[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
In the time that had passed since the tutorial had come to an end, Samuel had come to learn quite a few things. First and foremost, from what he could tell, this Earth-Chan had managed to put a block on most forms of technology. Cars could no longer be accessed, a gun ban overall had been placed upon the setting, and any form of computer had various limitations placed upon them. The only thing that one could really even do with a phone now, from what he had learned from one of the other people that had been meandering about Los Angeles, was to access information prompted by this 'game'. Re:Earth or so it was called. "Come now, Sami, what makes you think that the world is on your side? You may be free now but at this rate, it's quite likely that you will die." "Die.. Yes, die. It's the only thing that we are good for, thanks to you. Why couldn't you be better?" "YEAH!! If you don't manage to increase in strength, the next time that we run into one of those freakish beasts, we'll be taken down with you!" It was quite clear that the voices were going to blame him for all of this. As if he was somehow responsible for the entirety of the world changing. Albeit, it was certainly possible. His own reality had changed two years ago.. Whose to say that he isn't the reason that everyone else's is now? It is entirely likely that this entire scenario is being perpetrated solely within his mind after all.
[break][break]
In an attempt to try and dissuade the voices from speaking to him, Samuel would simply ignore them. It wasn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to do, given that they were always there but at least he had been trying. Of course the best way to try and ignore them was to instead focus himself on something else. Or someone else in this particular situation. Given that the two of them had completed the tutorial together, Sami had figured that it might be best for himself and Pori to stick together for the time being. "Hey, hey Pori. Hey, hey, heyyy. Take this!!" It wasn't that long into their little journey across the city that Samuel would send over a friend request. "Confirm it, P. This was we can communicate whenever we need to. Can't remain in the same party forever, right?"
[break][break]
Earlier on, the two had been lifting some food from an abandoned store. It wasn't exactly the best thing to be doing in this moment but.. well, it was the apocalypse. Who cared for conventional rules at this time? Perhaps in the future this would change but for now Sami would be perfectly okay with acting as a criminal. Whilst within this store, the young man would be sure to gather various ingredients for baking a cake. He had to try and keep up with his promise if he were going to convince this puddin-, er, slime to stick alongside him. It wasn't all that difficult to gather what ingredients he had needed. Thankfully there had even been a regular batch of cakes that was being held in a fridge somewhere within the backrooms of the store. Clearly a birthday cake meant for an employee but Samuel didn't think that they would be coming back any time soon. After having gathered all of these ingredients and the cake, Sami would proceed to throw them all into his inventory before the girl could really see it.
[break][break]
Eventually the pair would find themselves back at the beach. From what he could see, Pori hadn't appeared to have been all that happy. Perhaps the reality of the situation had finally caught up to her. Rather than allowing her to sit there and possibly sulk, Sami would opt to take a seat beside her. He didn't mind that the waters of the beach had been washing onto his grippy socks. It was simply something that he would have to worry about later. "So I took some time to play around with the status menu." As he had said this, the holographic display from before would appear before him. "..and I have come to take note of a submenu that I hadn't noticed earlier. A shop. From what I can see, there are a whole wealth of things that we could acquire from the shop. Things that will let us bypass the restrictions that Earth-Chan has set upon us."
[break][break]
A simply shrug would then be offered to the girl before Sami would slip on away from the shop submenu and would click on the inventory menu. "I also noticed that we not only leveled up after having completed the tutorial but that we were gifted with a few rewards for overcoming the trial. Would you like to see what I got?" As he has asked this, he would then flip back to his character sheet submenu. From there he would transfer over any of the appropriate stats that he had received from overcoming the boss.

[attr="class","landtag2"]@[TAGGED]

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
"This hotheaded girl, I swear. What in the hells is wrong with her?" These were the kinds of thoughts that would naturally come to his mind as the voice of the teenage slime could be heard encroaching. She was clearly going to mess this mission up if he didn't get things done and over with quickly. That having been the case, despite how much of a pain in the ass it had turned out to be, Sami would begin to run faster than he had ever run in his life. All of the energy that he had dwelling dormant within him was no actively being used to increase his speed so that he could get the ever living hell away from Pori in time to complete the mission.
[break][break]
'She is going to make us fail, Samuel. It is time to remove her from our path, lest she find her way in our way again.' 'You can't do that!! She deserves better. Far better than we do.' 'Don't listen to these two and just chop her frickin' head off! At least that way you can make sure that she never gets in the way of ours missions again!' Each of these voices could be heard once again, almost as though they were there with him in person. And in his eyes, they were. Three physical manifestations of these voices had accompanied the young man, albeit only he could see them. Attempting to do his best to ignore them, Sami would continue to push on with every ounce of effort that he could muster. And with that, Sami would successfully manage to step upon the desired location that the tutorial had set for the two of them. As far as he was concerned, the tutorial had been over. And thanks to the notification windows that had popped up? Well this much had been rather clear to him.

