《The Lone Hero: Cyber Deceptive [An Isekai Fantasy LitRPG] Stub》 B1.CH1: Stalker in the Dark Silas MY FACE WAS GROWING NUMB¡ªI didn¡¯t feel that last punch. At some point I thought to myself if I stopped fighting them back, they¡¯d give up eventually and walk away. But they were giving quite a show out in the courtyard, where everyone stopped to look at the school nerd getting his ass beat by a bunch of bullies. I was too old for this, in my senior year of high school, inches away from graduating and leaving this piss-poor excuse of a lifestyle in the past. I guess Leon and his crew were mourning the fact that they were losing their personal punching bag in a few weeks, and were bent on making everyday count. I could feel the blood trickling off the side of my face like a busted dam. My ears were buzzing, my nose broken, and my fucking confidence shot. I didn¡¯t care much for reputation, but this routine was mentally debilitating, trying to find some place to hide from them day in and day out, only to get caught and become a source of entertainment for these dickbags. What¡¯s worse, my girlfriend was standing there on the sidelines watching the whole thing with a disgusted look on her face¡­ ¡°Haha! That color red looks good on you, nerd!¡± Leon cackled, with my bloody uniform collar still balled up in his fist. His pimple-faced buck-toothed friend, the new kid to his collection of misfits, gave me a rib shot kick that made me wince and curl up, the sting of another blow in the same spot crippling me. ¡°Man, you really are a loser! Poor, weak, and pathetic! But if there¡¯s one thing you do have goin¡¯ for ya, it¡¯s your punchable face!¡± He was lucky he¡¯d caught me off guard with that hook punch earlier¡­ Usually it was just Leon, Johnny, and Melvin stalking me. Shawn was a new addition, just some snot-nosed kid who wanted to fit in so badly. It was painfully obvious, but the bullies didn¡¯t deny him. Could be because the push over was loaded with money and he was desperate for some tuffy-wuffy friends. ¡°What? You can¡¯t get up?¡± Johnny mocked, knowing well that his little brother Melvin was behind me with a ball of my black hair in his grip, keeping me on the grass. He only had one purpose in this fight, and that was to make sure my face was available. Every time I went in to block my head with my arms, he¡¯d tug me back so Leon could bash my face in. ¡°He must like the abuse!¡± Melvin laughed. ¡°What a freak!¡± ¡°You cowards,¡± I seethed. ¡°Are you that afraid of me that you can¡¯t fight me one on one?!¡± Leon¡¯s face churned. ¡°What did you say, punk?¡± ¡°You heard me loud and clear, prick! The only way you¡¯d get one off of me is by snapping your goons on me first. You never were a fair fighter, and I could see why. You punch like a Toyota Prius.¡± He chuckled. ¡°See, I was going easy on you. I¡¯m more of a Dodge Truck,¡± he said, cocking his arm back for a fierce punch. ¡°You got some lip on you, Bruer. This will teach you to keep your fuckin¡¯ mouth shut!¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Rick said, the jock on campus throwing pity on me. He strolled into the scene with his Varsity Jacket, his slick back blond hair, and his arm around my girl. ¡°Cool it down, would ya? He¡¯s had enough.¡± Leon bit a glare at him. ¡°Who the hell do you think you are tellin me to¡ª¡± ¡°Hey, pug face. Do you want the entire school on your ass? Because a whistle is all it takes. Now, if you know what¡¯s good for you, obey, like a good little mutt. Got that?¡± Leon looked over his shoulder, the gawking crowd getting denser. About seven guys suddenly appeared out of nowhere, with the physique of linebackers. He huffed, and then let me go. Leon and his goons walked off, and so did the rubberneckers. The party was over. I got up off my ass and looked over to Melody, my red-head with freckles and shimmering green eyes. She huddled her textbooks in her arms and darted her eyes away from me sheepishly. ¡°Melody,¡± I whispered, desperate for an answer. She was rocking with the school jock, after five months of being in a relationship together. ¡°Sorry, Silas. This isn¡¯t working out.