Emperor Night

The cold night air sent a chill down Jonathan's spine. He had hunkered down in the corner of a run down building that he stumbled across whilst escaping the trigger-happy Inquisitor and her lackeys. It wasn't much to look at. The furniture laid in heaps on the floor, the wooden walls were rotten and a strong stench of mold wafted around him. Jonathan would not be leaving a positive yelp review.

The constant nagging pain in Jonathan's arm was starting to fade. He had fashioned a bandage by tearing off the bottom half of his shirt and securely fastening it around the wound on his arm. The cut was shallow and bleeding had stopped. He never thought he would be grateful for the mandatory first-aid course his old boss, Mr Checnov, made him take. The old bastard.

Zigarete's spear laid up against the wall next to Jonathan. It glimmered, providing dim illumination to the destitute room. It was unlike any metal Jonathan had ever seen before, silver lines shimmered and flowed like waves in the ocean. It was also surprisingly light and easy to maneuver, Jonathan was worried that it would break if he used it with too much force. Hopefully it would hold up if he was confronted again. He wished that he would wake from this living nightmare. He was very much done with it. But with every minute he spent in the cold broken house he grew less and less sure that the things he had been experiencing were merely hallucinations. Everything was too visceral. If only he knew what was going on.

Jonathan remembered the leather-bound book in his pocket. He pulled it out and reread the title. "Live Without Fear: Guidebook". It was rather ironic, ever since he had arrived in this... place, all he had felt was fear. He placed the book on his l.a.p and opened it.

"Hello! Jonn Nightmare!" A high-pitched staccato voice greeted Jonathan.

A six-inch semi-transparent blue figure popped out from the between the guidebook's pages. It was the same character that Jonathan had seen at the bottom of the the email from Isekguy Studios. A slender girl with pointed ears and an unbuttoned robe.

"Welcome to Live Without Fear. I'm Lily, your guide." She curtsied.

"Guide? What do you mean? Where am I?" Jonathan looked down puzzled at the little blue girl.

"You are in Cliffside the largest port city in the Adearathian Empire!" Lily said unhelpfully.

"No, I mean... How did I get here?" Jonathan asked.

"You signed up to be here!" Lily said confidently as she materialized a long length of parchment that she proceeded to read.

"I, the player- That's you by the way. Agree to forfeit my life in the earthly realm and be relocated to the unearthly realm of Adearath. You clicked accept to all this." Lily showed Jonathan the parchment and pointed to a small checked box at the bottom of it labeled 'I ACCEPT'

"Forfeit my life?" Jonathan said nervously. "Am I dead?"

"You look pretty alive to me. Maybe not the sharpest quill in the goose though." Lily said offhandedly.

Jonathan noticed writing on the pages underneath the girl's feet. He read the pages through Lily's transparent blue form.

Name: Jonn Nightmare

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Occupation: Sorcerer

Special Abilities:

Arousal Control - The ability to lower or heighten the s.e.x.u.a.l arousal levels of nearby characters. To use this ability, simply touch the person you wish to target after chanting "erectus" (to heighten their s.e.x.u.a.l arousal level) or "conievo" (to lower their s.e.x.u.a.l arousal level). The default setting, if no words are chanted, is to heighten the target's s.e.x.u.a.l arousal. WARNING: Exposure to player's s.e.m.e.n whilst in "erectus" mode may cause the target to temporarily lose conscientiousness. You may alter this ability through magical means.

Lily waved both her hands in Jonathan's face. "Hey! It is rude to read through someone you know." Lily pouted.

"Um, right. Sorry." Jonathan apologize as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I mean it is bad enough that I got stuck with a pervert that couldn't even think of a good name. You could at least listen to me when I am trying to help." Lily grew more frustrated.

"Pervert? You are the one barely covering your t.i.t.s." Jonathan pointed at the blue girl's open robe.

"It's called fashion you commoner!" Lily stomped her foot on the guidebook's pages. "Anyway! I am here to answer any and all questions you might have. Be aware, I can only manifest myself for a few minutes a day so make sure to ask what you want promptly." Lily smiled and waited for Jonathan's response.

"That limit seems arbitrarily unnecessary." Jonathan quipped.

"Time is ticking." Lily stated.

"Alright, how do I get home?" Jonathan asked.

"You can't." Lily grinned.

"What do you mean I can't?" Jonathan started to raise his voice.

"I mean that you are unable to return home to earth. No take-backs. It was in the contract you agreed to."

"What am I suppose to do now then?" Jonathan banged his head against the wall behind him out of frustration.

"Whatever you would like to! The whole world is yours to explore. A world way more interesting than the boring place you came from. I would suggest you do your best to stay alive though. This world holds a lot of wondrous things but some of those thigs are likely to try and kill you and we don't have any methods of returning someone from the dead." Lily started to fade away.

"Oh! It looks like we are out of time already. Check back with me tomorrow after I have had a chance to recharge. Also, at the back of the guidebook you will find ten crowns that you can use to buy food and get started in this world. Whatever you do you should definitely-" Lily vanished.

"My own personal tutorial fairy. Just great." Jonathan sighed.

Jonathan flipped to the back of the guidebook and retrieved the ten rounded coins nestled in a pocket on the rear cover. In the center of the silver coins were embossed golden crowns and around the edges, the words "For the Empire, for the Emperor.", were engraved. He stashed them into his pockets and put away the book.

Sunlight peaked over the top of the buildings and through the shattered window beside Jonathan. He leaned back and closed his eyes. It had been a long day. He needed a moment.