Chapter 1

Six months had gone by since the announcement. The Gods went silent at first, and people did what people tend to do in situations out of their control. Panic. Martial law was declared almost immediately in the US. Looting, rioting, and religious hysteria were rampant. The talking heads were trotted out to explain away everything. Global mass hysteria was thrown around a lot. Many (smart) people were able to get themselves to the safe zones nearest them. More people than I'd like to admit did not.

Our screens all showed us a countdown. As the clock wound down to zero, I was in The Save Point watching with a few people had started wandering in over the past week. We weren't really open per se, but it would be a waste of good ingredients if I didn't serve anybody who happened to come by while all the craziness happened. I could almost feel my lungs freeze up in (panic? Anticipation?) when the timer hit zero and went red.

It was a blood bath. Nearer to the safe zones wasn't as bad. The monsters were lower level, and the people who decided to fight found themselves beginning to quickly level up. The farther from a safe zone you were, however, the less likely you were to survive. Every station was showing video of the carnage. I watched as a military chopper was swarmed by these giant birds that shot feathers so sharp the damn thing might as well have been made of paper. There was a town deep in the Appalachian mountains that literally was destroyed by a Lich. That place is now a kingdom of the dead (and I bet the reward for clearing it is astronomical).

Oklahoma City is gone. In it's place is a fucking dragon's nest! Almost a million dead just from there. Most cities were firmly in the safe zones (for now at least), but in every country one or two were not. I guess this was on purpose; to drive the point home how much danger we were really in. That this was not a game, as much as the system might make it seem like one. Guess the mythology got that part right. The Gods could be hard bastards.

So many dead and for what? To drive home a point that things are going to get bad? I'm pretty sure literal nightmares appearing in front of you would have accomplished that, but who am I to judge a God. I feel for the kids and elderly the most. They didn't even get to make a choice, kept in place by morons who either bought into the shit the government was putting out or too scared to do anything.

The livestreamers were the worst. They were out in droves. Some were seeking fame by proving how strong they were. Others wanted to show that nothing was going on. Almost all of them were dead now. The one that stuck with me was a young girl. She couldn't have been older then seventeen. She had apparently snuck out with a group of friends in an attempt to get famous. They might have been fine if they hadn't gone so fucking far but they listened to this one asshole, who was probably five years older than the rest and looking every bit the MGK ripoff. They didn't even bother arming themselves.

A portal opened right in front of them and three wolves the size of SUVs stepped out. The one in the middle had a star on its head. A horn, crackling with electricity, jutted from the middle of it. It howled and bolts of lightning struck the group. The girl was flung back, screaming in agony. She must have landed in a spot that provided her with a little cover because they didn't go after her right away. For at least ten minutes, this poor child moaned and cried all the while listening to her friends screams as they were eaten. Finally a shadow loomed over her and a final scream was cut off as the stream went dead.

Those scenes and many others played out in front of the collective eyes of the world. The joys of living in an age where almost everyone was equipped with a high def camera. I still think about those poor bastards up in the ISS. The lucky ones were killed. Better that then having to be a living incubator for a monster. I really hope those things never make it off station. They spread too fast.

Things moved quickly after that. The Gods reappeared and began instructing governments on what they expected next. Hunters' guilds were established and started making forays into the wildlands. People started leveling up and mapping the areas outside the safe zones. I didn't join any of the big guilds. I had my own thing. The bar was quickly gaining popularity as an adventurer's hang out. I was often invited to go out with some of these partys and managed to grab a few levels doing so. I started to get a reputation as a good luck charm. More than once on an expedition my party had received rare items and all I asked for was monster corpses in exchange. With the Chef class, I gained a skill early on that allowed me to give buffs by cooking monsters. It became a personal goal to experiment with as many as I could. If nothing else, I could be a strong support for the people out in the field by providing extra strength through my cooking.

So far nobody had been claimed by a God; I had only heard of a few who had been claimed by the lesser spiritsin my city. One of the people who came around the bar was one of them. He had been claimed by some comic book character and now he could regenerate from damn near any injury. I didn't like him much. He never shut the hell up.

When you were claimed, you received extra abilities tied to the spirits' original incarnation. These were separate from the ones you gained based on your class and personal abilities or from those earned through quests, however, you also took on a little of that spirits personality as well. (Or maybe you were chosen because your personality was similar. I'm still not clear on that part ) It wasn't something I wanted. I'd rather stay a support class forever than have my personality affected like that.

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On it went. I hunted. I cooked. I argued with adventurers about what was going to happen when this "training" period ended. The Save Point grew ever more popular as I discovered more recipes and more people joined the guilds. Fortunately, Mike and Alex both decided that they were content to stay in the safe zones and level up the slow way. Their classes weren't combat focused.