¡± ++++ My day was hell. After I defrosted all of the frozen peas from the freezer on my bruised and swollen face, I sat in my crappy shoebox of a bedroom for a few hours and seriously contemplated dropping out. Melody was the only thing that kept me going. Without her, it felt like I was drowning. Sure, I felt like she¡¯d tossed me a bone when she agreed on dating. After all, I had no redeemable qualities. A broke nerd living in the projects who was constantly beaten up on at school. But¡­ I had two things going for me¡ªI looked relatively attractive, well, according to her, and she liked the fact that I stood up for the little guys. Even though I knew this probably wouldn¡¯t last for long with her high maintenance lifestyle, I was still bummed about her leaving me. And going after the pretty-boy quarterback¡­ I sighed exasperatedly at the thought, feeling even smaller having my ex¡¯s new boyfriend pull me out of the fire. To be honest though, I wouldn¡¯t have pulled myself out. I would have fought till the very end, just like I was taught to do, and dealt with it on my own. Because only a pussy bitch would ask someone else to fight his own battles¡­ Said the words of my personal Drill Sergeant¡­ I was officially at my breaking point, though to be honest, school was actually where I went to bury myself with distractions. Home life wasn¡¯t the best. In fact, it was worse than school. I¡¯d rather take a beating than hang around my drunk and verbally abusive dad all day. The guy hadn¡¯t worked a single day in his life after mom died a few years ago. She had been the breadwinner in the family working as a lawyer. After she got ill, things were never the same. I took a year off from school, and I tried supporting her by getting a part time job, but it always went to shit. Everywhere I went, I seemed to stir up trouble with someone. My quietness rubbed some dickheads the wrong way, and they¡¯d find any and every reason to shove me under the bus. I guess they expected me to stand there and take it, but I wasn¡¯t opposed to throwing hands to defend myself. I¡¯d admit, I was a fighter, miles far from a pacifist. And, I had a mouth on me. It got me in trouble a couple times in grammar school, and I never grew out of that. What could I say? Something about bullies picking on nerds like me boiled my blood. It triggered me to fight, no matter the circumstances. Fighting for the fight-less was in my veins, and no matter how many times people tried to shake the habit out of me, it¡¯d come back like a roaring flame. ¡°Quit being emo, kid,¡± Dad said in a gritty and sloshed voice, startling me. I nearly fell back off my computer desk chair, turning around to see him standing behind my ajar door with a cigarette like a city bum. His wardrobe of choice¡ªfood stained heart-print boxers and a greasy off white tank top that was too small for him. ¡°Get off your ass and go get me some Newports and a six pack,¡± he grumbled as he scratched his exposed hairy stomach. ¡°Yeah. I can swing by the store,¡± I said, getting on my feet and tossing my jacket over my shoulders. ¡°I was meaning to pay mom a visit tonight anyway.¡± He scoffed. ¡°Always with the cemetery. You know she can¡¯t hear you, right?¡± I furrowed my eyebrows at him. ¡°What do you care?¡± ¡°It ain¡¯t normal. You cut through her grave site, what every day now? Sometimes twice a day.¡± ¡°More than what I could say about you,¡± I fought back. ¡°Someone ought to visit her.¡± His face turned bitter. ¡°What, are you sayin¡¯ that I didn¡¯t care for her? You trying to impress her in the afterlife or something? She¡¯s dead. End of story. You¡¯re not getting any special points for chatting her corpse up a storm.¡± ¡°Look, I¡¯ll get you the pack of smokes and your beer. We don¡¯t have to have another pointless discussion about mom.¡± I grabbed my keys and my wallet from my desk decorated with mom¡¯s nerdy nostalgic antidotes and stepped out, my Dad intercepting me. He looked down at me like I was still fourteen. I got my height from my dad, standing at a six feet frame. He was at least 6¡¯5, with messy black hair and jade green eyes like me. It was like looking into a funhouse mirror that let you peek into the future. The way my life was going, I was afraid I¡¯d turn out just like him¡ªunsuccessful, unmotivated, and doomed to die alone. ¡°What happened to your face?¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Bullies at school.¡± ¡°Again? Did you lose your big boy pants in the playground?¡± ¡°There were four of them.¡± ¡°And how the hell does that make a difference? You should have mopped the floor with their bloody noses. I always taught you to fight smart, not stupid. It¡¯s not a numbers game when you know what you¡¯re doing. You should have pulled them apart, attack them individually. ¡± ¡°Easy for you to say when you¡¯re not the one being beaten on.¡± I inched forward but my Dad brought his leg out to block me from heading out my door. With one hand on my shoulder, he caught my attention, narrowing his eyes on me threateningly. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna have me a punk ass weak son. You¡¯re too old to be some tally on a man¡¯s scoreboard. If I see you walk into this apartment again lookin¡¯ like that, I¡¯ll show you how a real man fights.¡± I held my tongue. If there was one person I wouldn¡¯t dare get in the ring with was my Dad. Military vet, ex MMA fighter, black belt¡ªyeah, I didn¡¯t have a death wish. ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said, hoping he¡¯d let me go. He took one hard look at me and then removed his leg, letting me pass. ++++ My nerves ran high throughout the entire bus ride to the convenience store. My leg couldn¡¯t keep still, dad putting me on edge. I had to shake it off, and not let it bother me. When the bus dropped me off the corner of Witman¡¯s Street, I passed the cemetery, and kept walking¡­ I didn¡¯t know why my dad got to me the way he did. All of that talk about visiting mom usually rolled off of me. I guess I was still tense from the fight, and then coming home only for him to confront me. Or maybe I was feeling hopeless for losing Melody. I tossed my hoodie over my face to hide the scars, walking inside the store for my father¡¯s poison of choice. I was nineteen but I had a fake ID, courtesy of dad. Once I was done paying at the counter, I turned for the exit. I hadn¡¯t been paying attention, keeping my head down and to myself as someone bumped me hard against my shoulder. I nearly lost my step and tumbled backwards, the jackass not saying a word as he passed by. ¡°Hey, watch where you¡¯re going, you¡ª¡± I cut myself short, pivoting my head around to see a gorgeous girl with short platinum white hair walking away from me. She turned her head over her shoulder and glanced my direction, her face mellow-toned but mysterious. I stood there and gawked at her speechless. ¡°Wow, she¡¯s cute,¡± I whispered to myself as she went to the counter and paid for a water bottle and a basket full of sweets. Well, she was way out of my league. She looked like a god damn model with that body. Her biker gear added to her appeal, the skin-tight leather making me gawk even longer. I had to turn around before I started looking like a creep, making my way out with my stuff in a small plastic bag. After seeing her, I suddenly felt a little better about my shitty life, even if I was still broke. After buying the cigarettes and the beer, I didn¡¯t have enough for a bus ride. So I might as well use the forty minute walk to unwind, the empty streets at 11pm relaxing me. Crickets, the sound of a breeze flirting with the trees, the moonlight. It was Friday night, and usually I¡¯d be home enjoying my PC MMO, among other things¡­ Buzz¡­ Buzz¡­ Buzz¡­ My pocket vibrated, a notification on the home screen showing me a three digit number leaving me a text message. I opened it up and read: ¡®Hey.¡¯ ¡®Stranger¡­¡¯ ¡®Are you Silas Bruer?¡¯ A mysterious number asking me for my name? Yeah, pass. I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and it went off again. ¡®Wow, that¡¯s not very nice¡­¡¯ ¡®I just asked you a question¡­¡¯ ¡®You ought to answer it.¡¯ ¡®Who the hell is this?¡¯ ¡®A curious kitty¡­¡¯ ¡®Right. Lose my number.¡¯ I texted back, and in the process of blocking 010, I get another text¡ª ¡®Don¡¯t block me¡­ You¡¯d want to talk to me, Silas. I¡¯m the girl you met at the store¡­¡¯ ¡®What? How did you get my number?¡¯ ¡®I saw the way you were looking at me back there. You want me, don¡¯t you?¡¯ At that moment, I had to stop and look around. Was she following me? ¡®What if I told you that I could make the pain go all away?¡¯ ¡®Okay, somehow you got my number. Is this some kind of game?¡¯ ¡®No, not a game. I¡¯m deadly serious¡­¡¯ ¡®What¡¯s your name? You seem to know mine.¡¯ ¡®Lucyna.¡¯ ¡®Are you with those douchebags from Riverton High?¡¯ ¡®Always on edge. I could see why. You haven¡¯t been able to catch a break, have you?¡¯ ¡®Well, are you? That¡¯d explain why you know me.¡¯ She didn¡¯t text back for thirty seconds. She¡¯s been pretty quick so far, and I was about to chuck this up to some gag, until she texted me back: ¡®I could make it go away, Silas. All of it.¡¯ Suddenly I heard clacking at a distance, the echo coming from behind me. ¡®You have that energy to you, that drive, that spark. But I can¡¯t let her summon you. Not now, not ever.¡¯ ¡®What the hell are you talking about? Is that you out there? Are you stalking me?¡¯ ¡®You weren¡¯t an easy find. But the wait, so worth it.