Chapter 1 Creation
Page 1
Seven in the morning.
The soft orange light of a newborn sun kissed the horizon, painting the sky with hues of peach and gold. The vast blue expanse stretched above, clean and vast, devoid of any trace of the pollution Jhon knew. The air, surprisingly fresh and pure, filled his lungs, carrying a subtle scent of damp earth and something indescribable, wild, and untouched. The only visible cloud was an ethereal brushstroke, lazily drifting in its wake.
Beneath the dazzling sky stretched an eight-lane highway, so immaculate it seemed just minutes old. The asphalt, a deep gunmetal gray, reflected the morning glow, without cracks, potholes, or any imperfections. The white paint markings dividing the lanes were so crisp they seemed freshly painted, perfect guides in an endless tapestry of roads. Along the sides, low shrubs, about fifty centimeters tall, formed a verdant hedge that stretched as far as the eye could see, dotted with small wildflowers in shades of violet and yellow, fluttering in the gentle breeze.
Jhon stood in the middle of Route 4, feeling the slight roughness of the asphalt beneath his boots. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten there, but his trained mind quickly processed the surroundings. His eyes, a piercing, icy blue, scanned the landscape with the efficiency of a scanner, absorbing every detail. The silence was almost absolute, broken only by the whisper of the wind and the soft rustle of foliage. There were no signs of other people, no vehicles, just the empty road and lush nature.
Suddenly, a translucent 25-inch screen materialized before his eyes. It wasn't hovering in midair, nor was it distant; it seemed to be embedded in his own pupil, but the optical illusion projected it in front of him, like a futuristic HUD. At the top of the screen, in clear letters, it read:
STATUS
SHOP (BUY/SELL WITH OTHER PLAYERS)
AUCTION
ADD FRIENDS
GROUP CHAT (UP TO 200KM)
LOCAL CHAT (UP TO 200KM)
WORLDWIDE CHAT (ONCE A DAY)
Jhon barely had time to absorb the information when a voice, sweet and childlike, yet tinged with mischievous amusement, echoed in his mind. The voice wasn't the same one that had summoned them to the game, not the imposing voice of the "God." This one was different, closer, almost intimate.
"Hello, Jhon! Good to see you here! Looks like the big guy is up to no good again, huh?"
The voice laughed, a silvery, bell-like sound that, despite the bizarre situation, was strangely captivating. John, despite his training to suppress emotions, felt a twinge of curiosity.
"What are you?" he asked, his voice hoarse and flat, his eyes fixed on the screen.
"I'm Loli!" the voice replied with almost childlike enthusiasm. "A system within a system, so to speak. A deity whose name I can't reveal—laughs—chose me to guide the best player on Earth. And guess what? You were the chosen one, Jhon! An ordinary human being is all three, but you... oh, you've almost surpassed human common sense. That's fascinating!"
Jhon processed the information. "Best player? For what?"
"To prevent the destruction of Earth, of course!" Loli exclaimed, as if it were obvious. "This 'game' is the ultimate test. If you pass, your civilization has a chance. If not... well, the big guy doesn't have much patience with failure."
The HUD screen changed, revealing a detailed character sheet worthy of a complex RPG.
Character Name: Jhon
Race/Species: Human
Class/Profession: Assassin, Spy
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Height: 1.85 m
Weight: 84 kg
Alignment: Neutral (if you don't get in his way)
God/Deity: N/A
Main Attributes/Characteristics
Strength (STR): 5
Dexterity (DEX): 5
Constitution (CON): 5
Intelligence (INT): 5
Wisdom (WIS): 5
Charisma (CHAR): 5
Hit Points & Resources
Current Hit Points (HP): 100/100
Maximum Hit Points (HP): 100
Magic/Mana/Energy Points: 0
Armor Class (AC) / Defense (DEF): N/A
Skills/Abilities:
Murdered and Espionage
Attacks & Weapons
Main Weapon: N/A
Damage: N/A
Properties: N/A
Secondary Weapon: N/A
Damage: N/A
Properties: N/A
Unarmed Attack: N/A
Damage: N/A
Equipment & Inventory
Armor: N/A
Shield: N/A
Backpack: N/A
Essential Items: N/A
Potions/Consumables: N/A
Money: N/A
Special/Magic Items: N/A
Special Abilities / Magic
N/A
Personality & History
Personality Traits: Expressionless, Calculating, Cold.
Ideals: Survival, Efficiency.
Links: None known.
Flaws/Weaknesses: No mercy, Lack of human emotions.
Background: Born and raised in a CIA and MOSSAD experiment to create the perfect agent. Trained to be a killing machine, without fear or emotional weakness.
Loli's voice continued, ignoring Jhon's silence. "Well, this is your file! It gets updated as you progress, you know? And now, the best part! It's time to choose your starting vehicle. But it's not your choice, it's luck! The big guy likes a good suspense."
In front of the token, a holographic image of a perfectly carved six-sided die spun slowly. It was transparent, with the numbers 1 through 6 engraved in gold, glowing softly. Jhon reached out, his expression neutral, and touched the virtual die. The object began to spin faster, the numbers blurring in a swirl of light. When it finally stopped, the number four was face up, a pulsing golden glow.
