Start of Day One
“You know that old saying of ‘When Life closes a door, it opens a window’? Well right now from where I am sitting, seems to be complete bullshit. I cough up a little blood as it dribbles out the corner of my mouth. Shit, to think this is how I die? Some fucking rocks and metal does me in? Fuck this noise! Seriously! And great, that sounds like some of those alien beasts I saw earlier. Great, just stack it onto the pile. I guess none of this will matter in a few minutes. Still, one hasn’t lived without some regrets...Gina, thanks for being my friend since as far back as I can remember. Take care of yourself out there. I hope I don’t see you anytime soon in the afterlife.” The young man thinks.
In a few seconds, a pack of strange eldritch wolves sniffing the ground as they came into sight. The young man just grimaces as they discover him. Growling and salivating at the new prey, they prepare to charge as the young man closes his eyes, bracing himself for the end. Then when a pillar of otherworldly light envelopes him and the memories come flooding back to him.
*****
Thirty minutes earlier, he could feel a small hand reaching up to brush his brown hair, scoffing it up a bit, which makes him grip her hand and gently put it back down.
“Oh, come on, Sebastian. There’s barely any hair up there anyway, considering how short you keep it.” Says a brunette with a ponytail.
“I just got it cut yesterday. That’s also some tough talk from a girl who keeps it short on the sides but full on the top with that horse butt on the back.”
“Hey, you know that I like this hairstyle because when I’m in tournament mode, my hair doesn’t get in the way. Besides...” She throws a few ghost punches forward, “you know better than to make fun of me.”
He looks at her deadpan before turning back forward, “You know that I am not afraid of you, Gina. As strong as you are, you are still the same little girl that I met back in first grade.”
Her jaw drops and gives him a death glare, “Do these look like they come from a first grader?”
Sebastian looks down, blushing as Gina gestures to her breasts, “Again, Sebby, do these...?”
Sharply shushing her, he looks around to see some people looking up, but most are just attending to their business. His former expressionless face contorts into a light red anger.
He whispers, “Gina! We are on a train with people all around us. When will you realize that your breasts aren’t the washboards they used to be? It’s been like...two years at this point.”
“So...” She blushes and seductively smiles, “you have been noticing them. I thought that’s what all those times you looked away from me with a light red in your cheeks. Come on, admit it, you sneak a peek once in a while, don’t you?”
A little flustered, he responds, still in whispers, “How can I not? Every time you are in my view, there they are just...staring at me.”
“These...” She gestures again before Sebastian puts her hands down, “are only like F cups. They shouldn’t take up most of your view.”
“This might be a bit of a newsflash, but most women at nineteen don’t have F cups. Without going into this any further, you hit the genetic lottery. So, can we please just drop the subject?”
“All right, all right, so touch...y...I’ll be good.”
“Thank you.”
He takes a small breath as she watches the city pass by and about a minute or so of silence before she starts to chuckle, which grows into laughter.
“What is it now?” Sebastian asks, rolling his eyes, “I know that laugh, it was something I did in the past, wasn’t it?”
Gina shakes her head, “Sorry, sorry, forget about it...it’s nothing, but...” She laughs again.
“Look, your stop is coming up soon and you’ll keep doing this to drive me crazy, so please...just tell me what it was, just to get it out in the open.”
“It was...” She laughs, “It was...the time after summer break two years ago. Remember, I got off the bus from summer camp and you picked me up because our parents were too busy. The look on your face was just priceless when I turned around with my dufflebag in my hands. I’ve never...never seen you have that look before.”
“Well, yeah. When I dropped you off at the bus at the beginning of break, you were flat as a window, and when you got back, I thought you smuggled two small grapefruits in your blouse.”
“Funny, but your expression was that of a man who found water after three weeks in the desert.”
He scoffs, “Like you know what that is like...Miss World Explorer.”
She jabs him in the shoulder.
Which he massages it, “Ow! You didn’t hold back that time.”
“Just reminding you who is really in charge.”
The announcement blares, “Attention! We are approaching the next stop of...Jefferson Avenue. Please take notice of the gap and take all belongings before you depart.”
Gina huffs, “Oh man, already? I wanted to spend more time with you.”
“That’s funny, considering you’re going to be spending all day at Comic-Con while I am working in my office in center city.”
“Still...” Now pouting, “I wanted just a little more time together before I left.”
He smiles and ruffles her hair, “Ah, getting soft now, are you?”
She bats him away, “Stop that, unlike you, it takes some actual work to get my hair this good.”
“Yeah, yeah, go attend your panels and meet your favorite celebs while I crunch numbers in an air-controlled office. Ah, look your station, my lady.”
She sighs and looks up at him, “You are asking for another punch...do you want that?”
