I stood up to see what the hell that damn noise was that kept getting louder and louder by the minute. Opening the door from my room I walked a bit and saw some other people coming to see what it was all about.

Turning the corner into the yard, I was greeted with the strangest sight I had ever seen before.

The sound I was hearing before was that of a fucking airplane crashing down upon the ground, more specifically the pension's house. As it descended time appeared to slow down and I could see the details of my situation more accurately. The airplane was too big for me to properly dodge with how close it was, and combining with that fact it was also on fire and would probably explode once it hit the ground. The sound was deafening and around me I could see my fellow neighbors trying to run, but they were practically stopped mid motion.

While the world was going at a crawl the airplane, by contrast, was coming down at a reasonable speed, almost hitting me right in my face. I only had time to think a few words before my world exploded in pain. It lasted only an instant, then complete nothingness.

~~O~~

I woke up with a start, thinking what I saw was some elaborate dream. However, I could feel something gripping my torso. Looking there, I found some bandages. Checking myself over revealed I was completely wrapped up in the things. Now that I was more awake I could see my surroundings were different from my own room.

It was a medium sized room, probably 4x5 meters in area compared with the 1.5x2.5 room I usually slept in. There was nobody else here and the decorations seemed old fashioned, resembling an old colonial-style room I visited once when I was a kid.

Standing up I started taking off the bandages over my arm to scratch at an itch, but found only unmarred skin underneath. Now that I noticed it I could feel I was fine aside from the itching. Removing my bandages I soon found out that nothing was wrong with me. I was in perfect health.

How long I was out?

I was about to go look for someone else when my eye caught sight of something out of place in an old style room like this one. On the drawer at the side of my bed, there was a modern smartphone and a single, strikingly bright blue six sided die at the side of it.

Curiosity peaking, I checked the phone and found no reception and opening it was discovered there wasn't even a chip. Shrugging I then took the die so I could admire its composition. A six-faced blue die that, looking closely, I could almost see tiny white dots inside its six-faced blue surface.

I tossed the die on the drawer to see how it rolled. The dice landed on [1], not one of my best rolls, when suddenly there was a bright, but brief, flash coming from the die. Looking down at it I saw it had become a striking red color.

The cellphone rang, and while I wondered how it had rang without a chip I saw there was one text message.

'Congratulations! You are now a dicer.'

'(-.^)'

I grabbed the phone and checked again to see if I didn't miss seeing the chip on my previous look. Nope, still not there. Then, how did I get a message?

Also, Dicer? The hell is that? What kind of promotion has that name? It didn't even properly finish the ad, giving me congratulations but no further information. Closing back the cellphone with its battery in place another message came.

'Hey, don't take out the cellphone battery! ]:\'

'If you do so I can't talk with you.'

I blinked once, twice, then let out a single word. "What."

Again, another message.

'Ohhh... you're going to be one of /those/ aren't you ]:\'

'Well, I guess I need to start somewhere. My name is X. What's yours?'

Now this was getting creepy. How I am getting these messages? Is this some elaborate game I turned on without knowing? Putting the cellphone in my pants' pocket, I ignored the other message it sent to me so I could concentrate on more pressing matters. Like 'where the hell I am' and 'why I am alive' being at the top of my list.

Looking around, I couldn't find anything else to wear so I decided to explore the place dressed as I was. Opening the door, I found a small corridor with a yellow wallpaper with falling leaves covering the walls, small old style lamps resembling fishes with light bulbs in their mouths brightened the place.

In the corridor there were a few more doors, all locked except for the farthest one. Opening it I was graced with a set of stairs leading to a more illuminated room, again with mostly ancient looking furniture.

"I see you are awake, yes?" I heard the sound of a melodious voice coming from downstairs, and taking a few more steps down I could see the apparent owner of the voice.

To say she was beautiful is to say that water is wet, a ridiculous understatement, especially if you consider she's absolutely my type. I felt the inside of my mouth dry, a lump forming inside my throat and certain other unmentionable things happened.

At least I was completely sure I was alive. Either that or I was sent to a hell optimized to torment me at every opportunity.

Biting on my lip to gather whatever courage I had, I told myself there was nothing to lose. After all I took an airplane to the head and lived to tell the tale. With a deep breath I resumed the descent of the stairs. "I'm better now, thanks for asking."

Once below I could see the woman better. She was slightly shorter than me with long brown hair that hit her hips, wearing a revealing short dress that hugged her curves with plenty of room to see her ample bosom.

