...

[Total Days in Trial: 42]

[Floor 2 – Day 1]

[Title Activated – Difficulty Increased]

[Floor 2 - Minimum Clear Condition: Survive]

[Floor 2 – Secondary Conditions:]

[Defend the Cities: Progress 0/5]

[Slay 10,000 Demons: Progress 0/10,000]

[Defeat the Demon Lord: Progress 0/1]

[Status]

Name: John

Attributes

Class: None – Skills: 2/6

Titles:

Perks:

Strength:

15

-

None

Dexterity:

12

Archery 5

Constitution:

14

Resist Poison 6

Intelligence:

10

-

Wisdom:

10 [+2]

-

Wise man of the Mountains

Charisma:

10 [+5]

-

Ambitious [ACTIVE]

Free:

4 - - -

“What the actual fuck.” I coughed the words, more than I actually spoke them.

I was back, no longer in the empty void. My body was back, and I had been rudely tumbled onto solid ground once more. Gasping in confusion, my lungs sucked in air as my vision cleared. Getting up from the dirt, I felt my heart pounding.

I’d messed up.

No, hell with that: I'd really messed up. Confusion and terror had me in a great bear hug.

Why had I assumed that Title was a good thing?

The [Trial] had been anything but good. I'd just had to climb a giant mountain so I didn't die. There was very little objectively good about what I'd just gone through. Simply because I’d earned something from completing the first floor, I shouldn't have been so blind to trust I was going to benefit.

The Attribute points had given me a taste of what the [Trial] could give me, and I'd gotten greedy.

I should have known better.

This was my fault.

Still...

What the hell were these conditions?

Survive? Slay 10,000 demons? Defend cities? Demon lord?

What the hell. Give me back the Goblins.

For fuck’s sake.

I must have looked like a lunatic, sitting there, muttering to myself, ignoring my surroundings. Finally bothering to look around, I could see some trees. There was a forest, but it was very different from the empty forest I'd been in before. I could hear birdsong, and the sky above was filled with clouds. Life was present here.

The second Floor.

I shook my head, checking the messages over again.

[Floor 2 - Minimum Clear Condition: Survive]

[Floor 2 – Secondary Conditions:]

[Defend the Cities: Progress 0/5]

[Slay 10,000 Demons: Progress 0/10,000]

[Defeat the Demon Lord: Progress 0/1]

No changes.

I felt that it had to be a joke, but the menu messages didn't go anywhere. How the hell was I expected to do any of those things? There was no freaking way this is a normal difficulty curve. There was no way this was normal.

I muttered as much, complaining to no one.

On and on I went, spewing obscenities. Especially once I noticed that something else was wrong. Carefully, I turned about, and the horror I was feeling only grew worse.

Gone.

My bag was gone. My clothing was different, too. Instead of layers of jackets and undershirts, what I was wearing had been replaced by some simplistic cloth... thing. Barely better than a sleeveless shirt and some pants held by a string belt for my... arrow quiver.

My weapons were gone, except for my bow and arrows.

For some reason, it had let me keep those.

Everything else was gone.

My medicine, my supplies... The cursing began anew, as another wave of panic hit me. Everything I had taken from my home and slaved to bring to the top of that mountain: all of it had failed to come with me.

As if on cue: the familiar "Ping" sounded.

[Domicile – Expired! Domicile will not reactivate until the 10th floor!] [Condition met! – No Perk] [Temporary Perk awarded!] [Lesser Analysis] - [Granted]

Numb, I watched as more menu screens "Pinged" along.

Temporary Perk – Presently limited to the Second Floor. Allows the user to access additional information about the contents of a Trial floor.

So, that was it, huh?

I could have cried, but instead: I fumed. Fear was quickly being replaced by anger.

Seriously?

I yelled at the top of my lungs, roaring in frustration. It took away all my stuff, dressed me in… what the hell, I wasn't even sure. What the hell was this? A ragged tunic? It took all my stuff, my medicine, my weapons, my food, and all it could give me was this?

I pulled the menu back up, looking for a point to focus my rage. Ambitious... that title. It looked like I had earned some extra Charisma? As if that was going to matter, when I was dying?

The system had seen fit to give me... An “Analysis” ability?

A "Lesser" one, even.

"Come the hell on!" I raised my fist to the sky, all but screaming. "Talk about fucking useless! This is worthless!"

I kept that up for some time.

It was not my best moment. Far from it, in fact. All that precious time, wasted on hot air. Spent on nothing but complaints. Forever lost, to no benefit whatsoever.

Even faster than before, the clock was ticking.

Ticking towards death.