Entering the World

「Welcome」

The bright glare of the world appeared in the empty darkness like a lightning bolt coming down from the heavens. It was the only source of light in the darkness.

The word began to shift and change in the darkness stretching into new words before me.

「You've been invited to a game; would you like to accept the invite? 」

What did it even mean… invited to a game! As hard as I could think I couldn't remember anything before the bright light. But at the same time, I knew a few concert things like my name and how to read apparently.

But as to who I was that was a blank space.

Should I accept the invite?

If I didn't accept the invite did that mean that I would be stuck in this darkness? That thought was horrible and with that my decision had been made.

As if sensing that the words began to change again.

「Thank you for accepting. You'll now enter into the World of Mayhem Amusement Park. Because you've been invited to the game by another 'player', a few things have been granted to you by the game and the player. 」

Another player?

「Would you like to accept these items and the game's hospitality? 」

If this was something special, I suppose that I should accept them. There shouldn't be any harm in accepting them if they've been left to me by another player should there?

「Very well, these items shall be given to you in the starting area. Now if you'd please select the type of body you'd like to be provided. 」

Body?

Did I currently not have a body?!

「Please be aware that you'll be unable to change your bodily appearance unless you find a body changing voucher. These are rare and far in between please make sure to choose the body that you most desire. 」

「Also, any abilities or skill that you had in your previous world will be transferred into useable skills within the game. 」

The information was rolling by me in a flurry of lights and words. It was all I could do to keep up with everything that was being shown to me.

All of a sudden the words that had brightened up the darkness vanished. Yet at the same time, a body appeared, and I was no longer in the inky darkness, instead, a plain lump appeared before me.

It was in the shape of a woman, but it was so plain that it was hard to tell. That was one thing that I did know, I was indeed a woman.

How in the world was I supposed to change this body, as if by some magic the words appeared again in front of the body...

「Please select from the customization screen. 」

At the same time, a row of options appeared before me.

It was a bit overwhelming, there were quite a few sections. But after looking over them after a moment a lightbulb went off in my brain and as if I had done this before I began to select options.

The once plain white lump in front of me began to take shape and soon the body of a woman could be seen. The luminescent white skin was slowly brought to a healthy-looking parlor.

What appeared after an unspecified amount of time was a woman. She was tall and slim, with firm muscles throughout her body, long icy silver hair reached down to her butt. Two graceful ivory horns came out of the head and curved backward along with her skull. The final touch was the golden snake eyes that gave her an imperil, yet icy feeling.

I don't actually know how I came up with this but when I looked at her, something about it called to me.

Seeing as I had little memory… this was a step in the right direction.

「Do you wish to save these body configurations? 」

Taking one last glance at the body that I made, I can't help but feel pleased.

「Avatar created, we'll now transfer your consciousness into your new body! 」

All of a sudden, I felt a sucking sensation and I was being swept closer towards the body that I just finished. The light in the room turned almost blinding and I soon lost track of the body.

It happened in a whirlwind second, but my mind felt like it was being hard-pressed into something, it was an unbearable pressure. That was soon lifted as if I'd broken through water and the pressure had returned to equilibrium.

At that moment, I noticed that I was breathing, crisp air was being sucked in through my nose and distributed to my lungs.

I tried blinking my eyes, and at first, it was nothingness again, but after a few more tries a light began to appear and then soon I could make out definitive lines. This prompted me to try and move other body parts to see if I could do that as well.

First, I started to wiggle my toes and to my surprise and delight, they responded. I felt a lot of joy at this revelation.

After gaining some mobility, I tried the rest of my body. Soon I was able to move my neck, looking around I found that I was laying on my back and was in a four by four room and the whiteness that I saw was simply the ceiling.

Sucking in a deep breath, I willed my body to sit up. It didn't want to respond right away but after a few seconds, I managed to move my body into a sitting position.

Once in an upright position, I noticed that a box was next to me and then next to the box was a simple table that held a square sheet of glass on it.

Turning away from that I looked down at my fingers and began to move them a little. The fingers themselves were thin and illth and light pink as I began to press my thumb and index finger together.

