Before you read:
Strength Stat: Is the strength that a creature can output
Constitution Stat: Is the health and stamina of a creature
Dexterity Stat: Is the speed at which a creature travels
Perceptance Stat: Is responsible for the senses of the creature, enhancing them. For example, it can let a creature have a wider field of view, sharper hearing or eyesight, and a stronger sense of smell.
Intelligence Stat: Is responsible for enhancing a creature’s mental functions such as memory, and increasing a creature’s Mana Pool.
Wisdom Stat: Is responsible for the speed at which a creature can process information as well as the speed at which it can regenerate Mana.
Charisma Stat: Is responsible for the ‘attractiveness’ that the creature in question has amongst others of its kind. It also influenced the power of the aura it can exert. It also evens out the creature’s skeletal structure, removing any imperfections. For example, if someone’s arm is longer than their second arm, the Charisma stat would even that out. This applies to all body parts.
Luck Stat: Influences the creature’s future and its events, makes it luckier.
Chapter 1
Lensk, Russia
9:00 AM
Today was a normal Monday morning. Or, as normal as it could be. I yawned and slowly slipped out of my bed. My alarm clock faced me, beckoning that I began my daily routine. “9:00.” I yawned. Wait. “Nine O’ Clock?!”
I was twenty-three years old. Big, muscular. I quickly ordered myself a bacon egg and cheese from Dunkin Donuts over the phone with my friend. He wakes up way earlier than I do, and even gives me a secret minor discount now and then.
I looked at my phone. 9:15. I had to be at work by 9:30. I hurriedly cleaned my uniform, grabbed my things, and closed the door. I arrived at Dunkin Donuts five minutes later, grabbing my tasty breakfast and rushing through the car lanes on my small motorcycle. 9:29.
“I made it. *Huff* I made it!” I scanned my card across the panel, marking me present. I trudged into a dimly lit hallway, munching on my food.
“Richard Petrov, late again I see.” The voice stopped me in my tracks. I slowly turned, making sure that no crumbs or stains covered me. My manager walked up to me, looking for anything that she could criticize. Seeing nothing, she snorted. “This is the fifth time that you’ve been late this month. Anything you want to apologize for?”
“I came on time, mam.” She looked at her phone. “Almost seven seconds late. Try to arrive at your job faster, Mr. Petrov. You are getting paid for this.” She turned and walked past me, flicking her hair and departing to torture some other poor soul. I let out a sigh of relief. To be honest, I had already almost arrived late to my guard job five times, coming present mere seconds before the attendance system would call me late.
The only thing that stopped me from saying something back was that she was my boss, and she was a woman. A fat, disgusting woman at that. If normal women had a temper tantrum from a rebellion, then my boss would be a tidal wave, washing people in her path away to reach the person that dared infuriate her.
I took my place near the entrance. I had been working at this job for already a year. I had been a police officer before, but seeing how all of my workmates abused their police privileges annoyed me. I had enough moms pointing at me and saying “If you don’t learn enough, you’ll end up like him”, and people had cursed us out for stopping them because of small unnoticeable mistakes. I quit being an officer and decided to be a guard for some company. I never even looked into what they did inside, I simply didn’t care.
I switched places three more times. It was already 4:00 p.m. “Want a cigarette?” My partner asked. “Nah, you know I don’t smoke.” He shrugged and resumed smoking. I yawned from the deprivation of sleep and opened my eyes to see a blue screen in front of me. My body froze for a few seconds, digesting the information. A screen?
Welcome to The System, dear user! Please select a name. Remember, once selected it cannot be changed.
I looked over at Mike, my partner. He was slack-jawed, the cigarette fell out of his mouth. He looked back at me. “What the hell?” I shrugged. My head was spinning in confusion. Am I high? What is this? When was the last time I got drunk?
I threw those thoughts aside for now. I hesitantly thought of the name Richard Petrov. I heard that if someone has a mental illness, then they shouldn’t do things impulsively? What if I was in some sort of coma and this was all a dream made up by my thoughts and desires? I had always dreamt of being the main character and kicking ass in a world where I can level up. But that was highly unlikely. I threw all hesitations away and entered the name. I would aggravate myself at a later date.
Thank you for choosing a name! To proceed, you are required to die.
