《World's Change: Earth's Awakening》


 Goblin?

    ¡® It''s so cold.¡¯


    The streets were covered in a thin layer of snow. The sky was blocked by clouds, which blocked the sun. That did nothing to alleviate the cold. There were plenty of people on the city streets despite this. It was the middle of summer, and the weather was all wrong. One day it would be snowing, and the next it would be well over 80. This has been going on for over 7 months, so everyone has to go to work.


    ¡®I was struggling enough before everything became like this. My only saving grace is the fact that I work inside a building. Street vendors and other people are in far worse straits than me.¡¯


    The thoughts were used to reassure me. I looked up for no reason, but that¡¯s when I noticed something weird. The clouds were no longer moving. This confused me a bit, but what confused me more was what came next.


    There was a figure in the sky. Despite the distance, I could see it clearly. It stood on four clawed paws. Its fur, midnight black, seemed soft yet hard at the same time. 4 eerie blue eyes seemed to stare down at us. There were horns on its head. They curved from his forehead down to the middle of its back. Something about it made me unable to take my eyes away. I could feel myself being drawn into it.


    Suddenly a jolt went through my body. I was no longer staring in the sky but down at the sidewalk. My mind went temporarily blank. I remembered seeing something but I can¡¯t remember what it looked like. What it was. I started to doubt whether it was actually ever there or not. I looked back up in the sky as I saw nothing but clouds.


    ¡® Maybe I''m more tired than I thought. Perhaps I should take a day off. ¡®


    As I thought this, a warm sensation started to spread throughout my body. I exhaled in contentment as my body relaxed a bit. My mind felt clearer as I started walking again. I needed to get to work after all. But then I saw something that made me stop once more.


    ¡® What is that? It looks like an ugly small green person. Its ears are rather sharp, and it¡¯s basically naked. Is it some kind of animal? ¡®


    As I thought this, other people started to notice it. Many people stopped to look at it as it started to back up. It was shouting something, but I couldn¡¯t understand it. I looked around and saw a guy close to me. He had glasses and he was a bit taller than me. I walked over to him and he soon turned to me.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡° Do you know what that is? ¡°


    ¡° Huh? Oh yeah. I¡¯m not really sure but it looks like a goblin. ¡°


    I titled my head slightly in confusion. I¡¯d never heard of an animal called a goblin before. I knew a goblin shark was a thing, but not a goblin. He seemed to realize my confusion.


    ¡° A goblin, like something from a game or novel. Small, usually green, ugly, loincloths. The thing is they usually aren¡¯t alone¡­ ¡°


    As he thought this I could see his eyes start to narrow. He looked around while he pulled out his phone. He started calling someone. This confused me though.


    ¡° What¡¯s wrong? Is it dangerous? You said something about them not being alone right? Are there more around here? ¡°


    My questions weren¡¯t being answered, and I started to feel a bit nervous. The guy I was talking to started talking on the phone.


    ¡° Jake? You know how the weather has been weird for basically the whole year? I see something like a goblin on the street. Here I''ll facetime you. ¡°


    He fiddled with his phone before turning it to the goblin. It was starting to get louder. I looked around a bit more, and out of the corner of my eye I saw something. I looked harder and saw a couple more of those things behind us. They weren¡¯t close but not exactly far. I pulled on the guys sleeve to get his attention.


    ¡° Hey, there¡¯s more of them over there. You haven¡¯t told me if they''re dangerous or not. ¡°


    He turned around and saw the goblins. His friend called Jake, now on speaker, spoke some words.


    ¡° Tom, I really don¡¯t think you should stay there. Come back to the apartment for today. Call in sick or something and see if everything is good tomorrow. ¡°


    The guy I now know is Tom nodded.


    ¡° Yeah, I''ll call you later if I don¡¯t get home. If anything I''ll be at Turnr¡­ Jake? Hello? ¡°


    I looked at him as his call seemed to cut off. Seeing he was basically ignoring me I turned around. I was planning to take a detour back home, but suddenly a scream resonated throughout the streets. I saw the first goblin from before mauling a man¡¯s face. As he screamed I could see the white snow being dyed red.


    My heart skipped a bit as I stared for a second. Suddenly I felt a surge of energy as I started running across the road. Since all the snow was covering the streets there were no cars. I safely made it across the road and turned right into an alley. I felt my pocket knife and pepper spray in my coat pocket. I would soon need it as I saw 3 more of the goblins blocking my way.


