Chapter 1: Enter The Labyrinth

"What the fuck?!" Max yelped in a young yet startled voice.

He was about 6 feet tall and well-built for your average convenience store employee. He wore simple black jeans and a black hoodie that loosely covered his body, though it had seen better days.

He had black hair that was in a state of constant chaos and he had blue eyes that shined with mischief.

He was in rough shape and that didn't do anything but harm his already poor appearance. He had gone out for a night drinking and had bags under his eyes and a pounding in his head but that wasn't what was important right now.

"Did I go spelunking or something while I was drunk?!" He muttered as he stared at his surroundings in confusion.

The room he was in was made entirely out of rough stone and the floor seemed to be made out of a mix of cobbled bricks and perfectly flat gray stone that looked almost too perfect.

The room was completely barren except for a small medieval wooden door and a small table with a simple piece of paper on it.

'Just what the hell is going on?' Max thought to himself as he reached out and fumbled for the paper, hoping to understand his predicament.

The Paper was plain and simple but what was on the piece of paper was what confused Max the most.

'User Agreement Accepted. Welcome to The Labyrinth,'

"User Agreement? Labyrinth?" He muttered as he read the words over and over again with growing worry.

'What did I get myself into again?' He pondered to himself as the reality of the situation finally started to sink in.

Max was about to take a closer look at his surroundings when the paper in his hands dissolved into the air in a flash of green light and a simple futuristic-looking panel filled his view.

He stumbled backward slightly as the bright light reminded him of his pounding headache.

"What the hell-" He began before lines of black text began scrolling down the green panel quickly.

-

{Welcome to Project: Labyrinth}

{Please Select a Class from the list below. Your class will decide your development path in The Labyrinth}:

{Mage}

{Thief}

{Warrior}

{Ranger}

{Observer}

{Tactician}

{Craftsman}

-

Max stared at the text in stunned silence as a sudden realization hit him.

'Classes...'

'Is this like some sort of video game?' He thought to himself as he stared at the list repeatedly.

His breathing was rigid from the anxiety filling his body but before he could panic he took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

"Okay... Don't freak out... when has panicking ever helped me?" He muttered to himself and tried to shake the nerves that filled his body.

"A class... and a weird holographic screen..."

"This is all very 'normal'," He almost whispered with a slight grin as he finally began to stop his racing heart rate.

"Where was I last night..." He muttered as he recalled his drunken waltz throughout the small town he lived in.

'I was at work... then I went to the bar with Danny... and then we got hammered like usual... and then I went home,' His thoughts trailed, his headache getting better and his mind getting clearer by the second.

"So how could this have happened?" He frowned, trying desperately to recall any information that could help him.

"Was it that stupid email?" He muttered as something came back to focus through the drunken haze.

He had received an email in the middle of the night that had made his phone buzz for what seemed like a hundred times before he drunkenly opened it to get it to shut up.

The contents were hazy but he vaguely remembered it being about him getting selected as a beta tester for a new game.

"I clicked yes and then passed back out..." He concluded as he went over the foggy memories over and over again.

"So... I'm in the game?" He whispered in disbelief.

The green panel in front of his face seemed intent on him making a choice as it started to blink between green and white every few seconds.

"I guess I should focus and just play along until I can find some answers,"

"It's better than freaking out because I have too little information,"

He finally turned his gaze onto the list and read each one intently.

'So... classes are going to be my way to develop and grow stronger?'

'That means I may be stuck wherever 'here' is for a bit...'

'That means that these classes are probably my best bet out of this place,'

'And to survive,' a little voice whispered inside of him.

'Mage, Thief, Warrior, Ranger, Observer, Tactician, and Craftsman... But what to choose?'

As he was lost in thought, a new line of text scrolled onto the screen.

{Most suitable classes for the current player are the following: Observer and Craftsman}

'That tracks,'

'I did always want to go to school for engineering but never had the money... Not sure about Observer though,'

"Can I know what type of class Observer is?" He voiced out hesitantly.

