You will gain five (5) additional attribute points each time you level up. You can freely distribute these points to Strength (STR), Dexterity (DEX), Constitution (CON), Intelligence (INT), Wisdom (WIS) and Charisma (CHA).

You must acquire enough experience points (EXP) in order to level up. You can gain EXP by completing quests, gaining achievements and titles, and killing monsters or other players.

-Admin Anon, Surviving Earthland For Dummies, page 5.

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Chapter 2: Let There Be Blue Screens

As Miguel slowly regained consciousness, another blue screen appeared floating in the front of his face.

Greeting, Earthlings!

Welcome to the SYSTEM!

“What the hell is this?” Miguel muttered to himself. His hand went through when he tried touching the blue screen. ‘A hologram? Is this some kind of alien invasion? What’s a SYSTEM? Why are all the letters in upper case?’

A moment later, the blue screen disappeared. Miguel looked around him. He found his unconscious friends still lying on the ground under the table when he woke them up one by one.

“Who tore up my blouse?” Melissa asked as she covered her naked top with her arms. “Why am I topless?”

Staring at Melissa, Miguel opened his mouth, then closed it again. His lips could not spit out the words to describe his surprise. Last time he remembered, Melissa has just suffered a serious traumatic head injury that required immediate medical attention. She seemed to be fine which was good, but the wound on her head was gone!

“Ugh. What happened?” Dianne groaned, rubbing her forehead. “My head hurts.”

Miguel touched the screen of his phone only to find that it wasn’t working. He never forgets to bring his phone fully charge before he goes to school and the last thing he remembered, his phone had at least 85% battery, “Dianne, can I use your phone?”

“Here,” Dianne handed him her phone.

Miguel tried to use Dianne’s phone, but it wasn’t working too, “Is your phone’s battery dead too?”

“No,” Dianne shook her head. “I had at least fifty-percent. I think.”

Miguel gave back the phone to Dianne, “Eric, can I borrow your phone?”

“Miguel, what’s this blue thing?” Eric pointed his finger at the empty air, “Can you see this?”

“What is it saying?” Miguel asked as he continued to stare at Melissa.

“Greetings earthlings and welcome to the system,” Eric scratched his head. “Can you see it?”

“I’m seeing it too,” Dianne said.

Everyone, except for Miguel, was too distracted by the blue screens that they were oblivious about Melissa’s ‘magical’ healing! Miguel shook his head as he let it slide for a moment. He needed to focus on a more urgent and important problem. ‘What the hell is happening?’

“I’m seeing the same thing,” Claire said, turning her gaze to Miguel. “Is this hologram? It said earthlings. Maybe an alien invasion or something? And why is system spelled in upper case?”

Miguel wasn’t a conspiracy theorist, but he was truly doubtful of Claire. She seemed to have an ability to read his mind. That or their minds work the same way. The latter was an impossibility. Miguel was certain of it.

After the ‘greetings’ blue screen disappeared, one blue screen popped up after another. Only this time, they were showing different messages.

*DING!*

Merging of Earth and Midland

Renaming World: Earthland

Disable Electronic Technology: Earthland

All electronic technology such as communication devices, computers, and other electronic machines and equipment will fail. 

Disable Advanced Weaponry Technology: Earthland

All advanced weaponry such as, but not limited to, guns, explosives and other similar propellants will fail.

Disable Combustion Engine Technology: Earthland

All machines using combustion engine technology such as Jet engine and etc.

Disable Language Barriers: Earthland

Everyone will now have a common language: Common Tongue.

Enable Gates to Spirit Realm: Earthland

Enable Gates to Nether Realm: Earthland

Enable Midland Magical Laws: Earthland

Enable Runic Magic Technology: Earthland

Enable Monster Spawn and Monster Evolution: Earthland

Monsters will spawn and evolve.

Enable Loot System and Shop System: Earthland

Enable Restricted SYSTEM Access to all Sapient Races: Earthland

The SYSTEM can be activated through your mind. There’s no need to use voice or hand gestures. For more info, seek ‘Help’.

“Can you believe this shit?” Eric’s eyes were wide open, pointing at the empty air in front of him.

‘If this is a hologram…’ Miguel thought as he looked around. ‘Where is it coming from? Why can’t we see each other’s blue screen?’

“My phone isn’t working,” Melissa said, tapping on the screen of her phone.

“The lights don’t work either,” Claire switched the light on and off, “What the hell’s going on?”

Miguel was also confused. He didn’t know what to do since their phones were dead. If only his phone was working, he would call his sister and his mom to check if they’re okay. He was worried and he feared for the worst. ‘No.’ Miguel shook his head. ‘They’re probably alive. I should go home and check on them.’

After the series of blue screens disappeared, another one appeared which caught everyone’s interest.

*DING!*

Hello world!

This is God.

I bid all of you welcome to Earthland. I based this world from the current game I’m playing, so I thought it would be a good idea to see how pests like mortals would survive in this kind of environment. I do hope you entertain me and enjoy it while you can. You’re all totally fucked up now…

Good luck!

P.S.: Once you die, you die. There’s no respawn.

“Did it just say he’s God?” Eric’s jaw dropped as he pointed at his blue screen.

Even though Miguel looked extremely calm on the outside, he was actually panicking and his mind was in total chaos. What made him panicked wasn’t the fact that Jen’s conspiracy theory about monsters turned out to be true. What shocked him the most was the existence of God himself.

‘A god? A REAL god exists?!’

*DING!*

Surprised?

That’s right, Miguel.

I exist.

Blood was drained from Miguel’s face. He was known atheist in their university. In fact, he was elected as vice-president in an atheist organization. The Philippines’ population were mostly Catholics and being an atheist means that you are an outcast. The reason why Claire called him Satan, demon spawn and other nicknames was because of his lack of faith in god. Or rather, the absence of it. If only Miguel was living in the middle ages, he’ll probably be burned at the stake.

‘If you’re god, then why the fuck did you turn this world into a game?! Are you fucking nuts?’

*DING!*

While I admire the size and hardness of your testicles for swearing at me, I’m not fond of blasphemy, so please don’t swear when talking to me. Use proper capitalization when you refer to me.

It’s God. Not god. I’m obviously the strongest amongst the deities or spirits who claim their selves to be gods, so I deserve the title ‘God’ with a capital G.

The existence of a god, especially of a vengeful god, is an atheist’s worst nightmare. Miguel gulped as he read the blue screen’s message. It was a warning from God himself and it was clear that He wasn’t happy with his tendency to mock God. Not only that, Miguel realized that God could read his mind.

‘No way,’ Miguel shook his head in denial. Although a huge chunk of his doubt was erased about God’s existence, he was doubtful that God could really read his mind. Miguel had a clever idea to test this hypothesis. However, he also thought of a test that wasn’t offensive either.

‘Hey God,’ Miguel called God’s attention through his mind, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m still doubtful that you are a ‘real’ God.’

*DING!*

Oh? Why is that?

‘It’s not my intention to offend you, but…’ Miguel scratched his head, looking flustered. ‘A guy claiming that he is ‘God’ in the blue screen isn’t that too convincing. I mean, if you are in my position, then suddenly, a guy claiming he is God, would you believe it? Do you mind a little test?’

*DING!*

Fair point.

I don’t really care about what you believe. Just believe in whatever you want to believe, but regardless, I’d like you to refer me as God.

Believe me when I say, I am powerful. After all, it was I who placed the SYSTEM in your world.

Lately, I’ve been reading an interesting book and I think it said: “Thou shalt not test thy Lord thy God.”

Nevertheless, I’m in a mood for this ‘little test’ of yours.

Go ahead. Give your best shot.

Miguel have thought about what to ask. Since it will be hard to prove that God is indeed a god, he just wanted to confirm whether or not God of the blue screens can read his mind or access his memories. ‘Who was my first kiss?’

*DING!*

No one.

You’ve never been kissed by anyone before. Your mom and your sister did, but it doesn’t really count. I won’t consider that mouth-to-mouth moment with the pretty waitress because that wasn’t even a kiss. You never had a girlfriend and you’ll most likely be a virgin forever.

In fact, you have the makings of a great wizard – a twenty-year old virgin wizard.

“What’s wrong, Miguel?” Dianne asked, waving her hand in Miguel’s face.

As Miguel collected his thoughts, he was thinking of not pushing it any further. Besides, he would be angry too if a person doesn’t recognize his existence. However, Miguel decided not to worship God. He bet that God doesn’t like ass kissers. ‘I mean, who does? An insecure and impotent god. That’s for sure.’

*DING!*

That’s right! I hate ass kissers!

Speaking of which, there are millions of people kissing my ass at this very moment. It’s very tempting to smite them, but that would ruin the fun.

I don’t need their praises or their prayers. Who do they think I am? A genie? An insecure divine being? Pffftt…

You are fun to talk with, you know. We should do this a lot. What do you say?

‘I don’t mind. It’s not like I have a choice, do I?’

For being worthy of God’s attention, the SYSTEM rewarded you with the following:

Reward(s):

Unique Perk: Quick Learner

Your mind can process information and learn faster than normal.

Effect: You earn Exp and Skill Exp as twice as fast.

Miguel stroke his beard as he read the message. Certainly, it won’t be called a unique perk if someone other than him has it.

“Hahahahahaha!” Miguel suddenly erupted in laughter.

Miguel had a feeling that he would be an overpowered character. For most of his life, he felt that he was a comic relief in someone else’s story (Probably Eric’s). This was the moment when the most inconspicuous character gains an overpowered ability that will certainly act like a plot armor and instantly promote him as the main protagonist of the story. Kicking bad guys’ asses and women falling on his lap like there’s no tomorrow. ‘Does that mean I can get a harem too?’

