He was on his feet...?
Subtle grey clouds drifted beneath him, slow and quiet, feeling like the softest water breeze brushing skin. He could suddenly feel without pain. No spasms. No locked joints...
He was on his feet! Not even in his dreams, when he had them, had he ever been on his feet.
The hall stretched around him, closed in and vast at once, walls lost in dimness where faint violet light clung. Arched gothic entrances ringed the space-- fifteen tall, pointed. Each doorway held a curtain of clear liquid, suspended upright like glass turned water. It moved in slow,hypnotic pulses, rising and falling without ripple enough to blur the shapes suspended inside.
A towering warrior in full armor filled one entrance--15 feet of brutal iron and intimidation, helm lowered, great sword planted.
Another held a mage, one hand on a gnarled staff and the other closely extended, with palm facing up.
To its near left was an archer, drawn taut, arrow nocked.
Luke heard his heartbeat beating, his breathing growing erratic. He could not understand what was happening.
This was a familiar scene. He has been here before, but at the same time he was just waking up to it.
The Career hall.
It was the second night after the game had descended. The first night was for the chosen 9,750 people. His landlord--yes his landlord! A man he had never seen before but somehow had already seen him and worked for him for more than ten years. The man made him his slave, working him off and ripping him off of time--yes time.
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He collapsed to the ground, he was overwhelmed. Not only does he know about this hall, but he knows about life outside for the next ten years. How does he know that? Is this a dream--no it's not a dream, it's a game, a game he was forced to play; But he has never played this game.
He curled forward, forehead nearly touching the floor, trying hard to regulate his panic breathing, the spiraling thoughts and memories trying to drive him insane. They kept going, like they would never settle.
Suddenly he forced himself up. Legs trembled but held. He has less than ten minutes to select a class before the hall collapses and take away his entire lifespan.
He moved, heart still hammering, but the panic subtle now and in the background. He stared at the warrior, towering in full armor. It filled most of the space in the fifteen feet door entrance. He remembered that the landlord had come into his apartment and forced him to down some sleeping pills to force him to sleep in order to get into the game. You have to sleep to get into the game. The landlord told him he must choose warrior, or he will kill him. It was the start of a slavish existence for over ten years until...lights out? Was he killed? He moved away from the warrior, it held too much trauma for him. He reached the mage, watching it , but for some reason he was attracted to the assassin door, the form of a cloaked man in motion with both daggers out, gleaming. He kept glancing at it, while focusing on the mage, until he finally gave up and walked over.
True it suits his personality better, but he couldn't remember anything great about it, not over the mage, but something in Luke's chest tugged, insistent, almost painful. He gave up and reached out, putting his hand into the clear liquid and the form melted, and flowed like ink into his arm and body and transformed him into the form that had previously occupied the entrance.
He gasped as the change settled.
At the same time he received prompts.
[Congratulations you have gained a hidden profession]
[Currently specializing]
[Specialization complete]
[You have become shadow]
He felt completely different than he had been a heartbeat ago--significantly lighter, the shadows deeper.
[Profession choice complete, please enter your game name]
Since my profession is born from the shadow...
I will go by
[Your name is shadow]
[Entering the Abandoned Realm of the Exalted]
[This is ruined land filled with countless monsters. Be careful.They are always hungry for your lifespan]
[Kill Monsters and you will earn tradable lifespan]
[If you die in the game, you will lose your lifespan—both tradable and non-tradable.]
[Good luck.]
Re:Time