cry 4 (Light)

Greeted by the familiar walls that contained his collection, Oliver released a deep breath. He knew that he was going to leave the tutorial clearly but there was a part of himself worried about what was to come next. Today had been rather unnerving despite the miracle that was shoved down his throat.

Sure, being given near-unlimited potential and the ability to reach out to those fictional worlds that filled his mind was fantastic. The sort of elation he had running through his chest since he got The Gamer could not be described with mere words but on the other side of the coin, he felt an almost shuddering dread.

Death was no longer a concept that was only at the back of his mind. It was something that he was going to have to face every single day of his life now and he was going to have to accept it. He might be able to hide away from that fact by never risking his life so recklessly but a truth once learned is not so easy to forget.

Not to mention a boring life is not something the Entity that watches over him wants. That thing had made its position clear and it was not going to let him hide away from the danger that might tear him apart. Danger was coming for him and he was going to have to accept that despite that thought sending his heart pounding a mile a minute.

The somewhat ominous achievements and titles had been hinting at something and he was not dull enough to ignore it. A game was going to be played with his life and he was just one of the Players. What that truly meant he would eventually learn but he was determined to gather every advantage he could get until then.

The cold bite of steel had already taught him a vivid lesson he was not going to let the Game going on his life consume more of him without a fight.

He took a quick look at the titles he had gained since he could not switch them out. The first that he gained was The First Skill Creator when he was equipped with that title the conditions to make a skill were lessened immensely. This means he might get a running skill if he ran for a couple of days as opposed to the months that might be needed before.

A good tool that would put him well above others if he played his cards right. Passive skills stacked over and over again could absolutely be monstrous when built enough. Beyond that Passive skills were the answer to slowed growth. As a Player gained higher and higher levels raising those levels became increasingly difficult. So the high-level fighters should be on similar levels and passive skills would bloom in those events.

[You have gained a point of WIS for a Wise thought.]

Instead of feeling happy about his conjecture being proven right Oliver frowned. He had assumed that the threshold for gaining a WIS point had increased as he did not get one earlier but that might not be the case. Was his thoughts about the Entity throwing more Gamers into his world wrong? No, a buzz in his chest and a hum in his being told him that thought was right but it also felt wrong.

Like it was close to the truth but did not quite hit the mark. He took a deep breath and decided to think about this later. Knowing what the threat was needed but for now, he could act like his previous thought was right. It was not like gaining power and strength would be bad for him after all.

For now, he had more things to be thinking about right now. Like the next title on his list. The First was certainly a title that sent shivers down his spine and the implications were bugging him but he already moved on from that thought for now. The title gave him a flat 50% experience gain in all of his actions. So he could level up his class and skills much faster than other people.

This was yet another fantastic title and one that would serve him very well in the future. It was honestly too good, which had his hackles rising. If the Game that was being played was truly a battle royal with Gamers fighting for the favor of the Entity watching over him then he was giving far too much advantage with titles like this.

“You really are far more competent than I gave you credit for Mortal.” The voice drawled out clearly amused by his thoughts but not wanting to elaborate. His frown furthered at that as the Entity was hinting at something but it did not confirm anything either.

God, his life was getting rather complicated but Oliver was willing to put up with it. Being able to visit the worlds that built his childhood was too tempting to ignore the hassle that was being thrown on his shoulders.

Oliver took a deep breath and switched out his title from Newbie to The First Skill Creator. While faster leveling was good getting those passive skills set up faster was more important. The fact that a simple skill like Running would take literal months to acquire means that any skill would be a massive boost. Not to mention if he played his cards right having a regular experience gain was not too much of a detriment.

He took a deep breath and decided to head towards the library to find Skill Books. He knew that he had an advantage with his Title but getting skills from Skill Books would be easier from the start. This way he could work on grinding skills he could not gain from a simple book.

As he got dressed and took out his wallet and keys he left his room to be greeted with a bizarre sight. Monica was holding a white rabbit that she had hog-tied. She was trying to stuff the thing in a top hat that was once again set up in a bizarre ritual circle. She stood frozen as if shocked she got caught and he could see a blush starting to build on her face.

