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The little girl rushed and hugged Rowan tightly, throwing her arms around his midriff. He took her in his arms, fondling her hair. The warmth and sweetness of her hug made Rowan smile.
“It’s fine, everything is fine,” he whispered, ruffling the girl’s hair before looking around. The rest of the kids had surrounded him with expecting eyes, obviously waiting for adult guidance. “Let’s go before they notice their pal’s dead.”
“We can’t leave,” the tough boy objected.
“Kid, I’m sorry, but those folks are dead; we can’t save them.”
“Are you an idiot?” The question, asked with a slightly tilted head, didn’t sound like an insult, more like a half-certitude. “We can’t leave the area until we clear it. There’s a barrier.”
“Thomas is mean,” the little girl accused. “I’ll tell your mommy.”
Now that Thomas had mentioned it, there was a faint light fifty yards downward on the slope.
“It let me through,” Rowan said.
“It’s one way in, no way out,” Thomas said.
“We tried to leave as soon as we saw the notification,” another child said, but Rowan did not see who.
“What noti—”
A blue text appeared before he finished his sentence. It was displayed on a widescreen, so transparent that it let the landscape get through fully.
This clearing has been transformed into a mid-tier mini-dungeon: Ominous Grove. Setting: Extreme. Condition for winning: eliminate all 5 Elite mini-bosses: DireDeer. Exit is prohibited until the task is accomplished.
XP rules: Generous. The difference in level between you and the slain adversary is divided among those participating in the fight.
The reward for clearing the mini-dungeon is +1 Lvl. +1 free Attribute Point, loot.
“Let’s hide in the woods and hide until help arrives,” a girl about eight years old proposed, repeating herself.
Rowan remembered the policeman’s attitude and grimaced. “If it’s a national emergency, it could take days.”
“Don’t worry, if we killed one, we can kill them all,” Thomas boasted. “Just follow my lead.”
“Keep your voice low,” Rowan hissed.
“It’s OK, we’re safe as long as we stay outside their aggro range. I see question marks when I try to Identify you, which means you have no Class yet. Pick something, preferably Rogue. Just think about it. We’ll pull and dispose of them one by one. Lizzie will lure them, I’ll tank, and you go stabby.”
“S-sorry?”
Rowan’s befuddled expression must’ve reinforced Thomas’s impression of him. The boy rolled his eyes but explained, “You saw the UFO, right?”
“Yeah.”
“It did something when it crashed. We’re in a System Apocalypse now, LitRPG and stuff. Classes, attributes, the whole deal. Focus your thoughts, think Class Selection and a sort of Game-like Menu will appear. With proper options if you’re lucky.”
Following the boy’s instructions, Rowan furrowed his brow, concentrating.
Class Selection is locked until you distribute your free attribute points, as available choices depend on your stats.
“What do you mean, if I’m lucky?” Rowan asked, dismissing the notification.
“We all got classes,” Thomas said, “but—"
“I’m an actress,” Lizzie, the girl Rowan held in his arms, stated proudly.
“Ballerina,” another girl sighed.
Thomas cleared his voice to make the younger children let him speak. “Classes were assigned automatically depending on hobbies or jobs. Teachers remained teachers—”
“And they become monster food,” Rowan said.
Thomas nodded, a few tears creeping into his eyes, wiped off with his forearm.
“Yeah… I had a choice because I’m trained in martial arts. I’m a Brawler. It’s an off-tank. You know what an off-tank is, right?” Thomas frowned at Rowan as the young man was frowning back, only from befuddlement.
“I don’t play games much… not the ones people usually play, anyway…”
“What games do you play?” Lizzie asked.
“Err… rally driving and bar games…”
“Like darts?”
“Yeah… darts too…” Rowan bit his lower lips. His preferred bar game was to beat aggressive drunkards who picked on other patrons or pretty girls, but maybe that was not the best thing to brag about around children.
“Dude, just pick a class. Choose a combat-oriented one and ask me for help if you don’t get it. Put your attributes into Strength and Dex.”
“Give me a moment. Stay with them, sweetie; I’ll be back.”
“No,” Lizzie said, burrowing her face in his shoulder.
“Very well, but promise to be quiet,” Rowan surrendered.
Taking a few steps deeper into the forest, he chose a stump to sit on and summoned his stats screen. His experience with games was poor, but he had some friends who played MMORPGs and had shown him the ropes.
Name: Rowan Allinder, Age: 25
Lvl. 6. Class:???
Assessing and assigning stats according to your overall prior experience:
STR: 20 / DEX: 18 / CON: 20 / WIL: 49 / INT: 12 / CHA: 8
You have 6 free points available for distribution.
