[ PROLOGUE: "ADAM CASTLE, THE GAME DEVELOPER" ]
Think death. What do you think comes after? Do you think of a place like Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, or even Limbo? Or do you think none at all, that once people die, there'll be nothing but a fade to black.
For thousands of years many civilizations had their own interpretations on this. The Greek had Hades, the Christians had Heaven or Hell, and the Vikings or northmen believed in Valhalla---the place where people go after dying in battle.
For each civilization, they had a belief relating to the afterlife. And for each member, for each person that ever held life, they had their own interpretations layered above the other, and sometimes below, about said afterlife.
Adam, though named after the first man from the Bible, didn't believe in the Bible, and believed that human consciousness is programmed by a higher, much-evolved sentient being up above. Think robots, aliens, or other more advanced humans... not exactly that per see, but something akin to that.
He personally didn't know, because he hadn't yet died and didn't want to for the time being. He knew that he would die, everyone would, and that thought was scary; horrifying even. But he didn't want to die anytime soon.
He was in his early 20s and would like to experience the world more, explore more, do what he loved to do and not what he didn't want to. Adam was a free soul who loved games, which was why he pursued a degree relating to it.
Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (IT). Who would have thought that was a mistake? Well, younger him didn't think so, but the older, much more seasoned version of him, who was already in his fourth and last year, thought so.
[ "What do the letters mean, Adam?!" ] He thought as he kept coding away in his computer, in the middle of the night with bloodshot eyes that colored his normally dark-blue shade.
Hunched like the titular Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimodo, Adam continued writing like his life depended on it, because, yes, it really did depend on it. His college, and future to be exact.
Because at the moment, he had made a blunder that even he didn't normally make. He had built his final program using the wrong script, and therefore needed to change it using another language.
It could take at least a week to do so. Which was already stressful enough. But Adam needed to finish it in under two days unless he wanted to repeat another year because of one measly, secondary subject that he didn't care about.
The subject was so relaxed that his other classmates and he had been riding their free time and doing their own thing. Because attendance was optional, and the Professor only required one thing, and that would be to code their own game. It didn't matter if it was low-grade, or top-tier, as long as they passed a game, then everything would be fine.
For others, at least. But for Adam, who had bitten off more than he could chew, he had actually coded a somewhat advanced, yet not that advanced game, that you could actually post on Steam and get a sizable player base interacting with it.
A game called "Build the Museum." Where the Player would need to organize (Yes, organize not build) a messy museum from scratch; with pieces from all prominent and noteworthy artifacts, relics, fossils, and even scripture of History scattered about all over the sizable Museum of History.
The player character would unlock skills here and there the more they cleaned the museum, the more they put relics from the Roman Empire under the Roman Category. Or artifacts from the Christian Mythology under the Christian Category.
Or Japan, Aztec, Ancient Korea, Ancient Egypt, Native America, Turkish, Persian, Egyptian, India, Stone Age, Pre-Historic Era, and many more.
The game was less of a "low-quality game that I developed to submit to my teacher" and more of a "this game will be famous, viral, and enjoyable enough for five to six hours-ish for players."
And it was, yes. It was the game that Adam worked hard on for days, memorized, and researched history for authenticity and accuracy. It would be published on gaming platforms and be his cash cow after college, which was the idea.
But in practice... was he even going to graduate college at all? Would he even get his degree that he worked hard on, sweat and bled for? He didn't know, and though the future might be grim, he didn't like not getting what he wanted.
Ever since childhood, he got what he wanted. Adam wasn't entitled; he didn't like entitled people. He didn't scream, he didn't cry, he didn't beg for toys that he wanted.
He had learned that from a young age, people could get what they wanted through hard work. You want to graduate top of the class, you study, you participate, you socialize. Which he did, and competitively at that, to the point of awe.
He wanted to buy a phone, so he worked for it doing odd jobs at his uncle's small grocery store, writing stories online on commission, and even saving up his allowance.
The point stands: Adam knew and did what it took to take what he wanted. For example, he wanted to graduate and finish his godforsaken course and leave it completely, never to look back again.
He had completed everything, the exams were done, what needed to be passed had been passed. So on and so forth, to the point that the only thing he needed to do now was walk the stage.
But how could he do that if one subject was giving him a massive, sizable chunk of a headache due to the Professor's vague, and somewhat hands-off, laissez-faire method of teaching.
How did that guy even get a degree in the first place? Or even high enough, and well-connected enough to teach in a renowned college? Or not get fired after 6-7 years of teaching? It was absurd.
[ "I need a drink." ] Adam was no drinker; he didn't drink alcohol or wine. He did at occasional family gatherings, or parties whenever he wanted to hook up, but never day-to-day, and would not actively seek alcohol as he didn't like the taste.
