Limit Sky

"Get up and tell us your name." A middle-aged woman hoisted me up even though she had seemed inclined to let me catch my breath. I quickly looked around me in stupor as I discovered to be surrounded by numerous men and women of varying ages. They stood out quite a bit as they were the only bits of color I could see, the rest of my vision being filled by a white horizon. "Are you deaf?". I realized I still hadn't answered the woman that looked awfully familiar to me: "Fan Yu, I'm 24.".

"Chinese?". A man with large metallic shoulder pads and what resembled a mace in his hand asked abruptly before flashing a surprised face and turning his head to talk with a young man. "Peter! Shut your mouth, it's my turn to ask questions!". The woman in front of me gnashed her teeth and shouted towards the man named Peter. She rapidly calmed down and began questioning me: "Tell me about your job, hobbies, knowledge of Limit Sky, and any other information that might boost your importance.".

I blanked out at her words: "Limit Sky? Did you just say Limit Sky?". Her eyes betrayed her quizzicality to my questions: "Well yeah, that's where you are. What kind of question is that?". At her words, my mind assimilated with my surroundings and truly went blank: 'What the fuck? That can't be possible. Why the fuck am I in Limit Sky?!'. I began sweating heavily at what that truly entailed, my eyes darted to the faces that I could discern, looking for anyone that I might know.

And to my despair, I did recognize some of these people. Not personally of course, but they were famous Limit Sky challengers, it was obvious I knew what they looked like: 'Sophia Mille, Aar-Khan Seryi, Akane Tokugawa, Peter Carter...'. Slowly, dread started filling my heart, what I had learned from Limit Sky media about the fate of most newcomers made me want to throw up.

"Wait, don't tell me... You're an Unwilling?". Her eyes opened wide and she took a step back, almost stumbling on her feet. "This is a special occurrence, I'll take the matters in my own hands Julia, the points will be on my tab.". A blonde man appeared from thin air a few meters away from me, my mouth was wide open when I saw him: 'Esteban Riviera, I can't believe I'm meeting such a legend.'. The shock from finding out that I was brought into Limit Sky clashed with the awe I felt in this moment to produce an incomprehensible sound coming out from my mouth.

"Fan Yu, do you desire something from Limit Sky?". His green eyes pierced my soul and I couldn't stop myself from blurting out an answer without thinking about it: "Nothing, sir. I was content with what I had.". I was weirdly calm, his soft smile soothed my heart and it seemed like I could completely depend on him to shoulder all my burdens and fears. And now that I thought about it, it's true that there was no reason for me to be sent here, I had a good life on Earth.

I was a software engineer on my way to enter a big corporation with a good salary to boot, I was seeing someone I knew back from high school and it was going fairly well. Limit Sky couldn't have been farther away from my daily routine, and anyone in my entourage would have surmised the same about me. It was a land of opportunity and extreme danger, I couldn't put enough emphasis on the associated risks.

"Then, Fan Yu, what Unique Skill were you granted with?". Esteban's eyes had a hint of anticipation in them as he calmly asked me to look at my Status. Status, a human's existential statistics, basically Limit Sky converted your bodily and mental abilities to numbers to better help you understand how strong you were. I, at the very least, knew the basic stuff about Limit Sky as it had long become compulsory knowledge in modern educational systems.

[Name: Fan Yu]

[Race: Human/Earth/Milky Way]

[Health: 24/24]

[Stamina: 16/16]

[Strength: 8]

[Vitality: 10]

[Agility: 9]

[Intelligence: 12]

[Wisdom: 13]

[Charisma: 10]

[Luck: 15]

[Skills: Persevering Heart (Unaccepted)]

A panel appeared in my mind the moment I concentrated on seeing my Status, I knew what the different stats did thanks to my basic knowledge of video games, but I knew they had a much deeper meaning in Limit Sky: 'I should have listened in class instead of fooling around.'. It was too late to cry now: "Persevering Heart (Unaccepted).". I told Esteban exactly what I saw in my Status, I had no reason to hide it as I knew I could trust these people with all my heart.

"Well, accept it, nobody's going to know what it does until you tell us.". He laughed after crossing his quite burly arms for someone of his stature. I hesitated a bit even though I was strongly inclined to listen to what he told me to do, after all, accepting it would be like accepting the situation I was in. The fact that I would become a challenger of Limit Sky, that my name may stay in the annals of history, or that I'll become another name on the Stele of Failure.

Oh, now that I think about it. I didn't properly explain what Limit Sky is, it's basically the best entertainment in the universe if you go according to how it's advertised. Yes, advertised, Limit Sky is currently broadcasted to the entire planet in every language to maximize viewership, that's why famous Limit Sky challengers are even more renowned than actors or models. Concurrently, companies were built around Limit Sky, selling goods that are brought back by challengers, merchandise promoting certain monsters or enemies that the challengers encountered in the past.