I followed through and did a few more motion control test and found that I was quickly adapting to this new body. It didn't even feel that new other than some stiffness it was like this was my body, but I had no recollection of what my body was before that dark void and the words.

Something slide along my shoulder and I look down finding sliver locks of hair falling down around me. It was also then that I took account of my nakedness. But that didn't bother me in the least.

Looking away from my body, I turned my attention back to the box that was next to me. Could this be the gift that was left to me by the other player?

I crawled slightly forward towards the box and grasped the edged of the lid and pulled it off. It was an easy task within the box there were a few things.

A neatly flooded set of clothing rested in the box, along with a pair of shoes and a backpack. On top of the clothes was a single card of paper no bigger than the palm of my head. Written on the paper was a simple note.

「From a Friend ~ Devil 」

It was a simple note, but apparently, I had a friend or something.

I grab everything and laid it in front of me. I even went ahead and grabbed the slice of glass and was holding it in my hands.

As if it had a mind of its own the glass lite up.

A man appeared on the screen. He had on a simple-looking suit that was the color of ash and his hair was the color of golden straw. His face was average nothing about it stood out, yet it wasn't unpleasant to look at in the least.

An amicable smile adorns his face making him seem friendlier.

"Hello! Welcome to the Million World Game. You've been invited to participate in it. You've also not just been invited willy nilly but by another player. The player is known as 'Devil.' Everything that was within the chest was a gift from them to you," the tone of his voice implied that; that was a good thing.

"However, since you've been invited by such an important figure within the game. 'We' the administrators would also like to impart on you a special gift!" He paused for dramatic effect.

But I just waited this was a pre-recoding after all…probably.

After a few seconds, he explained. "It's none other than a Demi-God class skill!" He brought a closed hand upwards the screen and then opened it. Out of his closed fisted hand, a flaming black card appeared, the flame dance around the card not burning it. The flames lick at the card like a lover.

It began to float forward towards my face and then it actually passed through the glass screen that was in my hands and darted towards my face. It paused a little bit in front of my face, just hovering before me.

Almost as if it was waiting for permission from me.

Taking a deep breath, I stretch my hand out and tentatively move a finger to touch the flaming black card that was in front of me face

Sucking in a sharp breath, I felt a wave of shock and awe wash over me.

It was… real…

"This card, "I turned my attention back to the man," contains a skill that would cause many worlds to topple and friend and foe alike to slay each other just to have the chance to obtain this skill. 'We've' decided to hand you this gift, this is only something that we've done four times before. That should make you understand the gravity of the situation, there are hundreds of thousands of players spread throughout the million worlds," he elaborated for me, the smile still on his face.

"Shall we get down to the basics of the game you find yourself in now?" He says as he wiggles an eyebrow.

This man was a little strange, I couldn't help but think.

"You've been moved from your current world into the Million World Game, MWG for short. Within this game, you're able to obtain abilities, magical items and of course use magic. Of course, it's not just limited to those three basic forms of thought. Almost anything is possible in the game!"

He opens the palm of his hand again and lighting appears and then fire and water all swirling in the palm of his hand.

"There are only three important rules that you should remember in your time in the game. One: Complete all the tasks that are given to you by the administrators. Two: Always try to advance or you'll be killed because your too weak. Three: everything in this world goes, as long as you have power. If you have the power you can make the rules," his once amicable smile morphed into a sly grin.

"Please grow and kill your way to the top!" He finished as he gave a final bow and then the glass lost all color and simply crumbled away into nothingness.

This wasn't a dream, was it? I reach a hand down and twist the skin on my leg but jump as the pain is very real. I was definitely awake.

Taking a deep breath, I look up and notice that the card was still floating in front of me. Sitting up straighter, I reach my hand out and grab the card. The black flames that were lovingly licking the card, began to spread up my hand wrapping around my wrist and crawling up my elbows.

It kept spreading until it completely enveloped my whole body. The card that I was still holing began to melt into my body, slowly the black flames also vanished into my flesh.

「Obtained, Hecate's Boon, would the player like to view the skill page? 」