{Observer: A class that is focused on learning and growing. It is the class with the most growth potential among the classes but requires a strong intuition to thrive in}

"Okay... I kind of get it," Max nodded.

"And Craftsman?"

{Craftsman: A class that is focused on adaptability and ingenuity. It is the class with the highest support capability but requires a creative and methodical mindset to thrive in}

"I think I will go for Observer then. Learning and growing stronger is just what I need about right about now,"

"After all, If I can't learn the game, how am I supposed to play?"

{Observer Class has been chosen}

{The following class skills have been added to your Skill Panel: Mana Sense, Keen Eye, and Observation}

{You may observe your Character Screen by thinking or saying the words 'Character Screen'}

'Skills... It really is just like a game,'

'Character Screen,' He thought with a hint of bitter-sweet excitement.

--

~{Project: Overhaul}:~

-

~{Player}:~

{Name}: Maxwell Adams

{Donor}: Big Iron

-

~{Specialization}:~

{Class}: Observer

{Level}: 1

{Experience}: 1/100

-

~{Stats}:~

{Strength}: 4

{Speed}: 7

{Control}: 12

{Endurance}: 8

{Intelligence}: 10

{Perception}: 12 + 1

{Insight}: 7

{Willpower}: 5

{Current Stat Points}: 2

-

~{Skills}:~

-

{Donor Skill}:

{Universal Crafter}: LV: MAX

-

{Class Skills}:

{Mana Sense}: LV: 1

{Keen Eye}: LV: 1

{Observation}: LV: 1

-

{Personal Skills}:

{Basic Tinkering}: LV: 1

{Current Skill Points:}: 1

--

"Seems like fairly standard stuff from newer RPGs,"

"Everything except for some of the stats and this weird 'Donor' thing,"

-

{Doners}: Donors are your sponsor and the person who will try and help you survive in The Labyrinth. They are the ones who reward you for accomplishing certain milestone marks within your journey and for the overall progression of The Labyrinth.

-

The Character Panel seemed able to answer simple questions but didn't seem to be too open with details. It was vague, but any information was good information at this point.

'What do the specific stats do?' Max asked the panel but after no response, he shook his head and gave up.

"Guess I'll just have to guess if that's the case,"

'Can you show me my skill descriptions at least?'

--

{Universal Crafter}: LV: DONOR

Universal Crafter transcends all other methods of the craft and allows you to push past the physical boundaries of the world. You may craft and upgrade skills, titles, and spells with a deep enough understanding of their workings. You cannot gain Skills, titles, and spells through normal tasks and must instead make them yourself or gain them from class milestones. You may still gain skill points and use them from reward rooms but you will not receive the normal 1 skill point after each level up.

-

{Mana Sense}: LV: 1

Mana Sense can be used to perceive the way mana flows around you. This skill requires only that you focus to use it. The range and accuracy of Mana Sense are affected by its level and your perception stat.

-

{Keen Eye}: LV: 1

Keen eye is a skill that can be used to focus your vision and increase your general perception by a number equal to its level while active. Activating it costs a minimal amount of mana per second of usage.

-

{Observation}: LV: 1

Observation is the core skill of the Observer Class. It is a passive skill that increases your perception by its level and further increases your ability to spot traps, hidden enemies, and secret rooms.

-

{Basic Tinkering}: LV: 1

Basic Tinkering is a passive skill that allows you to better create mechanical tools and items and learn how to further your knowledge of tinkering at a faster rate. The speed of learning and rarity of items created is affected by the skills level and your insight stat.

--

Max scanned the skill descriptions with interest but frowned after realizing what his Donor had done to him.

"I can't learn skills or level them up..." he muttered as anger began to trickle into his voice.

"And this guy is supposed to be my donor?" Max asked the panel angrily.

"I guess I can make them at least so that means I'm not totally lost..."

"Observer was probably a decent pick since this Donor skill kind of forces me to learn about the world so that I can grow stronger," Max said anxiously.

"Without good perception and understanding, I won't make it with this Donor Skill,"

'He probably gave me the skill because of the class I chose... Interesting,' Max silently pondered.

