Adam's life was never eventful.
The world shifts each day, yet the same monotonous pattern repeats itself. From school, to university, to full-time work. The cycle continues. Living and breathing in the same conditions, taking each day as it comes. There was a lack of excitement and any prospecting events from Adam's life. The same routine would be followed to a T. Waking up, exercising, showering, working, cooking, gaming and sleeping. This occurred everyday. While onlookers believe this is a healthy habit, Adam was the complete opposite psychologically. Each day brought him no spark and a continuous feeling of drowning; a bottomless pit that ate away at him slowly. Depression grew from a small seed, into a cancerous bud that reaps each day from Adam.
After 23 years, Adam decided he could no longer bear it. A simple note was scrawled onto a dining table inside Adam's house. With no regrets, Adam left life as peacefully as his days had been.
Though Adam did not realise this would be the start of something bigger. Something greater.
Opening his eyes, Adam was on a dirt road. Immediately rising, he realised he had nothing on him. HIs short black hair was the only thing he kept; both the carpets and the drapes. His eyes adjusting to the scenery around him, there appeared to be a hamlet in front of him that screamed Middle Ages. Joy, despair, confusion. Excitement, frustration and hesitation. The emotions came synchronously. The setting was all familiar. He had never felt so alive having ended up in a foreign world, full of unexplored lifeforms, different ways of life and each day, something different that he woke up too. While frightening, these new feelings taught Adam what it was like to truly be alive.
—
The trail of war followed the anxious Adam as he endured the lands of Coil. Through the unexplored jungle, came unknown tribes of culture who were aggressive on sight. Amidst the turmoil of the Umbra Kingdom, bandits overturned carriage after carriage of merchants transporting goods through swift raids. Raiders on the Midgar coast violently murdered all forms of life indiscriminately in their way. The outlaws of the Woodlands attempted to sell travellers into slavery. Week after week, Adam went through these experiences. Promise after promise, merchant and mercenary alike assured him that there were to be no issues with their journey. The only thing that kept Adam going was the fact that his new life was treated like a game. To be exact, it involved those pop-up screens from video games, the outlet in his former life.
Passing through a lush forest around midday, the heat from the sun was blocked out by the large trees and gentle breeze. Under the cover of the forest, sounds were dimmed and blood was spilled as arrows were let loose all around the area. In the center of the opening was chaos; a single caravan of traders, along with an escort of mercenaries scrambling to protect themselves. The magicians struggled to cast spells as their robes were torn apart by the onslaught of arrows. Warriors fell prey to bombardments of spells, collapsing after having their bodies mangled by the arcane arts. Archers could only brace for impact as they were overwhelmed by fighters who were left unchecked. Shrinking back inside the carriage, a few men looked on with worry. In particular, one man sat in contemplation with an expression a mix between fear and annoyance.
[The magician Roy Babel has died.]
[The magician Traven Forkston has died.]
[The warrior Haggard Klonius has died.]
[The rogue Seth Amiel has died.]
[The warrior...]
The messages flowed continuously as the man yanked on his hair. The thin strips made it easy to pull out each strand. The sounds on the outside ended with an abrupt silence. As if waiting for the show to end, the back of the carriage is then opened up, with five men looking in. A burly man looks in from the middle of the group with an eyepatch. His approach was met with apprehension as a big grin widened on his face. He looked intimidating with a bloody greataxe resting over his shoulder.
"It's a good haul, lads."
Pulling each merchant from the carriage one by one, the outlaws noted down each of them, their contribution to the stock of the loot and their holding assets. All of them were approached by the man with the eyepatch, helpless to his questions as they were bound and were beaten for refusal. Eventually it was the crazy man's turn.
"Kukuku, looks like our last guest is Mr. Insane." The man with the eyepatch noticed he was avoiding his gaze, which led him to grin.
"You, you're also a merchant, aren't you?" With a puzzled look on his face, the man standing opposite him simply nods. The grin widens. "Tell me your name."
"I refuse." The burly man chuckles. He responded with a swift strike to the other mans' throat.
