Never in his wildest imagination did Lucius ever expect to be thrown into such a bizarre course of events, but he wasn’t startled. Life was unpredictable after all. Who knew what future awaited them? The strange and irregular, to be brought outside one’s zone of comfort… that was what made living all the more entertaining. It was a shame he had to part with his lovely flowers back home; however, who was there to say he couldn’t return? You never know what just might happen, and towards this curious situation he fostered a bubbling sense of excitement.
Lucius stood up, dusted off his attire (he so abhorred to look messy), and looked around his newfound destination. The space was pure white far as the eye could see: unblemished, blinding, with no perceivable end. There was no floor below him, nor was there sky to greet him. All was simply white.
All, except for a panel that levitated right in front of his face.
>[Welcome, Lucius Rose. Your orientation will begin shortly. Please be patient, there are currently 4,938,873,362 players ahead of you waiting in line]<
“Player?” Lucius said aloud to himself. He couldn’t help it; he very much enjoyed the sound of his own voice. “What a peculiar little display. Is this magic? God, perhaps? I do believe I’ve read something similar in my books before: Alice in Wonderland. Chronicles of Narnia. Oh, to be whisked away onto a whimsical adventure! How surprising for it to happen so late into my life, but what is this player business? Are we going to partake in a billion-wide game of poker?”
Before Lucius could wonder any further, the space around him began to change. The white collapsed into itself, giving way for a harsh room of stone and muted grey to unfold before him. What was most interesting, however, was that he was not alone. Three other people seemed to appear right out of thin air.
The first was a large, burly, and balding older man with the build of a brick house and the attire of a mobster: a charcoal pinstripe suit, silk suspenders, and black dress shoes. He looked italian.
“God help me,” the man muttered, reaching into his pantsuit and pulling out a cigar. “Now I’ve seen everything. Jesus, just what’s happening to the world?”
The second was a younger asian looking woman, perhaps Japanese, who wore an exceedingly stylish outfit that looked to be a combination of a fur coat and the jacket of a punk-metal rockstar. It was flamboyant, strikingly yellow, and matched her wild frizzy hair. She also held an electric guitar in her hands. How the young lady managed to keep her grip onto it despite being sucked into the air was a mystery.
“Huh? The heck is this!?” She shouted with a powerful, booming voice - like thunder. “Aw crud, my manager’s gonna kill me. Where’d the concert go? The people? MY FANS!?”
The last one was… a very boring looking gent: slim and with a gloomy presence. He had glasses that seemed to muddle his eyes, unkempt hair, and appeared no different from an ordinary office worker. If one were to see him amongst a crowd, their eyes would pass by without a second thought. Out of the current company, however, he was the most composed: perhaps even a little excited.
“Yes… yes, yes!” He pumped his fist and celebrated, fidgeting in place with an awkward manner one couldn’t help but feel a little repelled by. “Sayonara you office assholes! Goodbye shitty old life! I knew reading all those webnovels would pay off eventually. What’s it gonna be? Isekai? System Apocalypse? Doesn’t matter, I’m going to thrive either way. I’ll stand at the very top!”
Eventually, they all began to settle down. Everyone was wary at first, a few nervous side-glances here and there, but Lucius took the chance to break the ice by strolling over to the awkward man.
“Hello there, Mister…?” Lucius said.
The man flinched and stepped back, eyeing him with a distrustful gaze. He quickly composed himself, though, and coughed: puffing up his chest and donning an air of bravado as if to avoid being perceived as inferior. “It’s, uh, Jack. Jack Thames.”
“Nice to meet you, Mister Thames.” Lucius smiled, and molded his expression to appear as harmless as possible. “I’m Lucius Rose. Forgive me for the sudden introduction, but I was drawn to your presence. You seem confident—special. Am I correct to assume you might understand this situation we’ve found ourselves in?”The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
No matter the time, information was paramount. And for Lucius he made sure to study people, to look at their movements, their reactions, their demeanor and how they portrayed themselves—all to best understand their true nature. The color of their soul.
