Young Writers Society

GAME

In this world, I am GOD, the Game Operating Director. I control this world and keep order so that citizens of it can live in peace. But recently, a new force has appeared and threatens the existence of this world. It is the BOSS, or Battling Offense Self-Programmed System. And so, I ask of you. Come to my world. Help me rid it of the BOSS. I beg of you.

If you choose to accept, I shall aid you. A normal human like yourself will not fare well in my world. I shall make you an Incarnator. Incarnators are the strongest Mage Class. With your abilities, your SOUL (Strength Oriented Underlying Life-Force) will take form, creating an avatar. They are different for everyone, and they are your partner. They will fight alongside you. When I decide, you will level-up, and a second avatar will be formed. Sadly, I must follow game rules and cannot just level you up. You must prove yourself. Once you prove yourself, you will be leveled up automatically and will be informed with a message.

I wish you luck, human. Or shall I say Incarnator?


Rules and Character Template

Rules:



Skill List:


Here's the character template:



Have fun!

Mathieu Soren

I woke up lying on hard stone bricks. I was in the middle of a busy street. Many different beings roamed the road, including humans and elves. Slowly, I stood up. Somewhat heavy metal armor covered my body, and a cape was draped down my back. An axe was on my hip. Next to me stood an elf with long blonde hair and a bow. She wore a green tunic and some odd, modified jacket veil thing.

She grinned. “Mornin', master. I'm Serenus.”

“Don't call me that,” I said, groaning. “GOD specifically said that this wouldn't be one of THOSE RPGs where the player is everyone's masters. My name is Mathieu. Mathieu.”

“I know, I'm messing with you.” She laughed.

“So, where's this BOSS? Can I go beat it now?”

She began to slowly walk down the street. “You're not even close to ready. He'd one-shot you. You need levels. But first, GOD said we'd all have to meet in the Frostic Tavern.”

I eyed her suspiciously. “All?”

“Didn't you hear him say that their was five others?”

I groaned again as we walked down the streets together. He town was a small, icy town, probably in the north. I had yet to view a map. We continued, and I scrolled through my items and skills. 'Wind Wielder's Axe.' 'Dark Wraith Armor.' Sounds cool.

We eventually reached a small wooden building that was mostly empty. “This tavern is where you'll spawn if you die. So, you have to restart your journey if that happens. Luckily you won't lose your items,” Serenus said casually. She pushed the doors open.

Samuel released a groan as he got up. It seemed that he had literally been dropped in this new world. It felt like it had been from a ten story building. Giving his neck a few cracks he got to his feet and looked around. Wrapping his arms around his body he sighed. It appeared that he was on the outskirts of a small town.

"Quite the trip huh?" A voice behind him said.

Turning he saw a lithe man sitting in the bows of a frozen tree. Medium length hair covered his eyes and a broad smile was stretched over his youthful features.

"And you are?" Samuel asked.

"Nightingale. At your service," the young man said with a bow. The points of his ears peaking through the mop of hair on his head. "We should get going. The others are already on their way to the rendezvous."

"And where would that be?"

"The Frostic Tavern. All first levels begin there. You'll fit in nicely. Everyone is gloomy there."

The half-elf gave him a pat on the shoulder before heading off through the snow covered town. With a sigh Samuel followed after, looking through his gear to know what he had.

Immediately after waking up, she found herself staring into a grinning mask. She had the natural response to this sight; she screamed and tried to escape the owner of the mask. A pair of strange eyes stared at her. They looked as if someone had taken all of the colors and mixed them together to create a murky color that, if it had to be given a name, could possibly be called brown.

"Hi?" she nervously said. GOD had never mentioned that there would be a creepy person standing over her when she awoke, but she guessed she would just have to deal with it. A warmhearted smile appeared on her face. Getting to her feet (she was surprised to note that the girl was smaller than her), she thrust her hand out. "I'm Olive Dwight! It's nice to meet you! Who are you, by the way? You never said your name-"

"Mask." The speaker was feminine, and sounded to be her age.

"Uh, okay." Talkative, apparently, was a word that didn't describe Mask. "You're supposed to help me out, right?"

A nod.

"GOD said that there was five others. Where are we supposed to go to meet them?"

Turning on her heels, Mask pointed at the town they were on the outskirts of. "There's a tavern there." Without warning, she suddenly set out for said tavern. Olive rushed after her. Snow crunched under her armor (which she was having a slight difficulty walking in) as she followed Mask. There was no denying that she was nervous about meeting the others that GOD had mentioned; they would be working together to defeat BOSS and would have to get to know each other in order to be a good team.

