I stood there, staring at my peaceful world now overrun by creatures from Ruined World. The game I had devoted and hated so much had now turn into reality. I tried to make sense of the chaos outside my window.
The girl, Anna Kent, lay on my bed, her breathing is steady now that I had used the Perfect Health reward. Her stats were pretty weak, but her skills are pretty impressive especially her Parallel Healing skill, which was SS+ tier. I knew she would be invaluable in the struggles ahead, but I also realized I had to protect her until she could fend for herself.
"Okay, Von Stroheim, time to get your act together," I muttered, my mind is full of thoughts. "I need to figure out what happened and how to survive this new reality."
My first step was to gather information. I grabbed my phone, hoping for some clue, some guidance from the game developers or other players. Instead, I was met with another message on the game:
[ Warning: The world as you know it has been altered. Survive all the challenges and everything will back to normal.]
"Survive the challenges, huh?, similar to the quest on the game." I sighed. I decided to check my surroundings, to see if anyone else is still alive. I needed allies, and quickly.
Leaving Anna to rest, I cautiously stepped outside, taking a metal bat I had found in the garage. The streets were a warzone, goblins, wyverns, and other monsters roamed freely, wreaking havoc. I spotted a group of people together, trying to fend off a pack of goblins. Without thinking, I rushed to their aid.
"Hey! Over here!" I shouted, swinging the bat with all my might. The goblins turned their attention to me, giving the group a chance to escape. I fought with everything I had, using the Advance fighting skills [C+] i have, as expected i lack combat skills, since the Eye of truth [S] is not combat type. It was a brutal fight, but eventually, the goblins was defeated.
[ congratulations for defeating 3 goblins!. ]
— Experience + 90
— Gold + 34
"30 points for 1 goblin? Sweet!" I shouted.
"Window Status" i said loudly.
[ Player Status ]
Name: Von Stroheim
Title: 1st world survivor
Level: 4
Health: 36/100
Mana: 3/100
Strength: 10
Agility: 8
Intelligence: 40
Defense: 9
Gold: 69
Experience: 295/300
Skills:
Eye of truth [S]
Advance fighting skills [C+]
Inventory: None
I took a rest and used my knowledge of the game. "Open, Store,".
The familiar store interface popped up, displaying a variety of items and their prices. I quickly navigated to the consumables section and found the health and mana potions.
"Health Potion [M] - 25 gold," the description read. "Restores 50% of maximum health."
"Mana Potion [M] - 35 gold," the description read. "Restores 50% of maximum mana."
I checked my gold balance: 69 gold. Perfect. Without hesitation, I selected the health and mana potion and confirmed the purchase. A moment later, the potions appeared in my inventory.
'Update:
[ Inventory ]
Health potion[M]
Mana Potion[M]
[ Gold: 9 ]'
"Use Health and Mana Potion[M]," I said, the feeling of drinking potions real life is weird it taste nothing but i surely feel better now.
"Window Status", i said.
[ Player Status ]
Name: Von Stroheim
Title: 1st world survivor
Level: 4
Health: 86/100
Mana: 53/100
Strength: 10
Agility: 8
Intelligence: 40
Defense: 9
Gold: 9
Experience: 295/300
Skills:
Eye of truth [S]
Advance fighting skills [C+]
Inventory: None
"I feel better" i muttered, and then proceed to look for those civilians. "Thank you! You saved us!" one of the survivors, with a mix of heavy breathing and relief in their eyes.
"We need to stick together," I said, catching my breath. "This isn't just a game anymore. My name is Von Stroheim, and I think we need to find more people, gather supplies, and figure out how to survive this."
"Game? What do you me—" before one of the civilian could even speak a terrifying roar echoed through the streets. A massive wyvern appeared. its thick scales reflect the sunlight from the sky, and menacingly swooped down on us, I watched in horror as it snatched one of the civilians in its jaws, tearing them apart with ease.
Frozen, I could only watch as the wyvern feasted on their remains. Any noise, any movement, and it might notice me next. My heart pounded, my instincts screaming at me to run, but I knew better. I couldn't take on a monster of that level, not yet.
After that attack, the wyvern finished its meal and took off into the sky, leaving a bloody mess behind. I stood there, silent numb, and alone as all my supposedly comrade all the civilian are dead with their organs everywhere.
I finally turned back, making my way to my house with heavy steps. Anna was still resting, not knowing the horrors outside. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. There would be no room for mistakes every decision mattered now. "I need to be fast or else, death." I said. After that gruesome afternoon, i tried to rest but i can't, after seeing those things. I don't think i can. "Fuck life," i muttered then a message appear infront of me,
'A new quest arrive, participate to gain extra awards. Top 100 players to finish first will receive better rewards!'