Miguel shook his head, shaking off his ridiculous delusions. He was back to his usual pessimistic self. He knew that the world doesn’t work like that. The fact that he can think quickly through his newly gained ‘perk’ didn’t erase the fact that he can still die.

Most women, if not all, aren’t that shallow to fall in love that easily. Sure, he has the potential to become a super bad ass with laser swords and magic or something, but who cares? Why would you want a woman who’s in love with your power and not with your personality?

A harem? Not impossible, but highly unlikely. Like most people (just like men), they don’t like sharing. Hell, he won’t even share a woman with another man, so why would a woman share him with another woman? That is if he can manage to snag a girlfriend. ‘Did God just prophesized I’ll be a virgin forever?’

Miguel knew that whatever the hell’s happening, he wasn’t in some sort of a novel or something. This is real life.

While Miguel was cackling like a madman, the others were staring at him with confused expressions.

“Err…” Eric scratched the back of his head. “Is there a problem? What’s so funny?”

“I think he lost it,” Claire commented.

*DING!*

I wouldn’t be laughing if I were you.

Monsters are spawning in a few seconds…

Global Quest

The Monster Hour!

In celebration of a successful Merge, God has decided to reward those who will survive the first hours of the Merge.

Main Objective: Survive for the first twelve (12) hours of the Merge.

Reward(s): 5,000 Game Credits and a Skill Scroll of your choice.

Requirement(s): None

You cannot abandon or refuse the acceptance of a Global Quest.

“AH! HELP ME!”

Miguel and the others were reading the details of the quest when they suddenly heard a loud shriek outside. They rushed towards the door to see what was happening outside. “What the hell…”

Destruction.

Chaos.

Even those words fell flat for describing the scenery. The air was heavy with the smell of burning flesh and a haze of black smoke obscured the sun. The usual noise of a busy, highly urbanized city was replaced by the screaming of plea for help. The once tall and proud structures were nothing more than ruins of rocks, dusts and scraps. The four of them stood frozen in fear, not because of the destruction that was already done, but because of the massacre unfolding before their eyes.

“No! No! Please!” A woman let out a blood curdling scream. She was curled up on the ground, desperately trying to protect her baby.

Pale green skin, sharp and long nose and two small tusks on its jaw. The hairless creatures stood only up to three feet in height, but they weren’t children at all. They clawed and chomped off the limbs of the poor woman. After the woman died, one of the creatures picked up her crying baby. The baby shrieked in agony as the creature feasted on him with its small but jagged teeth. The ground was painted with blood as more creatures came to feast on their corpses.

Goblin Lvl. 2

He yanked his friends’ hands back to the restaurant as they stood frozen in fear. Some of the goblins turned their heads and growled at them like starving predators on their prey. As five goblins rushed towards them, Miguel’s brain sent signals throughout his body to run. Closing the door in a hurry, Miguel and his friends ran back towards the restaurant.“Goblins,” Miguel’s eyes widened in disbelief, slowly backing away from the door.

“Get me something to block the door!” Miguel locked the door and held it while the goblins continued to pound on the door. The others freaked out as they try to find something to keep the monsters outside. Eric saw a heavy cabinet and lifted it with his adrenaline packed strength. Melissa assisted him as they put down the cabinet in an effort to block the door. They grabbed the tables and the chairs hoping that it would be enough to keep them from entering.

“Behind you!” Melissa cried.

Unfortunately, there was goblin that already made its way into the restaurant. Unlike the other goblins outside who were unarmed, the goblin had a rusty dagger in its hand.

Goblin Lvl. 2

The goblin seemed to be hesitating to attack them, seeing that it was outnumbered five to one. Miguel took the initiative and charged towards the goblin with a chair. Miguel found it strange that he can see a small blue screen floating on its head. Shaking his head, Miguel had to make a move as he had no time to ponder on such things. The goblin snarled as he grabbed anything that he could use as a weapon. The closest thing was a wooden chair. Though it didn’t look sturdy, it was better than his fist.

-29 HP!

The impact was so strong that it sent goblin flying and crashed into the wall with a loud thud. Miguel was so focused on killing the goblin that he didn’t pay attention to the blue number that appeared above the goblin’s head. The goblin was dazed and whimpered at the giant figure that poured out a murderous intent. It had no choice but to cower in a corner as Miguel raised a wooden chair leg above his head to finish off the poor monster.

-16 HP!

-41 HP! Critical Hit!

EXP Gained: 3.50%

Warm blood splashed on Miguel’s face as he repeatedly bashed the creature’s head. He failed to notice that the goblin was already dead when he hit it full force on the head, but Miguel did not care. He wanted to make sure that it was really dead. Miguel felt his breath running short and had to stop. The goblin was almost unrecognizable and its brain matter splattered on the tiled floor.

Catching his breath, Miguel turned his attention to his friends, “Are you okay?”

The shocked looks on their faces confirmed that the recent events have indeed traumatized them. Miguel was hoping that his friends do not develop PTSD. Seeing a woman and her baby and other humans being eaten alive by little green monsters would be enough for a sane person to break. Not to mention that they were almost killed by those monsters.

When Miguel recovered his breath, he stood up to dust his shirt. The goblins who were trying to break their way through the blocked door have stopped as their attentions turned to other humans on the streets.

Eric seemed to have regained his composure and breathed out a deep sigh. He picked up a chair leg with a sharp nail on its end as he calmly walked towards the goblin’s disfigured remains. His hands were shaking and his face wrapped in disgust. Miguel was wondering what he was doing, but Eric vomited after he poked the corpse with the chair leg. He rubbed his best friend’s back as he hurled whatever he had for breakfast.

Miguel was wondering why it did not bother him for a bit. He just killed another living being. A human-eating monster, but still a living being. Miguel shrugged off any shred of remorse. In his reasoning, he had to kill in order to survive.

“Miguel!” Claire shouted, pointing at his back.

Goblin Lvl. 3

Goblin Lvl. 3

Miguel, on the other hand, was trained in Arnis, a Filipino martial art, by his mother and his grandfather. Though his reflexes were honed by the strict training in his childhood, his superior reflexes dulled over the years as a result of procrastination. Even so, Miguel will never be fast enough to dodge the arrow on the fly nor can he catch it with his bare hands like in the movies.

The two goblins aimed their bows and fired off their arrows at the two humans who have killed their kin. Eric was quick enough to hit the ground and dodged the arrow by a narrow margin. He was quick to flip the table to protect him and the others against the arrows.When Miguel turned around, he cursed his luck as he saw two more goblins behind them. Though they looked the same as the goblin that he killed earlier, they seemed deadlier because of their levels. Worse, they have bows and arrows!

-14 HP!

Technically, Miguel caught the arrow - with his body. The arrow landed squarely on his right thigh. Falling to the floor, he desperately crawled to cover as he endured the pain of the arrow wound in his thigh.

“Shit!” Eric cursed as he saw the arrow on Miguel’s thigh. “Are you alright?!”

Miguel ignored Eric’s obvious question as he peeked over the flipped table. They flipped two more tables to protect their left and right flanks. The goblins weren’t taking any risks to close in. They seemed to plan to wait and take them down in a safe distance with their bows. Miguel turned his head towards the three girls who were hiding underneath a table and with the terrified looks on their snotty bawling faces. Normally, he would’ve yelled at them and criticize for being useless, but the pain kept him distracted.

Miguel broke the arrow shaft into two, leaving a little broken shaft and the arrow head inside his flesh. He didn’t pull out the arrow completely because it will just cause him to bleed and he needed what was left of his strength to deal with the two goblins.

“Just stay there,” said Miguel, then he turned to Eric. “I’ll take the one on the left. Can I rely on you to take the other one?”

“W-what are you planning?” Eric stammered. “You want to take them on? They have bows for fuck’s sake!”

“We don’t have a choice,” Miguel shook his head. “They’re coming from the door in the kitchen. We have to close that door or there’ll be more goblins coming inside. We need to kill those goblins first. Help me lift this table…”

Eric reluctantly lifted the table up as they made their move. Eric and Miguel rushed in towards the two goblins with the wooden table as their shield. However, the goblins were smart and they went separately in the opposite direction, aiming to attack their exposed right and left flanks.

“Now!” Miguel shouted as they dropped the table.

Before the goblin could launch its arrow, Miguel threw his weapon at the goblin in a desperate attempt to make it miss. Luck seemed to be on his side at that very moment. The wooden leg landed on the goblin’s face, causing its arrow to miss its mark. While it did not do any damage, it gave Miguel an opening to kick the goblin on its torso.

-12 HP!

Stunned!

The goblin ducked to evade the attack, but the kick landed on its head instead on its original target.

Blue sparks appeared above the goblin’s head resembling the stereotypical cartoon ‘stars above the head’. Miguel knew that the stun debuff was only for a short time, so he looked around for anything that he could use as a weapon. The nearest thing that resembled a weapon was an arrow in a quiver strapped on the goblin’s back. He picked it up and pinned the goblin’s arms with his legs to keep it from escaping. Miguel stabbed the goblin in the eye.

-32 HP! Critical Hit!

Bleeding!

-5 HP! Bleed Damage

More blood splashed on Miguel’s face as the goblin let out a piercing scream of agony. There was another marker that appeared above the goblin’s head. A red ball dripping droplets of blood and each droplet was accompanied by a blue number which was the damage from the bleed debuff.

The goblin flailed its arms and legs, hoping to escape. However, it was futile struggle. The blood on Miguel’s face and its scream intensified his fury. It was the same goblin who shot an arrow at him. Miguel held the arrow above his head to stab the goblin again. This time, he aimed for the other eye.

