" ..... Fucking sunlight... "
With a deep voice groaning under the uncomfort of being waken up, turning around and sending his arm across the bed, the young man laying on top of it was searching for his nightstand, where the remote for his electric curtains would usually be.
But his hand waving in the air couldn't grab ahold of anything, even as he kept lifting his arm, until his wrist touched the wall.
That small series of actions, while not enough to wake him up properly, was but just enough to somewhat clear his mind as he then thought about something.
' ... Since when are the curtains in my room opened ? Aren't they usually closed ? '
Not opening his eyes yet as he would obviously get flashed by the sun, he first turned around to hide from the rays of light, and pulling his own drowsiness out of his body before anything, it was only then that he dared to open his eyelids, but what welcomed him wasn't the clear white wall of his room, but a yellowish one, as if made of clay.
" ... The fuck ? "
Surely, there was something wrong right now, as he was certain that those didn't belonged to his apartment or his bedroom, and even if the light of the sun could change the color of a wall slightly, it wouldn't be that much of a change in the first place.
And when looking up to the ceiling, he easily noticed that even this one changed, the usual white ceiling was replaced by dark brown logs sustaining each others in a neat manner, which seemed symmetrical to the naked eye.
Being surprised one time after the other, his mind rapidly grew numb for a moment as he kept looking around, only to see surroundings he had never thought or dreamed of.
The bed he was on was still a king size, like his usual one, but his sheets were nowhere as close to the one he used to have, the floor was covered by thick planks instead of the parquet one would see in an apartment, and every sight of technology had disappeared.
To be more precise, it was as if he had turned back time on top of changing locations, as other than the bed he was still on, there was only a table and few chairs that could be naturally used by someone like him, a human accomodated by luxury, with what seemed to be a furnace made of stone, and a sink with a bucket being left in this room that was closer than a small studio rather than anything else.
But on top of such primitives tools made for daily usage, probably, there wasn't a single outlet in the room, making him doubt whether he was kidnapped by a yeti or something else, and with even the door leading to what seems to be the outside being easily accessible in a few steps, at this point, even calling it a studio would be too good, as he soon understood that he may be in a cabin in the woods.
" Am I still sleeping or something.. ? "
Trying to use common knowledge and pinch his own arm, the slight pain was still there, making his muscle sore for a moment, as if to prove that he was in fact not dreaming and the current situation he was in was the reality he tried to avoid so desperately.
Yet, standing still for a moment, wishing to see if anything would change if he just waited, besides the sound of his breath, nothing could be heard inside the small cabin, having him sigh as he decided to finally get up.
However, as soon as he put his foot on the floor and straightened himself, something changed in his peripherical vision.
It wasn't something that moved discreetly or anything of the kind, but rather just a few details that he missed from his previous and lower position, things he couldn't see before.
First was the small but closed box at the end of the bed, one that was certainly bigger than a shoe box, and which even had a small lock on top of it, but that was basically it.
Second was a booklet resting on top of the wooden and rustic table, the kind with few pages that wouldn't even be given to small children, the poor quality of the cover speaking for itself as it was covered with dust.
Heading to the last one as it got the better of his curiosity, and because the box had a lock so even if he wanted to see what was in it, he couldn't open it yet, he then grabbed the light book and lifting it from the table, a small -Thud sound was heard inside the room.
Fortunately for him, it wasn't someone knocking on the wooden door, but a small key that fell from the back of the book, which when looking at it, had a small but used piece of tape that couldn't even hold it properly.
" ..... If you want to do something, do it cleanly at least. "
Leaving a small comment for whoever put him in this situation, if they could hear him, he then blew on the cover of the booklet, trying to get rid of the dust and see what was below, but unlike a comic or a manga, this didn't work, forcing him to wipe it with his hand, only to see that there was only one word on top of it, and not even a single image.
{ Introduction } - That was the word written on top of it, and fueled up by his curiosity and a desire to know more about his current situation, he opened it, only to throw it away after reading the first sentence.
