'Man this day can't possibly get any worse...' Gabriel thought, as he walked home from his late night college classes.
He didn't live on campus, despite his friends urging him to do so, because he liked the peace and quiet of his apartment. Yes, despite having friends he still enjoyed being alone in silence most the time, however that's not to say he disliked his friends company when they came over.
Today however, halfway through his walk home, a heavy thunderstorm had formed suddenly, and he was currently drenched head to toe. As he used his hand to covered his phone, he looked at the time. This rain was slowing him down, and while he had no classes tomorrow, he did have to go to his part time job in the morning and it was already 11:15pm.
"Come on traffic light. I got a cross the road..." He muttered as soon the light turned red finally letting him cross.
"I may get some sleep yet..."
He kept walking and as he turned onto the street his apartment was on her spotted a strange silhouette watching him from afar, but he paid it no mind not wanting to worry himself by overthinking it.
That's when it happened. As he walked down a hill, he slipped, a feeling like a hand pressed in his back making him fall; yet just before he hit the ground he stumbled forward, purple glitches sparkling around him as he opened his eyes.
'The Hell...' he wondered as he looked around to find himself in a strange place.
The sky looked like a glitching mess, and massive buildings made of some deep black material were everywhere. As he turned looking all round him in shock a voice spoke out to him in a cheerful girly tone.
"Hiya there~ My name is Grace and I'll be your guide and administrator during your stay in the Algorithm!" She said making a flashy pose as tiny fireworks went off behind her somehow.
Taking a single step back from her Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"What the hell is going on, and how did I get here?" He asked as Grace merely giggled teleporting behind him in a glitch.
"What's happening is, you've been chosen! Chosen to become a piece in a grand game and live a much more exciting life than the one you'd have had on that tiny world of yours~" Grace said cheerfully as she pushed Gabriel forward, a neon pink rectangle forming as they passed through it into a strange white void.
Sitting Gabriel in a random chair that formed from the void, a screen appeared playing a video on it as she stood behind him with a smile, her hands on her hips.
"Welcome newcomer, to the Algorithm!" A voice spoke as the words appeared on the screen in fancy font.
"A place where absolutely anything becomes possible for your future, and your fate enters your own hands!" The screen changed as it showed a mini cartoon.
"You used to be a boring, useless, and utterly unremarkable poor soul bound by the confine of your hopeless little planet, but no longer!"
"By joining the Algorithm, you have proven that you can be more! Maybe you want powers to dominate entire planets, or the perfect love to keep yourself trucking along!" The screen showed illustrations as it spoke, Gabriel sneaking a glance back at Grace who stared at the screen smiling.
"All you really need to do, is complete missions, raise your rank in the algorithm, and all is attainable for you in the near future!"
"And if for some reason you don't want to join... Then you can be accommodated in the hospitality sector of the Algorithm until your death!" The voice shouts the word Death flashing on the screen in bright colors.
"And if for some reason you want to return home, then unfortunately you can't do that without the residual energy of the Algorithm erasing your world and it's people leaving you to die slowly in the void of space..." the voice spoke rapidly before it returned to normal.
"So join up now, and change your destiny. For those above, are watching with great interest!~" then the video cut off abruptly as Grace turned him to face her.
"Soooooo~ What did ya think?~" she said in a sing-song voice.
"I think that this is all crazy..." Gabriel said bluntly as Grace laughed.
"Well obviously, that's the fun in it all!" She said as Gabriel blinked only to find them back where they were before the countless people moving about the strange place.
"So are you joining or not?" She asks with the tilt of her head as Gabriel thought about it for a moment.
He wants to go back home from this crazy place, but if that video was even slightly true that'd just get him killed, alongside his family and friends back home.
And he could waste away in whatever the hospitality sector is, but that sounded terrible as if he'd be trash waiting for pickup.
"Anything is possible huh..." Gabriel muttered before looking Grace in the eyes.
"They said anything is possible, does that include eventually going back home to my family and friends?" He asked as so far it seemed impossible.
"Well duh, it's possible silly. However you'd need to be at least half my level before thinking of it, since you can't control the energy around you and all." She says somehow sitting upside-down in open air.
"And how long might that take from my current level?"
"Idk about 100 years" she says sticking her tongue out at him as he grits his teeth.
"Hahaha, look at your face! You look so mad, like a wet mop!" She laughed rolling on the floor at her own bad joke.
"Ah, but seriously, it depends on how hard you work and how many missions you clear to raise in power and ranking." She said as Gabriel nodded and stared into the sky.
"So how do I get these missions?" Gabriel asked as she smiled tapping his forehead as a purple translucent panel formed in front of him as he sighed.
"This is going to be a lot of explaining isn't it..." He asked looking at Grace who grinned happily.
'I was wrong z the day got so much worse....'