- Chapter 2 -

Two Steps Back

I just stared at the screen for who knows how long. The perpetual ups and downs had taken their toll. I felt numb. “Where am I?” I mumbled, “What did I do to deserve this?” A bitter laugh left my mouth. I continued to dwell on my chances of getting out of here, or maybe I was just simply refusing to acknowledge how it was likely zero percent. Because if I did… if I did, what should my reaction be?

A series of sonar pings awoke me from my introspection. The map of the new world- self named thus as I couldn’t see anything to the contrary- took up my field of view as I moved closer. An old emotion I was all too familiar with welled up within me. A short bark of laughter escaped from my lips. My voice, laced with anger and venom, spat “FINE! You want me to play a game? I will. Not because I want too. Not because I think I have a chance of escape,” I was shouting now, “But because I LITERALLY HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO! You, USELESS, piece of crap!”

“Are you done?” Came a voice right next to my ear.

I yelped (in a manly fashion), and twisted to stare at the source, dumbfounded for a moment before I choked out in confusion, “You?!”

He moved a little further into the sphere of light. Nodding, the figure simply stated, “Yes, I’m me.”

Was he that far away when he first spoke? I suppose I’m just not used to anyone talking but myself. “Oh, screw you! You know what I meant. Why the hell do you sound just like me?” I retorted furiously.

“I’m a specialised ‘Autonomous Parallel Will’,” he stated. Then, considering his words, he reiterated differently, “Well, specifically, I suppose I’m an ‘Autonomous Parallel Will - Tutorial Edition’.”

I motioned my hand passing over my head with all the speed I could muster and said, “Specifics?! I don’t even know the basics! And that doesn't answer my question! Why do you sound just like me? What the hell is going on? Where am I?”

“I'm a copy of your will, an extension of your subconscious manifested. Although, not physically or even spiritually. Only you can see me, so… just manifested I suppose. As a manifestation of you, of course I would sound just like you. Basically, I am you whilst being a distinct entity in my own right.”

I started to respond but he beat me to the punch hurriedly saying, “Oh, yes, ‘Tutorial Edition’ - not only am I a freebie, albeit temporarily, The System has also given me additional knowledge to aid in your development. Hence the tutorial factor.”

I stared him down. He stared back. I said, slowly, “To clarify you are basically… me plus extra?”

“Yes.”

“You know, for instance, what I want?”

“Yes.”

“Then why the Hell didn’t you just explain what you are from the start?! Instead of trying, and failing I might add, to be all mysterious?”

“Shits and giggles.”

“You prick.”

“I’m you, remember? So…” He flipped me off with both fingers as his voice trailed away.

He outsmarted me. Damn I’m good, I thought. “At least your witty,” I conceded.

“And good looking,” he added.

Glancing at his head I nervously placated, “Yeah, sure.” I let the situation eke some laughter out of me, before the absurdity hit me like a ton of bricks. “OH, FUCK ME! I’m crazy! I’m hallucinating. I’m conversing with myself. Full blown dialogue! Wait, not all hope is lost. I have realized I’m crazy, that’s gotta’ be worth something.” I looked towards the other me and muttered, “You're still here… does knowing and not being able to do anything mean it's worse?”

“Now, now,” He cooed, his tone annoyingly jovial and mocking before it took on more serious undertones, “I know all your theories. Let me eliminate them for you. You are NOT in Hell. You're NOT in a nightmare. You're NOT in a straightjacket in a padded cell. You're NOT in a coma fuelled dreamscape. This IS all real. You ARE real. Unless…”

As his villain-esque monologue drifted off I couldn't help but pointedly stare at him and prod, “Unless?”

“Well… unless I’m real and you're the figment of my imagination.” He looked around, and nodding said, “That would be trippy.”

I buried my head in my hands.

“Just kidding…” Parallel Me offered. “Come on. If you want, I can promise you everything will be alright.” He continued, “I know you want answers and while the knowledge in the tutorial pack is by no means limitless I will be able to satisfy a lot of your curiosity.”

I threw a questioning look his way and Parallel Me reassured me, saying, “Fire away.”

“Where am I?”

“No fucking clue.”

I threw my head back in exasperation and shouted, “Are you shitting me?”

“I said ‘a lot’, not ‘all’. If you had of asked almost any other question this could have gone so much better…”

“Well then…” I replied and thought of what else I wanted to know. “How do I get back home?”

Parallel Me’s shoulders drooped. “Again… Haven’t the foggiest idea.” Before I could say, shout, scream or strangle something, he hurriedly continued, “Come on, you're asking all the wrong questions.”

“No! No, I’m not, smartass. But whatever, why don’t you just choose what question to answer?”

“Brilliant Idea. Sit back, relax and enjoy this crash course.” He moved over to the menu and tapped his fingers on his chin, pondering for a moment. The he gestured towards the menu and began, “Ok, in The System-”

“No! Start with context first! I don’t even know what ‘The System’ is!” I interjected.

Parallel Me slowly spun on his heel to face me, saying “Ah, yes. Um, how do I break this to you… baby steps… OK, the world that we have to now consider home is filled with magic-”

“Like a fantasy world?” I stated. The Menu, well ‘The System’, had already ripped that band-aid off if I was being honest. I mean the first couple of words on the thing had ‘dungeon’ in them.

“Yes, but real, filled with magic and monsters and… Overseen by this.” Parallel Me pointed at The System.

