《Game Change》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 I walked around the school hallways bored. There was nothing else to do. The festive atmosphere was suffocating for someone like me who enjoys the quiet and calm. Sickleberry High School was having their end of year party today in the gymnasium. It was mandatory for the students and faculty to attend but I managed to slip out in the middle with the excuse of going to the health office. Looks like they forgot that the nurses were also attending the party. *Crash* A sudden sound from a nearby classroom jolted me from my reverie. Without noticing, I had wandered up the second floor stairs. Because everyone is supposed to be in the gym, the second floor is enshrouded in a perpetual darkness broken only by the dim, afternoon light seeping through the small jail-like windows. Actually, the architectect who built this school was a jail-designer. It¡¯s pretty ironic actually. The students here get to have a taste of their future occupation. *Crash* The same sound again. Now, those who are familiar with horror movies and such would probably know that this was a good time to just walk away. People fear the unknown. They do not fear death or pain as much as how such a thing occurs. But I am a very rational and calm-minded person who does not believe in the existence of the supernatural. Therefor, death and pain must come in a logical manner. I turned to the classroom and opened the door. I walked into the room letting the door slam shut behind me. Big mistake in a horror film..and, apparently, in real life. The first thing I saw was a very furry six-pack. And not any normal six-pack but boulders covered in shiny silvery hair. The next thing I saw- or more accurately felt- was air rushing towards my face. The experience I gained from doing martial arts a few years back kicked in and I ducked as a tree branch, thick as my waist, skimmed over my head. Now that is very strange. A tree branch should not be in this math classroom. I was interrupted from my musings as the air pressure changed again. I lunged to the right on instinct and ran for the lightswitch. I turned on the lights just as an animalistic roar sounded out. And for the first time, I saw what I was up against. It was a goddamn minotaur. I stared at it¡¯s six-pack and my gaze wandered upwards to a very muscled frame and to a goat-like face and two horns that grazed the ceiling of the classroom. Of course, classrooms don¡¯t usually have high ceilings but our school was built unnaturally tall. The monster¡¯s head is a good one and half to two feet above mine. Oh and it was holding a tree branch. Which it just swung at me. I am usually a very calm person. But I unleashed a bloodcurdling scream as I lunged for cover. Ignorance really can be a blessing sometimes. I ran to the door whilst screaming at the top of my lungs. My lung capacity really is showing itself right now. Now that I think about it, why am I screaming? Why do other people scream when they feel fear? There is absolutely no advantage in this action, especially if you¡¯re alone. Plus, my lungs are feeling the strain. Abruptly, I didn¡¯t feel like screaming anymore. I reached the door and quickly realized that it opens inwards towards the classroom...and the minotaur. There would be no time to open the needlessly heavy door and escape before getting clubbed. I ducked just as the branch swept by again. Ugh, no choice then, I have to fight. Steeling myself, I turned around and glared at the decked out goat. I wondered for a second if it was some very elaborate prank because the school party also allowed the students to dress up in costumes and the such. But then I noticed a small indicator as I stared at its body. Squinting my eyes¡­ ¡°Minotaur Lvl???¡±...? Then it rushed me. I slid underneath its legs and ran towards the teacher''s desk. Fumbling around a bit, I valiantly held up a pair of scissors against this abomination. The goat swung its arm down and I quickly ran up the exposed arm and spun myself around to sit on its neck. With my left hand holding onto one of the horns I breathed in before ramming the weapon into its right eye. Damn! The blade is too short. The minotaur let out a very peculiar sound similar to a...dying goat. Before I could analyze this sound- and my pun- more, the thing started throwing a tantrum. It dropped its club and ran around thrashing its head and flailing its arms. I sighed and proceeded to take the scissors out then ramming them back in its eye socket again, this time deeper. I repeated this action several more times before I finally managed to pierce its brain although half of my hand was in its head¡­ With one last cry, it fell to the ground...and broke up into particles of light. I leapt up and stood mutely for a second to process what had just transpired. Suddenly a bell-like sound rang in my head. *Ding* I stood puzzled at the sound. And then a screen flicked into existence before me. It was translucent and was slightly tinted a pale blue. Then I noticed the words. And I smiled.
