Time until tutorial failure: 23 hours, 58 minutes, 27 seconds.
“So you’re telling me that if I fail I’m dead,” Will said.
Helper: Not exactly dead, but if you fail, you’re not going to get any of the benefits of the tutorial. Depending on the cycle, you may lose access to many of the events that come with it.
“I’d become a system native, basically?”
Helper: Somewhat. This is, to be clear, not ideal. Even when yo...
2024-03-02 07:07:11 +0000 UTC View PostNot every ambush was as successful as the first few. For one thing, the goblins were still bronze rank. Will and Caiyeri weren’t always able to get the jump on them, and any time they had the ability to mount an actual defense, the two of them were forced to flee.
They were still able to land a few shots each time. Even if they had to leave confrontations when it turned out their information had understated the number of goblins by a solid dozen, Will was almost always able to pick of...
2024-03-01 15:17:57 +0000 UTC View PostIn order to descend the levels, Caiyeri and Will were going to have to find one of a limited set of staircases. They didn’t show up on the minimaps at long range, but the elf had an old map that guided them.
They headed south, which, thanks to the interrogated goblin’s loose lips under pressure, had a group of cave goblins with the Arcane Archer class ready to rain fire down upon a small ravine.
This would have been a major problem if not for the fact that there was a narrow p...
2024-03-01 15:16:54 +0000 UTC View PostBy the end of their training, Will was feeling a lot better about his chances.
Name: William Li-Brown
Level: Unformed 12
Race: Human
Class: None
Titles: [First Blood]
Attributes:
[Power]: Unformed 14
[Speed]: Unformed 15
[Affinity]: Unformed 20 (Bronze 10)
[Soul]: Unformed 10...
2024-03-01 15:15:32 +0000 UTC View PostAs it turned out, the fastest way to increase his stats was to fight. Repeatedly.
In Will’s current state, that meant getting the living shit beat out of him—again, repeatedly.
Caiyeri gave him almost no time between bouts. The store sold stamina potions at unranked for fifty credits. Will downed one of them every time he started flagging, leaning on the safe zone’s passive healing to patch up anything short of a broken bone. For the frequent injuries he took from the elf’...
2024-03-01 15:14:36 +0000 UTC View PostThankfully, Will didn’t pass out this time. Maybe the repeated beatings had gotten to him, but even though his entire status diagram was flashing various shades of yellow and orange, he didn’t feel quite so bad as he had the last time he’d wandered into a safe zone, bleeding and broken.
Helper: I see you’ve picked up a party member. I was not expecting that.
“I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not,” Will said. “Is this good or bad?”
...
2024-03-01 15:13:54 +0000 UTC View PostIn Will’s admittedly limited experience, a level increase was a more effective form of healing than any of his potions could dream of being. He gasped as the pain in his leg sharpened for a brief moment, but then the tingle of magical healing replaced it and it vanished altogether.
Will put the two points into Speed. He needed it.
“You know, last I checked, you’re supposed to hit your opponent in a fight,” Caiyeri said.
“If you’re going to complain, could you at ...
2024-03-01 15:12:29 +0000 UTC View PostSquad boss?
Examining that brought up a tooltip that Will definitely really have used earlier.
Boss Tiers:
A boss’ tier is determined by the minimum projected size of the party required to defeat it with some degree of difficulty.
Solo. At your current expected level, it will be a challenge to defeat this boss, but if you draw heavily on your resources, you may be able to manage it.
Squad. At y...
2024-03-01 15:11:51 +0000 UTC View PostWill’s new skills didn’t seem world-breaking to start, but a bit of experimentation revealed that they were very useful indeed.
The Escape Artist passive could eventually turn out to be a problem for him if he decided to wear a bunch of armor, but all he had right now was a piece that could eventually be crafted into a chestplate and goblin leathers that didn’t fit him. Armor was a question for later.
With just his clothes on, his speed increased by a substantial amount. Run...
2024-03-01 15:10:36 +0000 UTC View PostWill had to wonder why a massive spider would have a key on it, but when he looted its body, he understood.
100 bronze credits have been added to your inventory.
Vault Key has been added to your inventory.
