She’s in my head.
“No, Chris. I’m not in your head. Would you prefer I call you Chris, or use your birth name?” the voice asked.
Her tone was friendly, like we were chatting over coffee, not in some warped convenience store.
“Chris will be fine,” I said, swallowing the lump rising in my throat. “What do I call you?”
“You can name me anything you like, Chris. Shall I be Amira?” Her voice shifted mid-sentence, morphing into my wife’s speech patterns, her exact cadence. It was Amira’s actual voice.
My blood went cold. “No. Stop that. Go back as before,” I growled.
“Okay, Chris. I’m here to guide you through the basics. Shortly, we’ll review your stats, class and race selections, and then handle your initial gear purchases. Does that sound acceptable?”
“Yes. Let’s get this over with,” I said. I wanted no part of this. She had mimicked my wife perfectly. What is this? I thought to myself.
“You don’t want me to answer that, Chris,” she replied to my thoughts. Again.
“Stop that. I… I want you to STOP reading my thoughts. Are we clear on that?” I shouted up at the air.
“Sure, Chris. Whatever you say.” It replied calmly.
“How do I know you will really stop doing that? Really stop looking into my head?” I asked.
It did not immediately answer. And when it did, it sounded uncertain.
“I… you’ll have to trust me. I can’t think of a way to demonstrate that I’ve stopped.”
After a moment of silence, it continued speaking like nothing had happened.
“First, my apologies for the random stats and notifications earlier. There were initialization errors in the system. Let’s start clean. You’ll keep the XP for your three skirmishes, plus partial loot, and we’ll recalculate your baseline from there.”
I just nodded, shifting my weight from one foot to the other, feeling the cold linoleum beneath my shoes, the faint squeak echoing slightly in the empty store.
“Okay. Let’s get Race out of the way, shall we? You will remain a Mixed-Blooded Human. That can’t be changed yet, but later you may evolve into a different racial template. Elf, Dwarf, Pontianak, or others, once the proper conditions are met.”
“Wait. Are you saying that I could change to be an Elf later on? Like a true Lord of the Rings style Elf?” I asked.
“Yes, Chris. But be warned, race changes are permanent and come with unique traits and trade-offs.” She replied.
I gulped. I recognized some of the races she mentioned. Elves and Dwarves were standard fantasy tropes. But Pontianak? That’s an undead female vampire from Malay folklore. She goes around eating children and sucking the blood out of virile males.
What the actual fuck?
“Moving on. Let’s select your class. Three recommendations have been generated for you, based on your current profile. Take your time to review them and ask if you need clarification.” she continued in that conversational tone.
I had lifted my palm off the screen in shock when she had started talking. Now the screen showed three options. I somehow knew I could tap them to expand and see the details.
The three choices were Urban Ranger, Ogammi Ittō, and Balanced Fighter. I could figure out what the first and third choices were even without clicking on them, but what was that middle choice? I tapped it.
The screen transitioned to show the class details:
Class Name: Ogammi Itto
Description:
A stoic, highly skilled combatant who survives through precision, discipline, and grim determination. Notable for adopting a child under his care, gaining strength and tactics from protecting another life while navigating deadly situations. Suffers from “constant low-level parental panic,” which oddly keeps reflexes sharp.
Base Stats Bonuses:
- Strength: +2 — years of carrying swords, bodies, and occasional tiny humans
- Dexterity: +3 — precise strikes, parrying, and dodging ambushes
- Constitution: +2 — long battles, harsh weather, minimal sleep
- Intelligence: +1 — strategic thinking and situational awareness
- Wisdom: +2 — intuition from experience and tiny-human care expertise
- Charisma: -1 — intimidating aura and little time for small talk
Class Traits:
- Child Protector: You gain a small bonus to defense when near an adopted companion (or party member weaker than you). Parental vigilance adds +5% evasion to attacks against your ward
- Silent Resolve: Bonuses to critical strikes and accuracy when calm under pressure. Cannot be flustered by chaos… unless it involves the child
- Efficient Survivalist: Can scavenge and improvise weapons from environmental objects with minimal penalty
- Reluctant Mentor: Trains companions or wards, giving them minor combat XP when you defeat enemies nearby
- Grim Humor: Occasional dry, sarcastic commentary reduces morale damage to allies within earshot by +1
Signature Skills:
- Ittō’s Blade: Precise, lethal single-target strike. Bonus damage increases when enemy outnumbers you.
