened as well.
Then, he clicked yes.
{WHAT PRICE WILL YOU OFFER?}
{________________________}
"This is getting stupid… but I wonder what Nathan downloaded this time." In order to counter Nathan's pranks, Will had studied and memorized most of the mods in Minecraft, at least the ones that Nathan was most likely to use against him.
Since he had never heard of this weird mod before, he at least wanted to see what was gonna happen.
"Price… price… let's try this… 1$ hehehe." Will smiled as he typed his offering, he is cheap to begin with. He had at least 60$ in his bank account. Besides, he did not believe that it could actually deduct a dollar from his account.
{THANK YOU!}
"Okay… I did not expect this." Will was too tired to continue with whatever crap he thought Nathan was pulling.
He massaged his eyelids gently. Wearing a vr headset for almost an entire day can be painful and annoying.
The area around his eyes was almost black from lack of sleep. His eyes were read from staring at a screen for 24 hours. Will grabbed a coke and drank it to keep himself awake. The coke had been there for many hours and tasted flat. There were also various other drinks lying around in his room but were all empty.
He then walked towards his computer and continued to play video games to get rid of the anger that was in him.
Whenever he got pissed at Minecraft, he played Terraria instead, or whenever he was bored he would play RL craft. For some reason, he loved sandbox games more than others. He just lacked the creativity to create amazing structures. Not that playing those games required building techniques. As long as one finds a game fun and entertaining, then nothing else matters. He got some tips from Mumbo Jumbo, and his building techniques improved a bit.
*Yawn* He stretched his arms in a lazy manner. He was extremely tired but he still didn't go to bed.
*ding*
He received a message from his phone. It came from his ex-girlfriend, Cassandra.
{Are you okay?}
Even though they stopped seeing each other, they were still friends in a way.
Will hesitated to reply as he still had feelings for her. But now that she knew he read her message, he had to reply back.
{I'm good. Why do you ask?}
{Did you not read the news? Dozens of students have disappeared since last night. They are all gone from the face of the Earth}
{You mean like kidnapped?} Will replied.
{No... it's unnatural. I'll send you a link. I just wanted to make sure you were okay}
{...}
Will clicked the link and it led him to another website.
It was the news website. While during quarantine, kids would literally disappear out of thin air only to never be seen again. There were over 90 cases. Police officials believe that it's the work of a large criminal organization, but without any proof or leads, they were not too sure where the children were, or how they were taken, or the motive behind it all.
It seems at least 90 young people between the ages of 13-18 were being abducted.
There was a single mother who cried in front of the cameras and begged for her two children to come back to her alive. As if she believed that the kidnappers would be listening to her, she offered them money for her children's safe return.
The only thing that the police and even FBI could connect about these children, is that they all went to the same school.
There was also another strange connection. It has been discovered, exactly 100 years ago, several teenagers had disappeared without a trace, same as this time. The same thing happened 200 years ago, and also 300 years ago. It seemed like something or someone took a massive amount of people every hundred years.
"That's freaky." Will recognized those students, because they were his own classmates. He did not know all of them, as it was a big school. It was so freaky.
'Will I also be kidnapped?' He thought, but dismissed it as impossible, but was still afraid of the possibility
He put his phone down and continued playing games. The year 2020 is not a good year for humanity.
"Man... I'm so tired. Maybe I should just take a nap." Will could not even focus on his game anymore.
The sleeping pills were in a drawer beside his bed. He got up to get it, but his entire vision turned white. A very bright light illuminated the entire room. It was a light that appeared from the ground in a large circle, it looked like a summoning circle from many other isekai novels.
"What the fuck?" The bright light blinded him completely so he didn't want what it was, all he knew was that it was very bright. His room was dark and his eyes were not accustomed to light.
But since Will was blinded he did not see where he was stepping. He accidentally stepped on a can of coke, and rolled over. He hit his head so hard on the corner of the desk, which was made out of solid wood. There was a noticeable blood stain on the desk.
The bright circle disappeared
At that time, Nathan came downstairs with a tray full of food.
