"Augh, what the hell dad?!" Owen's dad had a cheeky grin plastered on his face. "I got sponsored by this lizard creature that looked like a Godzilla rip off. The skill I earned from working with him over the past week gave me infrared vision. The only downside is my eyes look like this until I use the self creator skill again." Owen nodded still distracted by the vertical slit eyes. He was surprised though, his dad looked much the same age Owen looked.
He looked to be slightly more fit than Owen was as well as taller. Owen narrowed his eyes slightly , "Dad, did you ever look life this before the system?" His dad grinned sheepishly, but shook his head no. "No, but I can look this way now, so why not. We don't need to eat or drink anymore, so it was only a matter of time before I became like this." Almost as soon a the words left his dads mouth, Owen felt his stomach growl and threw a glance towards his dad.
"I'm not so sure that's the case anymore. It must've only been the case during the tutorial, cause I'm starving." They both moved towards the kitchen his dad starting to regale him with his exploits during his own tutorial. A system message popped up, cutting his dad's retelling off.
*Congratulations, on passing all three rounds of the tutorial. In several days gates will begin appearing all across the world and each portal will stay open for a total of 3 days time. Any monster not killed by the end of the 3 days will be set loose in your world. Good Luck Citizens of Earth!*
Without pausing for a moment his dad threw on the news on Owen's living room tv. They left it on in the background as they ate and talked about their respective tutorials. "So, you are already level ten?" his dad asked him his face full of disbelief, but Owen just nodded. "Yeah, I managed to hit level ten in the second round and then the third round, I was with this Monkey Emperor, who taught me some skills."
His dad just shook his head, "I have to tell you, you're one of the last people I expected to excel in this type of environment, I am my own close second however." His dad said chuckling. "So, how did the tournament work for your tutorial, it sounds like it was almost impossible to pass your second round, though I suppose only about 30% passed mine."
"Yeah the tournament was designed to have about 30% pass as well. I think out of the 100 people they managed to find 30 winners, that made it to the third round." Owen was amazed at just how different their tutorials had been, but remembering his, he rushed to grab his phone and texted both Myra and Peggy.
"Are you guys okay? Did you manage to make it through the last round?"
Several seconds passed as he sat feeling anxiety coursing through him somehow feeling like it effected him more than when he used Empowered body.
A terse response was texted from Myra's number. "Yeah." While Peggy's had a lot more information. "Yeah! we made it through the 3rd round just fine. We both ended up getting sponsors and managed to go through a body tempering. If you know what that is, we should try to meet up before the gates start opening, right now we are just waiting for a news story to break so we can see what the government is hoping for." Owen was able to fight the grin forming on his face as he quickly texted back.
"Yeah, I managed to go through a body tempering as well! I down to meet up with you guys, just say when and where and I'll do my best to be there." He didn't get a text back but he didn't mind. His thoughts were interrupted by a national news report that started playing on the tv.
"Citizens, please be wary in the coming days gates will be appearing containing monster in them. We have not been able to determine whether or not these will be accessible by the masses, but please leave them be. Those of you who succeed throughout all three stages of the tutorial, please report to your nearest military recruitment office. Where further instructions will be given."
It wasn't quite the response that Owen had thought would happen, but it was probably for the best that they were to try and take control of those who passed the tutorial as early as possible. There couldn't have been too many people who had succeeded though, unless the 30% pass rate of the second round had continued in the third round. That would've made it so that approximately 1 out of every 9 people had passed the tutorial in its entirety, assuming everyone passed the first round.
He felt his phone vibrate and saw that Peggy had just texted him about the news. They texted back and forth a bit more information about it and Owen felt a little relieved. The system must've at least partially grouped people up by area as well, because he was thankfully only a half hour or so away from where Peggy and Myra lived. He and Peggy agreed to meet up with Myra at a coffee shop nearby where he lived. Setting his phone down he saw his dad looking at him with a small smile on his face.
"I think that's the first time I've seen you on either a phone call or texting someone that you actually looked like you were having a good time talking to them." Owen immediately blushed, but still smiled. "I think I met some nice people for the first time in a while. Well, maybe just one? The other seems a little distant, but still nice... probably." His dad let out a rich laugh and they continued to talk about what to do next.
"I'll be honest, I'm probably going to head back home and pretend the system doesn't exist for a while. I don't want to end up on some governmental registry. What about you, I assume you let yourself wait a while before finding a new job?"
"I'm not in a good position financially right now. Because I got fired due to physical assault, I didn't get any severance, so I've got about a month's worth of rent I can scrounge up before I'm pretty much all out."
"Fuck Owen, that's bad. I suppose you could move back home if you needed to, but I don't have the money to help you out right now." Owen nodded solemnly. "It's kinda what I expected honestly. I'll probably go and apply for whatever sector is going to be handling these system gates, see if I can't get some type of salary from there." His dad looked worried but Owen could only shrug. "It's not exactly how I'd want to do things, but for now, it is probably the only way I can stay afloat."
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They spent the rest of the day talking about normal life and how things had gone down with work and Jared. "Owen, this Jared kid seems like he'd serve better as a piss stain than as a friend. None of what happened was your fault except for hitting him. Regardless, of how much he may have deserved it. I know me saying it isn't going to be enough to make your problems go away, but if you think it would be worth it you could always look at going to therapy."
The genuine concern on his dad's face made him reconsider the immediate rejection of the idea, so he nodded instead. "I'll think about it Dad." They said there goodbyes and Owen started to pack up some of his smaller things. He wasn't actually sure he wanted to go and give the rest of his life to the military, but he didn't want his dad to worry. He'd pack his things for today and go meet up with Peggy tomorrow and make a decision then.