"Link start," she whispered to comfort herself.

Mask stopped and looked back at her. "Did you say something?"

Olive frantically shook her head. "No!"

Ainsle was never told that she'd be knocked unconscious.

She awoke, and felt a grassy texture around her body. She also felt a rash, because GOD never asked if she was allergic to grass. The wind blew at the mahogany cloak Ainsle was wearing, and she felt it drift in the breeze. Her whole body felt fresh, unlike the groggy, tired mornings she was used to waking up to. The air around her felt warm, and upon opening her eyes, she saw that the sun was hidden from view by the trees, providing shade. She also saw something a little less ordinary.

"She's up! The Incarnator is awake!" She heard a high pitched voice announce, accompanied by a figure peering over her. It wasn't a human figure, and it only took her a second to realize, Oh my gosh there's a skeleton who was watching me sleep.

She stared at it with wide eyes.

Should I scream?

Am I supposed to punch it?

Is GOD trying to kill me?

And a moment later, she found that it wasn't only one creepy mini skeleton standing over her. It was several. A horde of skeletons were watching her sleep. Maybe this was a mistake.

"SHE'S UP, THE INCARNATOR IS-"
"SHE'S UP, THE INCARNATOR-"
"SHE'S UP, THE-"
"SHE'S UP-"
"SHE'S UP-"

Well then, I guess I'm up, and surrounded by a loon (loons?) who I'm guessing is my avatar.

Ainsle pulled herself up, off the ground. The grass really was long, up to her knees. She stared at the skeletons with an emotionless expression.

"So, who are you all?"

"You mean, who am I?" All the high pitch voiced skeletons corrected. In a mist of fog, all the skeletons disappeared, except one.

The skeleton appeared like a regular, human skeleton. It looked like the kind you would hang up as decoration on your tree for Halloween. Except, not the average size. It looked about half of Ainsle's height, and Ainsle stood at 5'7". It was bare, but what would you have to hide as a skeleton? Yes, being bare made sense, but he also had a belt tied around where his waist would be, which held a small sword.

"Sup?"

"Apparently another fantasy world where skeletons watch me sleep, creep."

"Nah, GOD sent me here to wake you up! Anyway, hello, nice to meet you, I'm Lucian! I think we'll be great friends!"

"I wouldn't count on that, Bones."

"Heyyyy, what's got you so grumpy?" The skeleton, Lucian, asked.

Ainsle shrugged, Oh I dunno, maybe the fact that I'm allergic to grass, was knocked unconscious, watched in my sleep by skeletons, and in another universe.

"Awww, anything I can do to make you feel better?"

"No, but perhaps you can stop talking and tell me what to do next."

"Well, maybe we should head out of here, and get to the Frostic Tavern. GOD is having you and I, among a few others, meet up there! It's up north!" Lucian explained cheerfully. Too cheerfully, for Ainsle's taste.

"Lead the way, Bones."

"It's Lucian, but fun nickname!" The skeleton said, before skipping down the dirt path, down the hillside.

Ainsle scratched her skin, This is going to be quite a ride.

Annie Parsons

The world spun for a few moments after Annie opened her eyes. She blinked as her vision cleared, but the splitting headache persisted as she sat up. She clutched a hand to her head and closed her eyes again, vaguely aware that the frigid air was now below freezing--not at all like the temperate summer she'd just left. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea, as it seemed she'd just gone from bad to worse by accepting GOD's offer.

"Here," a voice said as fingers touched her shoulder, making her jump. "Let me help."

Annie stared up at the newcomer, a muscular, dark-skinned woman in monk's robes. Was she... glowing?

The headache faded, and warmth spread over her skin from the woman's touch.

"I'm Danica," the woman said. "Pleasure to meet you. I've got your back."

Annie hugged her arms around her torso, trying to adjust to all the sudden temperature changes. The warmth wrapped around her like a blanket. For some reason, she hadn't imagined there would be anyone here to help her. "Do you know where we need to go?" she asked.

Danica pointed. "There's a tavern over there, where we're to meet the others."

"Others?"

"You didn't think we'd be trying to take on BOSS all by our lonesome? Of course there are others!"

She pondered this. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of having to get to know a team full of people, but she had to admit it made the task less daunting.

