Normal Days Part 1

"Hah! Hah! Hah! Just what the hell is that!?" I looked up at the huge monster that had flesh-like wings and six eyes. Its tall, massive body stood taller than any building ever had. There were thousands of us. Standing here under the smoke and debris of what used to be New York. Blood flowed down my body from my open wounds as I gazed up at the massive figure. It was as if the gods of old had decided mankind should not exist. But if we do not stop it here, the world itself will be over….

*Ringgg!!!* *Ringggg!!!*

"What the hell…." My alarm was once more going off. I have no idea why I keep setting it. It's not like I have to work until later tonight. I held my head as I slowly sat up. I felt heavy like I always did. "That dream again…."

It was the same dream…. The same dream I have been having for many months now. Every night, it would be slightly different. And I could remember the dream clearly. But tonight was the first time I had ever seen anything like that in my dream. The strange thing is that it all started with the game I am currently waiting to play, Mortal Online, a deep-dive MMORPG. 

While not the first of its kind, it is the first to support some of the most realistic graphics ever made. It is said to use your own dreams to create the world around you, filling your brain with electric signals that will translate the game world into reality in your dreams. While the concept was not new, it never felt real, and the company Mortal Beyond, the creators of Mortal Online, have stated it will feel as real as if you were walking down the sidewalk in the real world. 

Being the gamer that I was, there was no way I could pass up such a thing, hence why I was waking up so early. Now that I was thinking about it, I had taken on extra shifts just to buy the equipment needed for the game.

I sat up, rubbed my bedhead, and tried to smooth it out with my fingers as best as possible before heading to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. As for a shower…. It can wait until tonight. I normally shower before bed as it was too much of a pain to do it when I woke. If my parents could see me now, they would probably wonder why the hell I was such a grub, but well, whatever… Such is the life of a gamer. 

At least I was not sitting in my parent's basement mooching off them. As antisocial as I was, I was still working a part-time job paying for this stupid apartment I got lucky to find. Five hundred a month with everything included in the basement of some old lady's house. I even got my own entrance. It was quite big and took up an entire floor except for one section, but that was all locked off and was meant to be an emergency exit.

The only thing I have to deal with is cleaning up the occasional dead rat that will get caught in one of the traps I set up around the edge of the house. Luckily, this only happens once in a great while.

You can say my life is quite simple. I have little to no furniture as it costs too much. I have a small fridge with just enough to get me by until my next paycheck. I have three pairs of pants…. Ugh… Now that I think about it, I really have nothing at all except my computer, which took me almost a year to build. Being nineteen and a high school dropout is not easy. I do not know any skills, nor have I learned any. I could learn so much just from watching tutorials online, but I feel it would take away from my game time. 

If I was not so low-tech, I would even stream games as a side hustle. If I cleaned up a bit I was not all that bad looking. I was five foot four, with long black hair and deep blue eyes. I might not be the prettiest girl, but it would be enough to get people to watch me play games. 

But sadly, unless I had the latest VR headset, there was no way I was going to be able to stream since no one cared about the old-school games anymore. However, this might change once I start playing Mortal Online. 

To be honest, even as I walked out the door, I was thinking about that game, not just because of it supposedly being an amazing game but also because of the dreams I was having. I have dreamt of playing that game. Running through the game world and even doing quests. I had even dreamt of reading the forums and seeing the rare loot people would find. "I wonder if it is because I am excited to play it…." 

But it was strange. In each dream I have had since the dreams started, I remember it as if it was just yesterday. I haven't forgotten a single detail. It might sound strange, but deep down, I have this feeling that these dreams might just be as real as the me of now. Why this is, I do not know. Just one of those gut feelings. I guess I will find out once I get the game.

It was currently winter time so I was wearing a black hoodie with my hood over my head. My hair hung down along with my hunched posture. Anyone looking at me would think I am some kind of goth girl or something but I was far from that. Most of the music I listened to came from games, and well, it was nothing more than background noise. I stopped at the street corner to wait for the walk signal and let out a breath, causing a white fog to escape my lips. "It's cold…."

