Last time, on "The Solipsist."

Jacob invested his new points that he received from his last level up into intelligence because he thrives when faced with a challenge! He was then attacked on his way to the bathroom by two bloodthirsty goblins! Jacob managed to heroically fend off one of them, before being brought to the ground by its ally. Jacob was ready to end the fight when another factor arrived; one of Jacob's co-workers, Carl!

What will happen to our beloved main character? Will he take Carl's hand? Or will he have to end his co-worker's life for his insolence?

Find out now on "The Solipsist!"

This recap is brought to you by Jacob's imagination.

"Carl?"

EXP thief...

"Jake?"

The grown man displayed a mix of emotions I couldn't wrap my head around. He seemed to be happy for one second, then deep in sorrow the next.

I decided to quickly stop him before he bombarded me with questions I hadn't thought of lies for yet.

"I'm sure you have as many questions as I do, but I can explain. Just let me check my status. It won't be long."

The man paused for a moment before responding.

"Sure. Take your time."

I plan to do just that, thank you very much. I'm still pissed about that EXP. I totally had it where I wanted it.

I look over all the notifications I missed during the fight.

You have slain Goblin Lv. 2!

+200 EXP

You have consumed the flesh of a Lv. 2 Goblin.

[Predator] title activated.

+20 EXP

You have consumed a sufficient amount of blood.

[Blood Trance] skill activated.

+10 Health

+5 Mana

Due to mana reserves being at maximum capacity, extra resources will be converted to EXP.

+5 EXP

You have consumed a sufficient amount of blood.

[Blood Trance] skill activated.

+10 Health

+5 Mana

Due to mana reserves being at maximum capacity, extra resources will be converted to EXP.

+5 EXP

You have consumed a sufficient amount of blood.

[Blood Trance] skill activated.

+10 Health

+5 Mana

Due to mana reserves being at maximum capacity, extra resources will be converted to EXP.

+5 EXP

Hmm. [Blood Trance] activated 3 times. This helped recover some of my health, and since my mana was full, it netted me another 15 EXP in addition to Predator activating. I would have gotten triple that EXP if my health was full. Damn me and my carelessness.

I also noticed that I got 200 EXP instead of 190 for killing a level 2 goblin. Maybe it depends on how strong that individual goblin is. Weak level 2 might be 190, normal is 200, and strong is 210? I might just be flat-out wrong, but who knows?

Welp, time for my favorite time of the day.

Status.

Name: Jacob Bates

Level: 4

Exp: 375/1000

Class: N/A Race: Human Health: 85/165 Mana: 235/235 Strength: 13 Endurance: 10 Dexterity: 10 Agility: 12 Intelligence: 23 Wisdom:

12

Attribute Points:

0

Skills:

[Blood Trance]

Titles:

[Cool Headed] [Murderer] [Monster] [Predator] [Sadist]

Yeah, that seems about right. My EXP has gone up by over 200 and my health is around half.

This made me twitch a bit. I didn't like the idea of being this vulnerable next to a man who could launch a goblin like that. He sent that goblin flying at such a force, its head basically exploded. I guess I know what stat he's been investing in.

I finish looking through my blue screens and tell Carl just that.

"Hey Carl, I'm done checking my status."

Carl looks up and nods. He sits there a moment more, then starts to head to where I am.

He looks at me with a serious expression and just stares for a second, before saying his piece.

"I don't think you understand how glad I am to know you're alive. I've seen too many people die just today alone."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I feigned sorrow and looked down.

"But..." he continued.

"With you here, I don't have to be alone anymore! We can get through this together!"

The way he changed moods was astounding. This man could become a world-renowned actor if he kept that up.

I looked back up and replied to the lonely man.

"You're right. We are getting out of here. Together."

The man smiled for a moment before dawning a look of confusion on his face.

"Jacob? You mind if I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"How have you survived up until now?" He asked.

"Not to say you aren't capable, because you obviously are...but with your condition..."

I realized what he meant now. How did someone like me survive as long as someone like him? I was considered a cripple before I put those points into endurance. I was basically just a lump of EXP. I got lucky accidentally killing that girl.

I had to come up with a story, and fast.

Carl didn't give and merely stood there, awaiting an answer.

I quickly threw out a story I had just put together.

"It's just that I w-was in the staff room when this thing started, and I kind of decided to hide there w-when I heard screaming outside. I eventually opened the door after a few hours and found one of those...things outside the door. I-it looked to be hurt, so I tried sneaking past it, but it followed me a-and I had to fight it. It fell over after I punched it, and it died when it hit the floor. I guess you could say the only reason I'm alive is because of luck."

