Karl walked over to the window to peek outside, not sure what he expected to see. With a sudden motion, a flock of different kinds of birds shot up from the trees, as if all scared by something at once. He wondered where creatures would appear, or 'spawn', if he understood it right.

There was a clattering noise behind him.

Karl turned around quickly, and something like a giant crab only bright purple was clacking on the linoleum in the kitchen. It was about half a foot high and a foot across. It seemed to catch sight of him, clacked louder, and charged at him.

He hefted the ice chopper, and then stabbed at the crab thing when it came into range. The flat of the blade clanged against the hard shell and skidded, as the crab came close enough to attack. He didn't have time to pull the weapon back to block, so he kicked the crab as hard as he could with his boot. He felt a small stab of pain on his shin from a claw, but the crab flew backwards and landed upside down. He marched up to it and stabbed again as it was righting itself. This time the blade sank in a little, pinning the thing.

Not sure what else to do, Karl moved closer and then jumped, landing as hard as he could on top of the crab. He heard a crack, lifted one foot, and stomped down as hard as possible, leaning his weight on the haft of his weapon. He was rewarded with more cracking sounds, and the crab stopped moving.

Didn't even know I still could jump like that. I could have broken a hip!

More clattering came from the kitchen. Oh, hell. Pulling his weapon free, he moved to meet it, and found two more crab things advancing on him. Lifting the chopper, he checked that it was edge on so as not to repeat his mistake and then slammed it down as hard as he could. The crab dodged somewhat, and he only ended up chopping off two of its legs and gouging the floor. Meanwhile the other crab gave a sudden leap and landed on his upper thigh, some of the legs digging in below the coat, causing him to hiss in pain.

He repeated the trick of kicking the injured crab, but since it was dodging that was only partially effective. Meanwhile the crab on his leg seemed to be trying to saw it off, but his coat was stopping most of it. He couldn't see how to use his weapon in this situation, so he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the knife. He fumbled to pull a blade out with his gloves on, so he essentially used it as a rock and clubbed the crab with it, going for the eyes. It didn't seem to be working.

The other crab was moving again, and he couldn't move as easily with a giant crab wrapped around his right thigh, but he turned to face it. He tried to kick it, which didn't work, then to stomp on it, which did. He leaned all his weight on it and heard it crack, though it was still squirming beneath him. Then he reached down with both hands and pried the other crab's legs off of his thigh, feeling more fiery pain in his leg as he did so, plus a new sharp pain in his right wrist.

It was trying to latch onto his arm now. He kept pulling the crab legs like a wishbone while yanking it up. He ended up holding it over his head and then slamming it down onto the countertop as hard as he could. It gave a cracking sound but not a loud one, so he did it again, and again, and again, then flipped it at the floor, back down. He'd meant to drop it at his feet so he could stomp on it, but instead it landed halfway across the room.

He took a second to stomp with his other foot on the crab he'd already pinned, and that one stopped moving, finally. The one he'd clumsily thrown was righting itself, but slowly, clearly injured. He bent over and picked up the chopper, and this time used it to stab at the crab, missing the body but taking off a leg. He charged over and jumped on it. A few more stomps and it was dead.

Exhausted, breathing heavily, he staggered into the kitchen to see if there were any more, but that seemed to be it for now. With a sigh, he took off one gauntlet, hissing at the pain in his bloody wrist, and opened the Swiss Army knife, dropping it point down back into his pocket so that it would be ready the next time.

Karl felt a little dizzy, and wobbled over to a chair and dropped himself in it. His right leg burned, his right wrist stung, and he could tell he was bleeding in multiple places. At first it looked really bad, but after a minute he realized that the wounds were more superficial than he had thought. He sat there, catching his breath.

If all three had come at me at once, I'd probably be dead. If my coat hadn't been upgraded, same. I was damned lucky. One minute into the System and I'm already pretty beaten up.

