Multi-Color lights flashed in his vision. It was a pinwheel. It rotated fast. It was like the time he was in the carnival and his mother had abandoned him in order to get her hands on some alcohol. Gris stumbled, placing his back against the wall. It wasn’t just him. It was everyone.

The lights were a mixture of bronze, white, blue, purple, and finally, orange. Then it cycled back to bronze before repeating the wheel. Gris was turning dizzy and nauseous. It was a good thing he didn’t suffer from epilepsy. Or did he? He was growing concerned.

The lights slowed. Slowly crawling to orange. He didn’t know why, but his heart lurched. He knew what that meant. It was something good. Orange meant Legendary! But it wasn’t to be. It crawled past the orange light, and settled on the darkest bronze Gris had ever seen. It bordered on black.

You have summoned a Half-Star [Cockroach].

| Next spin is in 7 days.

Are you kidding me? Gris thought as a sparkle of bronze light emerged in front of him. Spawning on the floor only two feet to his front, was a cockroach almost the size of his palm. Its head was almost black, and the further it got away from the tip, it turned to a light brown. He grimaced. What the hell. It was ugly. He didn’t like bugs. He hated them.

But he only looked at the incredibly normal instinct for only half a second as his jaw almost hung to the floor. The entire car was filled with an assortment of different… monsters. Monsters straight from a fantasy world. He recognised a few of them, too.

Goblins, kobolds, imps, demons, dogs, foxes. There were too many to keep up with. The woman that he had a little crush on even had a humanoid in front of her. It was a demon. It had 2, short budding horns emerging from its forehead. It was wearing a suit. Everyone was fucking terrified. Some of the passengers even resorted to leaping out of the train windows.

And what did he get? A fucking cockroach. It hissed at him. It attacked.

The little shit shot at him and bit into his just-polished dress shoe. It tore off a tiny chunk of leather.

“Those are my favourite shoes!” Gris flicked his foot and sent the cockroach hurtling through the air. It struck the wall next to the door of the next cab. It splatted, and fell back to the floor. It turned and looked at him. The little bastard ignored everyone else and ran straight at him with its little ugly legs.

Those who hadn’t escaped from the train were looking at him at this point. Watching. Of course they didn’t help. They stepped away from their own monsters afraid they’d randomly start attacking. None of them did. No, the cockroach was the only one with a life and death vendetta against him.

Before it could get close, Gris rose his foot and crunched it under his sole. It was still alive. “Die!” he cried, stomped and stomped and stomped. Only after the 20th crunch, did the insect die. He only knew that because of the next phantom words that appeared in front of his eyes.

You have defeated a Level 1 - Cockroach.

You have slain your own summon. You are the first to do so.

You have received an Achievement - Kin Slayer: Be the first to slay your own summon.

| Reward: Constitution +3

You have murdered your own Summon. Revenge System activated. Cockroach has reincarnated. Cockroach has selected the mission to slay Gris Caddel for his power.

Are you kidding me?!

The system wasn’t kidding. It was cockroach John Wick.

Traits earned

Cockroach Physiology: You have gained the inner biomechanics of a cockroach. Strength has increased. Durability has greatly increased.

C–cockroach Physiology?!

Despite Gris’s protests, he felt an immediate change in his body take place. It was like being injected with something hot. And that hot was boiling. A sudden surge of energy sprinted around his body like he had taken way-over-prescription-steroids. Woah, Gris thought as he flexed his muscles. He felt – strong. He felt incredible.

Traits? At his thought, an extra screen popped up, much to his surprise.

[Name: Gris Caddel]

[Level: 1]

[Race: Human]

[Rank: F]

[Class: Locked]

[Core: Locked]

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

[Traits]

Cockroach Physiology: You have gained the inner biomechanics of a cockroach. Strength has increased. Durability and Speed has greatly increased.

[Summons: None]

Revenge: Cockroach. Mission accepted. You are being hunted.

Stats:

Strength: 14

Constitution: 34

Dexterity: 26

Mana: 0

With a random thought, the screen vanished.

His arms flopped. He suddenly understood. This was no longer the Earth he once knew. It had turned on its head, and hard transformed into something… different. Alien. He didn’t know how to feel about it. Had the apocalypse arrived? Yeah, he didn’t know if he felt excitement, fear, or both. Probably both.

He took a breath to calm his raging nerves. Okay, so he had a game-like system. He had read about this. He could level up. He could become stronger.

I can do this, He thought to himself in an encouraging attempt.

Gris heard the twanging of bow strings. Arrows followed. Gris hit the deck. Faster than he ever thought possible. It was like an advanced olympian had decided to play who-can-touch-the-floor-the-fastest. And he’d beat that olympian 10 out of 10 times, every day of the week. He was so fast, in fact, that he smashed his chin against the floor, creating an audible thwack.

