Vol. 1 CH. 1 - World Labyrinth
Before the world faced the unknown events where seven unknown beings appeared in the sky, declaring the beginning of a game which those nameless gods with unknown antiquity, the world was at peace.
Like in any other day, the lives of people weren't much different and much less actions were involved. The adults work from day to night while kids were playing, going to school and enjoying life.
It was not much different from any other day where everything was normal.
School was hell for students and they would often do stuff like cut classes or just not attend at all. Some do projects and some do research.
The noise from pointless chatters; worthless news about endless corrupt politicians and just as always the trends within social media scurry even in the real world.
Kids imitate famous singers, rappers, dancers; teenagers would watch uneducable videos in the World Wide Web and adults would just watch news over and over again.
Teachers in classes were as usual, boring. The nonstop lectures of the same old history, the usual mathematics, physics and English grew too boring to the ears of students who had already learned them through grade school.
Nonetheless, the students still came to school. Even if they were boring and repetitive, the students still study.
"........"
Just as usual, the ones who don’t care much about their lives slept through class. The long lecture of the professor in history class cause many students to doze of. Some even already fell asleep at the middle part of the lecture.
"......"
This one particular student slept throughout the whole lesson; from start to finish. He was a poor learner and was at the bottom of the class. Even though he knew how much of a failure he was during academic tests, he still didn't care and slept through bunch of his class.
This student had black hair and dark brown eyes. His face wasn't particularly handsome but it wasn't ugly as well. He has few freckles and acme growing on his face but they were few and can't really be seen from a far.
His skin was a dull brown to a kind of black color that seemed like ash, but either way, he wasn't the bad. His height was about 165 cm and worst of all; he wore black rimmed glasses with thick lenses due to his bad eyesight.
This student was an automotive major student at his fourth year in college, Mark Preston.
"-And so, the political government has...."
The professor of history class continued to blabber on, ignoring the numerous heads on the armchairs. Even though he knew that almost everyone were sleeping in his class, he still continued the lesson.
15 minutes passed and the history prof issued a break for the time being. As expected, going through the 4 hour class period was too much even for an educator like him.
Slowly, the class lost its students as they went to get something to eat or just go to the bathrooms and do their businesses. Mark though, remained seated, ignoring the swelling noise filling the whole class.
"And I was like-"
"Uwooh!? Really?!"
"Ahahah!! What is that?!"
"Hey! Let's play ball later!!"
Several voices with different kinds of topics filled the class. The nice quiet atmosphere earlier seemed like an illusion as everyone in class immediately gained back their energy.
Bored, Mark pulled out his phone from his backpack. Then, with quick finger movements, Mark glossed over his home screen and went to a social media app and made his self-busy.
And just as he opened his account after typing his password, a notification appeared saying [◼◼◼ TV is Live] at his sliding bar. Mark quickly opened the notification and saw the live feed that was currently being taken in the city.
"Hm? What's this?"
As Mark watched the whole video from start to the middle, the appearance of seven female beings wearing mask with an inorganic eye at the center of it, flashed in his phone.
A white world appeared, and just like in his phone, Mark's surroundings were covered in pure white as well.
"?!"
Instinctively, Mark closed his eyes and dropped down on the floor. The seats clattered and the voices of panic and confusion roared around the classroom. Loud noises of seats falling and people dropping on the floor echoed as well.
"What just...."
The white flash only lasted for two minutes. The light slowly disappeared as well and the state of the classroom during the event was devastating. Seats were fallen with notebooks and bags sprawled about, some of his classmates had scratch and bruises but none were fatal.
Some had bumps on their heads and some even took advantage of the situation and coupe a feel on the female students' bodies. As a result, some got slapped loudly and a fight broke out.
But setting that aside, the outside of the window seemed dark. The bright and hot sunlight outside in a summer day was gone and as if dark clouds were looming over the rooftops, everything was dark. Only the illumination of the classroom's fluorescent bulbs was the only light source.