-28 HP! Critical Hit!

Having lost both of its eyes, the goblin screamed in agony. Miguel was slightly amazed that the goblin was still alive after stabbing both of its eyes. The goblin’s desperate whimpers sounded like it was begging him to stop, but Miguel wasn’t feeling merciful. Not after he saw the goblins eating humans.

-34 HP! Critical Hit!

EXP Gained: 6.50%

Miguel stopped stabbing the goblin after it stopped moving. He turned his head around to see how Eric’s progress with his goblin. It seemed that he has already taken care of it and the goblin’s head was turned into a red mush, but Eric didn’t show a sign of stopping. His eyes were wide open as he kept on smashing the lifeless corpse, screaming like a mad man.

“Stop,” Miguel walked towards Eric and grabbed his shoulder. “It’s already dead.”

Eric nodded profusely as his hands trembled causing him to drop the bloody wooden leg that he used as a weapon. He checked on him if he was injured and the blood on Eric’s shirt didn’t come from him. Suddenly, Miguel felt all of his strength left his body as he fell on the ground. The girls then rushed towards them and the waterworks started again.

“Oh god!” Dianne bawled as he held Miguel’s hands.

Miguel began to wonder how much tears did Dianne have in store. Ever since the earthquake, she didn’t do anything but to cry and hide in a corner. Also, Miguel found it surprising that Claire had a worried look when their gazes met. She didn’t say anything, nor did she cry, but he can tell from Claire’s wet eyes that she was nearly there. Even Melissa and Eric, who was a madman a moment ago, looked at him with concern, which was odd, because he was feeling fine and perhaps a bit tired. He felt like he wanted to take a short nap.

Miguel had a sudden realization that the arrow was still lodged in his thigh and that was why they were looking at him like he was dying. He shook off unnecessary thoughts in his mind. He remembered that the door in the kitchen was probably open and they needed to make sure that the restaurant was safe.

“Lock all the doors and cover the windows. Do not make a sound. The monsters are still out there. Eric, go to the kitchen and make sure there are no more of those things in this place,” Miguel said.

“Okay,” Eric nodded as he picked up his club.

As Eric went to the kitchen, the girls proceeded to close the curtains and Melissa lit up some candles to help them see in the dark. There were still lots of screaming outside, but Miguel told the girls not to mind them and focus on their own survival. After a few minutes, the others went back to Miguel.

“You were right,” Eric said as he crouched. “The door in the kitchen was open.”

“What do we do now?” Melissa asked as she fidgeted.

“Just stay quiet,” Miguel panted, eyelids half-closed, “and stay alert.”

Miguel adjusted his back and leaned on the wall. He tried to reach for his first aid box. Without another word, Claire grabbed the box for him and opened it. Miguel was cursing himself for his stupidity, ‘Of all the things, I fucking forgot the painkillers! Fuck!’

At that moment, Miguel realized that his plot armor was as faulty as the perpetually faulty sink back in his house. This life will not just let him off that easily.

Miguel turned to Melissa, “Do you have any painkillers?”

Melissa shook her head in reply, “No.”

“Anything alcoholic? Like whiskey? Or rum?”

“I think we have a bottle of brandy somewhere.”

“Get me a bottle. Anything,” Miguel demanded.

As Claire tore his bloodied denim pants with the shear, Melissa came back with a bottle of brandy. The possibility that hospitals and emergency services were no more as the result of the apocalypse led Miguel to a decision to pull the arrow by himself. A stupid decision, but he couldn’t let the arrow stay on his wound either.

Shrugging off the burning sensation in his throat, Miguel drank a fourth of the brandy bottle in three gulps with hopes that it would lessen the pain. He put his handkerchief to his mouth to guard his tongue from his teeth and also to prevent him from screaming. He tightly tied his belt on his thigh to prevent bleeding.

Not minding the sight of blood, Claire disinfected her hands with rubbing alcohol from the kit and wore a pair of gloves. She rubbed another generous amount on her gloved hand as per Miguel’s instructions. The others couldn’t bear to watch as Claire inserted her finger inside the wound to enlarge the wound and to check if it was stuck. Miguel let out a muffled scream, biting hard on his handkerchief.

-10 HP!

Whimpering in pain, Miguel removed the handkerchief from his mouth and drank another round of brandy. Clenching his teeth on the handkerchief again, he gestured Claire to continue. Luckily, the arrow wasn’t lodged in his bone. Claire easily pulled out the arrow from his enlarged wound. Even if it was just a ‘flesh wound’, pulling an arrow from your body was excruciating. He almost lost his consciousness from the pulling, but he felt a great relief after like a huge splinter was just removed from his body. Quite literally.

“Miguel!” His vision started to blur as he heard the others calling out to him. “Miguel!”

----------------------------------------

Miguel was jolted awake when he felt a cold, wet sensation on his face. Dianne was wiping the dried blood on his face with a wet towel.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Dianne apologized, lips forming a slight smile.

“What happened?” Miguel asked, rubbing his aching head. Probably from a hangover. The last thing he remembered was the pain of pulling the arrow out of his thigh. “How long was I out?”

“I don’t know,” Dianne frowned, shaking her head. “Clocks don’t work anymore, but I guess you were out for a few hours?”

Miguel scanned his thigh and it seemed that the others did a good job of dressing his wound by using his first aid kit, “Who did this?”

“I did,” Dianne said with a smile. “Did I do it wrong?”

“No, you did a good job,” Miguel let out a chuckle as he ruffled her hair. He hoped that his wound wouldn’t get infected or worse, he could tetanus because the goblin’s arrow was filled with rust. It was strange that his wound didn’t hurt as much even though he was only out for a few hours. Miguel carefully pressed his wound with two fingers as he clenched his jaw.

Much to his surprise, the wound didn’t hurt even though Miguel applied pressure into it. Miguel removed the bandage and inspected his thigh again. There was no wound to be found! Just patches of dried blood on the skin and a scar, but no wound at all! Miguel looked up to Dianne, hoping that she was also seeing the miraculous healing of his wound, but her gaze was distant and her eyes looked… empty.

Miguel let out a sigh as he had a lot to process in his mind. His wounds magically healed was far less important than the current dangerous situation they were in, which was being trapped inside a building with monsters just outside their doorstep.

“Did something happened while I was out?” asked Miguel.

Dianne, still frowning, nodded, “The goblins tried to get in through the back door of the kitchen. They almost got through.”

“What?”

“D-don’t worry. Eric barricaded the doors and the windows. He found some hammer and nails,” Dianne waved her hands.

“And the goblins?”

“They’re gone. I think,” Dianne replied, not sure of her answer. “There were trumpets earlier. Eric said that it might be a signal for the goblins to retreat. They stopped pounding on the door and left as soon as they heard the sound.”

“Trumpets?” Miguel furrowed his brows.

Dianne nodded.

“How about you? You aren’t hurt, are you?” Miguel smiled as he ruffled her hair.

“I’m…” Dianne lunged herself to Miguel and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so – so scared. I-I don’t know what to do! I’m so scared!”

“Shh. We’re gonna get through this, okay? Whatever happens, we’ll stick together,” Miguel embraced Dianne, trying his best not to roll his eyes.

Miguel could not blame Dianne though. It was normal to be afraid and rightfully so. Even Miguel was afraid, but he was good at not showing it. The thing they just witnessed was only the beginning of a massive clusterfuck of whatever was waiting for them outside.

As Dianne cried over his shoulder, Miguel noticed that Eric, Claire and Melissa were not around, “Where are the others?”

Dianne wiped the tears with her wrist as she hiccupped, “Eric and Claire are upstairs looking for anything we can use. Eric said he’s trying to make weapons or something. Melissa’s cooking in the kitchen.”

Miguel stood up. He wanted to confirm if the goblins outside were gone. Miguel went to the window and slightly opened the window to peek only to see… nothing.

Of course, Miguel wouldn’t be able to see anything because of the darkness. The candle lights were the only things illuminating the room and since there was no electricity, there were also no lights outside. Miguel prayed to all the imaginary gods in his mind that the nothingness that he was seeing was truly nothing.

Miguel picked up the wooden chair leg that he used to kill the goblins then he took a chair to begin the so-called ‘taking the watch’ that he saw many times in zombie apocalypse movies and TV series. Though there were probably no such thing as zombies in this post-apocalyptic world, he was hoping that some of the useless and impractical things that the protagonists did in the zombie movies would actually turn out to be useful and practical.

Miguel would need to think of a plan on how to survive, but he also needed the cooperation of his friends in the planning as he was no expert in survival. Sure, Miguel knew how to apply first-aids and he also knew how to respond to flood/tsunami situations, which was the most possible emergency situations in their archipelago country, but not this one. This monster ‘apocalypse’ was the untimeliest and the most impossible situation that one might get himself into.

Miguel wished that he had his emergency backpack with him which contained everything that he would need in case of emergency situations. Spare clothes, fully charged mobile phone, battery operated torch and radio, spare batteries, canned food and can opener, utensils, blanket, a map and compass, and his important personal documents like birth certificate and I.D. Though most of it would be useless, Miguel wished he had his map and compass with him.

Fortunately, Miguel always kept his trusty Swiss Army knife in his pocket. He did not think of using it against the goblins. In his excuse, the fight with the goblins was something of a no-time-to-think and a must-do-something situation.

Miguel inspected the barricades that Eric installed throughout the restaurant. Though crude and seemingly unimpressive, the nailed wooden planks properly secured all the doors and windows and it would do well to prevent the goblins from breaking into the building. The windows were draped with black curtains. ‘Where did they get these hideous black curtains? Who even uses black curtains?’

