Quill was having a no good very bad day. That would probably best describe what was going through his head as the hallucination of the giant fucking rat that was smaller then the first (but still way too big!) was chasing him down the hall of the metro towards the stairs that used to be escalators.

The clawing scrapes seemed to be gaining on him as he reached the stairs so with some quick thinking he hopped on the middle rail to slide down as quickly as he could. Except he just had to over jump the stupid bar making him do an awkward summersault smacking down on the stairs and promptly fumbling till he grabbed the rail again stopping his descent about a third of the way down.

“Owwww.” Was about the only thing he could muster out before looking up at the Rat who stood at the top of the stairs looking down at him with what he could only assume was some kind of smug look.

“Yeah, I bet you are having a real fucking laugh up there aren’t you. Why don’t you come down here and say it to my face, you plague infested rodent!” He snapped back up at it, making the rat snarl like it could understand him and leapt forward with claws out and jaw open.

Now he wasn’t the quickest or smartest person in the world. But even he wasn’t stupid enough to literally jump down some stairs to try and dive bomb somebody.

Quill just stepped to the side and threw a haymaker right into the matte furred face of the rat just as it passed by with a loud crunch that could have been either his fist or the things face. Hopefully it was at least both given how much it hurt to punch the stupid thing as pain shot through his arm.

He took several steps back as he shook his hand in pain as the rat crashed down into the stairs and rolled all the way to the bottom before awkwardly shaking itself off and glaring back up at him.

“Yeah. Sucks when someone smugly looks down on you don’t it?” Quill couldn’t help but taunt. “Remember this moment next time. Assuming there is a next time. Shall we find out?”

The rat chuffed in response making him really wonder how much it could understand him and started to charge up the stairs only for Quill to promptly have his foot meet the oversized rodent's nose as he punted that damn thing right back down the stairs where it came and it landed on its back.

The thing was stunned and Quill realized that he was both a pretty big hypocrite and was indeed stupid enough to jump down the stairs to try and dive bomb his opponent.

Thankfully the rat was still recovering from its fall to do much of anything and his feet slammed right into the rats stomach with a very loud crunch.

The oversized rodent spewed out blood from the massive stomp as Quill felt his own legs scream in pain from the stupid, albeit satisfying decision of jumping down a full flight of stairs. The momentum of which made him fall forward and he rolled awkwardly before getting back to his feet ready to face the rat but it thankfully it wasn’t moving

Killed baby dire rat lvl 3. Experience gained.

He shook his head in both disbelief and annoyance at the screen that flashed before him that thankfully went away the moment he wanted it too. That rat was only a baby??? How big was an adult!

Also level 3? Yay for killing something that was apparently higher level then him but considering he was only level 1 it was probably safe to assume that everything was a higher level then him. If anything he was upset that he apparently didn’t gain a level from that. Like he killed something much stronger than him, surely that had to count for something.

Also, at this point. He was just going to have to assume that this was no illusion or hallucination and that everything that was currently happening was real which meant…. He actually had no idea what that meant.

He awkwardly limped towards a nearby bench and sat down staring at the dead rat as he tried to take stock of everything that had happened and what the hell he was going to do next.

“Okay so I seem to be stuck in a video game-like system thing and am in some kind of tutorial and not in the real world that was apparently being modified.” Though this wasn’t really much of a tutorial, where the hell was actual learning and tutorial crap! This was just like every training he received with a job! Claim they are training you when really they don’t do jack shit and then get pissy when you mess up!

Quill rubbed his forehead as he tried to get his thoughts to focus. The biggest question was what should he do now? He had a bigger rat upstairs eating the guard that was by the gate.

There was a train coming in a little over ten minutes if that sign was to be believed but given the state of things he might want to consider that it could also be dangerous. Like a train filled with monsters or something.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

There was also the other platform on the other side of the station and the potential exit out of said station. The other platform could have people in it and at this point having other people could be a very good thing with the whole safety in numbers. Quill wasn’t super big on people but with giant rats running around he would gladly make the exception.

He summoned up his stat page and looked at it with a small frown. If there were monsters that were marching around here in the subway. It would be a good idea if he tried to grow a level. See what that would entail and well. There was only one way he knew how to do that.

He marched over to the dead rat and looked carefully at the things teeth and claws. There was no way he was going to try and fight that bigger rat with his hands and feet.

