James vomited his guts out. Violently.

  Apparently, nearly choking to death, trying to swallow boiling water, and being ripped through several planar boundaries through time and space against your will tended to upset the stomach.

  Then James registered that he’d just been ripped through several planar boundaries. That he knew he’d been ripped through them. That he even knew what a planar boundary was. And more importantly, that he didn’t know how he knew. How did he know?

  No time for panicking.

  James took a deep breath, wiped the sick off his mouth with the hem of his (formerly) white shirt, and looked up.

  James looked straight back down.

  Okay, maybe a little time for panicking.

  Is it bad that I hope I'm passed out on my kitchen floor hallucinating right now? No, of course not. Because that would mean that I’m not currently in some random jungle in who knows where, seeing floating blue screens!

  James slowly stood up and looked at the world he found himself in. James was surrounded by dense undergrowth and tall trees except for the path he was on which branched into two ahead of him. And smack dab in the middle of all of that was a floating blue screen that James only read about in LitRPGs that he was too embarrassed to tell his friends that he read.

  Tutorial Objective 1: Find teammates (0/2)

  Reward: Information

  Okay. Okay. He could do this. He just needed to take stock of his situation first.

  James looked down at himself. He was still in his (formerly) white shirt and PJs. He hadn’t noticed before due to the panicking but he didn’t feel any of his cuts or burns. He must have been healed on his way here. Wherever here was. So you're telling me, that if I’d been taking just a little bit later I could have just left the vomit behind? Lucky me. No, focus! He found a thumb size shard of his yellow mug clinging to his pants. and a couple cough drops still in his pocket instead.

  James checked around him to see for anything else. Nothing. Where’s my machete? If I’m exploring a strange jungle I feel like I should have a machete. It’s a classic! James sighed at the broken tradition and finished up checking stock.

  Okay, I’m in a strange jungle with nothing but my clothes, a mug fragment, and—he checked his pockets—eleven cough drops.

  Finally, James needed to check one last thing. He glanced about his surroundings warily before hunching slightly and whispering:

  “Inventory.”

  “Skills.”

  “Stats.”

  “Status.”

  “Status Window.”

  “What on earth are you mumbling about?” a voice said. It sounded like someone’s strict, old Victorian era governess.

  James straightened up immediately and whipped his head to where the voice came from. “Nothing!” His voice cracked. James cleared his throat and tried again. “Nothing. Where are you? Who are you?”

  “Down here, you silly boy.”

  James looked down and whatever he was about to say caught in his throat. He looked back up.

  Maybe I am still hallucinating on the kitchen floor. James looked back down. The cat was still there. It—she—was an orange tabby with incredibly fluffy looking fur. The cat was also looking at him like was stupid. She was outlined in the same blue as his notification windows.

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  “Please don’t tell me my teammate’s the cat.”

  Then that blue screen popped up again.

  Objective 1 Progressed! (1/2)

  Welcome to the tutorial! Teams are being set for [Capture The Flag]. More details upon full team completion. Losers will be eliminated. More details upon full team completion.

  One thing caught James’ attention. “Losers will be eliminated.”

  He didn’t doubt for a second that whoever or whatever had brought him here had the capability of killing him. He’d already been kidnapped, ripped through planar boundaries, and… something had been done to him to make him see these strange screens. Compared to whatever had happened to his body, death almost felt tame. Almost.

  James’ eyes slid down to his teammate. His currently very angry and very fluffy teammate.

  “I’ll have you know, I’m not exactly looking forward to working with a strange, smelly, rude man who mutters to himself in strange forests either.”

  “We’re in the same f—”

  “And my name is Arthur, not the cat,” she spat.

  James paused at that. “Arthur?”

  “Yes.”

  “But aren't you…”

  Arthur tilted her head.

  “Nevermind.”