Congratulations! You are the first person who killed a monster. Title earned: The First Effects: Exp gain +1% Vit +5
Congratulations! You are the first person to experience what is to come. Agl and Str have merged
*Ding*
You have killed a monster over 10 levels higher than you. Title earned: Challenger Effects: Level suppression reduc -10% Passive learned: Identify Str +10
*Ding*
The new gods have noted your ruthless actions and calm. Title earned: Madman Effects: Crit dmg +1% Spr +5
*Ding* *Ding* *Ding*
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
You have leveled up!
This proceeded until I reached level 8. *Ding*
You are level 8! Stat pts +80This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
Now, I am usually a very calm person. But, I can¡¯t help from shivering at this point. Shivering with excitement! From these prompts, it is obvious that my world has turned into something else- something more. It has become a game. And I love games. After I laughed maniacally for a while, I regained my calm and started analyzing the information available to me. The part about the ¡°new gods¡± imply that there existed one before. And now, for whatever reason, it is absent...thank god. They also associate my actions with the word ¡°ruthless¡± which means that the new gods lean towards the ¡®light¡¯ or ¡®good¡¯ side. I frowned, my annoyance for self-righteous bastards showing. Hm, well, this is all I need to get by. If this world turned into a game, then I shall be a god. I laughed wildly. This world was so boring. Everything was so bland, so normal. The feeling of adventure and wanderlust had all but disappeared from our monotone society. Never had my blood boiled so much. Never had my heart pounded like today. Never had I felt this adrenaline rush through my veins. Right, before that, I need to bring up the stat screen. As soon as I thought that, a panel zoomed into focus. Whoa. Seems like the gods can read your mind. Either that or this system has been implanted into us somehow.
Lucian Ransol L8 Race: Human Age: 16 Gender: Male
Vit: 17 Spr: 15 Life str: L1 100% Mentality: L1 100%
Str + Agl: 33 Int: 13 Stamina: L1 100%
Dex: 12 Stat pts: 80 Used pts: 0
Well that¡¯s unique. No set HP and MP numbers. And it looks like the beginning stats attempted to keep in line with my actual body conditions. With a few thoughts, I started organizing my mental user''s interface. I set this world¡¯s version of HP and MP indicators as well as my stamina in the top left with my name and level. I set the system notifications right below them and made them almost transparent unless focused upon. This would make sure that they don¡¯t affect me during combat. I then set a transparent minimap in the top right corner of my vision. I then confirmed that I can bring up my titles screen and skills.
Passive: Mixed martial arts Beginner L7: 48% Identify Beginner L1: 1% Active:
I wonder what effects these passives has on my stats¡­
Mixed martial arts (Uncommon): Learned: (Taekwondo) (Muay thai) (Karate) Physical Dmg +3.5% Enhanced intuition +1%
Identify (Unique): Can read stats on items Can read stats on players and monsters up to 10 levels higher than you
A flash of light interrupted my musings. I looked over and saw another goat appear. I sigh and held up the scissors again. This time, however, I can see a ¡°Lvl17¡± next to the ¡°Minotaur¡±. I tried to get a read on its stats and saw:
Minotaur L17
Vit: 40 Spr: 15 Life str: L4 100% Mentality: L1 100%
Str: 100 Int: 7 Stamina: L3 100%
Agl: 20 Dex: 21
After filing this information away, I charged at the minotaur as it roared at me. This time I vaulted off the desk to reach its head. Then history repeated itself, but this time went a lot faster as I shoved the scissors deep into its head on the second try. I looked at my watch and saw that around four minutes had passed since I slayed the first minotaur. Well, it¡¯s about time to distribute my stat points. It¡¯s a pretty simple choice of where to put most of my points considering that one of my choices has two times the effect. So I brought up the merged stats to 80 leaving me 33. I put 3 in Vit and saw my Life str go up a level. Don¡¯t know what it does yet but higher numbers are usually a good thing right? Drugs are good. I then allocated 5 points into spr making my mentality reach L2 as well. I then put 12 points into int and 13 points into dex simply to get to a number I like. At this point, I noticed the screams. When I was meandering through the second floor, the muted sounds of the cheering in the gym was a low accompanying hum. But now, it is greater- louder. With the appearance of the minotaur and such, it doesn¡¯t take a genius to figure out what is happening to them. Massacre. The word whispered through my head. I slowly got up (after checking that there were no monster drops, of course) and started sprinting towards the stairs while listening for other