"Oh, what luck! Number four!" Loli exclaimed, her voice brimming with infectious excitement. "That means... a tour bus! Surprised? I would be too!"
Jhon watched impassively as the air in front of him distorted, rippling like water. Slowly, as if materializing out of thin air, the shape of a vehicle began to take shape. First, the dull sheen of rusted metal, then the jagged contours of the body. Within seconds, a tour bus, its paint peeling and dents everywhere, sat on the road, as if it had emerged from the bowels of the earth itself. The vehicle was an older model, with a dented hood and a warped grille, but the windows and doors were intact. However, the interior was spartan: just a worn driver's seat, a large, faded steering wheel, and the gearshift. There was no radio, air conditioning, or heater. It was pure, functional junk. The rusted license plate barely made out the number, but Jhon knew it wasn't relevant. What mattered was the number the System had assigned, not the one visible.
"Remember, Jhon," Loli's voice echoed again, "the fuel the big guy left in this beauty will only take you 100 kilometers. And the maximum speed for all vehicles is 40 kilometers per hour. No matter what you drive, the rule is the same. Oh, and be careful at night! Monsters love a good... human snack."
The voice faded into an echo, and the HUD screen showed a countdown timer in the lower right: 11:59:59 PM. The countdown seemed to refer to the 24 hours of security mentioned by "God." Jhon approached the bus, opened the driver's door with a metallic creak, and sat down. The upholstery was torn, and the spring bounced a little, but it was a seat. He turned the key in the ignition—which, miraculously, was there—and the engine coughed, sputtered, but finally caught, releasing thick black smoke from the exhaust. The smell of gasoline mixed with rust and dust filled the air.
Jhon shifted into first gear and stepped on the accelerator. The bus lurched, but began to move along the immaculate road, leaving behind the dust and silence of the morning. The journey had begun. His icy eyes swept the road ahead, taking in every detail. The vast sky opened up, and the landscape, though beautiful in its simplicity, held the silent promise of unknown dangers.
Page 2
The sun continued to rise, bathing the endless road in an ever-increasing light. The landscape, however stunning, repeated itself in a mesmerizing monotony. On either side, the fifty-centimeter-tall bushes stretched for miles, an endless hedge that hid whatever lay beyond. The sound of the bus engine, a constant, rhythmic murmur, was the only thing filling the silence of the surroundings, apart from the distant rustling of the wind. Jhon, with his analytical and pragmatic mind, observed every detail. His eyes never tired of repetition; on the contrary, they searched for patterns, anomalies, anything that might indicate a change, an imminent danger, or an opportunity.
After about an hour and fifteen minutes of driving at a constant speed of 40 km/h, the small radar embedded in the dashboard—the vehicle's only modern technology—emitted a soft beep, a discreet beep, barely audible above the engine's roar. A red dot appeared on the radar's small screen, indicating an object 300 meters ahead.
"Box," Jhon muttered to himself, his voice hoarse. Loli's information about the supply boxes immediately came to mind. He knew the object would be one of the boxes containing essential survival items.
The bus approached slowly, the engine straining to maintain speed. Two hundred meters away, the box came into view. It was a wooden box, about fifty centimeters on a side, light brown in color with well-defined grain. A faint light emanated from it, a pale, intermittent glow, like a cell phone screen on standby, almost indistinguishable in the morning sunlight. It was parked on the edge of Via 3, slightly off the shoulder, as if deposited there by an invisible hand. Jhon steered the bus to the right, crossing two of the eight lanes, and gently stopped a few meters from the box. The screeching of the brakes was the only interruption to the distant birdsong.
He stepped off the bus, his tall, slender silhouette contrasting with the horizon. His movements were precise, economical, each step calculated. There was no rush, but there was no hesitation either. He approached the box, his eyes scanning the surrounding area, searching for any sign of danger, any movement in the bushes. The area was quiet, deserted. The smell of earth and cut grass was strongest here, mixed with the faint metallic odor that seemed to emanate from the box.
The wooden box had a simple lid that appeared to have no locks or latches. Jhon reached out and opened it, revealing the interior. The light pulsed brighter now, illuminating the contents. As Loli had said, wooden boxes were the least rare. There were three items in total, arranged neatly, and an aura of subtle energy emanated from them.
Jhon, remembering Loli's words about the items and the voice she had mentioned "50 times" or "improve," stared at what was in the box. The first item was a one-kilogram package of rice. The second, a one-liter bottle of mineral water, its label intact. The third, a polished metal pin, the size of a thumb, engraved with a small engine. This, Jhon assumed, was the car part.
"You have a choice, Jhon!" Loli's voice echoed in his mind, now with a more formal tone, as if activating a specific function. "Multiply by 50 or enhance? Choose one for each item found!"
Jhon considered quickly. Multiplying rice and water 50 times was essential for survival. The car part... he'd need more of them to upgrade the bus.
"Rice and water: multiply by 50," Jhon thought. "Car part: multiply by 50."
In a flash of white light, the bag of rice and the bottle of water multiplied into 50 bags of rice and 50 bottles of mineral water. The metal pin transformed into 50 car part pins. The space in the box was now completely filled, and the items overflowed slightly. Jhon felt a slight tremor in the air, as if the system itself were adjusting to his choice.