AN: So, good people... we come to the end of the first adventure. Sadly, this means that the story has reached the end of volume one. Sometime within the next few weeks it shall go on sale on Amazon. I need to clean it up, make a few things more coherent, and expand a bit of the descriptions here and there.

So, I'll return to this story around this time next month. For the rest of the week I intend to focus on Origin ARS primarily since I am woefully behind due to illness, Blackthorne (at least one or two updates), and will probably update Earth Tactics Advance at least once.

Next week will probably be mostly the same so I can finish up Origin's volume.

Chapter 16: Kitty, I'm Going Home

It was difficult for Scott to determine the first sound he heard upon regaining consciousness. Was it the occasional rattle of metal, the dull roar of a truck engine? Was it the strangely happy purring sound near his ear? In truth, the first sound he registered would never be known. The first sounds that he clearly understood, however, were the sounds of people talking.

"So, you're saying he isn't infected?" asked a voice that Scott believed to be Jed.

He did not have the strength or the desire to open his eyes at the moment. He could not be one hundred percent certain, but the voice did sound like the one he associated with the mustachioed sheriff.

"I don't believe so. My gift did not cleanse the illness. If anything it seems more like he is dealing with the sort of thing that people at the church rehab center dealt with."

"Rehab center... You saying he's going through withdrawals, father?" asked Jed.

Scott was coherent enough to understand what they were saying, but he was too weak to communicate at the moment. His body felt like it was made of lead. Pain lanced through his shoulder every time he so much as wiggled. It was hard to breathe, and his body could not decide whether it was burning hot or freezing cold.

If he could find the strength to open his eyes, he would see that he was on the back of his black truck. The sheriff and the good father were with him, along with two others and the cat that had saved the day. Smug guy drove, while two other cars kept pace behind them.

After the battle, the people at the mall had acted quickly to secure both their future and the continued existence of their savior. A few hours before dawn, they had made their way to the place that they had seen on the security monitors. There they found Scott unconscious, a few dozen zombies milling about but strangely uninterested in the fallen man.

At first they had feared the worst, but once they dispatched the mini-horde it was determined that both Scott and his strange feline friend were still among the living. The cat had refused to leave his side throughout the time when they loaded him on the back of the truck, and insisted on going with him.

Once they were on the road, it was the better part of an hour before Scott began to regain coherence. The sky began to lighten as they left the main road at the good father's request. They turned off on a side-trail that started as a normal flat road but soon began to rise high into the air at a steep incline. The incline was so steep that the cars began to have trouble moving forward due to their excessive weight. They were loaded down with people and supplies that would normally be best carried by twice as many vehicles.

In the end, they made it up the steep mountain road just as the sun peaked up on the horizon. Scott's eyes finally cracked open not long after that, and just in time for the other members of the convoy to catch sight of their promised land.

The entrance gate up front read, "The Evergreen Mountain community welcomes you home."

Once through the gate, people became busy. There was a lengthy drawbridge that spanned a large gap between the welcome area, and what appeared to be the actual place they needed to go.

Several zombies staggered out of the nearby buildings, but they were easily handled by the group. The draw bridge controls were found, and thankfully the Evergreen Mountain community was one of the echo-progressive communities. The entire place was powered by windmills and solar panels.

It took great effort on his part, but Scott managed to pull himself upward with his good arm. Propped against the tailgate of the truck, he watched as the small convoy drove across the bridge and into their new home. They wasted no time in drawing the bridge back up, and then locking it down to prevent someone else from dropping it from the other side.

The world outside was ugly, battered, and filled with the screams of the angry dead. Here, there was peace and a chance for something new.

The group checked all of the houses in the first area, an even dozen, and then moved further into the small community. Half of the buildings beyond seemed to be incomplete. Evergreen Mountain was still under construction at the end of the world it seemed.

No zombies were found in the area. It was a glorious find, and the sort of place that someone would have to have known was in the area in order to want to find it. Even the side-trail that led up the mountain was the sort of road that most people would have overlooked.

