Avyck3721

ch 9

10… 9… 8…

I check my stats one last time.

• HP: 28/28

• MP: 25/30

My MP has regenerated 10 points since healing Mischief. That means mana recharges naturally.

Good to know.

3… 2… 1…

I exhale. Here we go.

Wave 2 of 5 has started.

-

This time, I don’t flinch. I just wait. And then—they come. From the far side of the clearing, just like last time.

The trampled field gives me ...

ch 8

One Hour Later.

34 Chaos Spawn down.

My loot piles? Huge.

• Pile One: Teeth, eyes, meat. Disgusting, but expected.

• Pile Two: 14 more Chaos Fragments.

• Pile Three: Weird random crap.

I scan the last pile: Crude Serpent Dagger, cast iron pot, wooden flute, broken ceramic plate.

…What the hell am I supposed to do with this? Hopefully, stronger monsters drop better loot.

For now, it is what it is.

I still h...

ch 7

BOOOONNGGG.

A deep, ringing gong shook the clearing.

Wave 1 Complete.

I collapse onto my knees. Holy shit. I actually survived.

The Loot & Rewards

Next wave will commence in 2 hours.
All participants will receive rewards based on contribution.

Contribution calculated.

Reward – HP & MP fully restored for next wave.
Reward – Crude Wooden Club.
New Ability Unlocked: LOOT.

ALRIGHHHTT!

I got a reward! And I gotta say, Iâ€...

Chapter 6

The whole process took maybe 15 seconds. When I looked back up, the field was moving.

Something—or a lot of somethings—were coming through the grass.

I couldn’t see them. They were too short.

First thought? Snakes.

I hate snakes, please don’t be snakes.

But no—the movement was wrong. The grass rippled and bent like something darting on two legs.

Okay. Not one big monster. Many small ones.

…Rats?

Would I rather be eaten by a giant sna...

Chapter 5 - Overpowered titles

I couldn’t stop staring at my titles.

Forerunner was straight-up broken—a permanent 5% XP boost? In any game I’ve ever played, you had to pay for that.

But Man or a Mouse? That one gave me mixed feelings.

I was the only person out of billions to skip the tutorial? How?! There had to be someone else as excited as I was to just get started.

Then I reread the description—

"And remove the system mouthpiece failsafe."

Oh.

That was probably the uniq...

Chapter 4 - Pulling up the system

Speaking of things I don’t know—Didn’t I just get a healer class?

I wasn’t excited about it, but I was definitely curious. The problem? I had no idea how to check.

I frowned, then did the first thing that popped into my head—

I reached out, clapped my hands together, and made a dramatic swiping motion, like I was summoning a hologram in a sci-fi movie.

Nothing. Okay, maybe I needed pure focus.

I closed my eyes really, really hard, willing a status scree...

Chapter 3 - Voice from the abyss

"What the hell is going on?"

"Hello, Layton."

Huh?

A mechanical female voice echoed from the darkness.

"Uhhhh, hello creepy void voice. Am I dead?" I asked, trying to sound calm. (I was not calm.)

If I had to guess, I probably suffered a spontaneous brain aneurysm or something. Instant death. Damn.

Though… now that I thought about it, I was probably going to freeze to death anyway.

Okay, maybe not freeze, but I was definitely going...

Chapter 2 - the drive

Although I’d been camping plenty of times before, a minor—okay, major—problem hit me the second I merged onto the highway:

I had no idea where I was going.

I knew I wanted trees, water, fresh air, and zero people. That was it.

McCall, Idaho came to mind. I’d been there before—good trees, good air, and not far. Maybe a little over two hours from my dorm.

Good enough.

Windows down. Music up. The road stretched ahead, nothing but endless asphalt a...

chapter 1 - just another day

Class was over. Another mind-numbing lecture on things I’d already forgotten.

I needed out. Badly. The problem? Finding someone to come with me.

Instagram was full of people who loved the outdoors. Unfortunately, none of them were my friends.

Instead, I had friends who could spend twelve straight hours raiding dungeons in video games, but the thought of spending one night in an actual forest? Apparently, that was too much.

After debating with myself all week, I final...