Mike was a Pacifist and, even though he had gained a couple levels, he still didn't have any skills nor any idea what the hell a Pacifist was supposed to be able to do. Alex was a Bartender. The only skill she had this far was Soothe. It was handy as hell when some of the more rowdy customers started to get out of hand. She said a few words and tempers died out. It was also handy when dealing with people who were overwhelmed or just wanted a shoulder to cry on. She was basically doing what she would normally do anyway, just more effectively.

I hate to use the word good with everything that had happened, but things were good, at least for me and mine. Well, at least until that gigantic asshole inserted himself into my life.

It was late. I was doing what I normally did after hours and researching recipes. I'd gotten back from a fresh hunt. Besides getting a shiny new knife that came with a nifty skill allowing me to specifically target weak points, I had a couple new monster species to work on.

This is what I lived for. I was a pioneer in a whole new world of cooking. I was working with plants and animals nobody had ever seen in real life up to this point. I was creating recipes no one had ever touched before, and I was helping make people stronger while doing so.

I was in the middle of disassembling a monster that resembled a living cactus when I heard the door alarm. Technically we were closed for the night. I made it a habit to keep the door open while I was here in case someone got back late from an excursion and needed a little time to wind down.

I glanced up and strolling to the bar was a tall, slender man who looked like he would be more comfortable at the Met Gala than my little hole in the wall. He was dressed in a purple suit embroidered with golden ivy that probably cost more than this building did. He smiled faintly and I could see his eyes were bloodshot.

"Are you still open?" he asked softly. His voice was like a melody. I could hear the faintest lisp as he spoke. "I have an enormous thirst, and it seems like yours is the only place with the lights still on, so to speak."

"As long as I'm here my doors are open. What can I get you tonight? I have a pretty good selection of beers and wines, as well as a mead I made from an Apple of Idunn, and even some Ambrosia. I'd heard that the last one can do some damage if your not at least a demigod. Haven't had anyone brave enough to try it yet." I said, smiling.

From outside I heard giggling coming from what sounded like multiple women, but as I looked over my new customer spoke again.

"Don't mind them. They can get a little… rambunctious. Unfortunately I don't have the time to enjoy something quite so exotic this time. I'll just have whatever your favorite is."

I grinned. I loved introducing people to this.

"In that case you'll be having my house made peach ale. The ale itself comes from a local brewery. Then I add a peach nectar that I make in house, along with some fresh peaches for garnish. It is by far my favorite thing to drink. I hope you enjoy it!"

I prepared the drink and handed it over. He downed it in one long chug, his body shuddering as he did. He finished it off with an audible gulp and placed the glass down on the bar.

"That was absolutely delightful. I think I'm going to be having many more of these in the future."

"Glad to hear it. Your welcome anytime. Did you need anything else? Maybe invite your friends in and I can whip up a meal before you head out?"

He chuckled and shook his head as a fresh batch of laughter wafted in from outside the door.

"You'll find my companions to be a little too enthusiastic to be able to enjoy a civilized meal tonight. Maybe another time."

The man reached into his pocket and produced a large, heavy looking gold coin and tossed it to me.

"I think you'll find that sufficient payment for the drink. It's an exceedingly rare item. I would suggest you keep it on you at all times. You'll be needing it sooner than you think. In the meantime keep up with the absolutely lovely work. Your kind never ceases to impress me."

(My kind? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? There's enough weirdness going on without Don Juan and his gaggle of invisible ladies marching in here with cryptic messages and weird ass coins.)

While my attention was on the coin, he disappeared. I'd watched enough anime to know that whatever the hell just happened was going to spell bad news. Nothing I could do about it though. My attention was riveted on the coin in my hand: on one side was a woman's face, on the other a pinecone. Around that was finely filagreed gold. I had no idea what it was supposed to do, but I'm smart (or paranoid) enough to heed the weirdo's advice. The rules have changed. He was just as likely to be some mystical wizard as he was to be a freak who got off on fucking with people. It wouldn't hurt me to keep the coin around. I grabbed some meat twine from the kitchen, threaded it through the coin, and tightly knotted it around my neck. I could feel the weight of it on my chest. It felt strangely warm sitting there.

(I suppose in a world where monsters and superpowers became real this type of shit is to be expected.)

I went back to work and soon became so engrossed that I forgot all about the encounter. It would be one of the last times I had any real amount of peace in my life.

CHEF (lvl 7)

TITLES: N/A

SKILLS: Cooking 3, Butchering 2, Food buff 4

UNSPENT POINTS +6

AGLl 10

STR 13

CON 15

DEX 10

CHR 17

INT 15

WSD 12

LCK 30

ITEMS: Precision Chef's knife, [Hidden]