Appearing before the human, the eyes of injured cat flickered with madness and viciousness. It wanted to kill the damned human that had pushed it this far. However as it approached the human, the cat’s movement became more and more sluggish.

‘Stare at me like that and I’ll gouge your eyes out, you damn kitty. Well... at least when I’m one hundred again.’ The cat inched closer and closer to Peter. Seeing it less than a foot away, Peter began to ignore his pain limiters and frantically squirmed towards the box a mere centimeter away.

Six inches away, the cat’s forelimbs gave up and collapsed. Its body weight created a slight tremor and nudged the box ever so slightly forward. This slight tremor pushed the box close enough to Peter’s mouth as he forced opened the latch. The HP potion rolled out and into Peter’s mouth.

‘HAHAHAHA I live, you son uva bitch!’ Peter inwardly cackled like a madman, who found water in the middle of the desert. His wounds regenerated at breakneck speed. The bone-deep lacerations gradually disappeared as muscle and skin tissue were being reconnected. Feeling movement in his legs again, Peter savagely grinned at the terrified Night Cat.

“Oh, look-ey here. I’m one hundred again” Pushing himself up, Peter grabbed his [Bloody Machete] on the side and walked towards dead cat limping on the floor. As the cat futilely struggled for one last attack, Peter curled his lip upwards and brought his [Blood Machete] to its neck. Unwilling to accept its fate, it thrashed and clawed until the blade ended its life.

“Sorry little guy.”

It was a quick death. A full powered swing to the brain.

Peter wasn’t polite and flipped the cat over upon seeing a white glow underneath. The cat weighed at least two hundred pounds, but surprisingly Peter only felt a slight strain lifting it.

‘Hmm, I really got to find a way to test my limits.’

“Shing!”

[Ghost Walk – Rare]

[Passive: Minimize noise during movement.]

[Active: Become transparent for 5 seconds. 10 mana.]

‘This must’ve been the skill the cat used to sneak up on me. Even my mind’s eye barely sensed it. Well, now it’s mine.’ Peter held the book in his hands and waited with a giddy anticipation Similar to his first experience with Mind’s Eye, a rush of information flooded his brain. Since he was prepared for the pain this time around, he only winced before categorizing his new memories.

Opening his eyes, he tried using the skill, [Ghost Walk]. ‘I don’t feel any different.’ After the time expired, Peter felt a slight tug. The transition from incorporeal to corporeal felt like emerging from a pool.

“Well considering how its pitch black in here I guess there’s no way I would’ve noticed that I was invisible.” Remembering that James was still waiting in the car, Peter stuffed all the plastic wrapped food and canned food he could find into the plastic bags.

“This is neat.” Peter slipped on a shirt with a slogan, “Trump 2016”. ‘I didn’t think such a true blue city would actually sell Trump shirts here. Democracy-eh?’ Seeing the display on aisle 19 interrupted his line of thought. Peter eyes glittered and whispered, “Found the booze.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Peter?”

“Open up James, I got food.” After Peter threw the plastic bags in the backseat, James looked at the Peter in amazement and asked, “Were there any monsters in there?” Peter looked incredulously at James and replied, “Probably four dozen jungle cats and one nasty one.”

“Jun-jungl..e cats?” James stuttered. “Yeah, ferocious cats as big and strong as tigers. Sharp teeth and long claws. The big bad cat was 5 meters long.”

“Really?”

“You really piss me off, James. Did you expect me to come back looking like Rambo or somethin’?” James gulped and replied, “No"

"Alright, any other questions?"

Since Peter didn't seem to mind answering questions, James unloaded and asked about specific characteristics and even if the cats had intelligence.

After satiating James' curiosity, Peter reached into the back of the car and offered a glass of whiskey.

“No, I don’t drink.” James sighed. “Well, that’s disappointing.” Peter put the glass cup back and drank directly from the bottle. As Peter was drinking, James began stuffing his mouth with tuna. Seeing James shove food into his mouth like a beast, Peter mocked, “What happened to, I’m a family man?”

James instantly became embarrassed and shot back, “I had to work late! Plus, I only had coffee on my way back until this all happened.” Pointing at the coffee cup sitting on the cup holder made James more confident in his excuse.

“Thou shall be holy” Peter mocked again before starting up the car.

“Wait! Wait! You just drank!” Irritated at James’ question, Peter pridefully boasted, “Yeah like two glasses worth. I can stomach that. I ain’t no shmuck.” Ignoring James’ tense facial expression, Peter reversed the car back into the road.

“Where are we going now?”

“Jersey.”

“Why..? Jersey?”

“Just shut up, you'll be fine. Promise.”

“But… but…”

“No buts James, I got you food already. Technically I held up my end of the bargain, so I get to drive this car whereee ever I want!”

Driving back to the neighborhood, Peter saw complete chaos. Buildings everywhere were set on fire and monsters had overrun the entire place. There were even some humanoid beasts that resembled orcs. Seeing no way to drive past the goblins, Peter pulled the car over and parked it in a garage out of sight.

Peter took out his phone and turned it on. After the jingle, Peter decided to finally read that last message.

Message Time: JAN.1st.2017 (12:00.00AM)

Welcome to the New World!

Your planet’s previous god has forsaken you all. This planet is now officially under the control of the SYSTEM.

Status windows will be implemented in 12 hours. Any non-system item will be confiscated upon use.

-No Other Messages-

‘Damn... I knew it was bad...but this is much worse than I expected... Well, at least I know what the hell is going on now.’

“HELLLP! HELP US PLEASE!”