  Just then, the giant underbrush rustled behind James. He whipped around, mug shard in hand and thrust as far from himself as he could when a man stumbled out. He was tall, lithe, had grey skin, and a relaxed air about him. Oh, and most importantly, he was outlined in the same blue glow as Arthur.

  James relaxed upon realizing the man was on their team, but then tensed up again. Whether they were teammates or not, he had no clue who this guy was. Or what he was capable of.

  The man raised his hands and flashed a grin. “Woah there mate, careful swinging that thing around!”

  “Who are y-”

  Objective 1 Completed! (2/2)

  [Equalizing measures have been put in place to ensure entertaining action. Language barriers have been removed. Injuries and ailments have been removed. All energy systems have been locked. Access to Feats unlocked. Sponsor requests unlocked. More details upon victory. ]

  James felt something in him shift. A space, if that’s what he could call it, opened up right below his heart, though it felt blocked somehow. Simultaneously, a chill like being dipped in liquid menthol swept over his skin and suffused his mouth.

  James stumbled as the changes swept across his body, but his mind focused on one thing. One detail, even.

  “Details.”

  A pair of blue screens popped up. The top screen displayed an outline of a human body in green and the words Status: Healthy. James decided he’d prefer to keep his status that way. Below that he found his profile.

  Name: James Stern

  Age: 23

  Talent: Avoid Notice

  Feat: Avoided Fated Time of Death

  Sponsor: [???]

  Advantages: Identify (1/1)

  James’ eyes widened at the screens he’d summoned. “Holy crap, I did it.” His excitement was quickly tempered once he scanned his profile. “‘Fated time of death?’ I was supposed to die choking on a cough drop? That’s bull—no, focus on what will keep you alive. Advantages sound good: How do I get more of those?”

  “You were right, he does mumble to himself.”

  James froze. He’d forgotten entirely about his teammates. James cleared his throat and turned around.

  “Ah. Hello there,” James said, “My name is James. Sorry about the whole, er, knife thing.”

  The man looked down at the mug shard in James’ hand before raising an eyebrow at him. “Ah yes, your… knife.” The man strode over and slung an arm around James’ shoulder. “Well then, all water under the bridge now. Not exactly the first friend I’ve met like this.”

  James’ eyebrows shot up. “You’ve been through this before? Do you know what’s happening? Why are we here?”

  “Woah there mate, slow down!” The grey-skinned man backed up a bit and held up a hand. “Ain’t never been through something like this before. I was more talkin’ about the knife thing. Let’s start over: The name’s Kaiser,” he said, and stuck out his hand.

  James shook it. "James.”

  “So what were you muttering about earlier?”

  James perked up. An opportunity to not look like an absolute buffoon! “The screens! I mean, if you say ‘Details’ the screens will show you a profile of yourself. Knowledge is power and all that. We might even figure out why we’ve all been dragged here!”

  “Knowledge is power, huh,” said Kaiser, “that’s a neat saying.” He then gave a little flourish of a bow before saying, “please give me the details, my dear system.”

  “Details,” said Arthur. Both of their eyes glazed over in a way that James was beginning to associate with system messages.

  Once they were finished, Kaiser gave a small whistle. “Well, I don’t know what to make of most of this but those advantages sure sound nice”

  Arthur scoffed. “I wouldn’t trust any of it,” she said. “All this screen nonsense has to come from somewhere and I’m betting it’s from the same one who dragged us to this… whatever this is.”

  “Well,” Kaiser said, “I’m no stranger to circumspect deals and I’m not exactly keen on being ‘Eliminated’ either so I’ll take any advantages I can get.” Kaiser turned to James. “Speaking of advantages, how exactly do we use it?”

  “I’m not sure how to use my advantage—”

  Use Identify (1/1)?

  “—but I suspect it’s voice activated. Excus—”

  All Teams formed.

  Tutorial Objective 2: Capture or destroy the enemy Flag!

  Reward: Survival.

  It was official. The system had the worst timing ever.