Galaxy's First Ruler

1 June 2020

07:00 AM (UTC)

Earth

Darkness had engulfed half of the Earth's hemisphere. Where there was a day, it had turned into a night. It wasn't a surprise that people got scared.

One could say that the whole Earth experienced a disturbing but oddly beautiful night at the same time. Websites were exploding within 5 minutes of the strange event. It seemed some people had waited their whole life for this chance to let out their ingenious theories.

The theories did nothing but add fuel to the Panic. What is happening? Why is it happening? Who did it? And what is it?

People had just asked the questions, but one could have already seen the nonsensical answers within the first 30 minutes. People were being reported missing in the number of 1000s per minute from all over the world. Some eyewitnesses said that they had been walking when a man in front of them vanished. They couldn't believe their eyes, but in the next moment, The Night had descended. Some were husbands, sleeping comfortably on the bed. Some were students, having fun in college. Yet, within a single second, all ceased to exist.

The baffling reports didn't end there. Vehicles and machines operated by these missing persons had stagnated with no repercussions. It was like a pre-planned worldwide joke. Police were busy enough with the calls, so in the next hour, the military had to take over the situation. But the world was enormous, and there were places even the Internet couldn't reach. The sheer nature of the unexplainable events that had happened flabbergasted teams of scientists from all over the world.

It was like someone was adamant on proving wrong all the achievements of scientific evolution. The world that seemed so feeble from a broad perspective had somehow handled itself relatively well. But something much more sinister had been happening underneath the brewing storm.

After a full 90 minutes of the Night, new articles had overtaken their predecessors. People could see pics and videos of statues all over the world. A semi-transparent black film had covered the statues. The film looked like a veil and an oily liquid at the same time. But all those who saw it shared a feeling of dread. It was the same feeling a prey must have felt while looking at his natural predator.

World's leader had convened an online meeting by the end of the 4th hour. Everyone shared their findings, their facts, and all came to the same conclusion: they did not know what was going on. Those whose friends or family members had been among the 'vanished' were asking for answers. But all they got in return were even more questions.

As the 5th hour came to a close, it had left the entire world bewildered by all the chaotic misinformation that had arisen by the people's imagination. It was the Doom; it was the end; it was the Invasion, and it was the Apocalypse, were the hottest topic. And these theories were prominent in the intellectual and superstitious minds alike. But they were all disappointed by the time the 6th hour had started. One hemisphere of the Earth was on the verge of its dawn, the other was approaching dusk.

The people that had vanished returned to the same place. Some were at their office, some were at their home, somewhere deep in the forests, and some were just out there in an unknown place.

It all felt like nothing had changed. But this feeling would crumble at the sight of huge pillars of misty-yellow light, which were rising from the sinister statues. This feeling would also crumble after observing the strange behavior and actions of the reappeared people. And if someone were to hold on to this feeling even then, then this feeling would disappear by looking into their eyes.

Those eyes, for some time, had been glowing with strange, incomprehensible symbols.

*

USA

In a highly secured room, a confidential meeting was being held.

One could have called this one room the epitome of American power. And yet none of them could make sense of the things that had happened in the last 3 hours after the reemergence of the vanished people. Most of them had gone to their home and refused to cooperate with the authorities of their governments. A few of them had poured out info on the internet. And one would have called it a hogwash if something had not covered the entire world by the veil of the Night.

Edmond was one of the few who publicized what had happened to him within minutes of his reappearance.

In the next 15 minutes, the authorities had asked him to come into that meeting room. But that wasn't the only reason they had called him. As the facts that were being addressed by these 'DREAMERS', were under his area of expertise.

Edmond Russell, aka The Balloon, was the best Pro-gamer in the country. A title that the gamer community had given him. The 23-year-old didn't feel any pressure while surrounded by the Generals, Directors of security agencies, the Secretary of Defense, and Mr. President himself.

On one of the wall-sized TVs, one could see different articles posted by so-called Dreamers. One could also see a statue and a pillar of foggy-yellow light that had been rising from it to at least 100 meters.

"Mr. Edmond, the entire country depends on your cooperation. Please, briefly tell us again, all that you have mentioned on the internet," Mr. President said.

"Sir, as I have written, I was playing a game. And at some point, I must have fallen asleep, but I don't remember when."

All the members nodded, as the statements of other Dreamers had already confirmed this.

Edmund continued, "When I woke up, I had assumed we all would have been sleeping, and I had a vague memory of a dream. It was the same feeling that we all must have experienced at some point, but in our case, we had dreamed of our whole life."

If it was a common room, they had already started the whispering at this stage. But no one broke the decorum here, and yet Edmund could see their brows pressed together.

"I am sure by now most of you have familiarized yourself with the general concept of the System of Role-Playing Games. When I came to my senses, I could see a screen in front of me, and it introduced itself to me as 'Record'."

One general couldn't help himself and asked, "Now what do you mean by 'it introduced itself'? Had it spoken to you?"

Edmund could understand the difficulty of a person who hadn't played games, especially RPGs, ever. He let the atmosphere calm down a bit and explained, "No, nothing. The words had appeared on the screen itself. You can think of it as this screen," he pointed to the screen of the TV, "but managed by a powerful AI."

"AI?" All the members expressed their concerns at the same time.

"So it is an Alien-Invasion," the SecDef said.

"Yes and no," Edmund said, now looking at Mr. President, "You can think of it as the Game-Master. In typical RPG games, we have a Game-Master who provides different tasks to the player. He knows everything, controls everything but always follows the pre-defined rules."

"So you mean, it is the reason behind this and yet it doesn't control everything."

"Yes, Mr. President."

"And what does it want from you, the Dreamers? What are these 'Classes' that you have mentioned?" the SecDef asked.

"As much as I could have inferred from all the articles, the 'Class' of a Dreamer tells about his abilities. For example, a Healer-Class would have the ability related to healing injuries."

All the Generals shared a look of understanding among themselves.

"And the answer to your first question is even easier. The 'Record' wants us to become strong and raid the Dungeons. That's the most comprehensive way to summarize what had happened in those 5 hours."

At the mention of Dungeon, all members turned their heads to look at the highlighted statue.

"But the Dungeons you mentioned in your post, weren't they supposed to be like a den filled with strange 'monsters'?"

Edmund himself wasn't sure of what to make of this situation. When he saw the statues, he couldn't place this missing piece anywhere.

"I am only guessing here Sir, in the games as all the Dungeons have an entrance, then in the same way these statues could be the entrances to the real Dungeons."

"That sounds more plausible than the outrageous theories on the internet. Edmund, we have now a basic understanding of things. Please tell us about these 'Attributes', which is one of the most discussed topics?" the SecDef asked.

"To explain simply, when a player kills a monster in an RPG game, they gain Experience-Points. And using those points a player can Level-Up, increasing Attributes as the result. You can understand it as an increment in their strength and stamina."

There were a lot of things Edmund didn't mention. He wasn't completely sure how important that info would be, and it seemed better not to reveal them.

What could be of such importance that even he felt it was better to hide?