creatures. My steps were lighter than before and I moved a lot faster. These stats will be hard to get used to. When I finally reached the gym, I peeked through the windows and saw red. Lots of it. And flailing bodies as they flee from the three minotaurs in the center of the gym. I yanked open the doors and paused for a second. Did I really want to save these classmates of mine? While hesitating, I noticed some kid named Jason or whatever get torn to shreds. That made up my mind. Jason was a person of smiles. He treats everyone as a friend- even me, a loner. Some tears appeared in my eyes as I realized that he will never smile again. He will never make my McDonald¡¯s meal ever again (he had a part-time job there). I looked around and thought about how many more Jasons there were in the gym being killed by some random goat. How many more work or will work at McDonald''s in a future they will never experience? Thinking of this, I clutched my heart in agony and had a scary thought flutter through my head Who will flip my burgers then? After my slight mental meltdown, I made a beeline towards one of the minotaurs while roaring at the other students, ¡°SHUT UP!¡± Somehow, it seems the stats have increased the volume of my voice. The sound reverberated through the gym and drowned out the screaming. I then leapt up at one of the minotaurs but misjudged my newfound strength and overshot the head by a few feet. I kept calm though and on my descent, I brought the scissors down hard and buried the dull blades in the back of its neck. I left it there as I rolled across the floor to alleviate the shock impact. I sprang off the ground and deflected a furry fist with my right palm while twisting my body counter-clockwise and backhanding the minotaur¡¯s face with my other hand. Following the momentum, I leapt into the air and roundhouse kicked the last minotaur with my heel. As it staggered, I turned my body in midair and used the minotaur¡¯s chest as a launchpad to leap back to the screaming one who borrowed my scissors. Again, I overshot. No worries though. As I passed its head, I reached out and grabbed one of its conveniently placed horns and swung myself onto its neck. In one deft movement, the scissors were out and plunged into a eye socket and into the brain. I leapt down and quickly incapacitated the other two minotaurs. *Ding* *Ding* *Ding* I leveled up to 11. Looks like I get experience reductions if I keep killing the same monster.
You are level 11! Stat pts +30
I put them all into str+agl. Suddenly, a groan came from under my foot. I turned and noticed an injured girl laying on the ground. What was her name? It definitely started with an ¡®s¡¯. The scissor-borrower had nearly landed on top of her in its death throes. Luckily, the corpse shattered into motes of light before it could crush her. She had a long gash down her left leg. While bending down to check on her, I noticed a black book Sweet, the monsters dropped something! I picked it up.
Mana Sense Skillbook (common)(passive) You are able to sense the elements around you.
With a thought, the skill book was learned and it burst into particles of light. I then observed my surroundings and noticed a slight change. Although I can¡¯t pinpoint what the difference was, the environment seemed brighter. Wierd. . *Ding*
Congratulations! You are the first person to learn a skill book. Title earned: Skillful Effects: Skill exp gain +1%
I continued to peruse the ground looking for more items, pushing the ¡®s¡¯ girl out of the way who let out a small shriek of indignation and pain. The search ended in disappointment however. Ah well. Time to get my priorities straight. Help first, search later. But since I¡¯m such a good student who would complete tasks beforehand, I can already check off the second priority. I flipped the injured girl over with my foot and picked her up. I carried her over to a group of girls in nurse costumes and dropped s-girl at their feet. ¡°Patch her up please,¡± I flashed my disarmingly handsome smile and walked away. There¡¯s a whole world to explore. And some gods to kill for the heck of it-joke. Chapter 2 I stare in awe at the destruction happening outside. The sky was a strange shade of crimson and looked like glass with cracks appearing all over its surface. Some sort of dark liquid was seeping through the gaps. I watched as the substance dripped down and transformed into various monsters and behemoths. Abruptly, the sky shattered and the whole world went dark. Before my startled emotion could fully manifest itself, the world went back to ¡°normal¡±. The sky resumed its previous shade of red but the liquid and the cracks mysteriously vanished. I puzzled over this for a second but ultimately decided to exit the school. I hummed a little tune as I skipped past wrecked buildings and crazed riots. My school is right next to a freeway with shops and the such dotting the