Chapter Nine - Rookie Awakening.

Hiro would slowly open his eyes, there was a white ceiling with a fan. His ears were buzzing as he slowly awoke. His eyes would slowly adjust but his body was too weak to move from tiredness. He looked to the right out the side of his eyes at the ceiling. He saw a ceiling fan, it was very similar to the one he had in his bedroom.

“Where… Am I…?” Hiro asked. Hiro heard a door open to his left. He slowly turned his head, and looked up at the side of his eyes. Cyrus stood there, looking down at him. He had his usual smirk,

“Well hello, Mr. Uyehara.” Cyrus said. Hiro smirked,

“How the hell’d you end up here?” Hiro chuckled, his voice tired. Cyrus raised a brow, taking a sip out of a coffee mug.

“I’ve been here… For like… Three days.” Cyrus said. Hiro grinned,

“The Afterlife looks a lot like my room, doesn’t it.” Hiro said. Cyrus looked surprised, looking at Hiro. Hiro sat down, placing the coffee mug on a little table.

“Let me get this straight? You think you’re dead?” Cyrus asked. Hiro looked over at him raising a brow,

“Am I not?” Hiro asked. Cyrus shook his head,

“No… You’re in your bedroom.” Cyrus chuckled. Hiro sighed,

“So… Everyone at the school… Did they live?” Hiro asked. Cyrus took a sip from the mug,

“Hmm… Who do you consider everyone?” Cyrus asked. Hiro looked at the bed.

“How many people got onto the roof?” Hiro asked. Cyrus smiled,

“About 563 people made it on the roof…” Cyrus said. Hiro raised a brow,

“Out of…?” HIro asked. Cyrus grinned, putting the mug back on the table.

“1,000.” Cyrus said. Hiro looked back at the ceiling, his eyes full of sadness.

“Don’t worry… Nobody remembers the incident but you and a few others.” Cyrus said. Hiro nodded,

“So, are you going to kill me now or something?” Hiro asked. Cyrus chuckled,

“Nope… Not yet, haven’t you noticed something’s off?” Cyrus asked. Hiro looked confused, he then looked down at his arms seeing bandages wrapped around them as well as his hands.

“Why am I all wrapped up like this…?” Hiro asked. He even had a bandage on his face under his left eye.

“Usually Ryuji would heal me at this point…” Hiro looked at his bandaged hands. Cyrus chuckled,

“Odd isn’t it…” Cyrus said, taking another sip of his drink.

“What happened to Ryuji…” Hiro asked. Cyrus shrugged,

“Wherever the summoning crystal came from.” Cyrus said. Hiro raised a brow,

“You mean that wasn’t your doing?” Hiro asked. Cyrus chuckled,

“No, that was me, of course it was.” Cyrus explained. Hiro looked surprised,

“Then why am I alive here…?” Hiro asked. Cyrus chuckled,

“Cause I need you for something…” Cyrus said, finishing his tea. He placed the empty mug on the table.

“I’ve tended to your wounds but unfortunately… You’re heavily scarred…”

“… Your face only has one scar, but you’re marked all over your body…” Cyrus explained.

“Do you remember how I asked you to test something for me…?” Cyrus asked. Hiro nodded, struggling to sit up.

“What about it…” Hiro looked around in confusion,

“Where are my dad and sister??” Hiro asked. Cyrus smirked,

“Well, I needed a reason for you to comply with my test…” Cyrus said. Hiro’s eyes widened,

“What’d you do with them!” Hiro shouted. Cyrus laughed,

“Calm down, I have no idea where she is…” Cyrus explained. Hiro looked angered at Cyrus.

“Let me tell you what’s going to happen.” Cyrus stated. Hiro listened, the angered look still on his face.

“… I have a new type of mana I need you to test, since you’ve lost Ryuji.” Cyrus said. Hiro raised a brow,

“A new type of mana…?” Hiro asked. Cyrus nodded,

“I call it The Umbra Nexus.” Cyrus said. Hiro looked confused,

“The Umbra Nexus?” Hiro asked. Suddenly, a pop-up appeared, floating in front of Hiro.

[! Welcome !]

[! The Game Master Has Invited You To Participate in Early Access Testing !]

Hiro looked over at Cyrus, holding back a laugh.

