People say that when you die, your entire life flashes before your eyes…they were partially right.
When I died, a slew of memories slammed into my head with startling clarity and intensity…the only problem was…they weren’t my memories.
At least they weren’t mine at first, but as the years trickled by, I felt my previous identity start to merge with the memories.
By the time I was thirteen, it was impossible to separate the two.
The experience was a complete mind fuck, so at some point I stopped trying to make sense of it and let it carry me through five more years.
The surge of memories ended with me going to sleep the night before, and then before I knew what was happening, I opened my eyes.
‘What the fuck?’
Cautiously, I sat up with a hand on my forehead that felt strangely tender, as if it was close to bursting.
‘Ouch.’
Letting my hand drop away, I looked around my bed and found a room that was both painfully familiar and alien, like everything around me was evoking a sense of dejavu.
‘What the hell is going on?’
[You died]
I froze as a voice suddenly spoke to me in my head, echoing with a strange monotone that almost didn’t sound human, ‘Hello?’
[Hello Adrian…welcome to your story]
‘Who the hell are you?’
[You can call me the Keeper…I am the one responsible for your current circumstances]
‘You mean the fact that I died and woke up as someone completely different,’ I said critically while wondering if I was going insane.
[I understand that this will take some adjustment, but I find that most in your situation end up thoroughly enjoying their new existence compared to the alternative.
Though I will admit there are not many things that are worse than death.]
‘Alright, just what the fuck is going on?
I died, and now I’m here, why?’
[At my core, I am a storyteller; thus, to create the most interesting stories, I need a main character capable of captivating an audience.
I believe you have that ability, Adrian.]
‘Oh, is that all?’ I asked sarcastically, ‘Do you understand just how much of a mind fuck this all is?
I don’t even know if I’m dreaming or hallucinating…or who I am anymore.
My memories are merged with this kid, and now I can’t tell if I died and became him or he woke up and became the person I think I used to be.’
[You may not realize this now, but there are far more similarities between the two of you than differences.
The power of reincarnation is not one I take lightly.
I find two identities that complement each other, creating a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
The person you are now is something unique and powerful, Adrian, and in time you will come to see what a blessing it is]
‘Right now it’s a headache and existential; I don’t want to even begin to think about the implications of you calling me a character and captivating an audience,’ I snapped while gently massaging my temples, trying to reduce the swelling.
[If it makes you feel better, a character is more of an analogy than a direct definition.
This new world you find yourself in is real, just as real as the one your other half lived in.
As for you having an audience, it’s not a live one, I simply take your actions and weave them into a story for others to enjoy]
‘And what I’m supposed to bend myself over backward and ask how high?’
[No, I believe that the less interference on my part, for better or worse, the greater the story is.
Instead, I provide the tools to those ambitious enough to achieve their dreams, and the glory of their ascent is greater than any tale I can fabricate]
Before I could ask what the hell the Keeper was talking about, a screen suddenly popped up in the corner of my vision, and when I focused on it, the screen blew up.
[Story System]
Views: 0
Rating: None
Followers: 0
Power Stones: 0
[Character Status]
Name: Adrian Bennet
Age: 17
Heat: 0/100
|Attributes: 0 AP|
Strength: |1| [$1000]
Agility: |1| [$1000]
Vitality: |1| [$1000]
Charisma: |1| [$1000]
Intelligence: |1| [$1000]
Wisdom: |1| [$1000]
|Skills|
None
|Perks|
None
[Gacha]
|Skills|
Common Pull: | 1 FREE|
Uncommon Pull: |$10,000|
Rare Pull: |$100,000|
Epic Pull: |$1,000,000|
Legendary Pull: |$10,000,000|
|Perks: 0 PS|
Common Pull: |1 FREE|
Uncommon Pull: |100 PS|
Rare Pull: |500 PS|
Epic Pull: |1,000 PS|
Legendary Pull: |5,000 PS|
‘What the fuck am I looking at?’
[The tools you need to make your dreams a reality.]
‘It looks like a damn character sheet from a video game.’
[A very inept comparison, using a mixture of real currency and resources you’ll earn as I tell your story.
You can buy skills, perks, and stats, allowing you to accomplish things that should be near impossible.