"Hey, Mom says it's time to eat… Will? Bro?" Nathan saw Will on the ground. At first he thought he was asleep or something, as it isn't the first time Will had fallen asleep on the cold, hard ground.
Will's body was facing down, so Nathan did not see the bloodstain on his head. Since it was dark and the blood blended well with the desk, Nathan did not see it.
"Come on, Mom is going to get angry if you pull another prank on me." Nathan pushed Will's body but no signs of movement could be seen.
"Will? This isn't funny." Nathan thought that Will was pulling off a terrible joke on him by playing dead.
Nathan used his puny strength to nudge Will's body. And he saw a bloody pool on Will's head.
"MOM!!!" Nathan felt scared and ran upstairs to his Mother.
In another place, Will got up. The sunlight hit his face which made his eyes ache.
"Did I pass out again?" This wasn't the first time Will had passed out.
"God, my head hurts." Will felt a great amount of pain from his head, like a terrible headache. After a while the pain subsided.
Will got accustomed to the bright light… then he remembered something.
His parent's basement barely had any lighting, his room was only lit up by a small lamp. He actually preferred it that way. It is supposed to be dark, so it wouldn't make sense that his room was bright.
And there was also a light breeze of fresh air, he hadn't been outside much because he is on quarantine.
After getting used to the light, he saw something that wasn't there before, a thick forest surrounding him.
There were only thick trees, leaves, and the sound of birds chirping happily.
"The hell?"
Will somehow thought that he was still wearing the vr headset and grabbed his face, only to feel nothing on it. There was no headset or anything. This was real.
"I am… having a lucid dream. Makes sense." Will had a good reason to believe that. Will has trouble sleeping and would have illusions and see things that aren't real, as if he had taken illegal drugs.
Will would have trouble falling asleep and would prefer to play video games all night. Most times, he would hallucinate and it is becoming a problem for him. It is not because he didn't want to sleep, but because he actually couldn't for some reason.
In fact, Will has such strong hallucinations, that he literally thought at times he had reincarnated in other anime worlds and became the hero of such worlds. He had even written several fanfictions about his experiences. They were not that great compared to the works of the legendary 'DemonGodHiatus.'
He has been to the hospitals before and has taken some medicine to sleep. But he would drink that with either tapped water, coke, or beer. (Not recommended at all. Drink clean water with your pills and nothing else)
That worked a bit, but that didn't stop his parents from trying everything else, like soothing music, massages, therapists, drugs, and so on.
His condition is called 'insomnia' and it is a very common thing that most people experience. However in Will's case, his condition was worse than most people.
Will acted as if this was something normal. He had accepted the fact that he had been having these illusions that he had accepted it as part of himself. His insomnia started when he was 17-18 years old. Ever since then, he did not have a good night's sleep. And when he did sleep, it would only last for a maximum of 2-3 hours.
It is said that those who don't sleep for more than 2-4 days straight can have strong hallucinations. Will had indeed slept several days ago, but it was only a short 3 hour nap. And even before that, Will could not sleep well.
The average sleep that a human needs is at least 8-9 hours. Any more or less than that could result in health problems.
Sometimes he would forget to take his sleeping pills. Those pills sort of worked, but they at most let him sleep for a few hours.
After his hallucinations are over, he will find himself either awake on a hospital bed, or wake up in his own filthy room. But mostly his room especially in times like these.
His parents already saw him as a lost cause, and no one blamed them, not even Will. Will was already over 20 years old, and his life is that of a pig. Were it not because his parents loved him and cared for him, he would be on the streets long ago.
And also, Will only did the challenge in the first place because of 2 things, fame and money.
Others call it hallucinations, but Will calls them 'lucid dreams' because he could literally do anything he wants to in his world.
Bang a hot anime girl?
Become insanely OP?
Have infinite wealth?
Kill humans and gods God of War style?
He could have all of those in his illusions as if he were dreaming.
Will examined what world he is 'dreaming' of now. Sometimes controlling your dreams is difficult and you just have to go with the flow.
He noticed that there were words and numbers floating on top of him.
