“This motherfucker,” Lebowski said, turning around. The boar snorted at him. Then, popping his collar and unbuttoning his top button to his Hawaiian shirt, Lebowski opened his arms out wide, beckoning at the beast. The boar took to his call, charging at him.

Right before the boar was about to skewer him, Lewbowski dove to his left, rolling up to his feet once the boar tumbled into the stream. Water rushed over the beast, distracting it as it tried to get its footing. The small rocks and sediment at the bottom of the stream caused the beast to stumble. Lebowski took the small moment that was granted to him. He took a sharp, pointed rock off the ground and ran into the water.

The boar stilled itself, surprised that the small human decided to charge it.

With a manic gleam in his eye, Lebowski nimbly dashed around to the back of the boar.

The boar tried to keep the human in front of it, but it was much too slow. Jumping onto its back, Lebowski grabbed hold of the boar’s long, wiry fur and made his way to his head. The boar bucked, feeling the strange creature come closer and closer to its head.

Lebowski cackled when he reached the base of the beast’s neck. It was a mad and broken thing, his laugh. It was a sound born out of euphoric madness, the sound of someone losing their mind and enjoying the fact that it was getting lost. Lebowski was sinking into the abyss, and he loved it.

Lifting the rock with two hands, Lebowski drove it deep into the boar’s eye. It released a loud, agonizing squeal. Its bucking became a desperate thrashing. Sensing what was about to happen, Lebowski jumped off the boar’s back, landing near the shore.

The boar flipped onto its side, rolling end over end in the shallow water. The rocks on the bottom made room for the boar’s massive weight, allowing it to sink farther and farther. Finally, with the stone still deep in its head, the boar went under the running water.

In his moment of safety, Lebowski found time to panic. Where the hell did he put his hat? It was just on his head… and then he put it down. Yes, yes, and then the boar charged. Of course, he was moving on. Then he put it… well, he didn’t really put it anywhere now, did he. There to there, then from there to here, from here to nowhere. Fucking hell.

Looking around every which way, Lebowski found his hat. It was by the shore where the water met the sand. God bless, what a lucky break. Hats and running away, oh what a horrible habit.

Bending down to pick it up, Lebowski realized the boar had stopped moving.

Congratulations! You have to be the luckiest person to have ever stumbled upon the Alpha Boar. Who would have thought that you would have had the gall to kill it! You little monster!

Reward: 1,500 points, a Title, and access to The Store!

You now have access to The Store! The Store is designed to help you achieve a fighting edge in this arena of death! It provides anything from food, clean drinking water, and maybe even new underwear. Guess there is only one way to find out.

Under this box, there was another one.

Achievement!

You have received the Title “Boss Slayer.”

“Boss Slayer” - for single-handedly killing a minor boss within the first couple hours of your new, puny existence, you are rewarded this Title! Don’t let it get to your head.

This Title gives 20% extra points when you solo kill a boss. Oh, and you get a couple of stat points as well.

And another.

For being the third person to access the Store, you are rewarded one free purchase for under 10,000 points. Don’t blow all of Momma’s money, kid!

The text appeared in Lebowski’s vision just as suddenly as before. Reading through it, Lebowski learned a couple of things.

Firstly, he was not the only person in this scenario. The message said that he was the third to find access to The Store, so that means that there are, at the very least, two other people in a similar situation as him. He didn’t know whether to feel relieved or depressed. After all, he did need a vacation. But a vacation isn’t something that involves other people…

The second thing he learned is that the Voice seems to have a personality. So, either someone is tailoring these messages directly for him, or maybe the Voice researched humans. What’s interesting is that the messages before did not have this attitude. So, perhaps now that he did something to catch its attention, the Voice deems it worthy of putting a little more effort into his experience? Eh, maybe.

Lastly, he learned that the Voice seemed to reward the bold. He could have played it safe and scrambled up into a tree again as he did before. But he would have gained very little given his experience. Instead, he attacked the damn bastard boar with tremendous risk to his outfit and achieved much. The Voice rewards the wild.

Out of all the information he gleaned, Lebowski was most excited about the possibility of finding a gun in The Store. As much as he enjoyed killing things, he preferred it to be less personal and from a distance… and with less danger to himself. A gun would do wonders in this regard.

“Voice, I’d like to see the store, please.” Half expecting it not to work, Lebowski jumped in surprise when items appeared in his vision.

It looked like a website like Amazon or something similar. Thousands and thousands of materials floated in front of him like they were on a 2D screen. Food bars, water, camping supplies, armor, and even swords were all offered by The Store. Hell, he even found Hawaiian shirts, hundreds of them appearing in his vision as he mentally scrolled down. They even had some in red!

But he balked when he looked at the point total.

Hawaiian Shirt (Rare)

A great-looking item that only the most cultured of humans wore. This shirt will provide the user with +4 Charisma and +4 Agility.

Cost: 5000 points

Why in the world would this one shirt cost that much? Don’t get him wrong, Lebowski loved his Hawaiian shirts, but this seemed a bit ridiculous. And what the hell was Charisma anyway? He didn’t recognize it as a stat he had. Confirming, Lebowski pulled up his status screen.

Name: Lebowski Lebowski

Titles: Boss Slayer

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Class: none

Stats:

Strength - 12 -> 13

Agility - 12 -> 15

Vitality - 10 -> 12

Intelligence - 13

Wisdom - 9

Luck - 16

Skills: none

Race: Human

Cultivation: none

His stats went up, which was good, he supposed, even though he did not feel any different. But, most importantly, there was not a Charisma stat. Was it a hidden stat? Maybe… or was it only a stat that could be gained through items like the Hawaiian shirt? If so, then items would be amazingly powerful in this Introduction.