Sebastian simply smiles, “The same Gina...never change.”
Blushing with a bit of frustration, she stands there as the train comes to a stop and the doors open. Gina steps forward and turns back.
“This is goodbye for now. Have fun at work.”
“Have fun at the Con. I pick you up at six, Re:Gina.” He said as the doors closed.
Passed a tipping point, she jabs sharply into the window of the train door, leaving a sizable crack, surprising the both of them before she runs along, hoping to be lost in the crowd so no one can identify her as the one who did so. Still as she disappeared from view, he just smiles and shakes his head once more, knowing that his friend hasn’t really changed since she’s gotten into her training and tournaments, though he remembers her always having a great right, only slightly better than her left.
Looking back on memories together, people have said they have a bigger brother-little sister dynamic despite being the same age. It is due to their difference in height as she is nearly sixteen inches shorter than him, where he is the average height for men.
Seeing as he had a couple more stops before his work, he takes out his phone and pulls an old set of earphones into the jack. Looking through his music library, one of his favorite songs sounds in his ears as he lets himself enjoy the moment, mouthing some of the lyrics.
“A night so black...that the darkness hums...”
Two more songs and a few minutes later, he opens his eyes to see that he is one more station away from work. Enough for just one more short song, so he flicks through that playlist and puts on the one last jam until the evening. Just one minute in, he is lost in the music, the world fades away and he feels just right.
Then, the feeling fades as something new can be heard, it sounds like...screams. Opening his eyes, he sees the sky having turned red and a strange electricity seems to instantly fill the air. Taking off his earphones, Sebastian leans as close to the window as he can. It is now he notices purple circles in the sky, alien-looking winged beasts rain down into the city below. Then some women scream loudly as the same portals appear vertically on the streets as all manner of other beasts start coming in like a flood.
They witness as the people below run away scared and the closest ones are eaten or stomped by the creatures. He notices what looks like wolves, bats, scorpions, and even giants, but the rest seem to have no Earth-equivalent that Sebastian can draw a connection to.
He can’t process what is happening and as he looks around to see everyone else is even in a worse state of shock as they are transfixed on the grisly scene before them. He looks down to see a woman waving at the train as if they could do anything to help, she turns back in time to have one of those wolves leap upon her, chewing down on her skull, she barely had a second to let out a pathetic scream before dying.
“My God...what is?”
A scream from inside the train drew his attention as something struck the train hard, sending their individual car through the air away from the swarm. Gripping the nearby pole for dear life, he feels the world spinning around him as the train car crashes into the first floor of a building. Sebastian immediately went unconscious as everything turned black.
*****
This brings him back to the present moment as the otherworldly light surrounds him. For a moment, he could see the six eyes of these wolves, green-furred and pink-skinned as fear filled them. But that’s when time seems to stop as he finds himself floating, looking down at his hands, he notices that all his wounds are gone, even his business suit is mended. It’s as if the whole attack didn’t happen.
“First, I drop off my childhood friend at the Con. Then, the apocalypse decides to present itself with monsters from some sort of manga showing up. And just when I am about to die, a real life miracle saves me. That means...” He looks around at the frozen scene before him.
He says outloud, “So, what happens now?”
As if on cue, he hears a small sound as a blue notification screen pops up in front of him. With the following message.
“Your world has entered into a judgment phase. To survive this, you have been chosen to be awakened. As an Awakened, you have the choice of what class you will be in this new phase of the world, you can speak what class you desire the most and the System will register as...”
“Cleric!” He says with joy before containing himself, “Cleric...is that one of the choices?”
“Yes, refreshing screen...”
The screen flickers and the information changes on it to read:
“Class: Cleric
Type: Healer/Support/Tank
Person will gain the following:
2 Weapon Proficiencies / 3 Armor Proficiencies / 2 Shield Proficiencies
2 Domains / 3 Character Points / 5 Spell Points
+5% Healing (Increase +5% every 5 levels, Maximum +30%)
+10% Damage Vs. Undead (Increases +10% Damage every 5 levels, Maximum +50%)
Additional Benefits will reveal themselves every 10 levels.
Chance to obtain Hidden Class: 20%
Restriction: Clerics must choose a Deity to worship. Failure to do so will result in losing all Domains and Spell Points until a Deity is chosen. However, Deities can only be chosen at a new Cleric level and will give benefits only when Deity is chosen.”
“So if I choose a deity at level three, I’d only start getting those benefits as if I was a level one Cleric. It is best to choose one now to get the full benefits of this class...is that correct?”
“Yes, are there any more questions?”
“I am familiar with most of these mechanics from RPGs, I will look at what I can spend my points on in a minute. What does it mean by Hidden Class?”
