1 C - 1: The Start

[A/N: I guess this is happening once again. If you are wondering what happened and why this has taken so long, my answer is simple. Life. Work has been exhausting, and I came out to my family, a friend died, I was dumped, I had suicidal thoughts, I got a boyfriend...and much more. Life has been mostly bleak for a while, with the deep void encroaching deeper into my mind. Simply put, Earth, Society, sucks. Inflation is on the rise, with wages stagnant and life becoming harder for the average working man or woman. Covid arose, Inflation continues to rise, and Anime has mostly been cliche pieces of garbage, with most following the same garbage isekai troupe. Novels are also slowly losing their appeal, and I barely hop on Webnovel anymore because it's just turning into hot garbage. I remember the days when Ads didn't exist on this site, and countless unique and original fan fiction arose along with translated masterpieces frequently appearing on the novel section of Webnovel. I remember when Webnovel wasn't a greedy app that wanted to suck a person of all their money. Everything is just getting more challenging. America is going to shit, and I feel like it isn't going to get any better. It doesn't help that it feels like the world is eventually going to hit the Doomsday and End of Times scenario with how the monkey brains are controlling the superpowers of the world. Sigh...that's enough of me ranting. Perhaps I have given some of you something to think of. If not, so be it. You'll eventually see what I see with your own eyes. And for those thinking I'm old, I'm not even 19 yet. Enjoy the Novel. I know I could use the distraction from our bleak and decrepit world that's on its last legs and the bleak future that's ahead]

Deep within the City of New York lies a cozy shop with a sign that reads 'New World Cafe,' however, while this shop looks cozy and friendly, the surroundings would suggest otherwise.

Buildings were covered in graffiti, and Gangs and the homeless littered the street. Crime seemed to be committed openly in the area, and no one seemed to care.

This very shop appeared overnight several days ago, and several Gangs have been monitoring the store, wary of who would be crazy enough to open a shop in such a dangerous neighborhood, wondering if it would be a good place to earn a quick buck.

However, in these several days where they have watched over the shop, not one person has entered or left the place other than a desperate man hoping to earn a few dollars that came out as quickly as he went in, and asking the man questions didn't offer any insight into what lay within the store due to the mad rambling of the man who was clearly not right in the head.

What inside the store scared the man to such a point?

Especially when the man was witnessed to be completely normal, if not nervous, before going in?

Something...not human.

But, soon enough, yet another person approached the store, a young man being pushed toward the store while a group of scary-looking men watched.

This young man, clearly a new member of the gang, slowly approached the dark-tinted sliding glass doors of the 'Cafe.'

Being unable to see through the glass of the Cafe, the young man had no idea what to expect when stepping closer and triggering the door.

'Swoosh.'

As the doors slid open, the Young man took a deep breath and stepped forward to get a clearer view of the dimly lit store.

It was a small store, with a line of computers lining both sides of the wall, and on the opposite side of the door lay a counter with several display cases.

However, what floated, yes, floated, behind the counter made the young man freeze in his tracks.

(Image here)

Floating behind the desk was a strange being made from energy with strange slabs of material acting as either armor or 'skin' for the creature.

Noticing the young man, the creature's 'head' shifted in its direction as if looking at the young man.

"Welcome to the New World Cafe. Would you like to hear about our services and unique products?" An ethereal and ancient voice echoed out from the being.

...

(Three Days Ago, New World Cafe)

Floating within the cafe behind the counter was an ex-human turned something else named Zeref.

Zeref didn't know how he got here, why he is no longer human, or why there is now a floating screen that gives Zeref quests with rewards and a shop in which he can purchase quite a few things.

What Zeref did know was that this was his second chance at life, one where he could actually relax and perhaps get a chance to enjoy life this time around.

And, to get Zeref started on his journey, the system that is attached to him has gifted him this cafe, his new body, and a 'starter pack.'

The starter pack consisted of three info packs and a 'Power' that would help him protect his shop from troublemakers.

The info packs were, 'Fallout Game Series Informational Package,' 'Project Zomboid Informational Package,' and 'The Infamous Game Series Informational Package.'

When he first arrived here, the new form combined with all the information that was uploaded directly into his mind, Zeref had himself quite the disorienting arrival.