It was a solid story for something I came up with on the spot, but it still wasn't foolproof. I just hoped that Carl would take it as fact for now.

Carl nodded and spoke.

"Yeah, that's gotta be tough."

It seemed that Carl believed my story for now. That didn't stop him from asking another question I hadn't thought of though.

"How did you end up in a fight with two of the things?"

I froze for a single moment. Is he onto me? Does he suspect me of something? Does he know I murdered that girl? Should I run? Should I kill him? No, I wouldn't be able to. I should run. Run. Run...

I was snapped out of my thoughts by an unknown force. Carl had put his hand on my shoulder.

"I get it. It's traumatic. You don't have to tell me right now. It can wait until another time."

Thank whatever god made this man so kind...and naive.

"Thanks. It just happened so fast and-" Carl stopped me.

"What did I say? It's alright. Tell me about it when you calm down. We can take a breather for now."

Bingo.

The fewer questions the better. Also, I need to regain some health.

As Carl and I sit on the floor in silence, I decide to ask a few questions of my own.

"Hey, Carl. How did you end up surviving til now? I mean, it's obvious that if anyone will, it'd be you, but what's the story?"

He frowned for a second before answering.

"I was off helping a customer find something they were looking for when the blue screen blinded me. I could only guess as to what might have been happening. I didn't like feeling what I was feeling."

...

"Helplessness. It consumed me. I didn't know what to do. Before I knew it, people were screaming, monsters were appearing out of seemingly nowhere. I had no idea what was going on. I ran to the bathrooms in order to find someplace to hide away, but I was attacked by one of the fuckers. I panicked and just started punching and kicking. Whatever worked. Surprisingly, all of it worked. I got what appeared to be notifications that told me I was doing damage to it. I eventually killed it, but I was scared out of my mind. After that whole incident, I've just been hiding in the bathrooms. I only found you because of that scream you let out earlier."

Hmm...it seems those with high physical stats at the beginning have it significantly easier than those without. Are mental stats worthless? No that can't be it. I just haven't gotten the chance to utilize them yet.

I asked another question.

"What level are you at, if you don't mind me asking?"

Carl didn't even hesitate before responding.

"Right now, I'm level 3. That goblin I saved you from got me halfway to level 4. That was a goblin by the way in case you didn't see the quest."

I nodded reluctantly.

"Thanks for that..."

Carl quickly followed.

"No problem. Also, I've been pretty much just putting my points into strength. It's been working so far."

I nodded once more.

I didn't ask, but thanks for telling me that you are an absolute powerhouse.

Carl then asked a question of his own.

"How about you? What's your level?"

I started to sweat.

"I uh...I'm level 2. I got two levels for killing the injured goblin outside of the staff room. I put all the points between endurance and strength but even after that, I'm weak compared to you or the goblins even."

I realized there was a plothole or two in that story but I hoped he wouldn't notice.

"Hmm..." the man muttered

He was going to notice. I have to run. I MUST FLEE!

Carl looked like he was considering something before he spoke.

"That makes sense. I don't know how the whole EXP thing works exactly and it might be different for people. I got to level 3 in my first kill and then halfway to 4 with another. I assume you got less EXP from your first because they were already injured. Just brainstorming here."

Oh my god, he is both smarter and more naive than I thought. I didn't even think of that. What is my ridiculously high intelligence stat for if musclebrains over here is exposing my horrible logic? At least he didn't come to the conclusion that I'm lying.

I realize Carl was talking while I was thinking.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going."

"Going where?"

"To go kill some more goblins. You said you were lower level than me and you obviously need the points, so I thought I'd put my genius plan to action."

His genius plan? What plan? I wasn't listening!

"W-what plan?"

He turns his head back to me.

"Weren't you listening? The plan is to find a goblin, pin it down, and kill it. In this case, I'll be pinning it down for you, so you can kill it for the EXP. You are lower level than me after all."

That...would be very helpful actually. I guess I made the right choice lying to him about my level.

"Sounds like a good idea." I praise.

"I know right?" He said.

...

We walk for a minute or two and come across a lone goblin. It is a dagger goblin like the one that was stolen from me by my thief of a co-worker.

Carl goes over the plan one more time.

"I go in, rough it up a bit, and pin it. That's when you come in and stab it til it dies. It might sound cruel, and you might not like it, but you have to remember it's for your survival."

I don't think he understands just how little those words mean to me.

"A-alright. I'll do my best."

Huh...I'm getting a hang of this acting thing.

