A checkered tablecloth adorned the table where my elbows rested. I took a tentative sip of my coke and cringed. It tasted like syrup and artificial sweeteners. Drinking a coke was like pouring maple syrup down my gullet.

“I told you to get the tea.” A familiar voice said.

I looked up to see Fister, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and skinnier than I remember.

Suddenly, the memory came back, and I looked to the bathroom. King should be in there finishing his weed vape.

“I hope he can eat as much as he said he could after smoking that. I think the only one to get their money’s worth is that lady timing the crab legs. When she took them all, I wanted to hit her. But, that hasn’t happened yet; they don’t come out until I get my second plate.” I said.

“King isn’t here. We left him behind this time. Didn’t we always say we’d come back here?” Fister said.

“That was before the food poisoning,” I said.

“It was before we stopped talking. So why did we do that?” Fister asked.

“When friends leave, I don’t try communicating. You didn’t either I think you had my number. I got a new job after you left and never looked back. Why didn’t you try and stay in touch?” I said.

“King and I stayed in touch. I contacted him recently, and he ranted about you like a dark lord. He doesn’t sleep much anymore either.” Fister said.

“Are you here to deal with me? I won’t go down easy.” I said.

The inhabitants of the restaurant turned into blood-thirsty zombies in the blink of an eye. I turned and unleashed Hatchling’s Flame. In moments the whole restaurant caught fire. Great orange flames shot up and scorched the zombies, charring them down to the bones as they crossed the fire. I empowered the fire with my mana increasing their potency. For the first time since I used the technique with my hand, I controlled the fire. Suddenly, the scene changed to screams.

The humanity of the restaurant patrons and staff returned long enough for them to point at me. Some fled towards the exit only for my flames to block them. While these faceless people screamed and cried as their world burned around them, I returned to my food.

Ding!

Root Of Black Dragons lvl2

Type: QI

Rank A+

Description – The essence of a black dragon lives within your qi, allowing the user to learn exclusive black dragon abilities and access dragon-only areas.

Acts to level – Black dragons are bringers of chaos and misery omens hated by all. Therefore, actions that cause rampant destruction will level up this skill.

Abilities

Hatchling’s Stomach –Food that would normally make you sick will recover HP. Black Dragon’s Blood – Immunity to most poisons and diseases. Hatchling’s Flames – Dragon fire that even a hatchling can conjure. Immature Dragon’s core – With every breath, your body gathers and stores mana like a dragon. Magic Parameter unlocked. Immature Dragon Aura – The user’s qi has spouted the black dragon’s root. 10% resistance to magic attacks. Blessed Of Earth – x2 CON and an affinity with all Earth-based skills.

Ding!

Root Of Black Dragon has reached lvl2

Qi +2

Qi 8

I sighed and turned to Fister. “What was the point of that?” I asked.

“This is how King sees the people of the waking world,” Fister said.

“I don’t believe you. Have you seen the things King’s done? Well, I have, and he knows it. King wants to kill me or torture me until I wish I were dead. He’s desperate like a man trying to hide his horse porn collection from his girlfriend.” I said.

Fister rubbed the back of his head. “You’re like an old art teacher obsessed with the native and their long-dead culture. He gave you a way out, but you stayed and even tried to stop him. How else should he react?” Fister said.

“I don’t care how he reacts. He’s a serial killer; I’m going to put him down. Did he tell you he’s killing humans? What about centaurs? I know you have a weakness for them.” I said.

Fister looked away. “None of this is his fault. It’s the system; his parameters are making him act like this. He fixed your arm shouldn’t that prove there is still good in him.” Fister argued.

I replayed the memory repeatedly. The more I viewed it, the more I realized there was no benevolence in the action.

“King only wanted to show me his power. He wanted to say, look what I can do that you can’t. If I can fix you, then I can break you in a way you’ll never recover.” I said.

The flames gathered around us as the screams died down. I heard the sirens before jets of water shot into the building. Yet, no matter how hard they tried, the water couldn’t put out my mana-fed flames. The flames gathered around me, blazing hotter with the fats burned from the patrons.

“Can’t you see that King is exactly what we all will become? These skills and parameters will change us until we’re all tools of the system.” Fister yelled. It was the first time I’ve ever heard him cry.