Owen was surprised at how easily he was able to sort through his things and pack those he actually wanted. He felt like after he was done packing, if he actually ended up leaving, he'd have a hard time actually settling down after that. It wasn't that he felt above it all, but he felt like he had the beginnings of a goal forming in his mind. He had three days to figure out a way to either work for the military or himself when taking down gates. He threw together a pack of what he considered would be his most essential items.
Some clothes, hygiene stuff, his laptop, and a couple other knickknacks. Everything else was sorted into garbage bags either for donation or for the trash. He sighed, all of his life up to this point was gathered in this room, and somehow it felt like the most important things were stuff he was already wearing. His tunic, ring, and spear were now essentials for his new reality.
*Congratulations, your world now has over 100 million beings at level 10 or above. Due to this incredible achievement, tier 2 gates will also begin spawning in 3 days time, each portal will stay open for a total of 3 days time. Any monster not killed by the end of the 3 days will be set loose in your world. Good Luck Citizens of Earth!*
Owen almost started laughing. Of course, when people are given power it will inevitable be used on the normal populace and apparently someone discovered you can gain experience from people too. He just let the news keep running as he tried to come up with a plan. Pulling out his phone he quickly sent a text to both Myra and Peggy. "You guys think you could pull off meeting today?" He was only slightly surprised both text him back almost immediately saying yes. "I'll be there in 15 minutes then." He rushed to take a shower, dressed in some street clothes and headed out the door.
Myra had to admit she was a little excited for their meeting. It felt like she was part of a real hero team from some of the books she liked to read. She had waited for her sister to get ready for ten minutes and was starting to get a little pissed. "Peggy, I know I said I was fine with being late, but we will really have to rush if we want any chances of making it there before he thinks we ditched him." Peggy rushed down the stairs smiling. "Don't worry, I texted him saying we'd be a bit late."
Then without a care in the world she skipped out to the car. Myra wanted to strangle someone, but no one from a hero team would do that. She kept her face stoic as she trudged out to the car. Peggy sang in the car the entire way into town and up until they made it to the coffee shop. They saw Owen sitting at one of the outside tables, without any drinks on hand and Myra's scowl only deepened. This was not at all how a hero team should normally function, deciding to stay quite about it she sat down across from him and Peggy joined the table as well.
"Sorry guys, I tried to see if they were taking orders, but it looks like they are closed for the rest of the afternoon." He then took out plastic bag and passed an orange juice to Peggy and a bottle of iced coffee to Myra. She supposed today might not be all that bad.
Owen watched entirely confused by Myra. She seemed to permanently be cycling through the three emotions he had seen her have before; anger, disappointment, and apathy. Though they all seemed to disappear when he presented her with the iced coffee he had bought her at the gas station down the street. Thank god those never close for anything, he thought to himself as they both of the women then looked at him.
"So, assume both of you saw that most recent system message? I was looking online on the way over here and it looks like they are hoping for everyone who is level 10 or higher to turn themselves in essentially." "Fat chance of that," Myra interrupted. Owen nodded and looked at Peggy. "I'm not too keen on being signed up in the military for the rest of my life, but I'm not sure how we will be able to hunt down gates, when the government will probably try to lock them down as soon as they appear."
Owen nodded, "My thoughts are the same, we don't have anyway to know for sure where they will show up, but I assume it will be about the same for the government. Have you guys had a chance to talk to anyone else about their tutorials?" Both Peggy and Myra shook their heads.
"Well, my dad had been in a separate one and the pass rate had been about 30%. I started searching for other people talking about it and from everything I could gather it looks like most tutorials only had a 30% pass rate on the second round. I guess I can say for certain, but I'm guessing anywhere from 30% of the worlds population has passed all three rounds, to as few as 900 million."
Myra scoffed, "That's not really a few is it." Owen nodded. "Yeah, definitely more than a few, but again we have no way of knowing for sure, but I assume it's a lot. I think most people are going to have similar thinking to us and that it'll be easy to hide out under the radar for a while, clearing out gates as fast as possible. My goal is to try and create a guild of sorts that's usually in like manhwa and stuff." He fought the grin trying to form on his face and he saw Myra's eyes very clearly light up.
"Either that, or I want to try and establish one under the government, but only after I've become strong enough to have some sort of leverage." "I think a guild is a good idea, but the funding required would probably require governmental intervention. There just isn't a market for anything system related yet." Myra said confidently. Owen wanted to stare in awe, but worried she'd shut down again he just made sure she saw him nodding in agreement.
Peggy seemed confused though. "I'm sorry, but why would we need a guild or whatever, is it like a union?" Owen looked to Myra and she gave him a frustrated look, but started explaining.
"Yeah, it's kind of like a union, but it would be for system users entirely. Essentially, the guild would allow a safe haven for those who do use the system, but don't want any government having full control over there every action. It isn't viable either, because eventually there will be people who get so strong that organizations as a whole won't be able to keep up with that."
"A guild can also help market monster goods as a majority of the monster parts coming in would be sold to the guild. But again this is why any guild is going to need some insane funding and with there being no current market for system goods, we won't be able to throw together than funding ourselves."
"Myra is right, but the point I want to try and stick with is to focus on becoming strong enough that we can take gates by ourselves. If we get strong enough, fast enough, we can be part of those people who organizations won't be able to keep up with long term." Owen was surprised when Myra went for a high five, but he obliged and both turned to Peggy grinning. "I guess I'm in." She said laughing. "Hands in the middle of the table?" She excitedly moved her hand to the middle of the table and laughing Owen stuck his hand in the middle as well.
Groaning, Myra pushed her hand into the middle and well. Owen and Peggy cheered and Myra had a smirk on her face. Owen couldn't help but feel like the future was going to be exciting.