“Oversee the whole world? What, like a god? The god of the new world is that, some computer?”

“The System, as near as I can tell, is basically an almost omnipotent force. I don’t know if it’s magic, a natural phenomenon of this new world or some unbelievably advanced technology, but it has absolute control. So, for all intents and purposes, it is a god. And now it’s our god. But most importantly, it ensures the world runs like a game.”

“A game?”

Parallel Me nodded. “Monsters, skills, spells… The whole nine yards.”

Already knowing the answer, I asked anyway, “Is this ‘magical’ world set in the 21st century or some medieval dump?”

“No, in answer to what you really want to know, there is no modern technology-”

“What am I going to do to occupy my time?”

“You’re right, without modern technology we’re screwed. All this world has is lame magic.”

“Don’t judge me!”

“Do you know how many people would kill for this opportunity?”

“Don’t give me that! It’s a fantasy world with monsters and ‘the whole nine yards’. I imagine Humans are on the bottom of the food chain. I’ll probably have to ‘Level Up’ just to reduce the risk of dying even though, paradoxically, levelling up will probably be what gets me killed.”

“There aren’t ‘levels’ per se, besides…”

My attention snapped to Parallel Me. I know that tone. “Besides what?” I grilled.

“Don’t worry, you most definitely have to fight for your life.”

“NOT the part I should be worried about, apparently! Spit it out!”

“You’re a Dungeon Core…”

“…”

“Part Dungeon Core, I think. The other part is Human, I think.”

“…”

“You’re special. Yay!” Parallel Me exclaimed, his voice strained as he threw up jazz hands.

“…”

“I didn’t do this… please don’t hurt me.”

***

After a mature conversation with Parallel Me, I established that I was, as ludicrous as it sounds, a ‘Dungeon Core’. I decided to take it in stride. Mainly because despite how many times I ‘asked’ Parallel Me, he said there was no changing the situation.

“Are you ready to take this seriously? I know it’s a hard pill to swallow but our lives are quite literally at stake. Well… yours,” Parallel Me said cheerfully. A behaviour that was starting to get to me.

“If you’re me, how are you so damn up beat all the time in this situation?”

“It’s because of the tutorial.”

“Why would that affect your emotions?”

“Dungeon Cores rarely form sentient. Their survival rates are low enough as it is. Without an intelligent guiding hand, they would be screwed. And apparently giving that guiding hand a positive outlook on things helps. Personally, I think fear would be a better motivator, but hay, what do I know?”

“Dungeon survival rates? That you know about?”

“The system has given me a lot of information. I would split it into three groups. This first is about the system and mechanics of dungeons. This group is decidedly the most extensive, in terms of detail… The next group is about the world in general, which is the broadest… The final group is about other Dungeon Cores. One’s alive right now. The information I have on them is vague and generic. Like random tips and hints you see on a loading screen. The last two give me the impression that they are composed of information that is likely publicly well known.”

Questioning the pauses between his explanations, I stated, “You seem unsure.”

“It’s confusing, I don’t just ‘know’ I ‘know’ something. I have to look, search my mind, to see if The System has implanted the relevant information. Like you might 'know' something that was taught in school, but until you remember that you 'know', you don't 'know'. Comparable to distant memories. Ones you forgot you still remembered. Although when I do remember it’s with absolute clarity.”

“As a soon-to-be dungeon, I suppose its best you tell me everything you know about Dungeon Core survival rates.”

“As I said earlier, it’s low. It has to do with the way Dungeon Cores form. No one knows the specifics, but it is known that the more mana in the surrounding environment the better. This means that when a Core does form, it will always be born in the same general vicinity of an old one. The same mana hotspot. This has led, to what you and I would call, ‘farming’. There are different grades of Dungeon Cores and the weakest rated Dungeon Cores don’t create dungeons worth much fast enough. However, the Cores themselves, no matter the rarity, are all EXTREMELY valuable. Plus, the act of destroying Dungeon Cores in of itself is valuable as it creates Heroes.”

“Dungeon rights are a hard no than?”

“They are seen as a living thing… Though it’s more along the lines of a dangerous plant. I think this is because of a conspiracy perpetuated by older Dungeon Cores for their own convenience.”

“So, I'm STILL at the bottom of the damn food chain?!"

“Again, only in the eyes of the public. The whole conspiracy thing.”

“Oh, all right then. Let’s finish this.”

“You should be excited. Our circumstances seem to be unique, we might benefit.”

“Right, that’s what my luck is going to do to me,” I said, rolling my eyes. We both looked to the menu. Parallel Me suggested we finalise my profile while he simultaneously explains it to me. Two birds one stone. I agreed and after opening my profile, I was greeted with a wall of text:

Name: none Titles: none Race: Chimera: Dungeon Core & Human Racial Traits: none Classes: none Affinities: none Skills: none Spells: none Status: none

As I examined my profile I noticed Parallel Me acting funny. He soon asked, “Nothing out of the ordinary here?”

“No,” I replied.

“In that case I can only assume that because of the tutorial upgrade I’m more mentally stable.”

“You’re going to ruin that earlier pep talk, asshole.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“Go on then, fill out your profile,” He stated.

As I move to comply, I start at the top of my profile. My mind draws a blank. It takes me a moment to realize why. “Oh, shit. What’s my bloody name!”