I snapped awake with a jolt, briefly disorientated. Fear and the urge to run pulsed through me before I remembered. Trapped in a bunker. Dread settled in instead, and I palmed at my eyes, groaning.

“Welcome back to the land of the living.”

With the harshest scowl I could manage, I set my eyes free to glare at the blue figure of Richard standing ready to talk my ears off. Before I had the chance to snap at him, I noticed my clothes.

“You… replaced my shirt and slacks?” Or Bernie had, maybe. My previously shredded and soaked white shirt and black slacks were as good as new. A glance at my arms told me I hadn’t been washed, but…

“Magical gear repairs itself overnight, if not fully destroyed.” The Guide crossed his arms. “I’m not sure I appreciate what you were insinuating, though.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but any desire to get into an argument simmered away. “It’s very confusing learning this bullshit after the fact. I barely trust normal people, so this is all… overwhelming.”

“Your welcoming buff has expired now, so I expected you to be a little grouchy at the minimum. Plus, sleeping in that chair looked uncomfortable.”

Over in the corner, Bernie was still asleep. He had managed to get some blankets or folded clothes together to make a bed, for the loosest definition of that word. My head was still aching, as if I had a hangover. “I’ve slept worse places.” I unbuttoned the cuffs of my shirt once more and rolled them up to my elbows.

“Nice bracers.”

“Fuck you.” I shot him a glare. “You had me thrown to the wolves so that I could get a couple extra digits of experience? Plus, they’re gaudy as shit.”

He gave me an apologetic grin, surprised at how I snapped at him.

I closed my eyes and rubbed them again. Fine. It was okay, even if possibly not worth almost dying over. Now that I had spent some time sleeping, I didn’t think I was likely to get the milestone for level four or five. For those in the world where it had been early morning once the apocalypse hit, they would have had the whole day to level up… and hopefully hadn't died.

“You know, it’s very impressive that you not only took on an Elite, but a Boss as well.”

Images of the carnage flashed through my mind, causing me to wince. “Yeah… I think I mostly got lucky and cheesed it.”

“Thinking outside the box will keep you alive. You don’t want to know the number of people who have died trying to take on a Boss.”

I pulled a face. “You have those sorts of statistics?”

Richard hesitated before answering. “To some degree. I trust you understand the stakes, but the only numbers you need to concern yourself with are your own Stats and your Level.”

Despite resenting most everything this morning, he had a point. This was a world-ending event. People would die. Lots of people. Having this abstract fighting chance just made it seem more cruel than if we were just snuffed out with no say in the matter.

Damn, I could really do with some breakfast. My brain switched to the diner, before back to the conversation at hand.

“You can read like… my logs, right? So you know what I killed, the loot I took, how injured I got…?”

He nodded. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard when there’s no real risk on my end.”

I rolled my tongue around my mouth. All my teeth were present, which was nice. Usually a good idea to check after a fight. “Do you know how many people in my life have been utterly incapable of apologizing? I appreciate it... but I’ll be sore about this whole thing for a while.”

“Understandable.” He gestured to the sleeping man. “Bernie was really worried about you, and I didn’t even tell him the gory details. I won’t push you today, other than heavily advising that you do not go to the city.”

“It’s fucked?”

“The scaling of the monsters is… practically a death sentence, unless you know what exact routes to travel through.” Richard brought out his chair and sat down opposite me. “That leads on to what skill Bernie received.”

I frowned. “Why did you advise him to group up with me? I won’t be able to keep him safe.” Despite the soft spot I had for the pleasant old man, he would be a liability in combat… and likewise, I would be, for his survival.

“Thankfully, that won’t be necessary… currently.” My Guide tilted back, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “The good news is he can use his skill within the bunker to benefit you both. The bad news is that he will get next to no experience being in your Party, and the bunker isn’t exactly furnished for long-term survival."

With a sigh, I massaged my temples. “But you’re saying if we make it more hospitable, it would be to our benefit? What skill did he get?”

Rather than tell me, he prompted a message to appear in my STAR.

[Scout 1]

[Reveals points of interest within an area on the map. 1hr cooldown.]

“The radius is pretty poor at this level,” Richard continued. “He used it twice before going to bed himself, but when you’re partied, he will be able to share his map data with you.”

“So… we’ll be able to see monster packs and Boss locations further afield?”

He nodded.

“Neat. Wake him up and drop one in the direction of the diner. I need to go there now.” I moved my legs, and they figuratively cracked in half, my muscles stiff as a board.

“You’re going nowhere.” He held up a hand. “You have unfinished business to deal with.”

I glared at him and tried to get more comfortable. With stats to assign, milestone rewards to receive, and new gear to sort through… I grumbled further at the process. I needed to see if the pair at the diner had survived, and if there was any food that I could steal. Acquire.

