The Prime Minister felt an unsettling aura as he sat by himself in the conference and negotiations room.
He felt as if he had accomplished something but done nothing. The truth was, he simply was there at the right place at the right time, luck is what brought him to go so far. But that was life right? You get lucky here and end up unlucky there, he simply was just more blessed than most people.
He stared at the nation's flag in the corner.
I'm a parasite, he thought to himself, I'm here to take what I want and get out.
Money and power were two faces of the same coin.
He had done good for himself, especially adding in his background. Being a successful politician ensured a lot of things, one of which was creating an ever-lasting legacy.
How often do you hear about what some men decades, centuries, or even thousands of years ago did? How horrible or good they were. Regardless of what they did, they achieved what, the prime minister felt, was the absolute peak of what all humans should strive for.
This was his last year in office, he had to make sure he adds another remarkable achievement to his already decorated resume. The massive 10 billion Birr scandal that he faced was the Achilles heel that would bring down everything he worked so hard for.
He could already hear them, the criticism from his political opponents.
"I understand sir but please know that the project has been deemed a fail-"
"IT DOES NOT MATTER! Failure this, failure that, you can fail all you want but the only one your little projects are hurting is ME! Do you understand how much scrutiny I had to face because of it? The entire press was hunting me for months, and they still are!"
He tried his best to showcase his anger in a professional manner, but this, this was unbearable.
"Prime Minister, please see that the science department has made lots and lots of developments in technology for the nation," Professor Quintin said, as he tried to come up with a way to hang up the phone without appearing disrespectful. "We have given our native companies and cooperation's, both big and small a competitive edge when it comes to the technological field. With the royalty contracts we secured, the government had brought in 400 billion Birr into the economy. Not to mention the currency is one of the strongest to date sir."
"What you need to understand professor four-eyes," he tried to say the last part in the rudest tone possible. "Is that the people don't care about specifics, they see one story and go with it without any confirmation. So while your department has been getting all the money, I'm still getting attacked! You promised me that the project would ensure a military edge! That our nation's soldiers would be indestructible, and that it could also be used in medicine to cure various diseases, and you know what I did? I gave you what you wanted...money! And what did I get in return? Well, one thing is for sure, THE PEOPLE DONT THINK I'M A SAINT AS PROMIS-"
"Sir!"
The prime minister was suddenly interrupted by...military officials? Why was the military department here? What could they possibly want? Before he could even open his mouth, they revealed the elephant in the room.
"It's...It's a level 9 catastrophe Sir!"
The room was shaken to its core when that sentence was said.
Level 9? That's only reserved for something above a nuclear threat, didn't we only create that category just for the fun of it? His thoughts were suddenly cut off as the military officials went on about the situation.
"We don't know what they are, but unspecified and unrecognized creatures have been appearing throughout the country, no the world, there are several videos of these things killing down humans! Sir we also have videos surfacing throughout the web of people acquiring superhuman powers!"
"Well, that's just nonsen-"
"Sir! I have gotten reports that Nanjook has been completely cut off from all internet connection!" a young military official barged in the room with the recent report.
"No...not Nanjook, that's...that's our most prosperous city!" The prime minister felt as if everything he had been working for was in vain. "Se...Send all military active personal back to the nation! Declare a state of emergency! Use every military unit we have stationed in the country! No! Use ANYTHING WE HAVE IN DISPOS-"
The prime minister was now notably out of place, stumbling around just to stand up before falling to the ground. He was experiencing a stroke, he's second in his lifetime.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It wasn't long before I found myself completely phased out, but rightfully so, the only problem was every second that passed by mattered.
But at least I made a companion.
"I don't think those monsters are smart enough to use the stairs, they might be too dumb for that," Jinji said, as he tried to rest his head more comfortably. "Man I never felt more claustrophobic in my life."
We were hiding under the desk in the student/school body section of the floor, who would have guessed it would turn out to be a game of hide and seek?
Nonetheless, I had to think about my next choices. Was Jinji trustable enough to the point I would tell him I'm one of the few to choose a role? That has been on my mind since the moment I and him got cramped with each other.
"What's on your mind?"
Oh, he's perceptive.
"Jinji, I got to tell you something important," I whispered in the quietest voice possible. "I'm one of the students that chose a role."
His eyes widened as if he just found a treasure chest.
"Well?" Jinji said, this time a bit too loud. "I'm mean well? My bad for being loud that's how I normally am, but what's your role then? And why don't you have anything on you then? What can you do? I'm I asking too many questions?"
