1 Chosen

[System initialising]…

[System installing]…

[System rebooting]…

[System installation complete]…

"What?"

As Daniel began to rouse from an unfamiliar and eerie dream he reached for his phone to try to make sense of the notifications he had been hearing on the edge of sleep. Opening his eyes he saw his room in disarray, covers and pillows strewn about, his water glass shattered on the floor and his phone against the opposite wall.

"What the hell?"

Trying to stand he soon realised his whole body ached and his vision was blurred; a hot sensation across his skin focused his attention in time to see small particles of light leaking sporadically from his body and drifting into the air.

[Transfer in 60 seconds]

"Aaaaaah!"

[Prepare yourself]

"For what? What is this?"

With no answer and panic setting in, Daniel reverted to his primitive instincts and darted to his phone – clutching his phone he felt the immediate comfort of habit and was able to think.

[Transfer in 30 seconds]

This clarity was immediately shattered by the new notification in his mind as panic took over again. The illusory safety of the phone no longer left to fall back on he opened his wardrobe and looked for the tool box he kept there.

[10]

[9]

[8]

[7]

As the countdown reached zero light filled his vision and he screamed as he gripped what he had managed to get hold of tightly.

As his vision cleared he heard the notification again and was immediately aware of the cold breeze surrounding him.

[Ok, I'm glad that worked, Daniel, you need to calm yourself and listen]

"What happened? What are you? Aren't you a robot?"

[Transferred, God and no. Ok, so you may be noticing those little jelly piles around you? Those are Slimes, like from games, you see how they're coming towards you? They want to dissolve you with their bodies, what did you bring?]

"Dissolve?"

[Daniel]

"From games?"

[Daniel what's in that box? Can you use it?]

Daniel looked down a little dumbstruck, on the ground where he'd dropped them were his small tool box, a pair of dress shoes and his phone. He also realised he was in nothing but boxers which explained the chill and made the slowly approaching slimes seem even more threatening.

"Dissolve…."

He immediately started putting the shoes on to his bare feet and considered where to run.

[You don't need to panic Daniel, they are very weak. I picked this spot for that very reason. Once you have defeated these few you will be perfectly safe here]

Daniel had been frantically looking around as he did up his shoes and realised there was a faint shimmer in the air, following this shimmer he could see it seemed to be a transparent dome that centred on him. There were indeed only a few slimes inside the dome.

"This dome will protect me?"

[Yes, and more but you must defeat these Slimes first]

Looking down for his tool box he suddenly realised

"You're God?!?"

[Daniel, please]

"Smite them or something! Why are you God!?!"

[Daniel, I can't, it's up to you]

Looking down Daniel saw that the first slimes were now getting close to him, one was enveloping the tool box while there was one almost at his feet

"Aaaah!"

Immediately Daniel stamped on the one closest to him, it was a lightly blue transparent orb that looked like jelly, there was a small orb inside which looked like a sightless eye. Through chance it was the orb Daniel managed to stamp on, crushing it. The whole entity immediately lost cohesion turning into water and particles of light, only the centre of the orb remained as a tiny gently shining stone.

[1 exp received]

[Level up]

[Congratulation User, you are now level 0]

"What? Level up? Like a game? Why are you a robot again?"

[Daniel, that is not me, that is the System I provided you with to help you adjust to this place; I will explain everything about the system interface once you have defeated the rest of these Slimes]

"Interface?"

Immediately upon saying the word a transparent status window appeared in front of Daniel, he took an involuntary step back and took in what was before him.

*Daniel*: Level 0

Exp: 0/20

HP: 30/30

MP: 0

Strength - 1

Endurance - 1

Agility - 0

Intelligence - 0

Wisdom – 1

*Transfer energy – 30

Skills:

Dimensional Transfer LV 1

Storage space LV 0

"It is a game? Those are harsh starting stats, hey is this really Aaaaaah!"

A continual heat which he hadn't realised was building up on his ankle suddenly jolted him to reality. Waving at the interface in front of his face to try to clear his vision he jumped away from the pain and looked down to see a slightly red tinted Slime which had been trying to dissolve his foot. As this focused his attention the interface disappeared and he was able to see clearly the damage done by the red Slime.

"God, I thought I was going to lose my leg!"

Daniel started laughing in relief as he looked at the slight burn around the top of his shoe, no more than a sunburn on his skin and a worn discoloration of the shoe. His imagination had heightened the burn he received when he started to notice it through the shock he was feeling.

Looking around he realised they really were relatively harmless and he could easily just walk away from them if he wanted to. When his eyes landed on a slightly Brown coloured one slowly working its way through his tool box he realised how slow he had been however.

"Shit"

Just like before he stamped on the Slime and after a couple of hits managed to hit its core, smashing it just like before. His tool box was pretty much beyond saving but the tools inside looked to be fine.

[I'd be more concerned about your phone]

Thanks to God's reminder he got to his phone in time to save it and then continued to stamp out the Slimes within the dome, his shoes thoroughly hole ridden by the end.