As Miguel sat quietly in a corner, Dianne dragged a chair and sat beside him. She was still fidgeting from the happening. Miguel held her hand to ease her anxiety. There were no more words exchanged between the two, only the sound of their breathing.

The silence was broken when Melissa came out of the kitchen with their meals. Although it was time for dinner, it was the food that they ordered earlier for lunch, spaghetti in red sauce with three huge meatballs. The smell of the freshly cooked meal jump-started Miguel’s appetite. Melissa called the other two upstairs to come and eat. After a while, Eric and Claire went downstairs carrying metal tubes, a toolbox, more wooden planks and all sorts of things. They dropped everything to the floor when they saw the food and proceeded to eat with gusto.

“What did you do upstairs?” Miguel asked, holding a meatball with his fork.

Eric swallowed and sipped some water before answering, “Melissa and her family live upstairs. We looked for something we can use for - you know. To survive… this.”

“Good,” Miguel nodded in approval. He was truly impressed with Eric’s initiative. “Anything I should know about while I was out?”

Eric grabbed something out of his pocket and placed them on the table, “We got these from the goblins.”

13x Game Credit(s)

2x Small Mana Stone(s)

‘What the fuck?’ Miguel swore internally in surprise as small blue screens appeared over the items.

There were thirteen golden coins and two small black crystals. The golden coin was disc-shaped with a hole in the middle and with the word ‘1 Game Credit’ inscribed in it. The black crystals looked like onyx, but with a strange texture and ominous feeling when touched. Miguel looked around to see the goblins’ corpses, but there were no traces of it. Not even blood stains can be found on the floors.

“Where did you put the corpses?”

“We looted it,” Said Eric as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Okay,” Miguel raised a brow, “so where are the corpses?”

“It disappeared,” Eric said while chewing his food. It sounded like, Itsh dishappeared.

“What do you mean disappeared?” Miguel squinted his eyes. Surely, corpses don’t just disappear just like Jen’s crazy theories. Though he had to hand it to Jen that she was right about the monsters, but it will be crazy if their corpses disappear with no trace. Don’t tell me they just magically disappeared and left these items!

“It literally disappeared,” Claire said, pointing at the weapons they placed on the other table. “When I touched the corpse while thinking of looting it, the corpse disappeared and left these. We don’t know how, but it’s amazing really. We got bows, a knife and some arrows.”

“Nice,” Miguel peered over the weapons. Although they looked crude and rusty, he was glad that they at least have something to protect themselves. “A gun would be better though. Do we have one?”

“Mel’s father has a gun upstairs, a Glock 9 mm,” Eric let out a sigh, “but it doesn’t work.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Trust me, I tried,” Eric nodded. “The blue screen kept popping up and said, ‘Error: Advanced Weaponry Disabled’ every time I pull the trigger. I even tried hammering the damn bullet and guess what?”

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“What?”

“It didn’t blow up!” Eric scratched his head in frustration. “I tried many things like lighting up the gunpowder with a lighter, but nothing actually worked. This SYSTEM thing really screwed things up, man.”

Miguel paused as he felt disappointed that guns really doesn’t work anymore as advertised by the blue screens, “By the way, where’s your family, Melissa? Are they upstairs?”

“No,” Melissa shook her head. “They’re in Palawan to visit my grandparents. I wanted to call them, but my phone doesn’t work. We have a landline and it doesn’t work either.”

“I see,” Miguel felt his shoulder slumped in further disappointment. He was kind of hoping that landline phones would work even without electricity in the area. Landline phones always work even when there’s a blackout because the phone companies have batteries and generators to keep the phone lines.

“So,” Eric cleared his throat, “what’s the plan?”

There was a long pause.

Miguel had thought about it earlier. He would admit that the first thought that came into his mind was to go out, kill monsters and seek out their families. Being a rational person, however, he decided against it. Right now, their priority should be their own lives.

Miguel shrugged, “We stay here and wait for the rescue.”

There was an even longer pause.

“What?” Claire was the first one to react. “I have a family in Cubao! Now come to think of it, Eric’s family is in Cubao too! We should go out there and – “

“And do what exactly?” Miguel folded his arms. “Just in case you’re not aware of our situation, we’re surrounded by monsters. Did you see how they eat humans? I nearly died today thanks to that monster.”

“Claire is right,” Eric said in a low voice. “We should try to fight at least and level up as much as we can on the way.”

“Fight?” Miguel shook his head as he tried his best not to snort at the idea. He did let out a snort though. “Do we look like soldiers to you? No, we stay here and wait.”

“Who will come? Police? Soldiers? Do you really expect someone will actually come and rescue us?” Eric argued. “For fuck’s sake, the world has ended!”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the end of the fucking world,” Miguel rolled his eyes, “but does that mean it’s also the end of everything?”

“Well, you saw what’s outside – “

“I did,” Miguel bobbed his head. “For all we know, that’s just Quezon City. It’s not an evidence that the whole country or even the whole world is like that.”

“Regardless,” Eric shook his head. “I don’t think anyone will come for us.”

“Maybe. Maybe not,” Miguel sighed. “Don’t underestimate the military. Or the police in that matter. Just because you watch movies or read fictional books about the apocalypse, doesn’t mean that it would actually come true. Governments don’t fall that fast. Civilizations don’t fall overnight.”

“Shouldn’t we try at least?” Eric said softly, staring at Miguel with a pleading look. “Every hour we spend here doing nothing, the least likely our family has chance of survival.”

“All I’m saying is we need to stay here. I don’t want unnecessary risks, especially if the risk involves our lives. I didn’t say we should do nothing,” Miguel said, “but it’s only fair that we should prepare for all contingencies. Gather every supplies we have and everything we can use. We make a list and make a budget. We should start rationing our food and water to make us last for weeks or months if possible. We should also prepare in case the monsters try to attack this building again. If in case they overrun this restaurant, we should be prepared to leave.”

“Why do you consider the risk of rescuing our families unnecessary risk? Don’t you want to see your family too?”

“I do. I really do,” Miguel raised his chin, trying not to let his emotions take over as he imagined Jen being alone in their house. “We all have families. Dianne has a family too, and I believe Melissa mentioned her family is in Palawan. Look Eric, I want us to survive. All of us. We need each other to survive, okay? Do you trust your family?”

Eric nodded as he lowered his head.

“Then trust them that they will also do whatever’s necessary to survive,” Miguel said. “You live in Cubao… Sixth Avenue?”

“Fifth Avenue,” Eric corrected.

“Don’t hold your breath but,” Miguel’s expression softened as he looked at Eric, “if the government is still functioning, then your family will probably be evacuated in a safe zone. You live near Camp Aguinaldo and that’s the headquarters of the Armed Forces.”

Eric nodded as Melissa rubbed his back to give a bit comfort to her boyfriend. They continued to eat their meal and they did so with silence. None of them seemed to disagree with Miguel. Even though Eric did not like his plan, he could understand the reasoning behind his best friend’s plan. After they finished their meal, Eric told Miguel to read and study the SYSTEM help menu by thinking of ‘Help Menu’ to appear.

“I’m gonna rest for a bit upstairs.” Eric stood up and grabbed a candle. “Wake me up when it’s my turn to keep watch. Try to learn what you can from the SYSTEM. We’ve already read them.”

“Why don’t you sleep downstairs instead?” Miguel raised a brow. “Grab a pillow and sleep here. It’s probably for the best if we stay toge-“

“I don’t think I can sleep well knowing there are hundreds of corpses just outside the door,” Eric scowled. “Just cut me some slack, will you?”

Eric’s footsteps were heavy and he almost shut a door loud enough to hear downstairs. There were times when Eric and Miguel had serious disagreements, they fought each other with their fists until one of them has a busted lip. It happened twice during their three years of friendship. However, they would always reconcile on the same day of the fight and everything would be back to normal. Miguel expected that his fight with his best friend would turn the usual way, but he guessed that Eric was just too tired to argue with him.

As Miguel casually picked his teeth with a toothpick, he noticed that the three girls were staring at him in silence.

Miguel rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh, “What?”

“I – uh – never had a chance to properly thank you for what you did earlier,” Melissa said without looking at his eyes. “Thank you for saving my life.”

“You’re welcome,” Miguel said, nodding his head. ‘At least one of them appreciates my hard work. How troublesome.’

“Um - so what do we do now?”

“Like I said earlier, gather every food, water and supplies we can use and make a list,” Miguel said. “Just write everything on a piece of paper or something. I want to know how much we have, so we can make a budget and we can start rationing food and water.”

“You want me… to do it?” Melissa asked, giving him an incredulous look. “Like right now?”

“Of course,” Miguel said, trying his best not to snap at her. “You own this restaurant and you know this place better than any of us. It’ll be faster.”

Melissa paused for a few seconds and then sighed, “Okay.”

“Dianne, go and help Melissa,” Miguel said. Unlike Melissa, Dianne didn’t hesitate to follow his orders.

“You stay here with me, Claire. We’ll take the first watch this evening,” Miguel said before Claire could go upstairs. “We don’t want to get caught unguarded when it’s dark.”

Claire snapped her head towards him and glared. Miguel replied her gesture with a raised eyebrow. They exchanged glares with each other for a while, but in the end, Claire went back to her seat and grumbled. Claire’s burning glare never left Miguel as he began to follow Eric’s advice: Study. ‘Open help menu.’

