Chapter 1: The Beta Test
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*Ding*



Welcome Elena! You have been chosen as one of TWO MILLION people on the planet Earth, to participate in the beta test for The Game Of Gods. This game includes a non-disclosure agreement which has been automatically signed by you!

As a beta tester, you have the right to The Tutorial. Would you like to take it?

[Yes] [Remind Me In An Hour] [No]



 I woke up feeling exhausted, as usual. But something felt different this morning, yet I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Oh, that’s right, today is Saturday, I was planning on sleeping in. Hmm? A tutorial? Remind me in an hour.

!!

I spring out of bed as I realize what had been sitting in front of my face.

Luckily, I hadn’t actually pressed the [Remind Me In An Hour] button in my half asleep state. So, still at the center of my vision sat a large blue screen.

H-h-has it finally happened? Have I actually gone insane? Or was the fact that I was questioning my sanity proving me sane? Shit.

I hate paradoxes.

Back to the matter at hand, fact number one; there was a giant blue screen in front of my face. Fact number two; It was asking me if I wanted to take a tutorial. Fact number three; I didn’t have anything planned today anyway, what do I have to lose?

Did I just jinx myself? Wait, does the fact that I realized what I had done, un-jinx myself? Did I just do it again? Crap.

Have I mentioned that I hate paradoxes?

Anyway, I would like some answers and tutorials are well known for giving those. Here I go.

I lifted up my hand and pressed [Yes].



Thank you for deciding to take the tutorial! During the tutorial you have unlimited lives, but you get a prize if you make it through without dying more than twice! Also, feel free to report any bugs that you find using the command [Tutorial Report] and then tell us your problem.

As you start the tutorial please choose a weapon off of the wall.

Thanks for your support and please look forward to the big release date in one- or two-years’ time

(liable to change).



Wait. I get a prize if I don’t die more than twice…. Are they expecting me to die? Crud, I don’t know about the other voices in my head, but I do not like dying. As I think this, a bright light surrounds me and I see a drastic change in scenery.

I found myself inside a large white hallway, along the right and left walls of the hallway were racks upon racks of weapons. While the corridor behind and in front of me continued on farther than my eye could see.

The first thing I did was read through the blue window and then press the X to get rid of it.

Not knowing what to do after that, I looked at one of the walls and started to follow it looking for something that would suit me.

I continued along the wall until I saw something that shocked me. A shot-gun. Before this, there had been nothing but medieval style weaponry. I sighed, having guns is waaaay too

overpowered, how in the world could somebody with a dagger stand up to someone with a shotgun? As I thought about this I remembered something that the blue window had said.

“[Tutorial Report] guns are way too unbalanced when compared to these other weapons, it makes the game unfair!” I paused, then shrugged when nobody responded.

I had hoped that when I reported the problem, whoever was in charge would get rid of them. While I do have extensive martial arts training. I have never fired a gun in my life. So if guns were allowed, I would be at quite a disadvantage if other people ended up choosing a gun as their weapon. Oh well, I am sure that if it gets to that point, I can take care of it.

At that thought, I stopped. Did I just think about killing another person as if it was nothing? I am not averse to the idea if it was needed, after all, my father is a doctor. I know what horrible things people can do to you, if you aren’t careful. But even then, I was pretty much emotionless at the thought of killing a person.

I saved that thought for later as I continued to look at the weapons available to me. Eventually I gave in and started to reach for the shotgun, but before I did another blue window appeared in front of me.



Thank you for your report! While we do agree that guns can be powerful, the weapons at your disposal have been balanced so that they are at the same level or in some cases, even more powerful than guns. So, don’t let your ideas of guns affect your choice in any way!



 After reading the window, I sigh gratefully. I then move over to a weapon that I had been looking at earlier.

They were a pair of lace gloves, there was nothing overtly special about them, they just… felt right. I pick them up and put them on. Then the world shifted around me.

I found myself in a grassy plain with rolling hills, I watch as the sun slowly went over the horizon, the wind slowly went through the grass making it lean away from me.

“Hello.” -???

I jump two feet in the air before turning around to look at the person who had talked to me.

She was an older woman who looked to be in her early or mid-sixties, with grey hair, blue eyes, and a young-looking face.

Whoever the hell she is, I want whatever secrets she has that make her look so young.

We both studied each other for a second before I broke the silence by saying, “Um, who are you?”

She smiles, apparently pleased with whatever she saw in me, “I will be your instructor. My name is Sheyla,” she makes a small half bow towards me, “would you give me the pleasure of having your name?” She says in a formal tone of voice.

Not knowing what is expected of me, I give her a small curtsy. Watching so many fantasy movies has its perks, I gave a beautiful curtsy if I do say so myself. “My name is Elena.”

 

Sheyla’s POV

I watch my new student as she arrives in my domain. She is wearing a thin night dress with sunflowers sewn all across the back, I stand there observing her as she watches the sun slowly set.

Before we lose too much of our light, I call out to her.

“Hello.” Startled by me, she jumps in the air a little bit before turning around to stare at me. I pause for a second startled by her beauty.

Her body while not overly muscular shows signs that it has experienced plenty of exercise. My eyes slowly travel towards her chest, they are perky yet not big enough to get in her way, my eyes then head back up to study her face, with a small nose, green eyes and long brown hair flowing slightly past her shoulders, I can’t help but gulp ever so slightly. It isn’t so much her beauty, as it is the light that surrounds her that causes me to get caught off guard.

Lost in her own appraisal of me, she seems to not have noticed my momentary speechlessness.

“Um, who are you?” She knocks me out of my reverie with those words and I smile, it seems that I will have an interesting student.

I bow to her formerly and introduce myself.