"Ok, this is the last one, the system is popping up in the corner of my eye every time I get an exp point"

[That's right, I was going for unobtrusive but informative with that one, like a holographic HUD type situation]

"Right, because you're God and you made me a video game world?"

[Kind of, just finish off that Slime and let me go through it all in order to keep things clear alright]

"Mmmhmm"

As the last Slime dissipated, its light flecks drifting up and into the shimmering dome, a column of light erupted in the centre and Daniel was able to see the dome expand slightly and appear more substantial somehow.

[Congratulation User on establishing the Beachhead]

[Two way travel now established]

[Anchor point now established]

[Converter now established]

[Condenser now established]

The shiny stones from each of the slimes also dissipated at this point, their light flecks flowing quickly into the beam of light which was now dissipating to reveal a shimmering column covered in square panels in all but two places, these last two areas clearly being door sized.

[Well done Daniel! I wasn't sure the mana would hold until the Beachhead was established, this makes everything much easier]

"It does?"

At this point Daniel was still in shock but coming to terms with this new reality; he was clearly not in danger anymore and was apparently being praised by God. He was able to hang on to the general direction of things from terms he recognised and speculated on the terms which seemed out of place.

"So the mana was used to make this machine that is for two way travel and you want that to convert and condense you into something that can anchor to me so you can go to earth for your second coming? Or something?"

There was a silence that lasted just long enough for Daniel to realise he was an idiot before he heard God's voice again.

[I can see how you came to that conclusion… and that's a very interesting idea from your perspective I suppose, but no, in fact I should probably clear some things up now.]

[I am not the God of Christianity or any of humanities religions, I am the being who created Earth and all life on it. I was a comparatively young and foolish God when I did so and I'm afraid you all may suffer for it.]

"Uhuh"

[Upon learning my folly I decided on this method to correct my mistake; I could not reasonably infuse the Earth with mana in a way that would not have simply hastened its demise but I could make a mirror of it which, made from the bottom up to be fully immersed in the mana, would secure my future and hopefully provide a lifeboat for all of you]

"Right"

[This new world, Eden, is entirely secure and a true sanctuary from the sprawling maelstrom without; therein lies the problem however]

"Problem…sure… hang on Eden?"

[It's security, oh, sorry? Yes Eden?]

"What's all that not God stuff if you called it Eden? That's Christianity!"

[I mean, yeah, I guess. It didn't really have a name or the concept of a name until I started conversing about it with you and this is the name your mind most willingly accepted for the concept. I don't think the name really matters, consider it a perk of being the chosen one? My emissary? Herald? Whatever you think you are.]

"Of course it matters! What are the other religions going to think when they get plonked here and told it's Eden! There'll be crusades or something!"

[Look I think we're getting off topic here, they'll be fine, I'll leave some notes]

"Notes? I thought you made us! This is going to be a bloodbath! You should have brought a politician over or something!"

[Look we have very little time and I don't think it really matters but I'm sure you will be fine, what do you do on Earth?]

"You don't even know what I do? Wait a minute "Whatever I think I am"? What does that mean? Am I not chosen to spread your crazy story? Why is it me who got pulled up here, I mean looking at those stats…"

[Well it was you who was there]

"Where?"

[In your house]

"? I mean, yeah?"

[Oh sorry, right, it wasn't so much you who was chosen as the location, you see, this area is the perfect beachhead for a freshly reformed human to infuse with the local mana i.e. "level up" with minimal risk of death while also having a steady increase in mana density in the surrounding areas]

"That was the most important factor?"

[Yes, I have made sure most humans are familiar both with the creatures of Eden and the concepts around increasing strength in this way, you were young and healthy enough to be moulded as needed, anyway this is all irrelevant, you're here now so let me explain what you need to do]

[Earth is going to be destroyed very soon and]

"What? By what?"

[No more interruptions, we are going to run out of time, just listen to what you need to know]

[A God develops comprehension with their creations, through the advancement and potential of humanity I have gained a greater understanding of the dangers of existence than I had when I created Earth. I began creating Eden when I became aware of the need and simultaneously started to prepare humanity as a whole though not, of course, directly]

"Of course?"

[As the new creatures began to develop and the world took shape I gave the image and idea of those creatures to the creatives amongst humanity and helped their popularity resonate with the majority. Slimes may be a more recent development but Goblins are a good example of one that sprang up towards the beginning]

[As I started developing the System to allow the absorption of mana, a necessity for a non-native species, I relied on the technology of earth to prepare you all for its usage]

"This all sounds pretty indirect"

[Just one way in which my poorly designed first world restricted my actions I'm afraid, it went better than I expected though, barely any nudge was needed before you all started to resonate with the concepts, that in itself may have caused some problems but ones I have no doubt you will overcome]

"Why not just create a new civilisation here to replace us?"

[Not something within my control, I can't create culture, they spring up on their own, besides I am shaped by the cultures of my creations, I change with their presence. There are other cultures here now, the Centaurs, while primitive, are a good example, my direct intervention in this way probably wouldn't have happened had their more spiritualistic and cycle bound ideals have formed the greater part of me]

[I do not know what I will be once we have achieved the convergence but the more of humanity we can save the more of the current me will be left]

"So what do I do?"