" What the fuck is that ! A joke !? "
Taking a few deep breathes as he tried to calm himself from the sudden rage that fueled itself on his emotions and the nonsense he just learned about, the few words that he read were going back and forth in his mind as he tried to make sense of them.
{ Say ' Status ' to bring up your own Statuswindow. }
Surely, something like this must be a joke.
But when scrutting every corners of the room with his eyes in search for a hidden camera, when he couldn't find one, he could only sigh from feeling more tired than anything else.
" ..... Status. "
And eventually, since he couldn't do anything other than that, with going outside not being an option as long as he didn't get the gist of his situation, he was surprised by.. nothing.
" ... That's what I thought, fucking waste of time. "
Exhaling once more, he then leaned closer, reaching for the small key on the table, but just as soon as he blinked, his field of vision was filled with something else.
Flinching slightly, his whole body contracted and stood still for a moment, a clear reaction he developped after watching a few horror movies, but that wasn't the point.
In front of him, stood a window, as if one of a computer, or more precisely, a game.
[ Status]
Name : Arthurion
Level : 1
Title : None
Affiliation : None
Team used : -
Cards in possession : 0
Although simple, easy to read, and something he had seen more than once, the reason he stood still even after the scare passed right through him was exactly because he remembered where he saw that damned text.
'Erotic Card Maestro' , the same game he used to play for the last year, and that status was in fact his player profile.
Although this one clearly missed both his very own ID, which was a series of numbers, and the achievement rate which had reached a whopping 100% from his progressions, it was just that both weren't appearing, as for what he feared, and most importantly, it missed his previous stats, those clearly being submitted to a hard reset.
That number 1 standing next to his level, missing two zeros at the end of it, or even the fact that he now possessed 0 cards instead of the more than 2000 he previously had, it was clear that he had to begin from scratch.
But not being able to answer why he would be put through that again, he then put down the key on top of the table before reaching for the booklet he threw away earlier with the thought of finding answers to his questions.
{ Say'inventory 'toopenyourown Inventory. }
{ Say ' Cards ' to bring up your own Card Book. }
{ Say ' Store ' to pull the Storewindow. }
{ Say... }
With a long series of commands readable on the first page, every of those commands were part of the game he previously played, or at least parts of it as he wouldn't actually use those but just click on some options on his screen, and while most of those couldn't be used yet as he would clearly need a card for it, something he didn't have as of now, he still read through them and discovered how to play this game in this new reality.
To enhance, evolve and even awaken a character, daily, weekly and monthly quests, or how to retrieve summons from a combat state to cards and vice versa, not everything was about the cards, but each command was as important as another.
Of course, he didn't even try anything yet as he thought that the more he read, the more absurd it all seemed in the end, yet, as soon as he turned the page, this time, a more normal text appeared in front of him.
" ..... "
Reading silently, he could soon feel his fist clenching against the thin pages of the booklet, almost tearing it apart while he tried to force himself to calm down, gritting his teeth to help with the burning rage.
" ... Mo-ther-fu-cker ! "
And eventually, he couldn't help but curse, breathing heavily between every syllables as he couldn't just acknowledge what was written on the book, his thoughts being clearer than whatever words could leave his mouth at the moment.
' So what if I've beaten you in pvp ! You bitch, how dare you send me to another world on a whim ! '
Surely, the number one eroge was different from anything else, and he understood it better than anyone else.
With a quality that couldn't be found anywhere else, an astronomic number of playable characters that kept growing every two weeks, and each of them having a dedicated story and sex scenes, it didn't even cross his mind once that it was done by magic !
After all, a game was but just a game, right ?
Well, certainly not anymore !
With that booklet and what was written inside of it, the young man whose real name was Arthur, using Arthurion as his in-game name, now learned from the creator that, since he ' enjoyed ' the game that much, he might as well be sent to the world it originated from.
" Yooouuu biiiiiitch !! "
... But at least, at the end of this message, it was written that he was given a card to start, this being enough to help him calm down.