sides. Looks like with the sudden apocalypse and the breakdown of order, people are degrading to their primal instincts. I shake my head. Crazy people. I started whistling as I observed the scenery. Even as they¡¯re getting hunted by the monsters, they still find time to loot a shop. These idiots. In this new world, what value would such items hold? A jewelry store passed my eye. I stopped, went in, and took a few of their wares. If the old world was gone, then it would be very important to preserve our cultural heritage, no? I walked down the freeway, absentmindedly ripping apart the level five wolves that keep throwing themselves at me. It was then that I noticed a new species of monsters. Zombies. I thought it was strange back then when I saw a dude bend down and rip open a screaming guy¡¯s chest. I had passed it off as depravity in its most extreme cases. I stared for a sec at all the zombies walking around. Then I started laughing. Couldn¡¯t help it. I realized that they were all overweight. Made sense I guess...in a mortifying way. I stayed on the freeway wiping out the zombies which strayed a little too close when I suddenly noticed a small, suspicious hill in the middle of the road. I stared at it for a second and then silently skirted around. Once I put some distance between us, I started sprinting across the freeway. Too late. I glanced behind me as a powerful roar shook the skies. A dragon extracted itself from the hill and stretched its wings. The thing was brown in color and its wings spanned the length of several buses. I squinted my eyes and a small indicator flashed. ¡°Lesser Earth Drake Lvl ???¡± I went back to running. While being buffeted by the gales from its wings, I noticed a few idiots up ahead cornering a girl on the highway. They were currently in a state of shock as they stare at the thing chasing me. Without pausing, I threw the dudes at the dragon, watching it tear them to pieces. I turned around intending to throw the girl too but she was already gone. Sighing, I continued running, taking a ramp onto the highway. Amongst the scattered, abandoned cars, I saw an oil tanker. An evil smile crept onto my face and I hid behind a dark green SUV some distance away. The drake lept onto the highway and barreled through the cars as well as the oil tanker. But the expected outcome didn¡¯t happen. Other than snarling at the foul liquid sullying its scales, the dragon largely ignored the tanker and continued its search. I frowned. Did the movies lie to me? Wait a sec. Engine. Fire. Fire! I facepalmed myself. Then as quietly as possible searched for a car with a lighter or box of matches. Finding a BIC lighter in an abandoned Ford, I quickly smashed my hand through the passenger window, grabbed it, and threw it at the oil spill. S**t! I forgot that I had to light the damn thing. Before I could lament on my idiocy, the drake turned around to face me, its tail coincidentally smashing the tanker¡¯s engine. I barely had time to put my hands up before an inferno swallowed up the dragon midst its angry roars. A huge heat wave then swept over me. I quickly crawled behind a car and waited out the fire. After a while, I cautiously glanced over the hood of the car. The blackened asphalt had a crater in it and the surrounding cars were reduced to scrap metal and ash. In the middle of the crater, the drake was laying on its side, still breathing but barely. The indicator had its health at 1%. Just enough for the finishing blow. The drake looked at me, a low growl in its throat. I took out my weapon- the scissors that had slayed four minotaurs and about to end the life of a dragon- and shoved it into the thing¡¯s eye. It let out a weak whimper of pain, but I persisted. Again and again and again. Finally, the beast died and a few items flashed into existence amidst the dings signifying another rise in my power.
You are level 41! Stat pts +300
You have killed a monster over 50 levels higher than you. Title earned: Challenger II Effects: Level suppression reduc -30% Str +30
Congratulations! You are the first person who killed a member of the dragon species. Title earned: Dragon Slayer Effects: Lesser Draconic Aura
You have been blessed by a god! Unique slot unlocked: Wings Unique item earned: Wings of Darkness
The blood of an ancient race [DRAGON] has entered your bloodstream. The bloodline transformation will begin in [10].
Well, sweet! Looks like I get a nice powerup with no effort at all. Haha, who was it that said ¡°no pain, no gain¡±? Just look at me! These idiots always believe in the ¡°equivalent exchange¡± system and ¡°karma¡±. Well, I can say for a fact that that crap doesn¡¯t exist. I watched excitedly as the countdown approached zero. 3...2...1...0 Then I screamed as I felt my body tear itself apart. It felt like my nerves were on fire. A split second of this, and I blacked out from the pain. My last thought was karma¡¯s a b*tch.
