User does not qualify for teleportation to tutorial protocol . Please explore the system of the multi-verse yourself A robotic voice echoed in his head .
WHAT? - Zac shouted - Why can't I get the tutorial? Teleport me right now! -
By accepting Protocol SL-34572 , user automatically declined standardized initiation protocol in favor of lottery opportunity
OPPORTUNITY? PLAYING A RIGGED GAME IS AN OPPORTUNITY?! - Zac screamed , forgetting he was surrounded by who knows how many beasts . This shitty system actually not only almost got him killed but also skipped a teleportation to a safe-zone , which sounded a lot better than a demon-infested forest .
Affirmative . Please explore the system of the multi-verse yourself The voice dully responded , and once again went quiet .
Zac fumed but realized he would get no more help from the cosmic douchebag robot . With a few deep breaths , he once again calmed down and realized the implication of what the robot said .
He himself had missed the opportunity to get to the safe-zone , but what about others . Unless it was voluntary , then almost everyone should have been teleported to wherever those safe-zones were , barring any extremely unlucky instances like his .
Protocol SL-34572 is a lottery opportunity . Congratulations user The system responded as if reading his mind .
Well fuck you too . -
Once again calming down , he thought of his fellow campers . Hannah and the others might actually still be safe , teleported away somewhere before this forest turned insane . That would explain the lack of blood and mangled body parts at the campsite .
It also meant that his family hopefully still was alive . While not optimal , a safe-zone sounded pretty swell compared to his surroundings . He was still worried though , and wanted to get to them as soon as possible . Both his father and little sister were out there somewhere , and he was afraid the apocalyptic events would lower the inhibitions of less scrupulous people . While his sister was an avid martial arts practitioner , he wasn’t confident that would hold up against perverts with guns and other weapons .
Refocusing his thoughts , he realized something he had just glossed over from the quests . The normal quest had a progression of (16/25) . Did this mean that there was actually such a thing as levels , and he was level 16? What did that mean?
Chapter 6 - Born for Carnage
There was only one way to find out . The quest panel appeared when he asked what he was supposed to do , maybe there were other panels as well?
Menu . - Zac said into the air somewhat embarrassed , feeling like those LARP’ers he had once seen running around in the park once . Nothing happened , and Zac felt he could almost hear the system snicker at him . Not discouraged , he continued to search for some other panels or menus .
Status . -
This time it worked , and a new bar replaced the one with the quests .
Name
Zachary Atwood
Level
16
Race
Human
Alignment
Human (Earth)
Titles
Born For Carnage , Ultimate Reaper , Luck of the Draw , Giantsbane , Disciple of David , Overpowered , Slayer of Leviathans , Adventurer
Strength
31
Dexterity
25
Endurance
27
Vitality
27
Intelligence
29
Wisdom
29
Luck
44
Free Stats
30
Nexus Coins
5100
The status screen did indeed look somewhat like what he expected , with levels and stats . There were a few points he did not really understand though . The first was the alignment . Did it need to be specified that it was humans on earth that he was aligned with? Were there actually humans on other planets or in other dimensions?
He was surprised how much like a game the rest of the screen was . While there didn’t seem to be such a thing as HP or mana , stats did exist . He didn’t have any framework of what the numbers meant though , apart from higher obviously being better . Ironically he saw that his highest stat actually was luck , even though he felt very much out of luck .
Strength seemed pretty straight forward , while the other stats might mean different things . Dexterity likely had something to do with movement and reaction speeds . Endurance and vitality both meant survivability , though he wasn’t sure the difference . He was pretty sure that his stats were higher than a normal human though , maybe from his level . He couldn’t explain his superhuman recuperation otherwise . While he still felt pretty banged up , he should be lying on a bed dying now with the wounds he sustained , not walking around .
Intelligence and wisdom should increase mental faculties . If the world actually had magic and wizards now , these stats would probably make them cast spells better . Finally he had 30 free stats . Quick count showed that he had gained 2 points per level up , if he started at level 1 . He held off of trying to allocate any points though , as he still had no idea what he was doing .
The titles , to be honest , sounded pretty bad-ass . They didn’t however really feel like something that describe him too well . He neither felt like he was born for carnage or overpowered from the last encounter with the Demonling .
Titles . - Zac said , hoping for some explanation of the titles and what they meant .
Just as he hoped , a new screen popped up with an explanation .
Born for Carnage : First to kill a monster in world . All stats +10% .
Ultimate Reaper : First to kill a boss ranked entity solo in world . All stats +5 , All stats +10% .
Luck of the Draw : Successful in cheating death in an endeavor against all odds . Luck +5 , Luck +20% .
Giantsbane : Solo kill enemy 5 levels or more above you . All stats +1 .
Disciple of David : Solo kill enemy 10 levels or more above you . All stats +2 .
Overpowered : Solo kill enemy 25 levels or more above you . All stats +3 .
Slayer of Leviathans : Solo kill enemy 50 levels or more above you . All stats +5 , All Stats +10% .
Adventurer : Reach level 10 . Rewards : Strength +1 , Endurance +1 , Intelligence +1 .
Amazing… - Zac whispered . Titles were far more important than just sounding cool . From looking at his status page , he realized that most of his stats came from his titles , rather than being strong on his own .
This also gave him a few very important realizations . Almost all titles came from killing things , meaning that the system probably did not wish for a peaceful and harmonious world . It wanted a world of conflict , where people became stronger by walking over the corpses of their enemies .
That didn’t bode well for humanity . If the system incentivized killing , who knows if some people would go crazy and start massacre people for strength instead of monsters . Who’s to say that there were no titles for killing humans?
He once again realized the urgent need to meet up with his family , before some maniac starts cutting people down in an attempt to power-level .
The second important point was that there were different types of titles . The first type was the Adventurer title . This was probably a title most people would gain . He did not know how hard it was to gain levels , but seeing as he was already level 16 after three days it should not take too long . Therefore the rewards was not too exciting .
The second type was struggling to complete tasks that were extremely hard . Zac had a slew of rewards for killing monsters at higher level than him . He was a bit confused at first , while it almost killed him , it did not feel like killing the Demonling warranted all these titles . It did not feel like a boss or some monster that was more than 50 levels above himself if he could kill it with some dumb luck , a well-placed rock , and a lumber-axe . The only thing he could imagine was that the system gave him the kill credit for out-rolling the unlucky Herald and awarded him with the titles .
These rewards were a lot stronger , and gave him all stat boosts which likely increased his all-around powers . The most difficult titles even gave multiplier bonuses to his stats . Those bonuses would only get stronger and stronger the higher his level went , and the more stats he accumulated .