Room

Lights flickered everywhere, as countless lanterns flew into the night sky. Below them, a decently sized village, where countless cheers and laughter came from – a festival was ongoing. The streets were full of food vendors and whatnot, and kids could be heard giggling all around as they chased each other with firecrackers.

Nearby, yet far away from all the busy streets, on a rooftop, stood a father and daughter. They watched the endless lanterns rise into the sky, as the father causally sipped from a cup he was holding. He had seen this view more times than he could count, but the girl? This was her first.

As she pointed up at an especially pretty lantern, and exclaimed "Look, dad, look, that one's purple!" the dad chuckled. He took another sip from his cup, then responded.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're all about purple, ain'tcha?"

The girl vigorously nodded her head, over the top, as the dad started laughing. He ruffled her hair as he spoke, "You little rascal, you're gonna break yer neck if ye keep doing that!"

Both of them were now laughing, as a firework flew up in the air and exploded into a wonderful combination of red, yellow and white. The two were looking up at it, the girl still in awe at the view. As the light from the fireworks started spreading all around in the sky, shining down on the ground, houses and people below, countless red horns could be seen all around. The girl with red skin, white hair, horns, and natural lines on her face couldn't help but chuckle at the fireworks.

The dad, smirking, simply took another sip from his cup as he looked down at all his fellow Oni people. As he did that, the girl pulled on his shirt and pointed upwards, even beyond the lanterns, "Dad, look, look!"

"Eh? Whatcha want now?"

The girl's face lit up like the fireworks from earlier, as she kept pointing. Her dad finally followed the finger, and noticed what the girl was pointing at – a bright, blue light in the sky, dropping down. It quickly passed their Floor, and descended down until fully out of their view. The dad let out a small sigh, "Haah... It's finally that time, then?"

"Dad, dad, will people come soon? Interesting people?!"

"Well, Nijiri... I think—"

A loud gasp, followed by quickened breaths and the rustling of clothes. With his eyes open, looking up at the ceiling, the man gently pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes, still not used to not wearing glasses. When scanning the room – which was filled with vines, as it was overgrown with plants – he immediately saw something – that K.J. from earlier, leaned up against a wall.

When he noticed that the man had woken up, he scoffed and started walking towards him while talking, "Wakey wakey, sleepyhead." then, when he got to him, he extended a hand. "Uh... Thanks..." said the man as he got up using K.J.'s help. Then, he looked around the room once again, but he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary – not even a door.

"Hey, so, erm... Mister... uh..."

"Kim."

"Eh?"

The man in black, who was taller than him, towered over him and looked him dead in the eyes with a death glare, then repeated himself, "My name's Kim. Kim Jaehyun. You better remember it."

"Right... Then, uh, mister Kim... where are we?"

"You?"

"Huh?"

"It's common sense to introduce yourself to someone you haven't met before."

"...Oh. Oh! I'm, uh, Felix... Felix Fox."

Kim nodded, taking a mental note of his name. Then, he too looked around the room, and clicked his tongue in annoyance when he couldn't see anything with his naked eye. Felix was still shaken up a bit from how they suddenly appeared in this random room with no noticeable door, so he cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Uh, mister Kim?"

"Mm?"

"You... Before, you seemed to know something about those strange people. How... exactly did you?"

Kim thought a second before responding, glancing at the sword sitting at his hip. He sighed, and decided to answer... Or, rather, dodge the question, "It doesn't matter. What does matter is that they're not exactly friendly. Nor good people."

Felix decided not to question further, as even he could figure out Kim wasn't planning on answering truthfully – based on the deadly expression he saw in his eyes. Instead, he focused on getting out of that damned room instead. As he scanned the room, something suddenly came to mind – something that, honestly, it was surprising they took so long to think of.

Plots.

"Mister Kim!"

Kim, who was now checking the ceiling for anything, didn't bother looking in Felix's direction and just asked, annoyed and coldly, "What?"

Felix loudly and excitedly exclaimed, "Do you think we have to use the system?!" and suddenly, a spark appeared in Kim's eye, as his gaze lowered towards Felix. He smirked, and crossed his arms as he spoke, "Not a bad idea. Drop the 'mister,' by the way."

Felix nodded, and now, the focus was elsewhere – figuring out how to access this system. As the two tested, they came to a few conclusions. It's not hand nor motion activated, and it's not mind activated either. So, left with no choice, they decided to try voice activation. Kim cleared his throat, and spoke in a awfully threatening voice, "Status Window." and... And...! Nothing happened. He cleared his throat again, nonchalantly, "Seems that's not it."

Felix used everything he had in him not to laugh, then tried a few phrases himself, though they didn't work either. Saying "system" is useless, saying "open" is stupid, and saying "Plots" didn't seem to work either. Felix thought long and hard for anything else, but not much came to mind. As he let out a frustrated sigh, suddenly, he got it.

"Kim! Wasn't the system called—"

A single, lonesome spark appeared right in front of his very eyes the moment he finished his sentence.

"—Blank?!"