I blinked. Excuse me? What? A loud crash drowned out all other noises. I was standing by the building's entrance. Cars kept crashing into each other, stacking on one another and creating a pillar of twisted metal. “What the f-” My workmate didn’t get to finish his sentence. A shard of shrapnel flew his way and completely splattered his head. It slid off his body in an unnatural way, disconnected from his neck. Blood sloshed over me. I stood there, frozen in shock. Somewhere from a side street, I heard another crash. There was another to the left. Then behind me. A passing helicopter started spinning wildly but quickly regained control. The shock dissipated, to be replaced by a sharp awareness. My senses honed in. I crouched and stood in a fighting stance. My body still tried to process all the unnatural information that was happening, yet my instincts of self-preservation overrode all other obstacles.
A woman screamed. I ignored all of the explosions and fires that ignited insanity in the bystanders. I placed all my focus on the woman. She let go of a large leash that connected to a German Shepard. The dog was contorting on the floor, with no injuries visible.
A rat crawled out of a sewer drain. I could see how its muscles flexed and twitched, as if it’s whole body was covered in cramps. A small bulge began growing on the back of its head. Another rat crawled out of the sewer, barely alive. The first rat clamped its fangs onto it, blood sprayed everywhere. The rat began its cannibalism as the bulge on its head grew. Its muscles enlarged, in a mere ten seconds the rat grew a bit more than half of its previous size.
The bulge on the back of its head resembled a tumor. It finished the remains of the first rat as another crawled out. And another. And another. Swarms of small animals streamed out from the sewers, covering the streets. The dog that had been contorting previously now stood twice its size, almost as large as the woman herself. Its skinny body clearly showed the outline of its bones, as if it were a giant hairy stick figure. It lunged at the woman, but I wasn’t watching to see what happened. I was already racing down the street on my motorcycle. Everywhere I went, I saw people running for their lives, fighting large animals, or simply being eaten. Crashed cars became a common sight. I was racing to my apartment.
My heart was pounding in my chest. I didn’t even bother parking. My bike slid across the pavement as I leaped off of it. Somewhere in the background, a teenager had started some music. My heart started pounding in rhythm with the beat. I raced up the stairs. First floor, second, third, fourth… Goddammit! Why the hell do I live so high up? I finally arrived on the fourth floor. Some sort of dog was getting devoured by a group of cockroaches. Their shiny bodies were stained red. The old female neighbor was crying behind her door as she heard her pet being devoured. I didn’t have the time to care. I ran forwards; my apartment was behind the overgrown insects.
They finally noticed me and stopped their previous meal. Their wings bussed as they flew at me with unnatural speed. I simply didn’t have the time to be scared. “Piss off!” My punch left a giant dent in the soccer ball-size roach. A series of punches dented the rest of them. I ran up to my room and tried to insert the key. My hands were hysterically shaking. My grip was so tight that blood poured from several cuts the key’s blade inflicted.
Finally, I got the key into place. I ran into my room and closed the door behind me. The first thing that I found was a metal baseball bat in a closet. The kitchen was ravaged. The refrigerator door was completely torn off its hinges. The watermelons I had kept for this hot summer day were scattered everywhere half-eaten. A giant cockroach the size of a longboard was munching on my food. Before I could react, it was practically in my face. On reflex, my fist shot out in an uppercut. The roach's soft stomach made a desirable crunching noise, partially halting it in its tracks. The flying infiltrator crashed into my ceiling and fell. My left hand was already there, smashing the bat through the creature’s hard carapace. It smashed into a wall and fell still.
You have leveled up! You are now Level 2!
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
You receive 5 distributable Status Points
You receive 1 Distributable Skill Point
What? I must have read over the message a dozen times before I finally understood what it meant. A slight fraction of my panic was replaced with curiosity and excitement. But before I could calm down, another series of explosions occurred outside. It was all back to panic. I looked down at the floor, trying to calm down. Everything was a mess, littered with half-eaten food, meaty products, and random junk. In the refrigerator I found the third and last uneaten watermelon.
