The Battle Royal

Once again Ethan was transported to clouds in his dreams. However, unlike the previous times, he felt a certain pressure. Today's dream was different.

He was frozen in place and couldn't move an inch. He was forced to look at the giant shadowy being, towering over all the shadows below. 

"Welcome participants. You have been chosen to compete in what you humans call a 'Battle Royal' or a 'Death Game'." The massive being started speaking. "You must fight and kill each other. The winner of this battle will receive the Crest of Celestial Authority.

The crest is a right, that grants the user Omniscient and Omnipotence. In simple terms, you become God. You may create and destroy, bring stories to life, create multiverses and more. Anything you wish for will be granted.

To assist you in battle, you will receive a system. Using the system, you can buy various tools, and skills and improve your base abilities. There are 50,000 participants all over the world. Only one may win this battle.

As the current holder of the Crest of Celestial Authority, I shall not interfere with this battle. You may ask me any questions using the system screen in front of you."

With the speech concluded, all of the other shadows were able to move. Most of the shadows were panicked after his words as they tried to compose themselves.

Ethan was less shaken than the others and looked at the system screen in front of him. It was a blue screen that only had a texting system where he could send messages to the giant shadow.

"The first question has arrived. The question was: Is participation mandatory? And to answer that - Yes. You either die or win the Crest. There are no in-between." The towering shadow suddenly spoked.

The giant shadow answered more questions. Most of the questions Ethan had were answered by the shadow.

For example, when does the battle start? The battle starts as soon as everyone leaves the clouds. For some people, they were sleeping, so it would occur as soon as they woke up. 

Some people in different timezones would receive of information in their heads telling them about this in a split second. Ethan was fortunately in the former group.

"Now that most of the important questions have been answered, the meeting is adjourned. If you have any other questions, you may ask the system. Now good luck and may the best player win." Ethan felt the giant shadow smile when he said the last part.

***

Ethan suddenly woke up. When he checked his clock, it was only 6 am.

'Was that real?' Ethan thought to himself.

Ethan felt the dreams were more real than reality. However, his logical thinking denied this. A death game? He couldn't believe it.

'System.' Ethan called out to his mind. 

The same blue screen appeared from his dream. But unlike before, when it was a just messenger app, it gave full details about his abilities.

Name: Ethan Archer

Stats:

Strength: 8.0

Constitution: 7.3

Dexterity: 13.4

Perception: 12.2

Intelligence: 14.9

Skills: <expand >

Balance: 500 Coins

Shop: <Click to go shop menu>

Inventory: <expand >

Ethan clicked expand on the skill button as he checked out the skills he had. It was an extremely long list, giving the level of each skill he had. Most of them were below Level 1. Most notably, his Computer Skill was at Level 2.

'Am seeing things? Have I developed Schizophrenia?' Ethan rubbed his head in confusion. He couldn't believe it. A game-like system in the real world. That only happened in fantasy.

Ethan clicked shop, looking at the various items in the store. It was a lot. A majority of the items were too expensive for him to buy.

Even if it was real, Ethan didn't want to believe it. He would have to kill others in order to win this game. But the reward was tempting. 

Ethan wished he lived a better life. He was envious of those who had rich families that bought them everything they wanted. Those who didn't have to work their asses off to bring food to the table.

From the start he had nothing. He and his mother were barely able to afford rent. He knew others had it worse, but he couldn't help but be dissatisfied about his misfortune.

Ethan could imagine the things he could do with the Crest. He didn't know why, but he believed in that giant shadowy being. The Crest would grant everything he wanted.

'Okay before I get ahead of myself, I have to check for myself if this is real or if I'm just hallucinating.' Ethan calmed himself.

When he looked at the system screen again, he noticed an icon that was similar to the message icon on his phone.

Clicking on it, he returned to the same screen he saw in his dream. 

[Hello?]

He typed in his question.

[Hello, Ethan Archer. I am your virtual assistant in this game. You may ask me any questions you may have.]

"Huh? Where the hell..." Ethan quickly looked around, checking to see where the robotic voice came from.

[Ethan Archer, please do not worry. I am directly speaking into your mind. We can communicate just by thinking.]

 "Oh, okay." Ethan accepted that explanation.

'What can I call you?' Ethan asked his assistant.

[I currently have no name. You may name me if you wish to. You may also change my voice if you wish to.]

'I can name it?' Ethan mused inwardly. 'What should I call it? It's a System Artificial Intelligence... so I should call it SAI. No... SAI sounds weird. I'll call it Sia.'

'Your name is Sia. And can you change your voice to a female's voice? Also could not call me by my full name. Just call me Ethan.'

[Accepted. You may call on me by calling out Sia in your mind. Changing voice to a female.]

[How is this voice, Ethan?]

Ethan fiddled with the settings of Sia for a bit longer. He chose Sia to have a female voice because that was what he assumed artificial intelligence to sound like.

After adjusting Sia to his liking, he resolved himself to get all the information he could from Sia.