I almost slapped myself. Stop staring! Directing my eyes to the corner of her face between her mouth and eye I managed to calm myself down. "Err, my name's Ryuan if you don't mind."

"I don't mind, Ryuan", she said my name with a coy smile. "You may call me Lucretia or 'dear', whichever you wish."

"Ah, uh, SO! What happened? Why am I in your house instead of the hospital. Or the morgue."

From somewhere on her person came a bottle of wine from which she poured herself a glass before giving me some. I graciously accepted without intention of drinking. "I found you outside on the ground, your clothes tattered and burned, so I healed you."

"I see", which meant I didn't. It certainly doesn't explain how I'm not a charred corpse. "How long was I out? I'm feeling fine and I don't see any burn marks. It's really weird."

Chuckling, she came closer to me as if to whisper some secret. "What would you say if I told you I'm a witch?"

My first instinct was to tell her she's out of her mind, but carefully thinking it out there were more than enough things that didn't make sense, like the fact I'm still alive without a single injury on my body.

There was also that die back in the room, with its entrancing blue color that somehow changed to a deep red after I inadvertently rolled. Something inside my gut, perhaps a memory, made me believe that die was really important.

"Normally I would say you're out of your mind." I started without thinking, "but somehow I don't believe you're lying or joking."

"Good answer", she said between sips, "if you implied I was a liar I would have no choice but to turn you into a frog".

Somehow the threat didn't sound so empty.

"Anyway, where am I? I can see a field from the window so we must be outside of the city. I also have to call some people before they tear their hair apart trying to find me."

"City? You must have wandered a lot then, after all I found you in front of my house. As to where that is we're in the countryside of Italy."

Suddenly I stopped. Italy?

"You're speaking Portuguese."

"And I also speak Spanish, English, French, German, Swedish, Japanese and several other languages, a few dead and dying ones too if you're interested." She said between sips.

"I can't be in Italy, I was last in Brazil!"

She paused for a minute, looking at her drink through the sunrays cast through her window before shrugging. "Someone must had a vested interest in your survival then, to bring you all the way to my doorstep."

This is, this is too surreal. I felt my head spinning and breathing was becoming hard.

"I think, I need to lay down for a while. Can I use the room I woke up in?"

"Be my guest dear." With a final wink she went back to her drink, ignoring me for the moment.

What the hell is going on?

~~O~~

Back at 'my' room I sat down thinking over what Lucretia said. Somehow I found myself on the far off shores of Italy of all places, unless my rescuer was lying. I felt that last option was very unlikely, however.

Looking at myself I also felt fine, no burn marks or caved in skulls or broken bones, not even stitch marks could be seen on my skin, and I was very thorough with the search. In fact it looked like even old scars were completely healed, leaving no mark anywhere.

Sitting down at long last, I felt something in my pants' pocket, and taking it out I remembered the messages I received.

Deciding there was nothing better to do, I checked the smartphone. It was a new, relatively expensive version of those commonly seen on the streets, possibly being able to hold the newest generation chips for faster internet connections.

After looking at the cellphone I saw a few messages I hadn't read yet. Opening them I was graced with some strange messages.

'Hey, don't ignore me!'

'}:['

'Wait, don't put the phone in your pocket!'

'(O-O)'

Just as I finished reading the last message another one appeared immediately.

'So you stopped drooling at that woman and decided to come back to me?'

'(*-*)'

'Or are you still thinking about her large breasts?'

I blinked at the message and couldn't help but voice my thoughts out loud. "What."

As soon as I finished my eloquent exclamation another message appeared.

'Oi oi, don't break on me. Don't tell me you are one of /those/ players, are you?'

'(ノ º-º)ノ'

'Well, you almost died by "airplane to the face" but I'm sure you're fine now.'

"Wha, how do you know that?" I said out loud without thinking. Can this guy hear me? Is it through the phone? Is he watching me?

'Well, that is a GM secret. (-.^)'

'Still don't you want to hear what I have to say?'

'It's fine by me either way (¬ 3 ¬)'

"What you have to say? What do you mean?"

'Basically, to tell you what being a Dicer means'.

'So sit your big butt down and listen to the good old GM telling you the rules.'

It took a few more messages but I finally got the full story of what I was now. Basically a Dicer is someone that can use special dice they find to improve themselves in all areas of both expertise and traits. Rolling the blue dice gives ownership over them and access to the 'points' rolled in order to enhance the Dicer according a special system.