Elena’s POV

After rising from my curtsy, I watch as Sheyla waves her hand in the air causing a table with a kettle of tea on it and two chairs on either side of it to appear, she then motions for me to sit down.

Our young heroine encounters a strange woman who can make things appear from thin air. The strange woman who calls herself “Sheyla” tells the young heroine that she is her ‘Instructor’. What will our intrepid heroine do next? Find out next time on-

I stop the voice in my head before it decides to cut to commercial.

I then take a deep breath, mentally apologizing to myself for zoning out, I guess this is how my mind copes with odd situations.

I wonder what a psychologist would make of that?

“Um, hello? Hello? Did I freak you out? I sometimes forget what it must be like your first time, experiencing all these new things, I apologize.” Sheyla’s words knock me back to my senses.

“No, it’s all right, I was just a little shocked, that is all.” I smile at her hoping to smooth over my momentary thoughtlessness.

I sit down in the chair across from her. “So, you say that you are my instructor? What exactly are you instructing me on?”

Sheyla sits down her chair and considers my question. “Well, a lot of things actually.” She adjusts her position before continuing, “How do I put this…?” She pours herself a cup of tea before continuing, “Your planet is not the first to experience these changes and I very much doubt it will be the last.” She takes a sip of her tea. “Unfortunately, not every planet is as resilient as I hope your planet to be. Some don’t even make it through the beta stages without all the beta players dying. That is why I and other teachers like me are here. Our job is to make sure that you live as long as possible and survive the tragedies that the gods are about to throw down upon you-“

“Our job? And when you say gods… Who- or should I say WHAT are you? You make these things appear out of thin air… Are you one of these so-called gods that you are talking about?” I narrow my eyes at her.

“Me? A god? Ha! Like I would ruin thousands of lives for my own pleasure. In fact, I detest gods with a passion. If the universe didn’t require them, I would try and kill them all myself.” After that little tirade she takes a deep breath to calm herself. “No, I am not one of those a-holes. In fact I was once like you, a normal human, no offense.”

I wonder what that tea tastes like, is it even real?

Cadet Elena! Pay attention, the woman in front of you is talking about important world breaking stuff!

Aye-Aye Captain!

“None taken, I rather pride myself on my normalcy.”

“You see, I learned to game the system, quite literally. In fact I know so much about this system, that I, along with a few others, have been chosen to teach the ones recently introduced to the system, how it works.”

I was about to ask another question when she interrupted me.

“I am afraid that we don’t have much time before the next part of the tutorial starts. So I might have to rush what I am about to tell you. First off, I want you to think the word [Status].”



General Info: Elena S. Trudeau Age:16 Lvl: 1 Class: N/A Mana: 80 Health: 200

Sponsor: N/A

Titles: Beta Tester, Crazy In A Good Way (Is that even possible?), Watched By The Gods

Special conditions: Most Definitely Not-Normal

Physical Condition: Healthy

Physicality: Athletic 84%

Brilliance: Graduate 95%

Equipment: Gloves(unique)



“Have you done that? Good. Most of what you will see there is self-explanatory, however I will go over the important things. First off, your mana, most people start out with a base of thirty to fifty mana, but as a beta player you should get a bonus amount. Then there is health, again as a beta player, you get an increase of your base health by 50. The only way to raise those two values is by either leveling up, or gaining a class.” She glances at the sun, “Unfortunately, I don’t have enough time to explain classes, they won’t be important until later anyway. Just make sure not to choose one without looking at your other options.” Another glance at the sun, “I will skip over the sponsor for now and move onto titles. You can look at what a title does by saying [Describe Title _____]. Please explore those on your own.” She takes a deep breath and bites her lip, “Your Physicality and Brilliance will increase when you level up.”

She leans in towards me and continues “Can you tell me what you chose from the equipment room?”

Captain! The brain has too many questions to ask! What do we do?!

We will have to ignore them for now Cadet. I am afraid we will have to press the Big Red Button.

Captain? You can’t mean… That button? The horrifying, terror inducing, world breaking Big Red Button??!!

Yes. I order you to press the Stop Asking Questions Button.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

“I chose these gloves.” I take them off and hand the gloves over to her. I had put them on earlier without even realizing it.

She studied them and as she did, I realized that I honestly hadn’t paid that much attention to how they looked. It had kind of been a last-minute decision when I took them. So, I took this chance to take a closer look at them.

They were black with silver letters that looked similar to what I had seen of the ancient Egyptian alphabet, the letters were written in a spiral down the long sleeves that went up my arms, almost reaching my elbows.

“Nice choice of equipment, even I can’t see all that it can do….” She turns the gloves over following the silver letters. “Unfortunately, as I keep saying, we don’t have the time to get into detail. For now, I want you to say [Identify Equipment: Gloves].”

I do as she says.



Item: Gloves Of The Ancients

Owner: Elena S Trudeau

Abilities: Volatile Looks, Indestructible, ???



Sheyla hands over the gloves, which I then promptly put on, “The next test involves facing a few creatures that you will be seeing more of in the future. Since you are still in the tutorial, if something happens to you out there and you die, you will be revived at the beginning of the test. Good luck Elena. I want you to take this with you for now.” She hands me a small book that I just hold in front of me, not sure what to do with it.

She looks at me expectantly. Not sure what she is expecting, I motion towards my lack of pockets.

Shayla gives me a confused look, before realization dawns on her face “I completely forgot to tell you, didn’t I? Say [Place In Inventory] and everything in your hands will be placed in your inventory.” Shayla looks at something I can’t see, “And it looks like those will be my last words to you for a while, I hope you survive what is coming.” After those word, my vision starts to get hazy, before I pass out.

 

Author's note: The first thirty chapters are already written and I will be adding actual blue tables soon.

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