And as for the power?

'Envoy of the Void'

A sort of magic that gifted Zeref with quite a few spells, some of which were quite concerning based on the names of the spells.

Focusing back on the other three gifts, Zeref found that the system had a special feature that would greatly help him use the three informational gifts.

Basically, Zeref, at any point in time could enter a mental realm of sorts where he could create and shape games, media, and more with just his mind and use the media in his store.

With the information he was given, he would be able to completely recreate the Fallout Game Series, Infamous Game Series, and the Project Zomboid Game in the mental realm.

Through the Mental Realm, he would be able to truly bring the games to life, allowing players to play the games through the Virtual Reality Computers in the store, experiencing the life of the protagonist or a new character within these Worlds.

As Zeref planned and went over how he would run his store, he came up with an idea, an incentive for people to enter these worlds. The incentive? He simply called them Credits.

Zeref decided Credits could be earned in various ways, through achievements, Challenges, and more by playing the games.

Achievements could be something as simple as completing the game, changing the world for the good or bad, and even surviving for one hundred days.

And what would the credits be used for? Purchasing things from his shop with Credits as opposed to purchasing them with cash.

Such as a stimpack, a medical item from the world of Fallout that could seemingly heal a person on the brink of death, or even a Conduit Awakening Serum, which would allow a person to awaken their own power, and yes, this item did exist in the system's store.

As for the other services inside the Cafe, Zeref would charge only US Dollars unless he decides to change it in the future.

With great excitement, Zeref entered the Mental Realm and began floating in the air behind the counter without even realizing it.

And while his body remained in the store, he found his consciousness in a void of endless white.

Instinctually waving his hand, his imagination came to alive as the white void warped and changed into an ever-changing landscape that went from the void to a strange space station covered in strange growth where a malnourished man seemed to be in a constant dream loop before awakening in horror and panic and passing out after seeing a strange creature that occupied the station and repeating the cycle(Love Death + Robots), to a massive mountain where a dragon could be seen flying around the peak with a monastery near the peak(Skyrim), to a city and world broken from nuclear war in a city of rubble where many monsters and figures of darkness lurked and stalked (Metro).

With each world seemingly taking up space within this infinite landscape, Zeref had to focus and wipe away the other landscapes that got in the way.

Slowly the other landscapes and imaginative horrors that came from a once-human mind disappeared, leaving Zeref with his options.

His options were the three games in which he now knows the entirety or taking his chances and trying to create something himself.

But, with his limited time frame, he decided that he would rather just recreate the games he got from the system, now which of them he did not decide on.

He could go with Project Zomboid, but it was too simple in how it worked, with the main goal of the game being to 'Survive.'

It was better if he went with a game that would allow the players to experience much more, such as the other two games.

What Zeref was looking for was impression, and the game he believed would impact players the most, was Fallout, at least over Infamous.

A world ravaged by nuclear fire and brought to its knees by humanity, leaving very few embers behind to restart civilization in the wasteland.

A world where futuristic technology such as Plasma and Energy based weapons, Robots that had the appearance of man, medicine in realms that far surpass our own, and technology that could only be considered hypothetical or impossible existed in abundance across the Wasteland, either in Pre-War Ruins, in the hands of remnants that held values of the old government, and so much more.

Fallout was a world filled with Strife, horror, and the common man just trying to live day by day and survive the horrors that inhabit the wastes and ruins of the old world.

With great focus, the world rose around him.

He instinctually knew how everything was supposed to be, and the world changed to fit what he imagined.

Hours passed as Zeref created the landscape of Fallout 1, creating the Vaults, towns, and ruins of the Fallout World.

Zeref continued.

Soon enough, the lands of Fallout 1 were created and were soon to be populated by people, animals, mutants, and more.

While Zeref did find life difficult to create at this start, he just had to let the imagination do most of the work, allowing the NPCs of the Wasteland to feel, think, and experience the world but still follow the timeline without it breaking.

Without even realizing it, two days passed as he worked nonstop inside the mental realm to recreate the first Fallout game to the best of his ability. With all but some minor details done, Zeref was almost completely done with recreating the game.

Suddenly though, Zeref heard a chime come from outside the mental realm, followed by a voice.

"This is a robbery. Give me all your money!"