“Explain Stats distribution to me then, before I stick all four in Vitality.” I brought up the necessary window and threatened the action.

Richard shuffled in his chair before leaning forward. “It wouldn’t be a terrible choice, but I’ll say this… the System often trends toward complimentary items. It likes to try to be cohesive, and if you go with the flow, you can access some of the better Class choices. Ultimately, the journey is your own path to tread, and whatever you decide, you-”

“Alright, alright, I stopped listening after ‘cohesive’.” In some ways, my fate was decided by the first skill that I found, but… maybe even that was generated based on other factors related to my life. I flexed my hands out as I tried to fight the urge to split them between Power and Vitality.

I murmured several curse words, and hit the buttons, accepting my fate. Three in Morale and one in Vitality.

“Interesting,” Richard said.

Instead of cursing at him, I moved on. It would be a good idea to check my totals once I had dealt with any equipment as well… plus, it allowed me to pretend I hadn’t done something incorrect. I knew what my Guide would say. Choosing Morale at the start was uncommon. I might struggle with combat to level up. He had baited me with the ‘better Classes’ line, and I had seen how Morale affected the Ratfolk. If I could increase the severity or likelihood of that…

“I’m not saying that because it’s a bad choice.” He sat back up and rubbed his hands together. “I know that you think you came close to death once, but it was actually twice - and do you know how you survived?”

I gave him a tired shrug and gestured for him to continue.

“The extra Vitality from your hammer helped you resist most of the poisons and diseases. If not for that, the damage from the bolt would have killed you. The second time was when you saw the Boss. It has an aura of fear that your increased Morale negated, allowing you to dive away from it instead of being frozen in place.”

His words sunk into my thick skull. For me, it wasn’t really that much different from just… living the way I usually had. Perhaps one of the logs displayed all these granular interactions, but I wasn’t about to sit and read through them. Certainly not in the middle of getting my head caved in.

I did, however, appreciate the fact the System gave me the items to succeed. Unintentionally, most likely, but it had worked in my favor. Trusting that Morale was the route intended for me, I’d tilted the scales in that direction. Worst-case scenario, I’d die with a chip on my shoulder.

“Rat bastards didn’t like it when I used Killing Blow.”

“How do you feel about it?”

I frowned at him again, partially because he kept distracting me from opening up my notifications. “It’s a weird feeling. I… remember switching to different weapons without really doing the process when I killed the Boss.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Hmm.” He rubbed at his chin, his own brow also furrowed. “It’s essentially a cinematic execution that causes fear, so perhaps the rules on how you can perform the kill are relatively loose.”

“For someone who is a Guide for this System, you sure sound like you’re still working shit out.” I gave him a glum smile and ignored his explanation as I opened up the messages the System had left me. There were… quite a few of them.

[Milestone Reached: You have killed your first Boss]

[Reward Received: Boss Chest]

[Milestone Reached: You killed a Boss solo]

[Reward Received: Weapon Upgrade Stone]

[Milestone Reached: Ahead of the curve. One of the first to kill a Boss]

[Reward Received: Ring of Speed]

[Milestone Reached: You have found your first Rare item. It better be useful!]

[Reward Received: Magic Re-roll Stone]

[Milestone Reached: So it begins. You have cleansed your first area]

[Reward Received: Title: Adventurer]

I squeezed my eyes shut. All these text messages were tiring me out already. Perhaps I hadn’t slept that long after all. It was hard to tell in the underground bunker. Some miserable hell where my exhausted body had only managed three hours of rest sounded… untenable.

Richard was clearly interested after getting the information of what I’d received himself. Eager to talk to me about everything. I hadn’t even gotten to the new skills that had leveled after the Boss fight, including the one I had looted.

“Cleansed?” I asked, trying to get ahead of the more boring questions brimming in his mind.

“You destroyed the influence of the invaders. Although I don’t advise you to return to that area, if you did, then you’d find that it has already started returning to… whatever it was before.” He nodded. “One step forward.”

That felt… slightly rewarding. It had taken every shred of my strength and part of me considered it might have been a bad dream. The things I had done…

“Lightbulb is nice,” I said, if only to distract myself from darker thoughts.

“You picked up Cleanse as well, that’s helpful... as well as partially confusing, as we were talking about cleansing the world. Three second cast, removes a single non-magical debuff from yourself or an ally.”

I nodded. Sounded nice. Having it before the fight would have been even better. Before digging into the equipment I had received, I removed the skillbook and learned it. While checking it was added to my active abilities list, I made a note of the new passive I had also received since killing the Boss.