The GM, which said I should call him 'X', was kind enough to provide me with my 'character sheet' and there was only one thing I could say about it.

"I suck!" I yelled when I saw my abilities and attributes. To be honest I wasn't expecting something better, having a low opinion about myself, but having this clear, brutal honest evaluation was heartbreaking.

The GM also provides 'quests' in order to grant Dicers more dice. Aside from the reassurance that every quest he gives will be within my power to perform he didn't give me any further details.

"But why am I in Italy out of all places instead of right at my home?" I asked slash demanded of this apparently omniscient watcher.

'Hell if I know. =p''

'I don't really care about the lives of anyone before they become Dicers.'

With a sigh I thought over what this all meant. By becoming the amusement tool for X and performing the quests, I could use those dice to improve myself and give a farewell to my previous, wasteful life. I would finally have power, and with power, agency.

This gave me hope, and a determination I was lacking all those years. Something inside me sparked, and right then and there I decided to change.

I would grab as much Dice as I could, no matter what!

"So X, what kind of quests do you have for me?"

'Already? (oO)'

'Don't you want to clean up your head first or something?'

"I'm already seriously thinking that this situation, which is beyond imagination, is real instead of me being out of my medication and that doesn't count the fact I survived death by airplane crash while on land. At this point I plan to go full throttle on this."

'Alright then, I will see what I can give to you.'

'Get back to you in a second.'

With this I put the phone back in my pocket and tried to find some more clothes for me. There wasn't anything else besides the drawer at the side of my room, and I had no other clothing. I also had no money, no documents, and if I'm in the same world as I was originally (you never know), all my documents where burned down so I couldn't even prove I exist!

I had to grit my teeth and take a deep breath before going back to the main room in order to beg for some more help from my rescuer. Or maybe not, while I don't have any documentation to prove I'm some kind of illegal immigrant, I also didn't have any proof I wasn't a native!

Now that's some insane troll logic right there. Maybe I really need help.

As I was about to put my hand on the doorknob I received a new message.

'Feel the boobs of the woman in the next room. Quest reward: 5 dice.'

'Accept quest? Y/N'

I accepted the quest without thinking, and just as I reread the quest my face heated up.

Goddamn it!

Taking a deep breath to calm myself I decided to just go along with it for now. Maybe I will luck out and have her passed out on the bed. No, no, that might actually end up worse for entirely different reasons!

Just opening the door I found the woman from before, Lucretia, still sipping at her wine. There were another two bottles laying empty on the floor and she was still going strong.

Quickly a harebrained scheme formed in my head, my face still red, but I felt I need to do this as the first step of my new life. Didn't I swear before to acquire dice at all costs, to be different, to finally gain agency?

How could I go back on my decision not even a whole minute later? It's so pathetic I couldn't even move. Actually I couldn't move because I had cold feet, but it's the thought that counts.

And here I go again to the excuses I always used to perform. Not this time, this time I'm going along with it. Even if the consequences will damn me later it's better than standing still doing nothing!

Walking down the stairs slowly I felt my heartbeat spike until I could feel it in my throat. Walking slowly to her side I enacted my master plan!

"Hey, do y-" and with this half-word I did my best to 'accidentally' fall. Later I would agree it was the least accidental looking trip I ever made, but the trip itself was genuine so I could mask it during the heat of the moment.

While tripping I threw my arms forwards, and for a single instant I could feel the mounts of my prize. I also saw her spilling most of her wine on my head, but that was alright in my book. So long as I managed to get out of this situation.

From my prone position I looked up, but before I could see anything I felt my neck being held by an oddly soft stone grip.

"Oh my, is the inside of my dress that fascinating to you?"

I didn't understand what she was saying and looked up, and what I saw…

"Gah!" I tried to shake myself away but she was holding me in a iron grip making me unable to move, coincidentally also unable to properly breathe. It was when I felt a soft mount that the deadly grip loosened enough for me to stand up.

It felt like a long moment when I realized the position I was in. My right hand grabbing her breast while her skirt was upwards to show everyone the same thing I saw. My mind grinded to a halt and I was about to apologize when I accidentally tripped on the bottle of wine on the ground, hitting my back on the table and somehow kicking myself backwards to land face first on the carpet.

Then I remembered what I just did.

Standing up with(?) lightning reflexes I took a few steps back, not really believing what I did. "I, ah, I mean…"

I did the only thing available to me at the time.

I cowardly ran away upstairs to the protests of my host.

