The Arrival

Jon was walking through the mall slowly with an ice cream cone in his hand. It was rare he had this kind of leisure time these days. After he graduated from school he had focused all his time on his job. At the age of 21, he had no idea of what he wanted to do with his life. Nothing lighted the fire on his heart like it once had. But he had to work if he wanted to keep living

He finished his food and opened the door to the bathroom. While he looked for an empty stall, he heard a loud noise and the lights went out.

"Must be a blackout. I still have to go, though...", Jon thought.

He tried using the bathroom in the dark, using only his phone flashlight. Suddenly, while he was in the middle of unzipping his pants, he felt his chest grow hot. The heat grew rapidly until it was so unbearable he fell to the ground, with his pants half undressed. The disgust he felt when his head hit the stall floor was not even close to the burning under his shirt.

"Aaaaaah, what the fuck is this!?"

Jon touched his chest only to find it was not hot, but there was a feeling like a smooth crystal. Amidst his panic, he tried getting up but fell again and hit his head on the toilet, instantly blacking out.

When he woke up the lights were on once again and his pain had subsided. He immediately took off his shirt and found out he had a smooth, 5cm red crystal inserted on his chest. The panic once again surged on his mind. How could something be inserted on his chest like this?

Most scary of all, when he felt that pain, he also felt something growing out of his chest. This crystal grew out of him.

Suddenly a loud noise ringed on his ear and letters made of light danced out of the crystal until they rearranged in front of his eyes.

[Welcome, outworlder. This is a pre-recorded message from the god of this World, as will not be repeated]

A voice without sound, which burned inside his head which each word was heard. With each phrase, his head trembled.

"Hello! I am called Etrom and am the god of this world. I will be brief: you are one of the people who stepped in from a parallel reality. Usually, this would not be perceived by you, since parallel realities are usually so similar the differences between them would only be attributed to misremembering.". At this point, Jon felt the taste of blood in his mouth. The voice was destroying his feelings, his consciousness.

"Sadly, this reality has been invaded and has become a different and dangerous place, so I created the crystal inside you and the system transmitting this message. This is a message recorded before I died, so I can't help you anymore. Please, speak to my creations and learn how to use my gifts. I hope you survi-". When the voice stopped, Jon was once again laying on the stall's floor, with blood coming out of his ear. He could not understand the rest of the sentence, but he could tell it didn't go on for long. When it ended, more words danced in his eyesight.

[Name: Jon]

[Essence: 0]

[Skills: None]