Two days before the attack on the Giant Grasshoppers:

Stav was slow - that’s what everyone told him. As he hobbled through the broken city, leaning heavily on an unfamiliar cane, he was inclined to agree. At this rate, it would take him hours to make it back home.

Congratulations! Walking has reached Level 4.

He glanced at the blue screen before dismissing it. He wasn’t that old - only 61, he could still understand the gist of what the System did. Undoubtedly, he was missing aspects of it, but his grandson would fill him in on the rest when he got home.

He forced himself to move faster, ignoring the tingling numbness lingering in his left side. Yesterday, his bad habits had caught up to him in a way he couldn’t ignore. During a game of Monopoly, a heart attack debilitated him, forcing his daughter-in-law to rush him to the hospital.

Most would call him crazy - leaving the relative safety of the factory in his condition, but it was a decision he had to make. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing another member of his family. Not when he had a chance to make a difference.

With the knowledge that if he pushed himself too hard his failing heart would suffer another attack, he trudged through the sweltering heat, closing in on his neighborhood.

Congratulations! Walking has reached Level 5.

An hour later, he arrived. However, the plot of land his small house occupied was empty - the building was gone, teleported somewhere else on a whim. The only thing left was a brown teddy bear, resting on its side, in the empty plot of dirt.

“Fuck.” Stav was too slow, again.

Tired and out of breath, he stood there for a few minutes, collecting his thoughts. Even with 61 years of life experience, he didn’t know what to do - it wasn’t like he had encountered this situation before. Fortunately, or maybe, unfortunately, coming home to find that his house was teleported away wasn’t an everyday occurrence.

Misfortune struck again, not content to let him stew in his failure. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a large rat with bony spikes sticking out of his back, charging right at him. It looked more like a porcupine than anything. So far, he had managed to avoid any confrontation with the monsters, but now it seemed unavoidable.

Heart racing, Stav raised his hand and fired off a salvo of [Mana Bolt]s. The first flew high overhead, missing completely. He didn’t have much practice with the Skill - he had only used it once before to accidentally shoot the factory ceiling. With the second shot, he had learned to aim a bit better, and was able to clip the monster’s shoulder. However, its spiky quills of bone absorbed most of the impact, allowing it to continue its charge.

Congratulations! Mana Bolt has reached Level 3.

By the time he was ready to launch his third [Mana Bolt], the beast was upon him, swinging its white bone claws. Bone met bone as the monster tore deeply into his side, cutting into his ribs. At the same time, Stav unleashed a close-range bolt of Mana into the monster’s unarmored stomach.

The monster skidded away, rolling through the dirt, carried by the magic’s momentum. Equally injured, Stav collapsed to the ground, clutching his side. As he laid on the dirt, bleeding out, his heart painfully constricted in his chest, sending tingling lances of numbness through his left side.

On the bright side, to some degree, it drowned out the burning pain the cut inflicted on his torso. On the not so bright side, it meant he was close to another heart attack.

Before he could even begin to recover, the boney monster picked itself up with no trouble. His attacks had only served to make the Bone Rat angry.

Stav knew he couldn’t win - not in his condition, but as his vision drifted to the brown teddy bear lying next to him, he was filled with a conviction to fight. He couldn’t lose here. A lonely cold seeped into his bones, soothing his pain.

With the anger only a mutated rat that had been shot in the stomach could contain, the monster charged Stav again.

But Stav was angrier.

Moving as quickly as his failing body would allow, he grabbed his cane in one hand and scooped up a handful of dirt in the other. He couldn’t fail here. A few short seconds later, the oversized rat pounced on his prone form.

Using a technique he had learned in prison, he shot his hand forward and jammed the dirt into the monster’s eyes. It roared blindly, leaving shallow cuts on his arms and chest. Before the rat accidentally cut something important, he shoved the Bone Rat away and then stumbled to his feet.

At that point, finishing the fight was simple. He beat the monster to death with his cane and a barrage of [Mana Bolt]s, not giving it a chance to recover.

Congratulations! You have slain a Bone Rat - Level 1. +100 Exp.

Congratulations! Your class: [Blank] has reached Level 1. +5 Stat Points.

He took a few moments to recuperate, waiting till his bones shook off their chill and his breaths came out at a more even pace. Stav crouched down, his knees aching, and picked up the toy. Then he departed. After a quick detour to patch up his wounds, he searched the city for his family. He didn’t know where he was going - Stav had no clues to go off of, but he wasn’t willing to give up yet.

During his travels, he gained Skill Points, raised his Stats, and even unlocked new Skills. However, he couldn’t bring himself to pay too much attention to the blue screens.

