The ground shudders beneath me as the Type As converge from all directions. Their massive forms lumber forward, twin tails thumping on the ground. Each thud reverberates through my bones, sending shockwaves of dread through my core. My chest tightens, and I cling to my war hammer like it’s the only thing keeping me from falling apart. The wall at my back offers little comfort—just the knowledge that there’s nowhere left to retreat. Type As surround us, their monstrous silhouettes closing in.
“Gregory,” Jessica’s voice slices through the panic. Sharp. Cold. “Breathe. My animatronics will buy you time, but you need to move.”
Easy for her to say. She’s got a swarm of mechanical soldiers to hide behind. Me? Just a hammer that feels more like a toy. I glance at her—fingers flying across invisible screens, sweat running down her temple, but her expression remains stone-cold focused. Meanwhile, I can barely stop my hands from shaking.
Why am I even here?
“Move, Greg! You need to engage it before-”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m going,” I rasp, though my throat feels like sandpaper. I force my legs forward, every step dragging me toward that towering nightmare. I raise the hammer, but it feels like I’m moving underwater, every motion sluggish and wrong. Before I can swing, the Type A reacts.
Its tails snap down, blurring toward me faster than I can register. One cracks into my chest, followed by the other, driving the air from my lungs. I hear my ribs give way just before my world explodes in pain, my body thrown through the air like a rag doll.
The ground rushes up to meet me.
Everything goes black.
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
You have died.
Credits: 5 → 1 (-80%).
HAI is deleting your current avatar. Please wait while a new avatar is created.
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
I float in a void. No body, no pain—just nothing. It feels like an eternity before a snap pulls me back.
I’m standing again. Same place. Same hammer in hand. No sign of the shattered ribs that had just been caving in my chest. Everything’s reset.
Everything except Jessica. She’s still there, hands dancing across her invisible screens, her animatronics holding a fast-disintegrating line against the Type As who now surround us from all three sides. Her lips are moving, muttering under her breath. I catch a single word, dripping with frustration.
“Finally.”
“That’s another half a credit gone,” she growls as one of her animatronics gets torn apart.
I flinch. She’s losing them, and fast. The remaining machines are barely holding up; several have lost entire limbs and others are on the verge of breaking down, and their numbers are dwindling from a dozen to just nine, and the Type As are adapting—each movement more precise, more calculated. Like watching a pack of wolves circle their prey.
My chest tightens. I need to do something. Anything.
"Gregory!" Jessica snaps again, eyes flicking to me for a split second. "We don’t have time for you to stand there contemplating your life choices! Get back in the fight, or we’re dead!"
The words slice through the fog in my brain. She’s right. I’m still here. I can still fight.
“Fine,” I mutter, raising the hammer once more.
“You moron,” Jessica yells at me, “Use your goddam shield.”
My shield. I completely forgot it was slung across my back. I take a breath, unslinging it, the familiar weight anchoring me. My heart pounds in my ears, but I push forward, teeth clenched.
The Type A’s tails whip toward me again, but this time I’m ready. I brace the shield, gritting my teeth as the first impact rattles my bones. I stagger but hold my ground. The second tail swings down, and I sidestep, narrowly avoiding it. This time, I get close enough. Close enough to swing.
The hammer connects with a sickening crunch, right between its glowing eyes, but the creature doesn’t flinch. It takes several more blows to the same spot before the thing finally shudders and collapses, its tail twitching once before going still.
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
You have killed Type A.
Progression to Level 2: 10% (+10%).
Credits earned: +0.5.
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
A grin stretches across my face, adrenaline surging. Maybe I’m not as useless as I thought.
Then—WHAM.
A second Type A, slams into my side. Pain erupts as I’m lifted off my feet, the world spinning in a violent blur before everything fades again.
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
You have died.
Credits: 1 → 0.3 (-80%).
Warning: Insufficient credits for respawn.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Waiting for ally transfer within 5.3 minutes…
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
You’ve got to be kidding me. This is how it ends? Waiting for someone to bail me out?
As the void stretches on, cursing my luck, another notification flashes.
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
Jessica has transferred 1 credit.
Respawning…
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
I snap back into existence, my body whole again, though the field has changed. Fewer animatronics now. The battlefield is a mess of torn metal and scorched earth, but I can still hear the clash of battle.
I rush over, my shield raised to block another stray attack. “Thanks for the credit!” I shout.
Jessica doesn’t look up, her voice tight. “Just don’t die again.”
I chuckle grimly. I don’t plan to.
This time, I stay close to her swarm of seven robots, fighting more defensively. My shield becomes an extension of myself, absorbing blow after blow while I work in tandem with the animatronics. They’ve adapted too—Jessica’s gotten better at directing them, and I can feel a rhythm forming between us.
I spot an opening and focus, reaching out with my Ghost in the Machine ability. One of the Type A’s tails jerks, thrown off balance just long enough for me to slam my hammer into its head. The thing crumples.
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
Credits earned due to successful use of ability: +1.5.
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
The rush of victory hits me again. It’s intoxicating. My confidence builds with every kill, every flicker of Ghost in the Machine throwing the Type As off just enough for me to land the finishing blow.
But the Type As keep coming. Even as their numbers dwindle, I can feel exhaustion setting in. My muscles scream in protest. I can’t die again. Not now.
