Chapter 2: Status

"What in the living hell..." both Kevin and I exclaimed as though God himself had descended.

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All three of us were baffled, and rightfully so. After all, I doubt any of us were aware that holograms even existed.

However, in contrast to that line of reasoning, a holographic interface had just appeared in front of our eyes. The interface bore a stark resemblance to the message that had been on my computer’s display until just a moment ago.

I began to process everything while rubbing part of my sore arm—in fact, most of my body was sore for some reason.

The implications denoted by the hologram were nerve-wracking. The notification I had received regarding the merger of our world with the “system” and the message that now displayed in front of my very eyes seemed inexplicably connected.

What the hell was going on? Maybe Kevin’s outburst wasn’t so far off the mark. If this indicated some type of Isekai event, then… Well, shit. Holy Arc Online was the last game I would have wanted to become a reality.

I waved my hand in front of my eyes, in a lackluster attempt to dispel the awful implications of the message displaying itself to me.

What I had thought as being a mere invitation to join an unannounced expansion of Holy Arc Online had just turned out to be something completely different. With every fiber of my being, I hoped I was wrong.

"What's the System...?" Rachel slowly asked the both of us.

When neither myself nor Kevin responded, Rachel, pressed even harder to bring us out of our daze, "Guys! What’s going on?"

I turned towards Rachel, her face flush with confusion. Kevin on the other hand appeared completely stunned, likely caught processing the same implications I had.

With eyes full of disbelief at the impossibility of the situation, I approached Rachel, and put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I told her, and I meant it.

Rachel’s head tilted, “what do you mean you’re sorry? What’s going on Thomas?”

I frowned, "I didn-"

"[Status]!", Kevin yelled out, interrupting my response to Rachel.

Kevin stood there, with the widest grin imaginable spreading on his face. You’d think he had just won the lottery.

"Holy shit!" Kevin continued, "This is real!", then, looking towards me, he grabbed and pulled me away from Rachel. "Do you know what this means Thomas?” he whispered loudly, “we've got some top-level anime shit going on!" His attempt at being quiet failed, as Rachel looked on, clearly not amused.

I pushed him away, he was getting way too close for my personal comfort. “What are you talking about Kevin?” I asked him, sharing Rachel’s sentiment.

"Just say [Status] Thomas!" Kevin pressed.

I rolled my eyes. Messing around was seriously not a top priority of mine at the moment, considering how caught up I was in the mere impossibility of receiving holographic messages in the first place. In order to quell Kevin's persistence, I frustratingly said, "[Status]."

Instantly a blue holographic screen appeared in front of me, replacing the previous notification that had welcomed me into the System.

No… This wasn't possible. Yet… It was. Right in front of me, as if mocking my attempts to discredit the reality I was struggling to face, was a status screen. With the exact same format as Holy Arc Online.

“Holy Arc Online…” I slowly mumbled as I was taking in the information that the hologram implied.

“Yes!” Kevin could hardly contain his excitement, “I don’t know why, but the game has become a reality! Isn’t that dope!?”

“You sound like a lunatic Kevin. But...” he was right. Still, there was no way he should be excited about this…

I looked towards Rachel who had completely zoned out, indicating she had done the exact same thing Kevin had suggested I do.

“But you know I’m not, right Thomas? It’s literally just like it was in the game.” Kevin said, evidently looking for some type of validation for his supposed discovery.

I nodded, informing Kevin that I saw his point. However, the status screen was not what I would have expected for a brand-new status. But that could be explained with one assumption.

In Holy Arc Online everyone started off with the exact same stats, a uniformity that was uncommon in the real world. It only made sense if reality itself had some degree of variation in contrast.

In my case, there were several glaring parts of my status that indicated it was abnormal—my race and titles.

I shifted my attention to the indicated race, and as I focused on the impossibility of its meaning, another notification suddenly appeared.

Overpowered would sum up my apparent racial evolution. At lower levels, those additional free attribute points would make a massive difference. Typical races granted about one or two additional free attribute points per level—in the game at least. I could only take a guess at what “greater potential” within the system meant.

I willed my attention to return to the previous status screen—indicating that focus was the method of navigating through the menus.

I then concentrated on the titles.

In Holy Arc Online titles were rare and hard to come by. I received my first title in the game after defeating my first Demon Champion, and that took eight months of near-constant playtime with Kevin. The fact that I possessed two titles right off the bat signaled something unusual was happening—if similarities to the game were to be believed.

