What is a Game?

Chapter 1 - This is Not My Afterlife

NOTE: THIS IS THE ORIGINAL DOC, A FIRST DRAFT. A FULLY EDITED VERSION IS IN THE MAKE. PLEASE ENJOY THIS AS IT IS AND GIVE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK BUT BE AWARE THE FINAL VERSION (PUBLISHED SEPARATELY) WILL BE MORE REFINED.

THIS IS ALSO A COPY-PASTE FROM FANFIC.NET IF YOU PREFER READING THERE - I AM POSTING HERE TO REACH MORE PEOPLE!

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AN: This has just been beta'd by Lucy / Aurora! (05/21/2020) - It's under revision part 2 right now (06/30/2021) by GeckoEnby (They/Them).

This story is now on Patreon! Just look up Rotsu on there, or type the URL, "Patreon.com/rotsu".

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Thank you to the former Beta's of this story Destiny and Aurora!

The current Beta is the wonderful GeckoEnby.

By popular demand - I'm revamping my warnings / thing here at the top. If you want me to change it again, read the whole thing and tell me what to change. Don't be a butt about it. Thanks!

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This story does not focus on Harry Potter himself, but rather an AU. Harry is in the story though.

This is a slice of life cross with action fanfiction, but the action does start a little later! Lots of adventuring will go on as our protagonist ages and learns.

This is a long piece of work so don't expect the transition to be fast. The fic revolves around the concept that life is a game and the protagonist must earn Points and gain Perks (or Disadvantages!) to aid them through childhood, off to Hogwarts and onto their future. Perhaps, our heroine may find love along the way.

There is no smut in this work but there will be some romance though it isn't the focus of the story. There are homosexual relationships and other LGBTQ+ representation. (I actually did a calculation based on real life statistics and included a realistic amount. The LGBTQ+ people -will- stick together, too. That's realistic. So when you see one of them, you'll probably see a lot more than one of them.)

Trigger warning for some graphic child abuse, child death, the use of some slurs and some graphic gore.

Further warning for the fact periods, puberty, and blood exist, and I don't hide that. Doubling down on the fact there are mentions of child death.

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Well, death wasn't what I'd been expecting; a great black void. We had proof of the afterlife, definite proof - I'd been to a couple of them. I'd also done a number of things to prove the existence of the gods. I was one of the oldest of the great empires for Elistraee's sake! This wasn't Limbo, and this wasn't my world! Nor my supposed Afterlife!

Dying to that lich so my sons could have more time... worth it. In my opinion at least. But seriously, this isn't where I should be. He didn't soul cage me or I'd know by now. Where?!

Ah, it's changing.

You've completed your first play-through in the beta of The Game!

Calculating final score!

"Okay, I know I had just been killed. By Szass Tam no less... but what?" I echoed into the void. More letters popped up in my vision.

The Game is the system in which you lived. You just completed our first trial of the world of Faerun - which in the multiverse is often considered a fictional world, in which a recreational hobby takes place. We thank you for your participation, and are elated to offer you new options!