"What the hell happened?"
Mark placed his phone into his pocket and donned his bag before leaving the classroom. In a hurry, Marl passed several students leaving the classroom as well; he passed by some students that got dizzy and were leaning against the walls of the second floor hall.
After running down the stairs, Mark then saw the sudden change of places the school got. Outside was the same buildings but the sky was pure black with no light. There was air obviously but upon lose inspection, the whole university seemed to be inside a closed space; somewhat similar to an underground basement.
Other students were checking the outside as well. None of the students seemed hurt but just in case, the security guards were rushing to check on some things around the whole school.
Mark, who felt a vibration in his pocket, pulled out his phone and saw a sudden change. On the home screen of his phone, most of his app was gone. The batter bar that indicates the level of power inside the phone was gone, the message app, the social media apps were gone as well as his SMS app have disappeared.
What were left were his camera app, his calendar, his files, his clock, his gallery, and an unknown new app saying [UL].
'What the heck is this? Where is this?'
Mark's mind was filled with confusion and questions. However, as he won't get his answers just like that, Mark pressed the app.
*Ping* A message appeared on the screen.
===================
-Welcome!
-This message is a brief introduction in the world [UL] or Universe Labyrinth!
To those that are participating in the game, please be warned that death inside [UL] will result in true death.
-For starters, [UL] is a world that was derived from the primitive entertainment of various worlds from various universes.
Granted appreciation by the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods, [UL] has been implemented as a universal survival game where one would need to level up and complete missions.
Humans would earn experience points and gain skills. As levels rise through various battles, players would be able to unlock potential skills derived from one true talent.
-Monsters are a variety. Many live in lower floors are weak but as higher floors monsters would increase in strength and ferocity.
Materials can be dropped when monsters are slain. Higher level monsters drop rare items and more.
-Money is converted as Gold in this world. It can be gain from monsters as well.
-Weapon rarity is divided into categories.
-Rules vary in every event.
-Those who die would never return to their world.
-Once the goal has been reached, all players would be automatically sent back to their worlds.
==================
Such message appeared. After skimming through it, Mark faintly realized that this place they were was not earth. The pitch black sky over the university seemed to be the innards of a cave.
What's more, the words "Great Old Ones" and "Outer Gods" caused Mark to remember the books of H.P Lovecraft, the stories about horrors and weird gods and their kingdoms.
'Just what is this....?’ Mark's face cramped as he could not makes heads or tails about their situation. However, there was one thing that Marl was sure of, letting all the entrance and exits in the university open would be a bad idea.
Behind Mark, the staffs, the guards and professors have been directing all the students to use all unoccupied classes until further notice. The University president has appeared as well and took charge of ordering the staffs around.
Emergency notice was ensued around and almost all guards were taking all students to all classes and department offices. Mark too was being ordered to go back to class until the adults were sure of their current situation.
However, Mark didn't take the chance. Ignoring the warnings of the guards, Mark ran out of the queue and went back to the lobby. Immediately after, he took the radio transceiver from one guard's belt and operated it.
"Please!! Don't go outside!! Close all gates and entrances that lead outside!! It isn't sa-"
"Damn it kid!! Give that back!!"
The guard pulled the radio transceiver from Mark and pulled Mark's collar. The staffs and guards didn't pay him any attention and let a group of adult professors and staffs out the entrances to check the outside of the university.
Still, Mark struggled, he ran to where was safe and his there. Unknown to him, this action of his saved him from being killed....
♦♦♦♦
The world outside the university was dark. Cold air blew and strange wriggling noises can be heard throughout the whole place. The lights from the flashlights of the guards gave the six men a leeway to see what's in front of them. Nevertheless, it was still pitch black dark around them.
One of the men complained about why they were outside. He felt the creepiness of his surrounding and the unsafe sense as if he was being watched.
