Name:

Jarek

Level:

18

HP:

28/28

Physical Defense:

16 (+2)

Strength:

20 (+2)

Mental Power:

11

Dexterity:

10

Agility:

10 (+4)

Perception:

20

Mana Pool:

41 (+1)

Mana Regeneration:

20 (+3)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

0

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

Rune Master

(E-rank)

Titles:

Skills and Spells:

Identify (E-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Mana Sensing (E-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low), External Unattributed Mana (E-rank Low)

Equipment:

Mana-infused Knife (F-rank): +1 Mana Pool, +1 Mana regen.

Orc Helmet (F-rank): +2 Physical Defense

Magician’s Robes (F-rank): +2 Mana Regeneration per minute.

Orc Boots (F-rank): +2 Agility

Orlan Blade (E-rank): +2 Strength, +2 Agility

Interdimensional Pouch (E-rank):

I woke up leisurely, which in retrospect was somewhat surprising.

What happened to monsters taking over the world? I asked, as I opened a can of tuna for breakfast. My fridge—and all the food inside it—was gone. It was a weirdly incongruous feeling, walking towards my fridge in the morning, reaching out my hand towards the door habitually, only to realize it wasn’t there.

Alright, I thought back, chewing a forkful of tuna. It was a minor convenience, being able to communicate and eat at the same time. We can scout as we move towards the nearest town.

I cast one last glance over my apartment. I wasn’t attached to the space. I was probably forgetting to bring something, but I’d just have to live without it.

I locked up and walked through the hallway towards the exit.

I could hear soft sounds inside various apartments. Presumably, most people were still hiding away in their apartments.

It made me wonder how long that could last. From what Samantha had told me, there would be increasingly difficult waves of monsters to overcome. Only the people who raised their levels on the first few waves would stand a chance surviving what was yet to come.

I probably cut an incongruous figure, wearing an orc’s helmet, blood-stained magician’s robes, heavy boots, and holding a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. Slung over my back was my backpacking backpack.

The streets were empty. I couldn’t sense any danger, and I couldn’t see any people. It was eerily silent.

I took out my compass, which would point me to the nearest town. When I’d woken up this morning, it had shifted to point to the north. Following Samantha’s advice, I spent some time walking in a line perpendicular to the direction of the nearest town.

Samantha promised that she would be able to estimate the distance of the nearest town this way. If it was too far, it would be more efficient for me to find a way to create my own town.

It seemed we were lucky, though. After about ten minutes of walking, Samantha assured me the nearest town was less than a day’s journey away.

I encountered a few scavengers as I jogged through the streets. People raiding grocery stores glanced up and stared at me, but I didn’t bother talking to them.

I even saw some people who had probably been through the tutorial. People wearing armor, holding weapons, roaming the streets and stealing food.

It was concerning, not finding a single monster nearby.

Samantha highlighted something in my vision. It looked like a mouse the size of a backpack.

I rushed towards it, but the creature sensed me immediately and dove into an open manhole.

Samantha said. She sounded excited.

I felt a shiver travel through my spine, as I imagined all of the earth covered in moss. Isn’t this just the first wave though? Shouldn’t it be easy to defeat?

Samantha said.

What would it take to defeat it?

I felt a headache growing. Fighting moss had been the last thing on my agenda when I woke up. Alright. How do I find this thing?

Compared to the tutorial, I couldn’t help but curse the inefficiency of leveling back on Earth.

After an hour of wandering, I felt like I had finally caught the bitter, poisonous scent of the Hyron Moss.

What used to be a grove of trees near a park was now a small grove of trees covered in dark green moss. I found a group of trees that weren’t covered in moss, climbed one, and settled in for a long wait.

Samantha said.

I snorted mentally. And meanwhile, there would be a poisonous moss killing people and terraforming Los Angeles. It sounds like you’re trying to turn me into an evil overlord or something. It’s not going to happen.

Samantha started, then paused.

I feel like we’re counting our chickens before we hatch, here, I thought back. It’s not like we have access to the nucleus now…

We went back and forth for a while, and then I finally caught sight of an approaching Hyron Vole.

It sniffed the air cautiously, approached the moss, and started digging gently. The vole avoided damaging the moss as much as it could, but it still managed to uproot a Mana Bead—a small ball of hardened mana about the size of a bumblebee—which it promptly ate.

Then the vole moved onto another section of moss and repeated the process.

Once it had three beads in its stomach, the vole scurried away.

Rather than chase it, I followed carefully from a distance, focusing on the acrid scent that the vole left.

Another strike against your farming idea, I told Samantha. I don’t think I could stand dealing with this stench on a regular basis.

Samantha offered, without a hint of sarcasm.

Fuck you, I shot back, feeling a rush of panic and adrenaline. Samantha already had messed with my brain. Images flashed through my mind. Goblin corpses. My whole body covered in blood. My dismembered left arm, which I treated like a papercut--

I felt my breathing grow more frantic, and Samantha immediately spoke up again.

Samantha said, slowly, soothingly. As Samantha spoke, I could feel myself relaxing. The visions of violence were still there, in the corner of my mind, but they felt more distant, less visceral.

I took a breath.

Anyway, I continued, If you’re ever going to say something that sinister, you should at least sound the part. Why not change your voice to an evil villain’s voice—Try Emperor Palpatine, or Darth Vader.

Samantha said, in her same sickly sweet tone.

Couldn’t you at least throw in an evil cackle every now and then?

Samantha said, primly.

It wasn’t long before we found the Hyron Nucleus’s lair.