Help Getting Started Rules and Regulations Character Information and Customization Skills, Titles and Perks Inventory System Party System Faction System Quests and Achievements Other Useful Tips

Miguel read the list carefully as the glowing blue screen floated in front of him. He tried to use voice commands to navigate the blue screens, but the blue screen did not change. It took Miguel for a while to realize that he only needed his mind to navigate through the blue screen. Miguel’s random babbling and hand gestures made Claire doubt his sanity and earned him more incredulous looks from her.

In her perspective, Miguel was staring at the distance and pressing invisible buttons in the air. Claire rolled her eyes and said, “You control the blue screens with your mind, idiot. Didn’t you read the blue screens the last time? Even I figured that out on my own.”

“Shut up,” Miguel said as he selected ‘Getting Started’ option with his mind. ‘She’s right!’

Getting Started Unique and Somewhat-Realistic Game - The world is an immersive multiplayer role playing game that takes place in the merged world of Modern Earth and Fantasy Midlands. Players around the globe have the freedom to explore and experience a realm full of monsters, quests, magic, mysteries and of course, adventure. Unlimited Adventures and Riches - Explore the world of Earthland full of monsters to slay and dungeons to conquer! Experience a range of rich and unique content and features that cannot be found in other MMOs. Just Be Yourself and Shape your Character - You can become anything you want: hero, villain, wizard, warrior, schmuck or even as a strong independent woman! Players have the freedom to choose any abilities and adapt to any play style. Players Shape the World - Players can die with no hope of respawn or resurrection. The consequences forever alter Earthland's future.

‘Typical MMO bullshit,’ Miguel thought, shaking his head. ‘Unique content? Really? As if there’s anything unique in MMOs these days!’

Miguel have noticed a pattern of MMORPGs; the same pattern that makes them boring and repetitive for most players. Whether you kill monsters or do quests repeatedly to level up your character or hunt for items, all MMORPGs have some form of grinding. Grinding is a term in video games to describe the process of engaging in repetitive tasks. This form of gameplay tends to make MMOs boring as hell. Miguel would admit that MMOs are boring. That was why Miguel often played other games like Real-Time Strategies. The only reason he played MMOs was mostly because it was fun to play with Eric around.

Miguel went back into the main menu. Unlike most gamers who never read End-User Licensing Agreements (EULA) and the game’s rules and regulations, Miguel never skipped reading them. One reason was because Miguel and Eric were ruthless and aggressive behavior in gaming. They need to be aware of the rules to create loopholes and prevent from being banned.

Rules and Regulations 1. Players must not use or attempt to use any cheats or errors which they may find in the game. Being caught will result to Permanent Ban. 2. Players are allowed to swear. An exception to this rule is when talking with God. Players who swear at Him will result to three (3) days Silence (Unable to use skills, attack, and communicate). 3. Any bugs, exploits or use of third-party programs a player finds must be immediately reported to the Administrators. You may contact the Administrators by praying.

Permanent Ban could mean anything in real life, but in Miguel’s guess, it was death. It was probably the shortest list of rules and regulations that Miguel has ever seen in MMOs. It seemed that players have freedom to act whatever they want. Well, all except for cheating. But then, what counts as cheating?

Miguel went back to main menu and selected ‘Character Information and Customization’.

Character Information and Customization The Character Screen displays the player's information such as name, race, level, titles, status, attributes and etc. You can access Character Screen by thinking 'Open Character Screen'. Name - Displays the Player's true birth name, regardless of the name the Player is currently using. Race - Displays the Player's racial group. The information displayed may change due to the Player's circumstances - i.e., A human will change into a werewolf if bitten by one. Level and EXP - Displays the Player's current level and experience. Each time EXP reaches 100%, the Player will gain a level. Each level also adds 10 points in HP, SP and MP. HP - Displays the Player's current and maximum amount of HP (Hit Points). If current HP is reduced to 0, the Player will die. SP - Displays the Player's current and maximum amount of SP (Stamina Points). Physical attacks and all physical activities are powered by stamina. If current SP is reduced to 0, the Player will be unable to move until SP recovers to at least 5%. MP - Displays the Player's current and maximum amount of MP (Mana Points). Magic is powered by mana. If current MP is reduced to 0, the Player will be unable to use magic until MP recovers to at least 5%. PATK - Physical Attack; It refers to how much the Player can deal physical damage. MATK - Magical Attack; It refers to how much the Player can deal magical damage. PDEF - Physical Defense; It refers to how much the Player can resist physical damage. MDEF - Magical Defense; It refers to how much the Player can resist magical damage. Will - It refers to the Player's factor of success/resistance to control/sensory impairment effects. Satiety - Indicates the Player's level of hunger. Nourished (100%-75% Satiety) will let the Player earn 125% EXP whereas Fine (74%-50% Satiety), only 100% EXP will be earned. Hungry (49%-25%), you only earn 75% EXP and Starving (24% or less), 50% EXP. If the Player is starving for too long, he will lose 1% HP per hour. Status - Indicates the Player's general well-being, as well as the buffs and debuffs applied to the Player. HP/min - It refers to how much hit points they can recover naturally per minute. Base HP regeneration is 0.20. SP/min - It refers to how much stamina points they can recover naturally per minute. Base SP regeneration is 3.50. MP/min - It refers to how much mana points they can recover naturally per minute. Base MP regeneration is 3.50. STR - Strength; It represents the Player's physical power, how strong they are and how hard they hit. Each point increases PATK by 1. DEX - Dexterity; It represents the Player's nimbleness, fine motor skills, reaction time and aiming. Each point increases movement speed by 1%. CON - Constitution; It represents the Player's physical toughness and endurance. Each point increases HP and SP by 10, PDEF by 1, HP regeneration by 0.002 and SP regeneration by 0.07. INT - Intelligence; It represents the Player's ability to reason, how much they can learn and remember and their magical power. Each point increases MATK (Magic Atk) by 1 and MP regeneration by 4/hr. WIS - Wisdom; It represents the Player's perceptiveness, common sense and understanding. Each point increases MP by 10 and MDEF by 1. CHA - Charisma; It represents the Player's ability to influence others and their force of personality. Each point increases Will by 1. Free Points - Each time you level up, you gain 5 points that you can allocate to any attribute.

Miguel skimmed the details in the blue screen. Before he studies it thoroughly, he wanted to see his own character screen while reading the guide. Since he figured out that he can make the blue screens pop up only using his mind, he wondered that perhaps he can also open multiple screens at once just like World of Warcraft. Miguel willed the Character Screen to appear alongside with the current screen.

Name: Miguel Alfonso Asuncion Arevalo Race: Human Level: 1 HP: 70/70 EXP: 10.00% SP: 70/70 MP: 140/140   PATK: 11 Will: 12 MATK: 15 HP/min: 0.214 PDEF: 7 SP/min: 3.99 MDEF: 14 MP/min: 8.05   Satiety: Nourished Status: Normal   STR: 11 INT: 15 DEX: 11 WIS: 14 CON: 7 CHA: 12 Free Point(s): 0

Miguel studied his character screen. Even his second name ‘Alfonso’ and his middle name ‘Asuncion’ were accurate.

Assuming that 10 is the average stat, then his stat is considered decent. Miguel already expected that his CON would be low because of his obesity and smoking habit. It may have been not that low when he was still under his grandfather’s and his mother’s tutelage because of rigorous exercise in his training in Arnis.

His DEX was at least above average because muscles can’t just forget what they have learned in martial arts. You can get rusty in time, but it’s nearly impossible to forget his old reflexes, especially when he was a kid and his grandfather was unforgiving in his strikes. He was a slow learner when it came to martial arts and he even admitted that he was talentless in that regard. Still, Miguel learned. Slowly and painfully.

At the very least, his INT and WIS was way above average. Miguel wondered if he would be considered as a genius or just smart with his stat. Well, he didn’t feel like he was a genius because if he was, he’d probably be someone like Einstein by now. He would say that he was good in physics and mathematics, but not that good. Or maybe this INT stat referred to overall intelligence and not just in any particular field. That would be a reasonable assumption.

What surprised him the most was his crazy amount of CHA. Miguel’s nose wrinkled at the idea that he was actually charismatic. He was fully aware that he wasn’t good looking and he hated most people around him. He wasn’t exactly like Eric, who could grab a pussy whenever he wants. ‘I’m sure as hell I ain’t George Clooney.’

Miguel was curious about his friends’ stats. Since Claire was the nearest, he turned his eyes on her and found her reading a pocket romance novel, Precious Hearts Romances, “So what are your stats, Claire?”

“Hmm?” Claire looked at him with half-closed eyes, “You first.”

“11 STR, 11 DEX, 7 CON, 15 INT, 14 WIS and 12 CHA,” Miguel answered quickly. “You?”

“What was that again?” Claire grabbed a notebook and a pen out of the thin air as she began to write.

Miguel narrowed his eyes, “Why do you feel the need to write it?”

“Eric wrote everyone’s stats for reference. Build ideas or something like that. I don’t know what that means, but I’m just doing the same thing because I’m new to video games,” Claire quickly said in her defense then returned scribbling in her notebook. “So that’s 11 STR, 11 DEX, 7 CON and?”

“15 INT, 14 WIS and 12 CHA,” He slowly recited his stats again as Claire wrote it down, “Can I see your notes?”

“Sure,” Claire shrugged nonchalantly as she handed Miguel her notebook. “You can borrow it for a while if that helps. Just return it to me when you’re done.”

As Miguel read Claire’s notes, he let out a sigh as her writing left much to be desired. Barely readable.

Claire – 11 STR, 12 DEX, 12 CON, 12 INT, 11 WIS, 11 CHA.

Eric - 14 STR, 13 DEX, 15 CON, 10 INT, 9 WIS, 8 CHA.