The Hawaiian shirt was also rare. So, it was a possibility the higher quality the items were, the more stats points they rewarded. Scrolling down to a less vibrant-looking Hawaiian shirt, Lebowski mentally clicked it.

Hawaiian Shirt (Uncommon)

A good-looking item that only the cultured humans wore. This shirt will provide the user with +2 Charisma and +2 Agility.

Cost: 3000 points

This shirt had half the stats of the other Hawaiian shirt, but its cost was less bang for the buck. So, why would anyone buy the cheaper quality items? With the rare Hawaiian shirt, you’d get 625 points for each stat point. For the uncommon Hawaiian shirt, you’d get 750 points for each stat point. That’s, of course, assuming his math was correct, which it probably wasn’t.

Lebowski always liked the more pricey items on Earth anyway, so this would be too big of a lifestyle change. Actually, yes, it was a lifestyle change. He’d finally be able to get as many red Hawaiian shirts that he wanted. That’s huge!

But enough of the number crunching, show me the guns, Voice!

Rows upon rows of weird weapons appeared. Some looked like standard Earth guns, and others looked like something that he had never seen before. Strange pulsating objects with lights shooting through them in rhythm with a heartbeat.

Lebowski reviewed the Earth gun first. It was a standard AK-47.

This is a standard gun found on Earth. Nothing special except that it will put a hole in you if you disrespect Mother Russia. (Uncommon)

Costs: 50,000 points

*Note: You have to buy the ammo separately. Sorry for the inconvenience.

*Note: This item is worth more than 10,000 points. You can not purchase it at this time. Maybe later.

That’s expensive. Way too expensive for something he can afford right now, as the message said.

He then looked at the alien-looking weapons.

Slow down, Cowboy! You can’t even afford an Earth weapon. So, there is no way you can afford this anytime soon!

Lebowski dismissed the message and tried to reaccess it. He got the same results.

“Fuck off, Voice.” Suddenly, a tree branch dropped from the canopy overhead, landing with a dull thud next to him.

“You missed.”

Only a couple of minutes had passed, and Lebowski was still by the shore. The boar had stopped moving. Lebowski did not know what exactly killed it. It could have been the stone in its eye or the water that continued to pile around it and onto its head. Probably a combination of both.

Lebowski climbed up a tree, getting off the ground. He settled into the smooth, purple bark, letting his bruised and cut body rest for a moment. The sun was disappearing under the horizon, so it would be getting dark very soon.

Pulling up The Store again, Lebowski decided he needed some supplies. Experimentally, he clicked on the purchase button for a small snack bar. With a popping sound, a small, wrapped bar fell directly into his lap. Suddenly, his stomach grumbled. He had forgotten how hungry he was. Opening the wrapper, the bar was gone in seconds. He quickly repeated this, eating five more bars before he was finished. Each bar cost 20 points, so he now had 1,380 points remaining.

Flipping through The Store’s pages, he saw something interesting.

A small inventory ring. It can hold 5x5 feet worth of storage. This is common with even the poorest of citizens within the Kalaki Empire. So don’t think of yourself as a bougie.

Cost: 10,000 points.

*Note: This is technically not under 10,000 points. But no one is that big of an asshole. Go ahead and get it, sweetie!

*Note: This item is now free

Cost: It’s free. You just read that.

Lebowski purchased it without hesitation. Again, the popping sound rang out into the jungle, and a small ring landed in his lap. It was a simple, black ring. It had no markings or extra embellishments. One might mistake it for being relatively worthless.

Slipping it onto his finger, Lebowski felt his mind expand. Then, thinking of the ring, a mental image of a five-foot by five-foot box appeared.

Lebowski purchased some bottled water, willing it to go directly into his storage ring. Thankfully, it did. Nestled into one of the corners in the box appeared a 6-pack of bottled water. There wasn’t even the popping sound.

“This is amazing,” Lebowski said, his jaw hanging open.

He purchased all the necessities he could and some rope. After Lebowski was done, his storage ring was half-full, and he was 500 points poorer.

Browsing through the rest of the items and looking for a weapon within his puny price range of 880 points, Lebowski found something interesting.

A Gentleman’s Cane (Common)

This is a well-made cane—nothing special about it except for the hidden sword inside. Be warned, though, this sword isn’t made to duel with. So don’t go playing with it.

There’s a joke in there somewhere…

Also, what are you gonna do with this? You are no gentleman.

Cost: 800 points

Purchasing it, Lebowski thought about it appearing in his right hand. Sure enough, it did. It was a plain wooden cane with a smooth, rounded handle on top. Simple, yet elegant. The only thing that stood out was that the wood was as purple as the trees around it. Perhaps the Voice pulled surrounding materials away to make the things from The Store? Lebowski didn’t really care as long as what he got was what he wanted.

Pulling the cane handle out, the sheathing sound danced in his ears as the small sword came out. It was just as plain as the cane. It had a wooden handle that was also purple and had a clean, sharp blade. The blade itself was about an arm’s length long. It was as light as a feather. Lebowski’s stomach twisted at the sight of the blade, but beggars can’t be choosers. Damn, he wished he had a gun.

Storing the cane in his inventory, Lebowski pulled out a rope he bought. Pulling it around him and tightening it, he laid back and closed his eyes. Nothing plagued his dreams that night. Instead, he slept soundly and peacefully.