I didn’t have the energy to cut it open. I raised the bat, and then bonked it against the melon. To clear the table, I simply ripped its cover off along with all of the garbage. The table was now barren. I placed the pieces of melon onto it and hungrily started munching. The food calmed me down. As I collected my thoughts, my body began to calm down as well. My whole body shook in fear and adrenaline. At any moment over the past ten minutes, I could have died. Not only that, but I could have crashed, been gravely injured, eaten to bits by bypassing rats… The list went on. Now the idea of this all being a dream became much more realistic. However, we humans tend to not believe in things that rapidly change, trying to find comforting answers in our old lives. Plus, this all felt way too real for a dream. I could feel the pain, feel all the bones and intestines when I uppercut the roach. So, the option of this being the dream was out.
I have to think tactically. How can I survive this? The message said that I would need to die to proceed, but I don’t plan on dying any time soon. I tried to create some sort of plan, but all of my ideas were abrupt. I was in no state to plan. I tried to calm myself with calmer thoughts. Such as when I last had a girlfriend. I remember we took her cousin to a zoo. The zoo was right around the corner of the street from here. Ah, I remember how great it was with her before she cheated on me… Wait. Hold up. Around the corner?
“Roaaaaaaaar!” A loud, no, deafening roar echoed down the whole street. For a split second, it felt as if all living things in the surrounding vicinity went quiet. All I could hear was the crackle of burning cars and explosions in the distance. Then, everything resumed. The screams and roars of humans and animals were louder than the usual traffic of honking cars. I raced over to my window and glanced out. A majestic, giant lion covered in blood stood on a car. Around him were a pack of five lionesses. The cars that they stood on were completely dented and deflated from their weight; the pack of beasts was as large as the cars themselves.
My head buzzed. I stumbled, nearly crashing into the window in confusion. They used a skill. Somewhere in the back of my mind, a switch was flipped. If I just leveled up and had 5 distributable status points, then this world had just obtained the characteristics of a video game. More precisely, a game with RPG elements. That meant that the monsters down there used some sort of skill that taunted the other monsters or stunned them.
I was correct. The different various monsters all stopped what they were doing and redirected themselves towards their new target. It felt as if I was watching a massacre. The lion completely overpowered any other enemy he faced, even when he faced dozens. Two out of five of the lionesses were overrun by rats, bugs, birds… But ultimately the group of beasts won. The numerous scratches and tears along the lion’s skin suddenly restored itself. The beast's muscles enlarged, and it visibly grew a bit taller. It gruesomely started devouring everything else.
I sat back down onto my couch. If I were to battle against that thing, I would die. I looked over to the roach in the corner. It was nothing in comparison to the lion, or even one of his lionesses. I should distribute my status points.
“Uhh, status window?” I asked uncertainty. A character sheet showing my naked body showed up. I checked myself out, looking at my packs and muscles. Finally, I looked at my equipped gear. There were the regular uniform and a bat.
Baseball Bat
Quality: Good
Rarity: Common
Durability: 20/20
Damage: 5-10 Blunt Damage
Then I looked at the other notifications that I had received while I was not paying attention.
You have learned the skill: Running
Current level: 1
Effect:
+ 1% to Movement Speed
(+50 XP)
You have learned the skill: Blunt Weapons
Current Level: 1
Effect:
+1% Blunt Damage
(+50 XP)
I heard another roar outside. This time, my head didn’t feel fuzzy because I had closed my windows. I opened them and peeked outside. The lion was munching on some sort of dog. Its body had gotten much larger. An idea suddenly appeared in my mind. I looked at my characteristics screen.
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Richard Petrov
Level 2
XP: 50/200
Race: Human
HP: 80/80
MP: 14/14
Stamina: 40/40
HP Regen Rate: 4/Min
MP Regen Rate: 5/Min
Stamina Regen Rate: 4/Min
Stats:
Constitution: 8
Strength: 7
Intelligence: 7
Perception: 4
Dexterity: 6
Wisdom: 5
Charisma: 8
Luck: 6
Status Points Available: 5
Skill Points Remaining: 1
Skills:
Non-Combat Skills
Running Lv. 1
Combat Skills
Blunt Weapons Lv. 1
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I didn’t slow down even after inspecting my stats. Chances like this don't present themselves every day after all.
I turned and jogged over to the shattered fridge door. Mentally inserting two Status Points into Strength and three into Dexterity, I rapidly observed my changes. My muscles bulged in size, and my legs elongated, their muscles compressing and hardening at the same time. It felt as if I was recently oiled, my bones now moving swifter and more dexterously.