Then, a blue floating screen appeared right in front of him out of the spark, quickly expanding. Felix clenched his fist and threw it away above his head with a "Hell yeah!" then closely examined the screen, as Kim also opened it up by saying "Blank." as well.

On it were numbers – numbers Felix recognized better than anyone else – that resembled what could only be described as a video game character window. Felix glanced at it for a bit, examining everything on it, trying to understand if it was good or bad. He could only go on what he remembered from his own works, and he soon came to the conclusion... his stats probably weren't the best.

[Felix Fox - Lvl 1

Class - ×

Affinity - ×

—

HP - 11/11

ATK - 6/6

ACN - 2/2

LUC - 14/14

AGL - 7/7

STM - 5/5

DEF - 3/3

DEX - 11/11 

Skills - Clear Vision; ?]

As he read the screen, over and over again, he understood most of it, except for some stuff – what the hell was that ACN stat, what is that '?' skill about, and what's Clear Vision...? Though, he already had an idea about it. As he kept pondering, he accidentally looked over in Kim's direction, and he too seemed immersed in his stats. And it was just as Felix suspected – he couldn't see another person's Blank.

He sighed, and by reflex, Felix waved his hand over the screen, making it disappear with a small blinking sound. He let out a small "Ooh." and then walked over to Kim, tapping him on the shoulder. Kim turned to face Felix, with an annoyed expression on his face.

"What is it?"

"Did you look at your stats? How are they? Mine—"

Before Felix could finish his sentence, Kim cut him off with a "No." before continuing, "I'm not interested. And you shouldn't go around telling people crucial information."

Felix considered what he said for a second, then nodded in agreement. After that, he shifted his focused to the room once again. Still without any goal in mind, he consulted Kim about it as he spoke, "Hey, so, any ideas of how we get out of here?"

"Mm. No."

Felix sighed internally, as his eyes started looking around once again. He still wasn't used to being able to, well, see properly, so he rubbed his eyes and slapped himself on the cheeks, to hype himself up. He opened up his Blank once again, and started scanning it. He was looking for something, anything, that he might've missed the first time – and he did find something. In the bottom right corner was a small arrow. Felix let Kim know and told him to step closer, as he pressed it. Then, the screen flickered, and it switched completely.

[Plot - Escape!

Requirements - Escape the strange room you happened to find yourself in! Use your knowledge, and other people trapped in there with you, to get out and begin your quest on The Line! Godspeed!

Failure Upon Completion - Termination.

Reward - Beginner's Guide; Line Pass.]

Both Felix and Kim read the text – each on their own Blanks – and came to the conclusion... that this was stupid. Felix closed his Blank, and was now, for the tenth billion time, looking around the room in hopes of finding anything remotely useful. Though, just like the last few times, nothing whatsoever. Kim, however, was still tinkering with his Blank. Felix couldn't see it, obviously, but he could see Kim's hands moving in the air.

Eventually, Kim muttered something to himself, then his eyes lit up ever so slightly. He looked over in Felix's direction, and spoke up, "This thing is voice operable." at which Felix, surprised, responded with a "No way?" only for Kim to nod. He continued, "Well, partially. For example, look – open up your Blank and say 'Team.' It should open up a whole new... uh, what is it... window?"

Felix opened up his Blank by saying its name again and then continued with "Team...?" to which the Blank flashed, then split into two right before his eyes. Felix punched the air, happy to learn more about this weird thing, as his other hand started swiping around. As the name suggested, this window was dedicated to a function called Team... or, a party system.

"Hey, so, uh... How does one send invites...?"

Kim shook his head and shrugged, as he too didn't know. After a few more minutes of swiping, Felix sighed as he couldn't figure it out. Just then, from next to him, Kim spoke up while looking over his Blank, "Felix Fox." immediately followed up by a pop-up noise on his own Blank, and yet another window.

[User {Kim Jaehyun} is inviting you in his Team! Accept?

Y/N]

Felix jumped a bit – mostly because that scared him, but also because they figured out how to work the Team system. He raised his hand towards Kim, hoping for a high-five, but Kim just started walking towards a wall. He began swiping his hand across it as he walked, with the occasional knocks. After doing that to two of the four walls, as he knocked, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"It's hollow behind this one."

Felix walked over – while pressing the [Y] button on his Blank at the same time – and knocked on the place Kim pointed out and another random wall. It was true – there wasn't anything behind there, as the sound was way off. Now, it was just a question of how exactly they were gonna get there. As his eyes kept looking over the wall, over and over again, he let out an annoyed sigh.

"This sucks... I can't see shit..."

As Felix's hand ran over the wall one more time, another similar pain – as before they were brought to this room – went through his skull, and the static noise appeared again in his ears, loudly. He dropped down on his knees, grasping his head, alongside groans and grunts of pain. Kim stood beside Felix, looking down at him, not worried in the slightest, until a pop-up sound and window appeared in front of him.

