The world burned around Victor and he stood confused. There were screens floating up in the air, a parody of the kind of games he played in his childhood. They were of a deep red glow that didn’t shine on anything around him. He ran his hand through the air, but it was like they weren’t even there. Victor clutched his chest and felt his heart, rubbed his eyes and tried to slap himself awake.

Nothing out of the ordinary. So then what was he seeing?

The screens awaited his confirmation. Slowly, Victor moved his hand towards the OK button. They disappeared and something else took its place.

[

NAME: Victor Amadi

AGE: 26

SEEDS: [[ ]]

[[Weaponsmith Heart]]

[[ ]]

[[ ]]

[[ ]]

STATS:

STRENGTH: 20

SPEED: 15

SENSES: 12

RECOVERY: 20

STRUCTURAL SENSE: 15

AMMO:

ABILITIES:

(Weaponsmith Heart): [Unlock Structural Sense] [Basic Strengthening] [Ammo Counter]

]

It was a stat screen. He might’ve thought it a dream for a moment had the pain in his shoulder not felt so real. And the sense of something inside his chest. When he focused on that feeling, he could almost hear a faint sound of an engine firing off.

There were several options displayed on the screen. He could check his current condition, change some settings and look at a bestiary along with an item compendium. He took the obvious first step and searched for a quit button.

But no such luck greeted him. Damned thing…

Out of the picture for him, He pressed on his status screen instead and pressed on the stats. That turned out to be a mistake. A simple strength score unfolded into a million different parameters. Muscle density, length, bone thickness and on and on until he felt like a physician taking a particularly thorough examination. He closed that sub-tab and looked elsewhere for clues. A part of him feared that more of the bug creatures would return, so he took shelter behind the remains of the counter as he did.

Victor found himself attracted towards the Weaponsmith Heart and the abilities it granted him. He pressed a button towards the first of them, and a description opened up.

[[Unlock Structural Sense]: (Requirement: None) You gain an innate sense for the structure of various creations, including weapons and larger buildings. At higher levels, you can also sense magical properties within items. I find myself envious of how you’ve created them, all without a hint of my powers.]

What was that at the end of the description? The power itself was esoteric, but the text at the end pointed towards it being written by a person. He supposed that was all text in video games as well. But if this was a game, who was the developer? And how had Victor gotten himself trapped inside here?

He tried a simple test of the powers and looked towards the weapons racked up in the shop. Even squinting his eyes, nothing changed. He knew the most basic parts of the guns, such as their magazine size and what kind of bullets they used, but nothing more. That’s a bust.

He moved over to the next ability in the row, shoving those thoughts into the back of his mind.

[[Basic Strengthening]: (Requirement: None) You can touch an object and permanently strengthen its abilities by a minor amount e.g. stronger, faster, harder etc. This ability requires 10 minutes to perform. It isn’t a major power, but any advantage is beneficial, Wielder.]

Wielder, huh? But the ability seemed more immediately useful. Victor decided to try it out, pulling one of the larger rifles out of their hooks.

[[AR-15 Semi-Automatic Rifle]: STRENGTH: 115 AMMO: 5.56

A rough weapon that many of the Vintarics prefer. I hear they’re quite popular in your world, and not too dangerous to acquire as well.]

“Who are you?” Victor asked to the box. No reply came, but he felt menace from the screen.

“Hello? Is anyone in there?” Victor asked again. And again, he was left with no reply.

He sighed in resignation and placed the rifle in his lap instead. He wasn’t going to play whatever game was in store for him. He was glad for the automatic identification however, as even he didn’t know what model the gun was.

He placed his palms on that rifle and relaxed his muscles. Victor could feel the Weaponsmith Heart inside of him, still beating in its rhythm. Only now he could understand what it was for. It was an engine of war, used for better waging it. He only needed to call upon the specific power that he had unlocked from it.

Immediately, he felt a warmth leave his body. A wave of tiredness overcame the young Wielder as the warmth spread along the side of the rifle. Once he felt it going no more, Victor examined the rifle once more.

