Birth of Dantes

"I would never do something like this," I whispered to myself.

With a starved and exhausted body, I walked up to a cart.

"I see..." my emotions had died.

"I guess, I know what to do; this is too tempting, after all."

Speaking to myself, denial had left my voice.

"Arial..."

To the grave.

********

"So, this is where we get evaluated…"

Walking through grey hallways with strange markings on the walls; blue glowing orbs were everywhere; this felt more like a weird cave than a building.

"Hi! Here's your note—your seat would be X-15, sir Dantes."

I replied with a smile. "Hi—thank you."

Looked around and then… "J… G… F… and here's X…"

A big space like in an airport—hundreds of seats all labelled with a letter and a number; almost none of the seats were empty.

As I was moving towards my seat, I could hear evaluations—they were publicly announced, almost in the form of execution for the lower ranks.

"Z-12, Soyeon Spring: Level 4 with 443 ELO."

"F-2, Michael B. Garrison: Level 2 with 201 ELO."

"B-28, Vidmant Badmino: Level 2 with 248 ELO."

I sat down and immediately the man next to me went and started a conversation, "just don't get excited for your rating—remember to be realistic, this ain't a fantasy."

Dumbass. "You look like you work at McDonalds full-time, save the words for yourself." Afterwards, I arrogantly smirked and looked away.

Expectedly, the guy wasn't having it. "The fuck?!" Immediately stood up. "I was only trying to be nice! You asshole!"

Then I put my hand on my palm and calmly replied, "sit down," faintly smiled, "don't start a scene or you'll get both of us in trouble."

Suddenly, his note began scintillating and letting out beeping noises, "beep, beep, beep." He noticed and announced, "seems like it's my time—just don't get blown off your shoes, little one."

Obviously, I kept up my condescending approach, "yeah, sure—maybe you'll get Level 2 then you can get promoted to a manager or something."

He got even more upset but didn't reply. As he started stepping towards the evaluation place, I noticed a holographic monitor on which it was displaying that it was his turn; it seems like only the evaluation results get announced vocally. "Really is like an execution."

Less than a minute later, it was here: "X-14, Atass J. Nolan: Level 3 with 399 ELO." Wow, much higher than I expected, honestly—maybe I shouldn't have been so rude towards him. "Eh, who cares." Soon after, he started going towards me rather than marching to the exit. "Yo! Thoughts? I got the 'A' Level System." Smiled arrogantly; prick stole my smile. 

Instead of continuing my little clownery, I reaffirmed his newfound pride, "good for you, man! You can easily retire from a minimum wage job now!" Instantly, he made a "pfft!" kind of sound and looked at me in disappointment, "I'll let you know, I run a pretty big business—you shouldn't judge people by appearance like that, child."

Slightly annoyed, I answered, "ya, ya. My bad." Why's he even calling me a child? He doesn't look much older than me, just a bit more stuffed than I am.

Soon after, my note began summoning me towards the place. I started walking; the guy stood there watching me—did he plan to wait for my evaluation before leaving? "Pfft, good for you."

I entered the room and it was rather bizarre—a massive magic circle—hundreds of blue glowing orbs with some red ones mixed as well.

"Sir Dantes, please quickly input your personal information here and then take this—after you click it you'll be teleported inside the magic circle; click it again once your note changes to your Level and ELO."

"Understood." Noted down my information. Subsequently clicked and without even blinking, I was in the middle of it; did I need to do this because there's a barrier or something preventing us from just walking in?

The note started burning…

The magic circle also started displaying flames…

Note was gone.

What does this mean? I looked back in confusion and raised my elbows in a way that expresses puzzlement.

The woman subsequently pulled something out and… I was teleported back out.

"Huh, what does this mean?" I said with many questions in the air. "Sir Dantes, here's your note," she then handed me a different note.

"This is…"

The woman then stated: "Your system should appear sometime in the next 3 days; your Level is special so it might take a while to determine it. As for the rest… the Association will soon elaborate in further details; standby for the message on your phone."

Opened the door and then right after…

"X-15, Dantes W. Reaper: Level 1 with 2 ELO."

Public execution…

I'm only 18…

I'm so fucked…

Should just leave without saying a word, but my pride wasn't letting me. I came up to the guy and said, "hi…"

He then replied by holding up his phone, which threw me into more confusion. "Huh?"

"You piece of shit!" He… fucking had McDonalds applications pulled up!!

Arrogantly grinning and with me drowning in anger, I stormed out. "There's no way this is real! Fucking Level 1?! TWO ELO??"

Stomped on the ground angrily. "I— I've never even heard about anyone with such a pathetic rating…"

I heard that both Level and ELO can rise, but it doesn't really go up much from the first evaluation—does this mean I'm perma-stuck between the first three levels?!

Walking home, I noticed that I could sense everyone's energy levels to some degree; so this is what happens after you get evaluated? But if it's only an evaluation, doesn't that mean I should've been able to sense it prior to the evaluation as well?

Got home…

I wonder what System I'll get… probably the 'D' System, I guess?

I'll still try working as a Player—ain't getting a real job, miss me with that bullshit!

Alarm clock!! "Beep. Beep. Beep!"

"Jus… one… more… minu…"

Suddenly, remembered what day it was and so consequently, my eyes widened up as if I just saw a damn ghost. Jumped out of the bed and dressed up—wore a suit that was tailored and structured a silhouette; that was the norm in this day and age.

Went out and pulled up my phone…

"[THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE] Greetings Dantes W. Reaper, we congratulate you for getting evaluated with Level 1 & 2 ELO, we hope to see you in the Association in 2 days, on January 6. We wish for your cooperation. Best regards."

I still don't seem to have a System, but I'm still excited to start working as a Player! I've always wanted to go out into the world and see what it has to offer… I'm not going to let a slow starting ruin it for me. I'll become a Player no matter what and fuck anyone that looks down on me!!