Looking around Damian noted the pixelated cave top above him as well as the massive metallic door behind him with a huge '3' written on the cog-like centre piece. A vault door he quickly deduced. Weight was felt by him on the side of his leg and a single knife was in his left hand.
Within moments he wished to leave, wanting to see if he could get out of the game. Just as quickly as he joined he left, his perception now perfectly clear and in control of his own body.
"Whoa! That is crazy! Is that a power like dad's friends?" He checked the details of the game, finding a simple run command as shortcut within the steam extras page, an unnecessary detail.
"I got to keep going..."
Once again he clicked the play button and emerged as a blue-shirt wearing man of average height. Rat squeaks and stinks were all felt by him as red flashed on his little console monitor. On the top of it, it marked clearly that it was a 'Pip-boy'.
"Hmm, pip-boy, a form of interaction with game mechanics maybe?"
He touched the monitor a couple times and quickly found several tabs, the squeaking getting closer. Status page was linked with the stat points and each stat had a clear explanation of what they did and could do. Among them was also the inventory sheet and the equipment section, which he saw a pistol and a knife equipped.
"Interesting... Why hasn't any other game thought of doing this? Should I start a company doing this?"
A squeak sprang out from right below his pip-boy as pain gnashed at his legs for a long moment. Not massive pain, but enough to know he was wounded. Recoiling from it he pulled the gun from his side and immediately aimed it at the creature who had bit him, a rat.
"Ow! You annoying little..."
*BANG*
Recoil was felt by him immediately as a loud thunderous echo spread through the chamber. The bullet smacked into the head of the rat and killed it.
"Haha! That'll teach you, you little bastard."
Squeaks began to radiate out from the pitch black cave ahead as dozens of large mutated red rat eyes glowed out from the darkness.
"S-shit..."
Under the horrifying sounds of rats eating Damian experience his first defeat... Wherein he was brought to a respawn screen. He stood at the same vault entrance again, his knife immediately rising as he looked out for the rats.
The same rat that he had killed with the gun was there, barely visible. With trained skill he slithered up behind it and took his knife, slitting its' throat before it even got the chance to make a noise.
"Heh, kill me once, shame on you."
Gleefully smiling over his fresh kill he saw two more rats in the barely visible gloom, as well as the corpse of a man that had been gnawed at for what seemed like a long time. A stench reached his nose but he pushed on, focusing on the enemies at hand.
...
Meanwhile, Freya sat at her desk in awe as she saw her points increase by 15. Two people had purchased the $15 game.
"Great! I can eat...!"
She began searching her console before finding the shop app. Instantly she was bombarded by powerful things, including daily specials and a very dubious battle pass that had point distribution and lifestyle items. Some of the showcased specials were quite unique...
///
\SHOP/
DAILY SPECIALS---
Random Servant from Fate ( 1,000,000P down from 4,000,000P)
Magic From Harry Potter (20,000P down from 50,000P)
Personal Butler (100,000P down from 120,000P)
Symbiote Entity, Mindless (1,000,000,000P down from 10,000,000,000P)
BATTLEPASS--- 100P
*Have ten people purchase your game* : Single Bed, Silken Sheets
*Update a Game three times* : Dishwasher, Cutlery Set
*Introduce a Unique Feature that could enhance your popularity* : 100P
*Surpass 100 active players in any one game* : 1000P
*MORE WILL UNLOCK ONCE BATTLEPASS IS PURCHASED*
--SECTIONS--
SKILLS--
SUPERPOWERS--
MAGIC--
ITEMS--
MAGIC ITEMS--
SCI-FI ITEMS--
FOOD--
CLOTHING--
SLAVES/COMPANIONS-- (Access restricted)
///
Ignoring the other sections for now, in consideration of my grumbling stomach, I opened the food tab and got some of the best of the cheapest foods. Immediately I got a cooked pork chop, barely salted, with nothing else in addition. It cost two points, but they were well spent as my stomach finally stopped whining. 'Thank god for that...' Spending an additional point to get a 1 litre water bottle, she also quenched her thirst. 'It was as if I was going to die of hunger and thirst...'