“Game Master? How many web novels have you been reading?” Hiro asked. Cyrus scoffed,

“You humans have a very good eye for creativity, what can I say?” Cyrus said, his lips curling with a smirk. Hiro scoffed,

“So… What does it do…?” Hiro asked. Cyrus chuckled,

“Well, I’ll tell you this… It’s not like I’m going to tell you how the whole game works…” Cyrus said. Hiro chuckled softly, though his eyes were still empty from the traumatic experience.

“Just get on with it… Explain something about The Umbra Nexus to me?” Hiro asked. Cyrus sighed,

“Why should I tell you, if the nexus can tell you itself?” Cyrus said.

[! Starting Now You Are The First Player of The Umbra Nexus !]

[! You Are Currently Lvl.0 !]

[! Current Rank: ??? !]

“Why did it pop up with three question marks when it showed my current rank?” Hiro asked. Cyrus raised a brow,

“Really?” Cyrus asked. Hiro nodded,

“Interesting…” Cyrus said.

“You don’t know?” Hiro asked, raising a brow. Cyrus scoffed,

“What brought you to that conclusion?” Cyrus asked. Hiro shrugged,

“Most people comment with ‘interesting’ when they find out about something.” Hiro said.

“Anyways… There’s going to be another pop-up in a few seconds, going by that you told me you’re on the rank screen.” Cyrus said. Hiro looked at him in confusion,

“You mean you can’t see it?” Hiro asked. Cyrus smirked, shaking his head.

“Indeed, only you can see it.” Cyrus explained,

“It’s going to ask you if you want to begin The Umbra Nexus…”

“… When you press ‘BEGIN’ remove all your bandages, except the ones on your forearms and hands… Those haven’t completely healed, oddly enough.” Cyrus said.

“Alright…” Hiro said hesitantly. Suddenly, another pop up showed up in front of Hiro. Cyrus stood up, walking toward the door.

“Hold it.” Hiro said, his voice stern. Cyrus raised a brow, looking at Hiro out the side of his eye.

“Hm?” Cyrus asked.

“If I beat this game of yours… Will I get my sister back?” Hiro asked. Cyrus chuckled,

“Now If I spoiled the ending, that’d ruin the point of the game, no?” Cyrus asked. Hiro chuckled behind his empty eyes,

“Good point…” Hiro said quietly.

“Well… Good luck, safe travels… Hiroyuki Uyehara.” Cyrus said. Hiro looked back at the pop-up as Cyrus shut the door. Hiro started to unravel the bandages on his upper arms and on his face and body, leaving the bandages wrapped on his forearms and hands. He removed the covers off of his body from his bed. He then got out of bed, tripping onto the ground.

“How many days have I been asleep…” Hiro internalized. He slowly got up, shaking his head. He then removed the bandage under his left eye, revealing a thin horizontal scar under his left eye. The scar was about 3 cm in width and 1 cm in length so it was quite visible. He walked over to his closet, opening it and finding a camping backpack. He grabbed the backpack, walking out of his bedroom and down the stairs. He walked down to the store, grabbing some water bottles, chips, instant soups, and medical supplies like ibuprofen, and other things like bandages.

“I think that’s all I need…” Hiro thought to himself. He looked at the pop-up in front of him.

[ !? Would You Like To Begin !? ]

[ ! START ! ]

Hiro put his backpack on, sighing as he looked around the store. He then walked back up into the house. He looked around the kitchen, remembering where his father would cook meals for them. He walked into the living room, looking down at the couch.

“I’ll get you back Hina…” Hiro said. He walked over to the tv stand, grabbing a picture frame standing on it. He grabbed it, placing it in his bag.

“Alright… It’s time…” Hiro said. He looked at the start button, breathing in. He then exhaled, pressing the button on the pop-up. His eyes widened as he looked as if he was travelling through a wormhole. He began yelling as he fell out of the wormhole and he was falling from the sky above a lush forest.

“AHHHH!!!” He yelled as he was falling from the sky at high speeds.

[ ! NOTICE ! ]

[ ! You Have Travelled Through Eternaxis ! ]

[ ! You Have Received a Notification ! ]

Hiro raised a brow, pressing on ‘Notification’. Another screen popped up,

[ ! New Event ! ]

[ ! You Have Received A Class Offer ! ]

“A class offer?? What the hell is that??” Hiro shouted. Another pop up opened in front of him.

