I had not been awake for long. I was feeling drowsy as always, yet after a short consideration I decided to stand up out of bed – it was not hard; it never is, one just must know oneself, and discover how to get motivated on that basis.
But a being’s interaction nexus balances numerous factors such as one’s own emotions, potential positive rewards and risks associated, and decides a response accordingly. So, to predict a social dynamic, one must make use of different concepts: amongst them, the aforementioned are referred to as ‘incentives’ and ‘disincentives’.
Following this process of thought, the reason the current world’s system is condemned to failure can easily be identified: if you give fish to a hungry person, then what motivation would they have to go fish themselves?
In schools, the applied system is referred to as ‘equity’: it consists of taking things out of the better, to give to the worse. Meaning, the worse has no more reason to improve, and the better has reasons to worse: being smart in an institutional environment just means one will always have to wait for the rest, getting bored and growing to hate the status quo.
And even though I admittedly hate the system, I do not currently possess the power to change it. That is why, the situations in my life constantly revolve in getting it: but I do not have any reason to hurry.
At last, we always will race with life, and it will ultimately have the advantage. So, it is no use to start running from the start – it is better to nurture oneself, until one gets faster than it. In my case, though, I would just strive to create a bike.
Still, it is not easy to pick on a fight with the world. That is why, every day, I slack off a little. Because I have all the disincentives in my favour, or all the incentives against me. Perhaps that is also just an excuse: perhaps I am simply scared.
* * * * * * * * * *
I quietly approached my desk where my laptop laid. I sat in the chair and closed my eyes. Suddenly and just before opening them again, I felt a strange sensation: one akin to being hugged, protected. Therewith, I heard ultrasonic noises of different duration: all akin to an animal whistle, practically inaudible for a human being, accounting to the following:
— ..- .-.. – .. .–. .-.. . -….- — ..-. -….- ..-. .. …- . .-.-.- -.-. …. .- .–. – . .-. …
The moment I reopened my eyes, I was in a pure-white, empty room. I felt dizzy, and soon enough, a message came in.
|— Welcome to the ‹Tutorial›’s ‹Liminal Realm›! —|
What? A lot of thoughts came into mind, faster than ever. I wondered if I was sleeping, but that didn’t seem to be the case: I looked at myself and I was perfectly fine. No sixth finger nor double head. Also, in the first place, if I were to be sleeping, it would have been hard to question that fact.
It also is not possible this is a joke; no human being would have been capable of doing this.
Whether it’s real or not, though, why would I care? – If it’s real, then the boring-ass world is at last becoming fun. If it’s not, then I will at least enjoy this experience.
Because, what is even ‘real’ in the first place?
Sincerely, I have thought of a situation of sorts many, many, many times. I thought I was delusional, but now, it would be hard to keep thinking that.
But in the very first place: ‘Tutorial’? Could they have made it any more cliché than that?
Seeing it like this, they must have used Earth’s Fantasy stories as a basis to create this.
Although I was not demonstrating it, I was really excited for this. But as time went by while thinking, I grew impatient: why was nothing happening? Or was the tutorial just to survive here as long as possible?
I could not withstand the wait and decided to utter a word, searching for someone.
“Hi…?”
|— Would you like to enable the Dark Theme? —|
“Ah, how considerate; that’s the first question you ask… Though well… To be honest, yes.”
|— The Dark theme has been enabled! —|
As soon as the message appeared into my vision, the room I was in went pure-black. It looked neat, yet scary.
That aside, it seemed the system could be triggered with spoken commands, “Enable Light Theme.” — I said.
|— Missing a ‹Theme-Changing Item›. Please buy one within the ‹Store›. —|
“… Are you kidding me?”
* * * * * * * * * *
So, having evaluated the system, I was able to confirm many of its characteristics.
“Menu.” — I spoke and suddenly, a menu with numerous icons —resembling a mobile-phone launcher—, appeared out of thin air. Many of those icons had a lock over them, implying the functionality was not yet available for my use. In fact, only one did not: upon clicking it, I could witness a title, brief description, and button.
|• Stage Play •|
|— The ‹Tutorial› is a system designed to nurture players, setting them into different environments suitable for them to develop superhuman capabilities and skills —|
| Start |
I hurriedly pressed the button and subsequently, another window popped up.
|• Difficulty Selection •|
|— Please be aware this action cannot ever be undone —|
| Novice |
| Apprentice |
| Expert |
| Master |
| Legend |
Obviously, I chose Legend. There was never a game hard enough I could not pass. And even if this was, this one would not become the first game I am unable to hack. That is why, I was confident of my choice.
Instantly, I started felling the same sensation again. Now I was sure: this was what being teleported felt like.
Quickly thereafter, I found myself in a dark, narrow corridor.