“Remember the bomb threat and the shooting. We got to hang out for hours because of those horrible incidents. Now King’s massacre has done the same. Maybe we should try and stay in touch this time. And if King can be spared, I will spare him.” I said.

Remember my number then. We exchanged numbers, and the dream ended.

I awoke with my dick gripped between Silent’s cheeks and a craving for Chinese food. But, unfortunately, such a place only existed in my memory now.

Maybe I’d meet a Chinese chef someday.

The sun was still down, and I had things to do. Unfortunately, beating King and letting him live raised the difficulty from legendary to impossible.

For a while, I laid in bed snuggled up against Silent and let my mind wander to the possibilities. So long as there were living creatures for him to drain, he could recover. On the other hand, getting him out of the city might be impossible.

My first solution was to burn the city down and hope I got him. I imagined that was how a black dragon would handle this. Burning down the city would also power level my Root Of Black Dragons skill. I gained a level from the dream, which showed how the skill worked. It fed off of mayhem; whether that mayhem was real or not didn’t matter.

Then I had an idea for an all-out brawl but shelved that. Not only did I not have enough strength to matter, but King had clones with comparable strength and intelligence to himself. Furthermore, my B rank skill Force wasn’t enough at its current level. I’d need to power level it to have any hope of winning. While the first one was morally impossible but possible. The second one was morally possible but physically impossible.

Finally, I could ask him to leave. Even if I used burning the city down as leverage, it wouldn’t work. He values these people as food, but there were other cities. King doesn’t seem to mind devouring humans. So, in conclusion, I can burn the city down with everyone in it, but he’d more than likely just go to another city.

If I could reliably kill a single clone, then maybe I could deal with him in a position of power. At the moment, I had nothing. It was like trying to sell a car insurance policy higher than the competition. There wasn’t a chance in hell the customer would buy unless the other companies burned them. In this case, burning would be a consequence or a shit ton of guilt. Since there wasn’t a hint of guilt, I didn’t think talking was likely.

In conclusion, I had nothing viable.

With nothing better to do, I opened my phone and booted up the shop app. Everything was expensive. While there were tons of skill die on here and weapons, armor, and slaves. Nothing was free. I’d have to sell some of my dice if I wanted anything. So, I checked the skill menu and tabbed over to qi skill.

For the next hour, I searched for any skill that might be able to deal with King’s clones and massive health bar. There was nothing that I could afford or wouldn’t also destroy the city. Skills that are guaranteed were precious. Even if I sold all three of my skill dice, I could only afford E-rank skills.

I continued to explore the shop until I found events. As I scrolled down, I found a zombie world event.

The world of Tyre has been overrun with the undead. Sapient zombies have appeared, retaken the world, and it’s only a matter of time before they rediscover space flight. You, as a system member, have 2 hours to inflict as much damage as possible. Damaging property, destroying their flesh plantations, and assassinating VIPs will earn points that can be traded for event prizes. Select yes to enter this world.

I swapped over to the event prizes. There were several bronze, silver, and even gold skill dice for gaining over 100,000points. From there, the points and rewards increased. The event opened in five minutes.

I selected yes without a second thought. The prizes were too good to pass up. Usually, I’d have to complete a quest to receive a reward. However, an event was just what I needed.

Other events were locked or coming soon. Finally, there was one that could only be entered with an S rank skill.

If this was anything like a mobile game, events would give out special skills, rare items, and powerful weapons. I had other plans. If this was a technological world, I planned to steal a car. Maybe one with a horse trailer.

Did military Humvees have trailer hitches? I’m sure they did. I planned to steal one and inventory it. Then again, for what I needed, maybe a heavy-duty F350 would be better. But, of course, I would only have 2 hours to steal what I wanted and earn points. After that, the system might drop me in the middle of nowhere. Even if I used Sprint, finding civilization would be difficult. Honestly, I was just as likely to fall on the roof of some building.

I eased myself out of bed and started writing a note. Through my other, I was able to make a reasonably legible note. After that, the clock started counting down.

Ding!

System Message: Welcome to our first-ever event. I hope you’re as excited. Those who participate in this event will gain many rewards. Your mission is to stop the zombies of the world Tyre from gaining space flight. If they manage to leave their planet, they will eventually cause an unending zombie apocalypse. It is your job as users to combat this threat.

