“Ethan... why did you do this?”

Soon after hearing these words, I woke. That was my mother’s voice, but she wasn’t nearby. I just heard her voice in a dream. Although it was only a dream, those were precisely the last words she said to me, the words in her voice; I could sense sadness and fear — since she said that to me, two years had passed. She was still alive, but I couldn’t talk to her or my father. I couldn’t even talk to my little brother and little sister. My father forbade me from doing so, all because of a single and small mistake. Well, maybe it wasn’t so small, after all, I sent ten of my classmates to the hospital. But it wasn’t my fault, I never did anything like that before, but I was too stressed, you see, I wasn’t smart, but I study seriously. However, after I entered high school, I wasn’t making much progress. Work like crazy for something and don’t see results can build up a lot of stress, and then when I heard a joke from an idiot, I went berserk. Even though they beat the crap out of me, I was the only one standing at the end of the fight, with a broken nose, an arm, and leg fractured.

Luckily, my father solved everything for me; I didn’t have to go to some police station. It pays off to have a military father, even though the constant discipline is somewhat annoying. However, I had to change schools and rent a place to live by myself, “to become someone responsible and civilized,” that was the last thing I heard from my father. For months, I heard those phrases, and I always woke up hoping to see them soon after, but over time, I realized that things wouldn’t be so simple.

Maybe I’m exaggerating, but for me who always admired my parents and siblings, spending two years without seeing them wasn’t easy, even more knowing that we were living in the same city.

Judging by the position of the sunlight in my room, I could tell that it was six o’clock. But I checked the time on my cellphone, anyway. For some reason, it wasn’t next to my bed; It was still in my pocket.

“... No battery.”

I sighed in disappointment, what a great way to start the day. But a small problem like that wouldn't ruin the start of a new day. However, after that, I frowned. I was still using the clothes that I wore yesterday.

“Could it be that yesterday I was so tired that I forgot to take out my cell phone... and change my clothes?” 

Something was wrong; I wasn’t tired to the point of going to sleep in the same clothes and without taking a shower. Confused, I tried to remember what I did after I left work the day before, but all I remembered was to admire the sunset as I walked, nothing else. I didn’t even remember how or what time I got home.

“I think I’m too young to have amnesia. Maybe I’ll make an appointment with a doctor, just to make sure there’s nothing wrong with me.”

Since I would need my cellphone, I tried to charge it, but again there was no response. At this point, I couldn’t help but feel a headache.

“Great... there’s no better way to start the day! What’s the next problem?”

Complaining wouldn’t solve anything, so I decided to forget those things for now. To cool my head, I sat on the bed and started watching the sky through my bedroom window, nothing better than a blue sky to calm my mind. However, I couldn’t see the blue sky, thanks to a massive smokescreen.

Quickly, I opened the window of my room to verify the origin of all that smoke. However, there wasn’t only a single place; I could see smoke rising from many points. It didn’t take long for me to smell the smoke; It seemed some house nearby was on fire.

“What the hell is going on? A terrorist attack?!”

The most surprising thing was that everything was quiet, which was very strange since this kind of incident attracted a lot of people. However, at that moment I couldn’t see or heard anyone on the streets; It seemed that I was in a ghost town. My first thought was to call the police and ask what was going on, but soon I remembered that my phone wasn’t working.

“... Why did my cell phone have to stop working exactly today?”

I looked from one side to another, but I didn’t see any of my neighbors. Then, I started to hear a bizarre sound, gradually that noise began to become more audible, something was approaching, something vast and massive. Although something strange was happening, at that moment, my curiosity was stronger, and even without knowing if it was safe or not, I opened the window of my room again to see what was approaching. To my surprise, I saw a great shadow crossing the street and approaching, as the shadow approached that strange and disturbing sound increased, I didn’t know what that was, but obviously, wasn’t a good thing. So, immediately, I closed the window of my room and covered it with the curtain, a few seconds later, I also could feel the earth tremble, and when I felt the tremor, I finally recognized that sound.

“Don’t tell me this is...”

To confirm my suspicions, I lifted a little the curtain, and I froze when I realized that my suspicions were correct, that wasn’t a shadow; It was a horde of rats! However, they weren’t common rats; They were one meter tall, and some of them even walked on two legs!