[ ! Choose One ! ]

[ ! The Combatist ! ] [ ! The Leader ! ] [ ! The Pathfinder ! ]

“Combatist, Leader, and Pathfinder…? What are their attributes??” Hiro internalized. He hesitated looking at the three classes. He then exhaled,

“Alright, I’ll choose this one.” Hiro said. He clicked on the combatist.

[ ! You Have Chosen: The Combatist ! ]

[ ! You Have Gained 800 Exp ! ]

[ ! You Have Leveled Up ! ]

[ ! You Are Now Level 1 ! ]

“Alright! Now what!” Hiro shouted. He then fell through some trees until he fell onto the ground hard.

“… Ow…” Hiro groaned. He slowly got up, scratching the side of his head. He looked around in confusion. The forest was very lush and green, birds flying through branches and bugs crawling on tree’s. He put his bag back on, slowly walking through the forest.

“So… I’m a combatist…” Hiro internalized.

“What the hell does that even mean?? Like, I understand that I will have to fight, but that feels too general.” Hiro said.

“Whatever… I can figure it out later…” Hiro said. He looked around seeing different animals that he’d never seen before.

“What is this place…” Hiro thought.

“I know I’m in Eternaxis… The Nexus told me it was…”

“But I never had the chance to talk about it with Jinho and Lyra…” Hiro said. He continued walking through the forest until he reached a cave. He looked around, not really seeing anywhere to get around.

“So… I guess I have to get through the cave…” Hiro said. He sighed, looking back at where he came from.

“Do I have a torch…?”

“How do I open my inventory…?”

“If I have one…” Hiro internalized. He put his arm out pointing a finger.

“Inventory.” He thought. A pop up then appeared, there were 16 square slots but 2/3rds of them were locked, so he had only 4 available to use.

[ ! Your Inventory Is Currently Empty ! ]

Hiro squinted looking at the pop-up.

“Yeah, no shit sherlock…” Hiro internalized. The pop-up vanished and his inventory closed. He turned back to the cave, inhaling and exhaling softly. He then slowly walked into the cave. The cave had an eerie echo, his footsteps the only audible noise. Suddenly, a pop up appeared in front of Hiro.

[ ! WARNING ! ]

[ ! A NEW EVENT HAS BEGUN ! ]

Hiro’s eyes widened as he heard the sound of a loud deep ominous growl. He looked around, the cave was dark and quiet so he was unaware of his surroundings. Suddenly, the whole cave began to shake. He looked around in confusion, the only light on his face was from the pop-up in front of him. Suddenly the screen changed,

[ ! EVENT DETAILS ! ]

[ ! DEFEAT THE DEEP CAVE BEAR ! ]

[ ! REWARD: ??? ! ]

[ ! DIFFICULTY: E ! ]

“Okay… E… That should be fine…” Hiro said. Suddenly, torches lit up around him in the cave on the walls. Suddenly, a giant bear appeared in front of him, it had a ton of blue glowing crystals all over its body and blood stains around its mouth. Hiro looked around seeing human bones,

He looked around, trying to find any kind of weapon in sight. Suddenly, the enormous bear swiped its claws at Hiro. Hiro barely dodged its claws, though it took some of his shirt with him. He had a claw mark on his shirt, and he groaned.

“This was one of my favorite shirts, you big ass bear!” Hiro shouted. Hiro jumped toward the bear, winding back his arm. Suddenly, a purple flame aura enveloped his arm. He then swung a punch toward the bear, but it swatted him away like a fly into one of the cave walls. He groaned climbing out of the hole in the cave wall the bear made out of him.

“Ow.. Damn bear…” Hiro groaned. He looked around, still trying to find a weapon. His eyes widened as he saw what looked to be a sword hidden under some skeletons. He looked up at the bear, noticing it was preparing to attack once again. Hiro jumped out of the hole, leaping for the sword. As he went for the sword, the bear swiped its claws. The wind from its swipe, blew away the skeletons along with the sword. Hiro was blown into another wall, but this time it didn’t make a hole, it just made a dent in the wall behind his back. Hiro stood back up, sighing.

“It’s not that it’s powerful and all…” Hiro looked around, trying to find the sword. He spotted it stuck in the wall across from him. He looked up at the bear, then back at the sword.

“It’s just got big ass paws!!” Hiro shouted, sprinting toward the sword. As he was running, the bear winded back its arm. He stretched his arm out to grab the sword.