It was funny in an unfulfilling sort of way. As a child, he had dreamed of wielding magic, but now that he had it, he found he couldn’t care. Power was never what he was after. Or at least the power to walk slightly faster wasn’t. Even [Mana Bolt] was nothing more than a distraction.

Moreso, he was focused on his past - how he had gotten to this point. Unbidden, the countless regrets that came with living a long life came to the forefront of his mind as he trudged through the city.

His failed marriage, his alcoholism, his run-ins with the law. He had been too slow to fix all of it, leaving those around him to suffer the consequences of his disastrous life. Stav wandered the streets as fast as his body would allow, searching for even the slightest of hints or clues.

Leaning against the side of a car, Stav took a short break. Right now, he really wished he knew how to hotwire a car. His thoughts drifted, distracting him from his aching legs.

In his absence, his son had followed in his misplaced footsteps, taking him down a path of crime. Ultimately resulting in his imprisonment. And somewhere along the Stav's ex-wife had grown tired of his numerous flaws and had moved on.

The only thing he had left in the outside world was his daughter-in-law and his grandson. For them, he calmed his bad habits and got a mundane office job at 61. It was a bit old to start - retirement wasn’t in the question for someone like him, but he felt that was fair. As long as his actions helped them in some small way, he was fine working till the day he died.

However, life was cruel, just as he turned his life around, he was struck down by a heart attack, and the end of the world followed shortly after.

The timing of the events couldn’t have been worse.

Stav shook his head. Having rested enough, he returned to his search, using a slightly more refined method this time. However, there wasn’t much room for innovation. For all he knew, his family could have been teleported to the bottom of a cave or some other unexpected location, so he couldn’t afford to rush.

After hours of work, he was no closer to his goal than when he started. He smiled wryly. If he had learned one thing in life, it was to never give up. Even if it took 60 years of painfully failing, he knew he would eventually find them.

As the sun set, Stav came upon the tallest building in the city and was struck with an idea. He entered the glass building. Unfortunately for his legs, the elevator wasn’t working, so he had to climb all 20 flights of stairs. However, reaching the top was worth it. From here, he had a clear and unobstructed view of everything. He scanned the horizon.

After a minute of searching, he spotted his house tucked away in a field of overgrown grass. More than anything, he wanted to throw caution to the wind and run there immediately, but as the sun fell lower on the horizon, dark shadows and monsters took to the streets making the journey impossible. He had barely beat one monster, he couldn't contend with hordes of them.

Stav promised himself that first thing in the morning, he would leave. His family could survive another night - they had to.

With nothing better to do, he watched the swarms of monsters amble about. Occasionally, they would spot an unfortunate soul who hadn’t managed to find a safe hiding spot for the night. From what he saw, it was clear that going outside during the night was a death sentence. No one could beat that many monsters at once.

It didn’t make him feel any better about not braving the journey.

As Stav drifted off to sleep, he wondered what happened to that scrawny kid he met in the factory. If his memory served him right, Clover was supposed to go to Walmart to pick up a gun today. If the situation was different - if he didn’t have any responsibilities, it would have been an adventure he would have loved to go on. A crippled old man and an idealistic kid in a wheelchair - that would have been a good story.

Stav slept fitfully to the howl of monsters.

Groggy and sore all over, Stav woke up to bright rays of sunlight shining into his eyes. He picked himself up, feeling stronger than he had in years. Even the cut in his side had closed. However, he couldn’t bring himself to be too happy; the bright ball of fire and plasma that was the sun had already crested the horizon, rising high into the sky. Without an alarm clock, he had slept in - something he hadn’t done in years.

“Damn it,” Stav said as he picked himself up and shuffled down the twenty flights of stairs. With a heart filled with worry, he raced towards his house as fast as he could. Which, all things considered, wasn’t very fast. His old bones wouldn’t allow him to move with the speed of his youth.

Too slow.

If his family had survived the dangerous night, they surely should be able to survive a couple more hours. They were probably sleeping right now - perfectly safe. Faith and Trevor had never liked to wake up early. Besides, monsters tended to ignore people who hid indoors. He argued with himself, rationalizing away his concerns. His surroundings faded as he poured all his focus into moving as fast as possible.

Congratulations! Walking has reached Level 14.

Congratulations! All Terrain Balance has reached Level 3.

Sometime later, Stav’s blood ran cold as he heard a blood-curdling scream pierce the air. Pushing through a waist-high field of grass, he spotted his house - the door was busted open, wood hanging limply from the hinges. Throwing caution to the wind, he sprinted through the doorway with long limping steps.