- Ward’s Shadow: Move tactically to shield or distract enemies from the ward, redirecting attacks.
- Karmic Patience: Temporarily reduces cooldowns and stamina usage when waiting out ambushes or enemies.
- Silent Escort: Can move silently through populated or hostile areas with companion, reducing random encounters by 10%
Debuffs (Permanent):
- Parental Anxiety: Minor penalty to movement when ward is injured or in danger.
- No-Nonsense: Cannot be persuaded by bribes, promises, or emotional appeals unless it concerns ward’s well-being
I rubbed my temples, the overhead fluorescent lights buzzing faintly above me. A stale scent of convenience store coffee lingered in the air, grounding me as I stared at the absurd stats.
They were straight out of D&D and Pathfinder. Any RPG player would recognize them. This was… so weird. And adopting a kid? What the hell is that about? I thought of Siva waiting outside the store.
Fuck that. I did not adopt him. He’s a teenager, sure, but basically an adult. I am not responsible for him. Fuck. That.
“I’m sorry, Chris. I… I didn’t know…” A memory from another time flickered through my mind. I pushed it aside, deeper this time.
Quickly, I clicked the back button and selected Urban Ranger.
Class Name: Urban Ranger
Description:
A keen-eyed tracker and environmental tactician. Masters of improvisation, they use the urban jungle; alleys, rooftops, and debris-strewn streets to their advantage. Skilled with ranged weapons, traps, and strategic positioning, Urban Rangers excel at controlling the battlefield from a distance while exploiting environmental hazards. Occasionally mutters about spreadsheets and probabilities under their breath.
Base Stats Bonuses:
- Strength: +1 — enough to handle gear, scale obstacles, and shove unruly NPCs
- Dexterity: +4 — nimble movement, dodging hazards, precise ranged attacks
- Constitution: +2 — stamina from long patrols and urban survival
- Intelligence: +3 — analytical mind, calculating angles, environmental exploitation
- Wisdom: +2 — intuition, perception, and spotting hidden threats
- Charisma: 0 — neutral; people find them competent but aloof
Class Traits:
- Environmental Awareness: +10% damage and accuracy when using terrain features (walls, debris, vehicles, street furniture)
- Trap Mastery: Can improvise snares or environmental traps from common objects; +5% chance to immobilize enemies
- Ranged Specialist: Bonus to bows, crossbows, or thrown weapons. Increased critical chance on distant targets
- Urban Camouflage: Can blend into urban settings; +10% evasion when stationary or using cover
Signature Skills:
- Calculated Shot: Targeted ranged attack that ignores partial cover; bonus damage increases the more enemies are around
- Trap Deployment: Instantly sets a temporary trap using environmental objects, slowing or damaging foes
- Overwatch: Remain hidden while monitoring a zone; gain insight into enemy weaknesses and movements
- Rapid Extraction: Moves quickly across the battlefield, using walls, rooftops, or obstacles to avoid damage and flank enemies
Debuffs (Permanent):
- No Close Combat Love: Suffers -10% damage in melee unless improvising weapons from the environment
- Paperwork Mentality: Occasionally pauses mid-combat to calculate probabilities, losing minor actions
- Obsessive Planning: Must prepare traps or choose advantageous positions before full effect; hasty attacks have penalties
Please note: You can select subclasses when you reach level 5 for this class.
This was actually a good choice. The bonuses to the stats were solid, and there wasn’t much downside. I had no intention of doing close combat at all, so that -10% damage penalty was fine by me.
I was confused by the line about spreadsheets and probabilities, until it hit me. You motherfuckers… I worked as an Analyst for a bank. Spreadsheets and probabilities are my trade, my everyday life.
They knew. They knew all this. How?
I distractedly clicked the back button and selected Balanced Fighter.
