Danny's tired eyes twitched open before squinting. The sun rays were blinding, so he raised a hand to shield his sight from them.
'Argh, dammit. My eyes…'
As the blur in his vision cleared, he quickly scanned the area, taking in the familiar sight.
A black wooden wardrobe stood opposite him, with the bathroom door to the right of it. And to his right, a wall opening, also positioned at the far left of the bathroom door, led to the small dining area, kitchen area, and subsequently the entrance door.
A sense of relief washed over him as he figured he was back at his apartment.
"Wait, why am I here?!" He sat up with a startle.
How did he get back to his apartment? He could vividly remember jumping off the ledge and plummeting into the dark sea. From then on, everything went blank.
Danny palmed his face and muttered, "What the fuck is this?"
He pinched himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
Ping.
The sudden notification sound startled him a bit.
'My phone!' He thought and reached for the mobile phone lying on his bedside cupboard. Surprisingly, it wasn't damaged from last night's ordeal, but it was obvious that water had dried on the screen.
"Few minutes to twelve…" Danny checked the date and saw that he had taken the leap off the bridge just a few hours ago.
"Someone must have rescued me and brought me home. Bastard. They should mind their business next time."
With furrowed eyebrows, he unlocked his phone and read the notification. It was a new message.
'A link?'
Danny cautiously tapped the message with a blank-name sender. The link address was a mix of symbols that ended with '.zar', accompanied by a very brief description:
[What is your deepest desire?]
Domain names that ended with barely recognizable endings were mostly scams, and Danny knew, but the timing of it all was quite worrying, along with such an ominous description.
"Surely it can't be that this person rescued me just to scam me, right?"
Danny checked the contact of the sender, but it was completely blank and null—no information or phone number.
Feeling a bit chilly, Danny kept his phone down and decided to change his cold, half-dry clothes first.
As Danny took them off, he paused, recalling the events of the night prior and wincing.
"Dammit. Why am I still alive after going through all that stress?"
With a sour expression, he took off the rest of his clothes, but his briefs, and went over to the wardrobe and put on some fresh clothes, firing some expletives at the stranger who rescued him.
He had given up everything, prepared meticulously, and even executed the plan perfectly, spending over $5000 in total, only to still be… 'Sigh.'
There was nothing else to do, so Danny unhurriedly took his phone and clicked on the link.
Suddenly, the screen glitched, and right before him, a blue interface appeared mid-air.
"What the hell?!" Danny screamed and staggered backwards to the edge of his bed, but the interface followed him.
+
What is your deepest desire? Do you wish for fame, riches, power, and all the pleasures of life? Do you wish to be worshipped like a god? Do you wish to never die?
Whatever you desire is within reach if you are willing to pay the price.
Climb the pyramid of idols and become the God Idol.
Do you wish to join Idol Quest?
[Yes] / [No]
+
Danny cautiously raised his hand and put it through the interface, but it simply passed through.
His mind was frozen.
"Am I dreaming?" he thought aloud, a frightened smile finding its way to his lips unbeknownst to him.
Danny moved his thumb to the left side of the game-like interface, pondered for a few more seconds, and finally clicked 'Yes'!
Speechless, Danny watched as the interface glitched to a new form, this time a small, beautiful retro-design female cartoon character with pearly skin, blue eyes, red lips, and golden curled hair donning a yellow vintage outfit.
She reminded Danny of the art style of most comics and advertisements of the previous century.
Seeing her, he didn't even realise when his mouth was wide with a grin, all that was going through his head was: 'What on earth is really happening right now? I've finally gone crazy, haven't I?'
She floated before him with sparkles all around her and, speaking in a cheerful, high-pitched, Southern-tinged voice reminiscent of the era of her design.
"Well, hello there, sugar. Let me just start by saying a big congratulations. Not everyone is given the opportunity to participate in Idol Quest. Before you start your journey, there are quite a few things you must know to help you get started."
She summoned visual guides that helped her explain better, enhancing her communicability.
"By accepting the invitation, you are now what we call an 'Irregular', the ninth-class at the bottom of the pyramid. To climb up, you will need to rank first-place on your leaderboard chart and earn a V-ticket, which permits you entry to the next Advancement Test. In the test, you will be pitted against other Irregulars, and only the winners will go to the next class.
"In Idol Quest, 'V-coins' are the main kicker. You earn them by completing daily trials and can then be used to invest in your attributes, upgrade your talents, purchase items from the shop, and trade with other Irregulars on the marketplace." She drew closer to Danny's face and made a whispering gesture. "They also have another use, but that I can't say for now. Hmhm~, a lady has her secrets."
"That's okay. I'm a gentleman," Danny chuckled, bearing a crazy look in his eyes. He wasn't sure what was real anymore, but at this point, he didn't even care since it amused him so much.
The beautiful cartoon lady continued,
"With all that said, here is still more for you to know, so start by making sure to read the Rule Book. If you don't understand anything I just said, don't worry, Sugar, everything is quite intuitive.
"And remember, all your desires are within reach if you are willing to pay the price. So come and prove how deep your desire runs."
Suddenly, her voice fell flat and darkened as she suddenly added, "The Admins see all and know all."
Eerily reverting to her cheerfulness almost instantly, she concluded, "Once again, welcome to Idol Quest, you're gonna have a blast!"
* * *