For a few seconds, my mind couldn’t process what I was seeing, but somehow, it all made sense when I concluded that it was just a dream.

“This is just a dream... yeah, this is a dream! There aren’t rats of this size, and surely terrorists haven’t attacked this city...”

I tried to calm myself saying those things, but when I looked at my sweaty hands, my mind told me it wasn’t a dream; people don’t sweat inside their dreams. Without having time to think, I heard a loud crash on the door of my house. I hoped that was a person, but only a lunatic would leave his home after seeing that horde. Again, I heard a loud crash, with no other choice. I gathered a little courage and looked through the window for the second time. Several rats were attacking the doors of the houses on the other side of the street, and the rats that could walk on two legs were invading the houses through the windows.

“This is just a dream, just a dream... but even in a dream; I don’t want these things near me.”

Slowly I got up and silently stepped out of my room. I knew that my bedroom’s window would break easily, so I locked the door after I left, this was probably a futile effort, but at that moment, I couldn’t think clearly to realize it. Since I lived alone, my house was small, so as soon as I left my room, I could see the front door of the house shaking and gradually cracking.

“This is just a dream, just a dream...”

While I said this to convince myself, I grabbed all the chairs that I saw and used them to block the entrance of my home. However, that didn’t solve anything, because the door was still shaking and cracking.

“I need something bigger and sturdy...”

I concluded that and looked to all directions. To my surprise, there was a wooden box which seemed very sturdy, but I didn’t remember buying an object like that, besides, the box was in the center of the room, instead of my dinner’s table.

“I don’t have time to think about this!”

At the moment, it didn’t matter the origin of that box or who put that there, all that mattered was that I could use it to block the door. However, when I approached to lift the box, it automatically opened, and that was strange because I was sure there was no electronic device in that box. In a stupid act, I forgot my purpose, looked inside the box, and saw a wooden bow and an empty quiver.

“What the…”

Before I could finish the question, I heard a loud sound coming from the door; finally, the rats broke part of the door, and now I could see their furry faces, their fangs, and claws more clearly. Now, much more than before they scared me. Even if it were only three rats, I knew it I wouldn’t last long if they bit me or hit me with their claws. With that in mind, I regained my focus and desperately tried to lift the box toward the door; however, even after using all my strength, I couldn’t lift it.

“Shit, why doesn’t this fucking box move?”

I didn’t have time to lose, so I gave up picking up the box and started to push it, but again, I didn’t succeed.

“Is this some joke? Is this box stuck on the floor?”

Annoyed, I punched the box, but only a single time, because I heard another loud crash coming from the door, and I saw another piece of wood flying. At that point, I knew I couldn’t block the door anymore, and since I couldn’t escape because there were thousands of these creatures on the streets, I realized that I had no choice but to fight and kill those things before they kill me.

“Okay, calm down... there’s no reason to be scared, they’re just oversized rats, you can deal with them...”

While trying to calm down, I searched for something that could serve as a weapon. Unfortunately, there weren’t many objects that could help me at that time; All I found were two kitchen knives.

“... I don’t have any other option; this will do the job.”

I felt immense despair when I realized that my life depended on two kitchen knives, but I had no other option, so I tried to convince myself that they would be enough to protect me. At that moment, although I still denied it, I already knew that I wasn’t in a dream; I was in a nightmare, but a real nightmare where my life was at risk. Anyway, I couldn’t face those creatures head-on, so I hid in the bathroom of my home and attack them by surprise.

Even as I left the kitchen as fast as I could, I felt a great desire to look at that box again, as I had hoped, nothing had changed, inside the box, there were only the bow and quiver without arrows. I had never shot an arrow, but even so, I would feel a little less defenseless using that bow instead of those kitchen knives, in fact, I preferred it because I could keep a more significant distance from those creatures. However, a bow without arrows was a useless tool. Even knowing this, I still felt a great desire to take that bow, I didn’t know why, but I felt that somehow that bow would help me to survive at that moment. And so I made my decision and picked up the bow. To my surprise, I felt a severe headache when I touched the bow; even with my eyes closed because of the pain, I could see a message inside my mind:

Survivor Registered

I certainly didn’t have time to lose, but that headache was so intense that I couldn’t open my eyes; I had even forgotten that message. Luckily, the pain was over before the rats could destroy the rest of the door when I opened my eyes; the bow was in my left hand, and the quiver somehow was on my back.

