Clover wheeled into the Safe Zone, his chair's battery running low. The interior lights still worked, and a generator gently hummed in the background - someone must have gone out and gotten fuel for it.

As he searched the factory for a power outlet, those he passed looked above his head, their eyes widening. A trail of whispers were left in his wake. Clover tried to not pay any attention to them.

Most people, especially those in the Safe Zone right now, were still Level 0. To them, it must have been quite a shock to see a diminutive and sickly person such as himself be at such a high Level.

Finally locating a power outlet, he stuck the charger into it and plugged it into his wheelchair. Nothing happened. Damn it. Either the outlet didn't work, or more likely, all the damage the chair had sustained had broken some vital component.

Clover summoned his mental resolve, trying not to spiral into a well of negativity. This, while a setback, wasn't the end of the world. It merely moved up his plans. Before tomorrow rolled around, he'd have to make a Golem that would be able to replace his wheelchair - a tall order, but possible if he focused.

Brainstorming ideas, Clover hunted down a pallet of clay. It wasn't hard. The material couldn't move on its own, and no one had bothered to move it either. Near the factory's entrance, where he had found it on the first night, Clover picked wrapped bricks of the material off of a tall stack and placed them in his ever-expanding bag of treasures and mundane items.

He spotted Ms. Lin as she tiredly walked by, headed back to the cordoned-off makeshift medical area. Clover followed her, partially because he had questions he wanted answered but also partially because he wasn't quite sure yet how to proceed with his Golem project.

The nurse curved off the main path and made her way to where a plastic desk covered in papers had been hastily set up.

As Clover followed her, feeling slightly like a stalker, inwardly, he debated whether it was correct to refer to her as a nurse. He didn't know her exact job title, and with the end of the world, her old job didn't exist anymore. It felt somewhat wrong to reduce her to a job title. Plus, at some point during the day, she had changed out of her uniform into something more casual. Though she still had a definite nursely aura about her.

She came to a stop at the desk and pulled out a chair.

“Hello,” Clover said with a wave, catching her by surprise. “Sorry!”

“It’s fine,” Ms. Lin said as she sat down. “You have questions.” It was more of a statement than an inquiry.

"Yes. Yes, I do! Do you know anything about the golden sky-beam beacon thing," Clover said excitedly, fumbling his words slightly. "It looks like the Safe Zone, except it's gold."

“Ah, the Challenge Zone. I’d avoid that if I were you.” She plucked a paper off the desk without looking. “Four people have died there today, probably more by now.”

Clover shrugged, suppressing a shiver of fear that raced up his spine. What he had done - venturing out of the Safe Zone - was dangerous. Once again, he was reminded that he easily could have died today. He would have been in serious trouble if he hadn't dodged the rock the Two-tailed Squirrel had thrown at his head or if a monster had gotten the drop on him.

"The beacon popped up earlier this morning when a group discovered it. It was dormant before that," Ms. Lin said, reading off a series of hastily scribbled statements from the paper. "I don't have the specific wording of the rules because I've only heard them second hand, but the general gist of it is that by completing certain tasks and killing monsters in the Zone, you can earn Challenge Points, which you can exchange for prizes."

“What sort of prizes?”

"Potions. Weapons. Fantastical sorts of things. Though it's too early to tell what the later rewards will be - most of them are hidden," the nurse said, a current of excitement cutting through her exhaustion. She looked back down at the paper, making a new mark on it as she tilted her head, something occurring to her. "Oh, and it's a limited-time event. It'll be gone by the end of the week."

Clover’s interest was piqued. The possibility of acquiring magical potions was enticing, though not substantially more so than the rewards he assumed would be at the end of the Monster Den.

He was conflicted.

Unless they cleared the Monster Den quickly, he probably wouldn't be able to participate in the Challenge Zone, at least not for long enough to generate a massive amount of Points. It was unclear whether the Monster Den or the Challenge Zone would be more worthwhile to pursue - there was no way of knowing.