Targets

Dr. Eyepatch – A one-eyed mad scientist that can transform into a massive muscle-bound beast called The Ravenous Cyclops. It produces vast clouds of poisonous gas from the pours of its skin. Poison Resistance, Poison Wards, or poison immunity ability is required to fight this target. Its strength rating is 35 and grows the hungrier for flesh it gets.

Blonde Bimbo – A blonde zombie obsessed with preserving her looks. She’s known to skin living females to wear their flesh like a suit. Bimbo pressurizes the gases produced in her rotten body to increase her strength and speed. STR and AGL rating 30

Grog – He’s 9ft mutated and a very popular politician in zombie society. Some believe he’ll become president, but for now, he’s just a senator. Grog pushes for space flight harder than most other senators. He owns more flesh farms than most businessmen. Killing him won’t stop the space program, but it will slow it down. STR and CON rating 25

I read over the targets and relaxed a little. Sure, they were stronger than me, but the poison gas wouldn’t bother me much. I actually had a higher Constitution than Grog, so that made me feel better. Now, where would the system teleport me? I hoped I wouldn’t take over another other.

Ding!

Teleporting In 30s

After checking my AR15 and my machete for any chinks in the blade, I was ready. Blue light surrounded me as Silent turned over.

Ding!

Teleporting

The world around me vanished only to be replaced with the smell of freshly cut grass the humidity of southern heat. My eye quickly adjusted to a familiar blue sky and people staring at me. I stared down and remembered I was naked.

People, humans with strangely long ears, slightly pointed noses, and eyes a little larger than I was used to, continued to stare at me. On their fingers, I counted six digits, but that wasn’t the end of the strangeness. Their hair color and body shapes were all weird. I saw more purples, dark reds, and blues than a feminist parade. Only their eyebrows and facial hair were the same color as the hair on their head.

An armored hand gripped my shoulder. “Get your bearings; we only have 2 hours, and zombie survival is a team sport. My name is GreyKnight44, but you can just call me Draigo.” Draigo said.

I turned to see a man dressed in mismatched knight armor spray painted grey. There were only two options I could take him seriously or laugh in his face. He was right; this was a team sport. But the guy looked hilarious.

“RuthlessRedRex, but I go by Red.” Just as I said that my collar went off in a killing burst. Electricity light I’d never felt before coursed over my body, blasting out in terrible arcs. I bit my tongue instead of yelling. Blood splashed against my mouth, and I focused on the job at hand.

My body had doubled in toughness, and I only had two hours to cause enough mayhem to level my Root Of Black Dragons skill. “We need to focus on the job at hand. Is this a flesh farm?” I grunted out.

“Are you going to be alright? I know a healing spell.” Draigo said.

“No, I’ll live; it’s just a little shock.” When I thought I had a handle on the pain, the shock grew worse. Literally, a day ago, this would have killed me. I should be leveling like crazy, but it seemed I couldn’t level my skills until after an event ended.

It was much like how I couldn’t level my skills while my backflip quest happened. Though that didn’t seem to apply for more abstract quests or quests that involved everyday survival.

I sucked in a breath and let it out. This meant no stealing cars, or I’d destroy their electronics. On the bright side, two hours of this would really improve my shock and pain resistance skills.

My world hadn’t stopped at yellow or green; it tinted a bright blue. At this point, my strength should be around 7 instead of six. When Force Body was activated in full, it would be 12. That rating was still much weaker than any other of our targets.

“Draigo, we need to destroy this flesh farm.” I heard the rev of an engine, and the people around us immediately lined up.

“Let’s hide and monitor the situation.” I heard the bark of a dog and knew hiding wasn’t an option.

“I’m burning this place to the ground and everything else I find. You can help me or do your own thing. If the undead manage to leave this world, they’ll be a plague on the universe.” I said.

“Do you really believe an abominable intelligence?” Draigo said.

I stared at the 40k weeb in front of me and suddenly didn’t give a fuck if he was caught and eaten. Some of the zombies were more than strong enough to rip us limb from limb. We were here to get points and more dice. For a grey knight wannabe, he sure didn’t want to get his hands dirty.

Why was Draigo here, or did these people look too much like humans to him?