    I turned around and ran out the alley. I tripped but I caught myself. However I was unable to stop myself from running into another woman. We both fell but I didn¡¯t have time to think about it as I got up and started running again.


    ¡° Sorry! ¡°


    I yelled an apology as I soon heard her screams alongside the noises of the goblins. I looked around and now everywhere had goblins. People were screaming and everything seemed chaotic. I didn¡¯t know where to go as I looked around in panic. I felt something grab my arm. I quickly turned around and sent a punch at the thing. I heard a groan as I noticed it was the man from before.


    ¡° Damn, why¡¯d you hit me? ¡°


    I didn¡¯t have time to respond as he started dragging me in a certain direction. Usually I wouldn¡¯t let such a thing happen, but the situation didn¡¯t exactly let me be picky.

 Burns

    As we ran through the streets people were killing, running, arguing, panicking, and much more. Tom was bringing me somewhere but I didn¡¯t know where. I stumbled a bit as a gunshot rang out. It was very loud so I knew it was nearby.


    ¡° Where are we going? ¡°


    His head was like a swivel, constantly turning as his eyes scanned everything.


    ¡° Turner¡¯s Restaurant. I know a guy there that will be able to help us. ¡°


    I know the restaurant. I went there a couple times but it wasn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary. It was around 8 minutes from us, but I couldn¡¯t see how it would help us. Shelter was good though. A restaurant was bound to have food as well.


    As we were running I felt something grab my leg causing me to fall. The snow cushioned my fall, and I looked behind me. My heart dropped as I saw a goblin gripping my legs. It¡¯s nails were nearly piercing my pants and I felt a vague sense of pain. I stared at it¡¯s grinning face, and quickly took out my pepper spray. I sprayed it in the eyes.


    The goblin screamed in pain as it let go of me. It used its hands to cover its eyes. I turned my body and kicked it in the throat, launching it off my other leg. I felt someone grab my arm and lift me on my feet.I turned around and saw it was Tom.


    ¡°Come one, we need to get there before things get any worse! ¡°


    With that said we both started running. I had a bit of trouble keeping pace with him, but I managed well enough. A couple minutes later I felt a warm feeling shoot through my body again. However this time it was accompanied by a voice in my head.


    { Congratulations! You have reached level 1 and unlocked the system. You have also unlocked the innate abilities Fire Manipulation and Healing Flame. Every level you gain will grant you 5 status points. Say ¡°Status¡± to see your status screen. }


    ¡® What? Is there a voice in my head? I don¡¯t think I''m going insane. With everything that¡¯s going on voices in my head aren¡¯t very important. Tom seems to know something about all of this so I''ll ask him later. ¡®


    With that I continued to run longer than I thought possible. Soon Turner¡¯s Restaurant came into view. It was sandwiched between a couple other restaurants. The building was made of bricks, had glass windows, and a pair of wooden doors with a sign overhead saying ¡° Turner¡¯s Restaurant¡±. The most concerning thing was the fact that the doors were open. As we neared sounds of a struggle could be heard. We entered and I saw 2 young men, a young woman, and an old man fighting against 6 goblins. They were fighting from a door that led to the back of the restaurant. The tight space being the only reason they were winning. They were using a chair to block the goblins while throwing knives, plates, and other things at the goblins.


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    The most concerning fact was that when we entered, all eyes turned to us. We had just finished running for around 10 minutes. I wasn¡¯t exactly the most athletic person so I was already feeling a little light headed. The snow outside certainly didn¡¯t make the trip any easier.


    I didn¡¯t have time to reflect on that though as 3 goblins came running at us. I took out my pocket knife and pepper spray in preparation. Tom pulled out a gun I didn¡¯t even know he had. Not to mention it had a flashlight on the side, that¡¯s ignoring the fact that there was also a blade on the bottom of the barrel. I highly doubted such a weapon could be bought or found.


    I was brought out of my thoughts as two loud bangs could be heard. I covered my ears,closed my eyes briefly, and bent down a little. My ears rang a bit as I looked at what happened. Tom had shot two to of the goblins, who were now on the ground. The other was pinned to the ground with it¡¯s head in his grip. Tom slit the throat of the goblin as I stared in a daze at the sight.