After evaluating Jack Thames, Lucius understood then. The man wanted to be recognized.
“Well, not to toot my own horn, but…” Jack began. “I think I have an idea.”
Suddenly, the old mobster rushed up to him and grabbed his collar. Poor Jack was but a small, trembling shadow before the man’s sheer size. He looked big enough to wrestle a bear.
“So it’s you? You’re the one responsible for this nonsense?” the man grunted.
Jack shook his head with all his might and tried, in vain, to pry free. “N-No, it’s just I’ve, um, I’ve read about this in stories and well you see while it’s not exactly the same there are some similarities such as the message window and the whole flying into the air thing which is pretty much a cliche that happens a lot in genres called portal fantasy or isekai but my bet’s on this being a system apocalypse which—”
The man groaned and rolled his eyes. “Get to the point.”
“Y-Yes sir. So, basically, we’re going to have to fight for our lives.”
“... The hell are you talking about?”
“You saw it, right?” Jack said. “The message window called us players, and it’s not the fun kind. They’ll send us on missions, make us kill monsters, and maybe… even each other. But we’re not completely screwed. Usually, they give you skills and stuff to make you stronger, but if you don’t adapt—well, it’s over.”
The man scoffed and released his grip. “I didn’t understand a word you said, but you’re no kidnapper or alien or whatever in God’s name brought us here at least.”
Jack dropped to the ground and wheezed, rubbing his neck while struggling to stand up. Surprisingly, the old mobster reached down and helped him. His face still looked a tad fierce, but there was a calmer air around him: tense, yes, but also repentant.
“Sorry about that,” he said, lugging Jack up and patting his clothes. “I’m a little on edge, ya see. Can’t be a man in my business without being skeptical, but I wronged you. That’s on me. How about it, no hard feelings?”
He reached out for a handshake, and Jack took it. What a touching display of forgiveness… on the surface. While Jack appeared to brush the matter aside, Lucius spotted a faint glint in his eyes—a grudge, deep and festering. On the other hand, the mobster appeared to fully regret his actions.
“The name’s Marco Bernardi, if we’re doing introductions,” Marco said. “I work in, hm, let’s say finance. I don’t know about that whole monster business, but if we do get in a scuffle, I can hold my own. What about you?”
“I was a data analyst at a fortune five hundred company,” Jack said, loudly announcing his place of work with a huff of pride.
“Yeah, I figured.”
“What does that mean—”
“And you, fella?” Marco turned towards Lucius and exchanged a handshake with him as well.
“I own a humble flower boutique in Wisconsin,” Lucius said, emphasizing the state. If his assumptions were correct…
“Wisconsin? All the way up there?” Marco rubbed his brow and pondered to himself for a moment, thinking. “I’m from New York myself, but it looks like we really are from all over. What about you, Jack?”
“California born and raised.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“Seriously what does that mean—”
Marco swiveled around and yelled out to the young lady by the corner. “Hey, miss? You gonna introduce yourself?”
Her face was blank, jaw slacked, eyes glazed over, but eventually she perked up and pointed at herself. “Huh? Oh, me? Sorry, I was dissociating. Like really I can only deal with so much insanity in one day before I go POOF, y’know? I’m straight up freaking out right now, but yeah nice to meet you guys. Don’t know if you’ve seen one of my shows, but I’m a musician—travel a lot so don't really have a set place I consider home. You can call me Mili.”
With their introductions out of the way, a new screen with a message popped up for each person. Lucius tried to peek, guilty as charged, but saw no words save for the ones on his own panel.
>[All players have successfully connected to the Celestial Array. Beginning character evaluation…]<
>[Examining participant Lucius Rose. Viewing personal history… analyzing behavioral data… assessing current martial, magical, and spiritual capabilities…]<
>[Analysis complete. Please choose from one of the following classes]<
*Silver-Tongued Conman
*The Aboriginal Sin
*Right Hand Man of the Devil
*Embodiment of Evil
*Gentlemanly Florist