Chapter 1.

Amber focused on the taste of iron in her mouth. The outside world was tuned out. Only the sound of her heartbeat and breathing accompanied her as she ran forward, the aching of her muscles was nothing but a small distraction in her mind. All her thoughts focused on the single task at hand — running. 

Other people were resting, even the coach that was present had advised her to take a break just a few minutes ago, but she could keep going. She was sure of it.

Her vision narrowed as she ran more, her breathing grew steadier and the muscle aches disappeared. Her footsteps disappeared from her ears as time passed.

More, she thought. I need to keep going.

Amber's eyes focused on the upcoming turn on the track field, but she realized her vision was hazy and a feeling of sickness overwhelmed her. She nearly stumbled, barely managing to come to a stop through hasty and awkward steps. 

She went off the track, looking at the grass with nausea as the coach called out to her in worry. 

“Are you alright?” The coach arrived next to her. “I told you you were overdoing it.” 

“I’m…” Amber took shallow breaths. “Fine…”

 

The coach in response shook his head. “Why do I have to look out for you?” The man sighed. “You should go home and get some rest, I know you’re practicing for the upcoming marathon but at this rate you won’t even get to run in it.”

Amber forced herself to stand up and face the coach. She wanted to argue, but upon being met with a glare a sigh left her. He’s always overly concerned. She knew that if she tried to stay, she’d probably be forcibly removed from the premises. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll go rest,” she relented. 

After that, Amber headed to her student apartment. She was used to training alone, but this time she had been using her college’s track and field premises. And of course, the man had butted in. She didn’t know why he cared. Given he had invited her to join the team in the past multiple times, she had a feeling that it was more than simple care, but she never bothered to think about it too much. 

The bus ride was uneventful, though her messy appearance did get her a few glances. During it, all Amber could think about was the encouraging words of her peers and the people that had seen her run. 

She was a good athlete, though apparently not good enough to push herself like that. 

In the end, that’s all she could think about until the time she got to her apartment and opened the door. It was messy and unorganized. Clothes lying around, half open blinds letting some sunlight in, her makeup strewn across the different furniture. To some it might’ve been off-putting, but to her, it was the place she felt most at ease. 

She walked past the “living room” and plopped onto the bed and looked at the dimpled ceiling, her breathing now calm. 

The city is much more fun to run in… though at this hour it’s kind of impossible to do so; too many people, Amber thought. The track was boring but her only choices were that or the park, maybe the park would’ve been better. Still, she wanted more. She wanted to have slopes or inclines, to have uneven ground with holes, to worry about getting blocked by the occasional bystander. 

She wanted to see how fast she could run, how effectively she could do it, how to surpass the things that hindered her⁠— she wanted more. Of course, she couldn’t realistically run when there were crowds of hundreds of people, but still…

She had always wanted more. 

To feel the limits of my body, to see how far I can push myself before I give out, and to keep going after that. 

Amber grinned. That’s what gave her life and exhilaration in this boring world. She wasn’t particularly interested in her college studies. She wasn’t even sure if she liked finance, but there she was⁠— studying and rotting away. Until she got to her daily practice anyway. 

She couldn’t remember when she started to feel this way about pushing herself, though maybe it had always been with her. Life had always seemed kind of boring after all and it wasn’t like her parents were present to guide her or anything. She never met her dad and it had been years since she had spoken to her mom. 

Still, for as long as I can, I’ll keep pushing my limits. Amber closed her eyes, phone in hand. It’s what I love, after all. 

And slowly, she drifted off to sleep, exhaustion overtaking her body. 

Today’s practice had been fun for her. 

 

* * * 

 

Amber abruptly awoke from a wet lick, the sound of water dripping on her ears. She looked up only to see the moonlight pouring from a circular stone window, the stars twinkling in the distance. Her face felt wet, so she wiped it with her forearm before looking the other way.

Where… am I? 

She was sitting at the end of a stone hall on a small ledge above the ground. A channel of shallow water ran across the entirety of it, two sidewalks along with doorways lined the walls, there were weird symbols etched as decorations and there were even statues⁠—

A croak got her attention as she turned to her right and saw a medium-sized frog next to her hand. A dream? The frog licked at her hand and she giggled for a moment before she yelped from sharp pain, blood dripped as she saw the barbed tongue of the animal retract. Her heart skipped a beat and she immediately backed off in a haste, crawling back in a hurry as the animal hopped in her direction with croaking sounds as if hellbent on coming in her direction.

Panic immediately settled into her mind. 

No, this can’t be a dream—

Her back hit the wall and found a head-sized rock, grabbing it with both hands. She quickly lifted it as the frog reached her. She sucked in a sharp breath. With a croak, the frog licked at her clothes and Amber slammed the rock upon the creature. It squealed but she struck it again. And again. And again. She kept slamming until the thing was all over the ground in a gross sight of gore. For a moment she wanted to throw up, but a bell-like sound startled her. 