After three seconds of being here, I understood they were the flesh farmed for undead consumption. For a grey knight wannabe denying enemy resources was apparently a step too far.

“We’re not going to kill them,” I said.

A plan had already formed in my mind. It was worse on the living here, but the residence was a lost cause anyway. Attacking the farm stock would probably cause a fight with Draigo. So, I’d burn down all their food and resources of the living. If the zombies couldn’t feed their live stop, they’d have no choice but to butcher them. Truthfully, it would be kinder to just kill them myself.

I shot off and activated Hatchling’s Flames. We were surrounded by a virtual garden of Eden. Fruit-bearing trees of all kinds filled covered the area. My dragon’s flames caught quickly, taking great pleasure in burning the fruit most of all. This time I burned indiscriminately and watched my points slow increase from 0 to 3. It was a start.

The zombie shot towards us on an Outlander 450/570 shooting at us with an AK. Bullets whizzed over our heads and smacked into my back. They felt like mosquito bites compared to the shock my collar gave off.

We cut a sharp right and shot through a thicket before doubling back. “So, you have the sprint skill, too,” I said.

“Yea, your pretty fast; I thought you were more of a barbarian type,” Draigo said.

A zombie burst from behind a tree about to tackle Draigo to the ground. While it was fast to my eyes, it might as well be moving through molasses.

Ding!

PER +1

PER 20

My fist smashed the creature in the jaw. I flashed Force Body and Mortal Telekinesis for a moment before the blow struck. The undead’s head crumpled in on itself like a rotten Jack-O-Lantern.

Ding!

Event Points +5

Total Points: 8

I needed to make killing these things more manageable. There was a grain silo nearby, so I charged for it. We crossed over fields and ditches. I slew nearly a hundred head heads of cattle and inventoried half of them for later. Zombies threw themselves in our path, and we killed them.

Draigo pulled a glowing sword from his inventory to fight off the undead while I punched them to death. They only gave 3 to 5 points with each kill. From my earlier work, the orchards behind us were ablaze, and I directed the flames even from a distance to leap over fire breaks and catch more woods.

Ding!

Event Points +50

Total Points 388

The smoke had managed to kill a few human livestock before the zombies could get them out of the orchard. Next, we found a vast crop of corn, and I wasted no time setting it on fire too. After that caught fire, we ran like hell down the road towards a large village.

It could be called a gated community or another pin. While the cows were kept in fences, the living were kept in a bunch of false villages.

A stream of undead shot out from a guard tower while a group on the walls pointed their guns at us. Before, the bullets did jack all to me, and I didn’t think these would do any better. Then, I felt a round slam into my chest, dent, and fall to the ground. After giving it a good look, I realized they were using rubber bullets. That must have been why they didn’t hurt.

I activated Force Aura and Sprint. The lines of zombies fired live ammo. My vision shifted into violet, but I couldn’t let that bother me. This place needed to go.

My fist smashed through a zombie’s chest and into the wall behind it. Flames gathered around my fist as I used the fat from the zombie’s carcass to ignite in my fist. I couldn’t do a thing to the stone wall, but I could throw this over the wall.

The zombies tried to stop the lump of fat I threw from sailing over the wall and landing on a wooden roof. From that moment forward, I began burning everything. The zombies threw themselves at me in a dogpile. My collar shocked them, too, with the force of multiple lightning bolts.

Fire alarms went off all through the village and the living evacuated. Around that time, my fire had consumed most of the area around the village. Firetrucks moved in to put out the orchard only to have little effect. My flames didn’t burn like normal fire.

After my dream and using them at the orchard, I learned more about them. First, a black dragon’s flames fed on fear, worry, and despair. Second, the corpses of those who fell to smoke inhalation made excellent kindling. Finally, and most importantly, undead burned like an oil-soaked log.

In their wisdom, the undead bastards did just what I wanted. Seven had piled on top of me, and I set them all ablaze. I sucked in a breath and felt my mana level swell. This was another part of the Roots Of Black Dragons skill. If mana was scarce, then I could make my own from burning things.

Ding!

MAG +1

MAG 7

The orchards, the cornfields, and even their walled city burned under my gentle flame. I avoided the people as best I could. Sure, a few died from smoke inhalation, but they were all going to die anyway.

