‘Crap’, said Seo-Jun. ‘We’ve got nowhere to run, they’re coming from all directions!’ exclaimed Jason.
‘Hey, you act like you know stuff, don’t you? Well, now seems to be a good time to have a plan’, Daiki said, grabbing Seo-Jun by the arm.
For a moment, Seo-Jun’s mind went blank. Yeah, sure, he did prepare all sorts of tactics to get out of dangerous situations, but reading is different from experiencing, not to mention he was never put in a leadership position, where other’s were looking to him for guidance. He was panicking.
‘I’m a reader, not a leader. So what should I do?’ he thought.
And then it hit him.
‘Uhh…okay, so if this all really goes like the stuff I read, then we should receive a cheat to get out of this. We just have to figure out what it is’, Seo-Jun said hurriedly.
‘A cheat…like what?’, said Jason.
‘The Stat window! That’s usually where the answer is. Some reward for killing the wolf, anything. There should be some changes. I think mine kept popping up above, but I was too busy trying to avoid getting killed to check what it said. Yeah! There should be something there. Everyone check. HURRY!’, he said.
They all opened their stat’s windows and found that all there indeed were changes.
All their stats in strength, speed, and intelligence had increased by ten! There was also a stats that were at 0 which went up 10, like MP and something called PP and TP.
But there was one thing they didn’t get, their EXP went up from 0, but to odd sort of numbers.
‘The other stuff I kinda get, but the EXP…? Mine are Strength-14, Speed-14, Intelligence-20, HP- 90, MP-10, PP-10, TP-10 and EXP-26. What’s each of your stats? Answer by player numbers and quick’ said Seo-Jun.
‘Strength-20, Speed-20, Intelligence-20, HP- 80, MP-10, PP-10, TP-10 and EXP-57’, read Alice.
‘Same, except for the EXP, its 44’, continued Jason.
(Seo-Jun: What the hell is with these ML-like full stats!
w(ﾟДﾟ)w )
‘Strength-15, Speed-16, Intelligence-20, HP- 90, MP-10, PP-10, TP-10 and EXP-32’, said Zhiren.
‘Strength-21, Speed-25, Intelligence-25, HP- 100, MP-15, PP-20, TP-15, EXP-86, Kills – 1 and Gold- 150, but there’s something else. It’s a message which says I get some rewards for dealing the final blow’, said Daiki.
‘WHAT ARE THEY?!’, Seo-Jun yelled.
‘Automatic health restore (one time use), +10 PP, +50 Gold, +1 health potion, +1 wolf fang, +5 on all stats, +10 buff against wolf-species, +50 Kill EXP and first kill bonus +100 Gold. So, does that help?’, asked Daiki.
‘Yeah, you’re on the frontline bro’, said Seo-Jun, with a hand on his shoulder.
‘Huh?’, asked Daiki in shock, as Seo-Jun ignored him, moving on.
‘So, the good news is that it seems that we can probably do this with the stats increases’, said Seo-Jun, gripping his sword tightly.
‘I’m guessing there’s also some bad news, right?’ said Zhiren.
‘Yeah. That I’m not sure. But, not like we have a choice, right? So let’s get ready, they’re almost here’ replied Seo-Jun.
They all stood at the ready, with their swords in hand, and Daiki in the center-front, wondering if he should’ve lied about his stats.
The sounds of the growls came closer, with the crushing of dried leaves on the ground. Their heartbeats matching the thumping sounds of the beasts fast-approaching foot(paw?)-steps.
Each moment felt like it was stretching an eternity, their sweat dripping from the anxiety. But there was a mix if excitement, though they felt it couldn’t be, but they were almost looking forward to the fight.
Perhaps, after getting a taste for it, they somewhat enjoyed the thrill and exhilaration they felt.
Though, that didn’t seem to be all. It was like unlocking something that had been trapped inside, away from conscious awareness. Like, it was what they were meant for.
Maybe that had something to do with why they were chosen, maybe not. They couldn’t say for sure, but right now they didn’t have the time to ponder over it as the first wolf came into view. It paused, seeing the body on the ground, as it howled like wailing, seeming deeply distraught at the passing of one of its own.
It looked up, the threat apparent in its eyes that it wanted revenge. To avenge the death of the fallen in front of it.
Its howl had revealed its location to the others as well, as one by one, they came into view, numbering a dozen, who all paused and stared at the scene before them.
Cold sweat dripped down the team’s backs, along with a sense of guilt up witnessing this scene. It appeared these beasts were more intelligent and sentimental than they thought. But that meant they would attack them with far more hostility.
The first wolf which arrived pounced their way, followed by the others. But, it turned out that the stat increases really did help, especially for Daiki. He could easily avoid the attacks and counter with enough force to cut clean through, while the other were able to penetrate the hides without much trouble this time.
It really was nothing short of a cheat. A few minutes ago, they struggled with even a single wolf, but now they could cut down one after another without much resistance at all.