Dianne – 9 STR, 9 DEX, 10 CON, 11 INT, 14 WIS, 6 CHA.

Melissa – 9 STR, 14 DEX, 10 CON, 10 INT, 11 WIS, 10 CHA.

Miguel – 11 STR, 11 DEX, 7 CON, 15 INT, 14 WIS and 12 CHA.

If you add all the stat, Miguel had the sum of base stats of them all because of his high INT, WIS and CHA. However, he could not believe his eyes that he and Claire were equal in strength. Not to mention that Claire had a higher constitution. Miguel had asked himself why his constitution was that low?

“Can I ask you something?” Miguel said with a smile.

“What?”

“Can I test you in an arm wrestling?” Miguel smirked as he stretched out his arms.

Claire’s lips slowly curved into a grin as she realized why Miguel suddenly asked her for that, “Sure. Just don’t cry if you lose.”

“I don’t think I’ll lose,” Miguel said with a tone of confidence. “Especially not to a woman.”

“Then prepare for the biggest disappointment of your life,” Claire said as she gripped Miguel’s hand. “Start!”

As the two of them began their arm wrestling match, Miguel was shocked that he could not easily move Claire’s arm. He realized that he was certainly wrong to underestimate her strength even though she’s a woman.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Claire sneered as Miguel exerted more effort to pin her down. “Gosh, I didn’t know you’re so weak.”

Even though Claire continued to taunt him, he could see from her face that she was struggling as well. Miguel was sweating bullets when Claire slowly pushed his arm down on the table. Gritting his teeth, he was incredulous at the fact that she was actually winning. Miguel felt his arm tiring due to stress. Inevitably, Claire pushed more effort and finally pinned his arm down, “Gotcha! I win! Haha!”

Miguel was fuming as it was the first time he ever lost to her. He realized that Claire won’t ever let this moment die down and she will continue to rub it in his face for the rest of his life. Before that could happen, Miguel tried to hide his disappointment as he wore a blank expression, “Hmmm. The SYSTEM actually made you stronger. Interesting.”

“No, dumbass. If you read the ‘Other Useful Tips’ in the help menu, you’ll read that the initial stats reflect your real stats before the SYSTEM started,” Claire gave him a lopsided grin. “Besides, I lift dumbbells, jog and do sit-ups and push-ups every day. Just accept the fact that I’m stronger than you.”

“I don’t believe you,” Miguel shook his head in denial.

“You still don’t believe me?” Claire rolled her sleeves to show her biceps. “That’s right, shithead. You just got your miserable misogynistic ass kicked by a woman.”

Claire was slim and physically fit and he would admit that she has muscular but lean arms, but he still refused to believe her. Miguel gritted his teeth as he hurled an insult to save his own face, “I wonder if those breasts of yours made of muscles too.”

“Oh?” Claire shot him an amused look. “You’re resorting to sexual harassment just because you couldn’t accept that you lost to a woman in a physical contest? That’s so lame, Miguel. Even for you.”

‘Alright.’ Miguel clicked his tongue in frustration. He hates losing and he couldn’t even imagine that he would humiliatingly lose to Claire. ‘Let her take the win this time. Just don’t let it happen again.’

As Miguel expected, Claire continued to rub his lost in his face. Insults about how his muscles were made of air and insults about his masculinity were thrown without mercy on him. He ignored her insults as it went from his ear and out of his other ear. Miguel opened his blue screen again.

Skills, Titles and Perks Beside the Character Attributes (or Stats, in the gaming jargon), Skills, Titles and Perks are what defines the uniqueness of a character and greatly affects the gameplay and how to live your everyday life. Here is a table showing the difference and similarities of Skills, Titles and Perks:   Skills Titles Perks 1) How to get? You can learn a skill by having other people to teach you. You can also learn on your own through instructional materials such as books. Or you can try your luck by discovering skills on your own as long as you meet the SYSTEM's criteria to recognize a skill. You can obtain titles through achievements or as a reward from quests. Some titles can be obtained by wielding unique weapons and equipment. Perks can be obtained from birth or though the circumstances and consequences of an action or a series of actions. For example, gaining too much unhealthy body weight can get you the Obesity perk. 2) How to use? You can use an active skill with your mind and/or actions. You do not need to shout the name of the skill to activate a skill. An exception to this rule are when using spells which uses a chant to activate and some skills requires actual shouting. You are not required to do anything as bonus effects from titles lasts indefinitely. Same as titles. 3) Active/Passive? Some are Active, which requires action and have resource costs (HP/SP/MP) to use, while some are Passive, which do not require resource to use, but need certain actions to gain Skill EXP. Passive Passive 4) Can be bought in SYSTEM Shop? Yes, but only instructional materials. No No 5) Can be leveled up? Yes No Some perks are upgraded when certain conditions are met. 6) How long the effects last? Effects of active skills last temporarily while the passive skills last indefinitely. Lasts indefinitely with the exception of a few titles. Perks obtained from birth last indefinitely. Most action/circumstances gained perks last indefinitely with the exception of a some perks.

After studying the guide, Miguel then opened the Skill screen as he compared his skill with his friends.

Skills   Fighting Style: Arnis (Level 7- Advanced) Back Stance (Lvl. 10/10) Forward Stance (Lvl. 10/10) Six Strikes (Lvl. 10/10) One-Weapon Fighting (Lvl. 10/10) Two-Weapon Fighting (Lvl. 4/10) Unarmed Fighting (7/10)   Business and Finance: Accountancy (Level 2 - Beginner) Bookkeeping (Lvl. 6/10) Accounting (Lvl. 2/10) Basic Finance (Lvl. 5/10)   Miscellaneous Observe (Lvl. 1/10) Basic Cooking (Lvl. 7/10) Repair (Lvl. 6/10) Basic Carpentry (Lvl. 6/10) Cross-stitching (Lvl. 4/10)

Miguel was again in caught in yet another surprise. The blue screen was precise in evaluating his skill in Arnis. While he did not consider himself as an expert, he was indeed an advanced skill in the martial arts. The blue screen even got his signature technique, Six Strikes, which was originally Twelve Strikes. Miguel was simplistic in his approach in Arnis and he found that those six strikes were enough for his arsenal of moves. He also discovered that you can view the skill’s details when you ask for it.

Fighting Style: Arnis Skill Level: 7 Mastery: Advanced Description: The national sport and martial art of the Philippines. A weapon-based fighting with sticks, knives, bladed weapons as well as techniques without weapons. Skill Level Bonus: +5% Skill damage, +5% movement and attack speed and weapon proficiency per Skill Level Mastery Bonus:

Beginner: N/A

Intermediate: Reduced SP consumption of the fighting style techniques by 30%.

Advanced: More precise attacks and allows smoother flow of strikes.

Expert: +20% Skill damage and movement and attack speed.

Master: +30% Movement and attack speed, +10 DEX and AGI and unlocks Arnis Maestro title.

Current Skill Level and Mastery Bonus:

+35% Skill damage

+35% Movement and attack speed

Intermediate: Reduced SP consumption of the fighting style techniques by 30%.

Advanced: More precise attacks and allows smoother flow of strikes.

Back Stance Technique Type: Active (Toggle ability) Description: A fighting stance that focuses on dodging, parrying and counter attacks. Activation Requirement(s): Must be in the correct body position. Technique Level: 10/10 (Max) Effect(s): +2% PDEF and movement speed per Skill Level. Current Effect(s): +20% PDEF and movement speed.

Forward Stance Technique Type: Active (Toggle ability) Description: A fighting stance that focuses on attacking and aggressive style of fighting. Activation Requirement(s): Must be in the correct body position. Technique Level: 10/10 (Max) Effect(s): +2% PATK and movement speed per Skill Level. Current Effect(s): +20% PATK and movement speed.

Six Strikes Technique Type: Active Description: A fighting technique (originally Twelve Strikes) improvised and simplified by Miguel Arevalo to fit his fighting style. Activation Requirement(s): Must have a Stance active before use. Technique Level: 10/10 (Max) SP Consumption: 5 SP per Strike Effect(s): +3% PATK per level Current Effect(s):

1st Strike to the left shoulder/arm: +30% PATK and a chance to disarm weapon.

2nd Strike to the right shoulder/arm: +30% PATK and a chance to disarm weapon.

3rd Strike to the left thigh/leg: +30% PATK and a chance to slow enemy movement speed.

4th Strike to the right thigh/leg: +30% PATK and a chance to slow enemy movement speed.

5th Strike/Thrust to the torso: 30% PATK and a chance to stun enemy and a small chance of fatal blow.

6th Strike to the head: 30% PATK and a chance to stun enemy and a small chance of fatal blow.

Parrying Technique Type: Active Description: A fighting technique to parry attacks with a weapon. Activation Requirement(s): Must have a Stance active before use. Technique Level: 10/10 (Max) SP Consumption: 2 SP per Parry Effect(s): +3% Parrying speed per level. Current Effect(s): +30% Parrying speed.

One-Weapon Fighting Technique Type: Passive Description: A fighting technique that uses one weapon on hand. Activation Requirement(s): Must have a blade/blunt weapon in one hand. Technique Level: 10/10 (Max) Effect(s): +2% PATK per level when wielding a blade/blunt weapon. Current Effect(s): +20% PATK when wielding a blade/blunt weapon.

Two-Weapon Fighting Technique Type: Passive Description: A fighting technique that uses two weapons on each hand. Activation Requirement(s): Must have two blade/blunt weapons on each hand. Technique Level: 4/10 Effect(s):

-100% Swing speed of weapons at level 0.

+2% PATK per level when wielding two blades/blunt weapons.