He growled a moment in frustration. “Goddamn it, inside my own house? How is that supposed to be fair? I shut the doors and locked them!” Apparently, creatures could spawn anywhere.

What are these things, anyway? Karl stared at one for a while, trying to take it all in. After a minute or so he got a notification:

Lesser Land Crab corpse--unlooted

So apparently the System told him the names of things if he stared at them long enough. He poked one with his left boot.

Do you wish to loot the corpse? (Y/N)

Karl blinked, then thought yes at it.

You receive 4 copper pieces, 2 Lesser Land Crab legs.

He looked around, and didn't see the things appear anywhere. The same thing happened when he hobbled over and looted the other two crab bodies.

Where are they? Karl couldn't figure out where his eleven copper pieces and five crab legs were.

He took another look at his right wrist, which didn't seem bad at all now. Okay, maybe I overreacted. These aren't too bad. It looked and felt much worse than it was. He checked out his leg, and while it still hurt a lot, with holes punched through his blue jeans, it didn't seem nearly as damaged as he'd assumed.

He shook his head. “Where the hell did these things come from? Were they beamed down?” He looked at the crab bodies. They seemed to be decaying quickly. "Ugh, gross. Now what?” He peeked out the

nearest window, wondering if he was going to see hundreds of crabs crawling around his property. Nothing was visible, yet. He paced around the kitchen and dining room, waiting to see if more crabs were going to appear inside.

“How badly hurt am I?” he wondered aloud absently. A notification popped up, and he read it at once:

Health: 7/20

Karl looked at it, then mentally willed it to stay at the bottom of his vision. Once it was positioned, he blinked and looked again.

Health: 8/20

“Okay...” He blinked, trying to get used to unfamiliar ideas. “I have 20 health points and lost more than half of them. I'm guessing that I die if it goes down to zero.” He sighed. “Never thought I'd be wishing I'd played more video games.”

This doesn't make sense. Then again, why am I expecting it to? The laws of nature I grew up with have apparently gone out the window. Things are...simpler now, in a lot of ways. Incredibly complex things are being boiled down to a handful of numbers. It's like we're all elementary particles or something, only we still think and feel and experience in great detail. The System can't be natural; there has to be intent and design behind it. Who made it? How old is the System, and what were things like before it was created?

A notification popped up.

You have discovered an important fact about the System. The System was deliberate created by one intelligent being or more. Exp +100.

Karl paused. “Well, that's useful. Does experience make me stronger somehow? How can I tell how strong I am, or what my 'stats' are?”

A large notification window popped up this time. Aha! Karl thought.

Karl Friedrich Hausman

Class: none

Level: 1

Experience: 220/250

Health: 9/20

Mana: 50

Stamina: 4/23

Endurance: 7

Body: 3.7 (Strength: 2, Constitution: 3, Agility: 6)

Mind: 7.7 (Intelligence: 9, Willpower: 8, Aptitude: 6)

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

Social: 3.7 (Charisma: 5, Personality: 3, Allure: 3)

Karl stared, trying to make sense of it all.

Are stats on a ten point scale, maybe? And what the devil is Mana? “Help Mana.”

Mana is the essence of magic to power spells. Spend Mana to cast. Grow Mana with experience and level.

“Interesting. Does everyone have Mana, I wonder?”

Karl looked at his experience. Apparently, killing each crab gave him forty experience points, and the insight bonus nearly doubled that, assuming he started at zero. So if I have another insight or survive one more fight will I max out my experience, whatever that does? There was a bang from down the hall.

I had to ask.

Karl jumped up, and made a quick search of the kitchen and dining room just to make sure no more crabs were creeping up on him, then returned to the living room. The bang came again, definitely from down the hall. It sounded as if something small were fighting with the door, trying to get out. It was either the bathroom, his office, Jane's crafting room, or the bedroom.

Karl looked behind the couch, making sure again that he didn't have anything creeping up on him from behind, then held the trash can lid in one hand and his chopper in the other, with a choked up grip to make it easier to use one-handed.