I turned my attention back towards my refrigerator door. I lifted it with surprising ease. It almost took little to no effort to throw it from one hand to the other.
I walked over to my window and peered down. The lioness was still there. Once I took a closer look, I noticed that none of them had weird bulges growing out in the back of their head. Are they unturned, like me? Well, that doesn’t change the fact that I’ll have to kill them at some point if I want to survive.
I opened the window as wide as possible. Luckily, the other commotion drowned out the sound. I squeezed the refrigerator door through my window and let it drop.
It soundlessly slid through the air, crashing into the lioness's head. Headshot, baby!
You have leveled up! You are level 3!
You receive 5 distributable Status Points
You receive 1 distributable Skill Point
I immediately looked at my status window and placed 2 points into Constitution, 1 into Intelligence, Strength, and Dexterity. The changes to my body were fascinating. If for the first level up I felt a minor pleasure weave its way through my body, now I felt the pleasure stay for longer. It felt wonderful as if I was stretching in a sauna after a long day of working out in the cold. It almost made me try to throw something else outside, but I stopped myself. Instead, I peeked my head out of the windowsill. Who knew how high their Perception stat was?
For the next five minutes, I observed how they raced from corner to corner, trying to sniff out and find the killer. It was all for naught, I was above them. Maybe I can see their level if I concentrate enough? Like, these shouldn’t be normal monsters since they don’t have a bulge. Maybe I can see their status. I concentrated, placing my full attention onto the lion.
You have learned the Inspection Skill
Effect:
You can notice details of most things in the range of 5 levels for every skill level unless the creatures or items you are Inspecting mentally resist you
So I have the Inspection skill only at Level 1. Does that mean that I can Inspect anything as long as it is level 5 and under?
Simba The Lion Regent Lv. 5 - Area Raid Boss
HP: 300/300
MP: 20/20
I paused. Area Raid boss? What was that? I knew what bosses were from playing games before, but an Area Raid Boss? Never heard of one. I focused on the “Area Raid Boss” title.
Tooltip:
Area Raid Boss - A boss beast/monster which occupies a territory as its own and rules over it and other creatures within.
I whistled. So I just took down one of his mates? Well, I hope he doesn’t notice that I’m responsible. I leaned back and sat down. My body slowly stopped shuddering as I took slow, deep breaths.
“Everything is going to be fine. *Inhale* I’ll live. *Exhale* I’ll survive. *Inhale* I smell smoke… *Exhale* Wait, I smell smoke?” I rushed to my window, not caring if I would be noticed. Below me, the whole first floor was burning. I heard multiple people screaming as they burned or were ruthlessly eaten as they stepped out of their apartments. Now, there was no way to exit the building except by going up. I grabbed my bat and ran into the staircase. My steps echoed, and then… I heard the sound of dozens, if not hundreds of small feet and wings chittering in the floors below. My heart sank down to my ass. On reflex, I bent over to look down… And saw how an innumerable amount of insects, rats, mice, and other animals that people would keep as pets all rushing up the stairs. Up towards me.
I raced up the steps. There were six floors, now I was praising myself for choosing the fifth floor instead of one lower down. I reached the rooftop door at record speed. The door was closed, saying something about a key that the janitor had. “Screw the janitor, let me out!” My fist smashed the door handle. I raced outside, only to find myself trapped. I stood at the edge of my room, gazing down on the first floor of another building. If I sped up, I could cross the edge. However, the building's first floor was already burning. Everywhere in sight, at least one room or building had a fire in it. A fire that would potentially engulf the whole building. And me.
I threw my bat across to the other building as motivation; it was my only weapon and it was on the other side. If I didn’t cross, I would have to fend off the horde with my bare fists.
The sound of chittering grew from the door. And suddenly, they burst out. There were so many they temporarily blocked the light. There seemed to be several dozens of these monsters as they flew or ran around. One of them stopped and screeched in my direction. And then, they stopped. Their heads eerily turned in my direction, almost as if they were communicating with each other. “Well shit, now I get even more motivation to jump over.”
Without waiting on them, I ran. The sound of countless other feet chasing me drowned out all other noise. I ran like I had never before, almost twice as fast as I had ever ran in my life. Right in front of my eyes, my Running skill leveled up twice. The drop off was right in front of me. I took the step… And then my leg twisted and slipped.