[Your throat has been crushed. Restored health, restored mana and restored stamina have been reduced by 80%.]
Keeling over, the man struggles to breathe as the outlaw's expression grows curious, then back into a grin.
"Slaves have no right to disobey their master." He follows with a kick to the other man's chest, pushing him onto the ground.
[You have suffered heavy wounds. You have been stunned for 3 seconds.]
Slowly kneeling down, he grabs the man by his plain brown shirt, and asks once again. "Now, let's try this again. Tell me your name." The man chokes.
"Adam. I-it's Adam."
"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" The outlaw chuckles as he lifts the man to his feet. "Now, lets talk about your earnings..."
The talk didn't last long. After a few minutes of talk, the burly man is unmoved and remains with a grin on his face. With a quick movement he took Adam's hand, and threw him over his shoulder against the side of the carriage.
[Your health has fallen below 10%.]
Adam tries to rise but remains in a daze. With his ears ringing he noticed a clicking sound. The eyepatch outlaw spoke plainly.
"This slave has no assets. He will have his uses, so don't rough him up too much." Two outlaws who were close to him could only nod in agreement as the two men holstered Adam up on either side of themselves. The man resumed his grin, and chuckled as he walked away.
As the group traveled, it became clear that Adam was the only one who received different treatment. Thrown into slavery, he didn't receive the same human rights as other merchants had. After a few hours of walking, the walking was halted as the sun was setting, and the group began setting up camp for the evening. Adam was tied to a tree with chains next to the eyepatch man's tent.
I should check my status while we're resting.
=====
[Name: Adam]
[Class: Adventurer]
[Level 1]
[XP to next level: 0/100]
Health: 7/25 Strength: 3 (-1)
Mana: 10/10 Intelligence: 3
Stamina: 4/10 Speed: 3
Dexterity: 1 Perception: 3
[Title List]
None.
[Bonus Stats]
None.
[Effects]
Twisted wrist: Reduce strength by 20% and accuracy of weapons by 75%. (37m)
=====
Adam smiled. The effects won't go away that easily. I guess I'll have to wait a little longer. Stupidly, Adam followed this command with a list of his skills.
=====
[Skill List]
You have no skills! ((((;ﾟДﾟ)))))))
=====
He could only sigh. At first he was eager to explore and grow out his income as he previously had done in other RPG games. The one thing that Adam did not expect, was that the world was extremely relentless like in his previous life, each sense displaying factors that were too realistic to deny being an advanced video game.
"Fuck these bastards." Surprisingly Adam was not furious with the outlaws, but with the merchants. After losing multiple investments to the criminals of each land having received generous donations, Adam was left with nothing but the clothes on his back. Yet again, Adam had been returned to square one. The outlaws of the Woodlands had captured him and rendered all of the merchant's stock to be theirs. In return, the more wealthy of the merchants kept their dignity and were released. Since Adam had paid for the mercenary escort up front, he had no other option but to be forced into slavery. His thoughts were cut short as two men approached him. They were the two who had carried him. One looked at him with fury in his eyes.
"You goddamn slave. We were late for dinner because of you." One of the guards spat on Adam as he was kicked in the shins.
[You have taken 3 damage.]
The damage was negligible, yet they had to be wary. Ranged classes rarely invest in strength or martial arts to improve their physical damage output, so it wasn't a surprise that the magician who had hit him barely scratched the surface. Despite the minimal damage done, the difference between the two was quite large. The magician was level 8, one of the two lowest levels of the outlaws, with the other man at level 11. As a ranger he too did not possess the capability to damage Adam properly without accidentally killing him.
Days passed. Adam was constantly harassed, degraded and beaten by the two guards as they travelled. The damage was accumulating and each injury grew in real time. After being chained up for the night, starved from food and little water, his mind was at the breaking point. Adam laughed as the flames of the torch sconce flickered in the distance. They illuminated the trees and a few times, the sight of branches could be seen. Adam's thoughts were very straightforward and honest: this is much more interesting than my previous life!