Yeah, tell me about Charisma. I had higher hopes for my Intelligence, though… Never mind…
If he concentrated just a little, he could see some gauges. HP, Mana, and the XP needed to reach the next level. The latter was a third full. Despite Thomas’s advice, the forty-nine in Will nagged him. It looked… imperfect. So he raised it to fifty, and the rest of the points went into Strength, upping it to twenty-five.
Now show me the fucking class selection.
Choose one from the following options:
1: All-Rounded Worker (Uncommon)
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
This class is available due to your skills as a Forklift Operator, Truck Driver, and Heavy Equipment Operator.
An All-Rounded Worker earns 25% to 50% more than a regular worker and gains a free +1 increase in Charisma, Dexterity, and Toughness every 10 levels, in addition to the usual free stat point gained at each level.
2: Vampire Rogue (Legendary)
This class is available due to your passive skill: Night Shifter.
Warning: This class will alter your species and may provoke hostility from certain groups. A Vampire Rogue excels at using the darkness of the night to their advantage, gaining unique abilities tied to stealth and nocturnal power.
“What the fuck, System! You don’t know what a night shift is?” Rowan groaned, scrolling down the text without reading the rest of the Vampire class description. It was quite long.
“Problems?” Thomas asked.
“All good.”
“Hurry up; they might finish the teachers and come for deserts.”
“One minute.”
Lizzie was now snoring, some saliva dripping on Rowan’s coat.
She’s so sweet! OK, let’s see the last choice.
3: The Indomitable (Legendary, Unique). Unlocked because you fought an Epic monster +20 over your level to save a child, have an uncommon personal history, and reached the second threshold in Will and the first threshold on any other given stat (Strength) within an hour of the System’s apparition. Receives +2 in each stat at every 10 levels, on top of the free stat point acquired at each level. Unique classes are highly customizable and allow you to gain exceptional Perks.
Perks? What the hell is that?
Perks are a higher version of Spells or Skills obtained with every threshold of 25 points reached in any given Stat. Only base values are considered, without buffs or armor enchantments. The System chooses the first and third threshold Perks by evaluating your performance and personality; you choose the second and the fourth Perks yourself from two or more options. Read the FAQ or Class Manual for more information.
Current Perks:
Will Perk, Threshold 1: Will and Wilt: Your Will replaces Strength as your Physical Critical Damage multiplier (1% per every Will point) and inflicts an Unavoidable DOT on Crits. The Critical Chance depends on your Dex (+1% for every Dex point. Enemies' passive or active abilities to Evade, Dodge, or Block will subtract from your Crit Chance, depending on the situation.
Note: An Unavoidable DOT reduces the enemies' HPs regardless of their immunities or resistances.
Will Perk, Threshold 2: locked until further evaluation.
Strength Perk, Threshold 1: Miss? What miss? Your strikes have a 25% chance to ignore Physical Resistances, Evades, Dodges, Parries, or Blocks.
Pfff… too much nerdish for me… Vampire’s a hard no… I chose Indomitable.
Choice confirmed. Basic Melee and Ranged Weapon Proficiency are unlocked. Basic Mana Application unlocked. This passive enhances your Skills and Perks, granting them access to Mana. Spellcasting is currently locked. Acquire Mana Manipulation to be able to cast spells.
An influx of energy passed through his body, so strong that he groaned and shivered, making Lizzie wake up.
“Mommy?” The next second, she screamed very loud. Rowan dropped her, startled, catching her a second before she hit the ground.
“Don’t be afraid, sweetie, it’s me.” The screams stopped, and a smile replaced the fear on her face.
Thomas, on the other hand, didn’t sound happy. “Fuck, Lizzie aggroed two. I’ll run around, keeping to this side, Rowan, hit them from the back.”
“How do you know my name?”
“You have a tag over your head; check your privacy settings. Never mind, here they come.”
Bulky and menacing, with their fangs covered in gore, two monsters trudged toward their side of the clearing. Thomas dashed out on an oblique trajectory. Rowan couldn’t help but admire the kid’s acumen; Thomas attracted the moose one by one, arranging them in a line. Grabbing his knife from the ground, Rowan ran and stabbed the second monster in the back. The knife went on almost up to the guard, but somehow, he felt the urge to push it on, and so he did, twisting.
Backstab has inflicted a Lethal Critical Hit on DireDeer’s vitals: Heart. You have inflicted 96% HP damage to DireDeer, Elite Lvl. 20. You have inflicted a 2% HP/sec. DOT on DireDeer.