It hurt, but only a little. What the hell? It was like he had the powers of a chad chin. Amazing. Okay, he had to get used to his newfound super-speed.

Moving through the air fast, the arrows tinked against the metal shell of the train car. Some even flew through the shattered windows, narrowly avoiding piercing or slashing flesh.

Those who had scrambled out of the train in fear of their own monsters, jumped back inside. They quickly shut the doors behind them.

“Block the windows!” Jok shouted. He got to work fast. He grabbed whatever luggage he could find and pressed them against the windows. Seeing his leadership, people kicked themselves into gear, following his actions.

“Oh god, we’re fucked.”

“We’re going to die.”

“What is happening?”

Repeated sobs filled the car. Gris ignored them. He knew if he wanted to survive, he had to do something. Anything. With unnatural determination and will, he clambered to his feet and pointed the fire extinguisher outside and squeezed the trigger. White, plooming smoke surged outward like a billowing cloud. It was thick, too. It lingered. Hopefully it would last for a few minutes, at least. He did the same on the other side.

Once empty, Gris dropped the extinguisher and also helped hold a bag to a window. The woman with long hair tied into a high, messy ponytail was by his side. She held a curved katana in her hand. It was wooden. Her demon… thing, stood by her side. Holding a metal suitcase to the other window.

The big guy was still holding the door shut. The people on the other side had realised the situation they were in. They realised that it was safer in the train than out.

The collective teamwork was impressive. They copied what Gris and the others were doing. Gris didn’t know how far the monsters had made it in the train cars, but he couldn’t afford to figure that one out as another volley of arrows arrived.

Monsters of all shapes and sizes helped out as well. People were quick to realise they didn’t intend their masters any harm. So they put them to work. It was amazing how fast humans could respond when their lives were threatened. How fast they could order animals to sacrifice themselves for their master.

Of course, there were a few men and women who completely shut down, unable to think, or react. They just crouched down in their seats, making themselves as small as possible. Gris didn’t blame them. If he didn’t have adrenaline coursing through his veins right now, he’d be so close to the floor, he’d be lying down in the foetal position.

However, the smoke didn’t last very long. It was swept away by the gentle breeze. Gris peeked out from the side of the bag he was holding against the window. He saw it. Small, green, ugly. It was a goblin. But it had scales and pointed teeth and a tail. It was unlike any other goblin he had seen before in any games he had played, or fantasy movies he had watched.

Before he could say anything, Jok beat him to it.

“We need to do something,” he said, his head twitching around the various still opened windows. Some of them weren’t shattered. But that provided no security. There was nothing else to block them. He came to a realisation. “We need to attack.”

“What are you crazy?” A teen girl spat. She was crouched down under a table. She was the one complaining about having no internet from before.

“Will you help me?” Jok turned to the bug guy. He nodded. “Anyone else? If we don’t do anything here, it won’t be long before we’re skewered to death.” Another barrage of arrows pelted the train. A couple arrows flew through the gaps in the windows. Thankfully no one was injured.

“We can’t,” Gris said, gritting his teeth. Going outside was a terrible idea.

Jok turned, as if wanting answers.

Gris corrected himself, “we shouldn’t. Can’t we start the train? Get it moving? We’re a sitting duck here. And it won’t be much better going out there when we don’t know what the hell we’re facing.”

“That’s right!” Derek said. “Let me take a look and see if the train is operational.”

Derek rushed to the driver room. Gris, Jok, and the lady followed alongside their summoned monsters. The demon was creepy. Gris still wasn’t used to it. Only a psychopath could come to terms with such a situation so quickly. Gris stayed away from it.

The big guy stayed at the door, defending it. A monkey with long arms stayed by his side. Gris didn’t see much point blocking the door as the other group had gained control of their cart, but Gris wouldn’t argue with him.

Gris stepped into the driver room as Derek was fiddling with some controls. Red lights blinked. That didn’t look good. Derek’s reaction confirmed it.

“Damn!” Derek slammed one of the blinking red lights.

“What does it mean?” Jok asked, frowning.

“These are all the cars,” he said, pointing to the numbers labelled. The last car was number 14. It was the one blinking red. “The last car has a malfunction. We can’t start without either fixing it–”

Gris interrupted, “or delinking it.”

“Decoupling,” Derek corrected him. “But yeah, essentially we either fix it, or get rid of it.”

“Taking it off will be quicker,” Jok said. “How do we do that?”

“We need to head over to the car, and lift the lever connecting the two cars. I’ll come with you,” Derek said, getting up off his chair, but Jok stopped him.

“You can’t. We need you to drive the train,” he said, pointing at the controls and screens. “I don't understand how it works. So if you die out there, we’re fucked.” He turned to Gris and the woman, and said, “What’re your names?”

“Gris.”

“Chloe.”

Here it comes.

“Will you help?”