From the distance, Peter saw a group of teenagers running out from an apartment chased by a pack of goblins. The loudest teenager had tears running down his eyes and was covered in green blood. Everyone else in the group was similarly crying and running. However, there was one teenager that stood out.

She had raven black hair, black eyes, and a delicate nose. She deftly wielded a sword and sliced a path open for the desperate group.

“RUN! Hurry up!”

‘She’s pretty brave.’

“James stay in the car no matter what. Don’t move, got it?” Before James could respond, Peter circled around the pack of goblins and flanked them from the side. Catching the goblins unaware, Peter separated groups of goblins near the backline from the chase.

Hearing fewer and fewer shrieking noises, the leading teenager looked to back. She noticed a man hacking away at the goblins, one group at a time.

‘He’s smart, luring 5 goblins at a time.’ she thought

The pack of goblins reduced from almost three dozen to a dozen in ten minutes. At this point, the teenagers tired from running turned around and started punching and kicking at the goblins. Their fear turned into war cries and they turned the tide.

Watching the teenagers fight back, Peter stood on the sidelines and let them fight. He only acted when they were in trouble. After the dust settled and the teenagers caught their breath, they finally noticed the man standing on the sideline.

“Sir… Thank you for saving me and my friends!”

Peter looked at the blonde teenager and nodded. He counted seven teenagers, four boys and three girls, each exhausted and ragged.

‘If only I reached these guys earlier.’

“My name is Olivia. Thank you for helping us.” Peter looked at Olivia, the Asian teenager wielding the sword from earlier and replied, “It's fine. I just didn’t want to see a group of brats die.”

Olivia walked up to Peter. She only reached his chin in height, but her sudden closeness intrigued him.

“Why are you so close to me?” Olivia blushed and then scurried back to apologize. “Sorry, I wanted to get a good look at your face. I’m near sighted and I lost my glasses earlier.” Peter found this situation amusing: a near-sighted girl swinging a sword.

Choking out a laugh, the tension in the atmosphere eased a bit. Olivia was flushed red as everyone else in the group called her out.

‘Danger!’

However, before Peter could react, a pole was thrown straight through Olivia’s chest. Olivia’s eyes bulged and she didn’t even have time to cry before she fell down dead. The group gasped and everyone looked at the direction where the pole came from. Eventually, two familiar green humanoid creatures stood in front of the group. These two creatures were twice the size of a normal goblin.

[Hobgoblin LV: 10] [Hobgoblin LV: 11]

The group had been running for the past ten minutes away from the pack of goblins and they were exhausted. To make the situation worse, their leader also died and morale was at its lowest.

“O..li..via…” “Oli..via?” “OLIVia!”

The group panicked and two of the teenage boys broke down crying on the floor. The hobgoblins smirked at the group until they locked eyes with Peter. His expression slowly warped into one of wrath as his brain began to process Olivia’s death.

‘She died right in front of me. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!’ Unable to help, but think of Amy, Peter lost control. His arms began to bulge as his veins grew visible. The [Ring of STR] filled his body with STR and sapped away his stamina.

“Die!” he growled

His image flickered and he disappeared. The two hobgoblins looked on in shock before Peter thrust a machete into each of their throats. Upon contact, his figure became visible again, but it was too late to act.

~Puchi!~

Blood spurted everywhere. The two hobgoblins attempted to feebly hold their necks but felt despair watching their green blood gush out. As the two hobgoblins dropped to the floor, one of the girls from the group picked up Olivia’s sword. She had a bob-cut, black hair, aggrieved brown eyes, and a short nose.

Puchi! Puchi!

“That’s for my best friend! That’s for my sister! That’s for my mom! That’s for my dad!”

Stabbing several more times at the hobgoblins' corpses, the girl finally slumped to the floor breathing heavily and crying. The rest of the group looked at her sympathetically because it was clear she had no one left to live for. Peter frowned at the haggardly teenage group.

“Brats. If you want to live then you all better adapt to this new world. Quickly.” After slowly, but firmly giving them a brief reminder Peter turned around with a bitter taste in his mouth. Before he could move, the girl with the bob-cut tugged his shirt. “Can… can we come with you?” Peter looked into her eyes and saw smoldering fury and pain.

‘If I bring this girl along she’ll be trouble. Plus if I do that, the rest will want to come as well. The car can’t fit eight people and I really need to find her soon.’ Looking at the girl with the bob-cut, then at the rest of the group Peter saw either anger of fear in their eyes.

“The car only has 3 spots remaining...” Peter mumbled.

Luckily a small and feminine voice bailed him out of his dilemma. “No. Olivia would’ve wanted us to stay together. Survive together.”

The blonde teenager continued, “That’s right. I also think that’s what she would’ve wanted.” Then he looked at the girl with the bob-cut and made a pleading expression.

Peter felt sick. ‘Oh god. This isn’t what I think it is right?’ Trying not to break the moment, Peter stayed silent.

One of the two teenagers who fell earlier muttered, “Waitt!! Please! Please, sir! I also want to go with you!” The group split into two factions, one led by the girl with the bob-cut and the other by the blonde teenager.

Peter grimaced at the girl with the bob-cut and irritation grew in his heart. He really didn’t want to bring two teenagers along, but he felt responsible for splitting the group up.

The group of six split up and formed a group of four and two.

The former group decided to stay as a team, while the other two chose to leave. Saying their goodbyes, the girl with the bob-cut and the sniveling teenager stayed behind with Peter. ‘The car has enough room for two more...’

“My name's Peter. What's your name?”