“In a percent of Awakened, there is a chance that your Class will be a Hidden Class giving you additional benefits that may supercede the limitations of or entirely replace the normal benefits granted to you by your class. Hidden Classes can only be obtained at class selection and no other time after in normal class progression. Are there any more questions?”
“No, I am ready to move onto deity selection.”
“Registration is awaiting what Deity will you choose?”
Sebastian rubs his chin in thought and asks, “How many deities are able to be selected?”
“There are approximately 2311 deities that can be chosen, would you like a list of...”
“No! I mean, give me a moment to think.”
“All right, be warned that the time freeze effect for Awakened only lasts for thirty minutes before ending. You currently have twenty-seven minutes and five seconds before the end of the effect. What Deity will you choose?”
He ponders a bit longer until the screen informs him when twenty-five minutes remain, then a thought comes to him.
“Can it be that simple?” He looks at the screen, “I am ready to choose my Deity.”
“And what Deity do you choose?”
“God! I choose to worship God!”
“Processing...Processing...Deity found! God, a.k.a. Adonai, Allah, the Almighty, the Father, and other titles/identities.
Domains:...Error, all Domains are registered to this Deity except for Evil...Error...Err...System patched, Domain Registration is available. Deity Confirmation...accepted. You are now a level one Cleric of God. Please confirm for Domain Registration and to see if Hidden Class is obtained, say ‘Confirm’ when ready.”
Closing his eyes and focusing only on what is ahead of him, Gina appears in his thoughts for a moment and he nods.
“Confirm.”
The System screen disappears as he hovers in the light for a few moments as three dots are bobbing up-and-down as if loading something. Then the screen returns with a new notification.
“Hidden Class...Obtained.”
“What? You’ve got to be shitting me? I got the Hidden Class!”
He taps the screen and the following information is displayed:
“Hidden Class: Cleric of the Sun
Initial Improvements:
Healing increased to +10% (+10% every 5 levels, New Maximum +50%)
Damage Vs. Undead increased to 15% (+15% every 5 levels, New Maximum +75%)
Damage Vs. Infernal +10% (+10% every 10 levels, Maximum +30%)
Sun Domain granted as bonus Domain.
Additional Benefits will reveal themselves every 10 levels.”
“This is...incredible...I...I...have about twenty-three minutes to select every other choice for my new life. Let’s just try to speed-run these for who knows how many more choices I need to make before the time stop effect wears off.”
Sebastian flicks through the screens, selecting Heavy Mace and Spear as his weapon proficiencies. He selects all the available options for the rest of his proficiencies. His Domains takes him ten minutes just going through the options and selects Good and Healing Domains. Looking through his character ability choices, he makes his decisions as well as he does so with his spells. At last, he is ready for this new chance.
“Congratulations...” Says the System, “You have finished all the choices for your class to be properly integrated into your person. Warning! Enemies detected nearby! System has granted further permissions for equipment. Based on your class and proficiency choices, a level one suit of iron armor, a level one heavy mace, and a level one iron shield will be added to your equipment slots. Is this acceptable?”
“Yes, perfect...I mean, confirm.”
“Acknowledged.”
He could feel the wind wrap around him as his equipment appears on his body as it seems to materialize from thin air. Marveling at the sight of his gauntlets, he flexes his fingers and immediately gets a little excited from feeling actual armor on his body. Then his shield and weapon materialize in front of him as they equip themselves: His mace in his right hand and his shield in his left.
Once this process is over, his feet meet the ground once more as the weight of his gear seems almost insignificant.
He cracks a smile, “Huh? I guess that’s what the proficiencies are for.”
Then, his eyes meet the few wolves that were just recoiling in fear as this miracle happened. Getting himself ready, a notification screen appears.
“Awakened Process complete. Time Stop effect will end in 10...9...8...”
Sebastian takes a cleansing breath, “This is it, there is no going back...ever...”
“3...2...1...”
Then, time resumes as reality returns in its entirety. Raising his shield up and readying his mace, he takes his combat stance as this is like a dream come true.
“Okay...which one of you is first?”
As he looks upon the enemy, he uses his level one appraisal skill to see that the six enemies before him are noted as “Level 1 Pack Reaver - Beast”. One of them somehow gathers its courage, growling loudly and charging at the new Cleric.
He blocks with his shield and then with one upward slam, lifts the enemy into the air. With perfect timing, he brings his mace across, delivering a crushing blow into the ribs of the pack reaver as it squeals helplessly. Its corpse is thrown across before making a sickening thud as it crashes against the ruined concrete wall of a nearby building.
As the other pack reavers look at him, Sebastian creaks his neck and gets back into his combat stance.
“So, who is next?” He boasts.
Smiling, Sebastian thinks, "I was wrong. Life really does open a window. Guess it's not complete bullshit, after all."
