Realistic or Modern Quest to fame

[Shani_Miyano]

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age: ???

gender: ???

location: ???

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PERSONALITY

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HISTORY

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code by hoseok​

Pain. A dull throbbing drumbeat that torments your head in a steady rythm. The smell of cold pizza and unwashed clothes.

"..."

The protagonist of our story silently regrets the choices made the night prior, whatever those choices might have been. It is safe to say however that alcohol was involved.

"..."

The tired eyes of the protagonist try to make make out where exactly they woke up.

A familiar scene starts to become visible. It's the blurry walls adjacent to the couch our protagonist is sleeping on. A door that has been left open reveals a sink and bathroom mirror.

After repeatedly blinking the blurry film over their eyes disappears and more details can be spotted. An open kitch area a bit to the left, a calendar hanging on the wall, and warm light flooding the room.

It's a familiar scene.

Yet the protagonist feels uneasy. It's not just the headache torturing them, or their empty stomach grumbling and begging for food.

Something about this familiar scene feels wrong.

The protagonist's thought process is slow, and they can't seem to grasp what exactly it is that feels off.

They only know that they won't find out what's wrong if they keep laying on the couch.

What will the protagonist do?

[ 1 ] Find an aspirin to get rid of the headache
[ 2 ] Find the cold pizza
[ 3 ] Check out ____________ (user prompt)

 

[Derpy Dev]

3. Let's look at the calendar, maybe we can tell if the date is off?

 

[Shani_Miyano]

3. Let's look at the calendar, maybe we can tell if the date is off?

With slow feet the protagonist carries their body over to the calendar, expecting it to show the date 2nd of april.
The memories slowly return - a friend had double-pranked them by first informing them that they had won ten crates of beer (a rather suspicious statement when made on the 1st of april),
and then actually delivered ten bottles of wine. Which also explained the splitting headache.

However after closer examination something is definitely off.

"2007?"

The year displayed on the calender is off by a whole decade!!?

>_______________________ (userprompt)

 

[IctoraPost]

Must be another prank. In the meantime, go find some asprin.

 

[Derpy Dev]

Must be another prank. In the meantime, go find some asprin.

Assuming that falling asleep for ten years is a prank, the protagonist goes to get aspirin.

 

[Shani_Miyano]

Must be another prank. In the meantime, go find some asprin.

After staring at the calendar for a bit, our protagonist decides that this must've been a prank that they missed yesterday. As the headache still persists, aspirin
seems a lot more important than solving this mystery.

Assuming that falling asleep for ten years is a prank, the protagonist goes to get aspirin.

"He probably wanted me to think that I've fallen asleep for ten years" they muttered.
A statement that they most likely would not have made, if they had actually fallen asleep for ten years - seeing that a non-sleep deprived mind would've noticed
that the difference between 2017 and 2007 could only be accounted for by some sort of time travel shenanigans, rather than a coma.
But alas, our protagonist hadn't slept very much, and thus didn't notice that assuming the prank wanted them to think they had fallen asleep was a rather illogical conclusion.

But they would discover the next mystery before they even managed to find the aspirin in the medicine cabinet behind their bathroom mirror.

Because before they could even open the bathroom mirror, they discovered their own reflection:

[ 1 ] The reflection of a young man
[ 2 ] The reflection of a young woman

 

[Tardy Grade]

[ 1 ] The reflection of a young man

(Also digging you style here too)

 

[Shani_Miyano]

[ 1 ] The reflection of a young man

The reflection of a young man. A young man with a very bad case of bed-hair and rings under his eyes.

This young man looks at the reflection in confusion, unsure what he's seeing. It definitely is his own face, but there's something that is definitely wrong about it.

To be more precise: It's not the reflection he was expecting.

This is the reflection he was expecting. A beard that he had been wearing this way for several years now, a shirt as opposed to a graphical t-shirt, kempt hair
and rings under his eyes that weren't caused by alcohol and bad sleep, but insomnia and clinical depression from a life full of wasted potential.

"What the fuck...?"
Uncertain about what is going on, the young man grabs a few strands of his unruly hair. Why was he back in his old body? Why did the calendar show 2007 as the year?
When was the last time he visited a hairdresser?
As one question after the other flooded his mind, the search for aspirin became of less and less importance to him.

Just what the hell was going on?

>_______________________ (userprompt)

 

[Tardy Grade]

"Run to the window and open it. Look outside and see if anything is out of place."

 

[Derpy Dev]

"Run to the window and open it. Look outside and see if anything is out of place."

That seems like a good idea.

 

[Shani_Miyano]

"Run to the window and open it. Look outside and see if anything is out of place."

That seems like a good idea.

Our protagonist decides that now is the perfect time to inspect his surroundings for more clues. Is he still dreaming? Just what exactly changed? Did he actually travel back in time?
If so, did only he change, or even his surroundings?
There were so many questions that needed to be answers, and yet so few answers available.
Or as the young man eloquently put it:

"whatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhat"

"whatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhatwhat..."

"..."

"WHAT?"

A single glance out of the window is enough to confirm his suspicions. Outside the small roundabout had reappeared, which had been replaced with a normal street
after the guys from the bureau for infrastructure became annoyed with the constant complaints about people simply driving straight over the traffic island in the middle.
This was definitely not good.