Health, he thought, then remembered that it was already on display at the bottom of his view. It read 12/20 at present. He chewed his lip and considered.

If I wait a while...how long? I should time it. If I wait long enough, my health will go back to full. But if I wait too long, I might get more crabs or something.

He decided to advance slowly while he waited and figure out what room the noise was coming from. The bathroom was empty. He closed the door again and walked forward cautiously. He opened the door to his office and waited a minute, then looked inside. Still nothing.

Health 14/20

Karl moved up and listened at the door to Jane's little workshop. Noise was coming from inside, like someone was randomly shoving things around and throwing them on the floor. He forced himself to wait until his health crept up to sixteen, then decided to go ahead. He opened the door and held his trash can lid in front of him. The noises stopped.

One step inside. Karl looked around carefully. Two steps inside. Three.

A raspy squeak from above made him flail upward with the trash lid, and by sheer dumb luck he managed to catch a small flying creature inbound and slam it away. He dropped the chopper on the floor and pulled out his knife and looked around.

There were three small flying things, gray with webbed wingspan of about eighteen inches. They almost looked like little gargoyles come to life. One was sitting on Jane's work table, picking apart one of her small embroidering projects and chewing on it. The sight made Karl furious, and he charged at it, trash lid first, and slammed the imp into the wall. It bounced and Karl slammed it to the wall again, leaning into it to pin it there behind the lid.

Then he felt a searing pain in his neck and shoulder, as the third creature landed on him and dug in with sharp little talons. He turned, continuing to trap the one he had pinned, pressing with his back against the lid, and used both hands to grab at the one on his neck. He still had the knife in one hand and almost cut himself, but just kept stabbing.

Health 2/20

Another message popped up.

Critical Strike. Damage X2

The thing on his neck went still, then fell to the ground, slicing him a bit more as it pulled free. Carefully he turned around once more, and managed to hold the pinned one in place while he stabbed it, shouting, “You leave her things alone!” This one also went still. He stabbed it once more for good measure, and it gave another squeak, then went still for good.

You have gained a level (1->2) You have two ability points to distribute. You have one new skill point to distribute (skill point banked due to lack of class).

Health 1/40

Karl heaved his lungs for a moment, trying not to fall over. There was still one more creature somewhere. He watched above him and at the doorway, trying to even out his breathing.

Health 3/40

He realized that he had almost died. He still might well die if that last thing got lucky. He focused on breathing, watching, and waiting.

Health 5/40

He heard some fluttering and bumping noises in the hall, growing closer. He waited.

Health 7/40

The thing flew back into the room and veered to one side. Karl stepped forward quickly and slammed the door shut, trapping it in the workshop with him. They stared at each other. Gradually the fluttering got more even. The little monster was healing too.

Health 9/40

Karl took a step forward just as it launched itself up and away from him, trying to circle behind him. He put his back to the wall and waited. The creature flew directly over him and landed on his head. Claws dug viciously into his scalp. He reached up with his right hand to grab it and it tried to bite his finger, getting foiled by the gloves, if barely. In desperation Karl grabbed the edges of his trash lid in both hands, and swept it up over his head.

The lid hit the creature edge on and Karl felt something give in his target. He tried and failed to keep it pinned. In its drive to escape it let go of his scalp and fluttered madly. Karl chased it around the room, not bothering with any weapons except the lid, face on now. It took an embarrassingly long time to catch it, and longer to stab it to death.

He took a long shuddering breath and leaned against the wall.

Health 2/40

Karl sat very still, and didn't move until his health rose above ten. He stared at the bodies and after a second he got the notification

Minor Imp - Unlooted

Then he looted the corpses, which amounted to touching or kicking them and saying “yes” to looting. Again he got copper coins, and this time 'webbing x2', whatever that meant. He had no idea what to do next, so he sat and waited and dabbed at the blood from his scalp until it stopped flowing, and he read help files while the number climbed slowly.