His body shook with the effort that it took to reach his feet. It was an action made even more difficult since one of his arms did not work properly at the moment. Climbing down from the back of the truck took even more effort, and he was left panting on the ground for a moment.

Despite the exhaustion, he did not stay where he fell for long. He regained his feet and staggered forward slightly while using the side of the truck for leverage. Scott knew that once the people who put him here decreed that he was done, he would have only one minute to find his escape door and leave. In truth, this was a time period even more dangerous than battle. If he did not reach the door in time, he would die.

Scott took in a ragged breath. Sweat poured down his face even as his body shook due to the fact that he felt cold. His vision faded in and out, and the top of his head itched fiercely. He did not know for certain what was wrong with him, but he looked forward to reaching that little glowing ball of light. He would be able to heal, rest, and take an actual week off from forced life or death missions.

Princess hopped up onto the side of the truck and meowed at Scott. He glanced down at the little orange thing then leaned heavily against the truck for a moment so that he could pet her. "Good kitty."

She purred loudly then lashed her tail. Kitty did enjoy a bit of praise.

"Look who's up!" called one of the people he had never bothered to get to know. She was a pretty-ish blond woman whom Scott wanted to call her Mindy, but he would not do so out loud. He was not certain of the name at all.

He nodded to her and offered a tired smile. She smiled back in response then pulled her head back inside the window. She had called out to him from the second floor of what would probably be her new house. There were certainly enough houses in the area for everyone to get their preferred pick.

As he staggered forward several other people popped their heads out of windows or stepped out through nearby doors. Each of them spoke to him in a friendly manner, though some held fear in their eyes when they looked at him. Whether it was because of what he had accomplished, or the fact that his staggering about looked a great deal like the way that a zombie moved, Scott could not be certain.

Once he found the strength to leave the truck behind, Scott staggered over to a low fence that separated one of the houses from the main road in the area. He used it to balance himself while he continued to move forward. Princess hopped down from the truck and followed along at his side.

They made their way slowly through the area and entered a small shopping center. Nothing particularly interesting happened until they passed by a clothing store. Princess made a strange gasping noise then meowed loudly.

Scott glanced down in time to see her run off toward the display window. Princess sat down and stared up at what was showing on display. Curious about the odd little cat, Scott staggered over to her side. She looked up at him briefly then looked back to the display window. Her eyes widened and then began to sparkle and shimmer in a strange manner.

Her human friend looked to her then to what was on display. "Shoes? You like shoes, kitty?"

Princess meowed in a strangely breathless manner then made a weird noise that sounded suspiciously like a giggle. Scott shrugged in response then staggered over to the door and opened it. "Take a closer look then."

The kitty made the weird gasping noise once more then rushed into the store, her eyes practically ablaze. Scott leaned sideways and saw her in the display window not long after. Princess had her forepaws wrapped around a set of red stiletto heels. She nuzzled her little kitty cheek against the bright red shoes while happy little purring noises echoed through the still open door.

After a brief moment, she gasped once more then dropped the red shoes. She immediately glomped onto a grey pair of fuzzy boots and began her hug and cuddle routine once more.

"Cat really likes her shoes..." muttered Scott.

Princess completely ignored his presence from then on while she continued to hug various bits of foot wear. Once she even stuck her back left paw into a shiny black pump and tilted her head from side-to-side as though she were admiring the non-existent fit. The shoe was clearly too big for her, but she seemed content to pretend.

Scott found something to prop the door open with so that the cat could get out when she was finished being an excited shoe shopper. "Who knows when they'll want me to head back?"

Leaving the cat to daydream about shoes, or whatever she was doing, Scott staggered off further into the area. Eventually, he reached what would be the approximate center of town. There was a little commemorative fountain in the town square that had drawn several people. The clean, clear, water cascading down the fountain was a beautiful sight for the survivors. Many had never thought to see something like it again.