The moose made a spastic move, trying to claw at Rowan’s face. He dodged underneath, pulling back his knife, and ran forward. Four seconds later, like clockwork, the moose bellowed a desperate dying call, melted into specks of light, and the notification came:
You have slain DireDeer, Elite Lvl.20 (2/5) XP received (divided between you, Thomas, and Lizzie). You have leveled up x 5. 2 points were automatically distributed to each stat, and 5 free APs are available for a later distribution.
That was the good news. The bad one was that the second moose stopped chasing Thomas, turned, and charged at Rowan instead. He froze. All his hits up to now were from the back, and a knife had abysmal reach versus a nine-foot-tall monster with antlers.
Put my points in Dex! Rowan’s mind screamed. The plan was simple: with twenty-five in Dex, he’d be faster, avoiding attacks easier and kiting down the moose little by little.
Request denied. Distributing Points during Combat settings is set to OFF. Activating Automatic Distribution Mode. Prioritizing the closest stat to reach a threshold. +3 AP to CON. 2 AP stored for later.
Constitution Perk, Threshold 1 obtained: Tough Cookie. Your body has become denser. +25% all physical resistances, +25% to Natural Regeneration (HP)
Rowan became dizzy and clumsy from the influx of stats, and the moose hit him like a truck. It had accelerated at the last moment, head first, crushing Rowan’s hopes to dodge, throwing the young man twenty feet back. Everything hurt. And that was good news; hurting meant he was alive. The monster’s head was so big that the antlers’ spikes missed Rowan’s body, only grazing his arms.
You have suffered two Debuffs (Daze, Concussion, for 10 seconds) and Minor Bleeding (DOT, -0.25% HP/seconds. Your HP is at 80%.
You have inflicted a Critical Hit and a Critical Unavoidable DOT on DireDeer. -25% HP, -8% HP per second.
What?
The moose had stopped in his tracks, trashing around. Its awkward arms, more like an animal’s, were flailing, trying—and failing—to reach its neck, where Rowan’s knife was stuck deep. That was another lucky strike. Then Thomas arrived from the back, throwing down the DireDeer, which stuck the blade deeper.
It must be a skill. No way a scrawny kid could topple that monster on his own.
You have slain DireDeer, Elite Lvl.20 (3/5) XP received (divided between you, Thomas, and Lizzie). You have leveled up x 3. 3 free APs are available for later distribution. Correction: Activating Automatic Distribution Mode. Prioritizing the closest stat to reach a threshold. +5 points to Dex. Dexterity Perk, Threshold 1 obtained: Subconscious Fighting. Even if you’re CC’d, as long you're not knocked out cold, your body can move independently, striking the enemy.
Neat!
“Dude, wake up; we aggroed the rest,” Thomas screamed, offering a hand.
Rowan sighed, shaking his head to chase off the last vestiges of dizziness. “How the f— sorry, do we aggroed the rest?”
“Our levels increased, and we’re more noticeable. Duh!”
At the far end of the expanse, the two remaining monsters bellowed to each other, staring at the man and the boy.
“Let’s do the same thing; we separate them and take them one by one.” Rowan’s prophetic words took shape differently than he had hoped. One moose dashed at them, and the other headed toward the western tree line, where the kids were. To cull the weak, take them hostage, or exact revenge, it didn’t matter.
“You have to take one on your own. Sorry, kid.” Rowan picked the knife from the ground, threw it at the incoming monster, then ran back to the tree line as fast as he could.
You have inflicted a Critical Hit and an Unavoidable DOT on DireDeer, -15% HP, -2% HP per second.
Detected Skill: Throwing Knife (Advanced).
That was terrific news. Praying that Thomas could cope with the injured moose while he dealt with the other, Rowan jumped on the last DireDeer’s back. Grabbing the antlers and wrapping his legs around the monster’s torso, Rowan tried to wrestle its head backward, hoping to break the neck. It didn’t work. The moose fell backward, pinning Rowman under a colossal weight and clawing at his thighs simultaneously.
You are suffering from multiple Bleeds. Total: 2%HP/second. Estimated time to existence termination: 59 seconds (DOTs -Natural Regeneration)
No. Fuck YOU! I won’t allow you to hurt the kids.
Rowan moved his left hand around the DireDeer’s neck in a choke, and with his right, he gouged out one eye, then another. The popping noises were disgusting yet delightful. He growled, drunken by the joy, the desire to kill anything that represented a threat to the kids and himself. The animal screamed in pain. Music to his ears. Rowan shoved his right hand into its mouth, pulling on the lower jaw until something broke. He laughed hysterically and managed to read only three words before he lost consciousness.
You have slain—