A smile spread across my face as I stood amidst the burning corpses around me. They flailed and clawed against me uselessly as the rounds they carried exploded, filling their undead bodies with shrapnel.

Draigo had hunkered down behind an oaken shield while I charged a hail of bullets. I admired his survival instincts. Medieval plate armor wasn’t known for its ability to deflect bullets. Then again, I didn’t think his wooden shield would be much more effective. Wood layered on leather did resemble bulletproof glass in some ways. That is, if the discovery channel was correct.

From behind some trees, I spotted my prize in all of this. The zombies left behind a four-wheeler, and it was shiny. It looked like a 2021 Handa, but that was impossible. Even if I could read the alien writing on it, I didn’t see a giant H anywhere. Still, no one was using it.

Before I threw it in my inventory, I checked the fuel. It smelled like water. That was a head-scratcher. Did these people use hydrogen engines? That was one of the most explosive kinds of engine they could make. I stared at the bottom of the ATV at the tube that ran into the engine.

“Aren’t you a thick boy? I bet you’re filled with hydrogen gas, aren’t you.” I caressed the highly explosive tube and quickly realized that any vehicle I took from this place might explode on me.

“Red, we’re running out of time; we should go find some cover for our teleport,” Draigo said.

I stared at the 40k weeb. “And pass up an opportunity to demoralize them. No thanks, I’m here to earn points.” I said.

Since the fires began, I’d earned a steady if a small stream of points. My flames had become almost sentient. When the firefighters bravely ventured into the fire, my fire retreated. This fooled the firefighters into believed their methods were successful. Once the firefighters were good and deep in the burning forest, my flames surrounded and burned the zombies alive.

Not all of the brave firefighters fell for the ploy. Some remained behind to radio for help.

I could pick them off, of course. I’m sure the firefighters are very aware of the burning flesh pin behind me. But that isn’t what this is about. Nope, I wanted to bump up my score and do some more damage.

My collar had run out of juice while I shocked the zombies, so guns were back into play. Yes, I could have removed it then, but I wanted to earn my freedom. Unfortunately, Kale also had big titties. Being her slave was the perfect Ice breaker. I had a feeling the longer I stayed with Silent, the less safe my ass remained.

I picked up an AK from the ground, one of those with live rounds aimed at forming the hydrogen fuel tank on the bottom of the firetruck.

Ding!

System Message

Teleporting in 30s

That was plenty of time to do what I wanted. So I took aim and squeezed the trigger.

Click!

I looked over to the side of the gun and saw it had jammed. That’s why it had been thrown down in the first place. I yanked back on the cocking handle and pulled the bend round out.

Ding!

System Message

Teleporting in 20s

With a flick of my will, I nudged my flames to gather closer to the firetrucks. One of the firefighters tried to move the truck out of the way. I fired.

From a little over 350yrds, my bullet hit the dirt a few feet away from the tube. My eyes twitched, and I fired again, only to hit the truck’s red paint job. Again, I focused; this needed to work. Everything was set up; if I managed this, the trucks might explode for even more points.

Ding!

System Message

Teleporting in 5s

I sucked in a breath and let it out. This had to work. I fired another round. The round slammed into the hydrogen tube, and my flames rushed in, and a grin spread across my face.

What I imagined happening was a subtle explosion and an eruption of flames. I never expected the fire to go too far. But when my flames drank in the hydrogen, it fueled them to new levels. Finally, all three trucks exploded, and the fire formed a wall expanding in all directions.

Blue light gathered around me just before a truck mirror would have taken my head off. Then, in an instant, I was gone.

Ding!

1 Flesh Farm Destroyed

Points rewarded 2000

Event Points: 5000

Rewards:

For Earning 10 Points +1 Bronze Skill Upgrade Die

For Killing 1 Zombie +100G

For Earning 100 Points, +1 Bronze Skill Die

For killing 10 Zombies +1000G

For Earning 1000 Points, +1 Silver Skill Die

For Blowing Up Multiple Large Vehicles, +3 Silver skill Die

For Destroying A Flesh Farm +1 Gold PARAM Die

I appeared back in Silent’s room as if nothing had happened. Silent still slept, and the sun looked as if it hadn’t moved. Did events exist outside of time, or was there some time dilation effect? Or was I piloting a body double this entire time? Could I have been standing here the whole time with my mind-controlling a virtual body?