{HP: 50/50}
"Okay, that is new."
Will treated it as another lucid dream and didn't think much of it. It is like a dream and everything just seems normal to you no matter how weird it may be.
And there was also a brown book on his hand. He doesn't remember picking it up. Was it there on his hand the whole time, and he didn't notice it? Back at school he would never touch a book and would rather secretly play games
Just as he was about to open it, a sound disturbed him.
*Flap* *Flap*
Multiple noises of birds flapping their wings were flying away from him. Loudly chirping as if they were running from something.
*Snore*
Will felt a warm gust of air hitting his back. He also heard a low and loud vibrating noise that he could feel all over his body.
Fear struck his heart. It was like having a bad nightmare.
Hoping that it is nothing, he turned around expecting there to be nothing, but he was dead wrong.
Behind him, was a red dragon. It had a large horn on it's nose and several, smaller, red spikes on its head going all the way down to it's back and tail. It's wings were so big that it could be mistaken to be moving mountains, and it wasn't an exaggeration.
It's entire body was covered in red scales, with it's stomach covered in greenish scales.
Will had never seen such a lifelike Dragon. It couldn't even compare to the Dragon from the Hobbit movie, well maybe a little bit.
Even though he believed it was a dream, fear still struck his heart. It was like having a terrible nightmare. He couldn't even move his arms or legs. It was like he were a statue.
Then, the red Dragon spoke in a loud voice.
"Ukay Shro Meno?"
"Wh-wha-what?" Will had no idea what it said. Heck, he wasn't sure if it was even speaking to him at all, like a Dragon from Skyrim.
Instead of a response, the Dragon opened up it's mouth, which was full of thousands of sharp teeth, it was a foul smell, like a thousand corpses were decaying on his teeth.
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
And it ate Will completely, killing him almost instantly.
For a moment, Will could see nothing but complete darkness. He felt the pain of those teeth impaling his body. Like being crushed by giant spears.
This is the first time he felt so much pain ever since he started hallucinating. Sometimes he would trip or hit something and it would, but it was nothing compared to what he is feeling right now.
Then, the bright light of the sun completely blinded him. It was as if someone had turned on the lights in a dark room. It is unexpected and blinding at the same time.
Will found himself lying down on something wet. He looked at his arms and was covered in sand and saltwater.
He got up, still scarred by that red-Dragon experience. He looked at his body and there were no wounds at all, but the brown book was on the ground beside him. He could still feel that red-dragon crushing his bones with its teeth.
Will sighed in relief as he looked around. There was no sight of a Dragon nearby.
"Those damned dragons. It's just like RL Craft all over again."
He touched the water and sand and rubbed them together on his fingers. It felt so realistic, as if it was real. No illusion he ever had was it so lifelike.
"Something tells me I am not hallucinating."
He looked at the vast ocean. Will has never been on a beach before. He looked at the other side, and it was filled with sand and nothing else but sand.
He noticed that he was not on a beach, but on an island, a very, very small island. There was nothing on the island but sand, seaweed, crabs, starfish and the vast ocean.
"Why am I here? I would much rather be at-"
*SPLASH*
A giant sea serpent came out of nowhere and ate Will whole, killing him instantly. Will didn't even know how he died. It was so sudden that he could not even identify the one who killed him.
Once again, he found himself lying on the ground but this time in a different place. He was now in some tall mountains covered by trees and snow.
His body trembled because of the intense cold. As someone who has never lived in cold areas, his body was not used to it.
Will hugged his arms to warm himself a bit. All he had was a pair of blue jeans and a thin shirt with short sleeves. What was weird is that the clothes he was wearing weren't his the last he was at his home.
He thought about going down and moving out of that area, but he saw several monsters down below. They were monsters that he had never seen before. Not only that, but he could only see snow everywhere with no sight of green anywhere.
Not wanting to take the risk of dying a third time, he looked around to hide somewhere that could help him escape the cold.
And wouldn't you know it, he found a cave. He ran inside the cave, and sat down near the entrance.