Lucian Ransol L41 Race: Human Age: 16 Gender: MaleStolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Vit: 20 Spr: 20 Life: L2 100% Mentality: L2 100%
Str + Agl: 140 Int: 25 Stamina: L3 99%
Dex: 25 Stat pts: 300 Used pts: 110
*Ding* The sounds of the system chimes woke me up. As soon as it did though, I wish it didn¡¯t. I felt like sh*t. My whole body felt extremely sore like I had gone through a meat grinder and patched back up by a group of grade-schoolers. Grade-schoolers with very rudimentary knowledge of the human anatomy. Groaning, I attempted to use the side of a car to pick myself up. My eyes widened as my hand crumpled the metal like it was paper and passed through the car with no resistance. Unfortunately, as my weight was relying on the hand, my head followed through shortly after and slammed through the floor of the car into the cement. Before I blacked out- again- I heard the sound of the road cracking. I didn¡¯t know how long I was out this time, but the sky was dark by the time I woke up. I was about to use the same car to support myself again before I remembered what had happened the last time I tried. Groggily, I got up by myself and groaned as my bones cracked as if it was my first time using them. I quickly checked my messages:
Congratulations! You somehow managed to survive the bloodline fusion! Following the body composition of the dragon, your vitality stat has merged with your strength. Following the strong soul of the dragon, your spirit has merged with your vitality. Life and stamina stat now follow new calculations. The following stats will now scale off of a dragon¡¯s base stats instead of a human¡¯s. Vit Str Spr
I stared. What the h*ll did they mean by ¡°somehow¡±? After thinking for a little bit, I brushed it off and brought up the stat screen.
Lucian Ransol L41 Race: Hybrid Age: 16 Gender: Male
Vit + Str + Agl + Spr: 180 Int: 25 Life: L36 100% Mentality: L18 100%
Dex: 25 Stamina: L36 100%
Stat pts: 300 Used pts: 110
I started grinning. Then I leapt up and laughed with joy...which quickly became a scream of terror as I found myself almost 30 feet in the air. I screamed the whole way down until I went through the ground leaving a human shaped hole on the cement. Groaning, I slowly pulled myself out of my hole. At least, digging graves would become much easier. I started laughing again at the morbid thought as I pictured myself jumping to make a grave. It was then that I realized my health percentage didn¡¯t even go down a fraction of a point. Holy sh*t. I quickly splurged all 300 unused stat points into the combined stats. Glancing back at where the dragon disappeared, I noticed a few items. Sweet, drops. A weird-looking sword, a black book, and a shiny, obsidian ring.
Deceiver Sword (mystic) A sword wielded by the footmen of Astarog. It features a very thin blade that is able to camouflage into the surroundings to appear almost invisible to enemies except for a slight ripple in the air. Effects: Str +150 Agl +300 Dex +300 Skills: Phase Shift (Active) The user can channel energy into the blade rendering it incorporeal and able to pass through solid objects. Energy consumption may vary.
Devourer Skillbook (GOD) (passive) Consuming your enemies will give you some of their stats and skills. Additionally, all beings of energy or spirits can be devoured directly- depending on your spiritual strength and mentality. Warning: Energy beings stronger than you can either resist this skill or overload your energy capacity, causing an explosion inside you.
World Ring (ANCIENT ARTIFACT) Comes from beyond the age of gods and have assumed many different forms throughout the ages. This ring contains an infinite dimension and can fit universes inside. Effects: ??? ??? ??? Skills: Storage (Active) The user can store anything inside the ring. Size of object to be stored is dependent on amount of energy invested. Withdrawal (Active) The user can take anything outside of the storage space previously put inside instantly. Mask Presence (passive) No creature is able to sense you if you do not wish to be sensed. Nor see you if you do not wish to be seen. ??? ??? ???
