"Well it is either I survive the prologue or die a painful death as a rat."
As I muttered these words I rested on the soft grass of the park beneath me. Closing my eyes I felt the dark embrace of sleep overcome me and fell into the world of dreams.
"Rise and shine Jason!" an unfamiliar voice called out to me.
"Where am I?"
"dude what are you talking about? We have been out at sea for two weeks, you know where we are."
The young man who spoke to me had dark circles under his eyes partially covered by his dirty blond hair. I also noticed that the clothes that he had been wearing seemed as if they had not been washed for a couple of weeks which matched his story.
but I still had dozens of unanswered questions.
To explore my new surroundings I frantically patted the surface beneath me, I was sitting on a hard unpolished wooden surface that was swaying, we were on a boat. Considering our sleeping conditions It was not a very luxurious one.
"It's your turn to watch the deck Jason"
"What are you going to do" I asked
"Hit the hay like your lazy ass was just doing."
I could tell the man was tired. Looking like he wouldn't bother to answer any more of my questions I just nodded in compliance.
While the young man laid on his thin mattress I further explored the room. A dozen feet away from where I was standing I noticed four other young men and women sleeping peacefully on their designated spots.
Upon closer inspection the crew appeared to consist of three guys and three girls including me and the young man from before. Everybody looked worse for wear as our group had apparently been out at sea for the last fifteen days.
Bored of walking around the small room I decided to go on to the deck to play along with the job I was assigned.
As I made it to my destination I spotted a suitable small wooden chair to sit on. The chair looked as though it was built over a decade ago, hence the pathetic shape it was in.
After getting comfortable I finally had time to think over the situation I found myself in.
Before long I stood up to watch the sea, we were in the middle of a raging storm with the waves crashing violently against the bottom of the ship. It was no wonder why there was a faint smell of vomit coming from a bucket a couple feet away.
"What is this place?" I muttered under my breath.
To Determine whether or not this was a dream I attempted to open my status window.
And to my surprise it opened.
***
[Jason Wringer]
Strength : 12
Agility: 18
Charm: 13
Mana: 10
Stamina: 11
Rank: Human (F)
F => E: 200/500
***
Looking at the window I furrowed my eyebrows.
All of my stats were higher than normal. In addition, I had a rank.
Ranks were given by the amount of experience one had with killing monsters and completing quests. These ranged from F to Infinity, and, as far as people knew, no one had made it past SS rank, not even the original evolved who still live.
Was this a vision of the future? I currently had no way to find out. I figure I will test this theory in the future.
As I continued to explore the deck, the wood continued to creak. I mentally mapped out the relatively small vessel. According to my observations, the ship was around twenty five feet long and ten feet wide.
I moved back over to the edge of the ship and continued to watch the ocean. Soon, a particularly gruesome event occurred as a sea monster viciously mauled another. Despite the power of its attack it posed little threat to the ship. The monsters seemed to be avoiding our vessel.
Back to the matter at hand, I had no idea why I was in the middle of the ocean. What did it mean? Was it supposed to symbolize something?
As if to answer my many questions I heard a voice behind me.
"You have finally arrived, Jason from the Past."
It was one of the girls I saw sleeping below the deck. She had black hair slung careless over her shoulder and she wore a simple brown, torn up tunic, similar to those I had seen in the poorest parts of town.
"Who are you?"
There was a pregnant beat. I was about to break the awkward silence when she ominously claimed:
"You will find out soon."
"Is that the only reason why you came up here?" I asked
"No. You have been up here for an hour, it's your turn to go back to sleep."
I had not realized that much time had passed.
I nodded at her statement and returned to the stairs that led below the deck. Below the deck there were now two empty mattresses neither looked especially comfortable but my heavy legs resisted standing any longer. I returned to the one I had come from.
Resting my head on the thin mattress I returned to the dark embrace of sleep.
Slowly opening my eyes I rested on my hand on the grass and the other palm on my forehead. Blinking twice to slow down my racing thoughts, I looked around to find out that I was back in the real world. Or was it just the past? I had no way to know, at least at the moment. though the girl with black hair seemed to confirm my hypothesis.
It was finally time to make my decision. The boss would be back in just a few hours so I had to act quick. The choice was all but obvious as if I did nothing then I would go out without fighting.
The process to go into the prologue was relatively simple: I would just have to go to the city hospital and request it. I would get strange looks, and even some laughs as I was a rat who had little to no chance of surviving.
But I would not be dissuaded because at least it gave me a chance of survival. In addition the rewards for if I do end up surviving would be worth the trouble I would soon go through. Although I would not be a true elite member of society, it was indeed a great step towards my goals.
After an entire minute of contemplation I reluctantly stood up to retrieve the book that I had aggressively thrown the day prior. Despite no personal interest in a children's book, I would quickly skim through it just to momentarily immerse myself in juvenile fantasy.
About ten minutes later I slammed the book shut.
Finally ready to seal my fate, I headed out of my hiding spot. Walking through the park one last time I took a deep breath in and violently started hacking up blood. I was running out of time, maybe half a week left?
Following the street signs that led to the hospital, I fantasized about the life I would be able to live with the status of having completed the prologue.
A few minutes later I arrived at my destination.
As I walked through the entrance, the people who wore nicer clothes stared at me with disgust. I ignored them, their looks would not change my decision. When I got to the lobby I showed the machine my ID and received a number. After twenty minutes of waiting, my name was called.
The stares did not stop as I walked through the corridors to my designated room. As I closed in on the room I noticed a doctor patiently awaiting my arrival.
"What brings you here today sir?" she asked with a professional smile.
"I wish to complete the prologue."
The whole room went silent.