Chloe thrust her fist forward, colliding then smashing through a goblin's head. Its skull caved in just as her gauntleted fist punched through the other side, blood, and brain matter spilling out as its body collapsed in an instant. The moment it was dead, she saw a familiar message panel appear before her.

[Goblin has been defeated! 90 EXP has been obtained!]

Seeing the kill notification, Chloe pulled her fist out of the green gremlin’s skull and swiped it to get the blood off her gauntlets. Its blood oozed and stained her weapon, making it very difficult to get rid of the lifeblood clinging to it. Aside from the gauntlets on her hands, she also had light leather armor on her chest and legs. Due to this, her attire was a fusion of her modern-day clothing and the Class equipment she was wearing at the moment. A leather chest piece under a black sports hoodie with loose jeans covered by leather greaves.

Chloe wore a disgusted expression before turning away.

“How’s it going over there?” She called out.

Looking in that direction, she watched as Arthur killed another goblin with his sword. He drove his blade down, splitting its skull in half along with the rest of its body as the two halves fell to the ground. Once the goblin was dead, Arthur let out a sigh while adjusting his armor. He wore a metal chest plate, bracers, and greaves that mixed with his modern clothing which was a blue hoodie under the chest plate and bracers and jeans under the greaves along with ordinary sneakers. He looked like he was dressing up as a modern-day knight for a convention in the city.

As Arthur wiped his forehead as sweat beaded down his face, he then gave Chloe a thumbs-up, showing that he was fine. Just then, a bright yellow light enveloped the Knight. A moment later, all of the injuries he sustained during the fight slowly healed. The wounds mended together until they were no longer present as if they were never there to begin with. Instead of looking surprised, Arthur simply turned and smiled at Lucy who was nearby, currently casting a healing spell on him.

She wore a rather elegant priestess outfit. It was a white robe over blue garbs while being adorned with gold outlines on both. In her hand was a long metal staff with the tip shaped like a star with a blue gem planted in the middle of it. While casting the spell, the blue gem gave off a faint blue light, and as soon as Lucy was done, the light faded away. The healer let out a sign before walking over to Chloe and Arthur.

“Are you two okay?” She asked, her voice filled with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Chloe said, trying to get the blood off her gauntlets with a disgusted expression. “You wouldn’t happen to have a cleaning spell, would you? This blood is not coming on.”

“Sorry, but no,” Lucy giggled. “But, I might be able to get one when I get a chance to gain another skill.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” The brawler denied. “How many goblins did we kill anyway?”

“Around a dozen or so,” Arthur guessed, looking around at all the goblin corpses sprawled all over the ground. “They were pretty low-level, so they weren’t that difficult to deal with.”

“Except for when they attack in groups,” Chloe grumbled. “These bastards make up for their lack of strength by grouping together. As the old saying goes, there are strengths in numbers.”

“There are always strength in numbers,” Arthur corrected, prompting a scolding look from Chloe.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Chloe scratched the back of her head.

It’s been two days since the apocalypse started, and a lot has happened during that time. Miraculously enough, when the three managed to finish their Class Selection Event, they were all teleported in the same place in the city. Once they got together, the trio started fighting against the monsters while finding a place to shelter in.

As for what classes the three chose, Chloe selected the Brawler class, which was a close-quarters melee fighter that used their fists to battle their enemies. Since Chloe was a renowned boxer in her family, the class obviously suited her. She especially liked her gauntlets which increased in overall damage against her enemies.

For Arthur, he chose the Knight Class, which is why he was decked out in a chest plate, bracers, and greaves. He didn’t have a helmet, but he figured that he could get one later and didn’t worry about it. As for why he chose this class, it was due to his fascination with knights from storybooks and fairy tales. Chloe and Lucy knew this, which is why when they all got back together, they weren’t surprised that Arthur wore knight-like armor.

Then there was Lucy, who had an even more appropriate class than her friends, due to her connections and upbringing with the church. She possessed the Cleric class, which was a support/offense class that allowed her to heal others while also fighting enemies as well. It was thanks to Lucy’s healing magic that Arthur and Chloe were able to take care of the goblins as well as they did.

As the group talked a little more, Chloe soon spotted some players coming their way.

“Oh, looks like the clean-up crew is here,” She noted, pointing at the players.