Health 40/40

Karl still wasn't feeling one hundred percent; he had the start of a headache and his vision was blurry. He took his glasses off to rub his eyes and started to put them back on before he realized that he could see clearly without them. What the devil? Karl put his glasses down on the nearest table, then had second thoughts and put them in a pocket, just in case this was temporary. He blinked a lot and squinted, but his newly perfect vision didn't deteriorate.

“I need to make this house a safe zone,” he decided. “Help Safe Zone.”

Safe Zone: A Safe Zone is created area where spawns do not happen. Required is sturdy structure as base, materials needed as well. Power needed also. Temporary Safe Zones are available at lesser cost, twenty-four hour intervals. Structure must be cleared of opposition before converted to Safe Zone.

Potential materials: stone, wood, metal

Potential power sources: cores, System tokens

“What the hell is a System token? Help System token.”

System tokens are rewards for actions. Tokens have kinds. Tokens are use for many things: Systemize object, create Safe Zone, upgrade Safe Zone, many more.

Karl frowned. “Form Safe Zone. Make Safe Zone. Establish Safe Zone. Create Safe Zone.”

Insufficient resources to create Safe Zone this area. Resources required:

Wood: 1000/1000

Stone: 1000/1000

Metal: 212/1000

A temporary Safe Zone may created in this area for monetary fee of: 10 silver coins. Your temporary Safe Zone lasts 24 hours and include this room. Add additional room and their functions for additional 1 silver coin per room.

“How much is a Silver Coin?” Nothing. “Help exchange rates. Help economics. Help coins.”

Coins are to carry money or wealth in System.

“Help Copper coin.”

Copper Coins is smallest unit of currency. 100 Copper Coins = 1 Silver Coin.

Karl pursed his lips. “So I need a thousand copper coins to be safe for 24 hours. Or I need to get a lot of metal somehow.” He looked at the numbers for wood and stone and realized that making a proper Safe Zone was probably going to eat a lot of the woods on his property, and possibly remove a lot of the boulders in the woods as well. New Hampshire, like the rest of New England, had rocks as its largest crop. He didn't want to destroy the woods! But the alternative seemed to be getting overrun with monsters.

“How many copper coins do I have now? How much stuff do I have?”

A large window popped open, with a lot of details. A series of boxes indicated some sort of inventory. A stick figure symbolically showed what he was wearing for armor. Next to the boxes was a listing

Coins: 26 Copper.

Karl did the math. He needed to kill about 250 monsters in order to purchase safety for 24 hours. It was impossible. Preparing a true Safe Zone actually looked simpler, but since he didn't know how much metal was in a unit, he couldn't estimate that. Plus there was the “power source” needed. He had no idea how to get one of those. He made his way to his easy chair, sat and stared off into space.

“This isn't going to work,” he muttered.

But what else could he do? Leaving the house seemed suicidal at this point. He could barely defeat the creatures that were spawning inside the house. There were already bears and wolves in these woods. Hadn't the messages said something about native creatures changing? He wouldn't have wanted to face a bear before the System, let alone now.

He could try to stay here, keep fighting everything that spawned inside the house, and maybe sleep in the bathroom behind a barricade or something. Every morning he would have to fight monsters first thing just to reclaim his own house. And who knew what they would do to his supplies overnight?

What if I go outside, but stick close to the house? Will monsters come to me? If they do, can I beat them, or retreat inside if they are too tough?

He certainly knew he wasn't ideal for this strange new world, but how on Earth was anyone supposed to survive this, even for a day or two, let alone long term? This just wasn't doable.

What am I missing? Karl called up the windows he knew how to deal with, reread things, trying to find the secret. He was rereading his stats when it hit him. Social stats. Charisma, Personality, Allure. He groaned in dismay, having forgotten his insight from the other day.

I'm not supposed to do this alone.