Carl approaches the goblin with no caution what-so-ever and alerts it with a flex of his muscles. Damn those biceps are huge. This brings me to a question I hadn't thought of yet.

Where the hell is his weapon?

Carl rushes towards the goblin and it snarls at him whilst taking a defensive stance.

Smart move, but a smarter one would be to run away from this guy. He's like more than double your size. Maybe triple actually.

Carl goes in for a punch, but the goblin dodges it and slashes his arm.

From my expert analysis, I can infer that this is not a normal goblin. No goblin should be able to counter a move as easy as that. Yeah, sure the level 2 goblin did the same thing to me, but I'm way slower and weaker than Carl. Also, that was just a slight duck to a slow move. This was a full-blown technique. This may not be as one-sided as I thought.

The goblin falls back into a defensive stance, waiting for Carl's next move. Carl, however, just stands there for a moment, then snaps out of his daze. Guess he didn't expect that. I don't blame him. I wouldn't either.

Carl goes in again for a punch but doesn't leave himself wide open this time as he did with his previous rush strategy. He manages to hit the goblin this time, but it doesn't go flying like the one he previously kicked. It goes back a few feet, but it stays standing.

Yup. Definitely a special goblin.

The goblin, seemingly debating the pros and cons of fighting Carl, continues to stand still.

Carl takes this as an opening and goes in for another attack.

Carl attempts to punch it again, then goes for a leg-sweeper when the punch misses. This results in knocking the goblin to the ground.

Carl stands above the thing like a father over a child, except this father has had a bit too much to drink, and took the belt off long ago.

The goblin doesn't look the least bit intimidated and proceeds to hop from the ground with unparalleled grace. It doesn't waste any time and dashes towards Carl's side, successfully creating a new hole in the burly man. The hole isn't small, either.

That's sharp. Way sharper than my trowel, or the other dagger goblin's weapon. This is most definitely a high level monster.

Carl groans, but he doesn't scream.

Carl doesn't take too long grunting in pain and attempts to grab the goblin while it's recovering from its dash attack.

Luckily, the goblin was too slow to react and had successfully been grappled by the machine of a man. Carl then stood there with the goblin in a headlock, obviously trying to suffocate the goblin, as it writhed in pain. The goblin had started to slash at Carl, as its hand was given enough space to stab at the man's hairy arms and chest.

Seeing the two struggle gave me an idea. I came out from my hiding place and started sneaking towards the two fighters.

The goblin had eventually stabbed at the right place, and Carl let his grip slip. The goblin was free, but it was obviously weak and out of breath. Carl looked to be in decent enough shape but his chest and arms were absolutely riddled with cuts. He let go only after being subject to a deep stab to the gut, thanks to a certain green assassin.

Neither the goblin nor Carl made a move for a good minute, both studying the situation, weighing the odds, and both deciding near simultaneously that they had a chance.

The goblin went for a downwards stab, as Carl went for a punch. Both parties involved were significantly injured, with Carl receiving another deep stab wound, and the goblin being knocked onto its back from the force of the punch. Carl was just barely standing, and the goblin was panting on the ground.

Carl then yelled out something.

"Hey...Jake! Come on out and finish the ki-"

As Carl was finishing his sentence, a triangular blade entered the back of his neck.

You have slain Human Lv. 3

+310 EXP

Gained Title: [Traitor]

Oops. My hand slipped. Okay, I don't care what the little text says about my actions. I know what I did was right. Carl said it himself: "You have to remember, it's for your survival."

I know he helped me but he was going to die anyway for being too trusting. Sure, he put up a good fight against the goblin, but he was also far too careless when it came to preserving himself.

Isn't that exactly how I almost died to those last two goblins? No...I didn't almost die. I had the remaining one right where I wanted it. Carl is nothing more than a dirty thief and now it's my turn to take something of his. (Besides his life of course.)

I retrieve my trowel from Carl's throat and start walking towards the exhausted goblin currently lying on the floor.

It doesn't even look up at me, as it is too out of breath. Looks like it got the air knocked out of it with that last punch of Carl's.

I crouch down beside the little green monster and whisper sweet nothings in its ear.

"I'm going to fucking penetrate you with this pointy thing now okay?"

And as pleasantly as I could, I stabbed the thing in the least painful spot I could think of.

The gut.

You have slain Goblin Thief Lv. 5

+520 EXP

Level up!

+5 attribute points

I was about to say something witty but I was interrupted by another blue screen,

Congratulations on reaching Level 5!

As you are now level 5, you are able to choose any class from the options you are given.

*Options may vary depending on the user.

+5 attribute points

...huh.