Of to the side of a deserted road a car door was left ajar, crying out its warning to the morning air. God.... what is that noise. The insistence of the noise was bringing the figure slumped over a steering wheel from a deep slumber. Assuming it to be his alarm clock the figure spoke out, "Ok. Ok. I am get-.... up." The voice had changed part of the way through, finishing the statement early.
A pair of eyes had slowly opened and were greeted with the deflated remains of an airbag, not a flattened pillow. The noise was definitely not his alarm clock. There was a dull throb on the side of his head, the rest of body aching yet numb at the same time. The first instinct, despite its intelligence, was to look around. Doing so just sent a sharp pain through both the males ribs and arm on the right side, yelling at him to cease movement.
A grimace tainted the teens features, cracked, chapped lips just barely choking back a scream. The statement that followed was eloquent, focused solely on his situation, "God damn it that hurts." Speaking forced the pain the surge, sending chest heaving, pupils dilating. Despite the pain, his body betrayed its owner, a loud bout of coughing the reply. Unable to control muscles there was no choice except to slump back against the steering wheel, left arm wrapped around it, hand a vice grip seeking comfort.
Minutes passed in groaning agony, every nerve becoming accustomed to its new lot in life. Finally when it faded enough he pulled back, just until his back could rest against the slightly bent drivers seat. Now that he could exert a bit of focus, his left arm was brought up, each finger flexing on his hand inwards, confirming that it seemed to be working properly at least. That working hand was brought up to his face, rubbing at it. When it was pulled away it came away with the remnants of caked on blood. The sight of blood caused his eyes to widen, "Shit.. not good."
Now with more urgency he began to lightly feel along his face and scalp, finding a rather large gash that had already begun closing up running from behind his right ear up and over his skull. Wincing as he touched the long, broken up scab, his voice seemed a little relieved, "Well at least its not bleeding."
A quick check of the rest of his body, from what could be seen in his current position, indicated that he was not in immediate danger just a lot of pain. His line of sight finally came up and past the steering wheel, noticing clumps of gray fur and gore splattered all across the hood and splintered windshield. The morning sun just barely peeking through the trees illuminating the mess. The truck was tilting slightly and he couldn't see the road in front of him meaning it had gotten knocked of course by whatever he had rammed into.
"What the hell did I hit? All I remember was a giant blur.. and then pain." As he thought he glanced to his right confirming that his passenger side door was just... missing, sheared metal where it had once stood. That at least explained the annoying dinging. It was beyond grating at this point so keys were removed from the ignition and tossed haphazardly on the console. No one was driving off with this wreck anyhow.
His expression soured again as his hand went down to his seat belt, pain shooting through his body, having to jerk it about to get it loose. When it was free his working hand went from it to the door handle of his truck, pulling at it while pushing his arm outwards. The door refused to budge, causing him to have to ram his shoulder into it, sending even more stabs of pain down his right shoulder and side, forcing another strangled cry before finally the door mercifully opened letting him push it creaking to its apex.
Letting go of the door handle the door stayed open, allowing him to turn to his right side, pulling up the now slightly tattered t-shirt above his right half. It only confirmed what he already suspected, it was out of socket, a rounded bulge in front of where it should have been."Great a dislocated shoulder and probably bruised or cracked ribs as well and lord knows if I've got some kind of concussion..."
Muttering to himself he slowly inched to the edge of the drivers seat, going towards the outside. He paused just as the precipice sighing and then taking in a deep breath of morning air... this only served to send another throb of pain through him. A glare down at his damaged body and a shake of his head later he forced himself from the seat to his feet, legs trembling, threatening to send him back into a heap before he rooted himself.
"Well, at least my legs seem fine. Let see if I can fix this fucking arm.", psyching himself up, he knew contrary to popular belief that just slamming your arm into a solid object didn't fix it. You were more likely to make it worse. Instead the best option was to try and get the muscle to stretch slowly and get the ball to go back into the socket on its own. Hurt a whole lot less to.
His left hand grabbed hold of the drivers side seat belt and began looping it around his wrist and forearm on the right, getting another wince every time he had to jostle it about. Finally satisfied he took a low shallow breath trying to avoid setting his ribs off again and began to walk backwards from the door, the belt further down to allow the muscle and arm to stretch down and out. After what seemed an agonizing five minutes there was a slight pop and a not so manly scream, followed by a collapse to the ground.
He just sat there refusing to move in the leaves and debris, "Damn it that hurts..", complaining to no one in particular. Eyes focused on the clouds drifting through the tree boughs he began taking in slow rhythmic breaths, trying his best to calm his racing heart. It only took a few minutes before the pain had subsided enough to think of other things.
As his mind wandered his tongue unconsciously went to his lips again, feeling the brittle skin, "Dry... I should have a bottle in the truck." A few more moments passed before James decided to do something about it. His fully functioning hand re-gripped the seat belt to support his body in rising back to his feet. Leaning over the seat when he was up, he looked inside, finding the object he desired, a half empty liter of water, in the floorboard of backseat towards the passenger side.
Rather than trying to reach over into the back and send even more pain through his body he went to walk around... only he stopped dead in his tracks at the front of the car. His chest immediately began rising an falling swiftly, pain practically ignored as he got a shot of adrenaline. He hadn't realized it before from the way the truck was positioned, but now, now he could see clearly. It was what he had hit going nearly sixty miles an hour. A massive lump of gray furred flesh, shaped roughly like a wolf.. only it was too big. Far far too big. It was easily almost the size of the truck he was driving, at least, height wise.