In this case, I was presented with the High-Human Paragon, and Genesis titles; both, admittedly, were woefully unfamiliar to my eyes. However, by focusing on the titles, I was able to glean more information about them.

 

The titles weren’t anything like what I had come across within the game. I had seen titles such as [Savior of Falinwood], [Demonlord Slayer], or [Annointed of Falmus], but those only granted some small attribute increases or special skills. Specialized classes were not unheard of but were still rather rare.

In particular, the [Anointed of Falmus] had class variations linking themselves with the Kingdom of Falmus. Classes such as the [Falmus Battlemage], or [Falmus Magesmith]. Variants such as those tended to be slightly stronger than their generic counterparts. A [Falmus Battlemage] would have slightly higher stat growth than a typical [Battlemage].

Granted, those specialized classes restricted an individual from exploring an independent playstyle, as they were aligned with a particular faction. So, it was a give-and-take type of situation.

The longer I looked at the titles, the more convinced I became that the game had merged with reality. I was becoming increasingly unnerved. In the back of my mind, my instincts were telling me that something dangerous was happening; but I ignored it, my present distractions won over.

How in the world had the game become reality? Was it due to advanced technology? God himself? Maybe something even more inexplicable?

I shifted my focus, and the screens subsequently faded away.

I looked back towards Kevin and Rachel. Rachel was standing there, completely still, while Kevin continued to look at me expectantly—like a dog awaiting praise.

I humored him. "Kevin,” I asked, “what exactly are you seeing with your [Status]?"

Kevin immediately shifted his stance slightly and appeared to be looking at his own status, "Uh, hold on one second Thomas let me see if... And... Here we go!" he exclaimed. With a slight twist of his hand, a small holographic window suddenly appeared before my eyes.

"I figured that if it was possible in Holy Arc Online, then it must be possible here!" Kevin noted with exhilaration.

"It appears you were right,” I muttered.

I accepted, and Kevin's [Status] appeared.

Briefly looking through Kevin’s status, it became clear that my earlier assumption was correct. There was a disparity in his attributes compared to mine, likely indicating that the system took into account the current state of your body. Kevin was a big guy, which translated into his strength and constitution. However, he wasn’t very fast, which his status clearly indicated with his low agility.

I turned towards Rachel, and interrupted her thoughtful state, "Could you show me your status Rachel?"

Rachel’s eyes regained their focus. She looked at me, confused, "Um... I don't know how?" she stammered. I sighed, not particularly surprised. The mere ludicrousness of everything was a lot to take in.

In response, Kevin quickly piped up, "Rachel, just go ahead and focus on Thomas, and then move your hand as though you're pushing the hologram towards him!” he announced, before noting, “at least, that's how I did it."

Following his instructions, Rachel sent her status over to me. Then, in turn, I sent mine over to Kevin. I didn’t bother sending it to Rachel, she’d have no idea what to make of it after all.

As I began comparing all three of our statuses, the similarities to Holy Arc Online continued. Each attribute provided a certain amount of health, stamina, and mana points. Strength focused on both health and stamina, constitution focused on health, and agility focused on stamina. Wisdom and intelligence both focused on mana.

“Well… That’s not fair,” Kevin mumbled as soon as he sorted through the information contained within my status.

I smirked at Kevin; but just as I was about to say something, Rachel broke the looming banter with a concern-filled question, "Guys... Why is it so quiet?"

I paused, what did she mean quiet? And then I heard it, or rather, I didn’t hear it.

The ambiance of Boston’s city life had become uncharacteristically tranquil. The honking horns, the shouting, the yelling, the general bustle of the city—replaced by silence.

We all shuffled over towards the solitary bedroom window. I was relieved when I managed to still make out the crowds of people below. For a second there I had thought everyone had disappeared. So, it won’t be like that then, I thought, thankful.

In contrast, though, they had all stopped moving, and, as I strained my hearing, I could hear the harsh whispers of general confusion. The more bizarre thing was… They were all looking upwards.

"What are they all looking at...?" Rachel whispered, clearly alarmed.

"Hey!" Kevin seethed with general frustration, as he attempted to pull the window open further, "help me get your damn window open, it's stuck again!"

The window had constantly given me issues. I moved the bed slightly away from the wall and stepped into a better position. As both Kevin and I leveraged the window and let out a huff of strained air, the window suddenly gave way and opened with a sharp bang.

Successful in our endeavor, the three of us stuck our heads out through the window frame.

As I turned my head to glance up into the sky, I saw what the crowds below had been so captivated by.

A massive rift had appeared in the sky—looking as though the very fabric of reality had been torn apart.