“Faith. Trevor. Where are you?”

Stav stumbled, not used to moving so quickly. He crashed against the wall, knocking a family picture down. Another scream echoed through the thin walls, answering his question. He didn’t look back as the family picture shattered against the ground. Instead, he rushed through the living room, passing a forgotten game of Monopoly.

As he entered the dining room, a green scythe-like claw, chopped into Faith, his daughter-in-law’s neck. Her head rolled to his feet, spilling blood onto the white tile floor. Stav stood still in shock, not able to understand what happened. Similarly, his grandson watched on with an open mouth, unable to move.

Too slow. If he hadn’t overslept. If he had just walked a bit faster this wouldn’t have happened.

Quickly, his shock gave way to anger. A giant green grasshopper stood in his dining room with blood dripping down its claws. It was a higher Level than him, but that didn’t matter. Stav dropped the teddy bear from his hands and stepped forward.

However, the monster did not move to meet him. Instead, it charged toward his grandson, who was still frozen. Immediately, Stav fired off a round of [Mana Bolt]s as quickly as he could, hoping to slow down the monster.

Congratulations! Mana Bolt has reached Level 5.

Congratulations! Mana Bolt has reached Level 6.

“Trevor, run!” The small child broke out of his shock and came back to reality. The bolts of magic gave Trevor just enough time to narrowly stumble out of the way of a swipe of the monster’s claws.

Stav pushed forward with a hand outstretched, reaching to pull his grandson to safety. Behind him, the Giant Grasshopper recovered from its miss and was already swinging its other claw at his grandson’s neck. Everything was moving so quickly - it was all a blur.

“Papa, help,” Trevor screamed as he took a glance behind him while stumbling forward.

Stav stretched his fingers out almost, touching his grandson. As his heart painfully thundered in his chest, Stav torturously watched as the monster stormed closer. There was nothing he could do but hope he was fast enough to pull his grandson out of the way and take the hit in his stead. At this range, he couldn’t even use [Mana Bolt].

The monster swung its claw through the air like a scythe.

Stav began to close his hand, grasping onto Trevor’s shirt.

Trevor collapsed to the floor headless.

Too slow. The thought bounced around his skull, again and again, forever imprinting itself upon his soul.

As he tripped with nothing to hold on to, something snapped or, more precisely, froze within him. What felt like a blizzard raged through his bones, bringing a biting cold. Time seemed to slow down. He fell in slow motion, the ground not growing and closer.

The pain and lonely cold reached a crescendo, and, at that moment, a blue box appeared.

Time resumed its eternal march, and Stav smashed against the floor, triggering a painful clenching in his heart. As he rolled over, he discovered the ugly green bastard was still affected by the strange effect, moving as if it was trapped within a glacier.

Even though he felt weak and light-headed, he made use of the opportunity, climbing back to his feet, doing his best to ignore the pressure in his chest and the cold in his bones. More than anything, he hated that grasshopper - he wanted it dead.

At point blank range, Stav used [Mana Bolt]. The monster’s head snapped backward unnaturally, but all the Levels it had gained from killing his family allowed it to endure the attack without much difficulty.

The moment the [Mana Bolt] landed, the cold stilled, and the monster could move without restriction again. Immediately, the monster lashed out in the only way it knew how to by swinging its sharp claws once again. By pure luck, Stav dodged. As he stepped backward, he slipped on the warm blood pooling on the tile floor, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap. As an unintentional side effect, he had avoided the attack, however, another was already coming at him.

While laying in a pool of his family's blood and suffering through a heart attack, an instinctual understanding of his new abilities dawned on him. Spurred on by memories he could never forget, the blizzard that rested in his bones seeped outward and wrapped around the monster, slowing it.

It was as if he had done the maneuver thousands of times before.

The monster’s downward slash slowed, though not nearly as much as the first time. As Stav forced himself out of the way, he felt a great force press into his bones, trying to quell his abilities. He didn’t relent.

With these new powers he could run away, but that wasn’t an option. He landed another [Mana Bolt], and the restrictions shackling the monster once again fell away. It stumbled, thrown off by the sudden change in momentum. However, it recovered unnaturally quickly, already swiping toward Stav before he could slow the monster again.

The grasshopper cut into his stomach like butter, easily tearing through his outer layers of flesh. Before the claw could cut too deeply into him, the cold energy fled Stav’s bones once more, stopping the attack in its tracks. With the monster still inside him, he threw himself to the side, avoiding further damage.