Shaking my head I couldn't help but gaze at the 12 Points I had left. They would be kept there for now, in waiting for more points to be accumulated. Wastage couldn't be allowed and I certainly wasn't going to disavow myself of food or water.
Amidst the chewing I gazed at the screen that would dictate my life going forwards it seemed and I was surprised. The two people were still at it, giving the game a decent chance. Curious about what their games were like I tried searching for a feature that would allow me to spy on their games. Fortunately I was guided to it by a Hint that conveniently dropped when I needed it. It seemed that the system was made to help me get familiar to every aspect of it, for however long I needed that help.
An eye symbol in the top right of the app glowed as I tapped it, two names popping up; the Steam usernames connected to the game. Curiosity killing me, I chose one that seemed the most edgy... 'Darknightofoblivion-robin'... A weird ass name, couldn't lie, but who was I to judge, they paid for my game after all...
...
I watched as this 'Darknight' finally reached Shady Sands and began speaking with the guards.
"Hey! Where is this?"
"Wanderer stow your weapon."
The Darknight frowned before placing his dagger in his inventory and putting up his hands. From there he was waved forwards where the guards began asking him his purpose and the reason he had come to Shady Sands. This was a wastelands type segment that had been particularly hard to fix with the last remaining points I had... I was still mad about that usage, but it doesn't matter now that it was spent.
"Now can you tell me?"
"This is shady sands. Shady sands is a peaceful community. We have our own irrigation system, so we can grow our own food. If we were not plagued with raiders and RadScorpians, we would have no problems."
"Shady sands... Interesting... What are these RadScorpians you are talking about?"
"Those damn RadScorpians have been after our Brahmin since we moved here. Not a week goes by that someone doesn't get poisoned trying to keep them out of the pens. Last week they took my brother Jarvis. Razlo, our doctor, is looking for an antidote as quickly as he can. Hey, if you have the means to help us, why don't you speak with our leader, Aradesh."
"Okay, cool... Hmm, sure, I'll speak with your leader!"
I chuckled as the emo guy made the easiest decision you could in this part. There were a few paths here. You could say no and just move on without any problems, leading to consequences down the road. An alternate option is to go straight to the RadScorpian caves where you can fight your way through them, getting loot. Then there was this route which is more railroaded in a way due to the NPC prompts.
My excitement was building for when they used the targeting system properly. It was apparently changed to an overlay that appeared when they shoot, unless it was a quick shot in which it will be based purely off of the stats you are running.
Following him around we soon reached the RadScorpian Caves, after getting access to some extra Stims that would make him much more effective at killing the Scorpions with his pistol.
"Fear me Scorpies, for I am the Darknight!"
"PFFFTTT" I lost my shit as he declared his dominance whilst making a heroic stance. His pistol was raised above his head as he nodded. It was as if he were listening to his own theme song. Then he went in, gun forwards and his eyes trained on movement ahead of him.
His caution was payed off a minute later as he caught a Scorpion off guard and triggered the aiming function. Immediately he widened his eyes, choosing to take the highest percentage chance, and unloaded rounds into the Scorpion as it turned and started sprinting towards him.
A shot missed.
The next hit the Scorpion in the eyes.
Another hit took its tail.
Then a final one lodged into its skull and dropped it for good, just within melee range of Darknight. He was either very good at distance, lucky, or simply skilled at playing despite this game being brand-spanking new.
Sitting at my desk I saw the option to witness first person, in VR, but I didn't want to. My next plan was a way in which I could quickly get a bunch of people interested... Word of mouth would spread and I would gain influencers that play my game and spread its awesomeness.
'Time to set up a streaming function in game... If I have the money...'
I looked it up, smiling as I saw or the price for that module addition to the game.
'We're in business baby!'
Feel free to join my Discord community here: .gg/wVZXpPpUQn.