Why don’t you give it a try?]
‘You’re fucking with me, right?’ I asked only to be met with silence, ‘Fuck it, I’ll play along, now how do I…’
Wondering how I was supposed to interact with the strange system, I ended up thinking about doing a common skill pull, and the screen responded.
[Purchase a |Common| Skill Pull for FREE Y/N]
I mentally selected yes, and the screen changed to three separate windows all spinning like a slot machine before they all eventually came to a stop, listing three separate options.
══════════════════════════════════════
COMMON SKILL DRAW
══════════════════════════════════════
Choose ONE
① Counter-Surveillance I
Category: Awareness
Learn to recognize when someone is watching or following you.
Minor chance to notice surveillance, spot parked lookout vehicles, identify suspicious behavior sooner
──────────────────────────────────────
② Vehicle Maintenance I
Category: Mechanical
Keep your vehicles operating at peak condition.
Minor repairs cost slightly less, vehicles suffer less wear, recognize mechanical issues earlier
──────────────────────────────────────
③ Street Networking I
Category: Social
Build relationships with people who are in the know
Informants appear more frequently, dealers are easier to recruit, learn local rumors faster
══════════════════════════════════════
Refresh Available
1st Refresh: $100
2nd Refresh: $250
3rd Refresh: $500
Current Cash: $0
“Fuck me,” I muttered under my breath, staring at the screen.
‘It’s really just like a video game.’
[Yes, it’s supposed to be intuitive and easy to navigate.
Each pull will offer three choices; if you don’t like any of them, you may spend more cash to refresh your pulls.
Once you acquire a skill, you can increase its rank by increasing the corresponding attributes]
‘Alright…so what I just chose the skill I want.’
[You have selected the skill: Street Networking]
[Skill: Street Networking]
Tier: Common
Rank: ✩
You have a talent for building and maintaining relationships throughout the streets.
Bartenders, mechanics, couriers, addicts, dealers, and local business owners begin remembering your face and your favors
|Affinity|
Primary: Charisma
Secondary Stat: Wisdom
Complementary: Intelligence
‘Okay, seems pretty straightforward…time to see what these perks are about.’
[Purchase a |Common| Perk Pull for FREE Y/N]
══════════════════════════════════════
COMMON PERK DRAW
══════════════════════════════════════
Choose ONE
① Poker Face
Type: Active
Cooldown: 30 Minutes
For 2 minutes, your emotions become nearly impossible to read.
Easier to bluff, harder to intimidate, hide nervousness during deals
──────────────────────────────────────
② Fast Hands
Type: Passive
Years of sleight-of-hand make your movements deceptively quick.
Increased reflexes, increased finger dexterity, conceal small objects more easily
──────────────────────────────────────
③ Gut Feeling
Type: Active
Cooldown: 1 Hour
Before making a deal, activating this perk gives you an instinctive feeling about whether something is “off.” It won’t tell you what’s wrong, only that something deserves a second look.
══════════════════════════════════════
Refresh Available
1st Refresh: $100
2nd Refresh: $250
3rd Refresh: $500
Current Cash: $0
‘So perks can be both passive and active effects…good to know…I also don’t know which one to choose.
All of them have their uses, so really it just comes down to what I’m feeling the most.’
[You have selected the Perk: Fast Hands]
[Perk: Fast Hands]
Tier: Common
Type: Passive
Years of sleight-of-hand make your movements deceptively quick.
Increased reflexes, increased finger dexterity, and you can conceal small objects more easily.
‘Right now, having a passive skill that works all the time sounds more useful than an active skill I might not need to use for the foreseeable future.
Not even sure if I want to get back into the game, not after the way things went down last time.’
[This life is yours to do with as you see fit; I’m confident that one way or another, you’ll give me a story worth telling]
‘This is starting to sound like a goodbye.’
[It is, and hopefully this is the only time we’ll converse directly.
I look forward to seeing what you accomplish, Adrian]
Then from one instant to the next the pressure in my head vanished, leaving me with a startling sense of clarity that I knew was impossible to hallucinate.
I was fully conscious and awake, but I still had the character screen floating in front of me.
‘So I guess this isn’t some dream or near-death vision…what the fuck am I supposed to do now?’