"All right," she said, climbing to her feet. "Lead the way."

Haru wake up.

Haru rolled over, the weight of his body slowly coming back to him. He felt cold. Felt the feeling slowly creeping through his clothes.

Haru, GOD needs you

He ignored the breathy voice in the back of his mind. His eyes remained closed, sleep was more important. Besides, he didn't have to answer to anyone. It was a Saturday.

Haru...

He slowly opened his eyes. Flakes of snow slowly drifted through the sky, playing with the bleak light of the clouds overhead. He lay in a snow covered field. In the distance, shrouded by marine layer lay a small town, maybe to small to even be called that.

Haaruuu...

The land was flat. Barren of any life. Up above the clouds moved at incredible speeds, shifting between Shade's of gray, moving like a river in the sky. Haru smiled. He liked that simile.

You left the oven on

Haru bolted up, gasping. Had he? Who was at home? Would the house burn down?

Welcome back Haru.

Haru looked around, slowly realizing he'd been tricked into wakefulness. Who was talking to him?

Ah. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the shadow known as Whisper. For obvious reasons. I have been chosen to be your avatar. I will fight for you and I will die for you.

At this Haru looked down to find two gleaming eyes and a pointy smile looking back at him. He stared

"That's.... unnatural."

Whisper sounded gleeful.

Alas we have not the time to converse on how I've come to be. For now you must find your way to Frostic town and the tavern within it. That is where you will find the others.

"The others?"

Of course! You can't take on BOSS all on your own now can you?

Haru grumbled. He'd always found games like this one easier to play alone. Of course the higher level dungeons always required a team, but at least there everyone knew what they were doing. If he had to team up with people who'd just started there'd be some trouble. But on the bright side, maybe they were nice people. Maybe he'd enjoy himself. With that thought in his mind, Haru set off for the town in the distance. The stopped.

"Whisper. What's stopping me fron disobeying you?"

He looked down to where whisper was still displaying his toothy smile.

Nothing! That's the fun of it! It's a game Haru! We can do whatever we want!

Haru smiled. He liked his avatar. Feeling around his back, Haru found the bow and quiver he knew would be there.

"Now. Shall we find some creeps to kill?"

If Whisper could smile any wider, he did.

A wise decision Incarnator! Come! There are Frost Wolves lurking here!

Whisper moved, distorting Haru's shadow and stretching out to the left. Haru set off. Careful to trod lightly as the snow was deep in some spots, according to Whisper, and there were sure to be all sorts of bandits and marauders out in the barren wasteland.

As He walked. Whisper perked up.

Now. Before we fight, you must know my ability. It'll make leveling up easy as pie!

Haru grinned.

"Enlighten me dear shadow."

Of course! I am, in a sense, an extension of your own shadow. I live in it, but while I am just a shadow, I can move and stretch as far as fifty feet! That range can be extended by at least ten feet for each shadow I run into on my way to a target. Once I reach my target, I can latch onto their shadow, paralyzing them for as long as I can.

"And how long would that be?"

A clever one! I like that. While I can latch onto these shadows for however long I want, the paralysis depends on your energy. Your mana, if you will. The lower you are on mana, the weaker the paralysis is. And, if the beasts, or other people we face are ten levels higher than you, the paralysis has no affect. Does that all make sense?

Haru nodded.

"An exciting prospect. That really does make farming beasties easier. Now, if their was perhaps an enchantment of some kind added to your ability. Would that be doable?"

Whisper thought for a moment.

I've never tried that. I guess we'll have to find out! Ah. We have reached the den of the Wolf Mother. She's a level three mini boss, so taking her out will be pretty easy, but try to mitigate the amount of times you use me, she has a lot of minions and you have little mana being level one and all.

Haru nodded again. He was at the mouth of an ice covered cave. Icicles hung from the top of the entrance like fangs, giving it a foreboding presence. He took a moment to marvel at the thousands of years it mist have taken for this icy cave to have been formed, then, without much more delay, made his way into the cave. Once inside, Haru waited for his eyes to adjust, then gasped. The cave seemed to glow a deep blue, as if it held the ocean within its frost covered walls.

"This is beautiful. A glorious den for such a small boss."

Whisper chuckled.

It is beautiful, but wait'll you see the bigger boss's locations.

He let out a sigh after that.

Oh how I loved being able to slide across the world. Their's so much to see Haru! So many places! So many beautiful sights! Promise me you'll see all of them with me?

