He woke up with a headache and he did not know why. Maybe the events of yesterday were too much for him. He felt as if a lot had happened since he woke up on Game world. He got up and got ready for the day.

As he was going to exit his room, thinking of getting breakfast he froze for a bit. Where was he supposed to go? Silas and Sumira had not told him anything about the dining facilities of NAIF.

As he was thinking about what to do, there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find an Umaru standing in front of him.

“Hi”, said the Umaru, “My name is Krona. Nice to meet you. I will be your guide for the day. Director Silas sent me. You must be hungry. Come, let us go for breakfast.”

And she turned and started walking. He was stunned for a bit. Then he hurried after her. Krona was taller than him, and had the greenish blue skin of the Umaru, more green than blue. However, it was her eyes that captivated him. He did not see anything other than her large oval bright pink eyes.

She was walking fast and he hurried after her.

He said, “Slow down. What’s the rush?”

She slowed down and said, “Pardon me. This is my normal speed. I shall slow down for you.”

They walked through the residential part of the facility and outside. Then she took a left and walked to a large one storied rectangular building.

She said as they approached, “This is the mess. You will be getting breakfast, lunch and dinner over here. As you do not possess Una currency, I will escort you for the time being.”

He wanted to ask further questions about the currency on Una and other things but Krona simply charged in or it looked as if she charged in. He thought this pace must be normal for an Umaru. He followed in.

The mess hall was big with counters for food on the other end from where they had entered. The kitchen was behind the counter and the access to it was through three doors behind the food counters; the door on the left, the door on the right and the door in the middle. The rest of the mess hall was filled with tables of twos, fours, sixes and eights.

Krona led him to one of the food counters. There was another Umaru working there. When they approached Krona said, “One human breakfast please.”

The Umaru behind the counter asked, “Vegetarian or Non-vegetarian?”

Krona looked at him inquiringly and he replied, “Any will do.”

The Umaru behind the counter handed him a plate filled with food. He did not recognize all the items but it looked good. There was something looking like a sausage and toast with a bowl filled with what he hoped were beans.

Krona went to another counter and he followed. Once she had taken her plate, she paid with a card which she had procured from her utility belt. Then she led him to a table for two.

They focused on their breakfast first. The food was good. It did not look like the vegetables or the meat he had on Earth but it was delicious. Then he frowned. How did he know about the vegetables and meat from Earth?

They finished their breakfast. They did not talk much during and mostly focused on eating. After breakfast, Krona took him back into the facility and into a room. There was a single machine hooked to a computer in that room. There was a chair beside the machine and a few chairs behind the computer. He did not identify the machine. For some reason it looked to him like an MRI machine.

Silas and Sumira entered the room. Krona sat down on the chair at the computer.

Silas smiled at him and said, “Good morning. How are you feeling?”

“Well enough”, he said, “Less confused than yesterday. Still have many questions.”

Silas laughed a bit and said, “The answers will come. But first, we need to get a utility belt for you.”

“And this machine is for that?” he asked.

“That is correct”, Silas nodded and gestured to Sumira who pulled out the bed from the machine.

She said, “This machine will analyze your entire body. It will give us an idea whether you were bonded with an utility belt before or not. If you were, we would be able to get its signature from your”, she stopped contemplating the correct word, “essence and then track it. Do not worry. You won’t even feel a thing. It is perfectly safe.”

He complied. He lay on the bed and they put him in the machine. The machine hummed for some time and then they pulled him out. The expression on their face told him something was wrong.

He asked, “What is it?”

Silas said, “You did not have a utility belt. It is highly baffling. We will now need to make one for you.”

“Okay then”, he said, “Shall we start?”

They gave him a form to fill. He filled it up as much as he could remember. He filled his name last. He thought for a bit before writing down what he had decided last night. He would now be officially Marcus Blank. He liked it.

Silas took the form from it, read it once and then passed it to Sumira. She took the form and exited the room followed by Krona.

Once they were gone Silas said, “They will take care of the generation of the utility belt. It will be given to you tomorrow. Till that time you have a decision to make.”

“What decision?”, Marcus asked.

Silas said, “Marcus Blank. You need to decide by tomorrow. Do you want to be an adventurer or non-adventurer?”

***

The rest of his day passed too quickly for Marcus. Silas asked Krona to help Marcus make the decision. Krona explained to him what being an adventurer and a non-adventurer entailed.

The more he heard about it, the more he felt that he had somehow awoken in a world which was a live version of an MMORPG i.e. a massive multiplayer online role playing game.

