"And so that's what happened" at the meeting, I concluded my report stating the significance of red levels and the dangers brought by the people with them. The air around got tense the moment I mentioned killing the man. It was okay, I already expected it.
"About these blessings you mentioned, can we confirm that it was stated that there are gods watching us?" Benson repeated.
"I'm sure most of us probably received information about receiving points or whatever from strange names" I stated. "I believe that those are the gods that the system mentioned".
I could hear the surroundings beginning to murmur amongst themselves. "Now let's hear the next report from Matt" Benson pushed the spotlight onto the next man as he went up to make his report. I couldn't help but feel that it was rather crazy that the people here could adapt so quickly. But it also brought me a sense of relieve that they were done scrutinizing me. The meeting carried on with each different person giving their reports on their various situations and infromation they learned.
From what I hear, apparently the city seemed to have changed somehow. With that, the meeting had ended and everyone was free to rest up for the day.
"Hey boss, how are you?" Sean approached me.
"I'm fine, what's up?" I gave a somewhat standard response to his question.
"Well... nothing much really, just checking up to see if you felt alright after that" he answered.
"You don't have to worry about me, I'm really fine. Just a lot to think about." I responded and he nodded his head before heading back into his assigned home with Adeline.
"Bossss" I hear Liya calling me before feeling a familiar presence tugging against my pants. It really was extremely hard to keep sight of this 4-year-old.
"So how has your day been?" I patted her head and asked her.
"I helped everyone! I washed clothes and helped to collect water!" she was almost beaming with pride as she answered me.
"Very good" I praised her as I continued to pat her head. She was strong. Seeing a 4-year-old with such strength somehow makes me want to do better. For starters, I do think that settling down here has its appeals... especially for Liya. I'd also like to see if Jason is still alive and well... but that can be left for a later time. For now, all I needed to do was to survive. I'd also want her to survive as well. I looked to the little girl who was trudging along next to me as we headed towards our assigned house.
We reached the house at a relatively quick pace and I noticed Danton back as well. He was covered in blood... I guess he was hiding in corpses looking for survivors again? I noticed the level above his head indicating at 6. It turns out that perhaps he wasn't simply doing the same recon work today as he was when he found me.
"Oh hey boss! I'm going to take the showers first alright?" he smiled at me and waved towards Liya who quickly hid behind me. Somehow, she seemed to be wary of him. Or well... seeing a man covered in blood smiling at you really isn't a plesant sight in the firt place is it?
Sitting down on a chair nearby, I brought up my status that I didn't have a chance to check.
Status Level: 5 (12/156) Blessings: None Points: 450 Health: 300 (300) Mana: 10 (10) Str: 21 Agi: 16 Def: 11 (+1) Int: 60 Dex: 16 Luck: 15 (+25) Skills Endurance (D) : Minor increase in endurance Sleepless (B) : You don't need more than 4 hours of rest to feel refreshed. Sleeping spells below C rank is nullified. Pain Resistance (A) : Pain is significantly reduced Confident Demeanour (S): You always dictate your actions. Immune to control skills. Carry out actions with full confidence. Probability of failure when performing actions decreased. Titles Boss : Your ability to command is increased Healer: Healing is more effective Soul-bound: LuckUP! Your soul is bound to your body
There didn't really seem to be much of a difference as compared to when I had checked it after the system updated. I guess level ups didn't bring about many changes, though I was extremely interested and somewhat hopeful that I would somehow managet to obtain a skill like the one that man used.
Recalling about all the psychos that are out there roaming the streets, I felt this strange urgency to get stronger. Who knows when will a group of psychos gather and attack this place? Furthermore, there was so many things going on that I have completely no idea about. What was this about gods? Contracts? And immersion in worlds? In any case there were a few facts that I could at least confrim. Firstly, the presence of skills. Secondly, the ability to fully heal when you level up like a game. Lasly, the presence of gods that were watching us in this world.
What were we supposed to do here? What is our goal? Is it simply to survive?
While I was getting lost in my thoughts, I noticed Danton coming out of the showers. With that as a cue, I headed towards it and washed myself clean before deciding to turn in for the night.
