“No one knows if the Forerunners actually existed. Tyrin’s Void, the name of their supposed homeworld, was coined by explorer Zan Wurmlux. However, Wurmlux never provided proof of the supposed discovery and died soon afterwards. For this reason, most believe the Forerunners to be a myth, a story told by the SLP itself. But this is not a view shared by all. Many of us continue to believe that Tyrin’s Void exists and that it will soon be found. I dream of one day rediscovering the Void, along with its extravagant riches and treasures.” - Living in the Shadow of My Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather, an Autobiography by Fellin Wurmlax, Jr.
***
Denny - Great Eurasian Steppe
Denny was still running along the path and the scar on his side began to ache. He resented that it continued to cause him pain all these years later. The recent events ran through his mind as he tried to make sense of everything that had just happened. He had been returning home with some food when he was sucked into a black void, activated the “Standard Loot Protocol,” transported back to the steppe, given a name, learned a language, and now had access to the character interface.
None of this made any sense to him. Denny just wanted to get home. He was darting over the wide steppe, following a well worn path that led right to his clan’s home. The path had been there years before the families that left Denisovia with Denny set their homes up alongside it. In the pictographs that the Denisovans used to communicate it was always described with three road symbols joined together. Every few years a Denisovan or two tried to travel the whole path but they never returned.
“Ah!” Denny cried out as he went flying and tumbled head over heels.
His daydreaming was rudely interrupted by a sudden divet in the ground that he hadn’t seen. Denny struggled to lift himself and looked back to see what had tripped him. The divet turned out to be a hole a meter across in the ground about 20 feet away.
Damn Marmots, Denny thought.
The prairie-dog like creatures were a scourge on his people’s land and he felt an anger towards the little rodents growing. He looked at his ankle, which was beginning to swell. Then, a furry face popped out of the hole he had just tripped over. It hissed and looked at Denny, glaring at him with beady eyes. Denny looked up and glared back at the creature, rubbing his ankle.
As he glared, he saw that the rodent was designated as a “Common Marmot” and had 10 HP.
That’s pretty low compared to the HP of other animals I’ve seen roaming the steppe, Denny thought.
So far, Denny hadn’t fought an animal because (1) he was in a hurry to get home and (2) he had no weapons. The Common Marmot, bared its teeth to show off its impressive incisors.
I remember their teeth being a lot smaller, Denny thought.
The creature then crawled out of its hole in the ground.
I remember those Marmot holes being a lot smaller too.
This time Denny began to feel a tingle of worry go down his spine. Since the blue flash, Denny had noticed the animals were now much larger and more formidable than they used to be.
He flinched as the Marmot erratically let out a much louder hiss and leapt at Denny. He was completely unprepared and didn’t have time to dodge the flying creature. The rodent crashed into Denny and the pair rolled down a slope near the road. Denny cried out in pain as the Marmot’s claws dug into his flesh.
Streams of blood began to flow down Denny’s arms and he saw that his HP bar, 25 when full, had fallen to 20. The pair tumbled and somersaulted until they reached the end of the slope. Denny had his arms around the Marmot’s neck, trying to choke the aggressive creature and prevent it from biting him. The rodent's sharp incisors were snapping at Denny and he felt a string of saliva drip out of its mouth and hit his shoulder.
Denny was surprised by how strong the Marmot was, especially given that it only had 5 HP left. He knew that if those teeth got him he could potentially suffer some severe injuries. With a burst of adrenaline, Denny squeezed the rodent’s neck as hard as he could. The creature flailed and one of its stray swings landed on Denny’s scar. He howled in pain as his old wound was reopened and his HP dropped another 5 points to 15.
“I’m not going to die to you, you glorified land-rat!” Denny yelled at the creature.
With a push from his legs, he stood up and threw the creature at a nearby rock. The Common Marmot hit the rock, crumpling on impact, and Denny saw that its HP had reached zero.
Denny was doubled over wheezing when he saw the animal disappear in a puff, leaving behind a few items. He cautiously walked over and saw that there were two item drops. The first was something that he didn’t recognize. As he gazed at the object, a description appeared.