¡¯ Okay, I was beginning to freak out. I started to hear faint growling. The sound of metal clacking again made my feet move. I was being hunted, rushing down the sidewalk until I heard that I was getting closer to the noise. My feet made a sharp U-turn back and I ducked into an alleyway. My other option was the park across the street, but I¡¯d be stupid to consider a clustered area with plenty of cover for my stalker. I had no clue why she was following me! By the sound of the text, she wanted me dead. I knew this area like the back of my hand. Down the alleyway there was a fire escape to my left, a line of dumpsters to the right, and a fence to my front. If anything, I could jump the metal fence and take an alternative route. So far, the coast was clear. With my chest chaffing, I took a moment to collect myself. I hadn¡¯t even realized that I dropped my bag a quarter of a mile back. Catching my breath, I dropped my hands over my knees, noticing something black hanging out of my hoodie pocket. When I pulled the chain it was hanging on out, I brought it to my eye level, quickly realizing what it was. I wanted to gag¡­ It was a rotting rabbit¡¯s foot. How the hell did I not smell this earlier? More importantly, how the hell did it get in my pocket?! ¡°Ugh! I think I¡¯m going to be sick!¡± I whimpered in a shaky voice, tossing the foot across from me. Just like that, it disintegrated, right before a whizzing wind whipped behind me. All the hairs along my neck stood on their ends¡­ I saw a giant shadow looming over me on the pavement before I felt something penetrate me. Below my midriff, it tore through, deep inside my stomach. My body jerked forward from the impact, but the blade that shanked me hooked onto me tight, stopping me from falling forward. I gasped, holding onto my breath as I trailed my eyes downward, staring at a bloody spear. My brain was in a million places at once, my adrenaline so high that I hadn¡¯t processed the pain for all of three seconds¡­ ¡°Human scum!¡± he growled, yanking the blade out and finally letting my limp body crash on the cement. At first glance I might have said that he was just someone in a heavily armored Skeletor outfit, but he was capping at eight feet, maybe more. Something told me that his traumatizing skull mask wasn¡¯t fake, and neither was his Darth Vader voice. It was easy to poke fun at this shit, because I was lying here on the ground shaking, with my guts hanging out, and death hovering over me¡ªI couldn¡¯t have been awake. I was still back in my apartment, probably passed out on my desk, waiting for the tenth update on Eldergon this week to finish downloading on my PC. No, none of this was real. In fact, I was due to wake up right¡­ now! ¡°Now?¡± I whimpered. ¡°Petrified with fear, unable to utter a word,¡± the killer growled, leaning over my body and reaching his black gloved hand toward my face. ¡°In the face of death, you are awfully quiet, hero.¡± His piercing beady red eyes in a void of pitch black was the last thing I saw before his hand swallowed my face. I screamed, my blood curdling cry muffled in his palm. The pressure from his fingertips made me squirm and buck, fighting to get him off of me. But he was strong, abnormally strong. I couldn¡¯t budge him even a little bit, the agonizing sound of him crushing my skull in his fist, hot blood pouring out off me! I snatched his wrist even tighter while blood from my eyes streamed down my face. My bottom jaw snapped upward, crushing into the top row of my teeth. I was being mutilated, and there was no one around to help me! The streets were quiet after 11pm, and this monster was about to get away with murder. ¡°May the nation of Senterra forever crumble.¡± The sound of my juices squelching¡­ there was no forgetting that in the afterlife. All I ever wanted was a better life for myself. With friends, people I could trust, someone I could love, family I could rely on. I was dying alone, on a night I¡¯d decided to not pay my mother a visit. What a disappointment I was¡­ No, I deserved better! I deserved to survive! Where the hell was my second chance?! Where the hell was my rags to riches story?! My spotlight, my muse, my comeback?! A shitty life in a crappy apartment with my alcoholic deadbeat dad, and it ends like this? Being murdered in an alleyway by some fucking monster?! Whoever this bastard was will pay! He¡¯ll get his! Hell, I¡¯ll haunt him if I have to! That cold-hearted bitch, too! I¡¯ll show them, I¡¯ll show them what I¡¯m made of! My rage, it made all of this heart-stopping pain worse. I didn¡¯t care. Everything faded to black, a cold feeling riding up my spine. Until I noticed a blue dotty light at the distance, calling to me in a narrative voice: Awaken, hero¡­ There is much work to be done¡­
Name: Silas Bruer Race: Human
Rank: Hero + 10% (Hero¡¯s Blessing) Occupation: x
Alignment: x Age: 19
Strength: 26 Level: 1
Agility: 10 World Exp: 0/1000
Charisma: 12 HP: processing¡­
Willpower: 47 Armor class: x (DR: x)
Stamina: 21 Currency: $1.01 USD
Special skills: Lingual Expert Items: x
Cyber Sense Gear: x Cyber Magic: 0/100 Points to Allocate: x
