Chapter 2

“Alright.” Stacy drew herself to her feet. She glanced around, out of her little alcove, making sure no one heard her say that. It was difficult, trying not to vocalize her thoughts constantly. According to her friends, she was a bubbly person, energetic, always keen on meeting new people and experiencing new things.

This was not the king of new experiences she liked.

She looked so gross right now, caked in all this dirt. Her shirt was a cheap, off-brand tank top. It was no big loss to her that its clean white was stained in the brown and black of stone and earth. Similarly, her jeans already had holes in them. It was part of the aesthetic. A few more cuts from running around would only add to its look.

But her shoes. They were a pair of Adidas sneakers, not meant for hiking or mountain climbing. They cost her over a hundred dollars!

Stacy was upset. She knew she shouldn’t be upset over this of all things. She was in another world, in an expansive cave system that was larger than any cave on Earth, surrounded by monsters and hearing weird voices in her head, but the fact that her shoes were a mess was what made her upset.

Everything else was just too surreal for her to even process. Especially the words in her head. Like, what even was that?

It said she met the requirements for ‘White Rank’, and that she could advance to it now. What did that even mean? It means you’re going crazy, Stacy. God, isn’t that obvious?

But she couldn’t possibly have been going crazy, because there was literally no way her mind would come up with something like this. It had to be real. And if it was, shouldn’t she accept whatever help it could give?

Hello? Invisible-voice person?

No reply came. She took a deep breath. The next step was to try talking out loud to prove she wasn’t crazy, and that she actually heard those words. But instead, she decided to give another go at using telepathy, this time, by answering the question.

Yes, I’d like to advance to White Rank. She waited with bated breath. Then she remembered her manners. Please?

And as if that was the magic word needed, more words filled her head.

*DING!* Your Rank has advanced from Unranked to White!

Dexterity +2
Intuition +1
Free Attribute Point +1

Skills gained from White Rank:

[Evade]
- The ability to dodge any attack below Blue Rank, regardless of its speed. Can be used once an hour.
- Uses 30% of stamina.
- Related Attribute: Dexterity

[Lesser Stamina]
- Any physical activity will be half as tiring to you as before.
- Related Attribute: Dexterity

[Quick Thinking]
- You can process information 20% faster.
- Related Attributed: Intuition

Stacy… couldn’t comprehend it. She had skills now?  She was faster? She could think better? Did that mean her GPA would improve?

She didn’t get it. It made no sense to her. It sounded like something straight out of a video game. Or a tabletop game. Her boyfriend in freshman year of college was really into those. She never paid attention to it, but now she wished she did.

Didn’t he have something called a character sheet? She remembered he’d spend hours looking over those pieces of paper before a session. It’d show all the things he needed to know about it. Maybe there was something like that here?

Focusing, Stacy tried to bring whatever she could into the forefront of her mind. And it worked.

Status:

Name: Stacy

Rank: White – Lvl. 1

Health: 94%

Mana: N/A

Stamina: 59%

Attributes:

Power: 6

Magic: 0

Dexterity: 11

Resiliency: 5

Intuition: 4

Worldliness: 0

Free Points: 1

Skills:

White Rank Skills:
[Evade], [Lesser Stamina], [Quick Thinking]

Okay, so I’m literally in a game now. Cool. That’s, like, totally not weird at all.

She watched a movie with that premise, once. Her favorite actor, a particularly buff and bald tanned man, starred in it. However, the characters in the movie were given new bodies with very useful abilities when they were pulled into the game. Stacy was still… Stacy. A senior in college, with her blonde hair and slender frame. Not an action hero who could beat up monsters and bad guys.

It was all just too exhausting for Stacy. She needed a breather, de-stress, do some yoga, and have some delicious coffee to energize her. There was none of that here. So, instead, she fell asleep.

*    *    *

When she woke up, Stacy’s stomach was rumbling. She hadn’t eaten anything in so long. Her current diet plan had her doing intermittent fasting, meaning twenty-four hours probably passed since she last saw any meal.

There was a lot in her mind. The words from before, her status, rung in her head. An echo, telling her that she had to do something. But she ignored it. There were more pressing issues. Like food and water.

She peeked her head out of her tiny alcove, speaking out in a nervous voice. “H-hello?” There was nothing around her. She heard the squeaking of bats or other rodents, the dripping of water, and the shaking of her own fingers. Nothing else.

Steadying herself, she set a foot out of her hole of safety. Nothing jumped out at her, which was reassuring. Stacy gulped and drew herself fully out of the alcove.

There was nothing around her. The glowing moss and lichen on the walls and the stalagmites was the only living thing even near her. With her right hand against the rock wall, she began to navigate her way through the edges of the vast cavern, skirting it, like an ant balancing on the hem of a dress. She made sure she headed away from the slime monster. She didn’t want to be eaten like that forsaken panther was.

Remembering it made her gag. Now, more than ever, she was tempted to go vegan. But when Stacy glanced at only greens around her, she decided she could hold off until she was back on Earth.

If I can even go back.

Once or twice, she heard soft scratching around her. But when she glanced around her shoulder, she saw nothing.

It’s just your imagination, Stacy. There’s nothing there. Except, there was a very high chance that she was being stalked.

She pressed on. The rocky surface of the cave wall grew damper. She saw an increase in the glow moss… except they were no longer glowing. It seemed to lose its shine in larger clumps. It grew darker as she continued. Until she saw the lake.

It was hidden in a shadowed corner, overgrowing with darkened moss. Stacy ran to it, tongue hanging out.

“Water!”

And something leapt out at her.

She spun around as a blur zipped at her. It was small, about the size of her head, and it let out a hiss as it came. For Stacy’s part, she wasn’t shocked. Her eyes weren’t wide open, staring, not reacting.

“Gotcha!”

Instead, she ducked at the very last moment. Exhaustion set in as she moved out of the way, [Evade] taking its toll. But she forced herself to grab the creature before it shot past her. Was it the effect of [Quick Thinking] or playing baseball?

Without even looking, she smashed the creature on the ground, stamping her foot on it repeatedly. It let out a soft screech, and she picked up a rock.

“Be. Quiet. You.”

Each word emphasized a hard strike. She pinned it down, hitting the creature with the sharp end of the rock until she heard a crack. It stopped wriggling in her hands. She stood up, taking in the roach-like monster.

You have defeated a [Fetidbug (White Rank)].

Ew, ew, ew. Stacy looked down at the green blood coating her fingers. She instinctively wiped her hands on her shirt, before realizing there was a body of water nearby. Rushing over to the lake, she took in a few, large glugs, before washing her hands clean.

Once she was finished, she glanced back at the dead fetidbug. It wasn’t exactly like a cockroach, as she initially thought. It only had four legs, thin and long, and a hard shell around its back. Its stomach wasn’t protected, which was convenient for her since that’s what she’d been hitting with her rock.

She pried it open further, looking at the gooey insides. It’s just like lobster, right? You love seafood, Stacy! Stacy grimaced. But you need something to cook it with. You’ll literally get food poisoning otherwise.

Stumped, she tapped her foot on the ground for a moment, trying to come up with any idea she could. Then there was a splash. She blinked as a fish sprung out of the water surface. Her eyes locked with the black and brown trout as it flew through the air.

Then it shot out a ball of flames at her.

Stacy didn’t need to use [Evade] to survive this attempt at her life, but she still heaved a heavy sigh as she fell to the ground. “Can you not?” The fire splattered over a nearby stalagmite, burning off the lichen from its surface.

She eyed the flames slowly eating up the dense moss. And an idea crossed her mind.