Breaking the System
I used to complain every day of summer camp. Like clockwork, I would be shipped off to the farthest stand of pine trees in the state which happened to be a boy's camp. In Texas, the sun would relentlessly beat down against your skin even through the cover of trees. Despite the surrounding forest the dust on the ground always seemed to perpetuate the air. This made for an interesting look since as the day went on campers Sunkissed skin would get lighter as more limestone dust covered our bodies.
After many years of going for fun, I eventually became a member of the staff and helped teach angry children the basics of blacksmithing. Yes, my favorite activity at the camp only made the days hotter. My reason was not idiotic though but, simply because the fuel we used kept the bugs far away from my personal space.
Now seeing the skills, I had been awarded by the system almost made me want to jump for joy. It might be a hasty reaction as I have no way to compare my skills to others at this moment. That could be sorted out later, right now I had more questions for Tana.
I hesitated for a moment as to what my next question would be exactly. Just the stat page alone could probably have given a gamer like me hundreds of questions. Surprisingly, Tana took the initiative to speak first, "As you can see there are 5 basic stats. While leveling the physically inclined ones does not really stop enhancing your body the mental ones stop having transformative effects after 25 and only relate to mana afterward," she paused.
Letting her give me a full explanation would probably be for the best and I could just ask clarifying questions later. As far as processing the information she said I was already struggling a bit. Would increasing our mental stats simply make our brain faster or alter personalities? If 25 was around the max to alter our brains it is probably safe to assume humans who currently have Max Int. stats are geniuses. When my friends arrive, there should be an opportunity to confirm my theory.
Having assumed enough time had passed Tana continued on with her explanation. "There is no known max to inhabitant stats however, gaining points to increase stats becomes much more difficult as you level up. A level section will be added to stats when the Magisphere is completed. The 5 hidden stats can be viewed through special means and are even more difficult to level up. Skills are the last thing I can explain at this time. Leveling skills is pretty straightforward. The real difficulty with skills is crossing into the next Tier requires a mental idea for growth," finished with her explanation she pulled up her own menu screens and turned away.
The hidden stats sounded interesting and I wanted to learn more about my current values. The mystery behind my stats page did help me accept the system. As weird as it sounds, I felt like there was another layer to me now. People always used to be easy for me to read. No matter where in the world they were from I'd always felt they followed a general archetype. From the independent girl to the jock afraid of the dark nothing used to surprise me. Now anyone I talked to could have a different talent or piece of information I did not.
A sudden deep yet relaxing sound pulled me from my thoughts. It would seem that my friends have arrived. Based on the group chat it looked like everyone in our friend group was coming over. This might be the first time I'd had the 7 others over to my condo. I opened my phone and approved the elevator to come to this floor then made my way over to the entrance.
Unaware of what information my friends might offer I needed to find a way to make additional advancements that could be considered world firsts. While broadcasting my name to everyone alive might be annoying, the rewards were too lucrative to pass up. Thinking back to when I received my wealth reward there must be at least 2,000 others with a similar reward based on the current number of billionaires alive. Hopefully, they would strive to help those around them survive the coming weeks if nothing else but, for their own self-preservation.
A soft chime sounded through the hall as the silver elevator door began to open. To my shock, the five people in the elevator were not who I was expecting. Micah was the first out of the elevator. His button-down off by at least two notches and his hand was clamped over his mouth. He looked every bit of what I would expect a rich playboy nursing a hangover to be as hurtled past me to the open bathroom behind me.
The next one to step out was Chris with a massive smile on his face. I hated how he was such a morning person. "G how is your face already in serious mode it's only the first hour of the apocalypse live a little," he chuckled his open hand playfully slapped my shoulder. A grin crossed my face as I nudged him towards the bathroom Micah had now decided to empty his stomach in.
Turning my attention to the others in the elevator I noticed Ben having an animated conversation with Bella. They could piss each other off in ways that few understood but, deep down were best friends. They had grown much closer since the passing of Bella's roommate. It seemed they were currently having a debate over the functionality of the US government. Not one to ruin a fun party I waved and pointed them towards the living room hoping to avoid being sucked into the discussion.
The last one remaining in the elevator was blankly staring into space asking questions, seemingly to himself. A friend I had not seen in a long time but was one of the smartest people I knew, Jake. Lacking what most would call street smarts he was most likely talking to his AI. I waved my hand in front of his eyes and he snapped back to reality. "long time no see man," I exclaimed giving him a half hug.
"This is so interesting Griff it's like the world had turned into a video game! I was asking my AI and apparently Magic is real, well I'm not sure if magic is the right word. It's probably very advanced science that somehow lets us feel and manipulate atoms or quarks," he rushed out without stopping for breath. A crazed look covered his face like a kid in a candy store.
"Slow it down Harry skywalker you gotta have a skill for it before you can feel it from what I can guess," I replied directing him towards where the others had now gathered in the living room around the still running news program.
Taking a seat myself on the pouf ottoman I reached for the remote and lowered the volume on the program. The group before me was actually all that was left of our old gaming group when we would play those large-scale VR MMO RPGs. I could feel a small twist in my stomach that must have been some sort of emotion I had long forgotten how to interpret.
Bella finally chimed in as ben and her debate drew to its apex, "Griff can you please tell Ben that it is pointless to have a government at this time. The system looks to control our lives now so why would we need them in our lives." While she had a decent argument I doubted that our government would give up current power so easily. In fact, with the way the system introduced the bank information it sounded like every government's property would be liquidated in a week across the world.
"Bella is almost right. We do not have enough information though to completely write off the government. One thing is for sure though until we learn more and that is people will be frantic for the next week," I stated plainly. There was more I could have added such as the common sheep will only respond to power when society breaks down but, that thought would not end the already tired conversation.
Ben huffed a disappointed sigh but leaned forward in his seat clearly ready to begin the main point of why everyone was here. He had only hinted at it over the phone with a stereotypically dramatic 'shocking information'. "When talking to my AI earlier I asked what percent of humans would survive the terraformation and first year of stabilization. You should all do that now," Ben almost looked scared as the last words left his mouth.
I looked over at Tana who seemed to understand my intention without needing a verbal question. To my surprise, it was not her who answered but the system. A series of new blue notification boxes sprang into my vision.
Hidden Quest Unlocked: Culling the herd
Your current population is too large. If more there are too many of any one population at a given moment the threat of (Redacted) invasion increases dramatically. Benchmarks have been set internally to increase difficulty accordingly for each of the 5 phases. Additional details can be found in the quest subtab timelines.
A red-bordered box appeared with the quest timelines immediately.
Phase one: Complete - Delayed by estimated 2000 years - population remaining over 300% of the desired goal. The difficulty of subsequent Phases has increased to Epic. Penalty for delay 2X multiplier on everything from rewards to challenges till Year is over.
Phase two: in preparation - Due to delay and increased difficulty a unique world containing extremely diverse environments will be generated. Population target adjusted to 1 Billion. Difficulty set to epic (pending inhabitants acclimation week talents) and rewards will be scaled to the new difficulty level.
Phase three: Locked
Phase four: Locked
Phase five: Locked
Year-end population goal under 250 Million. *System disclaimer you may not directly reveal this information to others however you can make them aware of the quest or questions that might reveal the quest*