Haru considered. Not if he wanted to see these sights with Whisper, of course he did, but what Whisper was before he was here. Before he was put into servitude by GOD. Suddenly Haru felt guilty. Did he put a free spirit into servitude simply because he wanted to get away?

"You bet. We'll see everything together Whisp."

I knew you'd say that! We're a lot alike, you and I. This'll be a fun adventure. Now let's go kill us some Wolf Mother!

With an upbeat rhythm in his step, Haru set off down the frozen corridor, which, in actuality, couldnt really be called a corridor as it opened into a massive room after a few turns. Ancient columns lined the sides of the sprawling clearing, and small green leaves poked up through the wet dirt. Haru caught his breath once again. The roof of the cave was broken at the top, and a ray of sunlight pierced the clouds and sprinkled into the room, illuminating the snow white beast sitting in the middle of it. A massive white wolf, with claws as big as Haru himself and teeth even larger.

"This is one big mini boss."

size isn't everything Haru. We can paralyze stuff, remember?

"Oh at least let it wake up first. I want to see it in its glory!."

Agreed.

As they watched, the beast slowly woke. Eyes still closed, it raised itself with its front paws and shook itself. Snow and ice cascaded off its back and Haru had to dodge behind a column to get out of the way. When he looked back, the beast had risen to its full height, about fifteen feet and was staring straight at him. Haru held the stare. The Wolf had deep blue eyes that contrasted beautifully with its bleak white fur. It's pelt gleamed in the rays of the shrouded sun. Each wave of fur rolled into itself, like hills stretching down the Wolf's back. It snarled and Haru released a breath he didn't know he'd held. It plumed out in front of him as he beheld the elegant beast.

"Whisper...I don't want to kill it."

Whisper sighed.

Oh relax. It'll respawn tomorrow. You think this thing hasn't been killed before?

"But that's different. This is my Wolf Mother, the first I've seen. If I kill this thing, regardless of how many times it's been killed, I will bare the shame of murdering a masterpiece. And while the beast itself will come back again and again, the feeling and the gravity it brings will stay with me forever."

Whisper was silent. Then he spoke, this time he spoke low, as if someone was eavesdropping.

Many before have thought the same thing, and yes, the guilt never leaves you, but you must understand Haru, in order to live in this world, you must lose some of yourself. You must lose it to gain something new. Something that will shape the rest of your life.

"And what is that?"

Whisper smiled.

Ah, but the answers never come easy Haru. We must seek them out. Route them from their dens. Peak behind their curtain, their facade. Yes answers don't come easy my friend, and sometimes they don't mean what you think. This answer you shall find with time, but only if you kill this beast here and now.

Haru looked up at the massive wolf in front of him.

"Ah, but demands are simply demands and if answers don't come easy then one would see it fit to take the hard route to discovering them. Only then can I grow Whisper. Only then do answers hold meaning."

And with that he turned and went to exit the cavern. Just then he heard an earth shattering howl from behind him. The Wolf Mother had spotted them. Immediately Haru drew his bow and Whisper shot across the ground to where the Wolf Mother's shadow was. The arrow flew true, and with a burst of light, the massive wolf disappeared. Haru gasped. He'd killed it. He'd killed the thing he'd sworn not to touch.

You are on your way now Haru.

He slung his bow back over his shoulder.

"Then I cannot kill again."

But why? Is it moral? Not any longer. Is it to sate your grief? Surely not. We're in a killing field Haru. It is time to assimilate.

Haru smiled then.

"No no. I just want a harder difficulty."

Haru laughed at this.

Now I see. Ingenious. But how will you level up?

"Well they way I see it, GOD has no choice but to level me up. Otherwise it cannot get rid of BOSS.

Whisper laughed again.

I like where this is headed. Speakng of which, we should be making our way to the town. The others will be waiting on us.

"Well then, let us be on our way."

Whisper grinned mischievously.

I like this game.

Mathieu Soren

We strode into the Frostic Tavern confidently and sat ourselves. A few minutes later a few shady figures came in too, and they had a light blue heart over their head.

“See that heart?” Serenus asked. “That's an indicator that they're an Incarnator like you.” She beckoned them over. Cautiously, they walked over, hands on their weapons. She stuck out her hand. "Hi! I'm Serenus and this is Mathieu!” No one shook it.

“I'm Samuel.” One said, before turning away and sitting down.

“I'm Nightingale, his avatar.”