[attr="class","landtag2"]Pori

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
Even with the prompting that Pori had been trying to put out, there was simply no real way for Samuel to hear what was going on. For him, there wasn't exactly anything goin on on the outside. No, his mind had psyche and been entirely sealed away within his mind palace at the moment. That being said, it wasn't as though Sami was free to do what he had wanted in here either. Not now. Not with the way that things were. Even if this ability was created by Earth-Chan to ensure that Sami had remained protected, there was no protecting oneself from the voices. For this reason and this reason alone, Sami would simply have been found curled up in the fetal position whilst allowing for the voices to berate him. If he could throw himself even further into the confines of his mind than he would but at the moment, this simply wasn't viable.
[break][break]
Over the extending course of the time that this ability was active, the manifestations would only grow worse in their actions against the suit clad man. Or werewolf? Whichever he had truly been. One of the manifestations would stand off to the side and watch as another would physically assault this individual. The third manifestation would simply curl up next to them and speak their fears into existence. With each doubt that had overtaken the man, another physical representation would appear. Soon the room that they had been in was flooded with these manifestations and their voices would all coalesce into a mob of rioting cries and shouts. Once the ability had managed to reach its limit though, the link between Sami and the man would cease to be. The glow that had encompassed his eyes would fade away and the regular hue of his eyes would regain their color. This had taken a lot out of the both of them.. and Sami was quite honestly entirely too drained from this. 
[break][break]
"..we need to get this damned cart over there.." Aside from perhaps physical attacks, there wasn't exactly much that this werewolf like individual could do to them. Whatever charm he had placed upon Pori previously.. Well he simply wouldn't have enough willpower to properly employ it. Pair that with the effects of the maddening aura and it was quite unlikely that the man could perform any sort of magic at the moment. "...you hold him off.. I'll try and get this thing over to the quest location." 'Yes, Sami, be sure to get this done soon. Otherwise, we shan't see you again for quite some time.' 'Not like we need him here.. He'll just ruin everything again. Like he always does. Like he did with father.' 'Live or Die. Who cares? As long as we are here, we'll find a way to thrive.' "Shut up! I'm trying to focus.."

[attr="class","landtag2"]@[TAGGED]

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
Now that the two had come to an agreement on who would be pushing this cart along the way, Samuel would go about opening his status menu once more. After having selected the inventory submenu, Sami would proceed to chuck the crab carcass within it. Just as he had expected would happen, upon performing such an action, the carcass would disappear within the holographic screen itself. "Right!! So I suppose that we should get a move on now. You must reaaaally be craving that oh so scrumptious cake after all~" The two would than begin to proceed along the beach, hoping to achieve this objective of theirs. Before they could fully make it down to this point though, a sudden thought would creep within Sami's mind. 'Oh. Wait. Does she really think that this is a dream? That would be nice, I suppose. Than again, what a horrible twist of fate that would be. Even if the risk of dying is higher in a setting such as thing, the only way to become a protagonist and enjoy life on your own accord lies before me.'
[break][break]
Spinning about on a single foot so that his gaze could lock on with the slime girls, Sami would allow for his smile to continue to grow. By this point, the curl of his lips had begun to find itself just beneath his eyes. If he were to continue to smile any further than he had, it was entirely likely that his mouth would fall off. "Wait!! I forgot to mention something to you, Pori. This isn't a dream. If anything, it would be faaaaar more likely to consider all of this a nightmare~" His head would now begin to tilt off to the side as his gaze would remain firmly fixed upon the teenage slime. "Only the strong can survive in a world like the one that we are heading into. Even coming out on top in this tutorial is going to be difficult."
[break][break]
He hadn't exactly been trying to scare the Pori with this speak but it was something that was needed to be said. If she had allowed herself to believe that this new world had been a dream, it would become an unlikely reality. This is her new reality. The reality of everyone that had found themselves experiencing, if they had been chosen by the light. Even if he wasn't all that sure about how he should feel about this girl, it was far safer for the both of them to understand what exactly was going on. "We'll get through it though~ We don't really have a choice. It's like that show.. Y'know, the one where those people got stuck inside of a video game! If you die in the game, you die in real life."
[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]Pori

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
A few brief blinks would be offered to the slime girl as Sami had begun to look between her and the crab. Was she.. really scared of that thing? If that had been the case than it was going to be real exhausting when the two of them had encountered an actual monster. A minotaur, a golem, or even a harpy. Any of the usual things were likely to be far more horrifying than this little thing. "Are you.. Yeah? You think that this tiny little crab is a big ol' monster?" With little more than an ounce of effort, the man would begin to lean over and just kind of nudge the girl in the direction of the crab. "Come on. You can handle a regular ol' crab. I have faith in you." A few more nudges would occur before his arms would slip beneath the slime's form and pick it up in one of his hands. "You've got this." He would than toss the slime on over in the direction of the miniscule crab.
[break][break]
Once that was said and done, Sami would return to inspecting his menu. In a flash, he would filter through the various options offered by the system and would proceed to send Pori a party invite. Honestly, he had hoped to further understand his capabilities in a manner that would allow for him to understand just what exactly he had to do here. How could he ensure that he would never end up within the confines of such desolate walls again? How could he acquire this fortitude? Well this would all come in time. There was still a little over twelve and a half hours of time before they would have to escort this cart of theirs to the desired location. "Well I suppose that we should get a move on, Pori. Come along, once you stop playing with that thing. And don't forget to accept that party invite. Better for us to stick together overall. For the time being at least."
[break][break]
Samuel would than move on over towards the hand rail of this cart. No part of him had wanted to put in the effort to lug this thing across the land.. Even with that being the case though, it was exceedingly unlikely that Pori would do so. With how much she was already complaining about being hungry, it was clear that he was going to have to put in some work of his own. "Let's goooo~"

