Logout, I answered myself, picking up my MAP. Logout now! I entered the command and waited. The world became shadowy, and the word ERROR flashed in front of me. My MAP beeped, and the jungle reappeared. I looked down at the MAP in confusion and read, "Secret Quest activated. Logout only possible after completion. Error: Inadaquate stats. Upgrade in progress."
Secret Quest? I knew that the Gods would sometimes plant devices that would take users to far off places in Ether to preform services for whatever diety they worship in return for grand rewards, but I never would have guessed that a slave collar would be a Secret Quest item... I also knew that Secret Quests were enormously dangerous, and should only be attempted by top-rank users. A newbie like me wouldn't even have a chance...
Suddenly, the world turned blue. It was as if someone had slipped a filter in front of my eyes, and for one terrified moment all I could think was I'm blue. Dabadidabadai... And then it passed, all the colors returning, the bad pop song out of my head, and I wasn't quite so horny anymore. My MAP beeped, and said, "Upgrade complete." I looked at my stats and found that I was now at level 7.
"Thanks, Gods," I smiled. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. The first thing I needed to do was find some shelter, then try to secure some form of food and get a weapon. Looking around, I realized that I was standing on a road. It was ancient with all kinds of growth and decay, but it was definitely a road. "Roads lead somewhere," I muttered, carefully stepping barefoot as I began to follow it.