"I'm the Jester, and your questions are valid, I actually been thinking about why I wasn't granted anything like the other students," I whispered once more.
But he's right, what could I do really?
[System notification:]
You have revealed your role to an unspecified player, would you like to offer them to join your sect?
[Y/N]
Sect? There are sects?
I expected something like a guild sense so far this system has been real game-like, but it's the same thing, right?
"Yo? What is this blue thing in front of me?" Jinji said, in a confused tone. "Would you like to join player 16's sect?" he read over the text. "Yes/no."
He turned around to face me. His eyes were glowing with aspiration.
"Player 16 is you right?"
He sure is perceptive.
"Yeah."
"Well obviously I'm going to say yes," he said, as he clicked the yes button.
[System notification:]
Player "Jinji Mekina" has joined your sect, some abilities are now shared.
Player Jinji Mekina's Profile:
User name: Jinji Mekina
Age: 14
Gender: M
Role: Jester
Basic Body and Mental Attributes:
AGILITY: 25
STRENGTH: 20
ENDURANCE: 19
INTELLIGENCE: 15
CHARISMA: 10
PERCEPTION: 15
Special attributes:
Internal Power: 0
External Power: 10
Spiritual willpower:0
Malice/Benevolence: N
Mana Capacity: 5
Special Skills:
[Deceive: This is a shared skill with the sect master; Take on the appearance of a player or a mob for 1 minute. Can only be used twice a day.]
"Damn when did I get this handsome?" Jinji said, looking over his profile picture.
So being in the same sect means that we share the same abilities, pretty straightforward.
So my skill was shapeshifting, but the time is limited and we could only use it twice a day. I understand how this could fall into the "fool others" part of the role, but the limitations restrict any real freedom.
I was cut off by a peal of sudden maniacal laughter.
Was it a student? I remember a lot of people went up the stairs alongside me, there are definitely other people hiding here. No, I know that sound from when I saw those students running away from those weird green goblin creatures.
They were here.
I heard them, footsteps coming towards us. The only reason I got this far is because I wasn't in the back of the crowd, it was complete luck. It was foolish to not expect them to come back, I had become too relaxed.
I turned to Jinji, who was holding a sharpened pencil tightly.
Then, the sounds of footsteps stopped. Had it stopped? No, it was trying to pull a fake.
"Mancha laka" we heard a creature say.
Then it revealed itself, it had skin and yellow eyes. It had basic leather armor and held a sword in its right hand. It would be intimidating if it wasn't the size of a child.
I could tell Jinji was stuck in place, so this all rested on me alone.
There was no time to waste, and by the movement of its hand, I could tell it was attempting to slice us into pieces.
Legs are four times stronger than arms.
I rolled my body to the ground and with all of my strength, kicked the mob with my legs, my feet directly causing damage to its face.
Its body swung to the rear edge of another table that was parked only a couple of feet away from our table, this time hitting its neck. The disgusting sound of its neck cracking into pieces.
[System Notice:]
You have killed your first mob! You have leveled up to level 2 while your apprentice is halfway through level 1!
XP gained: 10!
You can upgrade your skills or convert it into the currency of the item store to buy items.
[Other Goblins in your surrounding area are alerted of your location!]
Other Goblins are alerted, a polite way of saying we had a huge bounty hunt on our heads. We could no longer afford to hide, there was no point seeing that our location was revealed.
I walked towards the goblin and took its sword, I might as well be armed.
"Jinji," I said, turning around to face him once more. He was visibly terrified. "Have you ever wanted to know what it's like to be a goblin for a minute?"
"N...no"
"Well, this is my first time too."
There was an elevator here if I remembered, but that only led to the cafeteria, which would only mean certain death. The stairs from which we came also led to the top floor which had no use as it only had fences around the perimeter from what I noticed outside.
If all the mobs were like the goblin I just faced, then there wouldn't be any need to waste our chances with Deceive. We wouldn't even get far with 1 minute anyways.
"Oh come on, your going to stay hiding there till another goblin comes up and kills you?" I said, trying to scare him out of hiding.
"N...no," Jinji said, as he slowly got up.
"As your senior and seeing that you are my apprentice, it is only logical that you are under my protection, so worry not little one," I said, touching my beardless chin, currently trying to imitate those old martial arts masters.
"Your quite skilled," a feminine voice said from behind me.
I turned around, firmly holding my sword as I got in a defensive position, those fence fighting lesson are definitely paying off.
From the looks of it, it was a girl, and she definitely was one of few that selected a role.