You¡¯ve been chosen by the great dungeon core Alzera-Kar! Welcome to Thalian! B1.CH2: Fresh Meat My eyes flickered vigorously behind my eyelids, my shallow breath filling up my sore lungs. If this was what death felt like, then I was highly disappointed. I¡¯d thought that death was peaceful, painless, and quiet. I wasn¡¯t expecting to drift in limbo with my body in sweats and tremors. Unless¡­ I wasn¡¯t dead after all¡­ With a deep airy gasp, I snapped my eyes wide open, the blinding light of the sun over my head piercing through my pupils. As an instant reaction, I squinted, my vision gradually clearing and my surroundings sharpening into focus. I was lying on a sandy beach, my bare feet touching the warm and grainy texture of the sand. I sat up on my elbows, taking in the panoramic view of the ocean that stretched out before me as far as my eyes could see. I couldn''t remember how I got here, but the memories of my last moments flashed before my eyes in a hazy blur. The convenience store, that chick, the grim reaper. I¡¯d been trying to outrun him and fell short. The rest of my nightmarish experience had me sure that I was dead. But here I was, fully healed, butt naked, and in an unfamiliar location where last night suddenly turned into day. W-wait a minute, butt naked? I looked down, feeling the light breeze flirting with my jewels. At the notion of being totally exposed, I jumped up on my feet, my eyes scanning around for my missing clothes while my cupped hands covered my decency. I should have had a dark gray hoodie with a pair of denims¡ªunless this was the Garden of Eden, I needed answers as to why I was here in the nude. Panic set in as I realized I was stranded in the middle of nowhere. The idea of losing everything just hit me like a ton of bricks, my previous life gone in a matter of seconds. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind, but my thoughts were tangled in a chaotic and frantic mesh of emotions. Had I really escaped death? Was this some sort of alternate reality or a dream? I knew that I had to find some sort of answers, but I had no idea where to start. My feet shuffled hysterically along the hot sand and into a forest area. Searching for signs of civilization became my first step, until I heard a rustling sound from behind the cluster of leafy dewy foliage behind me. I felt a shiver run down my spine, thoughts of being hunted again forcing me to run. Fear gave me running speed I didn¡¯t know I had. My heart was racing. I was in foreign territory, completely vulnerable, confused, and without pants. And then suddenly a transparent screen popped up in my head, giving me an alert: Defective Cyber Sense Detected Defective Cyber Sense Detected What the hell?! What was I seeing right now? Before I could figure out what was going on, the message vanished. I was now even more spooked. Where I was, I wasn¡¯t alone, and whomever was with me wasn¡¯t friendly. Having this flashing red warning go off in my head was proof of that. If it was that skull face piece of shit again, I had to be honest with myself. As much as I wanted to bust his head open, I couldn¡¯t. Strength wasn¡¯t on my side. And I was also unarmed. Forget trying to decipher why the hell I was seeing a random screen for the second time. Right now, I had survival on my mind, hearing a loud booming echo across the beach, making me jump. I looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. That''s when I saw it. A plume of sand rising a few meters west. ¡°I need to get the heck out of here¡­¡± I swore the threat was closer, but I was glad I was wrong. Judging by the size of that sand cloud, I was up against a god damn behemoth. Ground-stomping footsteps drew my way. Luckily for me, I saw a cave to my slight right, and I ducked for cover there. The first thing I noticed was how rancid the cave smelled, and how slimy the ground was. I was afraid to go in deeper, lurking along the entrance while I waited to see what I was up against. A long and tall shadow trailed ghoulishly at a distance. My breath hitched as I watched on, noticing the shadow turning around as it searched for me. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Man, I might have lucked out. I didn¡¯t think it knew where I¡ª -grrrr- I froze. My own body betrayed me, the sound of my loud grumbling stomach telling my predator where I was hiding. ¡°Great,¡± I hissed under my breath, tucking my head in further. The shadow stomped, shoving trees along the way. A sweat drop trickled down my temple as it drew closer, and along the corner of the tree it turned, showing me its true colors. He was a small gremlin-faced round purple creature about the size of a garden gnome. No hands, no feet. ¡°What the?¡± Was my recent trauma playing tricks with my head? I swore I heard loud terrifying footsteps, and saw a towering shadow. Suddenly a screen popped up again in my head, giving me small details about the lesser creature as I stared down at it: Purple Lugammi (AKA Ankle Biter) Known trickster, malevolent in nature.