“ZY10 Backfire FR PointCharger.”
Upon reading the description, streams of information flowed into Denny’s brain. He somehow knew that this object was a weapon, though he had never seen anything like it before.
It was a sleek mix of black and yellow. The object was in the shape of a circle with a small gap on one side and a ribbed grip on the other. It appeared to be the exact size of Denny’s hand. The marking “ZY10” was engraved on both of its sides and it was covered in a fair amount of smudges. A slight humming sound emanated from the handheld weapon.
Denny looked at the other item which was a small clear box with a glowing orange question mark inside. Its description read “Random Locked Loot - Epic.”
Using the description screens, he selected the adjacent “Pick Up” options bubbles and added both to his backpack. Immediately, Denny felt movement in his sling. He looked down and saw miniature versions of the items located inside. Denny accessed his backpack to view the new items and a screen appeared in front of him.
Backpack
Animal Fur Sling
Slots Occupied: 3/4
Consumable Food - Common Fruit - Green - 10 units
Rank 0 - “Animal Fur Sling” “Effects: Slots available plus 3.
ZY10 Backfire FR PointCharger
Random Locked Loot - Epic
Unoccupied 1x
As Denny looked at the weapon in his inventory, three buttons appeared: Equip, Drop, and Properties. He recalled the functions of Drop and Properties but hadn’t had the option to Equip anything before. But he knew that it would allow him to carry the weapon and use it.
I need to learn about how this weapon works first, Denny thought hesitantly. He selected “Properties” and a new screen popped up which provided more information about the weapon.
Item Card
ZY10 Backfire FR PointCharger
Manufacturer
Forerunners
Damage
Energy (Hot): 5-25
Type
Ranged - Energy Pistol
Effect #1
PointCharger - Charge before firing, infinite ammunition
Effect #2
Backfire - Chance to damage user when fired
Denny pondered the different elements of the weapon. From the first effect, he understood that in order to fire it he had to hold down on the trigger until the Energy Pistol built up enough charge, and then release the trigger which would shoot the energy. The tradeoff for the long firing time was that he didn’t need ammunition. But the second effect was just a downside.
A weapon that could hurt me when I use it? I have some terrible luck. Denny thought.
Despite the deficiencies of the weapon, he clicked “Equip.” A screen popped up with the outline of a smiling humanoid face. The face began speaking in a pleasant computerized tone. “Weapon equipped, Pre-Contest, ‘Denny - ZZ100’ initialized, Participation Type: Prime Contestant, Galactic Alignment: Hominid-Commoner, Contestant Alignment: Denisovan.”
Denny’s mind was whirling as he heard the various labels and roles he was assigned. The electronic voice continued.
“Loading initialized interface . . . Weapon Proficiency Selected . . . Ranged Type . . . Prime Contestant detected . . . Begin Prime Packet Distribution . . .”
Denny perked up as it sounded like a “Prime Contestant” was a unique designation.
“Welcome to the Contest! You have been selected as the Prime Contestant for the planet . . . Earth!” The voice chirped after a short delay.
“As the Prime Contestant, you were determined to have an above average chance of surviving the impending apocalypse! Congratulations!” The word Congratulations appeared on the screen along with a burst of digital confetti.
Denny’s mouth dropped open. “What apocalypse!? What are you talking about?” he asked the screen.
“In addition, you will be provided two gifts. The first is already within your inventory; you will find that the random item you picked up earlier can now be accessed. The second gift is a special World Task due to your status as a Prime Contestant that can be accessed from your Task Tab,” the voice explained.
Denny felt a little better after hearing that.
At least I’m getting something to help me with this impending doom, he thought.
He hadn’t accessed his task tab yet but assumed it was positive, given the voice calling it a gift.
“As the Prime Contestant you are entitled to more information regarding one of the following topic areas: (1) Tell me the secrets of the standard loot protocol, (2) What is the impending apocalypse?, and (3) Why are the animals bigger?” The options populated the screen, replacing the humanoid face.