I was shocked. Suddenly, I felt something ominous- something powerful- descending towards this planet- to my location. Quickly I shoved the ring onto my finger as an archaic voice echoed out to all four corners of the Earth, GIVE IT TO ME! The earth trembled.I KNOW YOU ARE HERE!Suddenly, a being of pure light descended from the sky. The world dimmed in front of its radiance. I felt the thing scan through this entire area before roaring and turning around, flying into the distance. I smirked. Suck it. It¡¯s mine now.I looked at the ring on my finger. How the hell did this shit drop from a lesser mob like this? Why am I so lucky? Whatever. Standing up, I wondered what I should do. The most emotionally appealing option according to normal people right now would be to reunite with my parents. However, my father is some bigshot in the military and my mother is head of forensics. They¡¯re definitely in control of some base somewhere and sending out patrols to look for me. Hm, that won¡¯t do. I¡¯m not going to give up my newfound freedom. I started walking on the freeway again when I quickly noticed something wrong. The game¡¯s sensitivity is too dang high. My body felt too fast for my brain to process. Like, I expect my foot to move to one spot and as soon as the thought was thought, my foot was already there. It¡¯s very disorienting. Could intellect and dexterity affect my reaction speed? That would suck. I¡¯m stuck in an overpowered body that I can¡¯t even fully utilize because I think too slowly. I need to hunt down some speed type monsters and [Devourer] their stats. With this goal in mind, I continued on my merry journey in an apocalyptic world. Chapter 3 I frowned. Something isn¡¯t right. Something isn¡¯t quite normal. I looked around me again. A dragon flies overhead carrying a screaming dude in its claws. Zombies and savage wolves roam the streets. Normal, normal. And yet something is bothering me. Ah, that¡¯s right! What the h*ll was that Avocado guy¡¯s number? Ugh, it¡¯s at the tip of my tongue. Muttering to myself, I walked through the mass of monsters ahead. It¡¯s that feeling of incompleteness again. I need to know what this number is now. Let¡¯s see, moles. Moles...moles...moles. Are there moles on my face? I can¡¯t remember. It¡¯s my own face and yet I don¡¯t know such a simple fact. Oh god. Now I¡¯m hit by this extreme urge to look at my face and see if there are moles on it. The urge is so strong that it¡¯s painful. Like, I can actually feel a literal pain inside my chest. I look down. Oh oops, looks like I walked into a hanging metal bar from the skeleton of a building when I was in my stupor. I backed out, watching as parts of my chest stay on the broken, jagged point of the bar. Immediately, I felt an itch on my chest as the flesh stitched itself back together. My healthbar only went down one percent. That¡¯s not alright. I¡¯m cheating. I¡¯m a cheater. Even as I thought this, the missing one percent was regenerated. What the- that was literally half a second. Sighing, I started walking again. Huh? What was I thinking about again? Oh god. This feeling. Not again. What was I thinking about? Walking past some glass windows I happened to see a man¡¯s reflection on it. Not the reflection of all the butt-ugly zombies around me, no. But a sexy beast. Dang. This guy¡¯s sexy. Then I realized, it was me! I walked closer. I still got that nice, sleek jet-black hair and my eyes were still aquamarine except that they nowglowed. Additionally, my face seemed different. It just...looks better. Oh yea, I also got more buff. Like maybe twice as buff from my originally scrawny frame. I started posing in front of the glass windows. I lost track of time. It was only when the sky got dark enough that I couldn¡¯t see my reflection anymore that I stopped. I looked at the window and suddenly jolted in shock. There was a girl behind the glass. Sh*t, how long has she been there?! She was inside the building, which I now see is a grocery store, sitting on a comfy recliner and eating a sandwich while staring at me with an expression of extreme pity. Slowly, I turned around and started walking. Once I was a good distance away, I broke out into a sprint. Hopefully, she¡¯ll forget about this one day. I stopped, a dark thought flashing through my mind. I could kill her. I looked back and frowned. I¡¯ve already ran all this way, going back now would require me to re-run that distance. Too much work. I vanquished the thought and continued straight. Now, where to sleep for the night? I looked around for some apartment buildings or hotels. Of course, in the horror movies, the monsters are usually waiting for you inside. However, I am a very rational person and I doubt that such movie troupes would exist for actual monsters. As such, I quickly chose a Motel 6 next to a gas station and walked through the front doors intending to book a room. I walked up to the front desk and saw the receptionist in a very uncomfortable position on the ground behind it. Kneecap broken, arms bent at awkward angles, and the other leg bent in three positions. Bones sticking out everywhere. I crouched down and examined the poor dude. That¡¯s a tibia. That''s a fibula. What are all these small bones called? I frowned. Questions, questions. I was about to swipe a hotel keycard for myself when the heap of flesh groaned. It¡¯s still alive! I got closer to hear what the bloody mess was saying. ¡°K-k-k-kill m-me¡­¡± I frowned. Then I put on my most stern expression and gave that former receptionist a piece of my mind. ¡°Now lookee here. Suicide is never the answer. Let alone having another person with a clear conscience do the act for you! That is very immoral! You may be just a bloody heap on the ground with bits of organs here and maybe bits of intestines there...BUT!