Scott reached out and touched the concrete basin. It was a simple gesture, one that he had not intended to mean anything. Yet, the moment that he did so the world shifted to a black and white color scheme. A message screen popped up not long after.

You have delivered the survivors to the agreed upon location. Will you designate the Evergreen Mountain Community as a hub-zone?

Yes | No

Scott accepted the offer and a bright green light flared outward from the fountain. The light extended as far as the other side of the gap, and then just a little further than the welcome gate. All of the houses and the handful of shops in the little town were within the circumference of that field of green energy.

The Evergreen Mountain Community is now officially recognized as a hub-zone.

Civilization Level: 1

Defense Rating: 22

Economy: 0

Population: 20

Professionals: 2

Commoners: 18

Value: 0 EXP

As the founder of the hub-zone you may choose to purchase it and acquire development rights. This exclusive purchasing opportunity will remain on record for thirty days. After thirty days exclusive purchasing rights will be lost. After that time, anyone who operates within the system will be able to purchase the hub ownership rights at regular market value.

Exclusive Cost: 5000 EXP [Buy]

Scott blinked slowly. He could buy the place? What about the people living there? He did not have the EXP to purchase it at the moment, but it was something to consider for the near future. The ability to have a hub-point in this world would be useful for future missions when he wanted to kill zombies for easy experience. Building up the place might also keep assholes like the red robed guy out of there.

"Guess I could talk to Jed and Father Harrison when I come back. Though, it will probably cost a lot of EXP to build the place up." Would he get anything out of building up the place? There had to be a purpose to it.

Scott rubbed the bridge of his nose and then massaged his eyes through his closed eyelids. His headache was becoming worse. He did not want to take anything for it unless he absolutely had to do so. Once he headed back to his home point he could completely heal. He wanted to save his restorative items for future missions.

Once the world returned to normal, the gathered people acted as though nothing had happened. They had not seen the light show that had just occurred.

A familiar door appeared before Scott. The door of light, unlike the previous light show, was not lost on the public. Scott staggered toward it while several people gasped and cried out.

The timer ticked down as he did his best to reach safety. Just before he entered the doorway, Scott called out "I'll be back soon."

Inside his home, Scott visibly relaxed. Safe for the first time in days, he allowed the realization that he had completed his mission to wash over him for a moment. "I made it."

It had been touch-and-go there for a while. He had only survived due to using his brain and the help granted by a little cat. Even his ultimate arrival at the hub-point had been due to the survivors coming to rescue him after the battle.

Scott staggered slowly over to the glowing ball of light and sighed loudly in relief as the healing forces did their work. His shoulder regrew in the space of a few seconds. The ailments listed in his injuries and ailments window showed that he had acute withdrawal symptoms due to toxic overload. There was indeed a drawback to using the garden powers. Once the power wore off, his body would be racked with ailments and weakness for a time.

"Restoration cost me more this time that it did when I lost both feet and contracted zombi-itis..." muttered Scott. It might have been cheaper to just take a restorative or two first. Still, it was nice to be whole and healthy once more.

Now came the fun part. How much had he earned during his little story mission! Scott's eyes lit up with child-like glee as the screen appeared. This was the best part of the story for him! The part where the handsome hero gets paid for all the shit he had to go through.

Mission Score

You have completed your first story mission. Congratulations!

After much trial, error, and dedicated focus on general ass-kickery you have successfully completed the task set before you. Due to the fact that you went the extra mile and uncovered the roots of a dark secret, the difficulty level of your story mission increased to the maximum difficulty for the mission. You will be compensated accordingly.

Grade: S+ [Due to increased difficulty]

Base Reward: 400 EXP

Grade Bonus: X10

Total: 4000 EXP

Elimination Bonus: 1122 EXP

Settings Bonus

Beginning of a Legend: During your initial insertion period you chose to unlock a warp zone to [Imperial Garden]. Your actions alerted the forces that conspired to ruin that world that someone had been sent into the area. Due to the increased difficulty caused by that awareness, battle between the nominal forces of good and evil for the sake of that world began. The locals witnessed that battle and saw evil flee into the night.