[attr="class","landtag2"]@[TAGGED]

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
[break][break]
As the former clinician, turned mental patient, had begun to wonder just why it was that there hadn't been any sounds coming from just about anywhere, the ground beneath him would begin to shake. 'An earthquake..? Here? What in th-' Before the crazed young man could get the thought out, the pressure beneath him would pick up. In a matter of mere moments, Sami would find himself hurled to the ground and crouching for safety. While there had been many measures that he could take to try and ensure that he didn't get harmed by anything within the room that he was currently occupying, his mind had refused to allow him any free reign. Instead of thoughts of ways to secure his own safety, he would find himself ruminating on the various ways in which this could impact him. Perhaps he could escape from the confines of this psychiatric hospital? Perhaps he would die here? It wouldn't be all that difficult to imagine himself being crushed by falling parts of the building. One would think that these thoughts would horrify the patient but alas.. In this moment, there was nothing that would escape from Sami's mouth other than the sound of maddening laughter.
[break][break]
After a brief amount of time had come to pass, Sami would come to realize that he was safe. In fact, despite the fact that the ground had just been violently shaking, it had almost seemed as though nothing had just happened. Was this perhaps another of the fables that his mind had chosen to create? Truthfully, the answer to that had been no. And the proof to this statement? Well one could assume that the massive obelisk had been a rather clear give away here. "...what in the?" Unsure of how to cope with what he was seeing, Sami would throw himself further into the confines of his own mind. Somewhere inside, there had to be an answer. Right? Right?! Well thankfully there was..!! Almost as though this situation had been torn straight out of one of his beloved light novels, Sami had begun to assume what was happening. These obelisks.. Either aliens were about to overtake the Earth or Sami was about to find himself dead center in a Manhwa. Not an Isekai situation, or even a reverse Isekai situation, but one where the world would find itself being rewritten. What other reason would there possibly be for such ominous things to appear? Well... Then again, the government is exceedingly sketchy.
[break][break]
Samuel wouldn't have to wait all that long before an answer would make its way to him. Only a few hours after the arrival of these obelisks, reality would be overwritten by a being that had called themselves 'Earth.' Holographic display menu's would appear before various individuals, Sami having been included among those select few, and various restrictions would find themselves placed upon this newfound world of theirs. If this was going to be anything like the novels that he had devoted so much of his free time to reading, it wouldn't be long before monsters would be unleashed upon the world. That and well.. a Tutorial.
[break][break]
[break][break]

[break][break]
[break][break]
Already having a gist of what was happening, the crazed man would allow for a soft smile to slip across his lips. For once, the voices were quiet. A semblance of control was had, that hadn't been around for two years now. In this moment.. The path that he had chosen to take was his own. With a quick flick of the wrist, Samuel would proceed to select the Warden option whilst speaking the name of the class aloud. "Warden..!! It's about time that I get back to the way that things used to be!! Ahahaha..!!" And with this a shining light, akin to the one that had appeared in the minds of billions five years ago, would overtake the man and transport him elsewhere. Off towards one of the numerous Tutorial Zones. For all intensive purposes, in the eyes of the newly dubbed Warden, a new world would now lay before him.
[break][break]

Although it would take awhile for his vision to substantially clear away the blinding effect of the light, Samuel had found himself continuing to maintain this overwhelming sense of glee. He was now standing in a new land, that The Light that Crosses the Worlds has chosen for him to begin his journey in, and couldn't wait to get things started. Or so had been the case initially. Upon recovering his sight and realizing that he had currently been placed upon some kind of beach.. Well it was something. "Huh.. Not exactly how I imagined that this would go, if I am being honest." Unsure of what to do for this supposed tutorial of his, the young man would be left with no choice but to wander around. Their had to be some kind of clue somewhere. Some kind of objective. He wouldn't have found himself here otherwise, right? Thankfully it wouldn't be too long before he would come upon a teenage girl that was holding some kind of metallic box. Upon sighting them, a notification would appear before the mans eyes. 

[break][break]
[break][break]



[break][break]
[break][break]

Things were finally starting to look as though they were kicking off. Now this was a tutorial!! One that he had aimed to clear and come out on top on. Just as he had begun to make his way on over towards the teenage girl though, everything would come flooding back to Samuel. The voices, the thoughts, the sounds, the crazed mania.. It was all here and already he had begun to feel overwhelmed. Whether the brief reprieval from this illness had been a parting gift from this Earth-Chan or not, he couldn't tell. Either way, there was only one viable option at his disposal at the moment. Retreat within the confines of his mind and allow for this other him to take back over. For the safety net to be deployed. And with this would come a heinous bout of laughter.

[attr="class","landtag2"]Pori