But what he did drink were colas. Coca-Cola for example, which he loved, and kept a stash at all times like a necessity inside his small refrigerator. Standing up, he made his way to get one, yawning while rubbing his eyelids for the nth time.
He felt tired. More tired than usual. Adam had been coding for hours on end now, having abandoned sleep entirely for the sole purpose of completing his game; he would also not attend class tomorrow as that was but a formality at this point, the exam had been done and all.
The only class that he would need to worry about was on Wednesday, two days from then, where Professor Adolf would ask everyone to submit their works to finalize their grades.
His other classmates had done theirs, even though some had coded in the wrong language on the first try. But because theirs were much easier to make, they didn't have a problem in simply tweaking their game before finally finishing, losing sleep for a day or two at most.
A luxury that Adam didn't have.
He was silently beginning to think that his Mom was right when she told him to pursue Law instead, or his Father who wanted him to be a writer, and write books. But then again, he didn't find joy in either choice and didn't care.
He would have likely succeeded in either choice, whatever it may be, as he had great memory and could easily put into use what he learned. But he didn't care about legacy and such; his parents were already doing fantastic work in their own field, so he would do his own thing instead.
Even though doing his own thing meant he would need to leave his comfortable home, live in a small apartment near the campus, and waste away typing code for a game that might or might not work out in the long run. Either way, it was his choice.
Though dizzy, tired, and with dark circles under his eyes, to the point that others might mistake him for a panda, Adam continued pursuing what he thought best, and was about to type away.
[ "That's more like it." ] Opening the can of soda, Adam felt relaxed hearing the thing fizzle, about to drink from it. He didn't know why, but he felt a sudden weight encompass his whole being.
And for his body to feel weak, his steps inaccurate with his vision blurring more than usual. He felt like shit, for lack of a better word. And under the darkness of his room, he recognized that he was in trouble. "Oh shit..."
Seconds later, he felt his eyelids shut even though he tried to fight it with all the strength that he had. And for his body to disobey him, falling on the ground face-first, with a loud... [ THUD ]
Adam didn't know what was happening. His senses flickering in and out, his body unmoving no matter what he did; it felt like sleep paralysis, an uncanny feeling. [ "What the fuck is going on?!" ]
He panicked, fearing for the worse. He thought his nervous system had shut him down. Which was bad, because it meant he would die. In the middle of the night, living alone, no one would come to help.
No one would call the ambulance for him and get him medical help. His best friend could abruptly come, but that was a rarity; he had kicked out Felix days ago because of his coding mistake, and the chances that he would come back were slim to none.
Panicking, he thought about his family's panicked expressions. His parents occupying the frontier of his thoughts, he didn't want them to be disappointed, or worried, or sad. That would be a failure on his part as their son.
[ "Wake up, man! Wake up!!" ] Though he could no longer hear the ambience of cars passing by in the distance, he still tried to force himself up, which seemed to be working somewhat.
He could curl his right thumb, which then spread out to his other fingers, as it spread out to his hand itself, then his wrist, so on and so forth. Adam fought back, until eventually. "I'm awake, S-shit!"
Until eventually he could speak again, his voice somewhat dry due to dehydration and lack of sleep, which could be called abuse by some. Like a shock to his nervous system, he felt alive again.
Though that might sound weird, that was the truth. As he finally opened his eyelids, his sharp dark-blue eyes scanning the place that he was in, the intense red veins trailing across some parts as his relieved expression turned into confusion.
"Wh-where the fuck is... is this?!" Adam exclaimed, realizing that he was no longer inside his cramped, somewhat sad little apartment. But was instead inside a sizable, somewhat spacious wooden shack; which he didn't recognize no matter how long and hard he looked around.
Trying to find out where he may be, which he subtly thought to himself as the afterlife, but hadn't fully accepted. Adam noticed that the shack was somewhat empty, with no decorations around, except for a chair and table that he recognized as his, plus his old, beaten-up computer.
Before he could do so much as approach it, or tilt his head in confusion. A voice, a feminine, somewhat robotic voice sounded deep inside his head. A voice that wasn't his thoughts, which scared and awed him; followed by a somewhat translucent bluish text. "What...?"
[ CONGRATULATIONS PLAYER FOR BEING CHOSEN TO USE THE GAME DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM! ]
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[ FUN FACT: "The Game Development System's main objective is to assist the Player in developing games through easy-to-understand means. And secondly, to absorb as much data as it could for feedback and to eventually develop itself." ]
[ 10/11/2026 ]
[ 10/12/2026 ]