[Hammer Mastery 3]

[New Passive: Underdog 1]

[New Passive: Boss Killer 1]

[New Passive: Pyromaniac 1]

[Killing Blow 2]

The three new skills seemed just as lackluster all the others. Single percent bonus damage against opponents much larger than me, bosses, and with dealing fire damage, respectfully. Richard was rambling something about the level five additions making them worthwhile. I wasn’t about to focus on any of them, so I’d just let the upgrades happen naturally.

[Killing Blow 2] was my sole interest. Increased chance of activating, and higher morale loss to enemy witnesses. While most skills were plain and granular, this one remained vague - only hinting at effectiveness. Still, the numbers went up.

“I have a lot of chests with common items in. Any suggestions?” I closed my windows to give my eyes a rest and raised an eyebrow to my Guide.

He glanced off at the wall for a few moments before returning eye-contact. “I’d suggest we wake Bernie and have him start revealing the route to the diner, if that is your intention.”

It felt like a shame to wake the sleeping man up. As much as we were all trying to make do with this apocalypse bullshit, I felt the elderly were probably getting some of the shortest end of the sticks. I thanked whoever would listen that he had received a skill usable from the bunker.

Even if it made it harder for me to eventually dip and escape this place.

Richard went over to try to wake our scout after I gave him the nod to do so. Maybe I’d find something to ground me in the equipment I had earned with my blood and sweat. I went through my Inventory and opened up the Common Equipment Chests.

[Merryweather Hat]

[White Undershirt]

[Gym Shorts]

I pulled a face. They weren’t even magically enchanted. No defensive stats either. The hat appeared in my hands, and I returned it immediately. While I had learned to be thrifty with clothing in my many years drifting, I had hoped for more than just a dumpster dive into random garments that did nothing but clash with my suit.

“Morning, dear.”

“Morning, Bernie. You sleep okay?” I shifted from the disappointing loot to watch him get up. “Better than I did, I hope.”

“Almost a home away from home,” he replied, smiling, but clearly still tired.

He started up a conversation with the Guide about where to scout first, while I returned my attention to my items. Boss Chest was next, and I opened it up.

[Breakfast Feast (5)]

[Health Potion (3)]

[150 Gold]

[Puzzle Piece #35]

[Solar Shards (3)]

I exhaled. Any frustration over more things to learn evaporated as I checked the feats out. Despite myself, a wide grin emerged across my face. “Are you hungry, Bern?”

Over the next five minutes, I slowly forgave the ratmen and their gross maggot leader. I sat on the floor opposite Bernie, both of us with plates of warm food in our laps. Omelet, bacon, sausage, and toast. Not quite as good as the diner food, but with how exhausted and exerted I had been… this was pure bliss.

“Point me in the direction of all Bosses if this is the reward,” I said with a half-full mouth. “It was worth it.”

Richard sat with his arms crossed, a bemused look on his face. “You might change your tune once you’re in the thick of it. Handy to know you’re food-motivated, however.”

I waved the fork toward him. “Just give me the bad news already. How far behind the curve am I?”

He gave me a shrug before deflating in his seat. “I don’t have that sort of data to give you, unfortunately. Even getting three pieces of Speed gear is a big boost, however. Have you equipped them yet?”

My eyes went back to the screens. I had the ugly bracers on, but I had clearly got distracted with the amount of new items and skills at the time to bother putting the gloves on. I swiped across the ring before then the gloves.

They weren’t as disturbing as the bracers. Black and plain in design, aside from a few textured pads on the fingers and pads. Probably used for some manner of sport. “Three percent extra experience is alright, I suppose.”

“Set bonus,” Richard replied bluntly. “Check it.”

I looked down the totals, showing I also had +2 Morale from gear, alongside the additional experience rate. There was a separate section now saying I had a set bonus. +50% Luck. My dull glare at the text had a more detailed description pop up, telling me that Luck increased the chance of getting 'useful' loot. Further pieces of Speed gear would add another 25% per slot equipped.

“I’m not sure I’d call that a ‘big boost’, but perhaps now I’ll get armor with actual stats.” I brushed my shirt down. “Was it a bad decision to make my normal clothes magical? Maybe I should have gone with something more practical… would my underwear count as two separate items?”

Richard pulled a face and raised an eyebrow. “Uh, depends. Maybe they’d be a singular upgrade if they were… a matching set?”

“Balls. No chance of that.” I didn’t have that sort of organization, nor an extensive wardrobe. There wasn’t even a slot for undergarments on my sheet, so it was more of a moot point. “That said, I think footwear would be a good choice. If I have to trek around the new wastelands, then self-repairing boots or something would be worth their weight in gold.”