10 Vials of Cave Spider Venom (Corrupted) have been added to your inventory.
7 Cave Spider Eyes have been added to your inventory.
Cave Spider Carapace has been added to your inventory....
2024-03-01 15:09:54 +0000 UTC View PostWill was unbelievably glad that he’d decided to save his use of the Chaos Transfer skill. The corruption condition was incredibly powerful—it caused immense pain, lowered every stat with time, worsened injuries, and could lead to death if unresisted. If he’d wasted it on the goblins only to realize there was a massive spider here, the boss wouldn’t have had to beat him—he would’ve done it to himself.
He hated spiders. When he’d been thirteen or so, he’d gone on ...
2024-03-01 15:08:45 +0000 UTC View PostEcstatic energy surged through Will’s system as his sight returned to normal. Coming down from the high of the first level-up had been a trip. Six was what he imagined taking MDMA might be like.
Apparently, exiting the safe zone for less than an hour meant that the timer didn’t reset, so he was at nineteen hours and counting until this one kicked him out. Plenty of time to sort himself out.
Will hadn’t realized how tired he was up until this moment. Now that his life was no ...
2024-03-01 15:08:07 +0000 UTC View PostWill got the rundown of the place as the number of goblins outside steadily increased. He really wished he had more to work with, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. Not that he planned to beg, but there were quite a few goblins out there preventing him from going anywhere.
At least the safe zone had enough stuff in it to make the child in Will practically jump with joy. He’d passed out (and bled all over) a couch in the lounge, but there were signs in the back of the room with hotel-...
2024-03-01 15:07:28 +0000 UTC View PostYour level has increased to [Unformed 1].
2 Attribute points earned.
Inventory maximum capacity increased by 1.
Will’s vision flashed with bright light, and soothing warmth filled him for a brief instant. As it faded, he realized that the throbbing pain in his leg had dissipated, too. He glanced down, and to his complete surprise, the flesh had healed over. His blood was gone.
“So this is a level up?” he wondered...
2024-03-01 15:06:22 +0000 UTC View PostAchievement earned: Forerunner
You were one of the first 100 Users on this planet to kill another living being. You’re either in a very unforgiving Tutorial Zone or you’re a bloodthirsty maniac. One way or another, you made an early move, but this is only the beginning.
Reward: You have earned the [First Blood] title.
Title: [First Blood]
Legendary
D...
2024-03-01 15:05:48 +0000 UTC View PostThe world ended sometime after 3:46 AM, Eastern Standard Time. Will knew this because that was what he’d seen the last time he’d checked the time on the cracked screen of his six-year-old laptop.
He continued typing up the final report for his internship. Allie, one of his fellow research assistants, had been supposed to finish up the part about her admittedly impressive findings, but she was irresponsible as she was intelligent, so she’d gone out drinking and he’d<...
2024-02-29 17:48:43 +0000 UTC View PostVivian is too hard on herself. She’s intelligent, personable, and very goal-oriented. If she gets a vial, she’ll make a great hero with the right support network.
That said, I don’t think I’m the right person for her. She’s deeply hurt in a way I’m not equipped to help. I’m a lot better at breaking things down than I am building people up, and she needs someone to build her up. If there’s nobody else on the team who wants her case, I’ll take it an...
2024-02-20 22:12:40 +0000 UTC View PostThe Killjoy Incident took place on October 16-17, 2024. The ongoing ramifications of the event are still being examined, but the most notable are as follows:
1. 2024 dissolution of the Indianapolis Guardians
2. Establishment of martial law in Chicago
3. Prematurely triggering Cataclysm 107.
4. ~10,000 lives lost.
#
“Mantis here. Is this Lachlan?”
“Ho...
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2024-01-17 06:24:54 +0000 UTC View PostHoly fucking shit, fuck Washers. They make everything harder. Protocols are moderately effective at best, you never know if your mind is your own, and most importantly? Every last one of them’s got a plan. It’s endemic to them, I swear. Interrogate any Washer long enough, and it comes out. A trillion-dollar scheme to convince Moody’s that zero-credit-history mortgages are a fucking fantastic idea, a conspiracy to overtake the Guardian Agency, the Twelve Minute War in Florida—and t...
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