“SH-uhh, crap! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap,” Alex ranted as he ran away from the river and the giant beetles chasing him. Years of correcting his language from in front of children had him reflexively changing what he was going to say as he said it. It wasn’t a good idea to cuss in front of kids, and by now it was habit. Still, Alex was not the most athletic person in the world. He could sprint okay, but long distance running was a weakness of his. Too much weight to throw around.

He needed a plan, and he knew it. To be fair, he didn’t even know if those beetles wanted to kill and eat him. They obviously spoke some kind of language he didn’t understand, which admittedly helped with a little with his English theory, and they could have just been coming to greet him. He looked behind him as he ran, and saw the beetles were gaining on him. They were faster. It did make him wonder if his average reflex and poor coordination affected that, and if his average was different than their average, whatever their stats were. One beetle was faster than the other two, though not by much. Was that a whole tier of stats, or was that part of the advantages thing? He needed more info.

No, he needed a weapon. Eyes darting every which way like a cornered rabbit, Alex managed to notice a tree branch had broken off a tree. It was kind of big, but would work as an emergency staff. It was better than nothing, and he swooped down to grabs it as he pivoted to face the beetles, no longer willing to run. “You better back off! I’m serious!” He brandished the long stick with both hands. He really wished he brought his broom with him when he went through the portal. He had a box cutter in his pocket, but that would be less than useless against the long horns of those beetles.

“AEDHEU?” The beetle in front of the other two spoke, it’s voice loud, obnoxious and grating against Alex’s ears. He didn’t understand, but the very sound just upset him in general. “PLAXIV AED HUARAC!” It screeched again. Alex just held up the branch threateningly as the other two began to slowly flank him. He was honestly scared out of his mind. He had no special skills against fear like some people get with a system. No special combat abilities, nothing. He was just Alex. He refused to go down without a fight.

“I don’t understand you!” He yelled back, causing all three to flinch. He could tell by their agitated mannerisms, wings buzzing and eyes rapidly moving, that they felt the same way about his voice as they did he. Were their species naturally enemies or something? There had to be something evolutionary about it, though it didn’t make sense when you realize Alex was from another world entirely. The first beetle in front of him began to march towards him.

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Alex flipped out. With a battle cry that sounded like a grown man crying, he charged the short distance and slammed the stick down on top of the beetle as hard as he could, which, admittedly, was not very hard at all. Still, the beetle, which looked tough, apparently wasn’t. The exoskeleton cracked under the blow of the wooden branch. Alarmed, it skittered back, screeching. Alex swung the stick wide in a circle around him like a bat, managing to hit the next beetle that was almost upon him. His eyes were wide in unrestrained panic as the impact knocked the branch from his hand and the second beetle away from him.

The janitor turned adventurer tripped over the fallen tree branch, landing on his shoulder as he twisted. The third beetle had apparently lunged at him, wings out and buzzing as it flew for his face, but only missed because Alex tripped. He realized he had only survived that attack through sheer luck. He grabbed the stick, pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the dull pain in his left shoulder where he had fallen. He slammed the stick down onto the back of the beetle that had lunged at him, but it didn’t really damage it. Apparently, their natural armor was tougher from behind. Perhaps they didn’t need strong armor in the front where they could attack with their horns and see enemies approach, and thus grew thicker armor in the back and sides where they couldn’t see as well.

It was a fascinating thought, but not one Alex could afford to think right now. He spun around, swinging the staff again as the first beetle approached, but it quickly backed out of range, releasing an angry hissing sound as Alex missed. Was it laughing at him? The second beetle retreated and was running towards one of the mounds of dirt Alex kept passing earlier. The crinkle of grass behind him had Alex jabbing his impromptu staff behind him, the bottom sticking out.

“Hah!” He yelled because he could do nothing else but make a noise as he fought. The end of the staff struck the third beetle’s eye, resulting in a squelching sound as Alex yanked it back away. It screamed shrilly, hurting his ears. Alex slammed the staff down twice on it;’s head, the first cracking the shell, the second splitting it ope above it’s head. The scream cut out and it slumped down.

“QUREC? QUREC?! RESLAM HUEC! AHDHEU RESLAM HUEC!!!” The first one screamed. The second one was gone after it dug next to a dirt pile. Alex was pretty sure those were houses now. Or tunnels. The first beetle screeched as it lunged at Alex, who smacked it in the head again. The beetle collapsed, weakly struggling to move towards the dead third beetle. Alex hit it one more time. It lay there, still.

Staff in hand, Alex ran away, back to the river, and ran beside the river downstream until he couldn’t run anymore. He didn’t een remember leaving the battle grounds. Everything was blurry and tears streamed down his face. His hands and arms shook with… something. He didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t know anything. All he had was this stupid screen in front of him.

Congratulations, you have

leveled up.