However, the one thing he did know was that he wouldn't have any competition in the Monster Den. That fact alone made him confident that pursuing it further would be the correct decision.

“You said I shouldn’t go?” Clover asked.

“The monsters are more dangerous there, and I’ve heard rumors…” She shook her head. “It’s too early to tell for certain how things will shake out, but some groups…”

“I get it. I’ll stay away for now,” Clover said when it became clear that she wouldn’t complete her sentence.

She didn't have to finish for him to know what she meant. The Challenge Zone was a breeding ground for conflict. There was no reason to grind for Points if you could steal someone else's rewards.

Perhaps looking up from her desk of scattered notes for the first time, her mouth slackened slightly as her eyes fixated on the space above his head. “How did you get such a high Level?”

“I killed a bunch of Squirrels.”

It was a strange feeling to be recognized for an accomplishment. Clover had never experienced it before. It made him uncomfortable, but he also enjoyed it.

She fished out a blank piece of paper, quickly regaining her composure. “Where were these squirrels? I haven't heard of anyone else encountering mutated squirrels yet.”

"That's a secret," he said playfully. If he told her that, everyone would know where the Monster Den was.

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“Fine.” She tapped her pen against the plastic desk twice. “How about your Class, can you tell me about that. I need more data about the selection process.”

Clover nodded his head, there was no reason not to give at least a vague impression of it and the options he had picked from. "Sorry if I don't remember the exact wording." Clover thought back to the blue screens that had appeared a few hours earlier. Surprisingly, perhaps an effect of his increased Intelligence, he remembered the description down to the last word. "[Nobody]. Inferior. 10 Stat Points per Level. It seemed to focus on stealth," he said, giving a rapid-fire rundown of the option.

He didn’t feel comfortable giving out more details. The Class’s description somehow felt too personal to share.

“I haven’t heard that one before.” She scribbled something down, making an entry on a paper listing all the Classes she had seen so far. “The Stat gain is about average for an Inferior Class.”

“The next one…” Clover paused as he remembered the details of the lie he had told. “[TV Fan]. It had the same Quality and Stats as [Nobody]. It didn’t seem very useful.”

Once again, she began to write down the Class’s description.

Clover swallowed a lump in his throat; she had believed his lie. His secret had remained hidden. No one would ever know that he was offered [Serial Killer]!

Something nagged at him, a detail - a line - he had overlooked in [Serial Killer]'s description. A connection was on the tip of his tongue, so obvious yet not forthcoming.

“You’re a big fan of TV?” Ms. Lin asked, derailing his train of thought.

Clover smiled sadly - a more genuine expression than most that crossed his face. “My parents were. I’ve watched it every night since I was young.”

She scribbled down another note.

While she wrote, Clover tried to remember what had stuck him as odd about [Serial Killer]'s description; he couldn't. Like the genius ideas he was prone to coming up with in the dead of night while half-asleep, the notion had vanished without a trace - he was left without a clue; it might have well just been a dream.

“And the last one?”

Clover blinked, pulling himself out of his thoughts. “[Apprentice Golemancer]. Common. 15 Stats per Level. It does what its name suggests it would.”

"Common?" She repeated the word under her breath and then scribbled it down on a paper.

“Is that good?”

She grinned toothily. “Of all the people I’ve interviewed so far, none had a Class Rarity above Minor.”

“Nice,” Clover said, fighting off the urge to clap. A silence followed. Awkwardly, Clover didn’t know what to say next.

Luckily, Ms. Lin did.

“Have you seen any Bone Rats or Deep Ants today?” she asked.

“No. Only Spiders and Squirrels.”

“Strange. Very strange.” Ms. Lin stared down at the scattered sheets of paper as if they were tiles in a game of Scrabble that she was trying to piece together into a word. “Despite being the most common enemies to encounter yesterday, they’ve completely vanished off the streets today.”

