A few moments later his earth-toned silkworm sat on the table, staring up at the military man with the same interest the man showed towards the magically conjured worm.

"Fascinating."

Jonathan excitedly jotted down the unfolding events on his clipboard. Looking up every so often to examine the summoned worm.

"You mentioned you received a gift-reward from the integration, please describe that."

"It wasn't from the integration per-say, I received it afterwards."

"Not from the integration?" The military man looked a little confused at this, flipping through his papers before beginning to write some new things down.

"So you received it today? After the integration had already finished?"

To be exact the first one he got was yesterday, but saying that would give away the game. He did in fact receive an achievement reward today, finishing the missions that the 'system' had given to him. If others were being given gift rewards then that likely confirmed to him the fact that others besides him were receiving missions.

"That's right, I was asked to do something, and after doing it I received a reward." Showing the ring on his finger which had already seemed to have caught the man's attention. Jonathan flipped through more pages before nodding, seemingly in agreement. Sliding a photo onto the table, on it was a ring similar to the one Ray was wearing. "That lines up with our information. Can I ask what the effects are?"

"Enhancement of physical capabilities."

The rest of the interview went rather normally, most of the questions were about his personhood rather than anything power related. Where he lived, how old he was, personal questions mainly.

He found it interesting that Jonathan emphasized the fact that Ray was over 18, thus eligible for selective service. Was the government already considering a military draft at this point? Conscripting the so called 'rankers'? He would be somewhat upset about the loss of freedom, but considering the state of the world...

Things were out of hand right now, you could even say it was up to the whims of fate. All he could do was find a small place to anchor himself to and try to ride it out.

Unsurprisingly, after the interview ended he wasn't allowed to leave. But while that was the case, he noted with increasing calmness the gradual return of his powers. Worries about the future or personal safety all felt trivial to him, no matter what happened he would make his place in the world.

Finding his way to the makeshift refugee shelter outside the police station, the one which the military had set up for rescued civilians. He blended in for the day, eating the lunch and dinners they had provided. Biding his time quietly as he watched caravans of military trucks pour into the city from nearby bases, bringing back more civilians by the minute as they attempted to clear the city of monsters. If goblins were the worst they encountered then he didn't think it would take that long to purge the city, but the issue was this was likely going on at a global scale. Every city, every inch of countryside. The number of monsters out there was likely astronomical and growing by the minute.

Feeding his worm a few drops of soup, he paused for a second, seeing it inch forward down the spoon before bending to drink.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I've thought up a name for you, just now."

The worm looked up at him with consideration.

"Lucky."

"Why that name?" His worm asked through the mental channel the two had formed naturally.

"You change my luck for the better, so I'll call you lucky." Ray answered, ignoring the few stares he was getting from the civilian refugees who had set up camp around him. This might look strange to them now, but the world had already become a strange place. With his supernatural confidence growing stronger by the minute he felt no longer felt the need for shame.

His worm, 'Lucky', nodded with satisfaction. Seemingly pleased to have been given a proper name.

Who knew after all whether this military business would be a blessing in disguise.

Once night started to descend, a military truck came by with needed materials. Distributing blankets and pillows to the refugee encampment, including Ray who waited in line for his share.

Tucking himself in against a wall, he closed his eyes gently. Listening to the erratic sound of distant gunfire from the city as he drifted off to sleep. For whatever tomorrow would bring he would to be well rested.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ray Albright. Which one of you is Ray Albright?" Dozens of armed soldiers were searching through the camp, seemingly looking for Ray.

It wasn't even light out yet.

Ray rubbed his eyes as he tried to figure out what the time was, fumbling for the phone in his pocket.

5:19AM

Why are they looking for me? And why so early? Ray suddenly became a lot more awake.

Noticing the blue-screen to the side of his vision, of which reading it had become something of a daily wake-up routine.

Integration (easy) difficulty has concluded. Participants are now being returned to your reality.

Now that you're all here, let's start off with a nice friendly welcoming event... Attention all humans. Your planet is now part of the integrated greater universe, otherwise known as Overworld. Not all of the creatures you will meet are friendly. Most of them aren't. From now on, 'monsters' as you may refer to them will be pouring ceaselessly into your planet from a number of predetermined locations. If you want to protect your species, and your lives, kill any and all hostile monsters that you come across.

And now for the good part. There will be rewards. The name of the game is risk and reward. Killing monsters is tough work, but it will be appropriately rewarded. The more monsters you kill the more you earn, but only the top 1% will get a reward. What's the prize? You'll find out soon. The time-limit for this event is 1 week, but to keep you properly motivated we'll keep a ranking of those who are currently qualified that you can view at all times.

If you remember anything, remember this. In the Overworld, the only constant is conflict. This event is just a taste of what's to come.

06:21:57:38

A giant clock floated at the peripherals of his vision, seemingly always in full focus when he wanted it to be. Seven days counting down, apparently a few hours had already passed and the timer steadily continued ticking down with every second. Next to it was a scrollable list, and strangely enough his name was right at the top.

1st place: Ray Albright: 83 kills

2nd place: Alexander Borovkov: 26 kills

3rd place: Hu Li: 19 kills

...

Eighty... wait, what? Eight-three! How was that even possible? He'd been here sleeping the entire time... Lucky had been here too. Realization washed over him. His spider wasn't here. It was roaming the city freely right now. If anything happened it had to be his spider's doing. But still, over 80 kills within a two hour timeframe, how could anything be so proficient in killing? Most monsters were spread out across the city, even in the large group Ray had cleared out alongside the policeman earlier there weren't anywhere near that number. It was hunting, one monster after the other, with practiced precision.

Knowing what they wanted, Ray was not afraid.

"I'm here." He said, standing up with his phone revealing his position in the dark.