[ STRENGTH: 120 ]

Minor indeed. But at least the weapon was permanently stronger. Victor hoisted the rifle over his shoulder and went to work looking at the rest of the weapons in the shop. He touched the various kinds of ammo, only for them to disappear and a prompt to pop up in his peripheral vision.

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[ 9mm cartridge catalogued]

[5.56 cartridge catalogued]

A woman’s voice followed each update, one that felt off to Victor. But he hadn’t the time to consider it. It’d already taken him too long to mess around with his newfound abilities.

Another ring came from the door and Victor raised his empty pistol. His mind went to the cartridge and it materialized out into the air in front of him. He needn’t have bothered, however, as the people in front of him weren’t bugs.

“Woah, hey! W-we’re not here for a fight!” the man in front said. He was blonde with a gap between his teeth. There were suspenders over him and fluffy costumed pants that hung from them. The woman behind him was dressed in a floral patterned green and white shirt and looked similarly distressed.

Victor and the man stared each other down for a moment, before he heard the noise of more wings zipping by.

“Get in, quick!” Victor ordered them.

They jumped over the counter and hid in the same spot as him until the swarm passed.

“What are you doing here?” Victor asked them. And why are you dressed like a clown? Was the follow-up that he kept to himself.

“Same reason you are. Weapons,” the man replied, gesturing towards the shelves. Victor knew he could use this.

“We’ll haul more if we’re together. What’re your names?” Victor asked.

“I’m Amadeus,” the gap-toothed blonde replied.

“I-isabelle,” the woman said shakily.

“I’m Victor Amadi,” he nodded and turned back towards the door.

Victor materialized another of the magazines that he’d stored up in his Seed, loading the gun with it.

Agh, wait! He turned to Amadeus, who looked not in the least surprised.

“You’ve got one of those too, then. That’s good,” Amadeus noted with a smile.

“You have one too?” Another Weaponsmith Heart?

“Sure do.”

“Then we should work on these weapons here. Make them better,” Victor replied.

“Ah, mine… doesn’t work that way,” Amadeus replied.

“What’s your power then?” Victor asked, intrigued. Amadeus held out two of his fingers, and a spark of lightning travelled up the digits.

“Can barely pull off an attack with these. But hey, least I don’t have to worry about finding a phone charger anymore?” Amadeus smiled and Victor sighed.

No, no, he could help…

“I think we’re in the clear,” Victor said, “Amadeus, keep watch outside. Isabelle, you’re with me. We’re stripping the place for the smallest guns and the easiest to carry ammo. Either of you can handle a gun?”

“Never held one,” Amadeus said with his eyes turned towards the streets. Fires were still burning out there, and Victor could feel the heat all the way from the back of the shop.

“Me neither,” Isabelle added.

“Then let me pick first.”

Victor crouched down and inspected each of the pieces, reading the little boxes that popped up to tell him the ammo type. When he’d figured them all out, he laid them together and filled up his ammo with the ones he could.

The three of them came out of the shop running, armed to the teeth with guns, combat knives and some general equipment that could come in handy. They ran down the street, passing by more fires and a swarm of bugs that flew overhead.

They were about to enter a junction when a grasshopper the size of a single story building hopped into the way.

“Into the Starbucks!” Victor shouted at Amadeus and Isabelle. They ducked into the abandoned coffee shop and turned over some tables. The Grasshopper let out an insectile and slimy scream but hopped away soon after. In its wake, however, remained a group of the same kind of monsters Victor had killed. They took notice of the crouched figures in the shop and began to move towards them.

Victor held up his enhanced rifle and took aim at the monsters. The kick from the rifle hurt his aching shoulder but the results were undeniable. In a single hit one of the monsters was down and out. Victor smiled at the results.

The other bugs around the fallen screamed and took to the air, whereupon Amadeus and Isabelle fired at them. Victor moved quickly between the enemies and emptied a whole magazine with half the shots missing. It didn’t take long for the bodies to fall, leaving one remaining that refused.

That bug careened straight for the coffee shop. It shattered the glass and tried to ram at Victor, but he rolled under it. The monster crashed into the reception and skittered around on the ground. Victor was about to pull out his rifle once more but Amadeus beat him to it. He fired wildly at the monster until only twitching remained. Green blood leaked from the wounds of the creature and Victor looked away from the sight.