That was strange, indeed. Clover didn’t have a logical explanation. There were too many of them for them to have been wiped out in a single day. “As long as I don't have to deal with them, I don’t particularly care what they do or where they disappear to.”

She slowly nodded.

"How's the hand?" she asked as she glanced down at the bandage covered appendage.

"Fine," Clover said, holding his tone even.

It was not fine. It still stung whenever he moved it, however, the hand, most likely through System intervention, was well ahead of the usual healing curve. The pain had decreased significantly. It wasn't something he needed help with. He'd fix himself by his own efforts.

They talked for a bit longer, and then Ms. Lin was called back to the medical area. She had work to do. So did Clover.

Clover navigated to an isolated corner of the factory, a more difficult feat than it had been on the first night. The factory's population continued to inflate. They weren't at the point of overcrowding yet, but if their numbers continued to increase at a similar rate, it soon would be a possibility.

Before diving into work, he took stock of his situation, constructing a plan for the rest of the day.

Right now, because [Lesser Golem Creation] was Level 5, he only had two slots in which he could actively control his Golems - not nearly enough for his purposes. If he continued with his plan to make a Golem to replace his wheelchair, he'd only be able to rely on Mr. Cat for offensive purposes. While the stylish cat was powerful in its own way, it was undeniable that two were better than one, at least in most offensive circumstances.

If he didn't bring [Lesser Golem Creation] to Level 10 and unlock the capability to control an additional Golem, he'd be greatly limiting his ability to attack.

At the moment, he had 17 MP. In the best case scenario where he increased the Skill's Level with each attempt, not an entirely unreasonable, but an aggressive expectation, it would cost 125 MP to bring the [Lesser Golem Creation] to Level 10. At a base regen rate of 10 per hour, generating that amount would take him around 12 hours.

He estimated he had about 18 hours till they departed again for the Monster Den, though there was no way to be sure.

Theoretically, it was possible, but doing so would mean he'd be heading into the day low on Mana.

He tapped his finger against his wheelchair.

It would be worth it if it meant being able to command three Golems at once. With that decided, it just left the question of what type of Golem he should make to replace his wheelchair. His mind raced with possibilities; none stood out as significantly better than the rest.

First, he considered a fantastical sort of mount - an animal made of stone that he could ride on. It was a cool idea; the Golem would likely be fast, and to some degree, it would probably be able to fight.

However, in spite of that, he saw a few problems with the design: without the use of his legs, it would be difficult to keep his balance and not fall off the Golem. Additionally, the height and size required to create an animal Golem capable of carrying him could in itself be problematic.

Clover didn't entirely rule out the idea. With enough work, he could possibly iron out the problems with the design. And, at least on a visual level, he was fond of the idea.

Second, inspired by his experience of lifting himself up the hospital's stairwell with just his arms, he considered creating a platform of skittering hands similar to a centipede or spider. All the individual limbs, if he could make them work together, would provide stability, and if he allowed himself to be inspired by certain superhero movies, he'd be able to move three-dimensionally.

That was a big if. The clear downside to this design was that it would likely be hard to control and coordinate all the limbs. If he was going to be commanding three Golems at once, ease of use would have to be a major factor in its design - a black mark against the otherwise good idea. Additionally, he was unsure how quickly such a Golem would be able to maneuver when compared to one of a more traditional design.

Third, he came up with the simple but elegant solution to turn his wheelchair, as is, into a golem. He didn’t know if it would work - if the magic and the electronic elements would interact properly.

Even if it did work, it would likely be a side grade in capability. At the end of the day, a wheelchair powered by magic and electricity wasn't all that different. Unless, of course, the Golem gained a rare Trait in the process - something that wasn't guaranteed to happen.

Still, it could be worth a shot. If it worked, it would save him a whole lot of effort.

Clover closed his eyes and entered [Meditation], slowly pulling bands of energy into him. Once he had regenerated a usable chunk of MP, he'd create the Golem. Hopefully, some clarity would strike him by then.