I was currently on the outskirts of the town. The end of the first part of the first quest was a perfect hop away from the abandoned house. Well, more like a few streets, about a ten-minute walk. 

The house was surrounded by a broken-down stone wall with tall grass growing outside and inside. The gate was half off its hinges and rusted beyond repair. It was a single-floor cottage-style house, and with how the buildings merged with nature, it seemed nature did not have to wait long to take over. 

I looked at the wooden door that had seen much better days. It was half pushed open due to a root that had grown through the door jam. I walked over and made my way inside to see grass and moss growing on the floorboards. Luckily, there were no monsters in this house except for the cellar, so I was perfectly safe for the time being. I made my way through the home until I came upon a broken latch on the floor. This was the entrance to the cellar. It was a place that, if one was not looking, they would not find it.

Taking a deep breath, I readied my sword and opened the door to the basement. Light from the hole in the ceiling aimed perfectly into the darkness, lighting my path down an old set of rotting wooden stairs. It's not the safest set of stairs I have ever seen, but it's much better than some New York fire escapes. 

I made my way down the stairs to find the basement was not all that big, to begin with. With the light from the ceiling bouncing off the walls, it lit the basement up enough to allow me to look around, and I kind of wished it didn't since on the far side of the basement stood a ghoul in all its glory.

It just stood there with its bones showing through its rotting skin. Its disgusting body swayed back and forth silently, giving off a pretty spooky feeling. I have watched many zombie movies, and I would have to say that they were what scared me the most. Just the idea that some kind of medicine might one day be created that changes people or some kind of zombie virus will cause a zombie outbreak always freaked me out. But now that I know things will be much worse than any zombie outbreak, I do not fear it as much. But still, ghouls and zombies are not my cup of tea. 

Luckily, I still have my sword skills to deal with the situation. The thing about ghouls in the game and when they appear in the real world is that you have to chop off their heads. "Rawgh!" The ghoul did not take long to notice me and began its charge. It was just that….

"Why are you so fast!?" I had no choice but to tuck and roll out of the way. The ghoul's speed was crazy fast! It was no wonder only a level 10 was able to beat it. 

I quickly jumped back to my feet and, this time, parried the next attack as the ghoul swung at me. Taking this chance as it ran past me, I kicked it in the back of its knee, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the ground. I did not hesitate to move in quickly and slash down with my sword.

*Clang!*

The ghoul's mana-hardened claws struck my blade, knocking me back. I quickly stabilized myself before striking out again. This time, I parried its arm and kicked it out of the way, causing it to lose balance again before finally slicing through its neck.

[Unique Ghoul Defeated]

[Experience Points Gained!]

[Level up!]

I had no time to check my stats as a transparent figure suddenly appeared before me. "Friend. I thank you for releasing me from the curse that had been placed on me. I have been stuck here as a ghoul for many, many years. With no means of leaving this place due to being bound here. Behind the reddish stone is an amulet. It is something I had found in my early days. I never understood what it was used for, but maybe you will be able to figure it out. It is the only thing I can offer for setting me free." 

The figure's body began to float up as a ray of golden light shone down on him. I watched as he smiled and turned into balls of golden light that disappeared a few seconds later.

I bowed my head to pay respect to the man before walking over to grab my spoils of war.

[Item: Mimic Pendant]

[Type: Unique]

[Rarity: Mythic]

[Description: An item filled with shadowy insights. Dropping some of your blood on it should reveal its truths.]

"Oh? So, to start the quest, I need to drop blood on it?" Thinking back, I did read something about that part in the thread that explained the quest. I used my sword to cut my finger and dripped a drop of blood onto the pendant. 

[Hidden Quest: 'Abandoned House Discovery']

[Conditions Updated…]

[Find out the hidden meaning behind the amulet….]

"Well, I got the starter quest. Now, I will need to head to the field to kill a few monsters. Luckily, if I am correct, the field in the back of the house has some monsters I can use to begin using the Shadow Mimic skill."