Arthur and Lucy turned to see the players as well before they arrived. They were a group of five, each player with a different class than the other. Once they got to Chloe and the other two, one of them stepped forward to speak.

“Hey, Chloe,” The player greeted.

“Conner, how’s it hanging?” She returned the greeting.

The player before them was Conner Brown. He was a Swordsman class that led the group following him. He had short brown hair and wore a metal-plated arm guard on his right arm. On his back was a wooden round shield, and strapped to his waist was a rather unique blade, which was a gladius. The kind of weapon gladiators used in arenas and such.

“You guys here to do some cleaning?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah,” Conner said. “The usual clean-up team is busy with a horde of Orc corpses on the other side of the block. Though, after we clean up, we’ll be doing some patrolling in the south area of the territory.”

“I see. Well, have at it,” Chloe gestured toward the monsters before she and her friends walked away.

“By the way,” Conner spoke up. “Tyler said he needed to talk to you guys. I think he wants you guys to go into the city and gather some metal, but I’m not sure.”

Chloe mused. “Well, considering how short on metal we are because of the walls we made, I’m not surprised. We’ll head over to him then once we get back to the base. Have fun with the Patrol.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“You too!” Conner and the rest of his group waved Chloe, Arthur, and Lucy goodbye.

Leaving Conner and the rest of his party to deal with the corpses, Chloe and the other two made their way back to the base. During the first day of the apocalypse, after surviving the ten-minute quest they were given, the trio were able to join another group that they stumbled across. While with this group, they scoured the city before finding a place they could set up as their base and shelter.

“So,” Chloe spoke up. “while we go out and gather more materials for the base, I’m assuming that we’re going to continue with our own search?”

“You mean looking for Vlad, right?’ Arthur guessed.

“Of course. Why else would I mention it?”

Despite two days passing by, none of the trio has seen Vlad since the day of the apocalypse. The last time they saw him, he was thrown out the windows by the goblins before everyone got teleported away. After that, they haven’t heard a word about their friend.

“Maybe he’s part of another group?” Lucy suggested. “We have been getting reports that other player parties are being formed.”

“Yeah, but from what we could gain from those reports is that most of them were…not exactly friendly.”

Since the apocalypse started, the trio’s party they were a part of wasn’t the only group of players in the city. For the past two days, multiple groups have been formed, all of them with their own goals and agendas. And most of them were filled with criminals and such, making them dangerous.

Since the people of this world were now players, everyone who survived now had powers. And like most, some individuals are using their powers for their own gain. Attacking other players and even kidnapping them to use as slaves.

According to one report, there was a very dangerous group of players calling themselves the Dark Brotherhood. Although the name was cheesy and cliché, the players weren’t. They were merciless people who killed and slaughtered dozens of other players at this point. Chloe and the others kept their distance since they had more pressing issues than dealing with them.

After a bit of walking, the trio finally made it to the base. Up ahead of them was a wall of cars stacked on top of one another, encircling their base, which was a mall within the city. While heading to the entrance of the wall, they walked past multiple barricades made from various materials from cars, shopping carts, and the like as they were scattered all around the walls. There were multiple players around the barricades, likely improving them by adding more materials to increase its defenses.

Making it to the entrance of the wall, they were momentarily stopped by two players guarding it, but after the pair stared at Chloe, Arthur, and Lucy, they immediately allowed them inside. This was because the trio was well known among the other players, since they were pretty much founding members of the party, aside from the leader, who they were currently about to meet.

Going through the entrance, the trio was now in the parking lot connected to the mall. It was a vast lot that used to be filled with cars before the players decided to use them to build a wall around the base. Despite its vast size, the players took advantage of it by setting up dozens of tents and stands outside, using the lot to continue their work.

Glancing around, Chloe and the others watched all the players around them working. Some built barricade shields, others were attacking targets, practicing their skills and spells. They saw one mage conjure up a large fireball and hit a wall of bricks, instantly destroying it as the rumble collapsed. They also witnessed a line of archer players shooting practice dummies, filling them with arrows without stopping.

“Looks like everyone is hard at work,” Lucy noted.

“Considering what’s going to happen in three days, I’m not surprised,” Chloe stated.

“Right, that quest.” Arthur grimaced.

