6 The Mad Scientist's Victim

"This is me?" I asked myself hesitantly. The face was sharper, the skin and hair color was different. But at the same time, I could see the hints of my face in real life. As if I had personally gone through many face and body change experiments.

Ding!

「 The Amalgam race's grade is being identified. . .」

「 Amalgam | ? ? ? Monstrous Grade」

Ding!

「 Amalgam's Grade has been sealed! 」

「 Amalgam | Monstrous Grade」

I was puzzled. What was up with the question marks? Was it unknown? Whatever it was, the system didn't give me a lot of time to figure it out.

「 Your race has been selected! Due to it's uniqueness, a special background will be created.」

My eyes swam over the text box from the system a couple times.

"Whaaat!!?" I exclaimed.

Usually, backgrounds were chosen by the player. They could choose several choices, some races had more than others. But it was the player's choice. They could start as a soldier or a merchant, son a4792471250193791 wealthy family member or what have you. And usually connections in real life, like friends or the like, could have a connection with.

Many of the most common backgrounds were jobs or occupations that interested you or something connected with your past.

In my case, my sister would almost definitely be connected to my story in some way or another. And maybe Ryan. But I was curious at what would happen. But it seemed to take the system awhile, I started playing with myself. Touching at my olive like skin tenderly. It was strange how much I could feel. It was almost reality.

Full Dive.

It was strange to think that all my senses were connected to this world program. It was even stranger considering how much I was impaired with my audioception, or the sense of sound.

Although, despite regaining my hearing. I was displeased at hearing the system's constant dings and sounds. It wasn't a sound I'd wish to hear over and over again. Unless it brought good news.

Ding!

「 Your Background has been chosen. [ Mad Scientist's Experiment]」

Wait. What? What was up with this messed up and specific background.

「 Temporary Name Assigned To You : [John]」

[ Mad Scientist's Experiment ]

-As [John] and his sister, [ Skysin ] were traveling through the realm as travelers. Outlanders. There were many events that were special to them, however, there was one event that would traumatize [Skysin] forever. It was the dead of night when her brother was stolen from her. As she searched and searched, she found no sign of him. And despair overwhelmed the sister.

-[John] was kidnapped by a Mad Scientist, and brought to a secret dungeon near Thunder Vale. Through many experiments, [John] who was initially Half-Elf was turned into something short of a monsterous amalgamation. [John] has his memories, but spent most of the past year of experiments unconscious and drugged. At the latter half, [John] was no more responsive than one who had been magically slept for eternity.

-However, as the good doctor's work seemed to be realized, he left you in the tower and worked on other projects. It took days, but [John] soon recovered from the induced state that he was in and became acquainted with his room at the uppermost room of the wizard's tower.

「Background has been completed.」

I was baffled. My hand raised to my head, as I shook it in disbelief. I had heard of how the system created immense stories that weaved together circumstances that just made everything more realistic. Even my sister's username, Skysin, was used.

「 Assign your new Username」

| ______________________ |

[ Finish ]

I had thought for a minute. In past games, way back before the world turned bad, there was always an opportunity to change your nickname or username at a later date. Unfortunately, that same boon didn't translate to the Virtual Worlds. It was a world where your name did not change unless you used aliases or disguises. Once you named, there was no going back.

I thought of my life so far. Of my travels. Of my sister. Skysin. I knew what her username was. But I never asked the meaning behind it. But I was sure that there was a meaning behind it.

My new username. After thinking it out, I smiled. Typing it out, I hit finish.

「 Once you create your username, there is no going back. Are you sure? 」

[ Yes ] [ No ]

"You aren't gonna make me change my mind." I laughed, pressing yes.

Ding!

「 Player Silentwolf has been created. 」

I smiled at the meaning there.

「 Silentwolf's starting point has been decided. 」

「 The Mad Castle : North Tower 」

As soon as the final notification rang through, the view around me changed. The whiteness was replaced with ancient cobbled stone. The endless horizon now viewing a circular room with a big wooden table with straps meant to hold someone down at its center. Along the sides of the walls were an arrangement of shelves of books and certain things in jars that I didn't want to look closer at.

There was even a desk filled with unlegible writing and strange diagrams. Some of humanoid figures with various attachments and others were of spell circles. There were even some that looked to be on a variety of contraptions. I had wandered around the room, giving it a twice over before taking notes.