Perhaps I'm now given the luxury to begin to feel that this game-like world was a little boring. To the gods up there, what are we exactly here for?
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That night, I had a dream. It was a dream that I hated. A dream about the past.
It was loud, noisy and had alot of screams. I was crouched against the ground, surrounded by multiple people above my age. Their legs continouly pounded against my body as I silently waited for the moment to pass. After all, the moment will eventually come to pass, no matter how painful it is. My body finally gave way as I lost my grip on the food voucher from a nearby fast food restaraunt.
The boys scrambled to pick it up. But I grasped at it again. I clenched it tightly in my fists, as it was not just my own lifeline. The voucher carried the weight of 2 lives.
"You fucking brat!" one of them exclaimed as I could feel myself being lifted up from the bottom by his feet.
In a position where I couldn't run if I wanted, I endured their beatings while making sure to remember how they looked like.
"Don't look at me like that you homeless bastard!" another one shouted once more as they attempted to pry the voucher out of my hands. I gripped at it even harder, refusing to let go. The voucher was crumpled up into a ball in my hands, as I refused to allow them the chance to even touch it.
"Damn" they grew more and more fustrated and irritated.
"STAY RIGHT THERE" I heard a loud shout from the corner of my eyes. Officers quickly tackled the boys away from me and I used the chance to get away.
"You're alright now boy. boy?" the distant remarks of the officer in my dreams echoed as I found myself staring at the ceiling.
It was still dark out and the sun had yet to rise. I looked around and saw Liya breathing gently, or in fact, too gently, I had to move in closer to ensure that she was still breathing. She's definetly someone who will thrive in the future. Looking at her reminded me of Jason, he was young, talented and proud as well. He also had a bad habit of shouldering too much weight.
I got off my bed and proceeded to the washroom to freshen up. My complexion in the mirror looked a little better. In fact, it looked better than before this whole thing started.
A New Dawn Approaches
The system is proud to announce that the merger of worlds have been successfully completed. By the will of a majority of the gods, it has been decided that a quest will be issued to every adventurer.
Dark demons have awaken and are attempting to conquer the world. Adventurers, the world calls upon you to get rid of the foreign invasion!
A map has been issued.
Areas populated by a significant amount of people have been marked and awarded accordingly.
Teritories can be managed and are free to be purchased.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
New Mission
Defeat invaders daily! (0/10)
Reward: 10p
Failure: Level Down
I checked the screens shown once more. What do they mean by merger of worlds? Map? As I thought of that, a virtual image of the area where I was popped up in my head. I could see the current area being marked as "Haven" and even the exact amount of people that were here.
It appears that the map would expand with the areas I have visited from now on as that was all that I could see.
So we have to slay demons don't we? I sighed as I looked at the mission that was assigned. Does that apply to everyone including Liya? What happens when you reached level 0? Do you die?
Leaving the showers, I notice Danton awake and looking at the brand new "updates" the system had brought along.
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Breakfast today was clam chowder served with steamed bread made from heating up leftovers in scavenged from bakeries. It was delicious.
After breakfast, the usual meeting was held and I brought along Liya this time. She hurriedly hid behind me, shy and wary of the gazes around us.
"I'm sure all of you have also recieved news about the new update" Benson, who was large enough to gather attention based on his build alone begin to lead the meeting. Still dressed in his military uniform, he quickly urged those who haven't to picture a map in their heads. Sure enough, we all saw the same map with nothing around other than "Haven".
"I have also recieved the title of 'Owner' and is considered to be the ruler of the land currently" Benson continued to speak. He then begin to explain the perks he had as the owner, such as enabling or disabling the ability for players to damage or hurt each other. As a test, the people around tried to gently smack the other and a sort of invisible barrier prevented it.
"Of course, this does not garuntee the safety of everyone present" he continued.
"For starters, another teritory owner is able to 'declare war' against our location and this would lift the restrictions of damaging each other."
"This only ends when either me or the other owner dies, with the winner taking everything."
As he explained, he begin to show his blue screen to the people around. I took a glance at it and confirmed that he was speaking the truth. Speaking of which, the level around his head had somehow already risen to 7. A 2 level increase since the last time I saw him.