Bernie was barely halfway through his breakfast as I finished up. At first I thought it was just because I was wolfing it down and he was more polite, but judging by how his eyes were moving, it was likely he was just getting distracted with his STAR menus. I wondered how overwhelming this was for him.

“How you holding up, Bern? Glad that you don’t have all these miscellaneous items and crap to identify and sift through?”

He raised an eyebrow, pausing a moment before giving me a smile. “More thankful that I don’t have to kill anything and put myself in danger. Some bad news on that front, however.”

“Oh?” I absorbed the empty plate and cutlery into my Inventory. Surely he wouldn’t have eyes on the diner yet.

“There’s a monster patrol not too far out from the bunker in the direction of the diner. Goblin Hunters, level one.” The way he annunciated the words sounded like he was just reading things off without really understanding the information. “That’s all that it tells me for now.”

I shot Richard a dull glare. If my Guide hadn’t set me off in the night against the ratmen, then these goblins were probably how I’d end up cutting my teeth. A smoother introduction to how messed up the world was… instead of the near-death experience.

Still, I was living. Now that I was full of breakfast, I felt I could take on anything - and hopefully not throw it up again. Three more meals stored away sounded good, but food would soon fast run out. My brain worked through some old memories of a survival course I once took in my teens. Or, at least the lessons I snuck into before they realized the payment bounced and banned me.

Shelter was sorted. Food and water was next. If I could find some furniture along the way, we’d be set… but I wasn’t sure how to go about defenses. How long was I going to stick around? What could I really do to help save the world?

I worked my jaw as I chewed on these thoughts. Cabin fever already, but I’d always had itchy feet. My idle stare switched to the Guide, who was probably trying to read my mind. I was sure he wasn’t able to.

“It’s better you don’t worry too much about the items you have found,” he said. “You’ll burn yourself out. Open up your weapon chest and get ready to head out. Bernie’s scouting will reset just in time to reveal the diner location by the time you get there.”

With a sigh, I pushed myself up to my feet and stretched out. “I’m going to be so pissed if I come across other survivors and they try to kill me for my items instead of helping save the world.”

Bernie looked up at me, concern across his brow. “Did nobody ever teach you about foreshadowing, dear?"

“I’ve seen enough apocalypse movies.” I flexed out my fingers in the gloves. “Thankfully, I’m shrewd and paranoid enough to keep myself safe.”

The pair just continued to look at me, but remained silent. I was reminded of how I didn’t really open up to people for a reason. Moving on swiftly, I went to the weapon chest and opened it up.

[Threadcutter]

[+2 Power, +2 Stamina, +20% Two-Handed Axe Mastery]

[Sever the bindings of fate, and sometimes necks]

A two-handed axe. I brought it out into my hands, and it was surprisingly light. Rather than a bright metal, it looked more like it was crafted from meteorite or something volcanic. Jagged around the edges, crimson and ruddy browns. I rotated the handle and resisted the urge to give it a few test swings.

“A rare weapon at this stage is pretty big,” Richard offered. “If you’re the gambling type, you could use the two stones you have. Magic Re-roll reassigns the stat distribution, and the upgrade increases all base stats.”

“You had me at gambling.” Power and Stamina weren’t bad stats to have. Killing things and keeping my energy up would mean I could adventure for longer, but… I had a gut feeling that I had to push the System in a certain direction. If I hit level five today, then I’d be able to pick my first Class - and the options were based on my stats and skills.

Biting my tongue to focus my luck, I used the Magic Re-roll Stone. A simple process that involved selecting the shiny pebble in my Inventory and then switching it to the axe in the provided drop-down list of applicable weapons.

[Threadcutter]

[+1 Vitality, +3 Morale, +20% Two-Handed Axe Mastery]

My Guide smiled. “Looks like you’re a natural. Now upgrade it.” Similar process.

[+1 Threadcutter]

[+2 Vitality, +4 Morale, +25% Two-Handed Axe Mastery]

I whistled. Not only was that a huge increase in stats, but I’d gain the mastery skill a lot quicker, increasing my damage sooner. Now that I had two magical weapons, I noted that I had three slots for weaponry underneath my gear - allowing me to gain their stats when not directly wielding them. Threadcutter in one and my hammer in the other, I went to check my stat totals.

[Power: 1]

[Guile: 1]

[Knowledge: 1]

[Vitality: 6]

[Stamina: 3]

[Morale: 7]

[Against all Odds] would give me an increase of 1 to all my stats when I was surrounded as well. While I didn’t have any baseline increase to my attacking skills, I felt really good about having high Morale.

I wondered how many times I could make that joke before it got tiring.

Hefting the large axe to rest across my shoulder, I grinned at the two in front of me. Time to go kill goblins.

I might be getting the hang of this.