Man, I love this fic. Ian is such a complete arsehole, yet he still manages to get me to feel sorry for him...

Hopefully this will live up to the previous chapter in terms of quality...

Aw4kened

Darkness. Silence. Cold. That was all I could see. That was all I could feel. Among the quiet emptiness, however, my thoughts were a malestrom.

Where am I?

Who am I?

What's my name?

I still remember the dream I had back then in the dark, waiting impatiently to wake up. Of course, at the time I had no idea it was a dream. Fuckin' scary shit it was, too. It was when I got my first, terrifying glimpse of him.

[You are still alive. I am impressed. Human will must be stronger than I had previously thought.]

"Whaa-?" In my dream, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and blinked a coupla times to clear them. I appeared frozen in time. My desk, my computer, my crappy bedroom, all still there, but-

I don't know how to explain it. Disconnected somehow, I was. Father's obscene fat carcass filled my vision, his rippling face twisted up in rage beneath a mane of greasy hair. I could see the murderous intent in his beady eyes, framed quite effectively by the wooden splinters erupting from my broken door. All still there, but…

All still.

Nothing was moving, including my lovely self. I just couldn't. Yeah, I guess I really was frozen in time. Sounds fishy as crap saying it now, I'll admit, but the description fits. The only thing that was moving was a figure half-buried in shadows over in the dingiest corner of the room (and that's saying something, my room in general is pretty feckin' dingy). It flowed like a liquid, and I got the impression that it was cloaking itself from me, God knows why.

I strained a little, trying to move, break free, but made no progress whatsoever.

[Don't fight, please, Ian. It will only make the transition more painful.]

Rapey, much, I thought. What could have been interpreted as a mocking laugh filtered through to my ears. Made me want to grit my teeth in anger, but of course I couldn't.

What are you going to do, huh?

[Don't you worry about that. All you need to worry about is surviving.]

"What? What the hell do you mean by that?" It took me a bit to realise I had spoken out loud, and that the scene around me was no longer still. In fact, it was all moving at an alarming speed; the figure (who I was sure was the owner of the corrupted text) dissolved, I returned to reality, my father brought the heavy leather belt in his hand down on my head, and the world went dark.

Slowly, subtly, the black receded, scattering to the corners of my vision. I blinked, gazed blankly, uncomprehendingly up at a flat grey sky. A totally unfamiliar flat grey sky.

Well, shit.

The back of my neck hurt like hell, a sharp, stabbing pain that made me suspect that something had broken the skin. Sure enough, when I reached a trembling hand up to my head, my fingers came away warm and wet.

Crimson.

My whole back was wet, in fact, but not with blood. With dew. I felt as if I had been lying in the same spot, in the same position, for a very long time. But what would that mean?

I groaned. Rolled over onto my side. Let out an obscene string of curses that I won't repeat now. A light rain started to fall on my face, which I wiped away angrily.

"OK… What the actual…" The scene that met my eyes when I stood was awfully recognisable. A lush green forest landscape stretched out for a good coupla hundred metres, stocky trees swaying in the slight breeze. I could see pigs and cows peacefully going about their mundane lives to my right. To my left, a lake, glistening in the weak sunlight. It was an altogether pleasant scene, you could say, if a little drab.

Oh, yeah. And everything was made out of blocks.

Believe me, I've read enough fanfics in my sad crappy little life to know what had happened to me. Knowing is one thing, but believing, actually comprehending, is quite another.

I'm dreaming. I know it. Father probably knocked me out, and this is some fear-induced wacky-ass nightmare I'm having.

[Oh, Ian. I'm disappointed in you.]

The corrupted text appeared once again, but this time I could actually see it in the corner of my vision. I jumped at the intrusion, madly whirling round to look for a shady figure nearby, perhaps watching me through a pair of binoculars and laughing at my reactions.

[Do not worry. It is the same for everybody the first time.]

"What do you want?!" I growled angrily at nothing. Knowing my luck, there would be someone around to hear me, and come to the natural conclusion that I was insane.

[I want you to live.]

"Why? Why? Who am I to you?" Slowly, I spun in a circle, fully taking in my surroundings as I waited for a reply. The world really was an exact replica of the popular sandbox game that ruled my whole life. Clever.

Too clever, in fact. Too convenient. Things like this only happen in storybooks, for God's sake.

[Oh, go punch a tree, Ian.]

"Shut up!" Pacing up and down a little in frustration, I bit my lip in thought. Obviously, I was no longer in my bedroom, in my grotty, cramped flat. I was no longer facing down my father, a man who I couldn't hope to escape. I was…

I was…

"Fuck. Yes." Slowly, I grinned. Wasn't this what I had always wanted? What I had always daydreamed about in class, talked about with Kore? Wasn't this the impossible dream that I had always longed for?

Wasn't this my own private version of heaven?

"OH FUCK YES!" I'll admit, I even pumped a fist in the air in happiness, all dignity deserting me as childish excitement took hold. At that precise moment, I didn't care about anything that I had left behind. All my family, my school, my home life, my friends-

Wait.

"Hey you! Mysterious green text! Can I ask you a question?"

A few seconds later-

[No.]

"Tough." I grinned. "I'm going to ask anyway." There was no immediate reply, so I continued. "Is this a server then, or what? 'Cause you were talking to me on PvELords-"

[You are currently residing inside the PvELords server, Ian. Although it has now been opened to the public, there are also NPC inhabitants present.]

"Oh, OK… Wait a fuckin' second! The server's open to the public?! How long have I been here?!"

[Does it really matter?]

"Yes, it bloody matters! People don't just disappear, you know!"

[This reality is better than being dead.]

Well, I couldn't argue with that. After all, I'd rather be here than back in my room, trying desperately to keep my abusive father out.

Still, there must have been some plan, right? I had a feeling that whoever was behind the glitchy text hadn't saved me out of the goodness of their heart. Yeah. There was no way this was for my benefit alone.

"Might as well enjoy it."

I'd played far more hours on this server than I cared to admit. I knew it all; all the cheats, all the hacks, all the sneaky exploits that Leon had tried so hard to expose. Not only that, there was my vast knowledge of the actual game itself.

I would…

I would OWN this server!

I laughed, loud, slightly hysterical, fists clenching and unclenching at my sides as my mind whirled with endless, beautiful possibilities. There was no one to stop me from completely taking over this miserable chunk of land, and if it was possible for me to change servers…

I would never be put down again, never be forced to answer to anyone.

I would never age.

I would never find myself in debt.

I would never-

"I will never die!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Fuck you, father! You can't kill me now!"

The lush greenery flew past in a rush as I scrambled up to the top of a narrow outcrop, marveling at the undiminishing new strength in my legs. Before, I had been hideously unfit and out of shape, but now I had the powerful body of a toned athlete. I felt as if I could run forever, just run and leave my painful past in the dust.

Leave it all behind. That's what I tried to do.

Yeah, you could say I made quite a sight, I did. Backlit in what I fancied as a dramatic manner, my lanky hair whipping away from my face in the breeze, standing tall and gazing into the sinking sun.

"I…"

"I am…"

"I AM GOD!"

It was at that moment that a skeleton shot me in the dick.

Damn my childish immaturity. I just had to ruin that dramatic moment.

Review answers yaaaaay-

iamsolarflare- Aww, thanks! Glad you like it! :D

DreamDusk- Thank you! (i has kudos! *derp face*)

MarmaladeBird- Well, now you know! :)

IHateCliffhanger- (Haha, your name says it all)... I won't stop writing this! Swear! Your reviews made me reeealy happy, just want you to know! *furious blush* I'm so hyped up on happiness right now...