Level: 1

  Skills: None

  Darkness… Like an everpooling lake of ice, no matter her struggling the liquid like inky blackness consumed her till there was nothing left. When she opened her eyes Mae found herself standing in that same darkness although this time it felt as if she were on solid ground. Standing in complete nothing, in complete silence was a harrowing experience. *DING* A glowing screen appeared about 6 inches from Mae’s face. “ Welcome chosen. You shall now begin the competition” Mae had but a few seconds before the darkness became light. All she thought to herself was “what in the?” Before she was completely cut off of thought and speech.

  When the flashbang that was the light had subsided into a more manageable level Mae found herself completely engulfed in what felt like a wave of people. But it wasn't, it was a line, single file, as she was continuously pushed forward. To what? She had no clue. No clue how she got here. What that darkness,that light and whatever that translucent screen was. Last thing she remembered was walking through the College Campus back to her apartment then the darkness. Mae looked around as she was continuously jostled by the pushing of the people.

  Not people, or at least not Humans, stood all around Mae as the line continued to form longer and longer. It reminded her of orientation day all those years ago. She was quite nervous that first day of college. Not really standing out in high school Mae was determined to make a name for herself. Being the first born of immigrants and the first in her family to get an education at the collegiate level. She was nervous meeting all those new people, the same kind of nervousness that is now bearing a pit into stomach at this very moment.

  Taking in a few deep calming breaths Mae began to look around at the massive swarm of whatever was happening around her. Eyes wide she took in the sight of the creatures surrounding her a writhing mass of vines that vaguely looked humanoid, A pile rocks stacked on top of each other, a small green skinned creature with sharp pointed ears. None of this could be right, Mae thought. She must have slipped on some ice, she must have hit her head. Yeah that was it. This is all some kind of traumatic head injury. Some kind of a medical emergency.

  “NEXT!” a voice called out in front of her. Without realizing it Mae had gone with the flow of the foot traffic and was now at the front of the line. “NEXT!!” the voice repeated. Mae had finally looked up and saw the shimmering outline of a creature. They were sitting at a long wooden table that seemed to extend infinitely in each direction. This fuzzy outline sat every five feet attending to each individual who walked up. Mae stumbled forward as the person behind her pushed her towards the table. “Name?” The outline asked.

  “What..?” the incredulous Mae responded.

  “Your name, miss?”

  “Um.. Mae.” Mae responded.

  “Ok Ummae. Any surname.” the shape at the table said.

  “Oh no My name is Mae.” Mae hastily blurted out. “My surname is Wong.”

  “Ok Mae Wong and your species is Human. Is this correct?” the almost methodical creature asked.

  “Yes?” Mae looked around confused but then realized why she was being asked this. From what she could see Mae seemed to be the only human in the room.

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  “Alright, You’re all signed up. Please open your menu and see your assigned skills and stats. Move onto the next room and once everyone is signed in we will begin the proceedings.”

  “I’m sorry Menu? Skills? Stats? What's happening here?” Mae, whose head was swimming with all these new terms, continued to ask quizzically.

  “If you do not know how to open your menu just move along and all will be explained when we begin” the voice responded in kind.

  “Move it kid!” a voice from behind Mae shouted at her. Looking back she saw a translucent blob like creature that was leaving a trail as it moved toward the desk. As she turned back to the fuzzy shape that same screen that appeared in the darkness popped up in front of her face. Although this time it was at the bottom of her vision with a red arrow that was pointing off in a direction. Mae yelped. Trying to swat at this screen her hand made contact with nothing as she spun in a circle trying to get rid of it. But it remained there, the arrow locked as if fixed to the direction it was pointing originally. Alongside this 2 other items appeared in her vision. The first,a block of text appeared with a voice accompanying it “Quest Accepted. Move Along”. Then came the explanation “Follow the arrow and proceed to the next room.” The text sat there to the right side of her vision and on the left were two bars. One red and one blue neatly stack on top of each other. Above it all was Mae's own name and a number “Level 1”.

  So much information flooded into her mind that once more Mae found herself absentmindedly just wandering. As her vision tried to adjust to the now ever present information she followed the arrow without even knowing it. Until she ended up in a massive open field like space alongside all the other creatures. As her eyes moved back and forth reading the information line by line more and more knowledge was being absorbed. 15,then 20,then 30 minutes passed by without Mae realizing it. Eventually text that read “HUD Tutorial complete! Would you like to continue?”

  The screen in front of Mae shut off and the ever present information was no longer there causing her eyes to take in the space she ended up in.

  “ATTENTION CHOSEN” a gruff voice rang out through the crowd as if it was amplified through a speaker(although none was to be found). “It seems our selectors were over zealous when picking chosen for this year's competition.” The voice continued. “We require that a few of you return to where you came from.” “So who would like to?” the voice asked.Before Mae could even think, off in the distance a few flashes of light appeared in the crowd. Followed by some screams and then the man continued. “Perfect now that we are down to an even Million Chosen we can begin the proceedings.” “ Ahem..” the man cleared his throat. “Welcome chosen to the eleventh annual Selection Games.” “ All of you have been chosen from your respective worlds. Each of you has a wish so grand, that you out of everyone in your own worlds were chosen to participate in the games.” the man continued on. “ A million people, a million unique worlds. Only one of you.” “Be the one to win and have your heart's desire granted. Now for the rules.” the man began to explain.

  “Each of you should be familiar with your menus by this point. But if not just say the word “MENU” or the name of the sub menu like “INVENTORY” or “SKILLS”. However, if that's too embarrassing for some of you can also access the menus by clicking the drop down with your finger on your HUD or Heads Up Display.” more explanation continued to follow. “Now the rules of competition.” the man's voice dropped to a more grim tone. “ Get rid of your competition any way possible. Be the last to stand here in this arena and you get your wish.” The Games will take place over the next year. At the end of every week the remaining Chosen will return to the arena for a challenge.” A murmur started over the crowd. “Quiet down please” the man’s voice rang out. “ There are some caveats, this arena and most towns are considered “Safe Zones” which means no combat between Chosen may occur without penalty.” the man tutted like he was shifting through papers of his pre-written speech. “In a moment you shall be scattered across the world as the games will begin. Remember to be the last to stand and win it all. You will be given access back to your menus before you are whisked away. Make sure to review any missing information that you may want. But other than that, do your best!” The voice disappeared as the murmurs began to rise as Mae heard the people around her shout for their menus. Mae looked around the HUD for the aforementioned buttons. She finally located them as she felt butterflies in her stomach. She clicked the Skills button only to be met with one single line as the arena faded from view.“Cartomancy Level:1”.