"Where the hell are you?! And why haven't you picked up my calls?! I was worried sick!" his mom yelled.
He frowned. "Worried? I didn't know you could feel such an emotion."
"Don't give me that bullshit! Do you have any idea what's going on?! You heard that loud buzz too, right?! And now white fires are popping up everywhere!" she exclaimed even louder.
Another voice could be heard off in the distance. "Yeah, shit's getting crazy! You should come back as quickly as you can."
The effects of failing the gate were still in effect. "Yes, I heard it," he said, scratching his neck. "And something else happened to me too…"
She yelled, "What happened?! Are you okay?!"
He sighed. "Never mind. You wouldn't believe me until I come over and show you."
Hearing this, she got angry. "Just tell me what happened!"
He sighed again, heavier this time. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you. I'll tell you…"
He explained what had happened to him.
There was a long pause… and finally a reply. "Yeah, you're right, you've gone damn lost your mind."
He thought for a moment. "Try saying 'Status Window.'"
"You think I'm that stupid or something?!" she replied, confused and angry.
"Just say it," he replied in a monotone voice.
She sighed. "'Status Window.'…" There was a long pause, then a loud thud as she dropped her phone.
A voice was heard in the distance. "Carlos, Carlos! You got to try this!"
Max was approaching his home. He could never forget the rundown shithole he lived in. He dashed inside. He saw his mom holding onto a child with Carlos standing next to her. Both froze when they saw him. His mom then covered the little girl's face.
Carlos was the first to speak after seeing how bloody he was. "Dios mío, what the hell happened to you, kid?"
Max replied in a quiet voice, "Ah, did you not hear? Then let me explain…"
Carlos interrupted him. "Ah yes, but first you should change." Max looked down and nodded.
Carlos continued, "Also, is that a sword and shield you have?" Max had a lot of explaining to do.
Carlos was Max's mom's new boyfriend. He'd moved in last month. He had a daughter named Maelle who was around ten. Max still didn't know how to feel about him, his mom had a "fixer" mentality when it came to guys, but he didn't think Carlos was a bad guy. Maybe his mom just felt bad for his daughter. Although Carlos couldn't have picked a worse woman to be with. She always picked the ether the saddest or worst man imaginable and pretended she was doing a self-sacrifice by being with them and helping them.
After he finished explaining, Carlos didn't say anything. He kept rubbing his head and glancing at something in the air. Max's mom took Maelle to his room.
Carlos looked at the TV. The news was playing, and a headline at the bottom stated a lockdown for all citizens until further notice. The news anchor spoke, "Police are busy taking care of all the car crashes that happened on the freeway tonight, and the white fires that appeared don't seem to be spreading."
The other anchor stuttered, "Really? Ah—w-we now have c-confirmed reports that what we all just heard was not only heard across the nation b-but also around the world. We also have reports that white flames have appeared globally."
His mom came back into the room. Everyone sat down in stunned silence. The same anchor continued, "We would like to remind everyone to stay indoors and keep away from the white flames until further notice from the government. If you hear this outside of your home, stay where you are or find shelter nearby. Don't go into the streets. Stay tuned in as we continue giving updates."
It cut to a commercial break.
His mom lit a joint. "Seriously?! They're playing a commercial now, of all times? It's the goddamn apocalypse!"
Carlos looked at her sadly, which made her furrow her brow. "What?! Don't you see what's happening on TV? Like this matters. You guys should have one too, it could be your last chance." She reached out to both of us. We both declined.
Carlos got up. "Jules, this is the last thing we need right now." He took the joint from her.
This surprised Max, Carlos seemed vary calm despite the situation and Carlos never turned her down before. But it made sense, given what was going on.
"He's right, Ma. If we need to evacuate, we can't do that while high, right?" max said in a mocking tone.
His mom got really angry. "Are you kidding me?! After all I've done…" She stopped.
She breathed out heavily and put her hands on her face. "You're right…" She started to tremble, prompting Carlos to sit next to her.
Carlos then looked up at Max. "Can you check on Maelle for me, please?" Max noticed he was shaking too.
He thought to himself, was he just trying to be strong for her, also why am I so calm? Is it an effect of losing in the gate? or am I just like that?
"Ah, yeah. Okay." Max walked into their bedroom. He opened the door slowly and saw her on his computer, looking at the news. It was showing a massive car pile-up on the freeway.
"Hey, you're too young to be looking at this. Also, I told you not to go on my computer." He patted her head. "Go on, get on the bed and go to sleep." There was a mattress on the floor and another on a bed frame. She got on the latter, and he laid down on the floor mattress.
Max heard a quiet voice. "Max… are we going to be okay?" Max didn't know what to say. He never really talked to Maelle.
He waited a bit, then replied, "Yes. All the bad stuff is over now. They're just doing the cleanup." He lied with conviction. "Nothing bad will ever happen to us here."
Maelle stuttered, "B-but I saw people saying it was the apocalypse online, a-and all those cars with p-people in them…"
Max scoffed. "You know better than to believe what people say online. Also, car crashes happen all the time."
Maelle was quiet for a moment, then replied in a sleepy voice, "You're right… but… what about this?" She pointed lazily into the air.
Max thought damn, she told her about that?
he looked hard for an answer, but he didn't have one. "Huh? Oh yeah, that's, uh… magic! Yeah. I mean, how else are you going to explain it?"
Maelle's voice perked up. "Magic? Does that mean we're wizards?"
Max chuckled a little. "Yeah. Now go to sleep… Good night, Maelle."
Maelle giddily replied, "Yeah. Good night, Max."
Max stayed up for hours thinking.
Here's what I know: loud sound, then white flames appeared, and that they are tutorial gates. In gates, you're given a challenge that you must complete. Killing monsters and completing gates gives EXP. Get the required EXP and you level up and get five stat points. That reminds me—I leveled up, didn't I?
Max whispered, "'Status window.'"
-----------------------------
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Max Carter
Level: 2 30/75 EXP
Condition: Healthy
points available: 5
Strength: 5 /\
Agility: 6 /\
Endurance: 5 /\
Intelligence: 7 /\
Passives: [The First to Challenge – 164 hours – Unique]
Skills: none
-----------------------------
He stood up, went over to the weights in his room, and picked up the heaviest one. He lifted the 40lb dumbbell.
"Oof. Alright, now let's put all the points into Strength." Max hit the button five times and immediately noticed the difference.
"Jesus, this feels like nothing now." Max lifted it up and down with ease.
He pondered and scratched his neck. "If it's this much of a difference, then going back into one might not be a bad idea. People are going to figure this out eventually…"
He placed down the dumbbell. "I can't go into the one I just went into, but maybe I can try different ones. But I used up all my ammo, and the rest of it is in Ma's room… but maybe now, with this new strength…"
Max opened the bedroom door quietly and picked up his shield and sword on his way out the front door.
He took a deep breath. "I know were this is going, if I don't take this opportunity now I'll never get another one."
He ran off into the night.