He didn't want to venture too deeply because he couldn't see how deep the cave went, and only God knew if there were monsters lurking in the cave he was in. The light coming from the entrance of the cave could only go so far.
If it weren't because of the cold or because of the monsters that were down, he would not have taken his chances in the cave.
Right now his teeth were cluttering on it's own, and he could see his own breath.
"It-it-it-it's c-k-col-cold… w-why a-am I-he-here?"
He did not know who he was talking to. Right now he hoped that he would wake up at any moment and find himself in the comfort of his home.
Most MC's at this point would feel ecstatic to find themselves in another world. They would be summoned in front of the King and asked to save the kingdom from a threat and blah, blah, blah you know how it goes. But, Will was a different case.
Apart from already dying twice to two huge monsters, and possibly going to die from hypothermia, Will would never want to teleport to another world, despite what many other people think.
Think about it, back in his home, Will had all the games he could play, all the movies he could watch, all the food he could eat. Why would he give up that live of luxury for something as dumb as having to transport to another world?
Will has seen one or 2 mangas about people reincarnating into different worlds. He would never understand why he would want that. He's not much of an anime fan, manga fan or anything like that. He would much rather control the character in video games, instead of watching other people's lives on a screen.
He felt shocks on pain on his body, like a jolt.
Looking up, his HP started to decline.
{HP 45/50}
{status: Hypothermia, slowness}
The jolts were from him taking damage.
"Pl-plea-please… m-mom, d-dad, hel-help me." Will just had no idea what to do at this point.
*Squish*
He heard a weird splashing noise beside him. The source of the noise came from a slime, not just an ordinary slime, but an 'ice slime.'
Will's attention was instead focused on the words and numbers on top of the ice slime.
{Ice Slime}
{HP 50/50}
Then all of a sudden, the book was on the ground, it glowed a bright green for only a second. That book has been with him since the beginning.
The slime was very cute. It's size could be measured as the size of one's palm. It even had small, dark eyes that reflected the light coming from the entrance of the cave.
Will found it so cute. It even had the exact same amount of HP as him.
"H- hey t-t-there, B-b-buddy."
However, the slime jumped on top of his legs, and his entire body froze. He literally couldn't even move a muscle due to being frozen like an ice statue.
Only the Ice Slime was unharmed.
{HP 20/50}
{status: Slowness, hypothermia, frozen}
That little slime did more than half the damage of his full HP and even gave him a frozen debuff.
{HP 15/50}
{HP 10/50}
Due to being frozen solid, his body started taking more damage from the cold than before.
{HP 5/50}
{HP 0/50}
And just like that, he died again.
Will now found himself in a grassland. The pain of dying all those times were still on his head. He started to get angry, like a kid who was about to rage quit.
"STOP IT WITH THIS SHIT!!!" Will could not take it anymore. He lost his mind and shouted at whatever was there.
Will hoped that the one who brought him here would hear him.
"WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE TO YOU?!?! I JUST WANT TO BE AT HOME! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK?!"
"I WAS JUST ENJOYING MY LIFE AND YOU DRAG ME HERE FOR NO REASON! TAKE ME BACK HOME NOW!!!"
He didn't even know if anyone could hear him. He was just doing a Minecraft challenge before all this happened. Will hoped that this is all just a nightmare and he would wake up at any moment.
Dying 3 times already, Will could not take it anymore. What was worse is that he could still feel the bite from the Dragon, the other time from the sea monster, and the coldness from the ice slime.
He could no longer tolerate any more deaths. It was just too much for an ordinary person.
After ranting for an hour he got sweaty and tired. Will is what one would call a 'couch potato'
Then he noticed the brown book on his hand.
After taking some deep breaths, he calmed down.
He opened up the first page of the brown book. This is what he read:
[Greetings, chosen one. I am not here to answer any questions you might have. However, I did write out some answers you might want to know]
[Yes, you are in a different world. This is a fictional world surrounded by Dragons, Sea monsters, slimes, everything you would like]
Will felt that the book was trying to make him angry. Never again are Dragons gonna amaze him, and never again will he ever underestimate a slime by it's cute appearance. As for Sea monsters, they had always scared him. There was something about the ocean that made him fear it.