¡± I paused for dramatic effect. ¡°Suicide just isn¡¯t the answer!¡± I leaned towards the heap. ¡°You hear me?!¡± ¡°...¡± Oh. He¡¯s dead. I¡¯m happy that he died hearing such wise words though. I¡¯m sure that he will be spreading them around in Heaven- a happy ending which wouldn¡¯t have happened if he committed suicide through me. Ah, doing good deeds sure does bring satisfaction! Whistling, I checked the keycard as I walked. Keycard to room 13. Hm, am I missing something here? Let¡¯s see...today¡¯s Friday the 13th, I¡¯m in a dark hotel corridor with flickering lights, a mutilated corpse was the receptionist, I hold a key to room 13. I arrived in front of the door. Aaaaand the door has ominous scratch marks on it. Oh, and words scrawled out in blood. I squinted. Sheesh. Bad lighting, seriously. I pity those characters in horror movies that have to read text on damp walls with flickering lights. Very unhealthy for your eyes. I finally managed to decipher one word off the door: ¡°feeds.¡± Hmmm. The word was located at the edge of the door meaning that the sentence on the door ends with ¡°feeds¡±. I fumed. Bad grammar! Just because you¡¯re writing on the door with your own blood and most likely bleeding out on the floor while you¡¯re doing it is no excuse for not following the normal English language conventions! A sentence consists of a subject, a verb, and an object. ¡°Feeds¡± is a verb. So it must be followed by an object, yet no object is given! This is blasphemy! Wait...I may be wrong though. Oh well. I kicked the door open righteously and a strong reek of blood washed over me. There were blood splatters everywhere. On the bed in the middle of the room, a something layed there. At one time, it might have been human but now, it...uh...doesn¡¯t look human. I can¡¯t sleep on that! Briefly, I thought about swiping another card from the front desk, but that would mean more walking. I looked around the room for some unstained, pristine sheets but sadly, none were found. Thump. A sound? It came from the closet. I haven¡¯t checked there yet. There may yet be clean sheets in this room that could save me a minute of walking back to the front desk or a two-second walk to the cleaning supply-room two doors down. I stood in front of the closet. At this point, I had totally forgotten about the sound that had drawn my attention here in the first place. It would¡¯ve been a fatal mistake for any other human but me. I still had to pay quite dearly though. As I opened the closet, my eyes barely registered a flash of white before I felt a force push me on top of the bed. Damnit! Now my back¡¯s gonna be covered in blood. Ignoring the mutilated/dismembered/vivisected/chewed out thingy beside me, I stared at the perpetrator of my bloody shirt. The thing is humanoid. Very white, very naked. Dark, red eyes. And a circular mouth with moving rows of teeth. It is currently consuming an arm. Hey! That¡¯s MY arm! A small indicator flashed: ¡°Vampire Lvl 93¡±. Show me more.
Vampire L93
Vit: 40 Spr: 15 Life str: L4 100% Mentality: L1 100%Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Str: 114 Int: 341 Stamina: L7 100%
Agl: 1492 Dex: 201
I examined the thing¡¯s stats as I fell back against the bed. My missing arm was almost regenerated; I had lost only around 3% of my life points when it came off. Vampire¡­ C¡¯mon. I thought vampires were supposed to be noble-looking creatures. Not this crap. What the hell, gods?! The sounds of crunching stopped. I looked over and saw that the vampire had finished consuming my arm. I chopped off another arm for it as I tried thinking of ways to kill this thing. The vampire¡¯s speed vastly outstrips my own and I bet that the thing¡¯s reaction speed is just as abnormal. Hmmm, vampires are susceptible to silver and sometimes salt depending on what book you¡¯re reading. They also have a weakness to sunlight but that¡¯s not happening at this time of night. Sighing, I chopped off another arm and left it there as I walked out of the room towards the breakfast area. They gotta have some salt or silver there. Rustling through the shelves in the kitchen room, which I found through a side door, I finally found a container of salt. For silver, I just took a few of the cookware and silverware on the table. Humming, I molded all the silverware into a ball-like container and sprinkled as much salt as I can into it. It wouldn¡¯t make sense to spread the salt and silver all along my arm since the vampire would immediately throw it away in disgust on the first bite meaning not enough of the poison would make its way through its system. Right in front my hotel room door, I chopped an arm off and shoved the little ball deep inside the arm. I entered the room and threw the arm at the vampire. I laid back on the bed as the sounds of crunching resumed. It was a long day. And I fell asleep. When I woke up again, I found myself using the carcass on the bed as a body pillow. Damn, I¡¯m even more bloody now. Quickly throwing the uncomfortable pillow away from me, I sat up and yawned. And just as quickly frowned. The gagging and wheezing noises from the side of the bed was getting on my nerves. Looks like the little vamp didn¡¯t enjoy the extra seasoning. I watched as the thing flailed about on the ground grabbing at its throat. Its health bar and mentality were close to zero. With a quick sword thrust through its heart, the thing died. Before it¡¯s body could disintegrate into particles of light, I used [devour] on it. ¡­ Ok, I ate it. Tasted like chicken actually. Immediately, I can feel my body structure shift a little bit under my skin.
