For the next 10 minutes, Grant sat lifelessly on the floor of the bathroom and just let himself cry. In his hands he was holding the brass knuckles that Tres had rolled with his Random Rolls.

He knew that shedding tears at this point served no purpose and it wouldn't help bring Tres back or save anyone else during these hellish times. But he felt that he needed to let his tears fall now so that he could move past these feelings and then get up and do what needed to be done.

He wasn't crying because he was close with Tres and would miss him or anything like that, no, he was crying because the death of Tres was a representation of what the world had become. One distracted moment or stupid decision, meant death.

Thinking of his family that lived on the other side of the country and what they must be going through was gut wrenching for Grant as well.

After he grieved for those 10 minutes, Grant forced himself to stop crying. He knew he couldn't dwell on it for too long since it would do him no good in the end.

Once he had collected himself, he grabbed his backpack and brought out the first aid kit. He didn't have any needles or string that could be used to stich up the wound on his leg, so he had to use the ace bandages to bind the wound as tightly as he could.

Fortunately for him, in the 10 minutes that he had been sitting on the floor, the bleeding had decreased significantly. He didn't know what to make of it but he decided to attribute it to the fact that his health was so much higher than the average human and that it was likely that had contributed to his bodies ability to heal much quicker.

Once he had bound the wound on his leg tight enough, he couldn't help but laugh out loud in a self deprecating manner. With the addition of the bandage on his thigh, nearly his entire left leg was bandaged since he had yet to check the condition of the wound on his calf.

[Apparently animals have a vendetta against my legs. Jealousy towards my rock hard calves and toned thighs no doubt.

I really need to find a monster that I can train my fighting skills against. Preferably one that won't kill me if I slip up for even a moment. I can't keep limping away from every fight with an injury that makes it hard for me to survive, let alone move.]

Once the first aid had been handled, Grant decided to take a peak at his stats to see how far he had come.

{Status

Name: Grant Holmes

Level: 10

Race: Human

Path: N/A

Title: N/A

Strength: 22 + 10 | Agility: 36 + 10 | Health: 20 | Stamina: 29 | Mana: 0

9 Random Rolls

500 Credits

Available Free Stats 20}

[Holy shit, I'm like 10 times stronger than an average human being before The Path, or whatever it's called emerged aren't I?! It hasn't even been a full day and I'm already this strong.. I wonder what lays ahead of me...

No wonder I even forgot that I was wearing my backpack though. With my newfound strength, it's not surprising that I couldn't even feel the weight of it anymore.

I wonder what it looked like when I was fighting that oversized furball.

It would be pretty sweet if I was like one of those protagonists from anime, where they move so fast that they are verging on being imperceivable to the average human eye?]

While admiring his stats, Grant decided to enjoy the quiet time while he could, so he took out a couple of power bars from his backpack along with a bottle of water to have some "dinner".

While he was devouring his feast, he decided to pull up his Random Rolls and use a few of the Rolls that he had stocked up.

Since he hadn't rolled since reaching level 1, he had 9 free rolls saved up, so he was less worried about wasting them at this point.

He had briefly considered rolling for items once he had reached level 5 but after finding out that Random Roll items weren't bound to the person that received them he didn't want to take any chances because he didn't want Jeff or someone else to try and steal his new equipment. He wanted to wait until he felt strong enough to protect his own equipment.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

So while sitting on the floor of the dirty bathroom and devouring some of the most tasteless food humans had ever created, Grant prayed silently to Lady Luck, God, and whatever other deity he could pull from the depths of his mind.

Even before the world went to hell, he wasn't sure if God was real, and he doubted it even more now but that wouldn't stop him from increasing his luck any way he could.

After saying his silent prayer, Grant opened the Random Rolls screen.

{Welcome to Random Rolls. Using your rolls will result in a random item being delivered to the user. If you would like to use your Random Roll, please say "Roll"}

"Roll!"

{Rolling in 3... 2... 1... Congratulations, your item will be delivered momentarily. Would you like to continue rolling in succession until all Random Rolls have been used? Please say "Yes" or "No".}

[Should I do this one at a time? People always say your luck is worse in these cases if you do it all at once since the gacha style is rigged to make you waste your rolls...

Would it even make sense to save them though? It's not like I can roll in the middle of a battle?

Wait... are Random Rolls affected by my level?! If that's the case, then the higher level I am, theoretically, the better the loot will be, right?

