The screen popped up in front of him the moment he finished upgrading his system module, almost to the point where he thought it was some related piece of information.

Twelve Hours have elapsed since the start of the trial. Given the human body’s lack of nocturnal vision, an illusion array that mimics the effects of sunlight has been placed around Planet Earth. To those that have managed to prevail against the odds, statistically, the first twelve hours are also accompanied by the highest rate of mortality. That however, does not mean that the danger has passed.

The first mutation will take place immediately after this announcement, adjusting the monster’s strength and abilities to the average level among survivors. However, the system will not let the victor’s go unrewarded for their bravery and sacrifice.

The following items are added to the System Shop:

Qi Replenishment Pill [Can be consumed once every twenty four hours. Stock: Unlimited. Cost: 500 TP.

Healing Pill [Stock: Unlimited. Cost: 100 TP. ]

The announcement disappeared , but Jack could detect no anomaly in the surroundings and neither did some rabid beast come flying at him.

“This is good news, right?” Sarah asked, her voice laced with an undertone of uncertainty.

“Well,” Jack paused, his expression thoughtful, before continuing, “ I suppose so. As long as we believe ourselves to be above average in level among those that survived, things should be no different than earlier. Except now, we know that as we grow stronger, the monsters will be able to keep pace with us. The moment we get comfortable with our progress and stop taking risks, along with the number of survivors dwindling, is when things would truly get bad. And hey, unlimited healing and Qi pills? I’ll take em.”

Sarah groaned, retorting with a question. “Why is the answer always more fighting?.”

Jack shrugged, slashing an errant branch that was blocking his way in one clean motion, before answering, “Hey I don’t make the rules. I just play by them.”

Sarah tried her hardest not to roll her eyes, before finally blurting out a question that had been simmering in her mind for quite a while now, “Just who are you? Why can you react so… so calmly to all of this? Why do you know how to use a sword so well?”

Her expression wasn’t frenetic or necessarily interrogative, seeming more frustrated at being unable to decode the enigma that Jack was.

Jack lightly chuckled, finding Sarah’s line of questioning quite amusing. “Say, do you remember those old detective novels?” Jack asked, continuing to move forward while scanning his surroundings, almost a habitual reaction by now.

“How old?”

“The classics. Y’know, like the early to mid twentieth century.”

“Mhm,” Sarah intoned, not quite knowing where the conversation was going but finding small talk relaxing.

“Well I always found it fascinating how the detective in those stories would be able to make out a suspect’s profession just by the minor details, like some soot trailing on his shoes meant he was a miner, if he had a refined accent he was a doctor, and y’know, so on and so forth. Today though, I mean, the six foot one buff dude with a mean look on his face could be at home, streaming video games for a living. Nothing wrong with that of course, but you see what I mean?” Jack rambled on, getting a light chuckle out of Sarah who found the imagery amusing.

“You’re clearly trying to make a point, but I have no idea what it is.”

“Well,” Jack coughed lightly, feeling slightly stifled. “In the modern world, it’s really quite hard to tell what a person’s profession is just by looking at them. And reality can be… well, eccentric,” He dryly explained, a wry smile resting on his face.

“Well now, I’m really curious,” Sarah’s eyes flickered with renewed interest, not quite expecting things to go in this direction.

“I inherited my parent’s fortune at fifteen. Well, it was only transferred to me when I turned eighteen, but that’s besides the point. 19.6 million dollars in the bank alone, and two hundred thousand dollars per month for the rest of my life, or until the oil deposit runs out. So when I claimed to be a gun salesman, it wasn’t entirely a lie. I occasionally flip antique guns when I get bored playing around with them. The experience with swords? I had instructors fly out from Europe to teach me. The whole survivalist theme I got going on? A hobby,” Jack sheepishly scratched the back of his head, finally showing a more emotionally vulnerable side of himself. Most of it was the truth, at least.

Sarah’s expression changed a few times, but by the end she just seemed flabbergasted. “19.6 million dollars in the hands of a teenager? You must have had quite the life,” She bemusedly replied, before catching her tongue. “Wait… inherited? Your parents?”

“Dead. Accident,” Jack curtly replied, though his grip over his sword immediately tightened till his knuckles went white.

‘Murdered,’ he added in his mind, but took a deep breath and relaxed his frayed nerves.

Sarah put a hand over her mouth and averted her gaze, perhaps feeling guilty over her statement.

“Hey, it was a long time ago, “ Jack patted her on the shoulder, catching her attention. “Besides, with the way the world is right now… I’m not sure if my parents could ever come to accept it. They were huge philanthropists and buddhist converts, and you know, violence is pretty much the anathema of everything they stood for,” His expression turned contemplative, for there were no falsities in his words this time.

“Jack…,” Sarah spoke in a soft voice, slightly emotional. The remaining words were left unsaid, but she understood. ‘I’m sure my parents would hate me if they saw what I had become,’ or something along those lines.

“Hey, that’s enough about me. I’ve already spilled the beans. Now tell me, who are you Sarah Jackson?” He changed the topic, already feeling slightly exhausted from the topic of his parents being brought up.

They continued to make small talk as they traveled for the next two hours, dispatching a pair of rabid violet furred rabbits with sharp, canine teeth, light sparks of static energy zapping them when they made contact with their weapons. It was only a mild irritation, but the concept of taking damage for the mere act of attacking was not one Jack had considered. The walk to the citadel which had seemed almost never ending, shortened with every increase in agility. At a jogging pace, the distance of originally thirty days had reduced to twenty-seven, and if they broke out into a full sprint…. It was probably manageable in fifteen with their current physical stats, but that would be risky bordering on self-destructive.

“Jack,” Sarah called his name out with slight surprise, causing him to slow his pace to a crawl before looking in her direction.

“Yeah?” he asked, puzzled, since he found nothing amiss.

She just pointed her finger to the north-west, as if he should be seeing something. Jack followed the direction she was indicating, pass tall Douglas-Fir trees, patches of dense shrubbery and misshapen looking boulders, to barely make out a small stone cave like structure that seemed to regress into the ground.

“That looks like what I call a terrible idea,” Jack muttered under his breath, surprised that Sarah had detected it to begin a structure that was dozens of meters away on top of being fairly camouflaged.

“It does.”

Jack had a slight smile on his face as he muttered, “Let’s go scout it out then.”