[Good man! Right now you are the only one of your race with the System, it took almost all of my saved up influence to give it to you but the next ones will be infinitely easier because of it, you are the breach between these worlds and can use that status freely. I will soon need to recover this part of myself while the rest remains shielding earth as it has been since the influx and so your actions are what will shape humanities future]

[Provided you survive I will be able to provide a similar System to all of humanity upon the convergence I am currently creating for about 3 years' from now, theirs will be similar but different as you will see before then]

[Most of it you can figure out from pop culture and basic gaming conventions, the whole point of my last 100 years of effort after all, but there are some distinct differences which are specific to you]

[The System is quite intuitive and through focusing on what you want to know about it information will become available]

[I recommend after we have finished talking you spend some time familiarising yourself with it]

[First however I will reiterate – you are the anchor between these worlds, if you die I will be unable to save the rest of humanity and they will be converted into energy upon the convergence]

[This convergence conversion is how this new world Eden will expand itself and provide for the influx of the refugees humanity will represent, everything in your world can be transferred at that time either directly or by having been converted in to energy and absorbed]

[The System will prevent any who have it from being absorbed by the mana and will allow them to instead grow in the same way as the creatures of this world]

[Just as this world will absorb energy and I will impart the System in the long term you can do both of these things in the short term, this is something no other human will be able to do and is our greatest chance at humanities survival]

[You will have noticed the unique skills you possess in your interface screen, Dimensional Transfer & Storage space. These two skills allow you to transfer anything from Earth to Eden, this can then be transferred directly, like with your ill-fated toolbox, or converted into energy. Energy conversion means that the comparative value of the resource you have transferred can then be exchanged for resources, the more similar the resource the greater the exchange. If you transfer a tree it can come as is, be converted in to lumber, converted in to pure energy which will then be saved for use on any resource through the Store function or even converted back to a Earth cash value for your use there – this is the only way in which the transfer can be used to aid you on Earth, given how resistant everyone was to internet banking it is frankly a minor miracle I got it working at all]

[Understand the conversion rates as this – converted to base resources is most efficient, next is converting to pure energy, which you are using as currency in the store function, next is items as they are, and least efficient is converted in to Earth cash]

"Why? Surely as it is is easier to transfer?"

[It's all about conversion, it isn't just teleported here, it's converted to energy and then rebuilt, while the essence remains and means base resource can most easily be interpreted by the mana of the world actual items and technology have no precedent here and are instantly forgotten and rebuilt by the world itself, as for the cash exchange, the process is converting one way and then back the other, incredibly energy intensive and so naturally the least efficient]

[Just don't worry about it, the main thing is you can use this as you see fit to progress yourself and by extension make these skills stronger, you need to do this because a percentage of the energy is siphoned off towards me with each conversion, and I will need that to strengthen the rest of humanity during the transfer]

"Okay I get it. I level up here to get stronger pack mule power and then go back and nab everything I can lay my hands on"

[No, look, you need to be careful, Earth is about 1/5 the size of Eden, every step you take on Earth is 5 here. Given how dangerous this world can be to someone as fragile as you, you can't simply transfer without knowing where you'll end up.]

"So I have to transfer everything from my room?"

[Well no, anything except yourself, other people included will always end up coming through the Beachhead, that's not the problem, the problem is what would happen if you were noticed to be doing this or anything else that may upset people.]

[If you were to be arrested or captured in some way you would have to risk jumping to an unknown location and being eaten by Harpies; the alternative is you being unable to complete the preparations humanity is relying on you to complete. As you say, you're no politician so best not to need to talk your way out of it.]

"Ok, so what level do I need to be to go home and very subtly make everything disappear?"

[Well it will be a continual process, you level up to upgrade your transfer power, then go back to gather resources to help you level up further. Simple! I was hoping you'd bring a tent or sword or even some clothes this time round as it was the one time you'd be able to bring a limitless amount but I'm sure you can make do for a while at least.]

"60 seconds and you thought I'd have a tent? Also, a sword? I don't even know where I'd find a sword"

[Well I'm sure whatever you have there from your toolbox will be fine for now, Look, I'm almost out of time, I put all of my energy in to bringing you here to start this process and it hasn't gone unnoticed by those on the outside]

Daniel looked around the plains surrounding the dome concernedly, his eyes settling on a deep patch of forest not so far away.

Noticing this the God laughed inside Daniels head.

[No, not that outside. Look I need to return to myself now but all you really need to know is the following: the System is dynamic and if you focus it will give you the information you're after. At your current level even generating enough transfer energy to get back here would take over a month so make this current trip count and lastly: you need to balance both dimensions to be able to progress – you can't progress infinitely alone and certainly not with only the resources you'll find #########]

With a loud crack of static God's voice was gone, the sudden silence was unnerving and Daniel was brought back to himself and his situation.

The cold air reminded him of his current vulnerability and he wanted nothing more than to go back home and prepare properly.