One, I was in a room. From what the system said, I was in a tower in the Mad Castle. The mad castle, if I read the background correctly, should be where the mad scientist lived. Thus, this is probably the room where I became an amalgam.

Two, there really wasn't a way out. The door was locked shut. And the window had a sheer drop that must have been at least a couple miles down.

I had leafed through the books too, but I couldn't understand much of anything that was written in the books. Not to mention the visual blueprints. I had no idea what I was looking at.

CLANK!

A loud thud against metal, followed by a screeching sound rolled through the air. My eyes turned to the cause and it was the door. The door had a slip about a few feet above my eye level.

There I could see an opening. It was pretty dark on the other side, until I saw movement. There, in front of me, was peery yellow eyes. It was so realistic that I stepped back, tripping on a contraption that had been left in with the messiness with the rest of the room.

"Heheh. You're awake, my boy." I could hear him giggling to himself. The grotesqueness of this scene sent shivers down my spine. "You're looking pretty sprighty and upright." He suddenly burst into a fit of laughs again. "That's good, good. Yes. GoOoOod. "

Suddenly I heard him slam a button down. "Hoooyaaaaa!" Immediately blue see through chains and shackles appeared, slapping themselves on my wrists and ankles. My eyes were frantic. 'Where were the chains connecting to?' I had combed through this room. I didn't see any place where chain and shackles could be posted.

My eyes followed the chain up, and to my suprise, it ended there. In midair. My ankles sunk beneath the stone floor. It took me a second, before I realized. This was the Virtual World. It was a realistic immersion, but there was elements in the Virtual World that would just be impossible in real life.

That included magic.

I groaned to myself, knowing a fact like that and forgetting about it here. What would I even have done if it was regular chains? I wasn't sure myself.

Clank!

The door swung open amidst a chorus of screeches of metal grinding against metal. The sound was a little strong for me and my head bent away in an attempt to fade from it.

"Ah. AH. AHHHH. MY BAAAAD!" The mad scientist's voice echoed across the room again. "I for.. For.. I forgot the word dangit." He was grumbling to himself for a second. "Anywho. I, Dr. Me, got you some enhanced sense-u-wobs or what-cha-ma-call-its. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, RIGHT?" He went into his maniacal laugh before bending down in front of me. I tried to pull away, but I couldn't.

His rotted teeth. His raving and searching eyes as they glanced at every feature of my nearly declothed body. I tried to kick him away, but the shackles kept me from doing much of anything. He touched me across my body. It felt so real, it was horrendous. I could smell the mead off his mouth. He had swabbed the inside of my mouth with something foul. He wasn't bitten, but it wasn't for lack of trying. The shackles bent my will in some way or another. He pulled out all sorts of gizmos from pockets or the nearby desks.

I assumed he was measuring me. I was feeling a little dizzy as he pulled out measuring tapes and shined bright lights in my eyes. In fact, it sorta blurred together. And I remember blacking out.

My body was sore when I awoke. I groaned, looking out around the dark room. 'No. Wait.' In an instant, the gloomy dark room seemed to get brighter. To the point where before I couldn't see the bookshelf, but now I could read the titles on the book covers.

There was a lot I didn't understand. It was strange how realistic this system really was. How could I feel so sore? And the memories I had of what I recalled made me shudder. It was very hard to repress the horrible imaginations of what that man did to me whilst I was sleeping. It took a lot of control not to think of what had happened.

I painstakingly pulled myself to my feet, walking on over to a pile of books and arranged them in a way that I could sleep. There were a ton of benefits from sleeping in the Virtual World. And not all of them were for the well rested benefits that lasted for awhile, or the relieving of sores and pains like the ones I had. It was good to take breaks in the game for the health of your mind too. I read it somewhere, but I was too tired to think of where. I soon fell asleep on my bed of books, inside a room at the top of a tower.

I was prisoner. Victim. And Captive. They never said the Virtual World was easy, but I'd never heard of a backstory like mine. I laughed bitterly. It'd have to be my luck that I get the short straw.

In my head, I created a bucket list of sorts.

[ ] Get Out of Here

[ ] Find a Way to Make Money

[ ] Get to School

Those were my priorities right now. The last one is more for my sister. For as much trouble that I got myself in today, it'd be a whole lot worse if I didn't head to the Virtual School.