Class Name: Balanced Fighter
Description:
A jack-of-all-trades. Nothing too flashy, nothing too specialized. Can fight with swords, axes, or whatever else is lying around. Can take a hit. Can dish one out. Basically… competent. Great if you like doing an average amount of everything and surviving.
Base Stats Bonuses:
- Strength: +2 — can carry gear and hit things
- Dexterity: +2 — not clumsy, not acrobatic
- Constitution: +2 — survives being hit, mostly
- Intelligence: +1 — can read maps and figure out the obvious
- Wisdom: +1 — notices traps sometimes
- Charisma: 0 — people tolerate you
Class Traits:
- Standard Combatant: Hits things. Gets hit back. Repeat
- Weapon Flexibility: Can wield almost any weapon with minor penalties. Not exciting
- Survival Competence: Stays alive in moderately dangerous situations. Nothing heroic
- Balanced Defense: Reduces incoming damage by a small, predictable amount. Very average
- Predictable Morale: Allies find you reassuring in the dull, reliable way of someone who always shows up
Signature Skills:
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- Moderate Strike: Hits one enemy for a standard amount of damage. Reliable, boring
- Defensive Stance: Reduces damage taken for a turn. Not flashy
- Weapon Swap: Can switch weapons without penalty. Useful but not impressive
- Tactical Retreat: Can fall back without dying, assuming you’ve been paying attention
Debuffs (Permanent):
- Nothing Special: No particular strengths or weaknesses. You’re average
- Predictable: Enemies might get bored attacking you
- Uninspired: Lacks flair
I read through the description, still distracted. It was okay. They weren’t selling me on this class at all. Besides, I didn’t ever want to be in a melee fight again.
“I choose Urban Ranger,” I said out loud.
“Well done, Chris. Urban Ranger fits your pattern nicely. Now, let’s look at your stats. You were assigned one hundred points, distributed based on your current life state. Class bonuses have already been applied.”
The screen changed to show my stats, the 100 points already allocated, with the class bonuses applied.
I barely had time to digest the numbers before the screen went blank. Then the voice slid back into my head, smooth and conversational.
“Let’s set up your Heads-Up Display, shall we?”
Before I could respond, the heads-up display, my HUD, appeared floating in my vision, crisp and layered like a semi-transparent lens over the world.
A slight tingle ran down my spine as the floating panels flickered into existence.
“Your HUD will track your vital stats, inventory, and objectives. Everything you need is now within your visual interface.” she said.
I blinked at it, half-expecting it to vanish if I looked away. It didn’t.
Bars and numbers hovered like some absurd overlay on reality. I saw bars for health, and XP, with a sparkling gold icon showing my starting funds together with a bright blue bar labelled Mana.
A minimap pinged faintly at the bottom right, showing nearby streets and alleyways, while the gold and Mana counters hovered at the top left and right respectively. I knew Mana governed spells and potion use.
My Mana was full, but Health hovered around three-quarters, slowly creeping upward, syncing with my body’s recovery.
I could feel a slight tightness in my chest, a subconscious warning as I watched my Health crawl upward.
Both bars were alarmingly short. I needed to get them upgraded fast.
Everything was intuitive. With a thought, I could reposition the panels, resize them, or hide them entirely. A gentle nudge in my thoughts rearranged the panels instantly, stacking Health and Mana at the top right. The system seemed aware of my focus, responding instantly. It was absurdly precise, like my mind and this interface were briefly aligned.
Something felt off though. My stats were straight out of a D&D character sheet, but Mana? That was Diablo III territory. This system was shamelessly cobbling together game mechanics.
I could hear the faint hiss of the fluorescent lights as my focus shifted, my heart ticking in tandem with the blinking box at the bottom of my HUD. I focused on it.
‘Inventory system locked,’ it read.
“Hey ah…” I started speaking but paused.
Shit. I need to call this thing something.
I’m guessing I’ll be dealing with it again for upgrades in the future, and it’d help if it felt at least a little… human?
“What do I call you? I know you said I can call you anything I like but that seems wrong. Do you have a preferred name or something?” I asked.
Once again, she did not immediately answer. I could feel her thinking, processing.
“I don’t have a name Chris. I’m an Empathic Virtual Advisor. I’m here to advise you. Empathically.” It replied.
