User is advised to find a source of food the voice keeps telling me, but that doesn't help at all.

Glancing around in the gloom I take in my surroundings again, the slimy puddle I managed to drink out of, the dust covering the rusty metal floors. Stalactites and stalagmites reaching to meet each other like claws pulling the metal shell of this underground bunker apart. The murky smell hasn't changed much either.

I walk carefully back to one of the medical rooms to check if there is any sort of weapon and stretching my requirements I decide on carrying two IV stands as makeshift spears. I'm not in a situation to be picky.

Walking further into the dark depths of the building using what little light there is from cracks in the wall and glowing fungi dotted around the place, I come upon a large sealed door, almost welded together with a panel above the door with the letters ARM--Y.

I do indeed need a hand but as much as I'd love to enter it right now, there is no chance I could do it quietly or quickly so I discard the idea. I continue walking around for a while and finding nothing but rust, so I make the choice to finally look outside again.

The stairs to the outside, barely lit by the sun which is peeking down the stairwell, trying to find the secrets within. The light illuminates the main room enough for me to make out some rusted markings carved into the wall.

"L--dm--es out--de b-war-"

The words written in a language I manage to understand, unlike the screams from earlier in a different language. The only word I can make out though is 'beware'. The words look really old and were hard to notice if the light wasn't reflecting on the muddy puddle to show them.

Grabbing my shoddy IV spears I make my way up the stairs again, careful to not bang the IV stands up against the walls. Peeking over the cracked stone steps to peek out the ruined entrance I survey my surroundings a bit better.

I can see barren fields, scrap littered around different parts in front of the entrance, tires and bits of metal everywhere. Across in the distance is the now-dried pile of blood, picked otherwise clean of flesh and bones.

Checking the coast is clear I decide to take a few steps forward, avoiding some of the rubble and careful to not kick anything because of my lack of shoes.

A snails pace as I examine my surroundings for more creatures running around before I hear a flap of wings. The birds circling around, drawing near. My options are to run back to the shelter or try and run further away.

I opt for losing progress, I sprint back in a straight line as quickly as possible, one misstep however sends a sharp pain through my foot as I step on some metal debris which slices through my foot causing me to stumble, falling forward before the world turns white.

-------[Klyn]-------

"Well there goes another candidate. I paid quite a bit for that one but in the end they managed to fail even the most basic area." I mutter to myself while walking to the next meeting.

Tapping through the projected screens in front of me as I walk to the next meeting about the future of the Overrealm, I glance at the shop.

[New Offer, rare goods]

The robotic voice of ALI 'All-purpose Life Interface' announces as I reach the shop page. A pair of twins, a boy and girl. Might be worth buying them and seeing how much they can earn me but it would be the last bit of my sponsor money in the account. I should probably choose one of the safer environments though if I'm going to test them this time.

The previous man, was it Diego or Ellis, honestly the names of these failures mean nothing to me anymore other than wasted money.

Well if I don't make up my mind soon the offer will be gone.

I review the goods, Male-female twin pair, Evan & Emma Ross, age 16, no wounds. The male, Evan has some knowledge in fighting. The girl, Emma has some knowledge in healing and medicine.

[Special Bonus, for 175 more credits, grant basic system knowledge & Basic memory recovery]

ALI cuts in while I'm reviewing the twins abilities. Special bonus system knowledge? You mean they don't start with that. Shit, that is probably why the first guy didn't bother to access any of the stuff I bought for him which could have helped him after I bought that location and the items inside and this other half, basic memory recovery? You mean to tell me I bought an idiot who had no memory of how to even exist for 3k? I want a damn refund.

I kick the wall in frustration not caring about the other people around me. Shit I spent 3000 credits on that idiot marketed as having 'great potential' and he didn't know how to use the damn tools? Such an idiot deserved to die but not with my money.

"Whatever fine, I'll buy them and your special offer." I mutter to ALI while containing my rage and stabbing the cart icon with a finger. This better be worth it since this is my last bit of money and I'll get fired if there isn't any results ready for the viewers in a weeks time.

While cursing under my breath for the last few minutes I finally make it to my management room. Opening the door everything is as I left it besides the cups of coffee which get cleaned up. Sinking into the chair I throw up the map with an overlay for dangerous areas while I choose their starting point.

Wait, on the edge of the map, surrounded by higher danger areas there is a forest in white? I wonder if people keep mistaking the difficulty of the area since the forest itself shows up as the colour green for 'easy', but that it is actually an enemy free zone? Its a really small region of the map, you'd need to be searching deliberately for or stumble on with luck, but I think this is the best possible spot.

I tap on the area getting a good look around the area, looking for why the zone is like this. Before I see a statue, laying there on the ground. A dragon, a dangerous but passive creature. This forest is probably its territory, but who would buy a dragon when they do nothing but sleep compared to the Anuha birds who attack everything in sight.

Whatever, I should just place my bets here and hope these next two have some smarts to not die on the first day.

JHarp

So Hi, Jaz here again coming back at you live (not really) with an update, information and apology.

I've had a bit of success with this novel and meant to get back to it, but unfortunately, last year happened, lets leave it at that.

I'm unhappy with the first three chapters of this book, if people wish I will rewrite them as I know some of the descriptions were too confusing for some people to accurately understand the environment of an underground hospital/lab bunker. I've left that poll on for the next 3 weeks.

For those wondering about the whole 'why are there so many tags when no one is doing anything', chill please, we are in chapter 4, this is going to be a long one as long as I keep writing.

 

For a bit of the 'setting' the 'game' the people are being bought for, 'The Overrealm' as will be referenced in the book sometime later, happens to be a 'reality TV' style gameshow, but where they are basically killing off people who are entirely unrelated to their world for entertainment. Lets be honest, people can watch TV and will enjoy seeing people covered in bugs, eating random meats and tons of other stuff, something like this show, as long as its edited and 'claimed' to be CG or something would be totally possible in this day and age if we didn't have everyone accounted for.

As for where all the 'crafting' elements are, don't worry; I plan to go quite in depth due to my knowledge in some of the areas, they just need a 'safe space' which Klyn is too poor now to buy for the second 'characters' he bought. Its an accessible space that allows for expanding, building and otherwise developing skills and making items, accessible every weekend for the players, and to provide a bit of 'downtime' as the game totally cares about their mental and physical wellbeing and not the fact they had to shut down the first season due to the abundant amount of 'self terminations' of players being unable to cope with the situation.