Ch-2 Chaos
Alex pressed 'Start' and the screen changed again.
A miniature version of him appeared on the screen—with no clothes.
"What the! Have they used some new technology?" He tried changing it, but it seemed that wasn't possible.
He saw there was a clothing option. Opening it, he found only one outfit available.
"What kind of clothes are these? Pure white from head to toe." He noticed a mask option too. Like the clothes section, there was only one mask available.
The mask was also white, with a creepy red smile on it. He wore it anyway—he thought it looked kinda cool.
Then he clicked on 'Map.'
A map popped up with the title: Forsaken World.
"The designer didn't even bother to make a real game map. They just copied the real world map."
He clicked 'Open,' and the map zoomed in until an island appeared.
"Japan... is the setting, huh."
His character appeared on the screen, standing among distant mountains.
He moved the character, and the movement was incredibly smooth.
"Damn it! How is this game unknown?" Alex was surprised—the graphics looked almost real, and the game ran perfectly with no lag at all.
The background sound was also so realistic, it felt like he was really there.
He opened the 'Status Window,' and a blue screen appeared.
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Name: Alex Grey
Level: 0
Title: Player, Otaku
Class: None
Affiliation: None
HP: 100 / 100
CP: 0 / 0
Stamina: 30 / 30
EXP: 0%
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⚔️ STATS
Strength: 2
Agility: 2
Endurance: 3
Intelligence: 5
Perception: 3
Stat Points: 0
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- Skills
- Analyze (Lv. 1)
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- Quests
- [Main Quest] End the Era of False Peace
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He studied the window, and he only had one thing to say.
"F*ck."
Alex looked at the title Otaku and felt like his privacy had been invaded.
But he ignored it, thinking it might be a joke from the game developers.
From the window, he realized he was currently weak as hell.
CP in the game stood for Chaos Points, unlike most games that used MP. Right now, he had zero.
He didn't understand how to gain CP, since it didn't seem tied to the Intelligence stat—making him wonder what that stat was even good for.
Stamina was related to Endurance—3 points gave him 30 total. Perception helped detect enemies more easily.
Strength and Agility were self-explanatory. He also had a skill: Analyze, which helped identify things, though its effectiveness depended on its level and the player's level.
He noticed the Main Quest listed. Curious, he clicked on it for more details.
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- Quests
- [Main Quest] End the Era of False Peace
This era is false. If nothing is done, the world will end without a chance to fight back.
The Shine of Death holds the key. Venture inside to complete the quest.
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"Shine of Death, huh? Where will I fin—" Alex paused as he looked at the corner of the screen.
Moving closer, he saw it.
Old stone steps climbed up a quiet mountainside, partly cracked and covered in moss. At the top stood a faded red shrine gate, leaning slightly with age. The wind was still, and the only sound was the soft rustle of leaves.It felt like the gate hadn't been crossed in years.
Not knowing what else to do, Alex started climbing. Reaching the shrine gate, a description appeared.
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- Shine of Death: An old, abandoned shrine in Japan. ????
- Threat Level: Red
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"Threat level 'Red'? Does that mean it's not possible to clear right now?"
"Hehe... good. I like hell-level difficulty games the most." Alex grinned at the glowing screen, his face creepy with excitement.
He crossed the gate. The clear sky disappeared, replaced by a red moon that illuminated everything in crimson shades.
His HP began dropping—1 per second—meaning he had only 100 seconds before Game Over.
"Ahh…" Alex grunted, realizing there was no way he could clear the shrine in his current state.
"Fine. I'll just look around before I leave." Ignoring his rapidly draining HP, he explored.
Ahead lay an ancient shrine, half-hidden by mist. The courtyard was quiet, lit only by the blood-red moon overhead like a silent omen.
Paper lanterns swayed gently, though there was no wind. A broken statue stood at the center, its cracked eyes just open enough to make it feel like it was watching.
Just by looking at it, Alex could tell it was a mini-boss.
There were other buildings too, but his years of gaming experience told him the clue to clearing this area had to be somewhere here.
Suddenly, black flames burst into existence near him, startling him. They clearly had eyes and mouths.
They seemed to be speaking, but he couldn't understand them. He used his skill. A blue screen flickered above their heads.
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- Death Flame: ???
- Level: ???
- ?????
- Threat Level: Red
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"What the f*ck—!" Before he could act, they spat black flames from their mouths.
Game Over
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- Restart
- Yes
- No
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Alex clicked 'Yes' and reappeared at the starting point.
"Ahhh! Just you wait! If I don't kill at least one of you, my name's not Alex Grey!" he shouted in frustration.
It annoyed him deeply that he was killed without being able to land even one hit—it hurt his gamer pride.
Climbing once again, he entered the shrine gate.
The scene changed again, few sceond later black flames again lit but his time Alex was prepared he dozed the first wave of attack smoothly.
Climbing the shrine steps again, he crossed the gate once more.
The scene changed. A few seconds later, the black flames appeared again.
But this time, Alex was prepared. He dodged the first wave of attacks smoothly.
"If I know your attack pattern, even if you're high-level, I can still beat you," Alex said with a confident laugh.
But then he noticed something strange—his movements were slowing down.
"Huh?" Alex checked his status and saw he had received a negative buff.
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-Speed Reduction: Every 10 seconds, your speed declines by 10%
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Alex's face twisted as he watched the Death Flames prepare for a second wave of attacks.
With his speed now dropping, he knew he couldn't dodge perfectly again.
"Okay… I guess 'Red' really does mean impossible," he muttered, bracing himself for another Game Over.
But then he heard a scream—growing louder.
A green dot suddenly appeared on his minimap, among the red ones.
To be continued...