Chapter 88
Choose Your Character
Leo pulled up his stat sheet.
Before Leo could read his stat sheet, Imp began speaking.
As you know Leo, the game has begun. You desperately need to choose a character class and use your Demon Tears to upgrade your special skills. If you fail to do this, I don't see how we'll be able to survive, let alone do well in the game.
All previous quests have been canceled. You and every other implant wearer have been given a new and final quest. Your world has been invaded by monsters. You must kill them all and make the world safe once again for humankind. Completion of this quest, and surviving, guarantees you will win valuable prizes. To this effect, many of your implant features have become stronger, and the best way to earn Demon Tears now is to kill the monsters.
“Thanks, Imp. I suspected as much.” Leo studied his stat sheet.
Subject: Leo
Sex: Male
Age: 12
Strength: 7.1
Vitality: 9.9
Agility: 6.5
Intelligence: 6.8
Charisma: 6.6
Common Sense: 5.2
Class: Undetermined
Qualifies for Swordsman/Epic, Garbage-Collector/Common, Housekeeper/Common, and Janitor/Uncommon. Assassin/Rare, Paladin/Rare, and Guardian/Common.
Special bonus: Add one level of rarity to any character class.
Special skills: None.
Demon Tears: 320
Corruption: 0
His stat sheet had changed little since the day before. The extra Demon Tears were no doubt from killing the two Afflicted.
Leo had been all set to choose Paladin/Rare, which would become Paladin/Epic, a truly amazing build—until he noticed he'd somehow gained Guardian/Common. That was the last thing he was expecting. After receiving Paladin, a second rare class like Guardian had been too much to hope for.
If he chose Guardian, he could...
Leo started shaking and dropped to his knees. A revelation hit him like a freight train. He knew how the School's Out programmers intended for them to win the game! He knew what he had to do and suddenly felt sick.
“Leo! Leo!” Jason was shaking him. “I found your cat. Afflicted have nothing on cats for scratching people. I need your first-aid kit! So do you, you're bleeding. Lydia's still hiding in the bathroom. You need to get it together, Leo.”
Leo nodded and stood up.
Future Man 10/16: Teach, I'm at home with Afflicted trouble, working on getting out of here. Next time we meet, we need to talk. I figured out how the programmers intended us to win School's Out. I figured out how we save the world. And if you could let people know I am the Guardian the aliens warned us about, I'd appreciate it.
Teach: What the fuck?
Future Man 10/16: Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I survived fifty years of this shit. Just wanted to tell you there is hope. You need to rescue Mr. Al. Please. He's important.
Teach: Get your ass to the stadium now, Leo. When you arrive, we are going to have a talk.
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Leo chose Guardian. With his bonus, Guardian/Common became Guardian/Uncommon. He suddenly felt a lot stronger and his stat sheet changed.
Subject: Leo
Sex: Male
Age: 12
Strength: 7.1 +2
Vitality: 9.9 +2
Agility: 6.5 +2
Intelligence: 6.8 +2
Charisma: 6.6 +2
Common Sense: 5.2
Class: Guardian/Uncommon. (Level 1)
“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but ourselves.” William Shakespeare
Special Skills: None
Demon Tears: 320
Corruption: 0
Guardian/Uncommon was an excellent character class. It gave him 2 additional points in everything but Common Sense. He already felt stronger, faster, and smarter than he had previously.
The quote he'd received was much more vague than the one he'd gotten as a Swordsman. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
As Guardian, Level 1, he could choose two special skills.
Special Skills to choose from were.
Armor:
A force field to protect you from harm. Higher levels increase the armor's strength and duration.
Melee weapon:
Create a sword, mace, or other short-range weapon. Higher levels increase the weapon's duration and ability to deal damage.
Augment:
Raise your companions' stats and increase the strength and effectiveness of your comrades' skills. Higher levels of this skill increase both the time and effectiveness of your augment, as well as the number of people you can augment at any given time.
Rally:
Temporarily increases your charisma and raises the morale of your comrades. Higher skill levels increase the time and effectiveness of this skill. Note: skill will combine with Augment at higher levels.
Group Heal:
Heals yourself and/or your comrades. Higher skill levels increase the effectiveness of this skill. Note: skill will combine with Augment and/or Rally at higher levels.
Last time around as Swordsman, his list consisted of Weapon Enhance and Rapid Movement. That was it. Two low-level skills that took him decades to level up into anything useful.
He chose Augment and Group Healing. He figured they'd be the most useful in the near future.
“Imp. Put fifty Demon Tears into each skill to raise them to level 1.”
Right away, Leo, Imp responded. Or should I say, about time.
“Just do it.”
“Jason. We need to go!” Leo could hear Afflicted approaching, attracted by the gunfire. He ran to the bathroom and pounded on the door. “Lydia!”
“Go away!” Lydia shouted from the bathroom.
“Lydia!” Leo said. “The police aren't answering, are they?”
No answer.
“That's because the world has ended. Everyone who's consumed too much Bio-Blessed is now a monster. That includes most of the police. That includes Mom and Dad. I'm sorry. I tried to stop it from happening, but I couldn't. Mr. Osmond, a bunch of others, and I are sheltering at the city stadium.”
For a time, there was silence. Then, in a quiet voice, she said. “Are they like werewolves?”
“No, Lydia. They're not werewolves. They will not return to normal and there's no cure for them. In my previous future, people tried to find a cure and failed.”
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
Leo knew the question was less of an immediate we're-going-to-leave-the-house-to-find-shelter question and more of a general what-are-we-going-to-do-about-the-end-of-the-world question. “I won't lie, Lydia. It's not going to be easy, but we're going to be okay. First, you need to come out of that bathroom. Jason already rescued Sparkles and we're all going to go to a safe location.”
The door to the bathroom slowly opened, and Lydia peeked out. She looked like she'd been crying.
“Jason,” Leo called out quietly. “What's going on?”
“I can't get this first-aid kit to work. In the VR game, you just grab it, and it works. I can't figure out what half of this first-aid kit does.”
“Sparkles?” Lydia came out of the bathroom and followed the sound.
“You are not to let the cat out of its pet carrier,” Leo said, following Lydia.
“I'm not stupid,” Lydia answered.
They found Jason in the kitchen with Leo's large first-aid kit open and pieces of it strewn all over the table. Unhappy yowls came from the pet carrier next to Jason, and Jason's arms were covered with scratches.
“I have a group healing skill,” Leo said. “This seems like a good time to try it out.”