The wolves, perhaps driven mad by their desire for revenge, intensifying with each death, however no matter how hard they struggled it was useless, almost anticlimactic.
Within the span of a few minutes, the relationship between predator and prey got completely switched.
Even they couldn’t believe the difference. The stats window kept popping up, notifying their kills and stat increases. It appeared that with each swing of the sword that hit its mark, their EXP increased by 1.
With each hit, each kill, each fight; they got stronger.
They were receiving rewards for both individual as well as collective efforts, along with PP and TP, among those Daiki received as well.
Though it didn’t require much, their stats increased again and by a lot.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
They stood there, blood still dripping from their swords, covering their hands and splashed on their face. They were panting, high from the exhilaration of what they’d just experienced. They sat on the spot, surrounded by the corpses of the beasts they’d just slain. Finally able to take it easy for a bit. It was over, at least for now.
Their situations of their stat windows was something like this;
Alice: Strength-50, Speed-50, Intelligence-50, HP- 100, MP-40, PP-40, TP-40, EXP-237, and Kills-2 and Gold – 200
Jason: Strength-50, Speed-50, Intelligence-50, HP- 100, MP-40, PP-40, TP-40, EXP-222, and Kills-2 and Gold – 200
Zhiren: Strength-45, Speed-46, Intelligence-50, HP- 100, MP-40, PP-40, TP-40, EXP-172, Kills – 2 and Gold – 200
Daiki: Strength- 51, Speed- 55, Intelligence-55, HP- 100, MP- 45, PP-50, TP-45, EXP-290, and Kills – 5 and Gold – 350
(Seo-Jun: Could it be this guy is the real ML with a golden finger (⊙_⊙)？)
Seo-Jun: Strength-44, Speed-44, Intelligence-50, HP- 100, MP-40, PP-40, TP-40, EXP-146, Kills – 2 and Gold – 200
They all looked through their stats window, when Zhiren said, ‘Hey…I get what you said about cheats, but isn’t this too much of a difference? Like is it okay to get strong this fast? Is this normal?’
Seo-Jun replied: ‘To be honest, no. I’ve never heard of this happening. Even the strongest evolver didn’t have a growth rate like this. Not to mention, this is without abilities.
Moreover, some of the stats here are things I’ve never heard about before, either. I guess it was true that our situation is different. Maybe that’s why it’s this fast, because our abilities aren’t related to evolution, but awakening?’
They all pondered over this fact, while Alice explored her stat window. She discovered something and informed,
‘Hey, I found something here called a system guide for the tutorial. According to it the Abbreviations for stats are TP- Tutorial Points, PP – Player Points, MP- Magic Power ; as for the rest, I’m sure we’re all familiar, if not, read it yourself.
The others gathered around, glancing at their own windows. ‘So, the usual stats are the same, but these new ones are specific to the tutorial,’ Seo-Jun noted.
Alice looked at him, and continued, ‘We need 100 TP to complete the tutorial, so almost halfway there, and a 100 PP to start main tasks, EXP can either be traded per 10 for 1 ‘Gold or any stat, and Gold can be traded for items or potions. There’s also more stuff like how health limits can be increased, or other stuff but it doesn’t seem relevant to us just yet.’
‘Okay, so TP and PP are key for moving forward,’ Jason said, nodding. ‘And EXP can be used to boost our stats quickly if needed.’
Seo-Jun glanced at his updated stats. ‘So, we’re halfway there with TP. We just need to keep pushing.’
‘Yeah, and the system says once we reach 100 EXP, we get Daily Tasks for more rewards, though we haven’t gotten a prompt yet. There’s a bunch of locked info and features too, which has some stat requirement…’,’ Alice added, her eyes scanning the guide.
A system notification popped up on their screens, momentarily distracting them from the oncoming threat.
System Notification!
Congratulations! Daily Tasks Unlocked!
‘Perfect timing,’ Seo-Jun muttered, gripping his sword tighter. ‘Let’s see what happens now.’
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5 hours later…
‘Ugh…what the hell is up with this?!’ cried out Zhiren while crawling on the ground.
‘Tell me about it. I thought we’d be fighting or training for the Daily Tasks…so why are we here looking for random flowers in a place called the Forbidden Forest?!’, complained Alice.
‘Who would’ve thought our first task would be to collect 10 flowers each’, sighed Jason.
It turned out that they got a list of unexpectedly mundane tasks for the day:
* Collect Flowers (0/10)
* Climb a Tree (0/1)
* Slash (0/100)
* Stab (0/100)
* Jumping Jacks (0/100)
* Spend Gold (0/1)
‘It kinda seems like they were chosen at random though, they’re kinda weird’, noted Seo-Jun.
‘I found my 10th one!’, exclaimed Daiki as he picked a small purple flower. The next moment all 10 disappeared from his hand as the Task was marked complete.
In this way, they spent the rest of daylight completing these miscellaneous tasks. After finishing, they expected to receive something awesome, but were met with disappointment: they received only 10 Gold and 1 stat point each.