Another began to introduce themselves. “I'm-

Suddenly cold dropped over them. A figure wearing a cloak strode in. The cloak billowed behind him, but his face was covered in the shadow of his hood. A huge broadsword was strapped to his back. He walked confidently, but also didn't walk at all. He seemed to float off the ground, emanating a powerful aura.

He stopped in front of their table and faced each of them. “I am GOD.”

“So that's what you look like,” Said one of the Incarnators. When GOD had come to them, only his voice was heard. No visibilty was there, so this image came as a surprise.

“I thought you'd be more... majestic. With like angel wings and stuff.” I spoke carefully, not wanting to offend this being, but also knowing if he really wanted help, he wouldn't do anything to me.

“I can appear however I want, but I don't want to waste time talking. I'd rather cut to the chase.” He began pointing to the Incarnators and their avatars. “Mathieu and Serenus, Samuel and Nightingale, Haru and Whisper, Ainsle and Lucian, Annie and Danica, and Olive and Mask. Get to know each other. Now, I've organized a ferry to bring you too mainland. It'll come tomorrow. Train in the area until then.”

He evaporated into mist.

“Well,” I said. “That was... brief.”

Frostic Tavern was cold. It was a sudden change of environment compared to where Ainsle was previously, under the shady trees, and feeling the wind press against her skin. Y'know, the place where she woke up after being knocked unconscious, had an allergic reaction to the grass, and woke up next to dozens of skeletons.

Maybe Frostic Tavern was better. Hopefully she wouldn't have an allergic reaction to ice. But there was still one bad thing about the place, regarding the skeletons--

"DID YOU SEE GOD?"
"I'M COLD!"
"DO YOU HAVE A JACKET?"
"OH MY GOSH LOOK AT ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE"

Looking up at the heart above her head, she was reminded of her grandmother. On Ainsle's birthday, she gave her a blue locket that she said would protect her from evil. Ainsle didn't believe it, and she eventually lost it. Realizing it was lost, she was devastated. It was the last thing she had from her grandmother.

After thinking about that, she thought about GOD's words--"Get to know each other."

People. That's one main reason why Ainsle wanted to help GOD in the first place. Because of people. Not to meet people. To get away from people. She took a look at all of them from a safe distance.

Haru seemed chill. Kind of shy, and was doing his own thing. He reminded her of him, in a way. She wouldn't have a problem with him.

Olive was awfully cheerful already, and it was clear from the moment Ainsle saw her that she was going to be the go-lucky positive one in the group. Her avatar, Mask, hid behind her. If only they could switch avatars. Lucian would be perfect for Olive.

Samuel wasn't all too shy, but not all too outgoing. His expression was fairly emotionless, and he didn't seem all too interested in being here. He was probably the most mysterious one. He seemed to be the oldest one there, and didn't appear to be a teenager compared to everyone else.

Mathieu didn't seem all too shy, but not all too outgoing, either. He seemed to be paying more attention to his avatar rather than everybody else, but it seems that could be because they were already acquainted.

Annie seemed a little bit withdrawn. She kept her head down, and didn't pay very much attention to anyone, or anything.

Only the avatars spoke, and that was only momentarily. Everything went silent very quickly. It was certainly awkward.

Well, this is fun already.

Log Horizon and Sword Art Online had done a terrible job of preparing her for the adventure she was about to embark on.

While both went into great detail about the thrill of killing a boss, and the wonder of being in a new world, neither had explained how to get past the initial awkwardness that had settled in the tavern. After the occasional avatar had stopped talking, the establishment had become eerily silent.

Mask was proving to be no help. Despite being her avatar, she was off brooding in the corner.

She realized there was only one thing left to do; Olive took a deep breath in preparation of what was to come. You've got this, she told herself.

"Hi, everyone!"

Heads swiveled around to face her. Almost immediately, she regretted intentionally making herself the center of attention. Mask remained a good five feet away from her and the group of people gathered.

"Since we're all going to be traveling and fighting together for awhile, I think we should introduce ourselves, and maybe say a little bit about who we are. Even if you don't think that's necessary, it's still a lot better than the silence we were dealing with a second ago." She gave a nervous smile. "I'm Olive Dwight. I decided to help GOD because I love helping people out, and I think I can actually do good when I have a controller in my hands. It's a pleasure to meet all of you!" After she finished speaking, she turned to her avatar. "Mask, why don't you go next?"

"...I'm Mask."