Level: 1 Loot Reward: 2 sammies HP: 100/100
Was I expected to kill that ugly looking thing? And what the heck was a sammies? Okay, so maybe I did die and went to MMORPG heaven. Or hell. There was no reasonable explanation to what I was experiencing right now. I knew nothing about this world, and had little to work with. I might as well play along with it for the sake of advancing. I wanted answers, and sitting around hiding wasn¡¯t going to give me what I was looking for. I peeled away from my cave, unashamed in front of a lesser creature. While I had no weapon, no armor, and no worldly skills, I did have these fists, resourceful in any fight. I¡¯d been using them for years, and just like in my world, I depended on them to solve my problems. When I balled my fists up, he started to cackle. He rolled on the ground in gut wrenching laughter when he saw me, his bouncy body springing up and down. I wasn¡¯t sure if he was laughing because I was naked, or if he was laughing because he didn¡¯t see me as a threat. I scoffed. ¡°I¡¯m glad this is all fun and games for you, but you¡¯re in my way.¡± ¡°Oooo!¡± he mocked. When the ball stood erect he did a short hop and made the ground shake, his shadow also growing in front of me. Tricks, just like the description mentioned. He was playing with me this entire time¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t have time for this,¡± I grumbled, leaning in for a punch, the purple Lugammi dodging me and doing more of those ground-tremoring bounces. He was slow, but when he rocked my footing, it made it harder for me to pinpoint where to strike. My trajectory was off, the Lugammi cackling and laughing for the entire ordeal. It seemed like these ground pounds wasn¡¯t just an intimidation tactic to make him seem huge and threatening out of scope. He improvised, knowing he wasn¡¯t the strongest creature out there. Limited in resources, he did what he knew best to avoid being killed. Too bad for this lesser creature, I was adaptable as well. I stopped trying to swing at him with my fists. Instead, my feet dashed off, pretending to run away from it. Banking on him chasing me in the thickness of the forest, I eyed my weapon quickly. A giant tropical leaf from this plant would do. I snapped it off and ducked for cover, waiting for the Lugammi to follow my trail. Then wham! I smacked the ankle biter, disorienting him. He tumbled over on a bed of foliage, my signal to jump in and strike. As he got back up, he looked up to me, realizing he was done for. Insert defense mechanism. That creepy face on him turned sweet and innocent, like a Furby. I wasn¡¯t falling for it, even though it looked cute and adorable. While I had no idea what a sammies was, I saw the word reward, and rewards were always good. ¡°Sorry, pal.¡± I punched him dead center, lights out. The lesser creature was lighter than I thought he¡¯d be. When I punched him, he flew, colliding into a tree before falling over flat on his face. Not two seconds later, vapor started to come out of him. I heard sizzling, the creature¡¯s body decomposing. First the skin, then the fat, until he rotted away, leaving behind two shiny coins on the ground. This mysterious world really did run on RPG principles. I walked over and snatched it, the coins suddenly fragmenting and dispersing into the air. ¡°Hey!¡± I cried out, then realized where it went. I saw a menu pop up, the two sammies falling into my currency slot. ¡°Oh right, I saw this stats menu earlier. Right before I died¡­¡± Back then, I didn¡¯t have time to study it. And unfortunately, I wouldn¡¯t have time to now. It disappeared before I could finish reading it, and then another menu popped up, where an immediate response was required: Hero Starter Package: Make a Selection (limited by live currency)
Temporary guide: 1 sammy
6 hour guide: 2 sammies
Simple Gear (basic clothing, no armor value): 1 sammy
Basic Armor (add basic armor, white tier): 2 sammies
Purchase allowance: 2 sammies
Well, this was interesting. I had choices. B1.CH3: The Fall of Senterra I felt a tingle of relief and excitement when seeing this screen. Clothes, armor, a guide. I wasn¡¯t going to be walking around clueless for long. I stroked my chin at these selections. While armor looked tempting, I couldn¡¯t afford it if I wanted to get some clothes on me. Same with the 6 hour guide. A thorough immersive guide right now would leave me broke and naked. Well, this choice was already set in stone for me, wasn¡¯t it? ¡°One temporary guide, please,¡± I said a bit nervously. Though nothing happened. I pivoted my head to and fro, but nothing. Where the heck was my guide? ¡°Whoah! Full moon! Hello!¡± I heard a strong Italian Brooklyn accent over my head, realizing that I wasn¡¯t alone. He was a metal orb with hummingbird wings, covered in etched lines and cybernetic crevices all over his metal plates. I should have picked the clothes first! I crouched over to cover my unmentionables and cried, ¡°Simple gear, simple gear!