“Ya know, I never thought I’d end up where I am now. The monsters coming after me seemed to never end.”
* Quote from an interview with Mark Lee.
What do I do now?! Mark needed a game plan. Something strange was going on and the primal urge to survive still coursed through his body. Adrenaline made his legs shake and his arms fidgety. Focus! He scanned his surroundings once again, seeing his neighborhood intact, except for his apartment. That couldn't be a coincidence, something was targeting me… but what? After a few more quick scans he saw that nothing was pursuing him. He needed to get his bearings straight.
Suddenly, the street lights began to flicker on and off. A slight breeze followed, carrying strange unearthly sounds. Its winds slowly surrounded him, causing him to shiver from the unwanted attention. Mark couldn’t keep himself from fervently glancing at every dark corner he could see. Each one, a potential monster in wait.
“A human…hmmmm…I thought all of you were sent away”.
Mark had never turned around as fast as he did just now. Shakily he asked, “Who said that?”. He tried pinpointing where he had the voice, but he saw nothing. All he could see were the shadows of the many cars parked on the side of the road, seemingly placed there to give whatever was out there more cover. The moon revealed little of the surrounding area, but it still helped him spot some slight movement that he just managed to catch.
“I don’t make it a habit of playing with my food, however, you have the most interesting aura”.
Mark stumbled in place trying to locate whoever had spoken. His steps were clumsy at best, and he was growing dizzy from spinning around so much. The shadows around him grew darker and darker. The moon's light finding it harder and harder to pierce through. Suddenly, a figure walked out from one of the shadows. It was completely made of black writhing shadows that seemed to have minds of their own. “What the hell are you?!”. It only laughed in response and kept walking towards him. As it got closer it gestured to him saying, “You reek of death, and you’re a native. Curious.” Mark just knew that if it had a face it would be smirking at him. “I think I’ll have fun watching the life leave your eyes as I eviscerate you. Any last words?”
Mark tried to respond, but he just couldn’t seem to produce even a sound. His jaw muscles tightened, straining just to open his mouth. “Hmmm…nothing to say? Well, perhaps this will help.” The monster darted forward with shadowy claws emerging from all over its body, aiming directly at him. It would eviscerate him in mere seconds. Mark instinctively backpedaled, and promptly tripped over the curb and onto the sidewalk, landing on his butt. He could see his life flashing before his eyes, and all he could see was himself, hanging from the ceiling like some Halloween decoration. Mark didn’t want to die like this. To be eaten by some monster. He had been brought back to life. Given another chance. I won't go. Not like this! This time has to be different!
Fists clenched, he mustered up all the strength he could for one last ditch effort to survive. The monster was fast approaching, he only had one chance to fight back. A tightness in his gut gave him pause, but only for a millisecond as he rotated his upper body from the ground to perform a half-decent punch right into the chest of the monster. It didn’t even stop the creature for a second. Shadows engulfed him, swirling around and around him like a hurricane. Before he knew it, his mouth was pried open allowing the shadows to rush into him. Mark soon felt a cool rush of power seep into his veins. It was as if the shadows were revitalizing him instead of killing him. He could feel the shadows dissipate inside him, and be absorbed. He grasped at his mouth. Then checked his chest for any wounds. No pain. Why do I feel so…good? *Ding*
Level Up! What the hell? I leveled up? Like in a videogame? What does that even mean?
Suddenly, Mark's vision was taken over by a crisp white screen with words taking up most of it.
Name: Mark Lee
Level: 2
Grade: F
Titles: Resurrected, Mark of Death, First Kill,
Race: Human/Unknown
Faction: N/A
Strength: 9
Agility: 10
Constitution: 8
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 8
Points Available: 5
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What is this, a status screen? What do these titles even mean?
Suddenly a new window popped up.
Title -Resurrected:
You have been resurrected from the dead. You aren’t merely an undead thrall, but instead, you’re your original self before your death.
Title -Mark of Death:
Many have gone to the afterlife, however, no one has come back completely themselves. You have experienced a true death, yet here you stand, alive as ever. Your soul remains intact, yet death isn’t so easily shaken off. It’s been soaked with the stench of death leaving you with the mark of death. This familiarity with death has granted you the ability to siphon the life force of your enemies.
Title -First Kill:
You are the first human on your planet to kill a monster. [+10% for all stats]
This is amazing, all my physical and mental attributes are quantified in a video game-esque format. I siphoned the life force of the monster and gained a level for doing so! I even gained a reward for being the first to kill. I wonder if it can tell me exactly what each stat means…
Strength: The amount of force you can exert on a physical object. A higher strength value means you can lift, pull, and push heavier weights.
