For me to find out

"These things are true as the world takes form...

...A man awake on a kitchen floor...

...beneath there, the cellar lies...

...and further beyond something died."

A voice woke me up. It sounds exactly like mine and it mentions something that died beneath, maybe it is the voice of that reflection I saw previously who claim to be the keeper... must be him.

As I woke up and my eye opened what I saw is a wooden patterned ceiling. A lone ceiling lamp with a flowery pattern lights a room with its yellowish tint light. I am currently on the floor and see that to my left is a black iron old-looking gas stove and to my right is a table, a dining table. The cold wooden floor behind my back prompts me to get up from the floor, well at least this time I didn't wake up while face down on the dirt ground.

Standing upright I found myself in a small kitchen with two doors and a window inside. One door is directly opposite the iron stove while the other is on the other wall to the left. The window is on the same side of the stove but slightly to the right of it above the sink counter. In the middle of the room is as mentioned before a dining table with a flower vase decorating it. A beautiful lotus in a vase...

I back myself off from the dining table recalling a shocking scene of a certain giant lotus that previously swallowed me whole. Luckily though that it is just a nightmarish sight in the visual category as I didn't actually feel a thing while being swallowed whole that time.

"Where is this place?" damn another unknown place. I have no clue what place this is so I try looking out the window. The outside is dark so I guess that it is nighttime.

What I see outside is an empty lot cover by snow and to the side, I can see a light from a tall post light illuminating the cobble street and some cobble houses in a Victorian style. On the lot stand a few trees. With the red shade of leave and with the leaf shape like a maple.

"Is that a Red maple? never seen one personally before what a soothing sight it is." Well, I just didn't travel much so the chance for me to see nature wonder is not quite high. As I scan the place outside I am still not quite sure what place I am in.

Standing here watching the scenery outside I have just realized the reflection of myself on the window that I use to see the outside. The same reflection as I have seen before a pale clean looking man with purple hair and wearing a purple shade suit. But his eye pupil shines in a mixed shade color... He is The Keeper.

"Care to explain the situation?" I ask while shaking a little bit not quite sure if it is from the excitement of a curious situation or from fear of seeing him once more and didn't know if he is harmful or not.

"That is the thing you have to find out yourself Sir. Arostier." So he is still around me huh... well at least he is making himself known to me.

"Anything you can tell me Mr.Keeper?" hearing me he just give a small smile and repeat the same phrase as before

"That is the thing you have to find out yourself Sir. Arostier." but this time he didn't just give me an empty word. He reaches his right arm out of the window stopping an inch away from my face. As he opens and shows his palm and in there are two ten-face dice. As he also repeats once more. "For you to find out"

I raise my hand and receive the dice. His manifest hand reflection disappears as both ten-side dice fall into my hand. The dice are real as I can feel its cold and smooth texture it is not heavy just like any of my old dice that I used to have before I found myself at the previous pond.

"So you can also make things appear Mr.Keeper?" He nods well duh... I did state something that just happen. The question now that I should ask is what is the meaning of the dice?

"What is this dice for?"

"You roll it" Well I should have seen it coming...

"Roll for what?" I ask again with a tinge of annoyance in my voice.

"To see how much you find" The reflection said and didn't clarify any further. He beckons me urging me to try it out. So I did.

*Crack crack* A sound of two dice rolling atop a sink counter and what number show are as follow.

The two dice are not the same. One dice has the number "00,10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,90" while the other dice have the numbers "0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9" and the result of my dice roll this time is now "10" and "1".

The number on both dice that show up shines and began to swirl like a magical glyph floating and combines with each other and turns into a single number "11"

The keeper sees the number then he nods. He then starts to talk. but at this point, I actually have something in mind already as I found this process to be familiar to some of my hobbies.

"Normal success, Now Sir. Arostier realizes that the dice, the percentile dice are a means to accomplish a task that has an unknown outcome and at the same time infers that it system is related to your past hobby. Now that you succeed I the keeper will tick the skill of {The_Creationist} for further development."

Fck!!! I am in a Call of Cthulhu session, haven't I? All the elements are now coming together... he calling himself a keeper, or should I say the keeper of the arcane lore. And those skill systems of cause I would recognize I have run this game for my friend before.

The Keeper wink at me from the window with a silly smile.

"A shocking revelation... am I a plaything in your game kind Keeper. Why does it have to be this punishing storytelling game it gives me a bad feeling." I mean most of the player characters in this game after the story is done will either die or go insane. Finding myself here is downright a terrible fate damn it!

"Maybe it will make you feel better so I will assure you that you are not my plaything. You are special maybe more so than me. I can only tell you that this is for your own good..." Not that I truly believe your word since you didn't explain any further but I guess I will look after it for now since something also piques my interest.

"So um... What is this {The_Creationist} skill I don't believe there is such a thing in the game isn't it?"

"Roll credit *ahem* *ahem* There is a rule for custom skill in this game don't you remember?" What do you mean by 'roll credit'? and also now that I think about it, it is indeed up to the Keeper's jurisdiction for such a thing to be allowed.

"So what is this 'The Creationist' skill supposed to represent" You custom make it so tell me.

"That for you..." He stops halfway as he sees me grabbing a pan beside the sink preparing to shatter the window to pieces. Damn, you with that phrase!!! I gain nothing from it asshat.

"Stop!! don't make a commotion this story isn't for that" he said panicky but I actually just half joking to probe some reaction.

"*Ahem* Allow me to put the phrase in a different way. You can find that out after the session by asking me there at the lotus pond of reflection." In that questioning game, you say.

"Is that place like a Hub or something? I don't quite understand." really confusing here am I the only one?

"Same answer it is for you to find out" Annoying

"So how long is this session?"

"It is for you to find out" Very annoying

"Can I see my character sheet?" at least give me this necessary tool to play your game, please.

"It is... Oh, this one I can actually answer" Did you just gonna say that phrase? well at least it a different response "You can always check your status by saying the word 'Interface' to see a convenient head-up display"

Cool now we are talking so I got something kin to stuff those guys in fantasy stories got. Now this is exciting.

"Interface" I say excitingly to see a real-life HUD for myself. I always yearn for this kind of stuff who would have guessed that I get the chance to experience this?

A purple tint translucent text box appears in front of me but I can see that it is not reflecting in the reflection so I think that it only exists in my mind. On the text box read...

[System Lock.]

[Unlock condition: Going through the first session]

[Note: For you to find out]

"You betray me *sob* asshole keeper!" I cannot describe how much of an ass I feel like now. That asshole keeper now seems to be laughing out loud in the mirror but maybe he didn't want to annoy me too much, I can only see him laugh but didn't hear his voice as if he push a mute button on. But damn you look like you are having the best time in your life what a fck up sense of humor you got.