{And fortunately, you cannot return home. You will now forever live in this world for the rest of your natural life}
"HOW IS THAT 'FORTUNATE!' I JUST WANT TO GO HOME! NOT ONLY THAT BUT YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME A CHOICE!"
Before he died, he saw the bold letters in his vr set. Even after pressing no several times before, it did not let him make that choice. He had to press 'yes.'
{The reason you were chosen was by chance. You died because you tripped and hit your head on your desk. Even if I did not teleport you here, you would have still died and your soul would have either been in hell or heaven by now}
{In short, your time was up}
Reading that piece of news, Will sat down. Was that true? Was he bound to die at the young age of 20 because of an accident?
Then he remembered something before dying. A bright light that came out of nowhere and blinded him, which caused him to die.
"But, it's not even my fault. Someone or something blinded me and made me trip and die."
There was no answer.
"This, this is fucking bullshit!' Once again raged by anger he threw the book and started vending his frustration.
After a while, only then did he start to relax.
Looking back, Will felt that he had wasted his entire life. His last remaining years were just him locked up in his room, playing games, watching movies, lazing around.
The last time he saw his parents, he didn't say anything to them. At that point in time they felt like total strangers instead of family.
He had distanced himself from his family because he would much rather play games in his basement, rather than to spend time with them. And this was before the world was quarantined.
"Mom, Dad, Nathan…" Will let out some tears. How he wished that he could turn back time and spend one minute with them. He didn't even say bye to them.
Will spent a solid 5 minutes crying.
He wiped off the snot and tears from his eyes using his hand. He continued reading the brown book.
[Do not feel bad, chosen one. Think of this life as a second chance in life]
{Now to explain the rules of who I am and what you are}
{First and foremost, I am the 'Crafting' system. The only system in the multiverse who creates, crafts, builds, and also destroys}
{You are the chosen system user}
{The powers you get are simple}
{You can die indeed, but you will respawn an infinite number of time. But still do take care of yourself. You might have infinite lives, but do not abuse it. Dying is not pretty. And also, if for some weird reason you happen to come across a weapon that can destroy souls, do not engage because you will not be able to respawn, and then I will have to find myself another sucker}
"..." Will.
{Secondly, I know you have played some sandbox games, so this should be easy for you to understand… Minecraft + Terraria = You}
{In short, imagine that Minecraft and Terraria had a baby, and you are that baby}
{Although some mechanics and things are different, you will get the hang of it}
{Third: the handbook you have with you will always be with you. Only you can see the book and summon it on your hand at will. To everyone else, it will appear to be invisible and they cannot even touch it. You can throw it away if you want, but it will always be with you}
{There is also a pen and an eraser that you can write with. You can write whatever you want in there. However, you cannot erase nor change what's inside the book already, as all of it is useful information}
{The brown handbook contains all the knowledge about crafting recipes, like weapons, potions, and many other things}
{Like Minecraft, it will tell you how to craft an item, and it will tell you anything about it}
{It will tell a weapon's damage output, durability. An armor's protection and if it has any special effects or such. It will also list out what an item does and so on}
{And also, there are many other recipes that you have yet to discover. After you have discovered those new ingredients, just by merely touching it, you will be able to craft it, only if you have the right materials to do it}
{The handbook has one other important detail, Bestiary. It will detail everything about every single monster you have ever encountered, including people and bosses and such}
{However, if you only encounter a monster, only half of the relevant information will be added to the book. In order to fully understand the monster, you have to either kill it or tame it. in some cases, the book will not write about monsters you've encountered, because you either need to kill it or tame it, but in other cases just by merely looking at a monster will the book write everything there is to know about its species}
{You do not need to use this method, as there are other ways. You can also get the details of a monster from a book or another person and the handbook will write it down for you. But if the information is wrong, the handbook will not write it down}
{And that is all}
{I will not be able to talk to you, as I am busy. If you have questions regarding the system, unfortunately you will have to find out by yourself. My schedule is tight. Be grateful that I have wasted all this time writing all of this information down for you}
That was all there was. Will put the book down and sighed.