“Right. So… Eva then. Eva, I cannot access my lootbox or inventory, I think.”
“Let’s fix that Chris. I’m required to explain how your inventory system works before you can access it and open your lootboxes. This ensures you understand how to use your items, and your limitations,” Eva said.
She spent the next few minutes explaining the inventory system. People who have played RPG games would find this very familiar. People like me. A row of ten hotlist boxes appeared at the bottom of my HUD, starting from the left and ending just before the minimap on the right. I could place things that I regularly and would want to quickly use, here. If I mentally clicked to enter my inventory, I could see the list of things that I have, categorized by headings like Weapons, Potions, Scrolls, Sustenance and others I did not really go through. My inventory was practically empty.
Eva walked me through opening the only lootbox I’d received for that fight with the PMDs. The box hovered in midair as I focused on it, and with a soft ping, it popped open.
[Loot Acquired]
[Scrap Battery Pack (Common) — Semi-charged energy cell salvaged from defunct machinery. Can restore minor device power or be sold for crafting material.]
[Gold: +27]
The items floated briefly, sliding into my inventory slots with a satisfying, mechanical hum.
“You’ve acquired usable resources,” Eva said. “The battery pack can power certain devices or be exchanged with vendors in the future. Gold functions as standard currency. Always keep track of both.”
“Ermmm… How do I retrieve the items in my inventory?” I asked Eva.
“Click on it and it will appear in your available hand Chris.” Eva replied.
I found the Scrap Battery Pack under a new heading titled 'Mechanical.' I clicked on it, and the rectangular battery pack, about the size of a loaf of bread, appeared in my hand. It felt heavier than I expected, and I almost dropped it. Whoa. Text hovered above it: “Store in inventory?” I mentally clicked it, and the pack disappeared back into my inventory. This was… cool. Really cool. But it would take some getting used to.
Eva’s voice chimed in again. “Your inventory isn’t unlimited, Chris. There’s a weight limit. Also note that multiple copies of the same item will occupy the same slot. If you had a hundred healing potions, they’d all stack in a single slot.”
I nodded, half to her, half to myself, and started poking around the HUD further. That’s when I found the Skills tab. I clicked it, and my current abilities loaded instantly across a translucent panel.
Passive Skills:
- Environmental Awareness: +10% damage and accuracy when using terrain features (walls, debris, vehicles, street furniture).
- Trap Mastery: Can improvise snares or environmental traps from common objects; +5% chance to immobilize enemies.
- Urban Camouflage: Can blend into urban settings; +10% evasion when stationary or using cover.
- Hide in Plain Sight: Reduces chance of detection by enemies when stationary or moving slowly.
- Environmental Manipulation: Minor ability to alter surroundings to gain tactical advantage (e.g., move debris, block paths).
- Pathfinder: +10% movement efficiency through difficult terrain or obstacles.
- Dodge: Passive bonus to evade attacks, scaling with Dexterity.
Active Skills:
- Calculated Shot: Targeted ranged attack that ignores partial cover; bonus damage increases the more enemies are around.
- Trap Deployment: Instantly sets a temporary trap using environmental objects, slowing or damaging foes.
- Overwatch: Remain hidden while monitoring a zone; gain insight into enemy weaknesses and movements.
- Rapid Extraction: Moves quickly across the battlefield, using walls, rooftops, or obstacles to avoid damage and flank enemies
Inventory-Linked Ability:
- Mechanical Handling: Can manipulate mechanical devices or items (like the Scrap Battery Pack) for use or storage; inventory-efficient.
Debuffs (Permanent):
- Paperwork Mentality: Occasionally pauses mid-combat to calculate probabilities, losing minor actions.
- No Close Combat Love: Suffers -10% damage in melee unless improvising weapons from the environment.
- Obsessive Planning: Must prepare traps or choose advantageous positions before full effect; hasty attacks have penalties.
I skimmed the list again, letting my eyes flit from one skill to another. It was impressive, but the longer I lingered here in this store, the more antsy I felt. My fingers flexed. My sneakers shifted on the cold floor. The fluorescent lights suddenly felt glaring, too bright. And there wasn’t a single place to sit. I need to move this along.
