"Hey Tom, did you ever Inspect your sword?" James asked. "That thing has to have better stats than the starter weapons right?"
"Honestly, I forgot. I haven't gotten used to being able to do that yet. I'll do it now." Tom replied.
Pulling his sword from his inventory, Tom activated the Inspect ability on it.
Item:
Black-Steel Greatsword
Item Type: Weapon, Slashing
Durability: 150/150
Attack: 18-25 damage
Item Quality: Well Crafted
Item Rarity: Uncommon
Sword Skill: Cleave - This skill allows the user to slice at multiple opponents simultaneously with an additional 50% power at the cost of 25 Stamina.
"It is definitely better than the starter equipment. It even has a skill I had been activating and didn't know. That explains why those strikes were so much more powerful than I had expected." Tom replied. "Though it Doesn't exactly feel like it's suited to a Warlock class."
"I'm guessing that will become more specialized as you level. You bought it right after making the selection. At least it has more power." Derek said. "Only time and more experience will tell though."
"Let's just see what we can get with our new monster cores," James said, rubbing his hands together.
James stepped up and put his hand on the machine.
Class recognized. Ranger. Adjusting available options.
The machine once again had rows that pulled back inside and then were replaced with new ones that had cans with more colorful labels and images.
"I was thinking about getting katanas, but being a ranged weapon fighter, I think another handgun so that I don't need to reload as often, and some axes is the best bet," James said looking at the items in the vending machine. "Also, some armor would probably be a good idea at this point. Though not sure how much I can get until we go out and kill some more monsters."
Tom guessed that the system had given James only about twenty coins based on the amount he received versus what the battle log said their party had killed. With the prices of items being slightly higher, but on average about five coins each for equipment of this level, they should be able to get a few good items each.
Looking over his shoulder, Tom watched as James bought another can with a picture of a handgun on it, though this one seemed to be different than the Glock he bought before, and axes that resembled hatchets. Grabbing the items, which cost fifteen cores, James was about to open the first can.
"No! Wait to open those until we get to the training for the new people. We want everyone to see us open them so they can be ready for what happens." Derek said, reaching out and placing a hand on top of James' hand to stop him from cracking open the first can.
"Oh yeah, sorry. I just got excited about new loot." James said sheepishly.
"I'd also suggest that instead of armor for now you buy more ammo, James," Derek said. "You will run out faster than you hope and it's better to be prepared now. Also, it will give the people a chance to see what happens when they buy ammo. I feel like there will be a pretty big rush on buying guns so that people don't have to get up close and personal with monsters."
"People really don't want to get swords and spears and axes?" Tom asked.
"Of course not. It's fun in video games, but in a world where we have assault rifles to kill so many enemies at once with little harm to ourselves? They are going to opt for the latter." Derek said. "It's simple human nature and survival tactics. We might have been killers in the past, and some still do hunting, but we have lived in a peaceful society long enough that people are not going to be ready to take a life. Even if it's trying to kill them first. They will need to see some atrocities before that can happen. Even then, many won't be able to do it."
This was a sobering thought. There was very little actual violence experienced by the average person. They had all heard about it on the news and it seemed so prevalent because of the mass availability of the media. But how many times had they actually felt the effects of true violence in their lives? On the playground as kids? In video games and movies where everything was fantasized and exaggerated?
Tom had been present for a killing one time in his life. That was abnormal for people. In a convenience store, there had been an older couple who had poured their life into the small gas station stop. A man ran in while Tom was getting a drink from the fridge. He had demanded money and when the husband had told him no, the man shot him. The wife screamed and threw herself at the assailant and he shot her too. The would-be robber had panicked. He lost control in the moment. Not wanting originally to hurt anyone and just looking for some quick cash to get his next high, he pulled the trigger.
He had bolted out the door after the second shot, not taking a single dollar from the store in his haste. Tom watched the couple bleed out, unable to do anything but call 911 for help. He hadn't even been able to jump in to try to save them for fear of being hurt himself. Counseling had been the only way he had gotten over that moment enough to return to work in the office.
Shaking himself from these thoughts, Tom was determined to help the survivors here do better than he had in that moment. Derek and he bought a few items each and deposited all the cans into their inventory and left to head to the gym.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
When they arrived, they were surprised at how many people were actually there. Metal bleachers had been set up at one since of the gym and reached almost all the way from one end of the room to the other. Tom had been expecting more of a weight room than an actual regulation basketball court. There must have been almost five hundred people crammed into the seating.
A microphone had been set up at half-court with a couple of speakers on either side for them to give their speech. Brian stood in the middle of the circle waiting for them and talking to another man in a suit. He noticed them and waived them over.
"Boys! Glad you are here. It's time to talk to the people we have here. Everyone is gathered except the security that are protecting the perimeter, and we will update them after your training." Brian said.
"Who are all these people?" Tom asked.
"Mostly the people who worked for companies renting office space in the building. A few are survivors who came here as you did." Brian replied.
"And none of them know have any idea what they are doing?" Derek asked.
"I'm sure some of them are figuring it out. For the most part, though, they will be pretty clueless." Brian said. "Remember that this has been a traumatic experience for them. They are scared and just looking for something to hold onto that is steady. Try to be patient and understanding."
Taking a deep breath, Tom stepped up the microphone.