    ¡° BEHIND YOU!¡±


    I heard the voice of the old man, who spoke louder than I thought possible. I turned to the side only to catch a glimpse of a goblin. Before I could react there was a hand on my face and something tripped me. I instinctively used my arm to prevent my head from slamming into the ground.


    A burst of pain shot through my arm. I tried to move but the combined weight of two goblins was pinning me down. Fear coursed through me as I felt my body heat up. As I struggled I felt like my body was on fire. I heard another gunshot ring out as everything suddenly became bright.


    I heard the screams of pain of a goblin followed. As the feelings of pressure lightened, I quickly pushed myself up on my side. I felt the body of a goblin slide next to me. I looked at the goblin that was on my leg and I froze. The goblin had severe burns all over its body. It was bumping into things as it flailed around.


    I felt a sense of weakness, but I managed to stand up with shaky legs. I held into a nearby chair as the goblin¡¯s cries grew weaker. Eventually it collapsed on the ground, unmoving. Before I could even question anything a voice from before appeared in my head.


    { You have killed a lvl1 goblin, giving you 5xp. (5/20) }


    ¡®That voice again! What¡¯s even happening? First these goblins appear. Suddenly everyone is running and screaming. People are shooting, killing, being killed. Some voice is talking in my head. I somehow managed to burn a goblin, and I don¡¯t even know what this all is about.¡¯


    Too many things have happened far too quickly. I set my things on a nearby table, before falling to my knees. I felt tired, weak, and my vision was blurry. I could feel myself drifting into unconsciousness. My hands were dragging my pocket knife across the table, directly to me. However, I could no longer control my body as everything went black.

 Restaurant Boarding

    POV Tom


    As we entered the store I noticed 6 goblins. Uncle Herald alongside his three grandchildren, Kate, Rant, and Frant, were hiding in the kitchen. They used one of the chairs in the dining area to block the way. They were throwing knives and other things at the goblins, which was probably to get some wounds on them. They had guns but they probably wanted to conserve ammo.


    I wasted no time in lifting my coat and taking out my custom pistol. Uncle Herald helped me make it around 2 years ago, but that''s not important now. 3 of the goblins were now running at me and the woman. As they jumped over the counter I aimed carefully and shot two of them in the head.


    I wanted to conserve as much ammo as possible, since I didn¡¯t bring any more ammo with me. As the last one alive neared me I quickly kicked it in the chest. After that, I grabbed its arm before pinning its stomach to the ground. I used my leg to hold its arm in place before grabbing its head. I yanked its head back as I slit its throat with the blade on my pistol.


    ¡°BEHIND YOU!¡±


    I heard Uncle Herald yell and quickly looked back. Two goblins had jumped on the women. One held her legs while the other gripped her head. I saw them trip her but, thankfully she used her arm to prevent her head from smacking into the ground. The relief was quick lived as I quickly stood up and aimed once more.


    Suddenly I felt the temperature rise by a couple degrees, but I ignored it as I shot the first goblin. Before I could aim at the other one a bright flame ignited. The woman was covered in flames temporarily blinding me.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    Cursing was a common theme when it came to me. I blocked my eyes with my arm before quickly lowering it. The screams of the goblin resounded throughout the small restaurant. I looked at it, and sucked in a breath of cold air. There were 2nd and 3rd degree burns all over its body. It was basically unrecognizable as it soon fell onto the ground.


    I looked at the woman and she was equally shocked. Before I could even question her a voice appeared in my head.


    {Congratulations! You have reached level 1 and unlocked the system. You have unlocked the innate abilities Hardened Mind and Extraordinary Physique. Every level you gain will grant you 5 status points. Say ¡°Status¡± to see your status screen.}


    I was briefly stunned, but I knew now wasn¡¯t the time to be in my thoughts. I turned around and saw the other 3 goblins were already dead. Rant had a nasty looking cut on his forearm. Other than that though they seemed to be fine.


    ¡°Kate, go get the medkit. Tom, where''s Jack?¡±


    I shook my head.


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    ¡°He was at the house when this all started. He should be on his way here.¡±


    I turned to the woman who was now on the verge of passing out. I saw the knife she had being dragged to her by her hand.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    I quickly grabbed her arm and lifted it up. I took her pocket knife, folded it, and then put it in my pocket. I bent down and picked her up in a princess carry.