 

[You have defeated a [Scraper Frog. Lvl. 2].] 

[You have reached level 2. 5 stat points awarded.] 

[New Class! You have now met the requirements for one class.]

 

Amber looked at the words at the bottom of her vision, both of the notifications giving her pause. One was of defeating her adversary, the frog. The other was of reaching level 2, and being eligible for a class. 

Her eyes read the text over and over, completely confused.

Was she in a video game? No⁠, it all felt too real. She stared at her bleeding hand and her blood-stained forearm. She touched her face only to feel the warmth of her blood and a slight tinge of pain. 

She turned back to the notifications. 

Just what is going on? What do you mean meeting requirements for one class? 

As if prompted by her words, a new notification appeared. 

 

[You have met the requirements for the class ‘Warrior’ ⁠— Slayed your first monster. 

A warrior is someone who stands in the front-lines and fights with or without weapons, they are physically inclined and rely on their strength. The Warrior class is the most basic of them all. 

You may change class if requirements for a better class are met. 

Would you like to acquire this class? Bonuses to stats will be applied, warrior skills will become available on future level ups.] 

 

Amber read through the notification and after a single moment she became even more confused.

That was a monster…? 

She looked at the splattered frog ⁠— a gross sight ⁠— then at the dank and barely lit hallway. 

Am I even on Earth anymore? 

Finally, after a moment of hesitation she accepted the class, not knowing what else to do. 

[ You have gained the class: Warrior

Vitality +5

Strength +5

Dexterity +5

Endurance +5

Intelligence +1

Wisdom +1

Natural recovery has increased by 20%. ]

 

Amber looked at the text, and aside from the word videogame nothing else came to her confused mind. It all was too real. She stood up and decided to take the now frog-stained rock with her, and⁠— it was infinitely easier to carry all of the sudden. She even felt light. That however, didn’t stop her from feeling a bit nervous. 

It’s due to the class isn’t it? Amber tried to think rationally. It gave me points… for various attributes… So now I'm stronger…? 

She stepped down the ledge and onto one of the walkways, taking in wherever she was. First thing she did was take note of a circular room at the end of the hallway, a large monument at the center with statues. Then as she continued she peered into the first doorway she reached, seeing a room with a broken down chair and pieces of wood. 

The sight of the old and dusty room just added to her resolution that she definitely wasn’t on Earth anymore. 

She moved forward, hearing the flowing water next to her and the occasional dripping from the ceiling before looking into a different room. This time there was no chair but there was a desk with a broken down oil lamp, it all too was covered in dust. Finally, she moved forward and reached the clearing she saw earlier. 

It was big and also… dark. Amber slightly tensed, taking the sight around her. 

Flanking the hallway there were two statues next to it, one to each side. One depicted a warrior raising an ornate sword towards the ceiling, and the other some sort of robed person doing the same but with a staff instead. And Amber blinked⁠— the weapons they were holding seemed to be shimmering with some kind of energy, though she couldn’t reach them let alone see them properly. Each of the statues was several meters tall. There were statues at the entrance of every hallway that went into the room. 

Still wouldn’t a weapon in this place be nice? She thought, still holding onto the rock. That frog had been absolutely terrifying, and a stinging pain was starting on her face now. Just… where the fuck am I? 

Finally, she turned to the center of the room, where all the canals from different hallways pooled in a circle around the center-most monument. On it multiple statues resided, all of them with shimmering weapons. They seemed easier to reach than the other ones, so maybe…

But before she could take another step forward a croaking sound interrupted her, making her immediately tense up again.

Amber immediately turned and saw a frog at head level, it was standing at the feet of the statue next to her. Her heart skipped and she immediately took two steps back and the frog licked⁠— missing her. She was already raising the rock with shaky hands as she met the animal’s beady eyes⁠, a notification flashed for a moment and then she slammed the rock upon it. Using all of her strength. 

The animal squealed, immediately dying from the impact as Amber resisted the urge to throw up. She then looked at her notifications.

 

[Scraper Frog. Lvl. 3] 

[New Basic Skill! You have learned Identify ⁠— level 1.

Allows you to identify an enemy and their level.]

[You have defeated a [Scraper Frog. Lvl. 3].]

 

Identify? 

She heard two croaks and she turned, now a pit forming in her stomach. A frog jumped from the hallway she had come from. Amber stared at it for a moment before it jumped towards her, she flinched and immediately took action. She rushed the monster and slammed her rock upon it, wincing. A notification came along. 

 

[You have defeated a [Scraper Frog. Lvl. 2].]

 

Then, more croaks echoed across the room making her even more tense but she only saw a single frog to her right, which she quickly slammed the rock on after it took a jump towards her, this time freezing a bit less. Getting a notification and a level up about it.