The adventurers were like a player of an mmorpg. They were given quests and they travelled all over the world to fulfil these quests. There was a main storyline which needed to be completed and he would get to know about it only after he became an adventurer.

Non-Adventurers were like NPCs i.e. non playable characters. If he decided to be a non-adventurer, then he would be integrated into the Una society. There, he would be further assigned a role. Further details would be provided to him if he chose to be a non-adventurer.

Marcus felt that this was too little information for making such a big decision.

Krona had replied to that, “Most of the people coming to Una already have made their decision. As soon as they come to Una, they register themselves as either adventurers or non-adventurers. You are a special case. Normally, we do not need to explain anything to new people coming to our planet.”

After that, Krona had also shown Marcus where the new people coming to planet Una come from. It was called the teleportation room. It was a very big and high room. In the centre of the room there was a large circular platform, covered with runes and symbols Marcus did not recognize.

Krona had explained, “Each NAIF facility has one. A new incoming person notifies his date and time of arrival through our representative who is with him at that time. They are given a new utility belt as they are not a part of our planet and using that utility belt we summon them here. They could be summoned to other NAIF facilities based on their preference or decision of our higher ups.”

Marcus said, “Is this some sort of summoning spell on the platform over there? And how do you decide who to accept in your world?”

“Those are no concern of yours now. You just need to decide whether you want to be an adventurer or non-adventurer. I am simply showing you this room because you asked how normally people come to this planet.”

Marcus had frowned and said, “What about people already residing on this planet? Do they choose to be adventurers or they are simply non-adventurers?”

Krona had smiled, “Yes they do select to be adventurers. Umaru are not the only species living on this planet. There are other non-adventurer species whose progeny decide they want to be adventurers.”

That had concluded their meeting as Krona was needed somewhere else. She had escorted Marcus to his room promising that she would come find him there for lunch and dinner. She had also advised him not to roam around that day as he still did not have his utility belt and the belt also aided in communication. She would have a hard time searching for him if he wandered around and that might delay eating which Marcus got a feeling Krona would not be happy about.

So he stayed in his room and thought about what he wanted to do. It did not take him long to make a decision though. He knew what he was going to be. It was a feeling he had in him which told him what he needed to do.

He fell asleep that night with a smile on his face. Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

***

Marcus woke up to someone knocking at his door. He looked at the clock in his room to check the time. It was 7 o’clock in the morning. He frowned. He realized he had not set an alarm because he did not know what the normal time for getting up in the morning was. He somehow felt that 7 o’clock was just right though. So who had woken up earlier than seven and was now knocking at his door?

He got up and opened the door. It was Krona.

Krona said, “Come on, sleepy boy. Director Silas is looking for you. Come on, follow me.”

And she shot off. Marcus had to jog a little in order to keep pace with her. He considered her to be definitely weird. But then he did not know anything about other species. So this could be normal behaviour on Una and maybe he was the odd one. He shook his head and thought that he was definitely the odd one as he was after all, what they called an anomaly.

Krona led Marcus into one of the offices. It looked like a medical ward. There was a bed with some devices beside it. Silas was standing talking to someone Marcus did not recognize. It was another elf.

He remembered an expression, ‘tall, dark and handsome’. The description fitted the elf Silas was talking to perfectly. Krona had to prod him in his back to make him walk again. He had not realized he had frozen at the door.

Krona said, “Every elf has ethereal beauty which dazes those who do not know much about it. Ah! You would not know it too, wouldn’t you? Anyways, come on. You’ll get used to it.”

Marcus frowned. Every elf had ethereal beauty. What did that mean? Also Silas was an elf and Marcus had not been dazed by him.

As Marcus approached Silas said, “Ah excellent Marcus. Please sit. We shall be fixing your utility belt on you.”

Marcus sat on the bed. The second elf took out a belt out of his, well, belt. The belt was made up of a material Marcus could not tell. It was silvery in colour and had vertical grooves along its entire length. There was a buckle and clasp at the centre. The elf put the belt around Marcus’ waist. It snapped on with a clank. Then everyone looked at him expectantly.

Marcus asked, “Is... is this it?”

Then he felt something prick at the back and he had a sensory overload. He could not remember much about what happened afterwards. He must have blacked out because he suddenly shot up from a sleeping position with a gasp. He looked around confused and then remembered. He looked at his waist to see a utility belt tightly bound.