¡± Immediately, I was given a wardrobe. Even had the entire Sailor Moon glowing light as I was dressed up head to toe: A dark cloak with a hood lined with fur, pants, gauntlets, a padded leather top, high leather boots, and a bag over my belt. ¡°Heh, kid, you don¡¯t have to call out your selections. Not that I mind. That high pitched squeal was unpredictable and hilarious.¡± I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. ¡°Heh, sorry about that. This is all very new to me.¡± He zip-lined right in front of me, the sound of his wings buzzing making my eyes grow wider. He zoomed in on my face as if he was analyzing my features, then suddenly, a red dot appeared on him, and I fell on my ass. The first thought that crossed my mind was a laser sight, and that was exactly what it looked like before a red scanning beam traced me left to right. He chuckled. ¡°Heh, you¡¯re pretty skittish for a guy with those level 1 stats. Well, allow me to introduce myself, hero. My name is Devicho. That¡¯s D-E-V-I-C-H-O. And I am your temporary guide, here to answer all of your questions!¡± I got up off my ass and nodded. ¡°My name is Silas.¡± ¡°Yeah, I got that from your base stats.¡± ¡°Oh, right. Well, crap, where do I start?¡± ¡°I got ten minutes.¡± ¡°Ten minutes!?¡± ¡°Yeah, I know. But them¡¯s the rules. It¡¯s all the boss is allowing me.¡± ¡°The boss?¡± ¡°The dungeon core. Alzera-Kar. We call this hidden gem mother, as she is the creator of all things in the world of Thalian.¡± ¡°Wait, a dungeon core created all of this?¡± ¡°Oh buddy, you ain¡¯t seen nothing yet! Thalian is made up of five nations: Mavriel, land of the fae, Dradersi, land of the dragons, Guedmar, land of the orcs, Dokumbe, land of the goblins, and finally, Senterra, the fallen land of the humans.¡± ¡°Fallen?¡± His voice dipped. ¡°Hey, listen kid, I¡¯m not gonna sugar coat anythin¡¯ for you here. Senterra is gone. A barren wasteland from what I could tell. The little humans that are left are in hiding, so the other races can¡¯t find them. A little history lesson for ya since we are tight on time: long long ago, these five nations lived in harmony as one. That harmony was doomed to fall, as the dungeon core, our great mother, created more and more resources. Now you see, the dragons were selfish bastards. They thrived off of money, greed, and pride. They started the racial divide, and these five species segregated themselves. Walls separate some regions, while big bodies of water separated others. With the way things were rolling, the dragons were on the top of the food chain, and the humans were on the very bottom of it. As expected, all the races started to take advantage of the weaker race, bullying them to no end. Wars broke and Senterra crumbled. I¡¯m talkin¡¯ mass genocide, kid. The savagery, the bloodshed. Oh, it was horrible. Alzera-Kar saw this and was very upset. To help these deprived and enslaved humans, she created cyber sense.¡± ¡°You mean that purple evil Kirby that I killed? That was one of them?¡± ¡°No, well, yeah, but that was a defective cyber sense. And I¡¯ll explain how. Originally, cyber sense was a mechanism solely for humans. They are particles in the air, nano feeds that respond to humans around their perimeter. They are everywhere, essentially dominating all of Thalian. Now what they do is shape themselves into cyber gear to improve the biological functions of human beings. This gave humans the edge that they needed, but after the humans broke the shackles of oppression, they became the bullies. More war, more bloodshed. At this point mother Alzera-Kar was stressed. Her creations were dying. Her creations were killing themselves off. She didn¡¯t know how to contain this ceaseless war and divide. Under this intense strain and tension, her outer crystal structure shattered, breaking off into three pieces. Without this protection, her inner core is vulnerable, and open for influence. These three pieces were scattered all over Thalian, but as of late, three nations have those pieces, and kid, they are protecting them with their lives! Dradersi has one, Guedmar has the other, and Mavriel has one, too. These three nations are in constant strife! When one nation has all three parts, they can locate Alzera-Kar, and make her do anything they want.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I was speechless¡­ ¡°In this vulnerability, the cyber sense that was enhancing humans through cyber gear started to create evil fleshy beings. I¡¯m talkin¡¯ monsters. Of all sizes! They are only detectable by humans, which is why most nations made sense out of keeping humans as detectors. Remember what I said about them practically squattin¡¯ everywhere? Well, that didn¡¯t change. These hideous freaks lurk around, and materialize at any given moment. They became sentient. The upside though is when you kill the stronger ones, you get a full blown cyber gear. Some lesser creatures drop some precious loot too, parts to build a full-fledged cyber gear. It is good to note that cyber gear only operates for humans.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m getting some of the pieces to this puzzle together, here. Was I sent here to restore Senterra?¡± ¡°You bet!¡± ¡°And find the three shards to help Alzera-Ker?¡± ¡°Boy, you caught on quickly, didn¡¯cha?