He was lucky to be alive...and after standing there, staring at it like a deer in headlights, trying to detect even the faintest hint of breathing, he realized he was lucky that it was not moving. It took him a few more minutes to get the courage to walk over to the thing, a few feet away, staring, trying again to detect if it was faking, if it was breathing no matter how shallow.. and a few minutes more to reach out and touch the thing. Cold. It was stone cold. A breath he didn't realize he had been holding shot from his lips in relief, pain once more running through him.. only to be stopped by shock a moment later as what looked like a long list of information in holographic form flooded his senses.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
WARNING JUNE 18th 22:47:48
Utilizing items not approved by the system, [Jeep Cherokee - Model Black], to kill monsters is forbidden.
You have been given a warning, any rewards gained have been revoked, and the system has been adjusted to prevent such a thing from happening again.
Administrators have been notified of your exploit of the system.
Unable to do anything except blink, he stared at the screen in front of him. A warning? I don't even know what the hell that thing is or what I did besides hit it with my truck... The screen seemed to be staring right back at him, refusing to leave his vision, even as he turned his head left and right. Maybe I hit my head a little too hard. A sigh came from his lips, before he reached forward, trying to touch the screen, and to his surprise it felt like something was there, just barely. The screen reacted to his touch, moving as he moved his hand. So I guess I click close message? And just like that the screen closed and a new one popped up in his face, only this time he heard a voice that sounded almost robotic droning in his skull.
ANNOUNCEMENT June 19th 24:00:00
[ AUDIO PLAYBACK BEGINS ]
GREETINGS BEINGS OF EARTH!
I am Lead Administrator {Random Static Noises} of the World System for this UV-Quadrant. You may simply refer to me as Lead Administrator, or Hirax if you would prefer. I realize the sudden appearance of this box and my visage may come as a shock, however, we have important things to do!
First. Your universe is currently undergoing an extreme state of fluctuation. This is caused by, in as close approximation to your cultures as possible, mana. It is extremely dangerous, and left unchecked would consume your world leaving nothing but a barren husk. The only way to prevent this state is to burn off the excess mana, which is why we, and the system, are here. We are not invaders, and we do not mean you any harm, however, the methods needed to burn off the mana will be extremely volatile, and while they can and will benefit your species you will find your way of life turned upside down, especially in the short term.
Second. The system implementation will take roughly a week. If we allow it to go on any longer your planet may implode. During this time you will find the world around you changing drastically, growing, likely from the mana levels are currently seeing, expanding to roughly three times its current size. We are currently attempting to limit the amount of changes in heavily populated areas. This means that the wilderness around you is going to become far more dangerous, please try to limit long distance travel during this time.
Third. Your world is no longer just a large chunk of rock floating in space. It is living. The method that planets often use in order to try and ensure its survival is often to spawn as much life as possible, plants, creatures, moving breathing elements. Anything you can think of, though often centered around your cultures myths and legends, is now a possibility. The only thing we can do is limit the places these spawns can occur. Removing them from heavily populated city centers, and moving them to the wilderness, at the end of the week long period we will no longer be able to restrict the flow of mana and thus the barriers we have set throughout the wilderness will open. It is up to you as a species to ensure they do not overrun you.
Fourthly. Though all of this sounds dire, the system is not without its benefits. You have been given something which I am told is quite similar to many of the games your kind plays, a Status System. Simply think or say Status, and you will find that once this message has concluded you can explore a plethora of details that will help you survive the coming months and hopefully limit the number of casualties. The status system will also allow you as a species to grow stronger, and hopefully push back the monsters which now threaten your planet.
We hope these messages, and all of the information we have compiled into the Status System will be helpful to you beings of Earth. You will receive notices every day from now until the end of the week letting you know the current status of your planet.
[ AUDIO PLAYBACK ENDS ]
─ Signed Hirax, Lead Administrator 0001 of UV-Quadrant 356
He let the information soak in... the world was changing. That explained the big ass wolf. It did not, however, explain the warning he got, nor did it indicate that the voice was all that benevolent. If cars could kill the monsters why were they considered an exploit? Clicking close message, another popped up in his vision, this one giving him a little more details.
NOTICE June 19th 05:47:48 After careful review it was found that a Boss Monster, [Gray Alpha Worg], was spawned outside of its intended position in [National Wild Life Preserve - Lvl 20 - 30] due to an outside influence. This influence has been dealt with and the back-door used closed. Thanks to your intervention we have decided to rescind the warning on your account and allow the rewards to be distributed as normal.
Account? Account, users, administrators, outside influence What the hell... this sounds more like some kind of game being installed than there being no choice. He shook his head and clicked to close the message. Sitting around worrying about it was not going to fix anything, he was not some world leader, he was just some schmuck in the backwoods of a small town.
NOTICE CONGRATULATIONS! You are the first World User to interact with the System!
[Acquired Title - The First]
[Acquired +1 Stat Points]
[Acquired Random Trait - Rolling......]
[Acquired Random Trait - Spatial Storage]
Spatial storage?... so like storing space? Can I store a room or something? Musing to himself he was getting ready to swipe the window when another one popped up over it.
WARNING JUNE 19th 10:02:19 User does not currently possess the Stat [Mana]
1 Stat Point Used to Give User Stat [Mana]
User does not currently have sufficient [Mana] for use of [Spatial Storage]
Absorbing [Mana] from Surroundings. Process will take [24 Hours].
Wait, what? He stared at the screen in front of him confused, only to feel a sudden burning sensation starting in his hands and feet, growing further and further, almost like they were numb and trying to wake up. Then the pain started. A pitiful scream erupted from his throat as his world went black and he hit the ground.