Denny furrowed his brow at the options before him. He had heard the phrase “standard loot protocol” earlier. In fact it was the first few “words” he had ever heard. Denny understood that it was the reason why items appeared out when animals died. But he wasn’t really concerned with how this process worked so he looked at his other options.
Option #2 just made Denny depressed. Did he really need to hear how doomed he and his family was? Denny was not the most optimistic Denisovan and he did not need an explanation of how his situation was even more bleak than he had thought.
Denny’s eyes landed on the third option. The battle with the Marmot was fresh in his mind and he still had blood on his arms, although his wounds were beginning to heal.
Why are the animals getting bigger? he wondered.
“You have selected ‘Option #3’ - Why are the animals bigger?” the electronic voice chirped. The text disappeared from the screen and the blank humanoid face re-appeared.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“When a Contest begins, the flora and fauna are ‘lootified’ meaning they are endowed with loot, which is dispersed upon death. The Contest does not select all flora and fauna to be lootified, and instead selects a large portion of species it deems worthy. The flora and fauna are designated as ‘mobs’ and are entered as contestants alongside the non-mobs. However, the path for non-mobs to win the contest is much different,” the voice explained.
“Flora and fauna are divided into various clades, or groupings of plants and animals, and can evolve to gain traits and become stronger. At a certain point, a mob may become so powerful that it can choose to “differentiate” and establish a new clade. It is important to note that evolution requires a certain number of combat kills for fauna and a certain number of growths for flora.”
Denny tried to make sense of the bombardment of information. He realized that, in addition to the apocalypse, he would be facing another hazard. The plants and animals, or “mobs” as the voice called them, were apparently getting stronger with each passing moment. Mobs could evolve and reach high levels of power and were incentivized to do so due to their entry in the contest.
This meant that Denny had to find a way to survive the apocalypse while simultaneously staying ahead of the mobs in the contest.
“Mobs spawn from nests for fauna and verdancies for flora. Until a nest or verdancy is destroyed, mobs will continue to respawn and grow until the Contest ends. Beware, nests and verdancies are guarded by especially powerful mobs which continue to grow in strength as time passes.”
Maybe we can destroy the Marmot nest, Denny thought hopefully.
“In order to assist you with your mob encounters, you have been granted access to The Physiologus. It is a compendium of various flora and fauna and will update with information as you encounter various species. The Physiologus has been added to your inventory!” The voice said happily.
“The Contest appreciates your participation and issues a final congratulations on being selected as the Prime Contestant! Good luck!” With that, the face faded and the screen disappeared.
Denny tried to digest the information.
Can me and the other families really survive in this new world? Denny was beginning to seriously doubt that he or any other breakaway family outside Denisovia would be able to handle the animals let alone whatever the impending apocalypse was. He was not a trained warrior, nor were there warriors in the other families, and if a nest or verdancy appeared close to his camp they would need help.
But first things first, Denny needed to return back home. He tried running back towards the path, but the pain in his ankle forced him into an awkward gait.
He managed to climb the slope, but just as he reached the top, he heard a chattering sound. He looked to his right and spotted another Common Marmot. It was still halfway in its hole about 50 meters away. This one looked even more angry than the first one and was growling at Denny. It began crawling out of its hole towards him.
“Damn it, how do I work this thing?!” Denny started fiddling with his newly equipped weapon.
Denny placed his hand on the grip fiddled with it trying to get his fingers on the trigger. He pointed the end of the weapon toward the Marmot, found the trigger and pressed down. The weapon made a sound and began to light up. In response Denny released the trigger but nothing happened. As soon as he had released the trigger, the sound stopped and the light disappeared.
The Marmot had crawled out of the hole and was now running towards him.
Then he remembered the PointCharger trait: “Charge before firing.” Denny once again held down the trigger. He could feel energy focusing at the end of the weapon. Instead of releasing it, he steeled himself and continued to hold down. The weapon’s humming song grew loud and a small glowing ball of energy shone from the gap at the end of the weapon.
The Marmot leapt into the air and Denny cowered in fear. As the rodent soared throught he air, he released the trigger and closed his eyes.