¡± ¡°But I don¡¯t understand. Why not snatch the shards herself? She is all powerful, right? She¡¯s pretty much the god in this world.¡± ¡°Not when she¡¯s unprotected. If mother could become defective when vulnerable, imagine how much harder it¡¯d be for her to get those shards?¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right¡­¡± ¡°Not only that, but those kingdoms who have her shards are keeping it on lock down. Warded I imagine. It won¡¯t be easy.¡± ¡°Why me?¡± I asked honestly. ¡°I understand her humans here are suffering, and she went out somewhere else to find a hero. I don¡¯t know why she wouldn¡¯t pick someone locally. So I have to ask, why a foreigner? And why me?¡± ¡°I guess she saw something special in you that she couldn¡¯t find in her natives. But don¡¯t feel too overwhelmed. You¡¯re not the only hero she went out of her way to find.¡± ¡°You mean there are others?¡± ¡°Of course! This is an entire nation we are talking about, after all.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure? A girl and her titan hound hunted me down back in my home town.¡± He paused and then asked me sternly. ¡°What did this girl look like?¡± ¡°Platinum white hair, real model type bod. A few inches shorter than me. And her titan, a big brawny dude in armor, had a skull for a face.¡± ¡°That ain¡¯t sound good.¡± ¡°You know her? Her name is Lucyna.¡± He sighed. ¡°She¡¯s from Dradersi, daughter of King Orelus. Usually, dragon-kins have horns on their heads, sometimes along their jaws too. And some scales on their skin. They can materialize wings for flight at will, and are physically strong by nature. Lucyna probably used a spell to disguise herself as a human to remove those features on Earth. What¡¯s more bothersome than that though was she found a way to open a gate to your world, and managed to track you down¡­¡± ¡°Not only track me down, she killed me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand. How the heck are you here if she killed you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m trying to figure out. I¡¯d died and came back to life, isekai¡¯d to this crazy fantasy RPG world.¡± ¡°You think this is wacky? You should hear what she thinks about people from Earth! Every race here was inspired by a planet from different galaxies. The plan was to make a cornucopia of races, but things started to get messy quick.¡± ¡°This mother seems to appreciate variety.¡± ¡°It has its goods and bads, as I¡¯ve already mentioned. Which brings me back to Lucyna. This whole death business, it¡¯s unsettling. And if she has access to Earth the same way mother does, you may very well be the only hero. Mother hadn¡¯t started the recruiting process yet. She is still on the selection stage.¡± ¡°Then how did someone like Lucyna even know what she was planning?¡± ¡°Could be a precautionary step? Not sure. Lucyna is very smart. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she was a few steps ahead of her maker.¡± ¡°She¡¯s on my hit list,¡± I vented. ¡°Her and her dog!¡± ¡°Hey kid, slow down. You¡¯re nowhere near her league! That dragon-kin is an elite, a royal one at that.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll level up! Whatever it takes!¡± ¡°Kid¡­¡± I wouldn¡¯t expect anyone to understand. This was not just a vendetta. All of my life I was invisible. I blended with the background, and was someone you wouldn¡¯t bother batting an eye to. I was a nobody. I loved my mom, but things changed when she started focusing on her career. She was hardly ever there. Dad was never around either. He taught me to never take shit from anyone, use my fists when I had to, and never give up. That was it. I was alone, in my own mind, in my own world. I became detached from everything, losing myself in my shell, finding fulfillment in playing my games. That¡¯s where I felt like I was achieving something¡­ where I was somebody. Still, it would have been nice to get that kind of satisfaction out in the real world. I wanted my life to mean something. Then she came around and snuffed my chances out. But then the dungeon core brought me back and gave me my chance¡­ ¡°This is an opportunity to start over, to start fresh. I will do right by Alzera-Kar, but not because she gave me this gift. I want to help these tormented humans of Thalian because it¡¯s the right thing to do. A voice for the voiceless, and power for the powerless. She brought me here to become a hero, and I¡¯ll do just that. As for my own personal agenda, that¡¯s secondary. I want that psycho to know what having everything taken away from her feels like! My life wasn¡¯t the best life, but it was my life!¡± ¡°You sound motivated! Thadda¡¯ boy!¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to raise Senterra up from the grave, and I need you to tell me everything there is to know about getting stronger to do it.¡± New Series Hot Off The Rack!
Hey guys! The wait is officially over! The Hunter Games is on RR, an urban fantasy gamelit series with some slow burn JJK/Demon/Slayer flair. Drop by and give it a read! Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The Hunter Games: An Urban Fantasy Gamelit