Congratulations! You have consumed a Vampire and inherited their speed and precognition abilities. Dexterity will now scale off a Vampire¡¯s dexterity and contain more effects. Agl+ 150 Dex+ 50
Lucian Ransol L41 Race: Hybrid Age: 16 Gender: Male
Vit + Str + Agl + Spr: 630 Int: 25 Life: L36 100% Mentality: L18 100%
Dex: 75 Stamina: L36 100%
Stat pts: Used pts: 410
Whoa. This is some nice stuff. I moved around a bit. There is a noticeable decrease in lag time.But it¡¯s not enough! Sh*t, I gotta raise my level somehow and put the points into dexterity. Hm, I looked at the ring for a sec. Maybe...if I take this off, I can draw in some strong monster for me to kill! Genius! I took off the ring. Immediately, the world darkened as a huge pressure crushed down near my location. Oh shit. I¡¯m dumb. I can¡¯t fight that! I immediately put the ring back on. Too late. A few presences had suddenly appeared around the motel. I can sense them, their intense auras overlapping and enveloping the building. I can feel them scanning the motel but they can¡¯t sense me. I laughed. Fools. I glanced at one figure that strayed a bit too close to my window.
Apostle of Murloth LXXX
[ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR]
[ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR]
[ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR] [ERROR]
WARNING! A HIGHER BEING HAS SENSED YOUR SYSTEM SCAN. RUN.
What the-. That wasn¡¯t me! Goddamn system. The apostle stopped and stared right at me through the window. I''m still calm though since the ring had said that I won''t be seen if I didn''t want to be seen. The ring won''t lie to me right? I examined the apostle.The apostle wasn¡¯t human. It just looked like a ball of energy. Suddenly, the ball distorted and slowly started moving into the vague outline of a human. A few seconds later, and the apostle looked like me with dark skin and red hair and eyes. It smiled at me in a very creepy manner. Shit. I turned around and ran out of the room. Searching the ring, I examined the Wings of Darkness. I really hope this helps.
Wings of Darkness (god) The wings of the dark god Murloth. Effects: Dex +500 ??? Skills: Shadow-walker (active) The user is able to use shadows as portals. Energy consumption may vary depending on distance, size, and intensity of shadow. ??? ???
Hell yeah. I quickly equipped it. Finally, the sense of ¡°lag¡± disappeared. I smiled, speeding up. I looked behind me and jumped. The apostle was right at my back still wearing that creepy smile. It looked...lecherous. I quickly looked ahead of me for a shadow to jump in. Finding one I activated [Shadow-walker] with a thought and ran into it. I set the destination point to under the reception desk with the mangled receptionist. I went through the shadow formed by the light through the window at the end of the corridor and a nearby cart and banged my head on the bottom of the reception desk. I quickly checked behind me and breathed out at a slightly higher velocity than normal in relief. I turned my head back around and jumped in shock. The apostle- Dark Me- was crouched under the table with me. I didn¡¯t think, the Deceiver Sword appeared in my hands and I slashed diagonally upwards intending to cut through that ¡°I¡¯m gonna rape you in the ass¡± smile. The sword went right through Dark Me and nothing happened. I frowned. Did the Deceiver Sword...deceive me? Wait a sec. I waved my hand through Dark Me¡¯s body. Like a ghost, the hand simply passed through him. What...I continued to wave my hand through it¡¯s body until my hand passed through that area. I felt something hard, something cylindrical. My face turned white. Raped by a ghost? Is this how it¡¯s gonna play out? and by a ghost that has my image too? Before I could lose my composure further, Dark Me faded away. I looked down at the object I was holding in my hand. It was a container. I stared at it for a moment.
Murloth¡¯s Message (quest item) Open? Y/N