Grade: S+ [Due to Difficulty Increase]

Route Bonus: 4000 EXP

Special Bonus[1]: You defeated a powerful opponent [With the help of a small cat]

Bonus: 5000 EXP

Total: 9000

Entertainment Bonus

You proved to be highly entertaining on several occasions. This reduces the annoyance of our people as they wait for your race to fail their challenges and become our property.

Entertainment Grade: S+ [Due to Difficulty Increase]

Entertainment Bonus: 4000 EXP

Fan Following: You have acquired new fans. Once you have 100 fans, you will be granted a one percent bonus to all EXP earned. Each additional 100 fans will increase your EXP by one percent as well.

Fans: (370)

Fan-Base Bonus:543.66

Total EXP Earned: 18665.66

[—]

"I don't even know where to start." He had literally earned enough EXP in that one story mission to allow him to live for over six months, though he would be an absolute fool to spend it on his daily life purchase needs. No matter what he chose to do in the future, he had come to the conclusion that story mode missions were the way to develop real power in this game.

The logical thing to do would be to wait a day or two before he spent his newly acquired EXP. So, obviously he went ahead and started to spend some of it immediately.

Scott purchased the room renovations that he required to make his plans work. Over three thousand EXP left his possession as two new doors appeared on opposite walls. The first door was labeled recreation room. The second room was labeled command center.

He walked over to the command center door and touched it. The moment that he did so, a new screen appeared. It asked him how he would like the room to appear. Many options were available, dark lord's throne room, and presidential office were among the more interesting. However, he chose to make the command center appear like something out of a science fiction program.

Scott entered his new command center through his newly crafted titanium door. It split apart in two distinct sections to allow him to pass. Inside the room, he saw a bare bones outfit with a split-level design. There was a bottom floor where the lesser flunkies of his organization might work if he had any. The upper level had a single command desk and access to the only computer monitor in the place. He would have to upgrade if he wanted more of them. However, until he had people to work at those positions, there was really no point in acquiring more outside of aesthetic appeal.

The screen lit-up when he gestured toward it. There was no new information available here than there was available to the mission door currently, but at some point he would be able to keep tabs on his companions and various side-businesses he might have going. Those were things that the mission door did not track.

"Samantha's available for work..." That was good to know. If he chose to take a side-mission this week, he would probably hire her just to see how things worked out between them.

Scott smiled slightly when he noticed that Princess was available as well. "Seems I have two companions now."

He looked around the room a bit, leaned against one of the upper-level guard rails for a moment, and then went to visit the new companion room that had been created. Inside the room he found an empty area with grey walls. There were three doors lining the walls. One led to the recreation room. The other two were labeled as Samantha Jeran, and Princess Katherine Vi Kittania.

Upon touching either name plate he could see their status. Samantha's had not changed. Princess' status information was mostly followed by a bunch of question marks. "Ordinary cat my ass." muttered Scott. Through the little blurb at the beginning, he did learn that she liked to be called, Kitty or Kiki by her friends. There was also a bit about how she despised being called the other common name for cats, especially if the one doing the name calling was not a friend.

The individual rooms beyond the name plates were designated as belonging to his companions. They had control over how those rooms were developed within certain parameters.

"So, to make new friends officially I need to expand this room?" asked Scott after checking a few more things. It seemed that everything required EXP since he came into this game. Expansion would cost one thousand EXP per additional room. The price could be paid after making friends, however.

He left the companion area and moved to the recreation room. Inside he discovered that it was just as barren as the companion room. The doors in that room led to the companion area, the home room area, and to a chosen hub-location. This was the room he would use to begin expanding his abilities outside of using EXP.