Marcus tried to open the buckle but a voice said, “Easy there. Don’t remove it immediately after we have gone through all the trouble of putting it on.”

Marcus focused on the source of voice and found himself looking at Silas.

“What happened”, asked Marcus.

Silas took some time before answering, “To explain that you need to understand something fundamental. I shall give you a brief version.” Silas paused thinking about what to say next, “As you may know that the entire universe is made up of energy.”

Silas looked at Marcus to confirm whether he knew this. As his sharp eyes bored into Marcus, Marcus nodded. Silas continued, “Living beings are also made up of energy. However, in the case of living beings, this energy is a mixture of various energies. We call these energies life energy, magical energy and body energy. Life energy is what sustains your life. Magical energy gives you magical powers and the ability to perform spells. Body energy maintains and enhances your body. These three energies harmoniously exist in any living being’s body. The quantities may differ based on the species but each living entity has these three energies. The combination of these three energies is called the essence of a living person.”

Silas paused again to give Marcus time to digest what he had said. Marcus was glad Silas did. Because his head was spinning again and he did not think this was the after effect of putting on his utility belt.

Marcus swallowed many of the questions he wanted to ask and said, “What has this got to do with the utility belt?”

Silas replied, “Your utility belt bonds with your essence. Especially your magical energy. It requires a fraction of it to function.”

Marcus nodded. He understood what Silas was saying. Then he asked the question he really wanted to ask, “Are you saying I can perform magic now?”

Silas laughed and said, “It depends on various factors. Let us not dwell into that for now. Let me explain how your utility belt works.”

Silas stood up and placed a hand on the left side of his belt. Marcus could see an interface pop out. Marcus could read it but it took some effort. Silas’ interface looked reversed to Marcus as he was sitting in front of him. Silas looked at Marcus’ expression and muttered, “Oh! Right.”

Then he shifted so that Marcus could see Silas’ interface.

Name: Silas Cornerstone

Race: Elf

Designation: Director, NAIF, Solaris Facility

There were some other lines after this but all were redacted. Marcus could not see what they were. It seemed that Silas could hide the information that he wished.

Marcus said, “How do I do this?”

Silas replied, “Touch your belt and think ‘Status’.”

Marcus did as he was told. His status screen opened. It was a lot more information than Silas which was understandable as it would be weird if he could not see his own screen.

He read his Status

Name: Marcus Blank

Race: Human

Designation: Undetermined

Age: Undetermined

Description: Labelled as the anomaly, Marcus Blank is currently under inspection. Further decisions shall give in depth knowledge regarding his status.

Marcus frowned as he read his status. He looked up at Silas and said, “What is this? This is so minimal.”

Silas said, “Can you share your status with me. I cannot see it until you share it with me. Also if you do not want to share the entire status, then you can share a part of it.”

“How do I do that?”

“Touch your utility belt and think about sharing your status. Think about only sharing it with me, otherwise you may broadcast it to other living beings nearby.”

Marcus nodded and complied. Silas could now see Marcus’ status.

Silas asked, “So, what seems to be the problem?”

“My designation, age and description”, said Marcus, “Why are they so vague?”

“You have not yet determined whether you wish to be an adventurer or not. That is why the designation and description are vague. As for your age, we were not able to determine it. You seem to have the body of a male human in his mid twenties. However, there was something in our analysis which did not make sense. It looked as if you had been alive for over five hundred years which is not possible for a human. That is why your age is undetermined.”

“Can you not just put it as twenty five?”

“Very well”, said Silas slowly. He touched his utility belt and another screen popped up which Marcus could not read again. Silas typed something in it and then paused, “What do I put in as your date of birth then?”

“The date I was found in the forest”, said Marcus, “Simply subtract twenty five years from it. I think that will do.”

As Silas started to make the changes, Marcus said, “What is the calendar system here? I mean on Earth it was… it was… Well I forget but I do remember it was something to do with twelves and sixties and all that.”

“Someone will explain to you the system. I am here to explain your utility belt. Check your status now. Your age should be shown.”

Marcus did as told. He could now see his age at 25 but not his date of birth. He decided to ask about that later, once he had an understanding of how time worked on Una.

Next Silas explained to Marcus about inventory. It worked the same way as the status screen. Marcus needed to touch the utility belt and think about inventory and his inventory screen would open.

Marcus examined it. It was divided into various categories which seemed to be locked for now. Currently he could access only the Clothes category, the Currency category and the Other Items category. The clothes and currency categories were empty. There was a card in the currency category.

