NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: A rude Cloak
Jack woke up. He hadn’t remembered falling asleep. It was the kind of waking up where you suddenly rocket awake, as if you heard something loud or had been splashed with water. His eyes opened and he saw white.
Jack sat up, and all he saw was white.
He looked at his hands, he could see those. But everything else around him was white.
He stood up, though he couldn’t tell what he was standing on, the floor was the same white as his surroundings. He appeared to be the only spot of color in the white space. Blue jeans, gray t-shirt, black sneakers and him. Six feet in height, pale skinned with dark, styled hair. Jack slowly spun in a circle, looking for anything at all.
“Hello?” he shouted out as he spun. He couldn’t see walls, but hoped his voice would echo back to him off of something. No echo came back to him, his voice disappearing into the distance. ‘Am I dreaming?’ he thought to himself.
After completing his spin, Jack wasn’t sure what to do. Should he just start walking in a random direction? But right as he decided he would start walking, something happened.
Materializing as if from nowhere, a cloak appeared in front of him. Hovering above where Jack believed the floor to be, the cloak hung in the air. Its shape seemed to indicate someone was inside, even though Jack could see between the fluttering edges and open hood that there was nobody inside of it. The cloak itself was pitch black, and seemed to Jack like it was made of darkness somehow. It was almost like it was made of the space between stars, a void that consumed light. As unnerving as the color was, possibly even more unnerving was the sudden fear that Jack felt. It didn’t come from anything Jack could detect, but he felt the same kind of fear that he might feel when faced with a dangerous wild animal. He somehow understood that this cloak was dangerous, like it could kill him at any moment.
Greetings, scum from another world a voice emanated from the cloak.
Jack was taken aback. The cloak could talk! And it had called him scum? Caught off guard as he was, it took a moment for him to address what was perhaps the most important part of the statement.
‘Another world?’ Jack thought. ‘Is this thing telling me I’m not on Earth? Did I get abducted by aliens?’ At that moment though, something in Jack's mind seemed to click, and a horrible realization settled in.
“Oh no. This is some stupid Isekai nonsense isn’t it?” Jack had always loved to read, and naturally that had led to the world of online novels, manga, and other kinds of stories. Isekai had been something of a guilty pleasure staple genre for Jack, often dumb enough that he didn’t need to pay too close attention, but different enough mechanically that he could be interested in the world and magic.
It was the cloak's turn to be taken aback. Isekai? I know not what you speak of, scum. I have called you here to assist me before I send you on your way
Jack was still suspicious, “Well, I’m thinking that you’re some kind of god type figure right? This seems like a situation where I died and you pulled my soul to another world or something like that?”
…That is eerily accurate
Jack wasn’t sure how to feel, on the one hand Isekais typically involved being overpowered and having women flock to you. On the other hand though, they could get pretty dark if you were an idiot. “So you’re going to give me some powers or something and send me down to your world to do something for you, or something like that?”
No, that’s stupid. Besides, I would never allow something foreign to sully my creation
“Oh.” Jack deflated slightly, “Then…why am I here?” If he wasn’t going to another world, what could this god want from him?
As I said, I require your assistance. Well specifically I just need assistance, who I get it from is rather unimportant
“What happens if I don’t help you?”
Then your soul gets crushed into dust and I throw that dust in the void so that you will never be able to be reborn into my world
The sudden threat of violence made Jack grow afraid. Dust? The void? He would like to avoid that if possible. “Seems kinda extreme.” Jack said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “Well do I at least get to be reborn or something if I help you?”
No, if you assist me then I will crush your soul to dust and throw it into the void after you are done
“Right.” Jack began freaking out. His mind was racing as he thought about his circumstances. Apparently he had died? He didn’t remember anything like that, and this cloak…thing was threatening him with soul destruction? Jack felt alive right now, his heart was beating and he could feel adrenaline pumping through his body as he grew more afraid. His fight or flight response was screaming at him to GET OUT OF THERE, but he hadn’t seen anywhere to run. If he wanted to maybe survive this long enough to figure something out, he would have to play along.
“Okay, I’m in. Let’s put the soul crushing aside and talk about what I can do to help you.”
Good, I need an idea
“...” Jack waited for the cloak to say more, but it just floated there, gently swaying like there was wind, even though Jack hadn’t even felt a breeze in this white space.
“...What kind of idea?” Jack slowly put forth.
A reward
Despite his fear, Jack started to get annoyed. “Okay, I kind of need a bit more information. I just woke up here and don’t know anything about you or what you could want. Some details, if you don’t mind?” He needed as much information as he could get if he wanted to get out of this situation.
The cloak seemed to sigh in exasperation. The denizens of my world have performed a great task for me, misguided as it was, and I promised them a blessing if they succeeded. I had thought it might take them longer so I put off thinking about it, but they accomplished it faster than I thought possible. I have no ideas so I decided to source souls from another world for inspiration
Jack had asked for a direct answer, but was still surprised at what the supposed god told him. “So you need a reward for the whole world? Like everyone?”
Yes
Jack wracked his brain for ideas, a reward? “Can you throw a party or something like that? Sort of upper management throwing a pizza party kinda vibe?”
I have never heard of this pizza you speak of, but regardless I do not act so directly in the affairs of my world. Besides that, my people would not feel at ease if I were to celebrate them in such a way. They are too in awe of me to celebrate in my presence
Jack supposed that if a god came down from heaven and threw a party, telling everyone to ignore them and get wasted would be pretty awkward. “How about something physical, like temples or holy land or something?”
There are an abundance of temples in every city. Besides that, all land is holy land as I created it myself
Jack thought for a minute. Something for every single person on a planet…nothing gender specific, even healing every sick person wouldn’t do anything for healthy people. Something like new types of crops or metals could ruin an ecosystem…This was quite the pickle.
If you cannot think of anything, then you are of no use to me
The cloak began to billow dramatically, and Jack could feel a sense of foreboding. The hairs on his arm and neck stood on end, and sweat began to form on his head and back. Jack realized he was moments from becoming soul dust.
“Wait!” Jack called out desperately. “I, I do have something!”
The feeling of foreboding faded, and the cloak settled down.
Tell me
Jack's mind raced frantically. What did fantasy worlds need? He thought of all the stories he had read, and poured over every detail he could remember until suddenly, something clicked in his brain. Before he could decide on whether it was a good idea or not, Jack said, “You could implement a system!”