With the defeat of the zombie boss came another notification, one that was even more satisfying.

Level Up!

You are now Level 3

5 stat points available

XP to next level: 2,500

Finally! This meant I could raise my Agility and equip the bracelet I had found. I still fully expected to do that, but there was another matter to attend to first.

Pulling up my inventory, I scanned the list.

-Inventory-

(10) Common Cores

Bracelet of Minor Replication (lv 5)

Green Quality Loot Box

No sooner had it appeared than another message layered on top. I had to mentally pull them apart so I could look at both at the same time.

10 common cores detected in inventory. Would you like to combine these into 1 uncommon core?

I stared at the words and considered. An uncommon core had to be leaps and bounds ahead of a common core, but at the same time, it would mean a single use versus up to ten uses of the commons. Considering how much healing I’d required so far, it seemed prudent to leave them be, especially if I could combine them again later once I had a reason.

Actually, the system had hinted there were other uses for the cores beyond healing. I hadn’t given much thought to it before, since I’d been more focused on survival, but now that I had a bit of breathing room...

Ah! But first, the box.

I selected the green loot box from my inventory. As it winked off the list, my tail began wagging with anticipation. Not only for whatever might be in such a high-level box, but also just because I’d been curious for a while now about what this color green looked like, exactly. I hadn’t seen it or red yet.

The loot box snapped into existence in front of me. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at it.

Gray. The box was gray. What the heck?

Whatever. I nudged it open.

For the first time, there was more than a single item in the chest. Two small, clear marbles. A handful of black discs no bigger than my paw. A silver circle with a tiny hole at the top, and last of all, what was clearly a box of matches.

I frowned at this last item. Information appeared in my vision.

Waterproof Matches, Canid Edition

These are matches. Nothing special about them, except they’re CGI generated and usable directly from your inventory. No striking necessary, simply activate and a small flame will form in front of you for three seconds. Should prove useful next time you need to light something—or someone—on fire.

Remaining uses: 10.

Was this the system’s way of commenting about my fight with the zombie guardian? I’d been wondering before about how closely I was being monitored. Now I was almost certain that my actions were being watched.

Hopefully this gift meant they approved of my choices so far.

From there I moved on to the two clear marbles. Only a single line of text appeared for these.

(2) Common Cores

Huh. I just realized this was my first time seeing a core in the real world. Before, they’d always transferred directly to my inventory. They weren’t much to look at. How many of these anthronites could fit inside a glass sphere such as this?

The pile of black discs were next. Upon closer inspection, I saw they had markings and wires attached to them in various colors, almost like a computer chip. I was at a loss as to their purpose until the notification appeared.

(5) Trip Mines

Adheres to any surface, but once attached cannot be removed. User has five seconds upon placing before mine activates, after which time anything that crosses the nearly invisible beam will have a very, very bad time. Cannot distinguish between friend and foe, so, you know, be sure to warn anyone you have a passing attachment to.

Another item that would have been nice to have before the battle with the zombie guardian. Still, I’m sure I’d find uses for them in the future. And since I had no allies to worry about, I should be able to put them to maximum use.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

At last, I moved on to the final object in the box. I already had a suspicion as to what the silver circle was but waited for the system to confirm it.

Second Chance Dog Tag

Level 7

Everybody deserves a second chance, whether that be a family adopting an older dog from the shelter, or a pup who charged a line of lizardmen without considering their ranged acid attack. Tags like this are made for both situations. Once attached to a collar, this tag will automatically negate the first lethal strike you receive, once per day.

Note: Tags attached to a collar CANNOT be removed. Choose wisely.

I stared at the tag’s description. Then when it faded away, I brought it back and read it again. This seemed good. Like, really good. Maybe too good, at least for the equipment I currently had. But on the other hand, simply leaving something like this in my inventory felt like a waste. If I ended up running in to another monster like the guardian and I didn’t equip the tag, I knew I’d regret it.

But if the next loot box dropped even a slightly better tag, I’d also regret it. Hmm...

For now, I slipped it into my inventory. Once this day was done and I’d collected a few more boxes, I could assess again.

Now, however, came the part I’d been looking forward to. Bringing up my stat sheet, I located my Agility and added another five points, raising the total to 15. Afterwards, I equipped the bracelet at last.

It didn’t look too fancy when it appeared on my hind leg, but I could sense the energy thrumming inside of it. This deserved a test run.

I moved further across the parking lot to be on the safe side, though the only thing left in the building at this point was the cocoon, and it was hardly a threat at the moment. Then again, I hadn’t received a kill notification for it, either. If whatever was inside was strong enough to survive even the fire, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be around when it hatched.

I found a clear patch between the company trucks and the start of the shipping containers. Checking one more time that I was still alone, I concentrated on activating the bracelet.