"Today is a bad day for me."
First he dies by a dragon, sea monster, ice slime, and finds out he actually died back in his home. He can only imagine the pain his family must go through right now.
Most of his entire life was wasted. He always took the value of life for granted. It only took him this long to realize how life should be cherished.
Despite only spending less than an hour in this world, he had already missed his old life.
"Mom, Dad, Nathan… I love you all. I know you won't hear me, but thank you for all you have done for me. Such a useless son I was." Will began to get teary eyed again. He loved his family so much and took them for granted.
One truly doesn't appreciate what they have until it's gone.
"I may have wasted my entire life. But no longer will that happen. As from here on out, I will not waste my life."
He will never forgive himself for the stupid mistakes he did in the past. He will never forget about the kind parents he had, or the annoying but tolerable brother he lived with.
Will noticed from the corner of his eye, a tall building not too far away from where he was. Looking at it more carefully, it appeared to be a kingdom.
It looked so grand despite being a bit far from him.
Now he knew where he was going, straight to that kingdom with a goal in mind.
"After I become stronger, I will reign down death upon every dragon I come across. Slay every sea monster I see. And squish every slime I can find. And then, I will AAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Out of nowhere, he felt 2 huge claws carrying him off the ground by gripping on his arms. It was a giant eagle and he didn't notice it until now.
{Giant Eagle}
{HP 300/300}
"HOW CAN I GET LIVE MY LIFE IF EVERYTHING HERE IS TRYING TO Kill meee...!"
His voice faded as he flew away from the kingdom he wanted to go to. He tried to set himself free from the Eagle's claws, but found that he had no strength to free himself.
*SCREECH* The Eagle yelled.
He had no weapon on his body. And he couldn't even reach high enough to punch or kick the eagle.
After 5-10 minutes of flying, Will still struggled to get out of its grip.
Until, he had an idea.
He stretched his neck out and bit on one of the Eagle's enormous claws.
*SCREECH* The Eagle didn't expect a human to bite it, and it released Will from it's grip.
"Haha! I win! Oh crap!" Will forgot about the height the eagle had dragged him, they were about thousands of feet high up in the sky.
His only goal was to get out of the Eagle's grip. Somehow he forgot to take fall damage in account.
"SSSSHIIIIIIITTTTTT!!!!"
Will had never taken any skydiving lessons. But now he knew what it felt like to be a skydiver, without a parachute.
"EVEN IF I CANNOT DIE, I DO NOT WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS!"
He was going down so fast, due to the air it could not let him see clearly.
"PLEASE LET FALL DAMAGE BE DISABLED!"
*SPLASH*
Will did not die. Actually, he somehow managed to fall in a small body of water.
Will swam up until he could feel the air on his face. He swam until he was on land.
"Thank God, I'm alive. Finally, some good luck…"
*Chomp*
As if lady luck was jinxing him, a giant crocodile bit his arm off.
{Will}
{HP 20/50}
{status: Mining fatigue, arm loss, bleeding}
{Crocodile}
{HP 170/170}
"OOWWW!!!"
Will instinctively got up and ran away, not before he saw how the crocodile was happily chewing on his arm.
"THIS WORLD IS A NIGHTMARE!!!" Will kept running and running and never looked back. The pain of his arm being chewed off was unbearable, but fear and adrenaline made him run to wherever he could.
As so much stuff has happened to him, he wondered something, what the hell was actually going on here?
Shouldn't he have a powerful weapon by now that would make him OP? Or better yet, be born with a skill that would have helped him in other situations?
Shouldn't he have been summoned in a circle in front of a King or something? Shouldn't he have an actual system instead of a lame handbook guiding him? And it didn't even properly guide him.
He had no idea what to expect from this word, aside from the monsters that had already killed and kidnapped him.
He knows that he has the crafting system, but good does that do when wherever he goes, everything wants to kill him or eat him?
And also, he has no practice with it. How exactly was he going to use it?
This was the perfect definition of 'learning on the job.