"H-hello, everyone. My name is Tom. I'm a software engineer who works on...well worked on I guess now, video game development. These are my friends Derek and James. They worked with me on the games and we have been able to use some of that knowledge to begin learning what to do with this new reality we find ourselves being a part of."
A hand went up in the middle of the crowd.
"Um...yes? You with your hand up."
A middle-aged woman stood up, "Do you know how to stop this and make things go back to normal?" She asked.
"Uh, no. We don't think we have the ability to make that kind of change. This is a lot bigger than just us. It's a global issue that affects everyone at once. We are just here to try to help you all adapt a little better." Tom replied.
"I don't want to adapt. I was happy living my life before. I want to go back to that." The lady replied, seeming to get irritated at the answer.
Some murmurs of agreement began to spread through the crowd. James pushed past Tom and took the mic from the stand.
"Well, that's too fucking bad. You're stuck now. You've got two options now. Buck up, or die." James said to the crowd. A wave of confusion and anger began to run through the crowd at this pronouncement. Brian began to look pale and started to move as though he was going to intercede. Derek put a hand up to delay him.
"You all think that this is just some kind of inconvenience that is going to go away like a cold? Do you think that we can just wish it all away? Well, you're wrong. Our world has been fundamentally changed in a way we didn't even think was physically possible a few hours ago. It defies our understanding of science. But we are humans. Apex predators who had adapted to every situation that the world has ever thrown at us." James continued. "The ice age, earthquakes, tornados, tsunamis, hurricanes, plagues, and pandemics. We can overcome this too if we work to adapt to what we have. We can even thrive again if we put our minds to it. Now, listen to Tom because he's going to begin to explain what you fuckers need to do to stay alive."
Handing the mic back to Tom, James nodded once, then stood behind him trying to look menacing at the crowd. Everyone in the room had gone silent at James' outburst.
"Thanks, James. That was....interesting. But he isn't wrong. This is a new paradigm we find ourselves thrown into. We can't change it. At least not without understanding it more. So what we need to do first is try to stay alive." Tom said. "By a show of hands, how many of you completed the tutorial the Grand System offered?"
Only about ten hands were raised.
"Of those of you with your hands raised, how many of you felt like you understood at least a small bit of what those prompts said based on video game knowledge?" Tom asked.
Most of the hands went down. Two of them remained up though.
"Cool! Can the two of you come down here to join me? I think we can use your help in explaining this to others later." Tom said. The two who had raised their hands began to move down from their seats. Looking at them as they moved, Tom noticed he recognized one of them.
"Kevin? Is that you?" Tom asked into the mic.
"You bet your ass it is!" Kevin called back.
"Hurry up dude! We wondered what had happened to you!" Tom said.
Most of the crowd turned to look at Kevin, not sure what this meant for the meeting they were having.
"Now for the rest of you. The first thing we need to explain is your new way of operating. There are going to be screens that you will have appear in your vision that you can control with your mind." Tom began.
And with that, Tom spent the next several hours going over everything that he, Derek, James, and Kevin knew about using the Grand System. Things they had learned from experience, things they guessed at from their knowledge of creating video game software, and things they still didn't understand. They fielded questions from the audience and did the best they could to answer them as truthfully as they were able.
The other man that had raised his hand was a man named Jay Beraz. He was not a software developer, but had spent some time working in IT and was a gamer who had been able to make most of the associations they had simply from the amount of time he had spent playing video games. The entire crowd had been completely in awe of the process of the cans. Tom, Derek, and James all brought out different cans and opened all but potions to show them what they did.
James, of course, opened one of the ammo cans and the bullets went all over the ground again. This caused some laughter as he scrambled to catch as many of them as he could before they fell to the ground. Everyone was amazed though when he touched one of them on the ground and they all disappeared at once though.
After the demonstration, they told everyone to take a ten-minute break and then they would reconvene to begin working more closely with them. Tom walked over to Brian and motioned for Derek, James, Kevin, and Jay to come over too.
"Do you know how many people there are here?" Tom asked Brian.
"About five hundred, give or take," Brian replied.
"OK. So then I want to divide them up into groups that each of us can take to walk them through the tutorial and try to answer questions. This will give us a better way of helping them as a whole I think." Tom said.
"Why don't we just teach everyone at once and have the rest of us just move through the crowd to answer questions? That way they all get the same training," Jay piped up and said.
Jay was a little bit older than the others. Probably mid-forties, with a goatee. He carried himself with an air of confidence that showed he wasn't afraid to go do what had to be done. Not the typical person who now was confused and scared of what might happen.
"Jay was it?" Tom asked.
"That's the name my mother gave me," Jay replied.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. Wish it could have been under different circumstances." Tom said, extending a hand to shake.
Jay took the hand and shook it, saying, "Not sure I would agree. Not much for people normally. I usually find the people I like the best in situations that try a normal person. So far I like what I see in you. Time will tell if that opinion changes or not though."
"Straight-forward and honest. I like that in people too." Tom said. "I also like the idea of giving everyone the same training. If you four can go through the crowd and answer questions I will help them through the tutorial. If there is a question that everyone should hear please say it out loud so that it can be answered for everyone.
With everyone in agreement, they went back to await the return of the rest of the crowd and began to get everyone through the tutorial at once.