    ¡°Uncle, you know what¡¯s going on?¡±


    He shook his head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t. All of our phones suddenly shut off. The lights wouldn¡¯t be on right now if not for the backup generator. These creatures alongside this makes me think this is some kind of attack. I tried my radio but the frequency was messed up. Lay your friend on one of the cushioned seats, and then help board up the place.¡±


    I nodded and quickly found a place to lay her down. I went and closed the doors. The glass was one way and reinforced. Soon wooden planks, nails, hammers, and some other things were brought from the basement. We quickly went to work boarding up everything. The only problem is that this brought a lot of noise.


    I looked over at Frant. He had black hair, white skin, and bright blue eyes like his twin brother Rant. They were both 20 and 5 ''10 Kate was their cousin and my friend. She had long brown hair and green eyes. She was 22 and 5 ¡®7. Uncle Herald on the other hand had gray hair. His wrinkles were somewhat evident but he looked good for a 74 year old. He stood straight with his cane at 6¡¯0.


    I saw Kate was over attending to the woman. I then looked over out the window. People were still running, screaming, and fighting. Soon I noticed 2 people coming over. There were 5 goblins behind them. I looked over at Uncle Herald.


    ¡°A man who seems to be in his mid thirties and a young girl no older than 15. Let them in.¡±


    I nodded and opened the door. They quickly ran inside. I aimed my gun and shot two of them.


    ¡°Leave one of them alive. I need to see something.¡±


    I took his words in as I shot one more. The goblins weren¡¯t stupid though. They quickly stopped and turned. I shot one in the leg making it scream and fall. The other quickly left the scene.


    ¡°Rant, watch my back.¡±


    I went out and quickly restrained the goblin. It wasn¡¯t very strong but certainly not weak. I knocked it unconscious and brought it in. I looked at Uncle Herald.


    ¡° Set it to the side and dump those bodies somewhere outside. We¡¯ll deal with them later. ¡°


    I nodded and did exactly as he told. As I did I watched what he would do with the goblin he asked for.


    ¡°Kate, come over here.¡±


    She stiffened a bit and slowly walked over. He handed her a knife.


    ¡° Kill it.¡±


    She looked at the knife and shook her head.


    ¡°Why? Can¡¯t you do it?¡±


    ¡° You¡¯re a med student aren¡¯t you? A little blood shouldn¡¯t be anything to you. You barely flinched when we killed the others.¡±


    She looked at the goblin.


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t actually kill anything. Blood isn¡¯t the problem. It''s the fact that you want me to kill something.¡±


    He took her hand and forcefully put the knife in it.


    ¡°Kate, I wasn¡¯t asking. Did you hear the voice?¡±


    At his words everyone looked at him like he was crazy. He scanned all of our expressions.


    ¡°Tom, Rant, and Frant you all killed at least one. You heard it didn¡¯t you? Not to mention that girl caught fire a couple minutes ago. Despite that fact her clothes are completely fine. The goblin however was burnt. I haven¡¯t just been standing here this whole time. These status points seem to enhance us physically or mentally. These skills seem to have a somewhat similar effect.


    The thing is the voice only appeared after killing one of the goblins. If you don¡¯t kill then you will inevitably be killed. So Kate, kill it. Is it¡¯s life worth more than your own?¡±


    I looked at kate. It wasn¡¯t hard to see the struggle in her eyes. The thing is he was right. Everything was moving too fast though. We need to hunker down and talk about things. With that said I quickly went back to my task.

 Waking up

    POV MC


    As I opened my eyes I felt a headache. I groaned as I sat up. I looked around a bit but my vision was a bit blurry. I heard unfamiliar voices and I soon noticed I was in a place I barely recognized. A woman, who seemed a bit younger than me, came over to me. She had long brown hair and green eyes. I had never seen a person with green eyes before. Perhaps that''s one of the reasons I found myself staring at her.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡±


    Her voice was soft. It also brought me out of my stupor. I smiled.


    ¡°I''m fine, but your eyes are beautiful.¡±


    She seemed to freeze for a second, most likely in shock. A blush came on her face.


    ¡°Oh, thank you.¡±


    I was a bit confused though. I''m sure many people have complimented her eyes. Whether it was a guy hitting on her, or someone genuinely complimenting her. Not that guys weren''t being genuine when flirting.


    ¡°Why do you seem so surprised? This isn''t the first time someone has complimented your eyes, right?¡±


    She looked to the side.