Silas explained about the card, “This card stores your money. The money system is simple here. The currency is known simply as units. I hope you remember how money works. Units is the only denomination for the sake of simplicity. There are no larger or smaller denominations. Moreover, this card uses digital currency and can be linked to your bank account if you open one. Physical notes of units also exist. These include the 1 unit, 2 units, 5 units, 10 units, 50 units, 100 units and 1000 units notes. You currently have no units. As long as you stay in this facility, you will not have to pay anything as of now. Just swipe your card. However, it is not free. Charges shall be accrued as per your usage. Repayment plans shall be considered once you decide on your profession.”

Marcus took some time to take in the explanation. He then said, “Are these the only functions of the utility belt?”

“Oh! It also acts as a communication device”, said Silas. Then he showed Marcus how to make calls and send messages and add contacts. Marcus had Silas as his first contact. Then Silas also gave him the contact information of Krona. He then told Marcus that they were other functions but they depended on his profession selected. Marcus was starting to get a bit antsy. Majority of things on Una depended on whether you were an Adventurer or not.

Silas then left Marcus telling him to get acquainted with his utility belt. He told Marcus that he would come back in the evening and finalize Marcus’ profession. Marcus nodded as Silas left.

Marcus remembered then. He had forgotten to ask Silas whether he could remove the utility belt. Silas had also not mentioned anything regarding it. Marcus decided not to take it off at that moment. He would wait till evening. He lay down and went to sleep.

***

He was woken up by Krona. Sumira was with her and Silas was also present. He was getting special treatment. Yipee!

Silas said, “Very well Marcus. It is time to make a decision. Adventurer or non-adventurer?”

“Face washer”, said Marcus a bit groggily.

He laughed at the confusion on their faces. He said, “Let me use the restroom. Freshen up. I will tell you my decision then.”

After he was back, they all settled down. Marcus could feel some nervous energy in the air.

Marcus said, “I have decided to be an adventurer.”

He could see no one was surprised with his decision. The others simply nodded as Krona input something in the interface opened in front of her. Marcus could not see what was written.

Sumira said, “Well, if you are an adventurer, then you need to be integrated accordingly. The orientation is in a week. Till that time, get used to the new status information that will now be unlocked. Krona will guide you for tomorrow and then you can spend your time however you want in the facility.”

Silas said, “We will not meet you much now Marcus but do not hesitate to call us if there is any need. Krona shall be your first point of contact. Your orientation shall be at 7 am in a week as Sumira mentioned. Welcome to Una. Welcome to Game World Adventurer Marcus Blank. Hope you enjoy questing around the world.”

With that everyone departed. Krona escorted Marcus to dinner and then to his room. She told him that she would come at 7 am for breakfast and taught Marcus how to set an alarm with his utility belt.

Back at his room Marcus thought about viewing his updated status screen but decided not to. He was tired and decided that he needed a fresh mind to understand the new clump of information that was thrown his way.

“Fuck my life”, he said to no one as he went to sleep. The next week was going to be a long one.

***

Rauros was looking at the file in front of him. It was the file of a human named Marcus Blank. He was grinning as he read it. Charles, for some reason, was looking nervous. He was seated across Rauros and was perspiring like anything.

“Calm down Charles”, said Rauros, “You do not have anything to worry about.”

“Yes, my lord”, said Charles but he did not stop being nervous.

Rauros finished the file and said, “Keep tabs on this guy. I want to know his progress.”

Charles nodded. Rauros continued, “Charles. I think it is time to play the War Scenario. It has not been done for quite some time now.”

Charles spluttered, “The War Scenario my lord? There is a reason for that. The last time, a hundred years ago, things got out of hand, it was not… My lord, I need permission from both you and lady Lightweaver for executing this scenario as per the guidelines set.”

“You will get your fucking permission”, growled Rauros, “Just start making preparations.”

Charles looked as if he wanted to protest but one look at Rauros and he scampered out of Rauros’ office. Rauros grinned as Charles left. Soon after his wife arrived.

“Did you have to scare Charles so much my love?” Leyda asked.

Rauros snorted, “He is the one who is uncomfortable with us even after so many years of service. I enjoy making him squirm. Let me have some guilty pleasures. I have so few these days.”

“You will apologize to him later”, said Leyda in a voice that brooked no argument, “And what is this I hear about a War Scenario?”

Leyda had a sweet smile plastered on her face but Rauros knew he was screwed. He braced himself for the argument. This was going to be a long day, but he would definitely have his way.