Simple Bow and Quiver equipped. Current amount of ammo: 00/25

Do you want to spend 25 MP to create 25 wood arrows? Y/N

“What the hell is going on?”

At that point, I began to question my sanity. I could accept to some degree the existence of those creatures. Or the fact of my city was being attacked. But I couldn’t accept blue screens suddenly appearing inside my mind, that was just too weird. However, I didn’t have to question every single odd thing happening. Besides, what could I lose in that situation? Without a single second of hesitation, I decided to accept it, but to my surprise, the arrows appeared in the quiver almost immediately. After that, I felt a little dizzy and tired. But that wasn’t nearly enough to make me pass out.

“All right, now that’s a little better.”

Without wasting time, I threw away the knives and picked an arrow. It was at that moment; another weird thing happened.

Passive Skill Crosshair has been activated.

And just like that, I could see a crosshair in my field of vision.

“... better not dwell on that.”

The creatures had already destroyed half of the door, and they were only fifteen meters away from me. I had to make every shot worth it, or I would be doomed. I had never used a bow, but during the two years I worked at the training center, I saw the athletes shoot with bows thousands of times. Therefore, I knew what to do.

Without thinking twice, I equipped the arrow and prepared to shoot it. It was at that moment that I realized that I had overestimated myself; I had a weapon that passed me confidence in my hands; I had a clear vision of the enemies and had time to injure them mortally. However, I didn’t have the mental preparation, much less the experience to deal with the situation, while I regulated my aim towards them, I could see my hands shaking. The crosshair was moving around the creatures like crazy.

“Today isn’t my day...”

The crosshair was an excellent tool, but it wouldn’t do all the work for me. Since I was nervous and my body wasn’t steady, there was no way that I would hit any of those creatures.

‘Pull the string as much as possible, don´t tremble... and breathe deeply. Then shot!’

I did as precisely as I told myself, thanks to that the crosshair stopped moving around and I killed one rat. The arrow pierced its head with ease.

‘’Beginner’s luck exist..."

A single success made me drop my guard, even in that situation, I smiled instead of preparing myself for another shot. Thanks to that, the remaining rats destroyed the door and furiously jumped at me.

“Holy crap! Get away from me, you monsters!”

Thanks to the adrenaline and thanks to the distance, I also killed the second rat before it could reach me, but the third managed to attack. Clumsily, I jumped to the side, but that thing slashed my right leg with its claws.

“FUCK!”

The burning pain made me curse the creature, but that wouldn’t stop the damn thing. I didn’t have time to get up or create a distance before the next attack. I was dead.

For a brief moment, I could see the ecstasy in the creature’s eyes. The expression of a predator, to think that an oversized rat would kill me. How could I be so unlucky? However, the death never came, instead, the time stopped, and the surrounding space changed. I wasn’t in my home anymore; I was in another house very different from mine, and I could see myself stabbing a rat with a combat knife. That was strange; I had nothing like that. But that didn’t matter; that scene made me understand that I could still fight; that scene made my blood boil. Just like that day, when I fought against those ten guys.

In less than a blink of an eye, I returned to my home. I couldn’t use the bow, but I still could use the arrows. The creature slashed its claws toward me, and again, managed to wound me, this time on my left arm. But the beast paid for it, since I stabbed its right eye with three arrows. The creature screamed in pain, a bizarre sound that almost made me freeze on the spot, but I didn’t stop. This time I attacked the other eye. Blood fell on me like rain, but that annoying smell wasn’t enough to make me stop. I stabbed and stabbed. The creature screamed and screamed. Until one of my attacks finally reached its brain.

I stabbed a few more times after the creature fell on the floor just to make sure, but soon I also fell on the ground. My heart was beating like crazy, and I was breathing with difficulty. It took several minutes for me to recover. But before that happened, another message appeared in my head.

You survived your first battle.

You have obtained the skill: Concentration

You have obtained Three Evolution Orbs

You have obtained Three Evolution Coins