[ 1 ] Protagonist: Flip the fuck out.
[ 2 ] Protagonist: Calm the fuck down.
[ 3 ] Protagonist: Conveniently mention your name, so the author doesn't have to call you 'protagonist' all the time.
[ 4 ] >_____________________

 

[Derpy Dev]

I say both 1 and 2, then think back and see if anything important was going on in the protagonist's life back then that is important to mention.

Oh, and we do need a name for this guy. How about Raul Singleton?

 

[IctoraPost]

This could've been an alcohol-induced delusion. Or maybe you're mentally sick and had just hallucinated the past ten years of your life. Or maybe this was all some elaborate prank that involved plastic surgery and city renovations.

Better check if that cold pizza is still there.

 

[Tardy Grade]

If my Roll is higher than 14 I'd like to endorse the name 'Marty McDonald'.

 

[Shani_Miyano]

If my Roll is higher than 14 I'd like to endorse the name 'Marty McDonald'.

Oh, and we do need a name for this guy. How about Raul Singleton?

I say both 1...

This is madness! Our young protagonist, who happens to be called neither Raul Singleton nor Marty McDonald, but actually goes by the name of Paul Scrivens, is about to fly off the fucking handle...

and 2

This could've been an alcohol-induced delusion. Or maybe you're mentally sick and had just hallucinated the past ten years of your life. Or maybe this was all some elaborate prank that involved plastic surgery and city renovations.

...when he realizes that being angry would accomplish exactly absolutely nothing.
It really doesn't matter all that much whether he somehow ended up in the past, is trapped inside an elaborate prank, or simlpy hallucinated about the last 10 years because of too much alcohol.
There is one thing however that he can do something about:

His hunger.

Better check if that cold pizza is still there.

"Oh thank you past-Paul, for being such a generous person and leaving a slice of pizza for present-Paul".

"Would you look at this beauty"

And as Paul wolfs down the last slice of pizza, his mind begins to wander, and he starts to remember some of the things from the future.

[ 1 ] Paul: Have vietnam flashbacks
[ 2 ] Paul: Remember the good things
[ 3 ] >_____________________

 

[Tardy Grade]

3. That last slice of pizza was magic shroomed and the trippy dream vision begins :V

 

[Derpy Dev]

1. I have a feeling the Vietnam thing is important... just a guess.

 

[IctoraPost]

2. Need something to offset all the madness...

 

[Shani_Miyano]

3. That last slice of pizza was magic shroomed and the trippy dream vision begins :V

No! Why would there be magic shrooms on his pizza. Paul is an upstanding member of society, and just like the other upstanding members of society, he doesn't use narcotics, hallucinogens or other illegal drugs. Remember kids: Drugs are bad, m'kay?

1. I have a feeling the Vietnam thing is important... just a guess.

Suddenly the memories come flooding in. A dark room. Tired eyes looking at at the only source of light, a computer monitor. Insomnia. Dread.

His fingers tremble as he moves towards the mouse. He hates this mouse. He hates this computer. He hates this life.

He doesn't want to do this anymore, but he knows no alternative. He no longer pushes forward because he thinks he will reach the goal, not because of some delusion of hope, but because the daily repetition is the only thing between him and the abyss.

He has repeated this movement so often that he completes it on autopilot. The unexpected pop-up jerks him out of his thoughts, but soon he continues. It's not the first time has seen the message.

All the new jobs were checked, his CV sent to all of them. His eyelids get heavy. He's tired, so tired.

A different site, similar procedure. Check openings, send application, delete all the rejections. Many don't even bother with a polite refusal and simply don't answer to his application at all.

It's so hard to keep on going. When will it stop. He so desperately wants to stop, but he knows he can't, he knows he mustn't.

He knows if he stops now, he won't find the strength to start again.

He's tired.

He just wants to close his eyes.

Just wants to sleep.

To embrace the black.

2. Need something to offset all the madness...

But where there is shadow...

...there must be light.

He may receive rejection after rejection every single night...

...but that only makes those other moments...

...so much more important.

>__________________________

 

[Derpy Dev]

Hmm... okay, the plot thickens.

I don't know what to do in this room other than look for clues about how he got transported back 10 years, so... anyone else have an idea?

 

[Shani_Miyano]

If you can't think of anything on this update, don't worry too much, I'll simply start accelerating things into the proper direction.

 

[Tardy Grade]

Nyugen trolls his page and begins to try and control his creativity by criticizing content :V

 

[IctoraPost]

So the play button in the title does play a role here. Nice.
Go find a computer. Getting information is probably the best thing to do now.

 

[Derpy Dev]

So the play button in the title does play a role here. Nice.
Go find a computer. Getting information is probably the best thing to do now.

I didn't notice that! That's awesome!

Also, yeah, we should do that.

 

[Shani_Miyano]

(I didn't have as much time today, so the update will be a bit shorter - also I didn't completely fulfill 'get on the computer to find information' yet, so next update I'll finish that suggestion before starting on any new ones)

Nyugen trolls his page and begins to try and control his creativity by criticizing content :V

Too bad! It looks like the flashback is already over, and Paul is back in the present. In the past? Whatever, this unimportant side character can't bother him anymore.

Go find a computer. Getting information is probably the best thing to do now.

Also, yeah, we should do that.

Before the flashback has even properly ended, Paul is already on the move - there is no time to be wasted!

Soon he reaches his room, ready to start surfing through the internets. There's just one small problem...