    ¡°Well, no. But it was just unexpected. I mean, you¡¯re beautiful yourself.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    (By the way this is pure speculation on my part about how a conversation between those of the opposite gender would be. I wouldn¡¯t know because i¡¯m a young male that doesn¡¯t talk to anyone. Anyway.)


    I looked around and my memories were coming back to me.


    ¡°This is Turner¡¯s Restaurant right?¡±


    Suddenly my body stiffened as I remembered being attacked by goblins. I stood up quickly startling the young woman. I looked around and noticed 6 other people. One was an old man, one was Tom, two of them seemed to be identical twins, one was a middle aged man, and the other was a young girl.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong!?¡±


    The young woman stood up and grabbed my arm. There was a hint of concern and anxiety in her voice. She seemed to look around as if searching for a threat. I shook my head as I noticed the boarded windows, door, and cleared space.


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    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just I was being attacked by goblins before passing out. I have a mild headache but it¡¯ll go away soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    I sat back down and she kneeled in front of me. She took my hand and started feeling around my wrist.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Looking for your vein. I want to make sure you¡¯re ok.¡±


    I stared at her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think feeling my vein will help much with that.¡±


    She looked up at me.


    ¡°I have a skill that lets me check up on someone¡¯s condition.¡±


    My mind went blank for a second. I then remembered the voice in my head and the fire.


    ¡°Oh, that wasn¡¯t a dream?¡±


    Her shoulders slumped a bit, and she shook her head. I stood up and tried to look out the boarded windows. There were thin gaps in between some of the boards. As I looked out my breath caught in my throat. It was no longer snowing, but the ground was still covered with it. However a lot of the snow wasn¡¯t white, but blood red. There were a few bodies scattered around. Weapons, very few cars with most being crashed, and I even saw a small group of 4 goblins.


    I sat back down, and rested my hands in my hands. The young woman hugged me.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to come to terms with, but you have to accept it. Do you have any close family out there?¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°My parents are out in Sweden. My older brother is in Antarctica. Haven¡¯t spoken to any of them in 7 years though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that.¡±


    I waved her off.


    ¡°Nothing to be sorry about. I was planning on starting my own family somewhat soon. However this changes things.¡±


    She blinked in surprise. I raised a brow.


    ¡°I¡¯m already 26. It¡¯s about the time I start, right?¡±


    ¡°Well it¡¯s a pretty good time. It won¡¯t be hard to get pregnant, and risks are lower. You didn¡¯t mention having a boyfriend or husband though.¡±


    I scoffed.


    ¡°Boyfriend? Husband? I don¡¯t even have any friends. With how things have been for the past half year I didn¡¯t have the time or energy. This apocalypse situation certainly isn¡¯t making things better.¡±


    She nodded. It was then I realized I still didn¡¯t know her name.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Restra Phoenix.¡±


    ¡°Jasmine Forest.¡±


    She turned around and started pointing to people.


    ¡°The old man over there is my Grandfather. We call him Uncle Herald though. The two over there are identical twins. They¡¯re my cousins Rant and Frant. It¡¯s kind of hard to tell them apart. Rant is more of a trouble maker while Frant is more polite and calm. You already know Tom.


    The older man and younger girl over there are a father and daughter pair. The mom died in a car crash, so I wouldn¡¯t recommend bringing it up. I think the girl was named Sarah and the father, James.¡±


    I could feel my headache getting worse. I wasn¡¯t exactly good with names. Trying to memorize the names of 7 new people was going to be a pain. So to avoid my headache from getting worse, I''ll start slow. Jasmine is the girl with brown hair and green eyes. Tom has glasses, brown eyes and black hair. Herald is an old man. Honestly Frant and Rant shouldn¡¯t be hard to remember since they look so much alike.


    ¡°Are you thirsty?¡±


    I looked at Jasmine and nodded. She soon got up and went to the back of the store. I leaned back, and looked at everyone a bit more. Tom wasn¡¯t in his thick coat anymore. I also noticed that my jackets and coat were laid out on a nearby chair. That alongside one of my pairs of pants and gloves. Now I just had on my long sleeved black shirt, pants, socks and my winter boots.


    As I was busy inspecting myself I heard someone walk over. I looked up and saw one of the twins in front of me. He smiled gently and he was pretty cute.


    ¡°Restra right? I¡¯m Rant, I heard a bit of your conversation from over there. I was just wondering if you¡¯d be willing to talk for a bit?¡±