That unknown timer brought Toby a heavy sense of dread as he drove in silence. His eyes carefully watching the road while occasionally darting to the open Quest journal in silence. "A new quest and since I'm not going crazy killing everything you're gonna hide the timer from me. So I'm in the dark," He whispers as he drives.
His eyes would glance to the timer once more before catching on to the Primary quest. The system had not answered him directly yet as he sits there he would feel the urge to do the primary quest. A faint feeling of desire roared in his head making his fingers grip the wheel.
He wanted the rush of EXP. He would keep driving in silence, his eyes glancing at the street signs overhead. "I- I should go and look. There might be someone in trouble," He whispers to himself as he keeps driving. He sits there eyeing up the streets pondering which he could turn on to reach the bus station.
As he hits his blinker to turn he clenches the wheel, "Fuck." He shouts turning it off as he keeps going trying to resist the simple urge to turn and make his way to the bus depot. Already the System was starting to corrupt him. He would simply pull over to the side of the road and sit there for a few seconds.
The desire inside him was strong. "I could be just like the greatest Heros. Titan, Stellar, and so many others but life has a way of making you jaded. Today, I kill Monsters but what happens when they aren't as much EXP as fighting or killing someone? When I reach such a high level that killing dozens is what I need just to get my dirty fix," The perk as always forced him to speak. His resistance mangling them and making them come out strange or muttered.
"Addiction is a dangerous road but you may have saved one child's life with this power. Each one-" Toby pauses in silence as he squeezes his eyes shut and leans forward. His hand clutching the steering wheel.
NEW QUEST GIVEN.
The Shadows Watch-
Look out your window.
Toby would pause for a few seconds. A spike of fear entering his heart as he would clutch the wheel. Turning he would lock eyes with a shadow that pressed itself against his window. It simply standing there unmoving as the edges of its body flicker and shift. This road was nearly abandoned this late at night and Toby was suddenly regretful of sitting in the parking lot of a fast-food place for half an hour after work.
The shadow would stand there for a few seconds before its body shifted and dozens of black tendrils stabbed into his side and head. One of his eyes would be stabbed through as three others impale his body.
The pain is nullified but it's still enough to freeze him up. The shadow thing stands there calmly as its shadowy hands begin to reach in towards Toby's impaled body. For once Toby didn't feel concerned or empathy towards the creature. His one good eye simply turned up and looked upon the words which hovered above the creature's head.
The Shadows Watch-
Kill the Watchers. 0/3.
Find the Other two.
ENDURANCE SAVE SUCCESSFUL. DAMAGE HALVED.
-30 HP.
100/130 HP.
The system as always was vague but Toby simply wasn't thinking as he grabbed a pen and stabbed it into the creature's shadowy mass. The thing lets lose a strange burst of static which makes Toby's head hurt. He would grab the car door and slam it open causing the creature to stagger.
The thing quickly recovers taking a step back and unleashing three more tendrils hits his arm and the other which tears through his car door and into his side.
-40 HP.
60/130 HP.
He winces at this alert panicking as his HP drops even lower. His panic sets in as he struggles to get loose. His HP slowly ticking away as he feels the spike dig deeper into his gut as the shadow creature moves itself forward. His car door was ruined and as he simply began to slouch.
He would feel another spike slam into his throat once more causing him to utterly go still. Even as his hands clawed at the tendrils in his body he felt himself getting weaker and weaker as the seconds ticked by. Pain starting to become far more present in his mind as he claws and gurgles out a pained scream.
-30 HP. Crit!
30/130 HP
"H-Help," He gurgles out as blood pours from his wounds. His eyes going blurry as the shadowy creature leans in and begins to simply stand there waiting for him to stop struggling. He would sit there powerless to do anything.
His eyes would begin to close as he leaned forward waiting for the cold embrace of death to grab him. This is what he wanted wasn't it? To be stopped before he became such a horrid threat that the world shook at his presence. Yet he could not help but feel horrid and fearful as he claws upon the tendrils impaled in his body as he bleeds.
Seconds would pass feeling like hours before a pair of bright words appeared at the top of his vision.
ERROR. ERROR. ERROR.
SYSTEM OVERWHELMED.
UNKNOWN USER BREAK-
Then the system went silent. For a brief second, Toby felt like a baseline human as he sat there. A horrid worry entered him as he wondered if this monster had just stolen the power he had squandered.
A few more seconds would pass before a vision would flash in his eyes. For the briefest second, an image was burnt into his mind and vision. A glorious image that brought faint tears to his eye as he witnessed something truly great.
For a small second, he witnessed a pair of legs sitting upon a throne. The legs appeared to be made out of the very fabric of the universe and the throne itself held a gentle white shine to it. The image burnt into the fabric of his mind despite how brief it was. A strange scent of snow and flowers still entering his nose
At the side of these planet-sized Legs was a flaming sword that was rested in some unseen hand. A sword that made the very fabric of everything around it shimmer and tear. The memory hung in his mind heavily as he opened his eyes to the same sight as before. The feeling of the system returning.
Nothing felt different as his body began to act on its own. His hand gently reaching down and grabbing the tendril. Nothing happens for a few seconds before a faint gold glow begins to cover his flesh as he rips the Tendril from his gut. Toby had no control of his body as it moved something else controlling him.
He still felt such horrid pain as the System took control. . No. This wasn't the system. This was something breaking that system. Error messages begin to pop up dozens of times around his eyes as he takes in a small breath of air.
The creature lets loose another burst of static that rings through the night air as the door slams into it. The creature is torn from its tendrils as the car door sends it flying. Reaching down the Intruder simply rips the leftover flesh from Toby's wounds as he begins to walk out the door. The creature lets loose another screech as Toby begins to walk closer.
Toby could only see through one eye the other still injured. Hundreds of questions running through him before a single pair of words in bold letters appeared above his head.
ERROR; ENTITY_MICHAEL GRANTED ADMINISTRATOR PRIVILEGES.
REVOKING ATTEMPTED.