A Harsh Welcome

A Harsh Welcome is the first volume in The Systemic Lands. The contents of the first book revolve around Michael adjusting to the new reality he found himself in.

## Plot Summary

While he was at work, Michael was summoned from Earth to an unknown world. But he was not alone as there were 249 other souls with him. Because of his previous experiences with games and reading of such events, he tried various commands to no avail. He then walked over to a set of pillars in the town square he appeared at, and after further trial and error made a startling discovery. Knowledge, though limited, was shoved into his brain and he learned of the game-like aspects to this place. He soon joined forces with two men named Frank and Jim Park Soon to investigate things. The trio investigate their surroundings and one part of the city outskirts where they encounter a monster they named a blue slime for the first time. It had a dangerous acidic liquid inside its body. After some discussions about their pasts and what is happening, a scream draws their attention back to the city but they remained silent. Shortly after entering the city once more and resupplied, they were approached by a man named Jesus who asked to join them. For a time the party got along, but Jesus tried to sneak off in the middle of the night with their crystals and Michael killed them. Michael then killed the rest of his team who were stirring. He was jumped when he returned to the city and had to defend himself.

After surviving on his own for some time, Michael is approached by a small group of people for potential help and guidance. He told them little, and discovered one of their group members was horrifically wounded by the blue slime. Said member later committed suicide to escape the pain and the tension grew between them all. Michael was introduced to Carlos, the leader of the Red Dawn who was little more than a criminal organization. Still, they might try to preserve the peace and use taxes to pay for upgrades to the store. A standoff between the group that approached him and Carlos, occurred and Carlos hired Michael to kill the other side. A man by the name of Carl Smith initially joins Michael as a crystal retriever and things were calm until Carlos called upon Michael to handle something once again. A group of 50+ people were about to charge his own people, and he needed every asset he could get to help avoid that. A few days after the massacre, Michael heads down into his first dungeon. The dungeon attempt didn't work out and Carl parted aways with Michael.

Investigating the other gates led to a pine forest and grasslands. The pine forest had brown wolves while the grasslands had smaller variations of the same wolves. Michael hunted for a bit longer before returning to the city and wound up having a new crystal gatherer. A Red Dawn member challenged him to a duel and Michael was victorious, though it caused unrest throughout. Evaline, a information broker, betrayed Michael by selling information about him to others and had a bounty put on her head. Michael and Alex then returned to the slime dungeon where Michael acquired his first skill *Acid Shot.* He was jumped by Evaline and some people she hired, and she escaped. Alex left the party after the fight since it horrified him so much.

Michael left the city to travel and explore, wanting to put distance between himself and the others. Within the grasslands, he stumbled upon a ruin that went active at night. As it was in the wolf monster area, the nighttime dungeon was wolf themed. He experimented with the open dungeon before leaving with the dawn to other areas. Michael named both the City of Purgatory and the world itself as Systemic Lands later that evening.

When Michael returns to Purgatory, he informs Carlos of what he has discovered and experienced. He heads to a inn to recover and meets a woman by the name of Ruth who informs him of things he might be unaware of. The next day he was in a meeting with Red Dawn leaders and Carlos handed over a container that had Evaline's head inside it. Michael realized there were three factions within the Red Dawn: Neutral/Non-interventionists, Integration who wanted to forme a larger group and likely backed by the Guild, and the power faction that wanted a consolidation of power at the top tiers of the Red Dawn.

He left the city once again to travel and investigate, earning a upgrade to his skill from the Wolf Ruins. When he returned, Michael discovers that his tax exception that he brokered was revoked as were other issues and he heads to Carlos to get the truth. The council needed to die, or Michael would kill Carlos for betraying him. This turned into him killing Carlos and leading to a massacre against the Guild and Council. After the initial massacre and fighting, a duel between The Gasp and Michael was arranged to finalize what would happen. Michael technically won (though it was Ruth who killed him), ending that conflict. Michael brings up the idea of a triumvirate. One vote held by the strongest person, one by the Boss of the guards, and one elected by the people.

With great difficulty, an agreement was hammered out:

* Purgatory Founding Charter

## Chapters

* Chapter 1 – Day 1 – Welcome to Purgatory
* Chapter 2 – Day 1 (Part 2) – First Monster
* Chapter 3 – Day 2 – A Party
* Chapter 4 – Day 2 (Part 2) – Grinding As A Team
* Chapter 5 – Day 3 – Viewpoints
* Chapter 6 – Day 4 – Upgrading Costs
* Chapter 7 – Day 8 – Death Match
* Chapter 8 – Day 8 (Part 2) – Self Reflection
* Chapter 9 – Day 10 – New People
* Chapter 10 – Day 15 – Death Match 2
* Chapter 11 – Day 15 (Part 2) – Landmark
* Chapter 12 – Day 20 – Clean Slate
* Chapter 13 – Day 20 (Part 2) – The True Red Meat
* Chapter 14 – Day 25 – Informant
* Chapter 15 – Day 25 (Part 2) – Boss Carlos
* Chapter 16 – Day 25 (Part 3) – Tears of Blood
* Chapter 17 – Day 28 – Store Upgrade
* Chapter 18 – Day 30 – Chat With Tyrese
* Chapter 19 – Day 30 (Part 2) – Q&A
* Chapter 20 – Day 30 (Part 3) – Good Help is Hard to Find
* Chapter 21 – Day 31 – Get Ready…
* Chapter 22 – Day 32 – …To Rumble
* Chapter 23 – Day 34 – Preparation
* Chapter 24 – Day 35 – Descent Into Darkness
* Chapter 25 – Day 36 – North Gate
* Chapter 26 – Day 40 – Waste of Time
* Chapter 27 – Day 41 – Voluntold
* Chapter 28 – Day 45 – Gambling
* Chapter 29 – Day 46 – Connections
* Chapter 30 – Day 50 – Challenge
* Chapter 31 – Day 50 (Part 2) - Duel
* Chapter 32 – Day 50 (Part 3) – Viewpoints 2
* Chapter 33 – Day 55 – Slime Dungeon
* Chapter 34 – Day 55 (Part 2) – Slime Dungeon 2
* Chapter 35 – Day 55 (Part 3) – Departure
* Chapter 36 – Day 56 – Wolf Ruins
* Chapter 37 – Day 57 – Nope!
* Chapter 38 – Day 70 – Viewpoints 3
* Chapter 39 – Day 88 – Return to Purgatory
* Chapter 40 – Day 89 (Part 2) – Wheeling and Dealing
* Chapter 41 – Day 90 – Council of Captains
* Chapter 42 – Day 90 (Part 2) – Factions and Power
* Chapter 43 – Day 90 (Part 3) – The Biggest Smile
* Chapter 44 – Day 91 – Boss Wolves
* Chapter 45 – Day 95 – Striped Meerkats
* Chapter 46 – Day 112 – Glorious Return
* Chapter 47 – Day 112 (Part 2) – Idiots Galore
* Chapter 48 – Day 112 (Part 3) – Time to D-D-D-Duel
* Chapter 49 – Day 112 (Part 4) – Peace and Frustration