Ding!

Root Of Black Dragons lvl5

Type: QI

Rank A+

Description – The essence of a black dragon lives within your qi, allowing the user to learn exclusive black dragon abilities and access dragon-only areas.

Acts to level – Black dragons are bringers of chaos and misery omens hated by all. Therefore, actions that cause rampant destruction will level up this skill.

Abilities

Hatchling’s Stomach –Food that would normally make you sick will recover HP. Black Dragon’s Blood – Immunity to most poisons and diseases. Hatchling’s Flames – Dragon fire that even a hatchling can conjure. Immature Dragon’s core – With every breath, your body gathers and stores mana like a dragon. Magic Parameter unlocked. Immature Dragon Aura – The user’s qi has sprouted the black dragon’s root. 10% resistance to magic attacks. Blessed Of Earth – x2 CON and an affinity with all Earth-based skills. Blessed Of Fire – x2 STR and an affinity with all Fire-based skills. Blessed of Air – x2 AGL and an affinity with all Air Based Skills. Young Dragon Core – Your dragon core is more developed and stores more mana. Dragon’s Flesh Tempering – As you take damage from battle, the qi in your body adapts to make you stronger. 1% chance to gain STR and CON after taking damage from battle. STR and CON increase by 10% of QI.

A-rank skills are officially overpowered as fuck. The question is, how much stronger would an S, SS, SSS skill be compared to my A+ skill. Was that the limit, or were there even higher-ranked skills? Was King’s skill an S or higher?

Pain Resistance lvl30

Rank: D

Type: PER

Description: A skill defined by the user’s ability to accept pain.

ATL (Acts to Level): Withstand great amounts of pain and formulate thoughts, complete complex action, or ignore the pain completely.

Abilities

Prism Status – Pain comes in many varieties, and now your vision will be tented while in pain. The longer you feel pain and the more severe the further down the rainbow, the user’s vision will change from red to violet. Malevolence – Pain causes negative thoughts to take root and slowly turns the user into an edgier person. -20% Pain when focusing on dark thoughts. Prism Trail – The source of your pain can be tracked by the shifting color tint. Tested Will – While pain isn’t muted, your will is strong enough to withstand it. +20% stun resist. Prism Rush – The further down the rainbow, the greater your strength. +5% STR increase per shade of the rainbow. Red to Violet. Max 35% Shades Of Pain – Enemies glow while your vision is tinted. Greater Focus – +25% chance to ignore pain when a greater goal is involved.

It was a little sad that I’d have to give myself over to the equivalent of pain demons to get this skill much higher. Two hours of death shocks from my collar only go me 10 levels in the skill. When I get this collar off me, I might never level it again.

Ding!

Pain Resistance is lvl25

PER +5

PER 25

Pain Resistance is lvl30

PER +6

PER 31

Shock Resistance lvl25

Rank: D

Type: CON

Description: The user’s very body becomes resistant to harmful electrical attacks.

ATL (Acts to Level): Withstand electrical attacks to increase this skill’s level.

Abilities

Redirect: Transfer 10% of shock damage away from vital organs. Static Absorption – 5% of shock damage is converted into energy. Battery – Redirected shock damage is stored in the Dantian and converted into qi. Fast Charge – +10% of shock damage is converted into energy. Discharge – When grabbing onto another person while being electrocuted, 10% resistance to shock damage. Redirect – When catching shock-based damage with your hands, you have a 20% chance to redirect them and take no shock damage.

Ding!

Shock Resistance has reached lvl20

CON +4

CON 17 (34)

Shock Resistance has reached lvl25

CON +5

CON 22 (23.8) (47.6)

Ding!

Close Combat lvl7

Ding!

Marksmanship lvl8

Ding!

Force lvl3

Ding!

Spring lvl6

My body ground against itself as my vision blurred, and I existed in complete agony. I changed almost as completely as when I first gained parameters.

Nickname: Red

Title: Traveler

Parameters

STR 4 (5.8) (11.6) (13.6)

CON 22 (23.8) (47.6)

DEX 7

AGL 17 (32)

QI 18

PER 31

MAG 7

World Waifu Relationships

Kale 19/100

Silent 52/100