A dreadful squeal, reminiscent of someone blowing on a whistle, resounded throughout the area.

Midday started pumping up his gun once again, doing his best to keep his hands steady in spite of a rapidly accelerating heart. One pump. Two pumps. He focused on counting, trying to ignore the ear-splitting scream of the beast behind the fog. Five pumps. Here goes.

He took another shot.

Another earsplitting scream followed immediately thereafter.

It was strange. He had no experience with guns and yet he had just put two bullets in a row into a creature he couldn’t even see. A creature more than fifty feet away. Was it luck? He had no idea and tried his best not to think about it. Thinking had wait until after he got his XP.

The pumped up his gun again. At this point his body was getting tired and, though the heat of the moment allowed him to force his arms to get to five pumps once again, he understood that he would have to drop down to four pumps going forward. He decided that he needed to make this shot count because the ones following it would be weaker. Midday allowed himself some time to steady his hands and then pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

A miss. That much was to be expected. More likely than anything, he told himself, the first few shots had been lucky and nothing more. It wasn't as though he actually knew how to use a gun. Still, he managed to keep calm and not let the disappointment get the better of him. He got to work charging the pistol, his arms already feeling like rubber and, after four excruciating pumps, he closed his eyes once again to listen for the creature's breathing, wich had become a clearly audible wheeze at this point.

Waiting to hear the beast once more had cost him some time though, and the creature was now less than twenty feet away, with the silhouette of enormous horns already creeping out of the fog, but he had no complaints about the decreased distance. Firing close-range would do more damage.

With the barrel pointed at the source of the breathing noises, Midday pulled the trigger.

Another scream followed. The agonized cries of the dying beast almost made Midday feel bad for what he had done, but he didn’t let his guilt get in the way of finishing the hunt. He started pumping his pumping his pistol once again, well-aware of the fact that this would be his last chance to kill the thing because, if the creature got too close, Jenjo would step in and save him. Midday couldn't let that happen though. He needed the XP.

The beast close enough now that Midday realized what he was dealing with. In a general sense, it could be described as a deer, but the truth was that the animal in question was a moose. An enormous moose that probably weighed well over a thousand pounds. The vacant look in its unblinking eyes made him realize that it was probably already dead. That it was a zombie. He decided that it was time to put the final nail in the coffin.

Midday put a bullet between its eyes just as it got close enough to lunge at him.

“+437 XP. Level increased from 5 to 6.”

He collapsed onto his back as the moose croaked its last breath and let out a deep, relieved sigh.

Finally. Midday grinned. He had finally placed his foot on the staircase. He had finally made undeniable progress. It felt good. Just plain felt good. He didn’t feel any different after the level-up besides an ever so slight feeling lightness that may as well have been the result an excited heart that felt as though it were on the brink of exploding. Even so, he knew that the differences would make themselves known soon enough. A higher-level individual was, of course, stronger.

While Midday was basking in his success, Jenjo used his Phantom Slice to behead the corpse of the moose.

“That should stop it from coming back a second time,” said the satisfied-looking level 20 as he called out to Midday. “Let’s hope so anyways. Good work. How much XP did that net you?”

“I’m level 6… I’m level 6…” Midday found that he only half-believed his own words. The Voice itself had confirmed them to be true, but he had been level 5 for most of his life by then and he had always imagined that he would stay way for the rest of his life. “I’m level 6.”

“Damn. That was fast. How much XP did that kill net you?”

“Four-hundred-thirty-something…” Midday chuckled at the absurdity of the statement. The moose had been big, sure, but it was still nowhere close to being threatening enough to justify that much XP. “That cracker you gave me… Is it what I think it is?”

“Depends on whether or not you think it’s a saltine made from Lordmaker Rye.”

Everyone flinched at Jenjo’s casual mention of Lordmaker Rye. It was the crop grown exclusively in Neighborhood 1, and its unprocessed seeds were guarded by several layers of security to prevent anyone besides Elvanera Group from being able to grow it. For him to be wasting such valuable consumables on a level 5 who showed no special promise in particular—besides his bizarre knack for sharpshooting—made everyone wonder just how many of those crackers he had stashed away in that duffel bag of his.

“To call Mulberry rich is an understatement.” Jenjo continued. “We have enough goodies for everyone here for everyone present to at the very least reach level 10 by the end of the month.” He sighed. “Solomon is probably a target of assassination by the higher-ups, so everyone involved in protecting him will need to be strong. But enough of that for now. Time to start paddling again. Make sure your gun has the safety mechanism triggered.”

Midday flicked the safety on and put the gun down, still amazed at what he had just done. It was true that he had been raised the traditional way for someone from Greatoak Village and thus had to put up with daily archery practice until he turned 13, but he had never been especially talented as a bowman. To make matters worse, Midday had quit practicing archery as soon as he had been allowed to do so. In short, it made no sense for him to be good with guns, but he was glad that he was.

He got to work with paddling. The old growth was probably no more than ten minutes away by that point and, now that he was in good spirits after having leveled up, he was almost looking forward to seeing what awaited him there.