ZAP!
Denny heard a thud and opened his eyes to see the Marmot lying dead on the ground a few feet in front of him.
It worked! He thought.
The PointCharger’s blast had taken away all 10 of the Marmot’s HP points and the air was filled with the unpleasant smell of burnt flesh. A large cauterized wound had appeared on the creature’s belly where the blast from the PointCharger had made contact.
Denny hobbled a few steps over to the creature as it disappeared in a poof. The Marmot left behind a cube of meat, which Denny picked up. He opened his Contestant Interface to view the item and noticed that the interface had completely changed since he had been initialized.
Denny
Prime Contestant, Hominid-Commoner, Denisovan
Contestant Image
Backpack Image
Equipped Food - None
Equipped Weapon - ZY10 Backfire FR PointCharger
Equipped Armor - None
“Animal Fur Sling”
Slots Occupied - 4/4
Backpack Rank: Common
Rank Bonuses: None
Effects:
1. Slots available: plus 3.
Consumable Food - Common Fruit - Green - 10 units
Random Loot - Epic
Consumable Food - Common Meat - Mammalian - 1 unit
The Physiologus by Fellin Wurmlax, Jr.
The screen, which had previously just shown Denny’s backpack and items, now had two main sections. On the right was the information about his backpack from before. On the left was an image of Denny along with a list of his current equipment. He noticed several changes immediately. First, his weapon was no longer in his inventory. It was now listed as his equipped weapon. Second, the random loot that was previously “locked” now just said “loot”. Finally, he could see an image of himself in the top left of the screen. It was an exact 3-D model of Denny standing still and slowly rotating. The model showcased Denny holding his PointCharger, sporting no other equipment.
He didn’t know what the other equipment was for but guessed that it had something to do with the “Proficiencies” that he heard the electronic voice mention. Denny focused on the top of the Contestant Tab where he saw three options: “Task Tab”, “Proficiencies Tab” and “More.”
Denny selected “More” and a message popped up: “No Additional Tabs Unlocked”. He shifted his eyes to the Proficiencies Tab and the current screen was replaced by an entirely different set of rows and columns.
World Proficiencies - Earth - Hominid Planet
Locked Proficiency 1
Weaponry - Proficiency
Locked Proficiency 3
Locked Proficiency 4
Locked Proficiency 5
Locked Proficiency 6
Locked
Weapon Types
Locked
Locked
Locked
Locked
Locked
Weapon Bonuses
Locked
Locked
Locked
Locked
Locked
Weapon Mods
Locked
Locked
Locked
Locked
Locked
Weapon Challenges
Locked
Locked
Locked
Locked
Denny immediately noticed that most of the columns were locked. The screen began with “Locked Proficiency 1” and continued until “Locked Proficiency 6.” The sole exception was the “Weaponry Proficiency” which Denny had just unlocked by equipping his PointCharger.
Denny noticed the Weaponry Proficiency column was unlocked and he read the four rows below it: “Weapon Types”, “Weapon Bonuses”, “Weapon Mods”, and “Weapon Challenges.”
Denny examined the “Weapon Type” and a bubble popped up asking him if he would allocate his 150 experience points. Denny, seeing that his sole option was “Ranged,” selected it.
“Level up! Weapon Type - Ranged - Level 1,” an electronic voice chimed.
Looking at the other rows, he was able to discern the meanings behind “Weapon Bonuses” and “Weapon Challenges.” However, “Weapon Mods” was a mystery to him. He selected the row but a message popped up stating: “Requires Higher Proficiency Level to Access.”
Undeterred, Denny selected “Weapon Bonuses” and was greeted with a new screen. It was titled: “Ranged Skill Tree”, and, true to its name, consisted of a branching tree of circles, the only readable circle being the bottom one.
“Ranged Specialist: 10% increased accuracy and 15% recoil reduction with all ranged weapons.”
That should help me take down future rodents, he thought.
