Little Toys

"As most of the viewers know already," Zorhellian proclaimed loudly, "Tonight marks the beginning of the 12th round of the Storyteller Games series! For our poor, dear participants, I will explain what this means."

The demon began to slowly pace at the front of the stage, gesturing with the white tip of his black cane. "The Storyteller Games involve sending participants into Story Worlds -- now I won't bore you with the mechanics of this, just take it as being a part of my signature magic. There, you, the participants, will be assigned roles to play in the Stories! All you need to worry about is living out your role while working towards your goal~"

"Both your role and your goal will be described to you at the start via a rudimentary 'System,' a kind of nonphysical magic convenient for the purpose. With it, details about your role and goal can be referenced at any time simply by giving mental commands. It's easy enough to use, and, well," he said, his grin splitting his head in half, "Even if you find it too difficult to use, it's all the more entertaining for us!"

He paused dramatically for laughter, but there was only silence. 

"The first and foremost rule of the Storyteller Games is this: participants must live according to the roles they are given and work towards their assigned goals. To assist you all with this, you will be given appropriate… hmm, modifications, shall we say? Of course, this includes the System magic, but~ hohoho, there's more! Old viewers know what this means but I'll leave the discovery of such things to you~" With that, he wiggled his fingers at the viewers teasingly.

"Now! For the other rules. Only one participant can trigger the 'End' of each Story, and anyone who survives until a Story's 'End' will be taken to the next! If there is only one survivor of a Story, however, this round of the Storyteller Games will come to an end and that participant will be the winner!"

"Leaving aside such an eventuality, there will be 5 Stories in total. If, at the end of all 5 Stories, there is more than one surviving participant, there will be a battle to the death over who wins! Alternatively, forfeit is available, though this part of the Games will be conducted in isolation and you will have no way to know whether the others have forfeited or not. There is even the possibility that everyone might forfeit! In which case, there will be no winner, and the game will end regardless."

"Ah, and I forgot to mention. Since we have so many participants this round, for the beginning Stories, we will have several instances of each Story! It's no fun if thousands of individuals take part in one Story all together from the start, so you'll be split into smaller groups and sent into Story instances separately! If any instance finishes more quickly than the others, that group will be given leisure time in between~"

"Now! Without further ado, I'll send you right off into your first Story! Play well for me, little toys~"

----

Alesha groaned, feeling sore all over. She was lying flat on her back, arms spread wide, soaked shoes and socks uncomfortable on her feet. The sun beat down mercilessly from above.

[You seem to be waking up in unfamiliar places a lot today.]

She startled awake, realizing Rogork was right. "What? Where am I?" She asked, voice hoarse. Alesha sat up and rubbed at her eyes before realizing her hands were covered in sand. She looked around.

There were a few other people scattered along the beach, together with some driftwood and kelp. A blue notification window was hovering in front of her. 

*****

ASSIGNED ROLES: Marooned Student, Werewolf

ASSIGNED GOAL: Survive a week marooned on the island, turn 3 others into werewolves before 7 days pass. (Special penalty: 24-hour transformation if you try to turn the Witch Doctor)

ROLE-RELATED ITEM: Moon pendant necklace. When worn, allows intentional, controlled transformation for up to 30 minutes during the day or 3 hours at night. Resets at midnight.

NOTE: Everyone has a secret role and goal. For your safety, you are advised NOT to use your role-related item where others can see, and to keep it in your Inventory at all times!

*****

"Wait wait wait, forced 24-hour transformation?? Does that mean I'm actually a werewolf right now??!"

Looking down at herself, she realized that something she'd just barely started to get accustomed to was missing. Actually, it was a few "somethings." She no longer had wings, a tail, or scales in various places, and as she felt around with her tongue in her mouth, she realized her teeth were human! In disbelief, she pulled up her Status Window.

The section with her species, which before had said: "Species: Dragonchild youngling (Bloodline: Chaos Dragon)," now said, "Human (werewolf) [ERROR: temporary]."

She looked down at her hands, full of emotion. She felt like crying. For the first time in a while, she was human! Sure, it was only temporary and it wasn't like she was actually human (considering that she was a werewolf), but it felt like a miracle.

[You're pathetic,] the System hissed venomously. [Seriously? After all I've done to make you stronger and transcend human limitations, you're happy about this? I can't believe you.]

Alesha ignored the System's petty remarks. She wouldn't let its shallow mindset affect her mood, not when she was this close to human despite its best efforts. 

Perhaps this summoning wouldn't be so bad, after all.