I mean, it's obvious that a whole industry would be created around Limit Sky as it has been 70 years since the first challengers were brought into Limit Sky. We call them the Front-runners, their names are marked in gold on the Stele of Failure, the latter being a menhir the size of 20 mountains floating in orbit around the Earth, its purpose is to record the names of all who have died in Limit Sky, thus failed as a challenger.

Anyways, I was conflicted on whether I wanted to go along with what was expected of me from not just the people around me, but every single person of Earth or not. It was a pressure unlike any I had ever felt before, being known as the only challenger to have given up on this opportunity so many desired, I wouldn't be able to handle it. My head spun and I unwillingly accepted to become a part of this new world.

[Persevering Heart has been branded onto Fan Yu]

[...]

[Status updated]

It felt like someone pouring mercury into my veins, a strange and uncomfortable sensation that I knew nobody would know how to properly describe. I shook my head and was about to inform Esteban about what Persevering Heart did but he stopped me: "Before you tell us anything, I would like you to help us make you trust us. It's a common practice when a new challenger arrives.".

The weirdness of being called a challenger enveloped me and I bashfully nodded, Esteban beckoned with a smile towards a young woman draped in an azure dress with golden frills, something I'd expect to see on a pop idol at a concert or something of the sort. She had short red hair and a coquettish look which badly contrasted with her youthful air.

"You called me, Esteban?". She accentuated parts of her words while looking directly into my eyes, her hand brushing back her hair awkwardly, she seemed unaccustomed to acting this way. "Pandore, could you please stop trying to imitate Sophia? You're too young for this kind of thing.". The young woman named Pandore blushed and stomped on the ground, it would have looked cute if she wasn't baring her fangs towards me.

Yes, fangs. Her teeth were much too sharp to look like a human's, it was more akin to a shark, though they were short enough to fit inside her mouth. A chill permeated my body as I knew I had to get used to things like these, Limit Sky challengers would, for the most part, look less and less human as time passed, it was inevitable. "Yu, would you be okay with Pandore here checking out your Status? Be aware that it'd mean she'd know almost everything about your body and mental statuses, it's like being stripped bare and presenting your deepest secrets to a stranger.".

I gave my assent and closed my eyes only to hear a stifled laugh from the woman named Pandore: "No need to be so formal, it's not a rite of passage or anything of the sort.". I was about to rebuke her only to be stopped in my tracks: "Doesn't matter, I'm done. Esteban, a word?". Her demeanor did a complete 180°, she now had a strict voice and an assertive tone that made my heart skip a beat. I stood there, at a loss for words.

.

.

.

"What's wrong with him?". I was a bit tense, Pandore only acted this way when she's in battle. To be totally clear, I was ready to strike the newcomer down at a simple wave of her hand if it meant protecting the team: "You don't have to speak this quietly, he can't hear us, I took care of it.". My eyes briefly darted towards the young man a few meters away, I immediately surveyed what I could garner from his looks. Words popped up in my mind in rapid succession: 'Meek though strong-willed, eyes that tremble yet always look ahead, he seems like the kind of guy I'd be friends with in a workplace environment. Trustworthy but caution needed I'd say'.

"Are you done checking out the recruit? I think what I'm about to tell you will give you a better portrait of this guy.". Something weird was about to come up, I just hoped it'd be a good omen: "Fan Yu, age 24, he's human and an average one at that. His stats are pretty balanced with an inclination towards mental abilities, the sole thing that sticks out is his highest stat, which is Luck.". I smirked, Luck was a rare stat to have at a high number when you started out: "I'm not finished. It's true that a guy like him is pretty rare but what's reassuring is that there's a high chance he'll be useful thanks to his Unique Skill."

"Right now, this skill allows him to heighten any of his stats for a certain cost. The details don't matter, all you need to know is that he can put points into Luck.". Her eyes sparkled as she went on, and so did mine I think. A guy like him would prove to be a great Support: "That means we can have another Healer, are you sure he's fit for that?". Pandore disagreed: "No way we're wasting his talent on being a Healer, we're making him a Handler. When I did a cursory check on his psychological situation, I saw that he was a complete nutjob.". Her teeth were showing as her excitement peaked, I couldn't say the same for me though. Saying someone could be a Handler had a heavy meaning behind: "There's no way I'll let a crazed killer cover for us. Making him a Handler is too risky!".

Pandore took a step back from the pressure I had unintentionally emanated, I exhaled and kept myself in check: "Esteban, I know it's a dangerous gamble, but you and I both know how important a Handler is to any team. He'll be a valuable asset and... You can take care of him if he ever goes overboard.". Her words trailed off towards the end, I knew she felt bad saying things such as this but she was right. I steeled my mind and turned back towards Fan Yu, a smile plastered on my face: "Good news Fan Yu, we're already assigning you a role.".