I'm really getting tired of listening to these idiots try and come up with explanations for what's going on.

I mean, a few of their ideas were entertaining at least. Not at all worth the 15 minutes it took them to come up with it, but entertaining nonetheless.

My favorite thus far has to be Peter's idea.

He seems to think that this is a ploy by the government to rid America of the weak and use the survivors as unwilling super soldiers. A few dark areas...okay a lot of dark areas, but I respect the effort.

And as funny as I may think it is to watch an old man struggle to understand video game logic, I'm starting to lose my cool for some reason.

Every second I spend watching them fool around makes me unreasonably angry. I don't have the slightest clue as to why, either. I mean, I for one think I'm enjoying myself quite a lot watching them foolishly try to explain the unexplainable.

And the hunger...it's almost unbearable. I remember eating nearly 10 lbs worth of goblin meat a few hours ago, yet I feel as if I haven't eaten in a week.

This almost surely has to do with my [Blood Trance] skill, my [Predator] title, or maybe a mix of both.

I've noticed that the voices tend to get louder whenever those three are talking. Surprisingly, it isn't as bad as you'd think. Whenever I tell them to settle down, they do. They obey me for the most part.

Surprisingly, they tend to help sometimes too.

Whenever I think of a serious question, one of the voices answer. Some speak as if the words they are saying come from experience, like they were recommending it to me, rather than telling me what is best. At other times, it's that same raspy voice that drearily tells me something as if it was fact. It always seemed reluctant to tell me.

I stopped thinking to myself and decided to instead start paying attention to whatever the three stooges were doing.

Apparently, that consisted of intently staring at me. I don't know when they stopped talking and started staring at me, but it's definitely happening. Why they are staring at me? I don't know.

"Well? What d'ya say?" John asked.

"You know...that's a great question," I responded.

"Peter came up with the idea that if we really are in some sort of video game situation like John suggested, we should start acting accordingly," Miya explained, obviously aware of the fact I hadn't been listening.

"And just what do you think is considered 'acting accordingly?'" I queried.

"I say it means we should try and get stronger. Usually, in these games, that would mean taking down monsters to level up," Peter suggested.

"And what exactly was I asked again?"

"We were just wondering if you wanted to join us or not. The more the merrier. You don't have to agree, but I feel like everyone would be safer if we stuck together. Also, I'm getting tired of looking at these two. I could use a new face around." John joked.

I paused for a few seconds to act as if I was seriously considering the offer. After a few moments, I looked at John and answered.

"Why not? It's not like I'll be surviving this alone." I respond.

The looks on all three of their faces lit up.

"Great! I was hoping you would say that. Well, what are we waiting for? No time like the present!" John exclaimed.

That's a change of mood.

...

We've been sneaking around for a few minutes now, and there's not a goblin in sight. This has given me time to think, and I just now realized something I didn't before.

I never checked what that [Traitor] title does.

[Traitor] is a title obtained by betraying someone who thought of you as a comrade.

Effects:

Makes it moderately harder to gain positive karma.

Increases critical strike chances on individuals that trust the user.

...

What is karma?

"Karma affects your alignment and also determines the effectiveness of certain skills. An example would be a user with a holy ability that smites sinners. Individuals with low karma or evil-alignment such as yourself would be affected far greater than someone with high karma."

Thank you very much.

"..."

I'll take that as a "you're welcome."

Snapping out of my thoughts, I notice the group has stopped. It seems they have come across another gobl- what the hell is that?

In front of me is a brownish-red scaled creature with backward-bent legs, holding a spear. It had large, yellow eyes and a head resembling that of a lizard. It was a fair bit taller than a goblin but still shorter than the average human.

At first glance, it looks like it's merely wandering around alone. But when I looked closer, I noticed more than one head of a spear around the corner of a shelf.

It didn't take more than a second to figure out that this was an ambush. It was far too obvious. You'd have to be a complete idiot to fall for-

"Look guys, a lone monster! Just what we've been looking for!"

Oh my god...

"Keep it down Peter! Even if there are 1 of it and 4 of us, it doesn't matter if it runs away," said Miya.

I'm sad to say that those were the most logical words that have come out of any of these idiots' mouths so far.

I swear I don't know what's more surprising. The fact that goblins and lizard people are in a retail store, or the fact that these people have brains.

"So...what's the plan?" Miya asked, turning to John.

"There may only be one monster, but we don't know how many there may be nearby. I say we approach as cautiously as we can and try to sneak up on it. " John suggested.