She usually was pretty hard to rattle as she did some really bizarre things sometimes but this was a step too far for her usual antics. Her previous ritual sacrifice was embarrassing enough for her after all. The Rabbit in her hands was shaking and was looking at him as if begging to be saved from this mad woman.

“I thought we agreed on no ritual sacrifices?” He asked with his lips twitching and a dry tone. Those words seemed to strike her as she flinced and dropped the Rabbit which fell limply on the table as it was still hog-tied. It was twitching nonstop on the table which had it shaking but the thing was probably scared out of its mind.

“I ain’t sacrificing nothing.” She shot out in a slight panic and some bite as she was acting defensively. Oliver gave a pointed look at the Rabbit that was still trying to escape. She flinched and refused to look at him for a moment.

“Not a sacrifice.” She mumbled out quietly. He raised an eyebrow as that was not exactly a ringing defence but she seemed to gather some strength from her quiet declaration. As she looked back up at him with shaky but firm eyes.

“Was not going to sacrifice the Bunny, Squish only needed to sit in the hat while I did the ritual to get rid of all the negative juju you infested in this apartment as a heretic. So if you really think about it this is all your fault.” She spoke out in increasing speed not really caring if her words even made a lick of sense.

He felt his lips twitch and he could not hold back that laugh that bubbled out of him. Despite the ridiculous day he just went through this bizarre situation was both baffling and familiar. A quiet signal that no matter how hard the tides will slam into him he could still have moments like this.

As long as he could appreciate the people around him he could still find solace in silly moments like this.

Monica looked at him with a pout on her face but it was clear her own lips were twitching as well. She was clearly struggling to not join him in laughing at the situation at hand. It was nice and it took a load off of his mind from the trauma and urgency he was feeling.

“I suppose it is my fault, well as long as you reward Squish for his valiant effort in removing negative juju then I guess there is no harm.”Oliver let out lightly as he laughed once more. 

That final comment seemed to break the hold Monica had on her own laughter as she broke and laughed loudly.

“I thought you were going to be in your room all night? What happened to needing the sleep?” She asked after she collected herself. There was curiosity in her eyes as he was clearly going to go somewhere but he looked out of it earlier.

He went to respond but hesitated for a moment. He could tell the truth about what had happened to him and he even had things he could show her to prove he was not lying. Or he could simply spin a lie to not involve his friend in something like this.

Clearly his world was going to change and it was likely to be dangerous so should he drag his silly friend into this messed-up reality? He could make her strong enough to protect what was important to her but at the same time, she did not need to have that strength.

As long as he left this place then the danger that might come for his head was not really all that important right? All he had to do was cut out parts of his life that did not fit the new level of danger he would be encountering but he could not really bring himself to even try.

This light laughter and the feeling of having this connection with the people around him was not something he wanted to lose. Was it so wrong to be selfish? To not want to put his loved ones in danger but not wanting to lose them either.

He knew it was not possible but he still wanted it all the same.

“Oliver?” Monica asked hesitantly. Her face was a mix of worry and helpless concern. Something was clearly eating him up and she could see that but if he did not tell her she could not do a thing.

He took a deep breath and decided to go with an age-old tactic for now. 

“It’s nothing. I just need some fresh air to clear my head so I was going to head out for a bit.” He spoke out absently while giving her a tight smile delaying the answer he was seeking. She frowned at that and seemed a little crestfallen that he could not trust her with what was bothering him but she accepted it for now.

He could see the pain he was inflicted on her but he really did need to think about this some more. So he reached over and ruffled her hair treating her like a small child as he knew she hated that. She had a frown on her face but the concern outweighed the outrage she was feeling.

“Don’t worry too much about it, this is an answer I need to find for myself.” He spoke out softly and the concern on her face melted a little as she swatted at the hand ruffling her hair.

“Whatever, you were probably thinking about trying to find a girl who would cosplay Harley Quinn for you again.” She spat out with an annoyed look but it was clear she was still somewhat concerned about him.

He just gave her a soft smile and left the apartment with thoughts running through his mind.

____________________
Right, got a lot of free time lately so going to be writing far more now.