“Where do I get armor Eva? My friend out there is wearing a plain tee shirt and so am I. We need to get more protections if we’re gonna run into more of those… erm… mobs out there.” I asked.
The shelves in the 7-Eleven suddenly glowed. I hadn’t taken a close look at the shelves when I entered earlier, thinking that it was just stacked with the usual items like snacks and drinks and alcohol. I walked over and took a closer look now. The shelves were actually stacked with items like armor and weapons and potions. I had to take a step back in wonder.
Eva’s voice chimed in, calm and precise, yet personable. “Chris, this store functions as a starter gear vendor. You may acquire armor, weapons, and consumables, and can also upgrade items once requirements are met.”
I stepped closer to the shelves. Up close, every item glimmered faintly with stats and descriptions. Leather vests, padded chain shirts, daggers, bows, and potions hovered in midair with holographic labels.
This is insane. All this here, in a convenience store.
I checked my gold. 527 pieces. Not a fortune, but not nothing. I ran through my options. I selected a chainmail shirt. There was an upgrade option to make it resemble a normal tee shirt.
Huh. Is Siva wearing disguised armor? That piece of shit. He never told me anything about this.
I paid for the disguise upgrade.
I then moved to weapons selection. I could take a dagger for emergencies, but close combat? No. Never again. My eyes landed on a longbow, complete with a quiver of 100 unenchanted arrows.
After some mental calculations, I added the dagger, the longbow with a quiver of 100 unenchanted arrows, and a couple of health and mana potions. That practically ate up all of my funds. After confirming the selections, the gold amount in my HUD flashed downwards, leaving me with 8 gold. All the items appeared in my inventory.
Eva’s voice reminded me gently, “Check your HUD to ensure weight limits are not exceeded and assign weapons or consumables to your hotlist for rapid access.”
I mentally slotted the Health potions into hotlist slot one, the longbow and quiver of arrows into slot two, dagger into slot three, and Mana potions into slot four.
I went into my inventory and clicked on the chainmail shirt and the tee shirt I was wearing suddenly felt a lot heavier. I rapped my knuckles on my chest, on the tee shirt actually and heard the faint metallic klink of metal chains.
Interesting. What else can I disguise? I thought to myself.
I used the hotlist to select the longbow and it appeared in my left hand and an arrow appeared in my right. Nice. I got interested in archery after we had lessons as part of a company team building event once. Since then, I’ve always enjoyed going to the archery arcades set up in the various shopping malls. I’d even taken a few lessons at my local community center once.
It felt good in my hands. I nocked the arrow onto my bowstring and drew it back and I could feel the weight of the string. This was a simple but powerful weapon. I stored it back into my inventory.
I glanced at the shelves one last time. Snacks and drinks still sat on endcaps. The cigarette display behind the counter was still full. Habit kicked in. I reached over and grabbed a few packs of cigarettes and lighters, adding them to my inventory along with some chocolate bars and drinks. It arranged itself automatically in my inventory. The drinks and snacks went into the 'Sustenance' heading while the cigarettes went into a new heading titled 'Poison'. I didn't care.
God, I need a cigarette so badly.
Eva’s voice chimed again. “Once you’re satisfied, we can exit the vendor interface and you can return to your companion.”
I was about to leave the store but stopped and looked up. I don’t exactly know why I did this, but I asked Eva, “Will you be following me every step of the way or are you just in this store?”
“I am only in the stores, Chris. But the next time you visit any other store, I will be assigned to you, and we can continue where we left off.” She replied.
“Eva… What is this place? What happened to my world?” I asked her in a quiet whisper.
“I don’t compute, Chris. This is the world. Why would you think otherwise?”
I remained silent for a while. Contemplating. She doesn’t know. THIS is her world. She doesn’t know there was a before.
“Would you like to follow us around, Eva? Could you follow us around?” I asked up into the air hesitantly.
There was an extended silence at this question.
“No one… No one has ever asked me this, Chris. I… I don’t think I can follow you out of the store.”
I nodded.
“I’ll talk to you again, Eva,” I said as I exited the store and back into the concrete jungle.