His vision blurred, the world turned upside down and colours began to shift rapidly. The body's sensations were dying out and the time felt as if it had slowed down.
For Lukas, it was the highest and the craziest trip of his life.
No amount of drugs, mary-you-anna, or any other thing could replace the sensations he felt just during the initialization of his headgear.
But just as quickly as it had come, it washed off.
His vision was forcefully stripped from him, going dark for a couple moments and when he opened his eyes… he was somewhere else.
A monochromatic world, painted in only the shades of white and grey.
But when he looked down onto his own hands, he was met with a shock. They felt familiar, the same pair that he had grown up with.
He hurriedly touched himself everywhere like a little child waking up after the scariest nightmare.
It was really him. The body he thought he had lost. His original body, the one from Earth.
For a couple of moments he even entertained the thought that everything he had felt earlier was just the dream and this whiteness around him was the colour of his hospital room.
That explanation felt valid to him… until a holographic screen popped up.
[ Welcome to the dreamscape, host. ]
Lukas blinked in surprise before taking a deep breath in, noting how fresh and pure the air here felt.
So it wasn't a dream.
The light headedness due to the initialization process was dying out, giving him some clarity as he looked at the holographic screen.
"I guess you will be my guide here, tell me everything there's to know." He said calmly.
[ Host is incorrect. Dreamscape consists of a personalized guiding system for the new entries. However in the host's case, there is a slight issue.
Your soul has merged with the soul remnants of the Lukas Specter, giving you a higher soul stat and marking you as an anomaly in the system of the dreamscape. ]
"Okay." Lukas nodded.
[ To resolve the said anomaly, I have masked the host's soul information with the soul information of Lukas Specter, allowing you to have full control over the body, identity, stats and even looks while wearing the disguise of Lukas Specter.
The host can relate to it as the ghost gamer. You are the player and everything you do is in your control, but the account of that game belongs to Aella. ]
Lukas deadpanned at the mention of Aella, "Don't mention her name again. And how can I change my looks when I am supposed to play the disguise of Lukas Specter, huh? That doesn't make sense."
[ It will make sense if you stopped viewing the dreamscape as just a normal world like yours, host. This is a spiritual realm, where looks can be changed as easily as changing clothes.
The only thing that remains constant is the soul information of an individual, which is unique to one person. ]
His brain gears churned and an ingenious thought popped in his brain…
"Doesn't that mean I can shed my Lukas Specter identity and become Lukas Wykes anytime here? I possess two sets of soul information."
[ Host is correct, but not entirely so. Due to Lukas Specter signing up for the death games, his– or in this case, yours– presence is compulsory, or else his soul will be destroyed.
And since yours and his souls are merged, your soul will be killed in the crossfire, pronouncing you as dead again. ]
"Okay… so what about after the death game?" He asked hopefully.
[ Host is suggested to think about those scenarios AFTER surviving the death game.
Kindly view Lukas Specter's game persona and game information by requesting it to the given floating monitor in front of you. ]
"Bruh, what a useless system." Lukas murmured under his breath, but still decided to heed the system's suggestion.
All around him was a small room made out of white walls, and in the center of it all was floating a white coloured monitor.
Its screen was pitch black, slowly glowing brighter the closer he got.
// Welcome back to the dreamscape, Sir Lukas. //
A voice boomed out of the monitor, sounding slightly feminine and beautiful, but highly robotic.
"Uhm, hello. I would like to check my death game persona and the game's information, please."
// Right away, sir. //
The voice replied, before flickering on the monitor that displayed Lukas, a miniaturized humanoid figure, dressed in the most flamboyant, neon-ish, delinquent clothes that he could imagine.
A neon orange varsity jacket over a black printed t-shirt, sliced black trousers, a pair of red tinted sunglasses and to top it all off, a cowboy hat.
Though at least there was a slight match in that whole look, since the cowboy boots went well along with the cowboy hat.
That figure had no sense of fashion and looked like a random assortment of apparel that a kid had chosen based on a pure individual look, not caring about the overall aesthetic.
"Please tell me I can change my avatar… or persona, or whatever that is."
// Negative, sir. A player is only granted a free personalization option at the start of each rank. The free personalization option for the 'Pigpen' rank has already been utilized. //
Lukas grit his teeth. The longer he looked at that image, the more irritated he felt.
And then his eyes fell over the username that Lukas Specter had selected, "PayMyLoans_6967"
His eyelids twitched, but he chose to ignore the absurd character creation talent and the naming sense that his predecessor used to have.
As they say, it's a bad thing to badmouth the dead.
The details about his persona were quite normal and basic, as he obviously hadn't played any games before.
// Player: PayMyLoans_6967
Rank: Pigpen (Placement Games remaining.)
Wins: 0
Losses: 0
Winstreak: Nil
Strength: Unawakened.
Soul ID: 14980980420 //
Pigpen was the lowest rank that could exist, where the weakest and the trashiest beings fought for the entertainment of the strong.
There was nothing honorable or respectable about the fights, as it was pure chaos, filled with many unawakened beings.
And unluckily for Lukas, his first chosen game wasn't in his favour at all…
// Death Game Format: Battle Royale… //
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: The MC's game persona image is in the paragraph comment.