Chapter 8: Part of Your World
There was that scene in a movie before, after what seemed to be his death via drowning, the Prince instead would open up his eyes and see the beautiful face of a maiden singing as she took care of him.
When Han Jing came upon to…
A pulpy tentacled face greeted him with large dark-orbed eyes .
"BAH?!" He couldn't help but yell at the figure, scrambling back until his back reached a hard surface. Turning back to see, it was a large boulder and that was when he finally noticed where he was. He was on a white sand beach, the sight of an endless sea that stretched as far as he could see. The memory jumped back at him— "The Gargoyles, you did it?" He turned back to the creature and immediately regretted it. "Were you the one who controlled the waters?"
It was a grotesque sight, a squid-like humanoid face but somehow it was able to nod with its dangling tentacles protruding from its mouth. It wore something like a ceremonial robe which hid some of its slimy skin. Han Jing managed a grin. "Thank you for saving me."
It responded with another nod.
"Are you mute?" Han tilted his head.
It shook its head before it began to walk away… back into the ocean. The clear water around him turned into a dark tinted colour of green, like terrible viscous swamp water mixed with the ocean water from the deepest trenches.
He pulled himself up and took a step forward. "Wait, you're leaving me just like that?"
The creature stared at him, its shoulders lowering slightly as if it had gotten tired with his ceaseless question. Its tentacles around its mouth shifted and slithered for a moment but the creature simply raised a clawed hand and left for the waters.
Han Jing clutched his chest and fell onto his knees. "Damn that was scary… was that a—?" He couldn't even find himself saying the words now.
The… Chut.
It was one of the available races on the game screen… and he was. "I'm in the game." Han Jing muttered to himself. "I pressed the 'Free-Reign' mode and here I am. Did I save the village?" The ocean stretched in front of him and behind him were a dune of sands.
How far did he end up from his village?
"More importantly, how the heck do I log out?" Han Jing covered his face with a hand. "Calm down, calm down. There's obviously a logical explanation to this… like Virtual Reality! But I was only using my phone and I for sure am positive that it did not have 'transfer consciousness' capacities built into it."
Han Jing let out a breath, "This could also be a dream, I fell asleep while playing the game and ended up with this bizarre world. How else could something I poked fun at managed to save me." He had rolled his eyes and snickered at the Chut, but it was the first thing that saved him.
"And wakee!" Han Jing looked around but things were still completely the same.
The same blue sea and the same white beaches.
"Log out? Evict?" The man tried to use other key words that would have helped him escape the game. "Can I go out pretty please with a cherry on top?"
Nothing.
"Well that didn't work… I guess I'm left with—Status Screen!"
A holographic blue screen popped out in front of him.
It worked!
[ Name: Han ]
[ Race: Human ]
[Gender: Male ]
[ Age: 23 years old ]
[ Level 2 ]
[ Class: Peasant ]
[Status Points: 3 available for use ]
[ Will: 4 ]
[ Talent: 2 ]
[ Comprehension: 3 ]
[ Luck: 1 (+??? Temporary Favor) ]
"Temporary favor?" Han Jing peered over it, "It must have been due to the one from earlier… they saved my life." It didn't make sense for him to call the squid guy a creature when it displayed intelligence.
Below those statuses were something else:
[ Fame: Rocky Cliff: 100 ]
"Huh… do they see me as some sort of hero now?" Han Jing felt his lips curl into a grin. That was a little heartwarming… although all he did was run like some kind of oversized bait. Clearing his throat, he moved onto the next portion of his testing. "Hmm… inventory?"
Another popup appeared beside the original one.
"Geez, I can open this stuff but not log out? That seems unfair!" Han Jing shook his head. "Do I have a System? System Helper? AI?"
A tinkle of bells sounded in his ears, soft chimes that quickly disappeared. Han Jing blinked and focused on his inventory.
[ Coins: 3 silver ]
"...my copper coins?" Were they not included because he was not in his abode? Or did it mean that he lost them during the Gargoyle attack. "Okay, status points, inventory box… mission board!"
Nothing.
"Mission quest?" Han Jing scratched his head, "Mission Log?"
[ Mission: Harvest Crops! ( Completed) ]
Han helped Old Man Joe Light by harvesting his crops for him and was rewarded accordingly.
Rewards: 100 xp, 3 silver coins
[ Mission: Milkin' The Cows ( Completed) ]
Han helped Becky by milking her beloved cows but was unable to gather reward due to the sudden attack of the Gargoyles.
Rewards: Not Available
[ Special Event: Warn the Villagers (Completed) ]
Due to the assault of a mysterious Being, Han had to save his village from utter destruction. He managed to reach Old Man Joe Light before the time was up.
Results: Unknown
[ Related Event: Gargoyle Rock Evasion (Completed) ]
It's no easy feat to be able to avoid the Gargoyles attacks even with [Newbie Protection] activated. Han has managed to dodge a good deal of shrapnel and ignore the ones that dug into his flesh.
Results: A good testament to his superior Will!
"Huh…" He stared at the mission log in front of him. "It doesn't even tell me anything besides what I already know, what were the results of that event! This is unfair!" Han Jing decided to sit down on the sands for a moment, swiping the popouts in front of him. They were a good distraction for the moment, but his concerns were still unanswered.
Ding.
[ Demon Lord Wants To Connect With You ]