Chapter 38

The Game Begins

Before he could read his stats 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 he 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.

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 a 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 the 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.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

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.”

***

Jason sat at the kitchen table, currently covered with Leo's first aid kit, his arms bleeding from half a dozen scratches.

Leo joined Jason at the kitchen table, focusing on his special skill. Group Heal was an order of magnitude better than anything he'd had in his previous life. But he needed to figure out how to use it. “Imp? How do I use this?”

There are two ways to use Group Heal, Imp responded. The first is to focus your energy on a small group of people physically close to you. It helps if you're touching them, then activate the skill. The second, and more effective, use of the skill, is to first form a party of up to ten implant wearers. That way, they do not have to be nearby for you to activate this skill. At your skill's present level, you will heal ten percent of your maximum Vitality or twenty percent of their maximum Vitality. Whichever is lower.

“Jason. Touch my left wrist with your own. I'm going to make contact with you. You will need to choose a name. Something not already in use.”

Jason nodded. The two bumped their wrists against each other. Leo requested contact. Then sent out a party invite.

Ultra Warrior-Gunslinger 83: Accepts contact.

Ultra Warrior-Gunslinger 83: Agrees to join your party.

Leo grinned. “Congratulations. You are the first member of my party, Jason. Lydia, get over here.”

“What?” she asked from the other side of the table, where she watched them nervously.

“Just come here.” Leo reached across the table and touched her shoulder. “I have a healing skill you may or may not need.” He activated the skill. A wave of energy left his body. For a few seconds, he felt weak.

Leo's vitality went up to 11.2. His bleeding stopped and his cuts and scratches stopped hurting.

The scratches on Jason's arms vanished.

“Wow!” Jason said. “My Vitality went up 1.3 points!”

Interesting, Leo thought. With the two additional points to his Vitality, Leo was pretty sure his own maximum Vitality was around 13.

It would seem that Level 1 Group Heal raised everyone's Vitality by ten percent of Leo's maximum Vitality. So the higher Leo's maximum Vitality became, the more effective Group Heal would be. Unless they had a really low Vitality, in which case it would raise their Vitality twenty percent of their own maximum. Neat.

“Are you okay, Lydia?” Leo asked. “Do you feel any better?” Since Lydia was a non-implant wearer, he had no easy way to tell if his healing had worked or not.

Lydia nodded. “I felt something. What did you do?”

“Group Heal. One of my new abilities,” Leo said. “Lydia, we need you to pack your stuff right now. I got you a decent-sized backpack. Fill it with the necessities. Change of clothes, toothbrush, that sort of thing. Pretend we're going camping.”

“The last time we went camping, I was five,” Lydia responded. “I remember we got rained out. Camping sucks.”

“The pack I got for you includes a poncho, flashlight, batteries, first aid kit, basic stuff. Get a change of clothes and your personal stuff. Now.”

“Okay,” Lydia said. “I was wondering what the two packs were doing in your closet.”

“Move it, Lydia,” Leo said. Had she gotten past his padlock? Figured.

Leo unlocked his closet and pulled out their two packs. Hers was smaller and had the basics. Leo put on his armor and stuffed his late father's pistol back into its oversized holster, which he attached to his belt. Then he drew his Khukri and held it in a tight grip. He was as ready as he was going to get.

“Imp,” Leo said quietly while Lydia was grabbing her stuff. “Let's raise Group Heal to Level 2.”

“Right away, Leo,” Imp said cheerfully. 100 Demon Tears vanished and Leo's Group Heal went up to Level 2.

“Help me out, Leo. How do I work this thing?” Jason held his left wrist up, making it glow violet. “I have ten Demon Tears. And what does 100 corruption mean?”

“Leave the Demon Tears alone for the time being. That corruption means lay off the Bio-Blessed.”

“Is it serious?” Jason looked worried.

“No. It's not serious. You're fine,” Leo said. “Now go to implant replication. It will reduce your implant's performance slightly. It's not that big a deal. My implant has been replicating since I got it.”

“Fine,” Jason said. “It's done. Now what?”

“Now we get out of here. You will assist in killing the Afflicted until a decent character class option shows up. Tell me when character class options appear. I'll help you pick out a good one.”

“I have Garbage-Collector/Common and Beast Master/Common,” Jason responded. “Also, my Imp says I leveled up in shooting at Afflicted monsters and missing. Whatever that means.”

“I see,” Leo responded. “The Beast Master is probably from your experience with the cat. Do you like animals?”

“No.”

“Let's wait to see what else shows up, then,” Leo responded. “Lydia, are you packing?”

“Yes.” Something about her voice made him concerned.

Leo went to help her.

Lydia was in her room, sitting on her bed, next to a small pile of her stuff, crying.

Leo sat down next to her and put his arm around her. “I'm sorry. This must be hard for you. I wish I knew what to say.”

“You killed Mom,” she whimpered.

“I didn't,” Leo responded. “I killed the thing that took her over. If Mom was here, she'd want me to kill that thing and look out for you. Come on, Lydia. Let's get you packed.”

“I'm scared,” she said.

You should be, he thought. “It's going to be okay.”

He helped her pack a change of clothes and personal things. It was sad how few of their things were useful at an end of the world event.

“Will I need...?” she motioned to where she kept her money.

Leo shook his head. “No. That will not be a problem. Come on. Let's get moving.”

He went to a window and carefully peeked out. There were dead Afflicted littering their lawn. The woman in a nearby car was the obvious culprit.

Well, speak of the devil, he thought. It was Special Agent Lopez.

Future Man 10/16: Damn it, Mr. Osmond! Did you have to send Shank 66 to pick me up?

Teach: I needed somebody to watch out for you two idiots and she volunteered. Quit putting your lives in needless danger and get your asses to the stadium. A number of us are trying to turn this place into something livable.

“Come on, guys. We're clear,” Leo said. “Let me do the talking.”

They stepped outside.

Special Agent Lopez waved at them from a yellow BMW convertible with the top down, parked on the opposite side of the street.

“Hello, Shank 66,” Leo called out.

He had suspected Special Agent Lopez was Shank 66, but hadn't known for sure until now.

Shank 66: Get in. What are you waiting for?

Future Man 10/16: I'm waiting for you to promise not to try anything.

Shank 66: Since you're the only one who knows what's going on, I really hope you can save our asses at this point. I've spent the last half hour keeping you safe. Get in the car already.

“Come on guys,” Leo said to the other two. “Looks like we got a ride.”

“Who's she?” Jason asked.

“Special Agent Lopez. She's an evil bitch, so be careful, but I think she'll behave.” Leo stepped carefully onto the front lawn, doing his best to avoid the bodies.

There was a scream from an approaching Afflicted. The creature was too intent on the humans in front of it to notice the quiet whirring as a large-bladed object flew behind it. The object sliced through the Afflicted's neck like it wasn't there, causing its head to fly off in a shower of blood.

Special Agent Lopez caught her weapon by its small handle, then threw it again. As close as Leo could tell, it resembled a large, deadly version of an African Hunga Munga.

He walked over to the car, the other two following him. “What is your character class?”

“Blade Mistress/Rare,” Special Agent Lopez said with a grin. “I've got to admit, this is neat. Not the end of the world, but being able to control bladed objects.” Her bladed weapon flew back around like a boomerang, failing to find a target. She caught it once again. “So what are you?”

“I'm the Guardian,” Leo said, putting his pack in the trunk of her BMW convertible.