{Teammate [Felix Fox] is at death's door! They are in extreme pain. Stats reduced by 20%!}

Kim – suddenly a bit nervous – crouched down next to Felix, grasping his shoulder. He shook him a bit, while saying stuff like "Oi, Felix." and "You okay?!" over and over again, as he wasn't responding whatsoever. Not even twenty seconds later, Felix's groans started dying down – alongside his pain and the static noise in his ears. He was breathing heavily and he ran a of cold sweat.

Felix got up, barely, as his knees trembled slightly, and he grabbed ahold of the wall – or, the vines on it – to hold himself steady. He let out one last grunt and a hearty "Motherfucker..." then wiped his mouth with his sleeve, because some drool was dripping from it. Kim, now also up, crossed his arms and spoke, "You have any deadly diseases I should know about?"

Felix responded, as he steadied himself, "Nah... That's just been... happening lately..."

"What, just like that, you drop down in excruciating pain every once in a while?"

"...Kinda, yeah."

As Felix was gripping the wall tightly, and he looked over, he saw it – a small opening in it, where not even a finger could fit in. He pointed it out to Kim, "Hey, look! This... wasn't here before! A hole!" and Kim also took a closer look. He examined it, hand on his chin, then muttered "Keyhole...?" and Felix's eyes shined, as he was probably right. A wide, thin hole. No matter how you looked at it, it looked like...

"...A sword would fit perfectly in there!"

Kim snapped his fingers, and unsheathed his sword. It was glowing blue, as usual, but as there wasn't an enemy in sight, it was quite a calm, steady blue. He swiftly and precisely stuck it in the wall, yet... nothing happened.

"Huh... Well, it fits, sure... But..." said Felix, as he scratched his head. Kim grunted in annoyance and attempted to pull it out, but Felix stopped him, "Wait!" then quickly opened up his Blank. And, as he had guessed, the Plot had changed.

[Plot - Escape |2|

Requirements - Find a way to open this magical door... and do it by any means necessary! Godspeed!

Failure Upon Completion - Termination.

Reward - Beginner's Guide; Line Pass.]

"The Plot changed. That means we're doing something right."

Kim sighed, opening up his own Blank – his sword still stuck in the wall and glowing – before speaking up, "What do we do, then? How does one open a 'magical door'? Saying "Open sesame!" or something?" as Felix thought about it for a second. Kim had a point, after all – how do you open a magical door? After all, it's not like... they were... familiar with magic?

Magical door. Magic. What controls magic?

Mana.

Felix suddenly shouted, "Kim, don't you have a... fuck, what was it... Mana-Sword?! The elf said so!" as Kim seemed to light up a bulb in his own head. He turned his full attention to the sword stuck in the wall, and began concentrating, as the blue glow was getting more and more vibrant by the second – because Kim was concentrating mana in it.

Blue particles – or, mana – from all over the room started gathering around the sword, as the wall itself was now pulsing blue. Kim pushed his sword in even farther, but it was showing resistance. He was pushing with all his might, yet it was barely moving in. Kim tightened his grip, fixed his footing, and started screaming as the sword finally went in, all the way to the hand guard.

Silence followed for a second, before Kim pulled out his sword, and mana gushed out from the thin hole. It all hurriedly swarmed over to the two – but mostly Felix – then quickly disappeared into who knows where. Suddenly, the wall started violently shaking, as it opened up outwards. Right then, lots of wind came overflowing in the room, blowing Kim's hair and coat as he sheathed his sword, with a small "Bling!" sound and a blue glow. He turned around to face Felix, smirk on his face.

"Shall we go?"

Meanwhile, somewhere unknown, on a screen, two men can be seen leaving a small room, as the camera changed views. Right next to it, countless other screens can be seen – filled with all kinds of humans and monsters alike, yet all of them were still stuck in the same plant filled room – meaning no progress had been made. A hand reached out, and tapped the screen with the two men, which caused it to extend and grow. The owner of the hand tapped the two men on the screen, as two windows opened up next to it.

It started reading aloud, "Kim Jaehyun, what a powerhouse... Unstable, strong, and slightly mentally deranged... Uh-la la, a Mana-Sword on the first floor? Alcard really went crazy with the program this time around..."

As it read over Kim's Blank, clearly excited by the numbers, it glanced for a bit at Felix's. It sighed, and moved Kim's out of the way, bringing the other one in front of themselves. Once again, it started reading out loud, "Felix Fox... Blah blah blah, boring... These stats are awful... Eh...? Wait..." Then, it brought the Blank closer, its eyes wide. Over and over again, they scanned the Blank head to toe, as it spoke, shocked, "What is, what is, what is this...?! Why the hell did... Is Alcard crazy?! Two skills...! And {Sponge}, out of all?!"

As they closed the two Blanks and slouched down in a chair – again, seemingly made of nothingness – they let out a huge sigh and rubbed its temples, while still speaking, now annoyed instead of shocked, "Fuckin' Alcard... Making me watch these damn maniacs..."

Right as it was complaining to itself about their apparent boss, another screen started blinking, because another room was just unlocked, as three people were walking down a corridor – one carrying a sword around, one a bow plus some arrows, and one a staff.