Russ steps on Ethan's thigh, licking his hand as Ethan places it around his dog's face. "I'm back; I'm back; I missed you too, buddy," Ethan says with a high-pitched voice. Ethan glances at a furnace. Thirty minutes passed, around the same as on the other side. Ethan stashes his HK416 in his haversack and hides his Glock under his coat.

Stepping out of the restaurant, Ethan passes a man paralyzed by an arrow stuck in his lower back. "I don't know where my wife is," the man yells at Ethan. He remembers seeing the man sharing a table with a blonde and that woman falling with an arrow in her neck. "She is fine; do not move if you want to walk again."

"Adding the Deception skill. Based on your previous experience a level of 47 has been applied."

Fires dance from the windows of several apartments, but no siren whistles toward them. Cars move around slowly, slaloming between crashes and running pedestrians.

Ethan moves to his car. "In," he orders as he opens the passenger's door for Russ to climb in. He ignites his car and taps the center screen to turn on the radio. He switches from channel to channel, hearing numeric noise, screams, and cries for help.

The light of the rising sun dims. Ethan looks up and sees a winged, scaled beast crashing into the cars and civilians before him. He reverses and moves on the sidewalk. He slaloms between the terraces and people, reaching an empty crosswalk, where he spins. Switching gears to move forward, he continues to create distance with the beast.

"Adding the Driving (Car) skill. Based on your previous experience a level of 47 has been applied."

"The initial assessment of your abilities is concluded. You may now choose your first class amongst those available to you." The window flashes in, followed by illustrated cards. His sight obstructed, Ethan swats them away, without success. "Cancel, exit, close," he says, making the windows disappear.

He enters narrow alleyways where his car barely passes and enters a parking. The engine of his BMW M4 echoes on the old underground walls. Power is out, and only his headlights light the place.

As he exits the descending ramp, his light rises on a grotesque humanoid of gray pustulated skin. It slowly chews on an arm, sitting next to a car with a ripped door.

Ethan turns to another part of the parking and parks as far away as possible from the creature. Shutting down his engine, he triggers predator's sight to see only the creature and a weak pulse in the wrecked car beside it.

He exits and moves to the trunk, where he pulls his rifle from the haversack. From the hidden compartments, he takes a silencer, which he threads on. He removes the magazine and clears the chamber before inserting a magazine of subsonic 5,56. He pockets another one, grabs a fragmentation grenade, and attaches a torch before closing the trunk.

Using predator's sight Ethan detects that the creature has returned to its meal, unbothered by his presence. Ethan closes his eyes, but to his surprise, no string of ether appears around him. 'Well, there goes my last use of predator's sight,' he thinks.

Ethan opens the passenger's door. "Heel," he orders. He moves through the parking without any light, relying on his memory. The staircase leading inside the building lies behind the feasting beast.

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Peeking at the edge of a concrete wall, Ethan lights his torch, shining it at the creature's face. It bends backward, masking the light with its hand and dropping its meal. Ethan presses the trigger. The impact sound feels shallow, as if a Kevlar vest caught it. The projectile cratered in the creature's forearm, unable to pierce its skin.

The creature springs forward. Ethan yells, "Tackle!" and shoots at its face. Its hand catches the projectiles, breaking its bones. Russ bites its ankle at full speed dragging its leg backward. The creature falls, bashing its face on the ground. "Let go!" Ethan orders, aiming at the creature's skull. He fires several rounds, enough for one to break through its skin and bones. Red blood flows from the beast's nose onto the concrete ground.

Russ squeals while looking inside the torn car. Ethan joins him to see a young man barely hanging. His left arm is missing, mangled at the shoulder. His left leg is dislocated and twisted. Something pressed on his chest hard enough to collapse his rib cage. His breaths are short and painful, each coming with blood dripping from his mouth. He's on borrowed time.

"I'm sorry; even if rescue was available, you wouldn't make it to the hospital," Ethan says. He raises his rifle, ending the man's suffering with a shot to the head. "You obtained the Kin slayer title," the voice announces.

Ethan moves to the entry ramp. Its unpowered engine stops it from closing. Ethan flicks a security switch and slowly moves a chain, closing the gate.

Exiting the garage, he grabs a key hiding above the door frame and closes it.

Hurried, Ethan continues to the building. Something breached the entry door from outside. The doors leading to apartments are all broken down. Blood trails exit from them and from the upper floors to the street.

Ethan advances, peaking through every opened door. He enters a busted door and checks every corner of the twenty-square-meters apartment. He presses a hidden button on his car keys. The end of a cloth rack slides open, revealing a concealed artist loft.

Closing the secret passage behind him Ethan, clears the massive room, the toilets, and a mezzanine.

Finding no monster, he lays his rifle on a table. Countless weapons litter the room, hanging on meshed steel walls. Body armor, military clothes, and various attire rest on mannequins.

He sits on a couch, instantly joined by Russ. He pulls out his phone, and taps several points on the touchscreen in rapid succession, bringing up a hidden application.

"Adding the Technology skill. Based on your previous experience a level of 23 has been applied."

A title screen 'N.E.S.T' appears, soon followed by a target package. Ethan quickly swaps from the left, bringing a menu on which he taps 'Call'.

The phone rings for an eternity until an altered feminine voice says, "Welcome back, Reaper five."

Ethan explains in the most serious of voices, "There's a situation in Paris. … monsters, the like of those you find in games and books app—"

"This is a worldwide situation. We dealt with it on our side," she answers.

Ethan asks, "I used guns in public; is there any issue with the failsafe?"

"Your presence has been properly erased from public security cameras. Most social media sites and apps are currently down; we'll survey any upload of your image." She pauses and asks, "What class did you choose?"

"I shut down the windows when they appeared," he answers.

"Try saying status," she explains.

"Status," Ethan says, summoning the window once more.

Ethan Reed

Lv.0 (classless) Human

Class change available

Strength: 16 + Charisma: 12 +

Dexterity: 16 + Perception: 16 +

Constitution: 15 + Willpower: 18 +

Intelligence: 15 +

Available characteristic points: 6

Titles

Dungeon conqueror (F)

First dungeon conqueror (F)

First hunter

Slayer of the first incursion

Kin slayer

Kobold hunter

Ability

Predator's sight (F)

"Class change," he guesses, summoning the cards. A myriad of illustrations, each carved with a name, appear before him. His mind flashes to when he was in the car, and he realizes that there are more cards than before.