"So I agree that our survival here has been enhanced, but we are still at risk of an outside attack" Benson continued to speak.
"Continuing on, in regards to the daily quest. Everyone, including children will have to participate in our daily raids from this point onwards." as he spoke, the surroundings begin to get noisy.
"I believe that this would be to the benefit of all parties" he said as he shot a glance towards me and Liya. I could only respond with a wry smile.
"We do not know and do not wish to risk anyone in the side effects of this "level down" that they spoke of. Until then, everyone has a duty to protect themselves." his intentions were clear that he would not take responsibility or help those who do not wish to acquire the required kills.
"But...how are we supposed to fight the monsters? You guys have weapons right? Why don't you help us?" someone spoke out from the crowd.
"Yeah, it's not fair that you're hoarding the weapons for yourselves and sending us off to our deaths!" another one continued.
"If you're unhappy with my decisions, you can feel free to leave this place. You're not welcomed here" Benson spoke once more and I could see the soldiers nearby readying their weapons. It was more of a threat then anything but it was enough to scare the civilians into calming down.
It was a reminder for everyone not to take their protection and what we had for granted.
"But, I understand where you come from. In regards to this, we will assign a soldier to accompany each group when they are out raiding." he gave the carrot after the stick.
"For those who wish to have them for protection of course" he smiled and looked around.
"That will be all! Everyone is free to form groups and carry on for the rest of the day. We will be looking to employ people who can help to move supplies and cook! Payment will be in food and we will ensure that you manage to acquire 10 kills each day!" Benson announced it to conclude the meeting.
I noticed Susan approaching me and her eyes were glued onto Liya who was still hiding behind my back. "I'm not sure if they'll take her in..." she worried. I knew that she was talking about being employed by the military men to cook and carry supplies.
"I can take care of her just fine" I replied.
She then gave me another look and turned her back towards the queue to be employed.
"Are you looking for a group?" Sean appeared with Adeline as they greeted me and Liya.
"Are you looking for members?" I replied.
With a warm smile, they welcomed our presence and we begin to make plans to explore the area around us. "Eden" was already out of the picture with the amount of zombies we noticed roaming around there so they suggested another area which they noted down as "Hex". This was mainly due to the fact that the area was shaped in a hexagon with malls on each side. Over here, there were a variety of products that we can find for but mostly, it was filled with electronics that we didn't have anyone to tinker with.
"There's actually a convenience store in that area which I frequent" Adeline explained why we were making our way there this time.
"It's a little further than Eden but at the very least, we know that it is somewhat safe and we are familiar with the area" she continued.
I took a look at Liya who simply nodded her head. For some reason, I don't think that she would have a hard time completing the daily mission at all. There were a variety of ways which we could do it, mainly with us taking down a monster and having her deal the final blow. She seemed to completely understand the situation despite being only 4 years old.
As silent as she always was, I patted her head.
It was going to be tedious but at the very least, it was possible to do so.
"Furthermore, the main monsters in that area are well... mini slimes? I reckon many of the groups here would decide to head there as well" Sean added on.
"Mini slimes?" I asked.
"Yeah, they're basically almost harmless. I've heard that they don't hit even as hard as a toddler and it's extremely easy to destroy them. The only way they fight is by attempting to jump into your mouths, most of the time however, they run away and scatter in different directions." Sean explained.
"Alright , so let's make our way there shall we?" Adeline chimed in.
"We don't want to be too slow" she added on.
On our way out, I was given another 2 bottles of water and some extra rations probably for Liya.
"Right, boss. I've never heard of you having children before..." Sean whispered to me as we left Haven.
"She isn't mine. I found her or well... it's more like she found me" I answered him as Liya was carried in my arms. It was much faster to travel in this way.
"I see..." he looked at Liya who similarly stared right back at him.
"This is Sean" I told her.
"Mm" she responded.
The journey towards "Hex" was a long but peaceful one. On our way there, the amount of monsters we encountered seemed to have visibly decreased. I found it wierd that the area would be empty if only peaceful monsters lived around it so I asked them what was up with that.