Finding the largest fangs he could, he pried the rat's mouth open and gripped its fang “Ew, ew ew ew ew ew ewww! Need to find a bathroom or something to wash my hands after cause this is just way to much ew”

He couldn’t help but complain as he gripped the wetter then he would have liked teeth and began to yank with all his strength until finally he managed to pop the first fang out and proceeded to the same with the second fang.

“Why does this have to be so gross” as he mumbled, brandishing the now two makeshift dagger teeth and made his way with false bravery towards the rat that was probably still chewing on the dead guard.

As he got close to the corner he slowed his pace and peeked around. The guard was now halfway eaten and the smell had definitely gotten worse but thankfully he managed to keep himself from dry heaving. Stupid human biological functions. Maybe leveling up allowed him to get rid of that?

Quill focused up and left the imagining future stuff towards a future him. The rat was thankfully distracted by gorging itself. So just going to sneak up slowly. Should be easy.

Clutching the teeth tightly he started to sneak his way towards the rat as quickly as and as quietly as he could. He got about half way till the fat bastard decided to look up and Quill froze as they both stared at each other.

The rat's beady eyes looked at him before flashing down to the teeth he was holding then back to him.

“Okay, so in my defense your brethren attacked me first.” Quill responded as if reasoning with the mutated rodent was something he could actually do.

The rat let out a mournful howl that might have made him feel bad if the thing wasn’t completely covered in the guardsman's blood and started to charge him with murderous intent.

Quill isn’t afraid to admit that when a rat the size of a medium dog started charging him he quickly turned right the fuck around and bolted the other direction. It’s one thing to believe you're brave enough to handle something scary. It’s quite another to experience it.

Just gotta get to the stairs. Stairs saved him the first time. Stairs will obviously save him aga-

A heavy and powerful blow landed on his back and he fell down with a pained yelp as the rat had jumped on his back, its claws trying to dig through his backpack and the bastard was likely ruining it.

“Hey!” Quill shifted his weight and managed to roll the stupid thing off of him before leaping on it himself with the teeth still in hand and jabbing them as hard as he could into the things hide.

“I’ve had that backpack for years! Don’t you fucking dare ruin it you miserable shit!!” And stabbed the rat again.

The things hide was tougher than he would have liked or expected. Or maybe the teeth weren’t as sharp as he wanted but he still managed to penetrate the things skin as the creature howled in pain and clawed at his face, slashing his cheeks and making Quill recoil from the pain. Giving the creature ample opportunity to roll out from under him.

Quill managed to jump backwards from where he was but the monster still managed to tackle him into the ground with his backpack helping to cushion his fall but that did nothing to the couple hundred pound ball of anger and probably disease that was not on top of him as it’s claws dug into his chest and it opened its maw to bite down on his shoulder making a sharp pain shoot through him.

Now Quill liked to believe himself to be a somewhat rational person (System calling him insane notwithstanding) And so he firmly believes that when something bites you, the most appropriate response is to bite them back.

So Quill did exactly that and bit down and tore that stupid rats ear right off its head making the creature squeal and unlatch from his shoulder and allowing Quill to jam one of the teeth into the things eye causing the monster to recoil more and thrash around, allowing him to scurry away from it.

He managed to get to the top of the stairs before he heard the scurrying of a very angry monster behind him and he turned around just in time to be tackled and they both tumbled down. Him cursing up a storm as he tried to get the upper hand on the rat and the rat doing whatever the hell the rat was doing.

They landed onto the floor of the station with Quill landing a bit further away from the rat who landed on its back right next to its dead brethren. Not wanting or allowing this moment to go to waste and despite his body very firm painful protests he launched himself up and onto the creature. Taking the final tooth he had and repeatedly stabbing and jamming it into the creature's exposed throat until finally.

Killed adolescent dire rat. Lvl 5. Experienced gained

You gained the skill dirty fighter (lvl. 1)

Let it be known you are not above scratching, biting, maybe a goin shot or two. Whatever it takes to win right?

You have leveled up! Gained 1 stat point

Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievements section in your stat page! You gained the achievement “Tutorial Front Runner” for being one of the first 100,000 people to level up in your world. .2 stats awarded for each category.

Error! Could not place points in soul. Redistributing evenly between body and mind

Quill collapsed down next to the two dead rats breathing hard as the screen flashed before his eyes and managed to let out a very triumphant and not at all pathetic sounding “Yaaaaaaaaaaay…”