"It serves me right for wishing on stars. The only way to get what you want in this world is through hard work."
Rose shoved some more popcorn into her mouth as the movie continued. Beside her a black cat snuggled on top of the blanket, content with the other hand that was rubbing his head soothingly. “Purr, purr, purr.”
Just as the next scene began a clear, green-tinged screen popped up in front of her. It read “Greetings, your world has now been incorporated into what is commonly referred to as the Nexus. Tutorial protocols are being activated. Good luck.”
“Huh?” the young lady glanced around her apartment in confusion.
Weirdly, the screen never left the front of her eyes. No matter where she looked it was always directly in front of her. Strange. After a few more moments the screen disappeared. In the instant it was gone she noticed that the television screen had gone black and the lights were now out. Then the screen was back accompanied by new words. “Tutorial is now commencing. In preparation it is advised you find a weapon. 10… 9… 8…”
Unsure what was happening, Rose decided to take the advice. Jumping up she grabbed her kitty with one arm and raced for the kitchen. Mind spinning, she settled on something that would have some force behind it, her largest frying pan. Clutching the handle, the girl thought for a moment before switching hands and rummaging around for the wok. Spare force would be comforting. Both hands full the girl then glanced at the knife block and reached for the largest one. “Just in case” she whispered to herself.
“3… 2… 1…” the numbers flashed in her vision.
“Tutorial Goal: Clear your area to create a safe zone”
With the last directive given there was a flash in her living room. Suddenly all the lights were back on and the TV was blaring out with Tiana’s voice. Everything was as before, apart from one glaring difference. There was a reddish goblin looking monster standing on her new rug. Apparently wherever it had come from was very dusty as blue-grey dust was spreading across the rug as the monster slowly moved towards her. Its arm was raised and it had a knife in hand. Neat freak was not a word used to describe this particular lady but, dam it, that was a brand new rug she had just bought yesterday and now it was filthy. The green and blue pastel patterns were now smeared with grey muck.
How dare it! Rose glared at it with rage. Demon/Greenskin – [IMP GOBLIN] – [LEVEL 3]. Blinking with surprise at the tag she just stared for a moment before coming back to her senses. This whole thing was like one of those litRPG novels she sometimes read. Maybe she was dreaming, but it didn’t feel like it. The kitty in her arms yowled in discomfort so she set it down while keeping an eye on the intruder. Luckily the cat just hid behind her instead of dashing off. Focusing back on the [IMP GOBLIN] she decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. “You!” she shouted, startling it “I don’t know who you are but you need to clean up this mess right now! And where did you come from? Because here your supposed to knock before entering someone’s home. You have been an extremely rude Imp Goblin!” the monster seemed to be stunned by her false bravado.
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For a few more moments they just stared at each other and then the monster charged while bellowing “Oras kill enemy!”
The knife was pointed towards her, his arm was outstretched in front of him. Rose then stretched out her far longer arm and with one sweep felled her foe. DONG. He lay unconscious on the floor. Her primary defence had done its job. Considering the situation Rose put down her weapons and reached on top of the fridge for both the sewing kit and the first aid kit. Amongst the prepared items she found some twine and preceded to bind the monster hand and foot. He was spindly and only around four foot tall so it was easy enough. “Whatcha looking at Zen” she asked while finishing up. The clearly curious cat gave a long meow in reply and continued to watch. Finished with her task, the absurdity of the situation sunk in. “What the heck is going on?” she mumbled to herself.
Just as she had the thought, she heard screaming from the apartment across from her. Brandishing her weapons once more Rose threw Zen onto her shoulder and dashed for the door. Crossing the hall, she opened her neighbour’s door to a bloody sight. Brandson was bleeding from a claw cut. The bloody claw itself was attached to a large wolf like creature. Assessing the situation, Rose stared at the creature. Canine – [BLOODFANG WOLFHOUND] – [LEVEL 2]. Wow, scary. Zen seemed to agree as he yowled, his hair stood on end as he dug his claws into her cardigan. The wolfhound stood around four and a half feet tall. That was a very big dog. False bravado to the rescue Rose decided to try the same tactic twice. “Bad dog, sit!”
The bad dog did not sit. Instead, it completely turned its attention to her and upon seeing the strawberry blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman that was a little over five feet tall, did not see much of a threat. The wolf rushed her. This scenario was a bit deja vu. Hopefully her last method would work for this one too. DONG. The wolf went sideways a bit, whimpered and then went still. Not wanting to cause the poor thing any more pain Rose dragged it into Brandson’s guest bedroom and shut the door. Checking on Brandson, the man was passed out on the floor. Grabbing her first aid kit from her apartment, Rose then cleaned the wound with water. From inspection, it appeared to be just a shallow scratch on the lower leg. A very long scratch, which explained how the leg was covered in blood, but overall nothing too serious. The scratch went from the bottom of his left knee to the top of his ankle, nothing to pass out over. It must have just been the shock of the situation. Rose couldn’t blame him. She felt quite out of sorts herself.
After cleaning it she bound the wound with cotton and gauze. That done she dragged the thirty-five year old man from where he had been hiding behind the kitchen bench, across the living room to his couch and proceeded to dump him on it. Man, he was heavy and she was no weight lifter. Ever since the canine had been taken care of Zen had jumped off her shoulder and had just been following her around and exploring the apartment. He was a constantly curious companion so long as they weren’t in mortal danger. His green eyes roamed the room as he leapt across the furniture. Current tasks finished Rose decided to help out her fellow neighbours. This clearly wasn’t something that had just happened to her. “Come on Zen” she called while racing out of the room. The cat quickly followed on her heels.