Back at the room I took several deep calming breaths of dubious utility before I took out the phone. "I did the damn quest, now where's the dice?"

'Are you sure? It felt more like a "grab" than a feel to me.'

'But whatever, I'm feeling magnanimous today. Aren't I the best GM ever?'

With this last message a bright flash appeared on the ground, and five blue dice where there for me to pick up. I took no time in crouching and rolling them out to claim ownership of them.

A 28, what a lucky haul! Nice!

Just as I was about to sigh in relief I heard a few light knocks outside. "Ryuan dear, could you come outside for a moment?"

A chill ran through my spine, the tone sending warning signals all over myself.

Another message came.

'Take your punishment like a man. Quest reward 1 dice.'

'Bonus dice: get out smelling like roses. Bonus reward 1 dice.'

'Accept Quest? Y/N'

I wasn't sure if I wanted to murder X or thank him when I accepted that last quest.

~~O~~

Sitting on the couch I felt like a cow before the slaughter. I was already seasoned with some red wine!

"So, care to explain to me why some of my anti-communication wards keep pinging an interference?"

I blinked once, not really understanding the request before remembering she'd told me she's a witch. Considering I decided to call the dice real and run along with it then I also should go along with her claims to be a witch. With that in mind it becomes obvious what she's talking about.

"I'm receiving messages from someone who claims to know me more than I do myself..." With that disgustingly accurate and depressing character sheet he's certainly an expert about me. "He claimed he could help me."

She stared at me, hard, before pacing in front of me. I kept looking at the ground for various reasons, the biggest of them fear of what she wants to do with me. Once she stopped pacing came the piercing question. "Can you tell me how you are getting those messages?"

I debated internally and cursed myself for my lack of forethought, I could have simply erased the messages myself but I doubt I will have the time right now. "I'm… sworn to secrecy. I can't tell about my benefactor to outsiders."

Which was true, being part of the rules he gave me. Just as he defends the privacy of other players, whoever they are if they even exist in the world, I'm also required to defend myself on those matters.

There's also the fact I don't want to share the information of X's existence to anyone else before I can defend myself. I'm also not sure if his messages and surveillance system is tied to the smartphone I found alongside the dice, so the less I expose him the better.

"If that's the case I see no other choice but kick you out of here, you're already fine after all."

At this I froze. Going away out into Italy without the means to survive, without identification and certainly without money or food, that's basically handing me a death sentence. Well, not exactly but close.

"I can show you what I used to contact him! If I can erase the messages first you can check what I'm using to talk with him."

Again with the stare, but this time I held my ground without shaking much. "Alright, show me."

I took the cellphone and quickly erased all the messages except for one that certainly came from him and was innocent enough. She briskly took the device from my hand after I was done before she started to mutter some words over the phone.

"Looks like a simple cellphone to me." She said after a while, not the least pleased. "Where did you get this?"

"It was on the side of the drawer in the room when I woke up." Again she looked at me, this time coming closer and muttering a few other words.

"No magical talent… I guess you aren't the direct source of those pings. I will ask you to stop using this cellphone if you want to remain in this house."

I nodded, looking for a means to keep the cellphone and not being thrown out at least without a meal. "If I talk with my benefactor outside your house, is that alright?"

"And why would you want to stay in the house?" She demanded icily. To be honest I had no good reason to stay here other than 'I don't want to starve off in the streets', but that's not a good enough reason for her considering we're complete strangers. Still I had to try instead of simply giving up, instead of acting like I had always been.

"To be honest I'm completely lost. I'm in another country so I'm an illegal immigrant by default, I have no documents, no money and nowhere to go. To be frank I was hoping to remain under your mercy at least for a few days, but if you wish for me to go then there's nothing I can do other than to thank you for saving me."

I'm not sure if that counts as persuasion, but I continued all the same.

"I also caused that ruckus before, and I'd rather try to rectify my blunder early."

At this she changed her expression into something resembling the playfulness of a cat. "Like feeling me up? More like a grab certainly, but all the same you came closer than many men would die for."

I gulped, not really liking where this was going on.

"If you're so interested I can give you some work around here to pay back your debt to me. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great," I replied instantly and just as immediately regretting being so eager when I saw her smile getting wider.

"Fantastic! It's been a while since I had a butler, I hope we can work together wonderfully!"

I gulped before I weighted the pros and cons of going out in the wilderness against staying, and my co- sense of self preservation talked louder this time. Hopefully I won't regret this.

Updated 2/8/2014