“Someone drugged my fucking coffee.”

Jill MacLeod was not having a good drive. First some shitbag had tried to squeeze her ass at the last stop, then the manager had threatened to ban her for getting said shitbag’s blood all over the floor. Now it was past midnight and there were all these blue background computer-like messages popping up in her vision distracting her just as she neared the pass. It was still early enough in the year for it to freeze damnit, she had to pay attention to the road and not whatever drug trip she was on. If she ever found out who did this… well there were plenty of quiet spots that a long haul trucker knew about to stash a body.

Another window popped up:

System Integration in 5 minutes. Good luck humans!

“Shit! Out of the way!”

She waved a hand angrily and the box vanished. Somehow she knew that she could call it back at any time, just like all the other ones that had popped up over the last hour. She had to admit that this was by far the tamest drug trip she’d ever been on. She should probably pull over but she felt good enough, and she was only a few hours ahead of schedule. Ciara was waiting for her in Boston after all and Bertha couldn’t drive herself.

The miles and minutes ticked by, and just up ahead was Homestake Pass, Montana, the highest point on the interstate and where the long road crossed the continental divide. Under Jill’s hands, Bertha’s wheel started to shake, small tremors growing into raw jerks, as if the smooth asphalt of Interstate 90 had suddenly turned to gravel.

“Woah girl, you ok?” Jill asked her truck, giving the wheel a reassuring pat. She’d been driving the big rig for 16 years now, owning it herself for the last 11. She kept her big girl in the best shape she could, but the truck was getting up there in years. Still, she wasn’t going nearly fast enough for these kinds of vibrations.

System Integration beginning.

You have reached Tier 0, Level 0! Select a class to proceed to Tier 1, Level 1!

Due to your world-first discovery of a Location, you have gained a Perk Point!

Classes available:

...

“Shit-tits!” Jill yelled, one hand frantically waving to clear the box from her vision. Bertha swerved alarmingly, and Jill feared for a moment that the full trailer behind her would jackknife, all 80,000 pounds of truck coming crashing down. But she’d been driving most of her life: an expert twitch of the wheel brought her girl back under control.

She glared at her coffee again. Murder was too good for druggists. She was going to rip off their-

Wait.

There was something in the road up ahead, something big on four legs with eyes glowing from reflected headlights. A moose maybe? No, smaller than that thankfully. Jill grimaced and reached for the chain connecting to the truck’s horn. She really didn’t want to have to deal with an animal strike this late at night, so hopefully that would scare it away.

Bertha screamed, 150 decibels of deep-throated power blasting out from above Jill’s head. She couldn’t help but grin. Even after all these years, the sound of a big rig made her heart stir.

But whatever that thing was, it didn’t budge, and she was getting closer to it at an alarming rate. “Move!” Jill yelled, pulling the horn again. She might have been able to avoid the creature, but on a night like this where there could be ice, it was just too dangerous; she couldn’t even brake hard. She slowed her rig as fast as was safe, but she hadn’t started soon enough. The creature stood its ground and with a crashing whomp the big rig hit, the sounds of crunching metal joining a hideously loud yip, then a set of hard thumps as the wheels crushed it.

“Awwww fucknuggets!” Jill swore, bringing the rig to a stop. Not only was that going to be expensive as hell to fix, but in the split second before impact Jill had identified the thing: it was an enormous wolf! She wasn’t entirely sure what the laws around killing the things were in Montana, but she was sure she was going to have to report this in.

She unbuckled and moved to get out, but paused, thinking. The thing had looked awful mean and there might be its pack around. She twisted around in her seat and reached for her gun rack, choosing the 12 gauge shotgun. It was the work of a moment to get the shells out from under the passenger seat and load it up. Better safe than sorry after all!

Jill’s boots hit the pavement as she jumped out of the cab, Bertha’s rumbling idle breaking the silence of the night. The headlights cast pools of lit asphalt in front of the truck and the full moon overhead provided just enough light to see with. She made her way to the front of the truck and groaned; the damage was worse than she’d expected, with the whole grille caved in and, if she was unlucky, damage to the radiator too.

She was about to curse again, but instead she froze. A sense of dread squeezed her stomach, and she brought the shotgun to her shoulder, spinning around. She’d heard something. A growl, a shuffle, something dragging itself towards her. She stepped sideways with care, gun held a bit too tight in her hands, trying to get a clear line of sight past Bertha. There, a dozen yards away.

The godamn wolf was still alive! Head twisted to the side with an eye ripped out, all its limbs broken and compound fractures popping shards of bone through skin, but alive and dragging itself towards her, growling. There was fire trickling from its jaws, boiling the blood that flowed alongside it to a crackling brown sludge.

A box popped up, though this one was faint enough that she could see through it clearly.

Lesser Firewolf, Level 12

HP: ??/??

MP: ??/??

Status: Maimed, ??, ??

Jill stared at it in shock for a second before her American programming kicked in. Her shotgun roared as she poured lead into the beast, and after the third blast caved in its skull in a splatter of gore and flame, another notification came.

Lesser Firewolf defeated. Bonus experience awarded for: monster kill above your level (+1.2); monster kill above your Tier (x2); World First monster kill (+1).

7680 Experience Gained!

World First monster kill: 1 Perk Point gained!

Class upgrade required to proceed.

“What. The. FUCK!”