In this way, the fight continued. Stav would slow the monster - each successive use becoming harder, then hit it with a [Mana Bolt].

In truth, Stav did not remember the details of the fight; it was all a blur. He didn’t know how he won. All he knew was that it didn’t feel like a victory.

Broken and battered, Stav collapsed to the floor for one last time next to his family. He laid there waiting for death to take him, but it never came. Instead, he was left to stew in his thoughts as tears leaked from his eyes. Endlessly, he replayed the past days - seeing thousands of better solutions. The simple truth was that if he was smarter or if he had tried harder, he could have saved them.

He laid there for what felt like hours, his body cold and unresponsive. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t move a limb - a glacial cold slowed his every moment.

A blue screen blinked in his peripheral like an annoying gnat, unable to be dismissed.

Shard Unlocked! Too Slow (Low): +15 Dexterity, +15 Perception.

Abilities:

Can’t Touch Me: Use Stored Time to drastically slow enemies. Stronger enemies consume more Stored Time to restrain.

Debt: 17 Hours, 32 Minutes.

Stav read over the words with a frown. He dismissed the message, never wanting to see it again.

He laid there in a daze, the vestiges of his heart attacking fading away and his injuries slowly knitting themselves back together. With a body enhanced by the System, he couldn’t die so easily.

Around him, grass grew at a supernatural rate, and flowers bloomed to the size of small buildings, but he didn’t notice. At some point, he lost consciousness.

A scream rang out, snapping Stav out of his sleep. He didn’t open his eyes, wanting to maintain the illusion that what had happened yesterday had just been a bad dream. However, the commotion outside would not quiet down - explosions in the distance gently rocked the floor.

Still injured, he forced himself to his feet and stared out the window. Through the thick layers of tall grass, he could catch a glimpse of a battle raging outside. A pale child, similar to Trevor in appearance, looked on in fear as a Giant Grasshopper approached.

Stav wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. What did he care? He just wanted to be left alone. As he watched, his grandson’s face superimposed itself onto the pale child. He blinked, and the illusion disappeared. However, the feeling it brought to him did not.

Almost unconsciously, he found himself moving toward the battle. He couldn’t look away as the child backed up in fear. The monster pounced.

“Help,” Trevor - no, the child screamed. Immediately, Stav reached out, stirring the chilling cold in his bones into action. However, from this distance, he couldn’t do much.

Stav took a deep breath as the monster fought against his influence. He couldn’t save his family, but he could save others - stop them from feeling what he had. More importantly, he had a second chance to prove that he had it in him to save someone else - that he wasn’t too slow. That after a long life of failure, he could still find it within him to never give up.

I won’t be too slow this time.

He threw all his Stat Points into Agility and forced his broken body to sprint toward the child. Each step came out awkwardly, pulling at his wounds, but with each step he took, he could slow the monster more.

In what felt like a blur, Stav shot out of the grass. However, the monster was strong - it was able to fight through the effect, pulling closer to the screaming child even through the constant rain of magic that assailed it.

It was the exact same situation he had faced yesterday. The constant snowfall within him grew more intense, whipping itself into a veritable winter storm. In a split second, he made a decision.

I just hope I can - that I’m not too late.

His legs dug into the ground, pushing him forward faster than ever before. Stav ran into the thick of the battle, ignoring the monsters that swiped at him as he rushed past.

Almost in slow-motion, his perception allowed him to track every detail of the monster’s blade-like claws as they crept toward the child. Identical to the one that had killed his family. His bones shook as all the cold that his memories provided fuel for wrapped around the monster, freezing it for a moment.

If souls existed, a tug of war took place inside Stav’s. The monster desperately fought its way out of his grasp, gaining the upper hand due to its higher Level. But, by that point, Stav was already diving toward the child.

Grasping his shirt, Stav angled the child out of the way, just in time to block the slow-moving claw with his own body. It tore a red line into his back, but he couldn’t help but smile. This is what should have happened the first time.

Congratulations! Your Shard has improved. Too Slow (Low 1/3): +15 Dexterity, +15 Perception, +5 Agility.

He hit the ground hard, aggravating his already severe injuries. His vision flashed black as wave after wave of mental backlash from overusing his Shard hit him, threatening to knock him unconscious. Half a second later, he opened his eyes to see a pair of sharp claws swinging toward him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the pale child escaping to safety. He took one last pained breath, savoring it. As his death approached, he could not find any regret in his heart. He had settled the score; he could rest in peace now.

Like always, he did not die. He was cursed to live and face his failures.

As the battle raged on, a distantly familiar pair of clay golems intercepted the monster.