"Well initially it wasn't filled with mini slimes, it was filled with horrible insect creatures that tore through the area. After a while though, one day, out of nowhere, all of their heads were just found severed from their bodies. It wasn't known who did that or how they did it but afterwards these mini slimes begin to show up." Adeline explained. Was this where they were hiding before they went to Haven?
"Sean and I hid here at the start of the whole thing... we lost well... basically everyone else who was with us then" the two of them explained.
"Isn't this a great location for a base then?" I asked, curious why the military had never claimed the area.
"Not at all, too many monsters around. And besides, you never know when the insect monsters might show up again." Sean cut into the conversation.
"Don't jinx it" Adline chided.
"Water" Liya muttered and I called for a break.
We had been travelling for a few hours straight and there was a few overturned cars around which we could use as cover to rest. My arms felt sore and the relieve of letting Liya down made me feel like they could breathe a little.
Taking out water and some rations from the bag, we quickly chugged it down and sucked against the cold and nasty packets. The taste wasn't that bad, or at least it was edible and it was somewhat easy to consume. It was a quick and simple break.
"Boss. Do I have to kill the monters?" Liya asked me, breaking the silence of us eating.
"Yes, you have to" I replied her.
"Good" she responded. I could see a fire in her eyes, something which children and especially toddlers aren't suppoed to have.
"I will make mummy and daddy proud" she clenched her fists together.
As adults, the rest of us could only lament about how the world currently was when we looked at her. Afterwards, the journey continued on in silence and it was nearing the evening when we finally reached the location.
I looked at the virtual map in my head and could see that the area wasn't marked as anything by the map. It wasn't a "teritory" as indicated by the system.
"Well home sweet home I guess" Sean looked at the malls from the outside. I noticed that there were apartment buildings above the shopping mall and made a quick guess that they used to live up there. Insects can fly and they still can as monsters, I noted it down mentally.
There was a opening in the hexagon shaped cluster of malls that we could enter from. It surprised me how little I knew of my own city when I entered the area. I guess a life between my house and the company building wasn't exactly the most decent way to live.
I see the little mini slimes they talked about bouncing in the area. They seemed rather cute and harmless as they stood around and occasionally moved. A little further away, I could see another group making their way into the malls.
"Let's get our necessary kills first shall we?" Sean suggested and took the lead.
We headed into a cluster of mini slimes which quickly scattered away and Sean picked one up and threw it against the wall, causing it to explode.
"YES! It works!" he exclaimed.
I could see him checking on his missions with the blue screens hovering around him.
"Liya, can you do that?" I asked her and she proceeded to imitate him in the same way. From what I see, the mini slimes didnt seem to weight much at all. However, Liya wasn't able to smash it against the wall and it merely bounced off and continued to run away.
"Can you help carry our rations for abit?" I asked Sean and Adeline before emptying the contents of my bag with them. I figured that we can simply shove mini slimes into the bag and have her dump it off a building. They nodded with my idea and we collected the slimes and shoved them into the backpack. They didn't weight much but it was still pretty tough keeping them in it.
While doing so we acquired the necessary kills for ourselves.
We headed into the mall and climbed the stairs to the 5th floor. I could see the decomposing corpses of the insect creatures, mainly praying mantis types, cockroach types, worm types and mosquito types. I noticed Liya who had been walking next to us quietly flinch each time she passed them, so I carried her in my arms and covered her eyes on our way up. Little children really shouldn't be seeing things like this.
"Come, drop them down" I told her as she opened up the flap of the bag and dumped them out of the building.
"Can you show me your mission screen Liya?" I asked her.
Mission Complete
10p have been awarded!
I felt a sense of relieve. I had many other options but I'm glad that I didn't have to try them. A new worry came up as I thought of the future. What if these monsters were all hunted out? How would she complete her daily mission then?
Let's collect these monsters and store them for her to use everyday.
"Are there any shops selling luggages around?" I asked Sean and Adeline.
"Yeah, there's one on the 3rd floor. What are you going to use them for?" Adeline replied.
"Storing slimes and maybe even growing them" I responded.