System: Ordinary Schoolboy's Level-Up

TWO

Robert's consciousness returned like a slow sunrise. First, there was the repeated sound of the knock on his door. A distant clanging of the bell was a tone of metal on metal. Then, there was a smell. He felt and smelt everything.

Robert opened his eyes.

He was lying on a cold floor made of rough stone, carved out of rocks. He pushed himself up, his body very heavy to be lifted. He was in a large, round room. One metal door in the room, covered in rust and strange symbols, was the only exit he could see.

“You’re awake,” a rough voice said, echoing through his eardrums. “It took you so long.”

Robert turned his head around. A man was sitting against the far wall. He was big, with the thick shoulders and twisted hands of a labourer. He looked to be in his thirties, his face boring and tired.

“Where am I?” Robert’s voice was dry mutter. “What is this? Is this some kind of prank or what?” His mind raced, thinking of Mark, and of the other students. Had they drugged him? Did anyone throw him in an abandoned campus building?

The man with him continued bursting a harsh laugh. “A prank? I wish it was anyway. No, kid. It's the reality we are...”

“This is Kingston University,” Robert insisted, cutting the man's words short, standing up. His legs felt very weak. “The United States.”

“Never heard of it,” the man said flatly. “My name’s Garret. And you’re in the Pits. Welcome to your new life.”

“The Pits? What are you talking about?” Robert was surprised, and instantly, he walked to the metal door. It was solid, without a handle or keyhole on the inside. He pushed against it. It didn’t re-echo to his ears. A cold feeling of fear began to form in his stomach.

The entire thing was just too clear and real to be a trick.

“Save your strength,” Garret said, his voice low. “You’ll need it.”

“I need to get back. I have a class. I have a lot to do…” Robert’s words trailed off as the reality of his situation began to sink in. The stone was cold and thick under his fingers. The breeze he felt became both stiff and strange.

“Listen to me,” Garret said, his voice echoing loudly and even more seriously. “Forget your old life. It’s gone. You’re here now. We all are in here. They pull us from… wherever... And we work. Or we die.”

“Who are ‘they’?” Robert asked, turning to face him. The reasoning part of his mind, the part of him that trusted logic above other thoughts, was kicking in, fighting the fear in his heart.

Before Garret could answer, a deeply loud gong echoed through the room. The large metal door made a clanging noise and began to swing in with a sound of clashing metal.

Two men stood in the doorway. They were tall, over seven feet, having polished, black armour on them. It made them seem almost invisible in the dim light. Their faces were hidden behind full helmets, hiding their shapes except for a single, vertical red slit where their eyes should be. Each held a long rod that emitted blue light.

“Out,” one of them commanded. The voice escaped with authority, force, and completely without considerate feelings.

Garret was on his feet in an instant, his head bowed. So, he made a signal with his hands, urgently asking Robert to bow, as well.

Robert stood his ground. “I ask to know what’s going on. I am a student at Kingston...”

The armoured guard took one swift step forward. He moved with impossible speed. The energy rod lashed out, not touching Robert, but stopping an inch from his chest. A flash of blue light sparked through the air, and a shock of hot pain shot deep through Robert’s entire nervous system. He screamed, collapsing to the floor, his muscles squeezing together.

“Do not say a word,” the guard snapped. “You just obey.”

The pain was gone as quickly as it came, leaving behind a cutting ache in every nerve. Robert sighed, gasping for air, tears washing his face. It was real. The pain was physically and severely real.

He couldn't say a word after then.

“Get up,” Garret whispered harshly, pulling at his arm. “Get up now, or they’ll finish you.”

Shaking, Robert pushed himself to his feet. The two of them dashed out of the room behind the guards. They entered a large, hidden space. It was a nightmare vision of industry. Large and loud machines pumped pistons and brought out hot steam. Conveyor belts carried chunks of the glowing rock.

Everywhere, hundreds of people in rough grey clothes, like his own, continued working, their movements slow and exhausted. The air was totally full of heat and the loud noise of the machinery.

The guards led them to a station where a large pile of the glowing blue rocks were. A simple, heavy pickaxe lay on the ground. “Your quota is one ton of raw crystonium by the end of the shift,” the guard stated. “Failure will be punished.”

The guards walked away, and their watchful red slits stared at the other workers.

Robert looked at the pickaxe, then at the pile of rock, and his mind, a very intelligentlly logical one, began to scream.

It seemed impossible.

Garret picked up his own pickaxe at the next station over. “Welcome to the grind, kid. Start swinging.”

Robert looked at his hands. They were soft, a poor student’s smooth hands. He looked at the impossible task before him. He was Robert of Kingston University. He had survived mockery, poverty, and loneliness. He would survive this, too.

He bent down, his fingers curling around the rough, wooden handle of the pickaxe. He held it tight. But it was very heavy. Suddenly, new, cold feelings rushed through him, burning away the last of his confusion and fear.

BEEP!

[System Notification: New Item Acquired: Starter Pickaxe (Axe System). Linking Tool to Survival.]

A new panel, focused on the pickaxe, appeared to his sight.

[Quest: Mine 1 Ton of Crystonium. Reward: 100 XP, Unlock Skill: Basic Mining.]

The System was back!

Robert raised the pickaxe, his knuckles pale already. The clang of his tool was just one more note in the sound of trouble. He was like a slave. But inwardly, his mind was already working, observing, and calculating the damage. He smiled for the first time.

"I'm looking for a way out... and now I have a map," he thought, his eyes wide open. [Attention Stat: 99% CERTAIN.]