After returning to Earth once they selected their classes, all of the players including Chloe, Arthur, and Lucy were given a quest called “The Blood Moon Event”. It was a quest where players had to gather together and fend off against a horde of monsters that would attack them in five days. During those five days, players needed to fortify their bases as much as they could and level up to where they were strong enough to take on the horde and defend their base.

Thankfully, the party the trio was a part of was able to use their time wisely, and in just two days, they managed to build a wall of cars around their base along with barricades to use as shields to fight back against the monsters. But, they were far from done. There were still five days left until the blood moon event, and this large group still had lots of things to do before they were ready to fight the monster horde.

Getting to the mall, they entered the building and were greeted with a busy sight as dozens of players were scurrying around the mall. Some carrying boxes and crates, and others holding other materials as they rushed from one side of the building to another. Everyone was so busy that it was like a normal day at the mall back before the apocalypse.

The trio continued walking, making their way to the stairs and climbing up to the third floor. While on the third floor, they approached a path that stretched from one side of the mall to and another where the leader was. In the middle of the path, there were crates and tables along with a board with various papers and notes on it. Staring at the board was a young man around the same age as Chloe and the other two.

He had short black hair and wore similar plated armor to Arthur’s. He bore a very charismatic face, giving the impression that he was a born leader. While staring at the board, he quickly noticed the trio group, a slight smile appearing on his face.

“Chloe, Arthur, Lucy, I’m glad you came,” He greeted them.

“Hey, Tyler,” Chloe walked over and shook the player’s hand.

Arthur and Lucy did the same, both of them shaking his hand before stepping back. This person was none other than Tyler Braves, the leader of this large organization of players. He was the one that the trio grouped together with and formed a party when they returned to Earth. There was also another connection between the two groups. They went to the same college.

Tyler was part of the student council at their university. Chloe, Arthur, and Lucy ran into him a couple of times back then, so they knew who he was when they came across him during the apocalypse. When they first received the quest regarding the blood moon, Tyler was the first to act as he led the group to find a base to set up their defenses, to which they found the mall. Then, they started gathering as many players as they could, hopeful that they could use these five days to prepare for the worst.

“Conner said that you needed our help?” Chloe asked, crossing her arms.

“Yes,” Tyler stated. “We’re currently running low on metal materials like rebar and the like, and I was hoping if you guys could go out into the city and gather some more. Aside from the walls, we also need the metal to forge more weapons to use against the monsters.”

During the past two days, the party has been using up a lot of the metal material in their stock. Because of this, they needed to replenish their supplies, so they could continue their preparations for the blood moon event. And Chloe’s group was up to the task.

Aside from Tyler, the trio had the highest levels compared to the other players. Chloe and Arthur were level seventeen, and Lucy was level fifteen. As for Tyler, he was Level 19, one level away from twenty. If they could reach this level in just two days, imagine after another three. They’ll likely be at level thirty or even forty if they’re lucky.

“Think you guys can do it?” Tyler asked.

Chloe didn’t even hesitate. “Yeah, we’ll get it done. Where do we have to go anyway?”

“There’s a metal warehouse up north called Gary’s Warehouse. It has a lot of metal we can use, as long as no other players got to it first.”

“Up north, huh?” Chloe mused. “It shouldn’t be a problem. Do they have any carts and such there, or do we need to bring our own?”

“They should have some there. However, if they don’t, find a way to get to us and we’ll send some to you. Also, try to keep me informed so I know what’s happening and if you need backup.”

“That’ll be pretty hard to do since we have no service to call people,” Arthur said.

After the apocalypse started, all phones lost their service, allowing them to call people. Not only that, but walkie-talkies were useless as well. No one knew why this was happening, so there was no way for people to stay in touch in the city.

“Well, if things get bad, then just run away and we’ll figure something out later,” Tyler advised. “Also, although I’m letting you three go, you need a couple more members to join you. I understand that you’re strong, but…”

“Safety in numbers, we know,” Chloe said. “Anyway, we’ll be going now, alright? The faster we get this done, the better, right?”

Tyler nodded. “You’re not wrong about that. Go and gather your members before you leave, alright?”

Chloe gave a thumbs up before walking away as Arthur and Lucy waved Tyler goodbye. Once they left the leader, the trio then started their plan to assemble some more players for their metal-gathering quest.

As the trio prepared to set out into the city, their friend who had been missing for two days was currently in a convenience store, after finally returning to Earth. Their paths were close to crossing one another as time went by.