I Deserve Some Fun

I'm a good man, for God's sake, I took care of my parents until I couldn't anymore. I don't feel regret for any decision I've made throughout my life, but something in my personal goals is slightly unsatisfactory. The idea of taking care of my parents is not at all guilty; in fact, I feel very fulfilled to have accomplished it as I have been doing so far. However, I'm referring to the things I managed to achieve as a human being.

I've heard that speech from a supposed millionaire who fills his wallet with the eloquence of his mouth and nothing else, but he said really dreamy things like, "If you're hungry, you can eat the whole world." I've always been hungry, but I could never eat the whole world as that man said.

It's ridiculous that many people consider being or becoming a millionaire is often attributed to talent; what they don't know is that those who come from low-income backgrounds find it impossible to climb the social ladder no matter how hard they try and work behind it to achieve it. But it wasn't my turn to talk about business or money; today is not the moment for anything related to that.

My name is Jonathan. After many years without leaving my comfort zone at work, I was forcibly taken out by my friends to accompany them to a party at a famous club in the area where a foreigner boasted of creating the best parties in the entire world.

The bottles were running out, the party with my friends was fun, everything was normal until a friend of my friend pulled out a white substance. The powder of long happiness, as many say, that addictive drug that can make your night joyful as well as mess up your life.

But if you ask me if that was the highlight of the night, I can tell you it wasn't. I wouldn't be so stupid as to try something that could ruin my life uncontrollably. What changed the night was a new drug derived from mushrooms, its name was Pika, and its only function was a lucid hallucination that made me lose consciousness and immerse myself in a damn incredible hallucination.

How did I end up trying that strange substance? Well, the inventors of that thing are damn geniuses. I never thought that incredible drug would come in the form of candies. I knew brownies existed, but not candies. But from what I heard, I consumed a large amount of that thing, and besides the hallucinations, my heart is racing at 300 beats per minute. I don't like to be optimistic, but even a drunk idiot would realize that he's a bit messed up in this situation.

...

"[Do you want to understand the meaning of life? You are another being with infinite possibilities for growth, yet I wonder, do you really... really want to live?]"

Somewhere in the universe, for some strange reason, Jonathan heard those words in his lucid journey thanks to that substance he took by mistake. Then, a play of lights appeared before his eyes. Jonathan found himself in a space built of pure marble, and from what he could see, he was on a very large platform.

Like the platform of a certain green god, he found himself stranded in nothingness. His body still felt numb from the sensations, and the play of lights in the air made him feel filled with a certain unknown emotion. "Where am I?" That was the first question Jonathan asked himself in this gigantic but apparently solitary place.

But just when he thought he was alone, his friends with whom he had gone out that party night were also around him. This journey was surely shared; everyone was inside the hallucination. Seeing the sudden appearance in an unknown space, everyone's faces were full of disbelief.

"It seems I'm not alone on this trip; I stopped feeling something after they left me lying there while having expressions of panic..." Jonathan looked around and then complained with a self-deprecating smirk.

"Is this the effect of the drug?" Orlando, a very handsome young man dressed in formal attire, became nervous and muttered to himself as if he believed this was about drugs based on his friends' words.

"That's not possible. If we're under the influence of the drugs, then... Then how come Orlando is here if he didn't consume anything?" A man named Alex, who was the other friend, couldn't help but mention the obvious since, compared to the others, he didn't try candies in a nightclub and was the one who consumed the least alcohol.

"What assures you that I didn't drink much more when I went to the bathroom?" Orlando said in a serious tone, as if he were angry that he was being contradicted.

Jonathan was the calmest of the trio, although everything was due to his actions, he was still slightly upset that his friends didn't mention that those damn candies had chemicals.

But at this very moment, what he was seeing was directly related to the potent drug he had consumed by a foolish mistake. Just when he was pondering if he would live to tell the tale, a strange voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

"[Welcome to the end of the world.]"

"[This is a world made up of various memories that have been imprinted from your minds. What you will find here are called gates to the underworld, and what you find behind these gates can bestow rewards and make you stronger than you ever were, but as there are rewards, there will also be consequences.]"

"[In the initial stage, everyone has only one life and ten opportunities to challenge a gate that leads to the underworld. Of course, it will be the gate that you decide whether you live or die. Each of the gates is designed for a person to survive by putting in a little effort, but there will be gates where there will be more than one participant, and what you will do is survive together or separately if you prefer.]"

"The higher the difficulty of the chosen gate, the richer the rewards obtained. After completing the ten challenges of the gates to the underworld, some very valuable rewards will be granted, and above all, a wish."

"Listen and pay close attention. You must remember that there are different gates to the underworld, and each of them leads to a world extracted from your memories. Every time you challenge a gate on your own, the awakening of your life will increase by 10%. However, due to the diversity of the gates of the underworld, you can only choose one type of them."

"[Next, the journey that will dictate whether you live or die will begin now.]"

After hearing those words, right before his eyes, a holographic panel appeared with properties describing each user. Jonathan was hallucinating, but even under a certain influence, he just smiled.

"[... Name: Jonathan Hale

Nickname: Not established

Participant number: 2907

Location: Area A

Strength level: Average adult male

Speed level: Talent Grade C

Agility level: Talent Grade C

Supernatural abilities: 1

Ability 1: Cold Heart

...]"