Amadeus breathed heavily after the encounter. He looked shocked at what he’d done, but recovered quickly. Victor went similarly still for a moment.

“You got a car? Mine’s out of commission,” Victor asked Amadeus to break the silence.

“Yeah… yeah, it’s parked a block over. I… I’ll take you to it,” Amadeus told him.

“Then let’s go. Isabelle?” Victor paused, looking over at the girl. She puked on the floor after taking a look at the monster and Amadeus shuffled over to her.

“It’s alright, it’s alright… just keep it together for a bit longer, Izzy,” he consoled her.

She nodded while covering her mouth, and the three of them moved out. Smoke had been rising up into the skies, and the night darkened the streets enough that Victor and his crew could easily make their way across and towards Amadeus’ car.

“Couldn’t have gotten a muscle car instead?” Victor asked.

“What’s wrong with a Volkswagen?” Amadeus replied.

“It’s a Beetle, man.”

“Plenty of space, even for you! Now get in!”

Victor opened the passenger side door of the blue Beetle and threw the guns into the back. It was a cramped affair and Isabelle looked on edge, but he managed to fit them all in.

“Victor, there’s more coming!” Isabelle shouted.

He turned around immediately and faced the giant horde that was gunning for their car from the distance. Another magazine materialized at his command.

“Start the car! We’ll hold them off!” Victor shouted.

Amadeus tried to run the engine but it wouldn’t turn on quick enough. He twisted the key around all the while more of the bugs rained down around him. Isabelle opened the side door once more to bring out some of the guns while Victor shot down the horde one at a time.

She held an assault rifle with one hand and lost control as soon as her fingers hit the trigger. The gun shot randomly in her arms until she managed to grip it with her other hand. Victor wasn’t much better, never having ever aimed with a gun before.

The best the both of them could do was hold off the attackers. One of them tried to pick him up by the scruff of his shirt, but Isabelle shot the bug down. Victor fell with the monster atop him and quickly shoved its corpse aside.

He gagged but managed to aim once more at an approaching bug. He pulled out his enhanced rifle and shot it square in the chest. The bug leaked green and keeled over, and Victor got another surprise.

[Ability Unlocked: Recovery Boost]

That same monotone female voice called out to him. He was glad there wasn’t a screen to fill up his view, less so that the ability didn’t seem to do anything immediately visible. He and Isabelle kept their shooting up until they heard the roar of an engine behind them.

Another body dropped in front of Isabelle and something popped out in front of it. Victor recognized the phenomena.

“Grab that and get in the car!” Victor shouted at her.

She snatched the glowing little thing and jumped into the Beetle. Another bug approached Victor and he pressed the trigger, only to be met with an empty click. Thankfully, the Beetle rammed straight into it and sent it flying backwards. There was a song playing on the radio but Victor hadn’t the time to listen to the lyrics.

Isabelle opened the door for him and Victor hopped inside. He materialized another cartridge from his Weaponsmith Heart and loaded the pistol again.

“Hit it!” he shouted, providing fire as the group took off from the city. They zoomed down cluttered streets that were piled high with cars. Amadeus was a demon behind the wheel, swerving and turning to avoid the monsters at every turn.

Victor let himself relax only when they lost the bugs. But that didn’t mean he could ignore the rest of what was happening around him. All around Oakland, bodies were piled up highs, shops and sights he’d seen a million times were drowned in fire and ash.

He could see the moon glistening off of a red spot of sea in the middle of the city. Lake Merritt should’ve been a clear blue, but it was instead turning red. And things not unlike those they had fought floated in the waters of the lake, infesting and feeding upon whatever remained alive in the city.

♪ And soon my friend, you’ll come to see

That nothing in life, comes for free ♪

It was such a depressing sight Victor almost lost his grip on his pistol. But he couldn’t let it go fully. Charlie and Vivian, not to mention his parents were still out there. He needed to find them and get them out. And his new Heart would help him do just that.

“Where do we go from here?...” Amadeus asked once they finally left the outskirts of the city.

Victor sat back in his seat and let out a breath. His shoulder still ached, but somehow, not as much as it should have.

“Charleston.”