Immediately, it felt like someone had grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and hurled me backwards. The ground slid beneath my paws without me actually touching it, and the next moment I was a good ten feet behind where I’d started.

In the space I’d just vacated crouched an ethereal version of me, eyes frozen in the look of surprise I’d had when the bracelet hurled me back. The apparition didn’t move, but it looked realistic enough to fool anyone who either wasn’t too close or didn’t have time to really study it.

Dropping on my haunches, I waited the ten seconds for the apparition to disappear. When it did, I thumped my tail against the ground a few times in glee. Yes, between this, my stun skill, and my Claw Slash, I now had a much wider range of options when going into combat. I didn’t know what awaited me in the wider world, but if the quest I’d been given was any hint, life was only likely to get more dangerous from here on out.

Still, I was satisfied with my development. I’d started that morning as just an ordinary dog and look at me now! A canid wildling, fighting hordes of zombies and coming out on top.

Pulling up my interface, I studied my progress.

Name: Bubba

Race: Canid (Advanced)

Class: Wildling

Level: 3

XP: 200/2,500

-Equipment-

Collar: Worn Leather Collar (lv 2)

Left Front Leg: Wand of Stupefy (lv 3)

Right Front Leg: Wand of Stupefy (lv 3)

Left Back Leg: Bracelet of Minor Replication (lv 5)

Right Back Leg: *Empty*

-Racial Skills-

Skill 1: Night Vision

Skill 2: Enhanced Smell

Skill 3: Song of the Night

Skill 4: Pack Loyalty

-Class Skills-

Skill 1: Claw Slash 1 (32%)

-Stats-

Power: 10 (+2)

Speed: 5

Agility: 15

Presence: 5 (+2)

Mind: 5

Points Available: 0

I hadn’t noticed, but my Claw Slash had gone up by 12% from fighting all of those goo-zombies, even if I hadn’t used it on the boss, I’d still applied it at least once to the other five.

Yet, compared to my regular levels, Claw Slash didn’t seem to be advancing by much. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that it should be... better? Did that make sense? I knew little to nothing about how this whole interface worked, yet intrinsically I felt like something was wrong.

A bit of intuition led to an idea. I pulled up my inventory and considered the cores. The system had said they had other uses... following my nose, I activated one, but this time focused on my stat screen instead of myself.

(1) common core utilized on interface.

Claw Slash 1 has increased from 32% to 37%

My eyes widened at that. Five percent from a single core? That meant for each basic zombie I took down, even if they weren’t granting me any experience, I could still raise my skill by as much as seven percent! Astounding!

It took all my willpower not to immediately dump my remaining cores into the skill. Two reasons stopped me. First, because while the gains were significant, I had seen that I could also raise the skill simply by practicing it, albeit at a much slower rate. Unless I was in a dire emergency that required my skill to rise immediately, wasting the resource that also allowed me to heal would be extremely short-sighted.

The other reason was a bit more selfish: if I was going to do it, I might as well combine my cores into an uncommon first! After all, the gains were bound to be more significant.

To that end, I made a wide loop through the shipyard, looking to flush out any remaining zombies I might have overlooked. I came across another four basic zombies and two advanced. All were by themselves, so a simple stun/slash/bite combo was enough to come out unscathed. I managed to net myself another six common cores, a little experience, and a full additional 12% raise in my skill.

With seventeen cores to my name, I now felt confident in potentially wasting a few resources in the name of experimentation. I needed to know what made an uncommon core different, after all. The gains to my skill were merely a side benefit. Mmhmm.

I combined ten of the commons into a single uncommon core, then applied it to my interface.

(1) uncommon core utilized on interface.

Claw Slash 1 has increased from 49% to 100%

Claw Slash 1 has improved to Claw Slash 2!

Damage multiplier is now (3.1 + Power/100)

Claw Slash 2 has increase from 0% to 24%

Interesting. Converting the common cores to an uncommon had netted me a total of 75%, half again as much as I would have gotten had I just used the cores as-is. Impressive.

And now I’d increased the damage factor of my claws. Not by much, but every little bit had to help. I’m sure I’d find a reason to be grateful for that improvement later.

Part of me wanted to continue testing out these cores, trying to learn what other uses they could be put towards, but just then my stomach let out a growl. It hadn’t been that long since I’d eaten, but clearly those Korean snacks weren’t tiding me over for long. Since the only meat I’d seen recently was all of varieties I didn’t want to touch, it was probably time to be moving along.

Turning, I surveyed the shipyard one last time. It had been my home for weeks, even before I’d been changed into a canid. Leaving it now left a hollow feeling inside me, but I knew it was the right decision. Without humanity, my supplies here would dwindle and eventually dry up.

It was time to leave. The only question was: where did I go from here?