The battle has devolved into a test of endurance. We are outnumbered, with only five animatronics against over a dozen Type As. Each loss is a critical blow, and we cannot afford to lose another. I clench my jaw and press on, taking increasingly daring risks, relying on the Ghost in the Machine to keep the Type As from swarming us.
Time loses its meaning as the battle rages on. The Type As are relentless, but the animatronics keep saving me, sacrificing themselves when needed. I die once more, but this time, I don’t need Jessica’s help to come back. By the end, we’re standing in a circle of wreckage, surrounded by the twisted remains of the Type As.
I collapse to my knees, gasping for air, my vision swimming. Jessica’s animatronics lie scattered around us; all but one have been reduced fragments. We’re both drenched in sweat, but we’re alive.
My vision clears enough to see the notifications that have been piling up in the corner of my vision. Luckily, the System is kind enough to compress it instead of allowing them to flood my vision.
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
Progression to Level 4: 22%.
Credits: 10.00/10.00
Free Stat Points: 6
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
I glance at her, and for the first time, we lock eyes—really lock eyes. There’s something there. A strange connection formed through the chaos, the adrenaline, the survival. Despite everything, we both break into grins, enjoying the rush of leveling.
Then, of course, Ethan appears.
“Well, that went better than I expected,” he says, materializing between us with a smug grin. “You two lovebirds held up pretty good.”
Jessica’s grin vanishes instantly. “Lovebirds? Have you lost your damn mind?”
Ethan shrugs, unfazed. “Whatever. What matters is, you didn’t die too many times. Probably hit around thirty percent progression to Level 4.”
Jessica rolls her eyes. “How about you focus on helping next time instead of making dumb jokes?”
I chuckle, shaking my head as I pull up my stats. He’s not wrong. My progression bar is sitting at 22%, and the System’s given me six stat points to allocate. But it’s the sight of seeing my credits sitting maxed out at 10 that brings a smile to my face.
Ethan’s voice turns businesslike. “Here’s what you’re gonna do with those points. Two into Capacity, one into Senses. You need awareness if you don’t wanna keep getting blindsided.”
“Mind?” Jessica huffs. “I’m multitasking just fine, thanks.”
Ethan gives her a skeptical look. “You sure about that? ‘Cause you’re puttin’ another point into Mind. You need the focus if you wanna control more than a dozen of those animatronics at once. And put one into Senses, too. Your awareness could use some work.”
Jessica glares at him, but she doesn’t argue. Instead, she starts making the changes, her eyes looking off into the distance.
“And you, Gregory,” Ethan says, turning to me. “Two into Body, one into Senses. You gotta stop gettin’ knocked outta the fight.”
I open my mouth to protest, but he raises a hand. “No arguments. You need to bulk up. Trust me.”
The moment I confirm the changes, a familiar rush of energy surges through me. My mind sharpens instantly, the fog of confusion lifting as if someone had flipped a switch. My thoughts come into focus with stunning clarity, and every detail around me seems to snap into place. It's like I’ve gone from a slow-motion replay to real-time action, and suddenly, everything feels more vibrant and precise.
Alongside this mental clarity, my senses heighten. I can hear the faint hum of the lights overhead, the subtle creak of the floorboards, and even the distant buzz of traffic outside. It’s almost overwhelming how vivid everything has become. My perception sharpens, letting me pick up on the tiniest details I would have missed before.
My muscles, though they haven’t grown significantly in size, now feel remarkably more solid, as if they’ve been packed with a newfound density. The war hammer, which felt like an anchor just moments ago, now seems surprisingly balanced and manageable. It’s like the thing’s adjusted to my improved strength, becoming an extension of my will rather than just a heavy chunk of metal.
As I adjust my stance and swing the hammer experimentally, it glides through the air with newfound precision and power. The improvement is unmistakable, and I can’t help but appreciate how much more responsive and controlled my movements are.
This little jolt of progress feels almost too good to be true. It’s like getting a sneak peek at what’s possible, leaving me eager to test my limits and see just how much more I can achieve—because clearly, my former self was just one big joke. Jessica and I both try to keep our excitement in check, but it’s clear we’re both hooked.
“Enjoyin’ the rush?” Ethan asks, a knowing smirk on his face. “Don’t get used to it. Leveling up? It slows down from here. That burst of power? Less and less every time. Until you tier up.”
I frown, already missing the rush. It’s like getting a taste of something amazing only to have it pulled away. Ethan’s expression turns serious. “You’ve done enough for today. It’s half past noon, and staying in the Net too long has its risks. You don’t want to become too attached to the feeling of leveling. It’s risky with your low Mind stats.”
Jessica’s scowl returns. “You think we’re that reckless?”
“Just sayin’. Head home, get some rest. Chat about today’s fight. There’s always somethin’ to learn, even if you made it out alive.”
✦ . ⁺──────────·☽◯☾·──────────⁺ . ✦
STATUS:
Health: Healthy.
Tier: 0 (Level 3)
Progress: 22% to Level 4
Credits: 10.00/(10 → 30.00)
Daily Income: +3.00 Credits (Absorption: +4.00 | Guide: +12.00 | Maintenance: -12 | HAI: -1)
Abilities:
Ghost in the Machine
Next at level 10.
Attributes:
Body: 2 → 4
Mind: 1 → 2
Senses: 1 → 2
Absorption: 2
Capacity: 1 → 3
Base Status: Operational
Guide Help: 9 Days.
[Click to see Jessica Carter’s Page.]
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