They didn’t have much time to mull over this let-down as they noticed their predicament. It was getting dark, and it seemed like it was going to rain but they had no place to take cover.
They considered splitting up, but Seo-Jun advised against it, because of the possibility of another cliché. (Alice: Yeah! And we’ve all seen enough movies to know it’s the dumbest idea everrr!)
They didn’t search for long as they came across a cave. However they had to be careful when entering as there was no telling what they’d find inside.
Jason decided to take the lead this time, while Zhiren handed him a flashlight she bought from the System Store for 1 Gold.
‘Be careful, there’s a chance something’s already living in there’, she warned as she gave it to him.
‘Don’t sweat it, even if there is we’ll just, y’know, kcchh’, said Alice, moving her hand across her throat.
Jason gave a light smile as he carefully stepped forward, flashing the light inside, when he noticed a giant brown bear sleeping in the middle of the cave.
‘Typical, it really does follow cliches’, noted Jason.
But there was something off, bears weren’t supposed to have teeth and claws like that, but since he was watching from afar, he couldn’t tell. Though, he thought one thing seemed certain; they shouldn’t fight that thing, it’ll be too dangerous, even if they were stronger. Moreover, unlike the wolf, this beast didn’t take the initiative to attack them, and considering the scene they witnessed with the pack, it didn’t seem right to do anything to it.
He retreated back to the group with these concerns in mind.
‘There’s a giant bear, but it doesn’t feel right to harm it when it’s defenseless. Can’t we just look for another place?’ he said to the others.
‘Sure, since Mr. Perfect ML says so, let’s not provoke it unnecessarily, ‘ said Seo-Jun, rolling his eyes.
Jason opened his mouth to counter when they noticed droplets falling from above in front of them.’
‘Great, it’s started. Let’s just go inside quickly’, said Alice pushing Jason backwards as he stopped her.
‘No, the reason I’m saying this is also because though I only had a quick look, I don’t think it’ll be easy to beat that thing. Not to mention, you all also saw that scene with the pack right? These aren’t just mindless beasts, if we don’t provoke them, I’m sure they’ll stay back too. Trust me, getting a little wet is better. Lets leave the entrance before it notices’, pleaded Jason.
‘Fine, let’s listen to you this time’, said Seo-Jun.
Daiki was the first to step outside, but stopped in his tracks. As his shoe hit the rain, he heard a distinct sizzling sound which made him pause. He looked down, and jumped back at the sight. His shoe was steaming! It began to hiss and steam, the material bubbling and dissolving rapidly, making its way towards his foot.
He quickly took off his shoe and threw it away, as it disintegrated right before their eyes.
‘What the hell…’, mumbled Daiki.
The others stared at this scene in horror, eyes widening.
‘It’s acid rain, literally, ‘ noted Zhiren.
‘And highly corrosive too’, said Seo-Jun.
‘But why isn’t it affecting anything else in the woods?’ wondered Alice.
‘Well, we already knew this wasn’t a normal place, so no way the plants would be either, ‘ said Jason.
Daiki put his hand on Jason’s shoulder, saying, ‘Hey man, y’know this means we gotta stay here and fight, right?’
Jason clenched his teeth and nodded.
‘Let’s go in, then’, said Daiki.
The group cautiously made their way inside.
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In another dimension…
‘That was a bit mean, don’t you think’, said a certain Kitsune to a certain Dokkaebi.
‘Hehehe, well it was necessary to have them go in there, after all~ So I had my dear little underlings push them in the right direction. Besides, since when do you care what happens to them? They were just bacteria, right~? ‘ said the Dokkaebi.
The Kitsune narrowed her eyes, shrugging her shoulder as she said, ‘Fair enough. It doesn’t really matter to me what happens to them. i was just wondering why you’re messing with them. Though, I suppose if its you, it makes sense. Just don’t ruin the plans for your amusement. If it’s necessary then of course you’re free to do as you please. They are being monitored by the juniors to ensure everything goes well, so go ahead with whatever you want to do to those insignificant beings.’
‘That’s a lot of words~ Are you nervous? But why would you be, its not like you’re hiding something’ , teased the Dokkaebi with a crazy look in his eyes.
‘You!’ the Kitsune started when the Dokkaebi interrupted, ‘If its not then forget it, it was just a joke~ But really, I was just worried. You might have some lingering attachments after all.’
Then he narrowed his eyes and continued threateningly, ‘ But it better not be, do you understand?’
‘Obviously’, she said, glaringly. She walked away gracefully as the Dokkaebi watched her back slowly getting farther away, with a longing look in his eyes. A shadow of a distant past flashed by seemingly vivid for a brief moment, when a voice jolted him back to reality, ‘Sir, they’ve reached the opponent’.
‘Ah, yes~ let’s get back to the show, hehe’, he said, turning his eyes back to the screens.
To Be Continued…
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Jason in the next chapter: I knew we shouldn’t have went in
(￣┰￣*)…
Alice: Damn you Dokkaebi! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Dokkaebi: Hehe o(〃＾▽＾〃)o
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