"What if it notices us and runs away? I feel like we should rush it so it doesn't have time to react!" Peter argued.

Wait. This is good.

"Hey, Jacob. You got any ideas? These two can't seem to agree on a plan." Miya asked.

This is my chance.

"I don't know...both seemed like pretty good plans. If I had to pick one..." I stalled.

All three of them were looking at me now.

"I feel like Peter might be onto something. I believe, however, that we should have someone in the back to act as a lookout. It's a mix of both plans, you could say." I connived.

They were all silent for a moment before John spoke.

"It looks to me like we've found a compromise. Correct everyone?"

"Sounds like a plan..." Peter mumbled.

...

"So...whos going to stay back?" Peter asked.

There was silence for a second. Miya was about to say something, but I beat her to it.

"I will. My body wasn't exactly in fighting condition even before this day went to shit, so I don't think I would be of much help in the front. My eyes are perfectly fine though, so I'll tell you guys if any other monsters show up."

Miya looked surprised for a moment before John spoke again.

"Sounds fair. I didn't take you for the fighting type anyway. Be sure to tell us if you see anything."

"Will do," I affirm with a smile.

As John, Peter, and Miya began heading towards their target at high speed, the lizard creature turned around, noticing them immediately.

The creature let out a high-pitched screech that gave me a flashback of my alarm clock.

"RRRRUAAAAAA!"

As I expected, once the screech was over, all of the monster's allies soon appeared in mass, some holding spears, others with curved daggers resembling the tusks of a sabertooth tiger.

"What the hell?!" Peter screamed.

There were 10 monsters in total. 6 behind the stooges, 4 in front. It seems they haven't noticed me yet.

Miya looked back at me through the crowd of monsters and yelled something.

"What happened to looking out for danger?!"

"I swear I didn't see them! It's almost like they appeared out of nowhere!" I lied.

"We don't have time to argue right now! Fight for your lives!" John commanded.

I run towards the group of monsters and stooges, ready to enact my plan.

As John and Miya struggle to keep the red-scaled creatures off of them, Peter releases a swing from his shovel as if he was playing baseball, sending one of the creatures flying. It would have been a lot more impressive if he hadn't hit it with the flat side, but still.

I suppose I found who the heavy metal bat belonged to before it was placed in the hands of the girl who can't lift it.

Peter displayed a fist pump before getting struck with a multitude of stabs from both his front and behind. This results in Peter becoming filled with dozens of spear-shaped holes on his body, allowing blood free transport from the open wounds, onto the floor.

John isn't doing much better, as without a weapon, he can't reliably defend himself against the creatures' attacks, let alone think of going on the offensive. The reason he didn't ask me for my weapon is because I hid it as soon as I met them, therefore making him think I had no weapon to give. I was not going to let them know I had a dagger.

Miya managed to block a few attacks with the bat, before getting a cut to her knee by one of the dagger-wielding creatures. She ended up falling on the floor, being put in a vulnerable position.

It's time.

While the fight had been going on, neither the monsters nor the stooges had realized that the number of monsters had been going down this entire time. I had started killing them off after having one of the things launched right to my feet, all thanks to our favorite jock.

I ended up using {Mire} after stabbing them in the throat didn't work. That worked significantly better. Of course, I knew that they would scream if I just set them on fire, so I made sure to stab them in the throat first, as it didn't kill them, but it sure as hell shut them up.

With the monster population down to 4, a measly fraction of what it was before, both Miya and the monsters themselves noticed the number difference fading away.

I stop using {Mire} as there is no longer a need to be discreet. I just slice away at the creatures, hitting wherever my dagger lands. This ends up being enough to clean up the rest of the creatures, clearly injured and exhausted from fighting the stooges.

Miya runs up to me, limping slightly.

"Jacob thank god! You saved us! But John..."

I look behind Miya and notice John lying on the ground, accompanied by a significantly large pool of blood.

"A shame..." I mutter.

"Yeah..." Miya whispers.

"Truly a shame..."

Miya looks up as Peter walks up next to her.

"What are you gu-"

Peter's head drops to the floor as his blood flies through the open air.

Miya's eyes widen in horror.

"Truly a shame...that I couldn't take his EXP for myself."

Miya's mouth opens up to say something, but before she could make a sound, her body goes up in a green flame.

The fire would burn away at her skin, revealing charred flesh, and blackened bone. But before any of that, a look on her face appeared that I would never forget.

It was a face that could only be described as pure despair.