Denny navigated back to the Proficiencies Tab. This time he focused on “Weapon Challenges.” A screen popped up with three tabs on the left. They were titled: “Forerunners”, “Stellarch”, and “Passage” respectively. At first Denny was confused by the tab names. But then he remembered that his weapon was manufactured by the Forerunners so he guessed that the other tabs were also weapon manufacturers.
Viewing the Forerunners tab, the rows filled with dozens of “challenges.” Denny scrolled down the list: “Brushfire: Defeat 50 mobs with thermal damage”; “Charger: Charge and fire 1,000 shots from Forerunner charge weapons''; “Pistol Burn: Defeat 100 mobs using energy pistols.”
Denny noticed that the rewards for the weapons varied based on whether the person undertaking the challenge was the first to do so during the contest. There’s definitely an incentive to stick to one type of weapon, Denny observed.
He noticed that the afternoon sun had begun to shine and guessed it would be another hour or two until night.
I’ll go over the rest of this when I get back home.
Denny closed the screen and ate one of the fruits that was in his backpack. He had to recover some HP and the fruits healed for 10 HP each. After eating it, a small message popped up stating that Denny had leveled up his food proficiency. He felt his pain ebb away and looked down at the rest of his body.
“My arms!”
Denny noticed that he was no longer bleeding and that his wounds had been completely healed. He felt great and after taking a few steps, noticed that his limp was gone. With a grin, Denny took off running back down the trail.
***
After about 20 minutes of steady jogging, Denny was nearing his clan’s home. The path he traveled was distinct to anyone who saw it. Generations of Denisovans walking the path had made a clear light brown tread which cut through the green steppe. As Denny jogged, he passed through a series of trees and came into a grassy clearing.
He was extremely close as Denny knew that after this clearing he only had a small ravine to cross and then he would be back home. Ahead Denny spotted a large boulder that was blocking the middle of the path.
It was two meters tall and about three meters across. He could easily jog around it, but something about the boulder worried Denny.
This wasn’t here before, he thought.
He had traveled the path dozens of times, as had the other Denisovans, and he had never heard or seen a large rock like this. He slowed down to take a closer look at it. Once he was a few meters away, he froze.
The boulder appeared to be inflating and deflating almost as if . . . Is that boulder breathing?! Denny couldn’t believe his eyes.
He felt a wave of anxiety hit and he clutched his PointCharger. Denny slowly approached the pulsating rock. The surface appeared to be made of a series of scale-like plates. Denny was only a couple meters away when the boulder started to shake. He started to back away but it was too late.
The boulder unfurled and Denny was knocked away by a section of the rock as it lengthened. He immediately tumbled through the clearing and landed at the edge of the clearing where he had entered.
The landing had cost Denny 10 points of health and he slowly tried lifting his head as his entire body ached. He managed to look across the clearing at the boulder and saw that it changed. The rock was now a creature standing on four legs. He recognized it instantly. It was an armadillo, although this one was much larger than the small, rodent-like animals he was used to.
Denny saw the name “Common Armadillo'' above the massive creature’s HP bar. He noticed that there was a new option to the side of the name. “Analyze.” Denny selected it and a small screen popped up in the upper left area of his HUD. A deep, male-humanoid voice read the text.
“New Fauna added to the Physiologus - Common Armadillo - Clade: Xenartha. The Common Armadillo is one of the smallest species of the Xenartha clade. They are notable for their tough leather shell and their ability to curl into a spherical shape to escape predation.” The screen disappeared after the narration.
The animal was nearly four times the size of Denny and was moving its large snout over a patch of grass, stopping occasionally to sniff.
Doesn’t look so small to me, he thought.
He glanced at the ground below the animal’s snout and saw small insects being sucked into the creature’s mouth. Although Denny had woken the creature, it hadn’t noticed him and was busy feeding.
He slowly got to his feet and began to move across the clearing. Denny crouched, moving in a wide arc trying to reach the safety of the trees on the other side without being noticed.
After a minute of creeping across the clearing, he was almost to the other side. Then, Denny heard a noise behind him. He took cover under some nearby bushes and turned to see behind him. He watched in horror as a huge cat-like creature emerged from the trees behind him. He looked back at the armadillo and realized he was caught between two monsters.