Max re-read the skills after the Donor skill and nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Mana Sense will let me sense magic which means that I might be able to learn some in the future if I can figure out how it works," Max said softly before curiously activating the skill.

As soon as he activated the skill he felt his mind hone in on an invisible Sixth sense that seemed to let him feel a strange flow that surrounded him. It was like millions of tiny threads woven together in an endless wave that danced with every beat of his heart. The only thing that wasn't great about having the skill on was that he couldn't fully focus on his normal senses while he was sensing mana. Everything else just seemed dull in comparison.

"So that's magic..." Max muttered with a frown as he felt the threads that filled the room he was in.

"I can't make sense of it at all," He frowned before quickly shutting the skill off and turning his attention towards the next skill.

"Keen eye seems like just a perception boost and Observation seems like just a better version of Keen eye,"

"With Observation, I should have 1 extra perception at all times and the Keen eye skill can be used to give me another 1 point,"

"And the basic tinkering skill seems like it's just gonna help me craft what I need to survive,"

"So the only way to level up my skills is by 'crafting' them," Max sighed.

"That sounds like a lot of work for someone who just wants to go back home and crawl into their bed instead of standing in a freaking cave that smells like mold and dirt,"

"But I guess I will have to figure it out," He sighed.

"Are there more Players?"

{There is more than one player within the labyrinth at all times and an additional 1 player will be introduced into the Labyrinth every day}

"So I'm not alone, cool, at least there is some hope," He said with a nod that bobbed his curly and overgrown hair gently as he did so.

"Even though there isn't exactly a number..."

"At least I get stat points and a skill point to start. I'm guessing stat points just increase my stats while skill points level up skills?"

{...}

"Silence. Nice. Don't ya just love not knowing anything about what's going on? Because I sure do," He said while flipping off the panel screen.

'My only decent stats right now are the ones that aren't physically based so getting higher physical stats should be my priority for the moment,'

'I doubt this place is a 'safe' place so survival skills will be my number one priority for the moment,'

"Put 1 stat point into both Strength and Speed,"

{Stat points have been allocated}

A sudden rush of energy filled Max's body for a moment before dissipating instantly.

Max raised his hand and stared at it with excitement before throwing a punch into the air which surprisingly moved much faster than he had previously been able to move, though still at a pretty basic level.

"This really is like a video game," Max said with a light chuckle as the spark of youth filled his eyes once more.

"Spend the Skill point on... Observation," He said hesitantly. He couldn't know what the best skill to upgrade would be so guessing was his only choice.

{The Skill point has been allocated}

A gentle sensation filled Max's eyes before dissipating just as the energy had before and after the sensation left he found his vision a little clearer than before.

"Hmm,"

"Not the best upgrade, but it will have to do,"

Max double-checked the green panel for anything he might have missed before realizing that there was a small bar at the top right-hand corner of the screen that had a few words written ambiguously.

{Current room: Safe Room}

"Safe room?" He muttered while looking around him.

The room was bare except for a simple stone brick path that led from the wall to the door and the small wooden table he had picked the note off from before.

But before he completely wrote it off his new and improved eyes noticed something he had failed to do before.

"That's strange," He muttered while staring at the ceiling that was dozens of feet above him.

He shouldn't have been able to see it as there was no noticeable light source to illuminate the darkness that should be there, but what he noticed in this strange light was a few symbols etched into the ceiling.

"A half-eaten apple, a heart, and a shield,"

"Hunger, Health, and Protection?" He murmured as he became lost in thought.

{Safe Room: Safe rooms provide Nourishment, Healing, and Protection to all who reside within. Warning: Safe rooms can usually only be used once by a single player and some unique safe rooms can only be used once at all}

"So I was right... Interesting,"

'I'm not shaking anymore,' Max thought to himself as he noticed that his breathing was calm and the headache that had filled his head a few minutes earlier had completely disappeared.

He was calm and collected. Ready to move forward.

"But before I leave all willy-nilly I should make use of what I have here," said with a gentle grin as he stared at the wooden table that helplessly stood a few feet away from him.

If only tables could shudder in fear...