 

[You have defeated a [Scraper Frog. Lvl. 4].]

[You have reached level 3. 5 stat points awarded.] 

 

She turned only to see two frogs already jumping in her direction. Fuck⁠— she backed off and one still managed to get on her, which she swatted with one hand before slamming the rock upon it. The other, jumped onto her licking her forearm⁠, grazing it— Amber yelped and slapped it away with strength she didn’t know she had. The frog hit the wall with a loud thud as she hastily stood up. And was faced by four frogs jumping in her direction.

Amber backed as the amphibians chased, her heart was rushing from the increasing danger of the situation⁠. Looking over them, more and more frogs were coming. For a moment she felt like shutting down, but she knew⁠— she just knew⁠— that this wasn’t a dream. She would die if she didn’t run. 

But four frogs were blocking her. Still she had to run. But four frogs were blocking her⁠— she shook her head and rushed. Grabbing her rock she used it to slam one of the frogs before slapping another one out of the air. She got another level up in the process. 

 

[You have defeated a [Scraper Frog. Lvl. 4].]

[You have reached level 4. 5 stat points awarded.] 

 

The two other amphibians licked at her pants which they tore and made her slightly wince from pain. But she ignored them, running past them and towards the other hallways looking for an exit in a panic. 

She chose to ignore as many frogs as possible, only attacking the ones that jumped towards her and occasionally needing to slam some with her rock as hundreds of frogs now chased after her. In the process she leveled up again and got other notifications. 

Though eventually, she thankfully escaped. 

 

* * * 

 

Amber found herself a room with a chair, a table and a door. The room also had engravings on the wall. There were no monsters and she was on a different floor altogether. She was sitting down on the wooden chair as moonlight poured from the nearby window. She was gritting her teeth from her injuries, they were painful, they stung as if needles were poking into her wounds. She was tired, she was confused, and a part of her was angry at what she didn’t understand. 

“Why the fuck are there so many frogs!?” she asked no one in particular in a hushed whisper. 

Though finally, after a few minutes of letting her emotions out she took a look at the notifications she had missed, deciding she had to. 

 

[You have defeated a [Scraper Frog. Lvl. 2].]

[You have defeated a [Scraper Frog. Lvl. 1].]

[You have defeated a [Scraper Frog. Lvl. 4].]

… 

 

[You have reached level 5. 5 stat points awarded.] 

[New Core Skill! For reaching level 5 as a Warrior you have learned Heavy Swing ⁠— level 1.

You’ve grown used to swinging down your deadly heavy rock upon your foes! And now, you swing even harder, armed or unarmed.]

 

She didn’t know if the text was poking fun at her or not but she found it stupid, still she moved onto the next and final notification.

 

[New General Skill! You have learned Toxin Resistance ⁠— level 1. 

You’ve been attacked by a horde of deadly frogs and lived to tell the tale. Poisons and other toxins are slightly less effective on you now.] 

 

Her sadness turned into a chuckle from the sheer stupidity of what she had read. It was all really stupid. And yet, it was thanks to the floating notifications and the Warrior class that she had survived. Even if she was injured now… 

Still… where am I? Why are there skills and levels? she wondered, slightly frustrated. Though I guess I’ll need them to survive… 

Amber shook her head and stood up. She approached the window dragging the chair along with her, she had no idea of where she was. The stars almost seemed familiar, but when she stood on top of the creaking chair to get a better view she paused. There were two crescent moons, and they were facing each other almost intertwined making a weird inverted ‘S’ shape. 

Then there was an expansive forest and large mountains in the distance. It was a beautiful and yet alien sight. But it also made her feel… alone. 

She almost started to tear up again but focused on at least determining if she could leave this place. She was quite high up in the sky so she leaned further and peered out. Only to see she was dozens of meters above ground, and looking up the building continued⁠— she was in some sort of… tower. 

She stepped down the chair and reached for her pocket. 

Even now I want to deny it. I want to tell myself that this is all a bad dream… She touched her wounded forearm and gritted her teeth from the pain. But this is reality. 

She grabbed her phone, which was still there. But of course it didn’t have a signal or any of the sort. Finally she turned to the engravings on the wall and realized that⁠— they were very crude drawings.

She struggled to make out the figures but it seemed as if they were worshipping something, some kind of blob-ghost-looking thing. Was the tower some kind of temple? Though what kind of temple has deadly frogs…? Apparently the ones in this world do… Her mood took a nosedive instantly. 

Still… she just had to get out and figure out how to return home, if she even could. 

And it all started with going to the bottom of the tower. Past the frogs, past whatever other monsters she may encounter, past everything. 

Finally, the reality of the situation fully dawned on her, the stinging pain still present across her body. 

She was trapped. And she needed to find a way out.