Peter looked at the dog huddled in the corner of the main entrance. The brown and black rottweiler had lost a leg and was lying in a puddle of blood. He felt pity for the poor animal, but he swung his machete none-the-less.

“At least you won’t have to suffer any longer…” Peter murmured.

“Ding”

[Act of Mercy]

Hearing the system message, Peter waited in anticipation of a reward. After waiting several seconds before realizing there were no rewards, he mentally scolded, ‘You drop the bait and now that I’m hooked, you don’t deliver!’

Swallowing the injustice, he began to examine his surroundings. The street was practically a ghost town: empty and devoid of people. Focusing his senses, he could feel that he was being watched, but was unaware of the danger lurking nearby.

Clink

Turning his head towards the noise, Peter discovered a rat.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Peter looked at the 2-meter tall rat and slowly backed up.

“SCREECH!” The rat bolted at lightning speed towards Peter. He reacted instantly and drew his Glock. Two bullets instantly pierced the rat's brain and ended its life. The rat’s furry body slid across the floor before stopping in front of Peter.

“Ding”

[You have killed a giant rat using an unauthorized weapon. Penalty: Confiscation of used weapon]

‘Unauthorized? Am I missing something here? Did this system penalize me for using a gun? It’s a friggin’ apocalypse out here.’ Lost in thought, he didn't even realize the hundreds of rats forming a crowd behind him.

~Scree~

Without looking behind, he began to run.

His instinct switched to full survival mode as he ran along the deserted streets. However, his luck didn't last long because there was a platoon of goblins ahead.

After sneaking into a nearby alleyway he jumped over the fence and found a pipe attached the side of the building. He climbed up the building like a monkey climbing a tree and reached the rooftop of the Santiago Bar.

The bar was at least two minutes away from his shoddy three-floor apartment. Realizing how close he was to death, from the goblins to the horde of red-eyed rats, Peter finally felt somewhat exhausted.

“Ouch.” He felt a slight pain in his left side and discovered a rat biting into his clothes. Immediately, he grabbed the rat and slammed it towards the floor and a disgusting crunch ensued.

“Yuck. Wiping away the blood on the side of his jeans, Peter heard a peculiar buzzing sound. Following the noise, he looked up and saw a dragonfly double the size of the giant rat.

Hovering a hundred feet above Peter with an impressive 5-meter length and 12-meter wingspan, the dragonfly loudly screeched as if pronouncing its arrival to an inferior creature.

“Ding”

[Elite monster: Greedy Blue Dragonfly. Level: N/A. Skills: N/A]

‘Aren’t you a wonderful blessing, system.’ Dripping inwardly with sarcasm, Peter lowered his hips waiting for the dragonfly to swoop in. Yet, before his eyes could process the dragonfly’s movement, his entire body screamed “SWING!”

Puchi!

The dragonfly’s body slammed into the ground as blue liquid seeped out of its wounded wings. His machete managed to cut off the wings from its left side.

‘Whew. That was intense, probably more intense than skinny dipping in Libya. God damn shoot-on-sight…’

Cold sweat ran down Peter’s back as he rubbed his right shoulder. Thinking back to how he got his hideous scar, a jittery feeling grew inside of him. After coming close to death again, Peter no longer held back his killing intent.

"I need to start getting serious, or I might die." Peter grimaced inwardly and resolved to become more ruthless. The dragonfly on the floor started shuddering as it knew that its death was approaching.

Peter stared seriously at the dragonfly before driving the machete into its kaleidoscopic eye.

“Ding!”

[You are the 19th person to kill an elite class monster]

[Reward: Random Skill Book OR Random Item]

Seeing that he had a choice, Peter thought back to his childhood. He remembered in the RPGs he used to play, specifically, that skills were much rarer than items. However, this was not a game, but reality. And presently, he needed an upgrade.

‘I only have one gun left, the machete is getting dull, and the daggers haven’t been fine tuned in a while. I already have Mind’s Eye, maybe I should choose a weapon. At least it won’t be confiscated.’ After a brief run-down and weighing the pros and cons Peter said out loud, “I want a random item.”

A light blinded Peter’s vision and a ring appeared. ‘What THE HELL! I said an item, not a ring!’

[Ring of Strength - Rare]

[Effects: +15 STR]

[Skill: Sacrifice 10% of stamina per minute for double strength.]

