Brett's sleep was usually dreamless. But this night was filled with nightmares. He continually sat by while Cherry was murdered. Except for this time, he was in the corner of their bedroom. Sometimes Brett just watched impassively, and sometimes he tied her to the chair. Sometimes he screamed and cried but was unable to move. 

When the light from the rising sun hit his face and yanked him from his nightmare. And he sat up in a panic with his heart pounding in his chest. Never before had he been so glad to see the morning. 

The place looked different in the morning light. He could see pictures on the walls, well, not pictures, paintings. A few of various people, but most were of sunflowers and butterflies in vibrant colors. He nodded a greeting to Matilda, who was tending to what smelled like bacon on the stove. Slipping into the same chair that he had sat on last night, he studied a painting of a young girl on the wall across from him.

Something about her face was familiar. In a way, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Getting up to study it more closely, he realized why. It was a small birthmark right underneath the left side of the jaw. A birthmark he was intimately familiar with. With shaking fingers, he reached out and brushed the face of the girl. "Cherry," he whispered.

Cherry? Why was there a picture of her here? He whipped around. "What is this painting doing here?"

Matilda missed the underlying tension hidden in his tone. She just glanced up to see what he was talking about. Looking back down at her cooking, she said. "Oh, that's my daughter Cherry; it's an old painting from when she was little."

His brain didn't like that. Brett had to put his hand on the wall behind him to steady himself. That couldn't be a coincidence. "Cherry ’s your daughter?"

"Oh yes, she doesn't come back very often anymore, but she was here a few months ago. Grown into a fine young woman she has, even has a man, she tells me." Matilda went on, more than happy to talk about her daughter. "I don't mean to brag or anything, but she even lives on the other side. In one of the more prosperous realms. She had to get quite powerful quite quickly to get there while she was still a teenager."

He fell back into his chair. This didn't make sense, not at all; it made no sense. How could it make sense? This was Cherry's mom? No, that wasn't right, Brett thought. Even through his shock, he started putting some pieces together. If he accepted this world as accurate, and he was pretty close to doing that, his coming here must have a connection with what happened right before he was transferred here. That would only make sense.

Should he ask her about Cherry to see if they were actually the same person? No, he didn't think so. He would probably creep her out or make her feel he was trying to scam her. It would probably be best if he made sure before he said anything. He wouldn't want to upset her. Plus, he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell her what had happened. What he had let happen.

But even then, it made more sense than he would like. He thought back to when he first met Cherry in the last year of Junior high. They were both 13, and she was from out of town, she would always say. Never quite told him where she was originally from, and he had never met any of her family.

It wasn't until later in high school that she attended more regularly. Apparently, her family traveled for business, but whenever she was around, she never failed to seek him out. When they graduated, they moved in together. But she still left at times, and that put a strain on our relationship.

Visiting family and various other excuses, she'd say, but he was never invited. This, though, put it in a different light. Was she coming here to visit her mother?

Something else that Matilda had mentioned struck him as a little bit odd. "Could you explain more what you mean by the other side? A prosperous world?"

"Oh, that's right, dear. Pardon my memory. It seems to be failing me of late. I don't get nearly enough newbies coming through here to really remember all the things you don't know." Matilda apologized. "The other side is what we would call anything beyond the bounds of this reality. And Cherry was lucky enough to be able to visit a quite prosperous one. One without magic sadly, and apparently no system, but still one with much better education access. She's built a life there."

"How does one travel to the other side?" he asked. I had shit to do at home.

"Oh, it's quite simple. To transfer, you only need access to a shrine and to be level 30. That was what's so impressive about my Cherry. Reaching level 30 before she was even 13. What a bright young lady." Matilda shamelessly bragged about her daughter. "It's a bit of luck when it comes to what other side of the world you can visit. When you first visit one, it is seemingly random, but then every time you go to the other side, it's always for that first world."

"And how do go ‘bout findin a shrine?" he asked impatiently.

"Oh, it's quite simple; there's one out back by the well." 

He was on his feet and running out of the house in a flash. He knew many kids for whom it was their dream to be in a game world. But honestly, this game sucked, and he had shit to do back home. 

He rounded the corner and saw a small glittering structure next to a well, just as promised. Running up to it, he knelt to get a closer look. It was only a little over a foot tall, made of something like blue steel sculpted into the shape of a butterfly. He reached out to touch the shimmering metal.

Would you like to use the shrine to travel to the other side? y/n

Instantly he selected yes. He waited for something to happen. To be transported out of here just like how he had arrived. 

Requirements not met. 

What. Why would it even give me the option if I couldn't do it? He was staring at the shrine in frustration when Matilda caught up to him. "I told you that you need to be level 30 before you use it, didn't I?"

Yes, she had said something like that. "What does level 30 mean? I don't see any levels in my status!"

"Of course not silly. You don't have a class yet." Matilda said before pausing. "I'm sorry. I know you're new here. I just forget how much you don't know. I took this job mostly just as a way to have a shrine nearby, so my daughter had an easy way to visit. I think I've only ever had to introduce two, maybe three people to the system."

Lovely. My guide is an amateur, Brett thought bitterly. Still, he supposed it was better than trying to figure this out himself. He needed to ask questions to learn how this place worked. If he didn't figure it out, no one would tell him.

Sighing heavily, he got to his feet. "Okay, so how do I get a class?"