Several minutes later, there was still nothing the group discovered. The whole place was till hard to see through and the road was uneven. Most of them had their legs aching due to the uneven roads and the due to the darkness, they almost got lost.
The lights coming from the university behind them was the only mark that they can rely on as it was too dark.
But, as they decided to turn back, the light from the university disappeared. Instantly, they were covered in darkness. One of the cleaning staffs that came with guard and professors shined his flashlight towards the direction of the university. However, what appeared there was something unexpected.
Dyed in shock, the flashlight dropped down on the ground and broke; turning the whole place into pitch black darkness once more.
*Grrr....*
A low growl; It came from the thing that stood in front and covered the light that came from the university. An unimaginable monster that was too horrendous to describe, attacked the poor adults that did not heed Mark's warning....
-
An hour after hiding inside the garage shop of the university where numerous cars were parked, Mark looked at the changed his phone received. Firstly, its batter life was now infinite. It doesn't lose much energy as much as it should be and could now live up to an infinite number of lifespans.
The second part was the fact the phone became indestructible. No matter how you placed it in oil, water or even flammable fuel; throw it hard or smash it using a sledge hammers, the phone won't get destroyed. It was something that was truly unbelievable no matter how you think about it.
The third part was that some of the apps in the phone had disappeared. More than a sixth of the apps were either gone or deleted. None of the phone usual apps that were internally installed were left. The only ones remaining were the conventional ones like the clock, calendar, camera, phone registry, gallery and the [UL] that who knows why it was inside the phone.
But setting that aside, the fourth part was the weirdest part. The [UL] app contained mostly menus and options that only exist in games. The HP, MP and even the SP bars were there. The attribute value that numerically indicates one’s own capabilities and the nonconventional skill tree that was currently dark and inactive. Most of this was game like that Mark doesn't understand what was going on anymore.
Furthermore, there was the inventory menu that let you store about 20 slot worth of items. You can take it out by using the phone or just use it by taking the items out by means of telepathy. Mark already tested this it seems it was indeed possible.
There were four kinds of weapons found in inventory. Those were a practice iron sword, an axe, a book of spells and a bow. The spell book was blank while the bow lacks any arrows. The practice sword and axe were usable but the axe was too heavy and the practice sword was dull.
These weapons were quite useless but whether their useful would only be decided in certain situations. In any case, that part was done.
The fifth part was the information regarding this world. Unlike the previous brief message, the information inside the [UL] app was vast. It tells about what kind of world [UL] was and how it works.
Modern weapons such as guns and nuclear weaponry are useless against the monsters of this world. Items of random variety are dropped by monsters and food are harvested true the drop items. Though as the rarity increases so does the difficulty in collecting various items.
Unknown gods rule this world in the shadows while the people they abducted were the game pieces.
There was no doubt that this world was a void place where monster like gods exist. If Mark's assumption about H.P Lovecraft was true then the author's books wasn't made only from his fantasies but through his own real experiences.
Mark has no idea how well-known H.P Lovecraft was but if his books were real then there was no way all of the people in the university would surprise.
"Haah.... but seriously, we don't have any ways of returning huh?"
Mark was slumped in a corner while fiddling with his phone. Most of his phone's registry was gone and because of that Mark couldn't contact his family or even his friends.
For the time being, Mark opened the map menu of [UL] and looked at the university's location. But, what he saw was different. Surrounding the whole university was a large number of red dots.
Mark's heart beat dangerously as he quickly pocketed his phone and called out the sword from his inventory through telepathy.
In a rush, Mark exited the garage and rushed towards the location where the red dots were piling.
-
"Uaaah!!?"
"W-What are these!!?"
*Bang-Bang!!* Shots were being fired as the guards were fighting off the monsters that were entering through the vehicle entrance gate at the north part of the university.
The janitors and janitresses were being held down by large pink flesh monsters with ugly faces and large arms. The bullets that were hitting the flesh monster were only bouncing off as their momentum was getting nulled through the fleshy body of the flesh monsters.