+10% Swing speed of weapons per level.

Current Effect(s):

+8% PATK per level when wielding two blades/blunt weapons.

-60% Swing speed

Unarmed Fighting Technique Type: Passive Description: A fighting technique that uses the body as an effective weapon. Activation Requirement(s): Must be unarmed or have knuckle-type weapons. Technique Level: 7/10 Effect(s): +2% PATK per level when unarmed or when wielding knuckle-type weapons. Current Effect(s): +14% PATK when unarmed or when wielding knuckle-type weapons.

His Two-Weapon Fighting was abysmal because he didn’t bother to train when he was practicing so that would explain his low skill level in it. Hell, even his Repair and Basic Cooking were high because of his everyday experience in house chores. That thrice-damned leaky sink and faulty toilet flush valve was probably the main culprit of his high level in Repair. His skill in carpentry was only limited to repairing wood furniture in their house.

At one point in high school, Miguel thought that cross-stitching was cool. He made a few cross-stitched pictures that he displayed on their walls.

Not only his skill in Arnis was taken account by the blue screen, his skill in Accountancy, which was his course in college, was also included. Miguel had always thought that even as a college student, he was better than the average professional accountant. Instead, the reality that the blue screen showed hit Miguel like a brick in the face as his skill level in his soon-to-be profession was mediocre to say the least.

‘Well, I’m only in my second year in college,’ Miguel thought as he tried to console himself.

However, his pessimistic and hateful self spoke in his mind, ‘Dumb ass. Books can only get you that far. You didn’t have the same experience in the profession. You’re not even a graduate. Hah! Did you really expect you’re a hot shot?’

Miguel looked at his academic rival’s skills that were listed in the notebook. They had the same skill, Business and Finance: Accountancy, and same skill level. Claire had a skill in combat, Fighting Style: Street Brawling Lvl. 1 Beginner and only one skill under it which was Jab. He almost chuckled when he remembered that Claire wanted to have a fist fight with him. She also has more skills under Miscellaneous and he was surprised to learn that Claire was level 10 in Basic Cooking. He wondered if Claire was better than him in cooking.

Eric also had Fighting Style: Street Brawling Lvl. 4 Intermediate. He had more skill under it such as Haymaker, Uppercut and Groin Attack. Since he was an engineering student, he had a skill called Engineering: Mechanical Engineering Lvl. 2 Beginner. He had no skill under Miscellaneous except for Observe Lvl. 1 and a crafting skill. It made sense since Eric was rich and had maids to do all of their house chores. He probably couldn’t boil water or even fry an egg. Furthermore, Eric has a skill called Improvised Crafting under Miscellaneous.

Dianne had no combat skills, but she had tons of Miscellaneous skill like Knitting, Basic Cooking, Singing, and Sewing. As for her professional skill, since she was taking the pharmacy course in college, she had Pharmacy Lvl. 2 Beginner. On the other hand, Melissa has Culinary Arts Lvl. 9 Advanced and a wide range of skills under it such as Baking and other culinary terms. Though Miguel wasn’t a stranger to cooking, he was unfamiliar with some culinary terms mentioned under Melissa’s skill ‘What the hell does Julienning supposed to mean?’

As Miguel read through Claire’s notes, he learned what the word ‘Advanced’ meant in his skill. Apparently, Level 1-3 is Beginner, Level 4-6 Intermediate, Level 7-9 Advanced, Level 10-11 Expert and Level 12 Master.

After he studied the Skill Screen, Miguel opened the Perk Screen next.

Perks   Fast Reflexes I +1 DEX Manipulator II +2 CHA Obesity II -2 CON, -10% Running Speed Strong Arms I +1 STR Smoker's Lungs I -1 CON Strategic Mind IV +4 WIS Tactical Mind IV +4 INT True-born Mage +1 INT, +100% Base MP/min Quick Learner 2x EXP and Skill EXP rate

Seeing the list of his perks, Miguel had finally realized that he was correct in his assumption that he was not a genius at all. It seemed that the extra 4 INT and 4 WIS came from his tactical and strategic mind which he developed by playing real-time strategic game and reading military history books to win the game.

Looking at Claire’s notes, Miguel found out that everyone has a 10 stat in everything as a base. Perks are what made everyone unique in a way. For example, his extra 2 CHA came from being manipulative while Claire’s extra 1 CHA came from her perk, Seductress I. She also had a perk called Female Body which reduces her STR by 1.

Her extra 2 STR and 2 CON came from her perk, Strong Arms II and Lean Body II. However, those perks were gained throughout the life of a person. After all, no one is born with a tactical mind and Miguel didn’t have a cigarette with him when he was born.

Speaking of inborn perks, Miguel had a perk called True-Born Mage. He remembered his conversation with God earlier and joked that he had a making of a wizard. He thought that God was referring to a dank internet meme that referred adult male virgins as wizards. The older the virgin, the more powerful their magic. It seemed that Miguel was actually born with a talent to be a wizard. Miguel was curious as to what the perk really meant. With his mind, he willed the blue screen to explain this particular perk and another blue screen appeared.

True-born Mage Description: Being born to a parent gifted with talent for magic, you are born with a natural affinity for magic. Effect: +1 INT and +100% MP/min

Miguel had an incredulous look on his face as he read the description of the perk. How come his parents were gifted with magic? Magic didn’t exist on Earth. Maybe after the blue screens and the monsters appeared, but before that? No. There was no such thing as magic.

He tapped his lips with his finger. ‘Perhaps Mom and Dad are real witches and wizards? If so, where was his acceptance letter to a magical school? Do I need to buy a wand from Olivander’s to do magic? Do I need to buy a stupid owl too?’

He shook his head as he found it utterly ridiculous and unlikely. Not impossible, just highly unlikely. With the recent ‘impossible’ event, there’s nothing impossible now.

He continued with his study as he tried to open his Title Screen. The blue screen told him that there was nothing to display as he doesn’t have a title… yet. Moving on, he closed the last three blue screens and focused on the ‘Help Menu’. Next was the Inventory System.

Inventory System The Inventory is an in-game user interface feature where one can view all the items that have been collected thus far. You are given a fixed number of 15 inventory slots which you can use to deposit and withdraw items. Here are the general mechanics of the Inventory System: 1) To deposit an item, open the Inventory Screen and think 'Deposit' on the item you wish to deposit. You need to touch the item that you wish to deposit. 2) To withdraw, simply think 'Withdraw' and the item shall appear wherever you want it to appear. Again, you can make it appear everywhere and however you want as long as it is within a yard. 3) To loot corpses, simply think of 'Loot' while touching the corpse you wish to loot. You need to make sure it is a corpse you are looting or else it won't work. 4) Depositing Game Credits in the Inventory will not take up any inventory slot. The maximum amount of Game Credits you can have in your inventory is 1,000,000,000,000 GC.

Miguel opened the Inventory Screen and found it empty. He tested how the Inventory System works by using Claire’s notebook and deposited it as written from the guide to test it. The notebook disintegrated into pixels of light and disappeared. Seeing the notebook disappear like magic ala Matrix, a smile tugged at the corner of Miguel’s mouth.

Miguel withdrew the notebook and grabbed a notebook of his own from his school bag. He deposited his notebook along with Claire’s notebook to see if the notebooks will stack. Unfortunately, the notebooks did not stack. Not knowing how to stack the items into one inventory space, Miguel scratched his head in frustration.

Miguel went to the dining table where Eric and Claire placed the loot from the goblins. There were two bows that looked like toy bows because of its small size, five rusty-tipped arrows, one small rusty knife, thirteen pieces of Game Credits and two small mana stones. Alongside the pile of items, were the toolbox that Eric and Claire brought down from the upstairs. It seemed that Eric intended to make the items into something better MacGyver style. However, because of his argument with Miguel, the MacGyver project was delayed for the night.

Shaking his head and sighing, Miguel used his skill Observe to see the description of the items on the table.

Small Goblin Bow

PATK: +10

Durability: 7/12

Required STR: 4 

Small Goblin Bow

PATK: +10

Durability: 7/12

Required STR: 4

Small Rusty Goblin Knife

PATK: +6

Durability: 4/6

Weapon Type Bonus: Bladed I – Causes Bleeding effect

Required STR: 3

5x Rusty Arrow(s)

13x Game Credit(s)

2x Small Mana Stone(s)

Miguel’s eyebrows creased as he learned that bows needed STR to wield. He opened ‘Character Information and Customization’ again to check if DEX or STR affects bow damage. Apparently, STR affects overall PATK or Physical Attack while DEX affects movement speed and if the guide was to be believed, then it also affects the attack accuracy. That means whether you go range or melee, you’ll need STR to do more physical damage.

When Miguel thought about it, archers do need significant physical strength to fully draw the strings of their bows. Though Miguel wasn’t an expert in archery, he could see the logic that more strength equals more draw power. That was probably the reason why STR affects bow damage.

Miguel then remembered that there was a quest, a Global Quest, before the monster spawned. From what he remembered earlier, the quest will reward anyone who survived the first twelve hours of the ‘Merge’. The reward included a Skill Scroll of his choice. Miguel wondered if he should get a Skill Scroll that would go with bows. ‘Even better, maybe I should get a long range offensive magic! After all, I can’t be a true mage if I don’t know magic!’

Miguel skipped the ‘Party System’ and ‘Faction System’ and opened the ‘Quest and Achievements’ on the Help menu.