“Oh, nice stats! Is this a marriage proposal SYSTEM?” Peter joked. He tauntingly looked up at the sky and waited for a response or punishment, but nothing happened. In the end, Peter scoffed and put on the ring.

Instantly, Peter felt his entire body heating up. Within several seconds, the steam fizzled and he felt empowered. Not mentally, but physically stronger. Although his common sense refused to believe it was true, his instinct told him otherwise.

‘No bloody way. I got stronger from putting on a ring.’ Looking at the ring in awe, Peter took it off and wore his glove over it. ‘Now no one can take my precious.'

Taking a peek below the roof, he noticed the rats had scattered. There were still some rats scurrying around, but he felt confident that he could take them on. He kicked open the roof door and walked down the stairs to the bar.

Zzz

The lights flickered on and off as if the place was haunted. Ignoring the chilly air, he noticed it was unusually quiet downstairs. Focusing his ears, he heard faint breathing from inside. ‘Definitely alive’

He lightly pushed the wooden door and heard a pumping noise. “Hey, easy... I wasn't going to hurt you,” Peter said meekly facing the old man with the shotgun pointed towards him. “Is that you sonny?” Hearing a familiar voice, Peter took a closer look at the disheveled old man and replied, “Mick?”

“Peter?”

Peter’s lips curled upwards into a grin. “Yeah, now put your gun down old man, before you hurt yourself!”

“HAHA, you’re still alive sonny!” The old man’s wrinkled face seemed to gain a little life as he smiled. The old man grabbed Peter and gave him a bear hug and asked, “You have any idea what in the world is going on?” Peter scrunched his face and poured a glass of whiskey.

“Na. I also want to know when this shit is going to end.” Peter reached over the bar and took another glass and poured a glass of whiskey for Mick. Mick kicked over a familiar green corpse and downed the glass.

“Ahh, I really shouldn’t be drinking. Me old liver can’t take much more of it.” Peter laughed at the old man before turning serious. He locked eyes with the old man and asked, “Did Mary leave yet?”

The old man frowned and they sat together in silence for the next two glasses. “Old man, I’m heading out. If you wanna come, then come with. If you wanna make this place your grave, then rest in peace.” Peter even put his vest on the table, hoping his ultimatum would move the old man.

“Sonny, keep it. I’m taking this joint with me to my deathbed.” The old man chortled. Seeing his die-hard attitude, Peter bent over the table and gave the old man a firm hug. Then he shoved two bottles of whiskey into a backpack and left. Walking into the distance, Peter heard a loud gunshot.

“Damn it. Stubborn bastard.” Peter felt a tinge of guilt and thought of Amy again. ‘I’m sorry little girl. I’m going to have to break yet another promise.’ Peter clutched his machete and turned around. He swung at the masked woman running towards him.

The masked woman jumped back and stared daggers at Peter. “What the hell are you doing?” Peter looked at the slightly pissed off woman and replied, “What the hell are you doing?” The woman hesitated and told the truth.

“I was going to kill and rob you.” Peter put on a shocked face and started laughing afterward. “Little girl, you know how many times I’ve heard that before?” Peter exaggeratingly gestured.

“Then?” Peter could feel the irritability in her voice and decided to cut to the chase. Peter smiled and said, “Just walk away and I’ll pretend it never happened, ok?” The woman slowly backed up, but out of the blue, a 6-meter wide bird swooped her up like a worm.

“AHH!!”

‘There goes my last gun.’ Peter drew his pistol and unloaded the entire chamber.

Scree!

The bird violently convulsed before falling 10 meters to the ground.

“Ding!”

[You have killed a Golden Eagle using an unauthorized weapon. Penalty: Confiscation of used weapon]

‘Drat. This bitch owes me a gun.’ Inwardly cursing, Peter walked towards the masked female, held his hand out and asked, “Are you okay?” Seeing Peter’s expression, the masked woman began to laugh. Her laugh was melodious, fatally charming.

“You think you can help me up? My ankle is stuck.” Unlike her grim personality earlier, her voice seemed to contain a hint of warmth. Peter wordlessly lifted the bird corpse and tossed it over. After flipping the corpse over, Peter and the masked woman both discovered a shining white box.

The dainty voice instantly became savage and she growled, “It’s mine!” Peter scoffed and mercilessly kicked the greedy woman in the ribs with full force. With the extra +15 STR, the woman’s ribs cracked like fireworks. Picking up the glowing white chest, Peter grinned in anticipation. The system rewards were always generous and this chest looked like the jackpot.