This was the first time I had seen such a large animal, a Monster, face to face. I'd already seen one in pictures on the internet and in a podcast I watched when I was starting to wake up. That was my routine to get through the job, but seeing Monsters in pictures was very different. They were much bigger than they looked and had that aura of intimidation.

My body was freezing, as if all my blood had gone out of me. My legs were shaking, and if I didn't push myself, I was going to fall flat on my arse. The metal stick I was holding now seemed much heavier than before, and I could barely hold it up. The creature looked me up and down, walking slowly towards me. My body moved away on instinct, and if it were up to me, I'd still be parked in place. I could see blood all over its white fur and dripping from its mouth, mixing with drool.

The creature was analysing me, it didn't seem to have seen anyone react to its attack so far, it was looking at me and the stick as if it was gauging the degree of danger I could offer. When it noticed my deep terror, the creature attacked, and I even tried to attack, but fear wouldn't let my body act the way I wanted it to.

All I could do was put the iron bar in the middle of the thing's mouth. My heart was relieved when the bar contained the bite, but the claws pierced my ribs deeply. To my absolute horror, the iron bar was easily chewed through, as if it were made of rotten wood instead of iron.

The powerful claws continued to tear my ribs apart as the creature protruded even further over me, forcing my arms to give way and let that mouth get closer to my throat.

It was only when I had accepted my imminent death that I heard a voice coming from who knows where. The Beast above me yelped and moved away, while looking at my side. There stood a small, fluffy creature holding a hammer, bigger than its small body. It looked like a Raccoon, its greyish fur very well combed and its eyes bright and huge. He glared angrily at the monster as he tapped me on the shoulder.

— You fought well! - the raccoon said.

I don't know what I was more impressed by that day: a talking warrior raccoon or a raccoon speaking in such a cute voice. Perhaps a mixture of the two. The Beast didn't seem to want to go any further as he glared angrily at the little one next to me. I stood up and then noticed over my shoulder when another giant dog appeared at the end of the corridor, closing off the escape route.

— Tch, one more! - the Raccoon said angrily - Can you fight?

— Me? - I asked with mockery - Look at me... I'm dying!

- And shaking. - the Raccoon said - But you WANT to fight?

I'd been shaking even before the whole thing started, and I've always been a coward, that's never changed since I was a child trapped in that orphanage. Even as an adult, I was never to confront anyone, even if I knew I was right, I always backed down out of fear. Now I stood there, trembling and thinking about how I should escape. I pressed my lips together in anger at myself, I had to do something, I had to fight. If I didn't fight now, it wouldn't be like the other times, I'd just die.

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— I want to! - I answered firmly,

— Good! - the Raccoon said happily - Under the authority of the Djin King, I grant you the title: "Guardian".

I felt my body filling with power, it was as if a battery had been installed in my body and electricity began to flow through my veins. I didn't feel any pain, but I felt very good, in a way I had never felt before. In front of my eyes a strange window appeared, it didn't really look like a window like the ones in a game, more like a sheet of parchment that unrolled in front of me. There was information on it, like that of a character in a game: Strength, dexterity..., that sort of thing.

— An RPG sheet...? - I asked, confused.

— The King grants a personal System for the Guardian to understand you - the Raccoon said - This can appear different for each Guardian. It may be something you like or something easier for you to understand. Now concentrate, leave the explanations for later!

I really liked tabletop role-playing games, so maybe that's why this "personal system" he was talking about appeared that way to me. It was still strange to see my "Attributes", as if I now belonged to some kind of game, but I didn't have time to think about that now. I picked up the iron bars under my feet. The Monster had broken it with his teeth, and now it looked like two small sticks. To my surprise, they were light, so light that they even looked like lies.

The fight against those creatures was difficult, but somehow I managed. The Raccoon fought alongside me and maybe because of that I managed to survive in the end. These new powers were incredible, I had never felt so strong in my entire life, it was almost as if I had been reborn. Shortly afterwards, the police entered the factory, and with some difficulty they managed to contain the other creatures. A tactical battalion seemed to have been sent, because there must have been 50 officers there, yet it took them almost an hour to contain the other four monsters.

That day, the factory was forced to end operations early, not of its own volition, but because the police ordered it closed for safety reasons. For the moment, the company may seem nice and caring towards its employees, but don't be fooled. If all the employees were killed, they would take a few days to "mourn" just to keep up appearances, and then hire all the people they needed the next day.

The police questioned me for a while. They wanted to know how the hell I managed to kill two of those creatures on my own. Yes, alone, can you believe it? The raccoon that had been with me all that time simply disappeared into thin air, just as it had when it first appeared. I had to lie and say that they were already wounded and half dead, yet I nearly died in the process. The police were very suspicious of my statement, but given the wounds all over my body, they were forced to accept what I was saying.

I was taken to the UPA (Emergency Care Unit) to have my injuries treated and ended up spending a few hours there. Many people were injured during the attack on the factory, so I didn't go there in an ambulance, but in a bus. I was treated towards the end of the afternoon, helped to stop the bleeding, but had them stitched up much later. There must have been about 25 people there. The poor nurses were overwhelmed with so many people at once. When I was finally able to go home in the early evening, I had a long bath. It was only when I got out that I saw the Raccoon again. He was sitting on my bed, cross-legged, waiting for me.

— Now we can start the explanations - he said.