Quests and Achievements Quests Quests are task and/or series of tasks that a Player or a group of Players (Party or Faction) may complete in order to gain a reward. Here are the general mechanics of quests: 1) There are two types of quests: SYSTEM-generated and Character-generated. SYSTEM-generated quests are quests that are automatically initiated by the SYSTEM. The rewards of these quests are generated by the SYSTEM. Character-generated quests are quests initiated by characters in a form of a contract/agreement to reward the other to perform a task. The monetary/item rewards of a Character-generated quests are dependent of the quest giver. 2) To check the progress of your quests, open 'Quest' menu. You may have up to 5 quests at a time. You cannot accept more quests except for SYSTEM-generated quests like Daily Quests. 3) When completed, a notification will appear and the rewards will automatically go into your inventory. If you have no space in your inventory, the item reward(s) will appear in front of you. 4) You can abandon a quest, but you'll have a 20% EXP penalty for doing so when it's a SYSTEM-generated quest. When it's a Character-generated, the EXP penalty is 10%. Be careful of the quests you accept. 5) Along with regular quests, you may also accept Daily Quests, which are repeatable and can only be done once per day. Daily quests range from killing quests to gathering quests. Once accepted, the player must complete the daily quest within the day, or else the progress will reset and cannot accept another daily quest until completed. To see the list of daily quests, see 'Daily Quests' screen. Achievements An achievement, also known as trophy, badge, medal, milestone or challenge, is a bonus feature included in the game when a player completes a certain task. Here are the general mechanics of achievements: 1) Achievements range from simple tasks the Player would do anyway, such as completing a level or defeating a Boss monster, to more complicated challenges, such as killing a certain number of enemies in a specific way. 2) Completing an achievement will reward the player with bonuses such as experience points (EXP), Game Credits (GC) and Titles. 3) When a player is with a party, then the rewards coming from the achievement will be shared among the party. This is to encourage group play when completing achievements and also to allow players geared towards full-support to also earn achievements. 4) To see the list of earned and unearned achievements, see 'Achievements' screen.

Miguel then opened Quest, Daily Quest and Achievements screen.

Quests   In Progress: The Monster Hour! (Global Quest)   Completed: N/A

Daily Quests   Monster Hunting Goblin Extermination Kill 10 Goblins Exorcism Kill 10 Undead monsters Pest Control Kill 10 Plague Rats   Gathering Herbs, Spices and Everything Nice Collect 10 Green Herbs Slash and Burn Chop 3 Trees Skin Deep Collect 5 animal skins   PVP Cold Murder Kill 5 Players To the Plunder Kill 1 Player and loot his corpse Red Dinner Kill 1 Player and eat his corpse   Miscellaneous Post-Apocalyptic Economy Trade with another Player Junk Crafting Craft 1 item with junk

Achievements   Earned N/A   Unearned Baby Steps Kill 100 monsters (2/100) Adventure Time Kill 1,000 monsters (2/1,000) Elite Adventurer Kill 10,000 monsters (2/10,000) Veteran Adventurer Kill 100,000 monsters (2/100,000) Undead Exterminator Kill 1,000 undead type monsters (0/1,000) First Boss Kill 1 Boss monster (0/1) Elite Hunter Kill 10 Boss monsters (0/10) Touched by Herne Kill 100 Boss monsters (0/100) The Hunter of Everglades Kill 1000 Boss monsters (0/1,000) Murderer Kill 1 Player (0/1) Massacre Kill 10 Players (0/10) Mass Murderer Kill 100 Players (0/100) Conqueror Kill 1,000 Players (0/1,000) Blood Throne Kill 10,000 Players (0/10,000) More...

Reading the blue screens floating around him, Miguel tapped his chin with a finger in a trance-like thinking. He was hesitant about doing any daily quests since he wasn’t planning on doing any kind of fighting or looting outside the safety of the restaurant. That would only be asking for trouble. It would be hypocritical of him to take the Goblin Extermination quest after he had the ‘We Stay Here’ speech earlier.

Furthermore, Miguel wasn’t quite sure if the list of daily quests changes every day. In his assumption, it probably does. In the end, he settled to accept Post-Apocalyptic Economy and Junk Crafting quests instead, which he found out that the others have already accepted. When he asked Claire about it, she told him that everyone, except himself, was already done with the two miscellaneous quests.

Apparently, they just traded small things such as pens and pieces of paper with one another and helped Eric to craft items. The quests gave them a total of 20% EXP. Miguel could do nothing but sulk in his chair as he felt that he missed one chapter of the novel or two. ‘I’ll complete these quests later.’

Thankfully, he managed to convince Claire to help him finish his quest, Post-Apocalyptic Economy, by trading blank notebooks.

*DING!*

Quest Complete!

Post-Apocalyptic Economy

Main Objective: Trade with another player (1/1)

Reward: EXP and 500 Game Credits

EXP Gained: 10.00%

It was laughable at how easy it was to complete the quest. It was probably an unintended way to complete it because the quest never mentioned any conditions such as the required value of the items. The best part was Miguel had a profit for trading his notebook. His notebook only had 80 leaves while Claire’s had 100 leaves which meant that Miguel had a profit of 20 leaves for the deal. Well, it was a tiny profit, but a profit nonetheless.

“I’m tired,” Claire yawned loudly, rubbing her eyes. “I’m grabbing a pillow and a bedding upstairs. Want one?”

“Sure,” Miguel nodded, then he turned his attention to Claire. “Are you sleeping upstairs?”

“That depends,” Claire gave a non-committal shrug. “Are you going to stay here downstairs overnight or not?”

‘Why would she care about whether I stay up all night or not?’ Miguel said to himself. Slightly shaking his head, Miguel replied, “I’m staying here ‘till morning. I can’t sleep anyway.”

Claire nodded and stood up from her seat. As Claire went upstairs, Dianne and Melissa followed her and told Miguel that they’ve already finished counting the inventory of their supplies. When Miguel was about to call them out, Melissa scowled and told him that they’ll give him the ‘report’ he wanted tomorrow morning as the two of them were exhausted. Miguel fumed silently and alone with his teeth grinding together while copying Claire’s notes.

A few moments later, Claire came back and slept downstairs to accompany Miguel for the night. She told him to wake her up when something’s wrong. Miguel couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he heard Claire snore like a cat choking on a fish bone. ‘Her snoring is probably enough to attract the goblins.’

After Miguel was done writing, which felt like an hour have passed, he opened the last and final blue screen in the help menu, ‘Other Useful Tips’.

Other Useful Tips 1) Don't try to provoke God's anger intentionally. Use proper capitalization when referring to Him. Be respectful. 2) Be respectful when reporting a bug or suspicion of use of third-party program or whenever conversing with the Administrators. We have feelings too, you know! 3) You may opt to change the format of the SYSTEM such as font, font size, screen color, screen size. By default, SYSTEM screens will be blue. 4) You can still speak and write in your native tongue, but in order to make the game less frustrating, all players can now speak and understand the Common Tongue, the lingua franca after the Merge. Those who already know how to read and write in their native language will gain the ability to read and write in Common Tongue and those who don't will not. Blind people and deaf-mutes who do not know how to read or write will still be able to use the SYSTEM as it will adapt to their needs. After all, the SYSTEM is user friendly and God believes in equal opportunity. Even if you're an imbecile who do not deserve to reproduce. 5) Everyone will have a base stat value of 10 (With the exception of children). Any deviations from this is the result of Perks that you have gained or born with before the Merge. For example, if you had polio during your childhood, you'll have penalties in your stat because of physical deformity. 6) One race may have advantages over the other and a person may be better than most. Don't complain about this because no one is born equal. There is no such thing as equality. Only equal opportunity. Deal with it. 7) You can learn skills from another player or from instructional and educational materials such as books, magazines and the like. Keep an eye out for books as they may be vital for your survival. There's no such thing as too many skills. 8) Skill Level 1-3 is Beginner, Level 4-6 Intermediate, Level 7-9 Advanced, Level 10-11 Expert and Level 12 Master. Sub-skills/Techniques/Spells can only be leveled up to 10. 9) You may want to visit the SYSTEM Shop, which can be found everywhere on Earthland, to buy essential things for your adventuring and survival. The area within 1 kilometer radius of a SYSTEM Shop is safe from monsters. We recommend everyone to use the SYSTEM Shop. 10) There are two kinds of death: Physical death and Spiritual death. One may be considered as physically dead when all brain functions and abilities have ceased. Spiritual death may occur when the body is without a soul for too long. As long as the brain is still functioning and one retains the soul, one may still be revived using methods such as healing magic. However, when the brain no longer functions or the body is without a soul, one is considered as dead and can no longer be revived. 11) You may also use the report system to write feedbacks, suggestions and recommendations to improve the game. We Administrators pride ourselves with excellent customer service as our goal is to maximize customer satisfaction. You may answer survey questionnaires for freebies (Courtesy of Admin Schmidt). Know that these surveys will reflect on the Administrators' performance and salary. Thank you for playing Earthland Online! Wink [https://forum.royalroadl.com/images/smilies/wink.png]

Stroking his beard, Miguel nodded in amusement as he read the tips displayed on the blue screen. As much as he wanted to answer survey questionnaires or to write feedbacks for freebies, he wanted to experience the Earthland Online to the fullest before that. Miguel could write something to patronize the Administrators, but he shook his head as he realized it was a silly idea. The Administrators, whoever they are, would probably not appreciate lies and sucking up just like God.

Miguel wrote the important things he learned from the help menu to his notebook. After an hour or so, he made sure to memorize important details and grasped the general mechanics of this real-life RPG to heart.

Before the twelfth hour of the first day, Miguel finished formulating a plan of action in his notebook. All he needed to do now was to discuss his plan with the rest of his friends.

‘This is going to be a long night,’ Miguel thought as he let out a deep sigh.