The professors were helping the janitors and janitresses but most of them were getting eaten one by one. Because of such tragedy, almost all the staffs and professors were already running away.
*Tsk* Mark clicked his tongue as he held the handle of the sword tightly.
"Gaaah!!! Damn it!!"
Having no other choice, Mark did not lose to his fear that was already winning inside him. He cast away all caution away and started to sprint. Those that heard his voice getting closer looked back.
Unable to endanger themselves anymore, the guards decided to escape.
Mark dashed and held the practice sword with both of his hands and swung it on the large monster's fleshy arms.
"Seeeii!!!"
*Woosh!!* The sword was swung, thick red blood gushed out from the flesh monster's arm and Mark took a step back before charging once more and made a deep cut on the flesh monster's ugly face. As its eyes were wounded, the flesh monster screamed in pain and staggeringly took a step back.
*Guaaaah!!?*
"Hah, good it works!!"
Mark pumped his self-up and thrust his sword into the monster's chest. *Guchi-* The sword impaled the monster and broke its heart. Suddenly, the monster's body was swallowed by light and burst into particles. Another sword dropped along with a few coins and cards. As there was no time collecting them, Mark continued to saved the captured janitors and janitresses.
One Flesh monster thrust its large fist towards Mark. However, their movements were slow and easy to read. With that, Mark easily cut their arms and stabbed their hearts. Mark rescued one janitor that was about to get eaten as he cut off the arm of the flesh monster and slit its throat. Once more, the flesh monster turned into light particles and disappeared; dropping items on the ground with metallic sounds.
"Get back!"
"T-Thanks!!"
After that, Mark resumed his battle. After a brave roar, Mark charged ahead towards the army of monsters with only his survival instincts telling him how to fight....
♦♦♦♦
"Hah....ha....ugh....hah..ha....haaah..."
There was an empty lot with only a single young man standing atop a bloody lot. The road where almost all the cars and motorbikes enter the university was dyes red. Walls, ceiling a gate alike were dyes pure red. Standing there was Mark, with a broken sword in his hand covered in blood.
Mark was breathing raggedly while collecting all the dropped items on the ground. The map has returned to its usual color and all the red dots have disappeared. Item collecting can be done using his phone once he pressed the [Gather all items?] button in the inventory menu.
Instantly, the clattered items around him were gone and his Inventory became full. However, because of that fight earlier, his level increased to five and his inventory opened five more slots. The skill tree was still inactive but passive skills like [Survivalist] that enables one to act only using his instincts to fight in an inevitable battle.
There was also another passive skill that was currently active. It was the reason why Mark has yet to fall due to exhaustion.
[Battleground] a passive skill that uses SP in order to not let the user faint or fall unconscious due to exhaustion. Mark was excessively tired right now, but he has yet to fall thanks to this passive skill.
Passive skills are not included in the skill tree as they were more like in the branch section. The roots or more like, the seed at the center of the skill tree was black and inactive.
Currently, Mark was experiencing intense headache while he was walking...
"You...."
"I told you didn't I... close the gates"
The guard that made Mark like a fool earlier was standing in front of him, looking at Mark with eyes filled with disbelief.
The guard didn't think that what Mark was saying was true as he only thought of the safety of the students. However now, he thought that Mark was right and he should have listened; because now, there were 10 casualties due to this incident.
On the hallway leading to the lobby, all the students, staffs, professors and the guards that survived were watching Mark leave the vicinity of the vehicle entry way after closing the large door.
They merely watched the blood covered student, who saved a few lives in earlier's incident. Mark ignored them and went back to the garage....
"Mark!?"
"Hey Mark!! Wait!!"
As Mark was leaving two of Mark's few acquaintances saw him. They tries to call him out however, they were ignored by Mark, who was staggeringly walking away with his head lowered....