"Shit costs so much here, but high-end sci-fi equipment was normal in Bounty Star..." mused Scott. He checked the credit conversion cost once more then grinned. It was still one thousand credits per EXP. Given the cost to hire Samantha, he figured that he could purchase quite a bit of equipment there. Sure, he would not be able to bring it out in his home area without it disintegrating, but that did not matter if he left it in storage. So long as he remembered to store his equipment before returning home, it would be fine.

That might be difficult during emergency situations, but he had the ability to transfer to a hub-point if it was available before returning to his home area. That was the beautiful thing about hub-points. As long as he was not an idiot, he could use local items and even take them to other settings. He just had to take that extra step. Only system purchased items, or items designated as treasures were allowed in his home area. How that would work for companions was still uncertain, but he would find out soon.

"You know..." said Scott thoughtfully as he looked at the credit transfer window. "The system can generate pretty much any basic item I want, even grant specific types of knowledge. Maybe I should try my other idea."

One of the biggest issues that he had at present was his lack of actual life skills. He could shoot, move, and make decisions. However, if he'd had other skills such as the ability to repair vehicles or jury-rig weaponry on the fly, he might have been able to perform better in some of his missions.

He went to check the cost of doing business with the ball of light. Acquiring skills and knowledge was an expensive prospect, but if he went that route he would eventually be able to create his own items. They would not be a great compared to something that he could buy outright, but they would be decent and he would be able to acquire them at a much reduced price since all he needed was basic components from the system.

"Damn." muttered Scott. He had only glanced through the skill sections such as that before, so he had not been aware of the truth. He had to buy skills in tiers, and study manuals for each tier before the skill would come online. "It's like they knew people would try to circumvent paying a fortune by doing this..."

Scott opted to buy a basic mechanical engineering manual. It would allow him to branch out into skills designated for repairing various things, or building new ones. The manual only set him back ten EXP, but it was a thick bastard. "Eight hundred pages? Is this a book or a cinder block?"

Basic combat skills did not require such measures. It was obvious to Scott that the system prioritized pure combat over crafting skills, even penalized learning such abilities to enforce a combat rule. It made a sort of sense, however. If people learned to make things out of random scrap they found, they would not need the system as much.

He also searched the system for chemistry and pharmaceutical information. After a bit of searching he discovered that the only way to create the healing items he had used would be to learn alchemy and nano-tech engineering. He would have to study mechanical engineering and then several more subjects before the latter became possible for him, and even then he would need to acquire the [Master Engineer] lifestyle. Alchemy in general was unavailable unless he acquired some sort of [Alchemist] lifestyle.

"So, there go my immediate dreams of making my own restoratives." He sighed briefly, but then grinned a little. He might not be able to make them any time soon, but that did not mean that he could not simply find the equivalent in another world setting and purchase them with local money. That would still be a lot cheaper than buying them through the system.

Hellespont, and the [Bounty Star] world system alone probably had something like a multi-purpose stim pack due to its sci-fi nature. That might not be as good as a pure healing restorative but it was probably widely available for purchase.

Plans were made. Scott needed to see what each world really had to offer before he went further with his current designs, but either way there would be changes. Relying solely on the system and pure luck at times would not be enough, not for the story missions. Those were the real deal. Side-missions, even daily missions, those were for training and preparation.

Scott rubbed his chin and stared at the shopping list before him. Over fifteen thousand EXP remained. He had a whole week of freedom.

Something crossed his mind and he nodded. The way those people had treated him after the battle, it made him feel like he had managed to accomplish something in his life. He still did not know if they were real people or just some sort of computer generated NPCs, but it also did not matter. They were real enough for him. If they were that real then there were probably other people just like them in terrible situations on that world and others.

It was time to stop barely scraping by, and time to start making his mark on this game. "Beginning of a legend, huh?" asked Scott softly.

Save people? Stomp a mud hole in some douchebag's ass? Get paid to become a super powered badass while doing it? Damn straight. "Let's do this."