That would makes sense.. would this system or The Path or whatever, willingly give away amazing items at a low level if it's main goal was to force people to evolve?

I can't be 100% but I guess I should try and run some tests. I guess it would be better to save them for now.]

"No."

{Understood. Items that have already been successfully rolled will be delivered now.

To roll again, follow the standard procedures to open the Random Rolls screen.}

Following the message, a now familiar light appeared before Grant. As the light condensed into what looked like a thin box, Grant reached out his hands to catch it before it could fall to the ground.

Upon catching the object, Grant realized that it wasn't a box like he had thought, it was actually a book. While flipping it around in his hands he noticed that the cover was actually a backdrop of the starry sky, it also had a little green blob with arms and a mouth sticking its tongue out, a mouse in the bottom corner, and in big bold & bright letters on the front were the giant words, The Hitchhikers Guide to The Path.

{Item: Guide

Name: The Hitchhikers Guide to The Path

Grade: Unique

Once the Guide has been tied to its respective user, the item will take the form of whatever the user decides. Presented in a book due to that being the most common form of intellectual delivery in the history of Earth.

To use The Hitchhikers Guide to The Path please place your hand on the cover of the book and say, "Use".}

[Alright, first off... what the hell is with the name? I've been thinking this for awhile now but who the fuck is coming up with the names for these monsters and items? Clearly this person or entity needs some help. They are just too generic or totally off the wall...

Secondly, Guide is pretty self explanatory but when I use it, I'm supposed to determine what form I would like it to take? What do I choose? If this was one of the novels I loved to read so much, the obvious choice would be some small cute animal or a little loli.

But I don't want to walk through this hellscape with a small girl following me around. That's just ridiculous to an insane degree.. maybe some hot looking milf?

No no, some woman following me around constantly is like my worst nightmare, men need their freedom!]

After thinking on it for awhile, Grant decided not to hesitate any more and placed his hand on top of the book and softly said "Use".

{The Guide cannot be transformed into your desired structure. Information is a weapon in and of itself, so it cannot be transformed into a physical weapon. Armor is also deemed an inappropriate structure. Please choose again.}

[Stingy fucking system! Don't tell me "whatever form the user decides" if their are actually restrictions! That should be fixed, where is the report bug option for this stupid system?]

After thinking about it for a bit longer, Grant finally came to a decision on the structure. This time, nothing popped up to stop him from continuing.

With yet another flash of white light, the book started to morph it's shape. As the book shrank down and morphed into the shape that Grant wanted it to take, he reached out his hand to catch the falling object. Once it touched his hand he again saw a notification.

{Item: Guide (Necklace)

Name: The Hitchhikers Guide to The Path

Grade: Unique

The item has taken the shape of a necklace with the number 3 hanging from the chain due to the users imagination.}

Grant decided on the necklace and number 3 as both a reminder that someone had already sacrificed their life so that he could live. It was also a reminder, that no matter where he reached in the future, that he should never forget where he began.

It was an anchor to who he had been so that whoever he became could remember what it was like when he was weak and useless.

After looking at the necklace for a few minutes, Grant decided to put it on. Once the necklace was around his neck, it suddenly felt like the back of his neck had been pricked with a needle.

It felt like the necklace had somehow anchored itself to his body. He got the feeling that no matter how fast he moved and no matter how hard someone tried, the necklace would never come off unless Grant himself wanted it to be removed.

While Grant was absorbed in his thoughts, he heard a mechanical voice suddenly ring out in his head.

{Hello Grant,

Welcome To The Hitchhikers Guide to The Path, you may call me whatever you please.

I will be your guide from here on out.

If you would like to know any information you merely need to ask. Of course I can not give you information that I do not know myself, which is uncommon but not impossible.}

[Well shit, now I'm hearing things. Its official, I've fucking lost it...]

{No sir, you are still relatively sane, at least by human standards, by other measures however, not just you, but all humans are a tad insane.

Though some sleep may assist in clearing your mind of other burdens, I am not a figment of your imagination or a product of insanity.

I am given to the first member of each new species to The Path that reaches level 10 before any other member of their species. Although I am delivered through the Random Rolls, the person who receives me is in fact, not chosen at random.}

[Hold up.. I'm the first level 10 in the entirety of humanity?! Fuck I'm awesome! I always knew it but this is proof that I was right!

Alright Mr. Guide, tell me one thing before we get into anything else, what the fuck is The Path and why has it come to Earth?]