Agility: The ability to rapidly change body direction, accelerate, or decelerate. The more agility you have, the easier you can physically outmaneuver your opponent.
Constitution: This measures the many physical characteristics of your body, including health and toughness. The higher the number, the more healthy and harder to kill you become.
Intelligence: This measures the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Your memory improves and you can more easily calculate problems in your head.
Wisdom: This measures your ability to access the Dao. The more Wisdom you have, the easier it gets to access your Dao and to use it to its fullest potential.
This is like a video game. I wonder what this is…?
Welcome to The Conglomerate: #32864 (“Earth”)
Grow and become strong, for only the strong will rise and serve The Conglomerate in its glorious crusade into the unknown.
Enjoy the System provided Tutorial!
You have killed a level 2 Shadow Stalker
Level Up!
Notification screen..got it. The hell type of tutorial is this? No guidance whatsoever. Is there even an info screen? Did I just kill a living sentient being or was it just a character in a video game?!
Seeing nothing pop up, Mark shrugged and started to think about where he was going to allocate his points. He looked back at his brush with death with the Shadow Stalker and decided to spend his points on agility and constitution. If he had been just a bit more clumsy he probably would’ve fallen on his head and died before the stalker even got to him. With more constitution, he’ll be able to last longer in battle, which he had a feeling he’d be in plenty of in the coming days. Decision made, he added 2 in agility and 3 in constitution.
Strength: 9
Agility: 12
Constitution: 11
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 8
Points Available: 0
Immediately after Mark applied his stats points he felt a surge of energy race throughout his bones. His past battle slowly faded into the background of his mind as the energy pervaded his very being. Mark wanted to run, but not in fear this time. His legs moved before he even knew where to go, he just wanted to move. His arms pumped up and down in rhythm with his legs as he ran down the street and out of the suburbs. “This feels awesome! I’ve never been able to run so much in my entire life!” How much those stat points affected him, he had no clue. However, in his revelry, he noticed that his stomach seemed to disagree with all this activity. It rumbled hungrily as he continued to run down the main street. Mark noticed a Chick-fil-A coming up to his left so he veered over towards it. Mark quickly approached the glass door, grinning with delight from his post-level-up run. The smell of burgers and fries wafted throughout the restaurant enticing him further into the restaurant.
“Hello anyone here?!”, Mark shouted as he pushed the door open further. Hearing nothing, Mark waltzed in towards the counter. Do I just take the food? He looked around one last time noticing the multitude of security cameras seemingly pointing directly at him. His heart started beating just slightly faster, and his palm felt greasy as he rubbed his neck. Why am I so nervous, everyone is gone..except for me. This couldn’t be considered stealing and plus the food is going to spoil in a few hours anyway. I better get to the ovens quickly before anything burns. I mean it’s a miracle this place hasn’t burned to the ground with no one manning the stations. His stomach rumbled once more, this time the sound seemed to echo across the whole restaurant. The lack of any other noise was disconcerting but it wouldn’t keep Mark from fulfilling his newfound dream of stuffing his face full of chicken sandwiches. He couldn’t help but grin once more in anticipation.
With the last of his hesitation dissipating, he vaulted over the counter and made a beeline towards the stacks of premade sandwiches that were neatly stacked in a perfect pyramid. A light above shone above the pyramid acting like a spotlight. All that was missing was a pretty show host beckoning him closer to his prize. Mark walked closer to the counter, eager to satisfy his hunger, when suddenly he noticed a blur of movement in the corner of his peripheral. Wham! Before Mark knew it he found himself smashing right through the counter he had just vaulted over. He landed on his back with a bone-crunching slam that left him writhing in pain. He could feel pieces of his ribs swimming in his own blood after they were forcefully rearranged upon impact with the counter and the floor. All Mark could do was groan in pain and try not to move while his body experienced a new level of pain he had never experienced before. White flashes of light sporadically pierced through his eyelids as if someone was flashing a strobe light directly toward his eyes. Gahhhh!!! He groaned as he opened his eyelids to see a tornado of tables, chairs, and other miscellaneous furniture rotating at furious speeds above him. He realized he was in the eye of the storm with a bright light illuminating the seemingly supernatural event. He couldn’t even see through the furniture for an exit. I’m trapped! Wham! All of a sudden Mark’s side met the speeding top of a table making him ragdoll through the window and onto the parking lot with a thud. Squuueeeeel! Mark’s last thought before he finally passed out was what was that sound?