"Orlando, I'm going to kill you when we get out of this damn illusion..." Jonathan didn't panic. Now that he felt a bit more sober, all he did was look at that holographic panel that related him to a game with a simple design.

"Wait, do you think this situation is my fault?" Orlando immediately filled with fury. If they were in this situation, it was because of each one of them since they were adults enough to make their own decisions.

Alex, who was the most worried, murmured, "Are you sure we're under the effects of drugs? More people are appearing in the background..."

"Do you think we're in some kind of simulation? Because at some point in your life, stop being such a geek, don't relate everything to those animes." Jonathan uttered cold words to calm down that stupid idea in his friend's head.

Olando also entered concentration mode, looked around, and muttered, "Let's stop panicking. I had felt that drug they tried before, and it's nothing like what we're feeling now."

Jonathan felt like an idiot. Orlando was the typical guy who went from party to party, and Alex, on the other hand, was the type to do whatever was most interesting. Unlike his friends, he had responsibilities, so he didn't follow them in most of their adventures. Still, they were his friends, and these quarrels were normal among them.

Whenever a friend tells what made them feel bad, things can be resolved and move on, forgetting what once bothered them faster than they imagine.

But at this moment, before they try to say something, a figure wrapped in a suit walked in front of them, and none knew when it appeared.

"Hello, my lords, I am your butler who will guide you and answer each of your questions. If you have any questions for which you want an answer, do not forget to ask. Also, please, establish your nicknames."

"Is there any question?"

Looking at the butler, who was an old man with completely pale skin, red eyes, and pointed ears. But what drew most attention to this old man was the more oppressive aura than many had ever felt.

"Damn, this is a role-playing game..." Alex completely forgot that they were in an unknown place, and that hidden excitement blossomed with force.

Orlando felt like the world was turning upside down. He looked at the old man and muttered, "Guys, we definitely aren't under the influence of drugs."

As for the nicknames... For people who have difficulty coming up with nicknames, this is a particular headache.

"My nickname will be Sister Fucker 3000!" Alex said, totally focused. After seeing the old man with pointed ears, that idea that they were in another place completely slipped his mind.

"I'll call myself Green Hummingbird..." Orlando immediately said his nickname after being seen harshly by the elderly.

Jonathan looked at this and whispered, "I should just call myself Jonathan..."

"The nickname is established. May I ask my masters if they have any questions?"

Based on the things that had just happened, Jonathan and all the others, just for the sake of their peace of mind, related this to simply a shared hallucination. But as the minutes passed, Jonathan felt as if his whole world felt more alive than before.

Based on what he had just heard, there were a series of gates to hell, the underworld, or whatever they were pulled from the minds of all the people present. In this case, he should more or less know which worlds they were directed to.

Orlando was a video game fanatic, Alex an anime enthusiast, and Jonathan a general TV series lover. There was nothing else related to worlds in their heads, so the old man probably referred to that. In this game, they would have to choose an appropriate gate, after all, what follows is related to the type of gate they chose first. However, depending on the difficulty of the gate, there is a maximum score that can probably be obtained.

In games and TV series, powers and abilities are often classified by letters. Considering everything else, they might even have to immerse themselves in some kind of role if the hallucination continues.

"One question, what happens if we die at one of the gates?" Alex asked, slightly interested in this kind of situation that he had dreamed about over and over again.

"Your real death, of course. You have only one chance, so choose wisely." The butler replied with a subtle smile of coldness.

"If you are smart, the worlds you will travel to are related to the memories that entered your mind. Movies, TV series, video games, books, and animated series are considered. If you cannot challenge the story into which you will immerse, you will all die."

"In the gates, in addition to the main mission and side missions, there are also secret missions, and only by completing the hidden missions can the highest rating be achieved."

"At the same time, after each gate is completed, there will be a seven-day rest period. After this time, the next test must be taken, and this will continue until you overcome the ten gates or else die."

"This is incredible; finally, I could be a soldier with the wings of freedom..." Alex murmured as he adjusted his glasses with much excitement.

Orlando looked at Alex as if he were an idiot and muttered, "Alex, this is not a dream..."

Jonathan asked a question that worried him more, and it was also a very critical question for this kind of real dream. That is if the characters from the gates can be brought out. If so, it means that the people in the dungeon are all real people who can be considered to form a great team. If not, that would be boring.

Anything you do at the gate has nothing to do with reality, and those efforts to save people would be just unnecessary energy expenditure.

The final answer finally reassured Jonathan. After successfully completing ten gates, points can be used to remove characters from the gates. And the characters from the gates are unique; when someone is taken from their respective universes, the gate will be completely destroyed, and reality cannot be challenged again.

Jonathan was a very smart man; normally in his lucid dreams, what he did was experience things he couldn't in the real world and sometimes placed himself in special situations where he depended entirely on his qualities to survive.

Now that he was in something similar, of course, he wouldn't miss the opportunity to at least have a bit of fun. He would fix things once he woke up, so there was no point in staying bitter.

The idea of dying in a dream is nothing out of the ordinary; it was common for him to die at the hands of his father for absurd reasons, and although it was impossible to happen in real life, it still happens in dreams.