[ Quest: Reach Seoul. Reward: Update to main quest. ]
The new quest notification change the atmosphere of my room. Reach Seoul? That meant navigating through miles of monster infested terrain. I glanced back at Anna, still resting peacefully. Leaving her here wasn't an option, but taking her on a dangerous journey is also not a good option.
I opened my contacts, hoping for some sort of message, maybe from other players or the developers or the army. But there was nothing. No guidance, no allies. Just me, Anna, and the chaos outside.
"Alright, Von Stroheim," I muttered, strengthing my resolve. "Time to make a plan."
First, I needed to secure my immediate surroundings. I double-checked the locks and barricades around the house, ensuring we had a secure base to fall back to. Then, I made my way back to the bedroom where Anna lay. I gently touch her to wake.
"Anna," I whispered. "We need to move."
She stirred, her eyes fluttering open. "What's happening?" she asked, her voice with worrying and confusion "Who are you?, how did you know my name?, Where i am?, mister?" Following questions.
"The world has changed," I explained, keeping my voice calm. "Monsters from Ruined World are here, and we need to survive. You're attacked by goblins and i saved you, my name is Von Stroheim, as of now, we're the players of this world 'and i continue to explain', I've used a Perfect Health reward on you, so you should feel better. Can you walk?"
"Thank you for saving me, I don't remember everything, what about my parent?" She said with worrying, "I don't know..." I said as i showed her the peaceful world that's now on chaos. "So can you move? We need to hurry before night comes" i said calmly.
She nodded, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "I think so."
"Good. We're heading to Seoul. It's a long journey, but it's our best chance. Stay close to me."
We gathered what supplies we could find a couple of backpacks, some canned food, and bottled water. I also found a map, and i marked the route to Seoul. It wasn't going to be easy, but we had no other choice.
As we stepped outside, the harsh sunlight greeted us. The streets were weirdly quiet. I tightened my grip on the metal bat and led the way, Anna close behind.
Our first challenge came sooner than expected. As we turned a corner, we encountered a pack of orcs. They charged at us, and I swung the bat combined with Advance Skill i have, the orc stopped, looking for a right moment, just like i remember, orc intellect are higher than those goblins, one of the orc attack, i quickly dodge it and told Anna "run" i shouted. I took their attention away from Anna to let her escape, but it wasn't enough one of the orcs was still on her tail, i ran to nearest house to hide from those orcs, but no their sense of smelling is impossible to beat, so i rush and attack them with my bat, but was completely parried, i was slash by one of the orcs, "my shoulderrrr fuck" i said loudly, as i was prepared to attack and die, i heard a gunshot, they're shooting the orcs nonstop, "Hey kid, run through the backdoor, as i ran i heard of them throwing something then BOOM, a sound of grenade explode killing all the orcs, i was about to die then a message window appeared.
[ SYSTEM: Congratulations, you're the second highest damage in killing the orcs ]
— Experience 160
— Gold 76
— Item: Orc core
[ You leveled up and successfully reached the first prime level. All health and mana have been restored to maximum. ]
[ Player Status ]
Name: Von Stroheim
Title: 1st world survivor
Level: 5
Health: 110/110
Mana: 105/105
Strength: 10
Agility: 8
Intelligence: 40
Defense: 9
Gold: 85
Experience: 155/400
Skills:
Eye of truth [S]
Advance fighting skills [C+]
Inventory: None
"I close my window status and proceed to claim my level up rewards"
[ Sorry for the delay!, and congratulations for killing and helping killing the orcs, first prime level unlocked, choose your reward. ]
— +1 on all stats
— Random Skill Spin
— Random Item
— 50 Gold
"A random skill spin?, this is the first time I'm seeing it. I should try it." After clicking the random skill spin as my reward, thousand of skills are infront of me, and at the center there's a line rotating like the one's on the game daily spin rewards, "I remember spamming video ads just to get gold from this".
[ New skill unlocked: Transcends[S+]
Description: Sudden Increase to all stats by 6 points
Time limit: last 10 minutes, 2 times per day. ]
"What the this is overpowe—" before i could finish speaking a guy who saved me, ask my name and what i am doing here, "My name is Von Stroheim." I replied "My name is Kang a veteran" He said calmly, "what are you doing here kid?,"
"I was traveling with my—" then i suddenly remember that Anna is missing, and she's being followed by an orc. 'Fuck, I need to go. Sorry, Mr. Kang, but I have to save someone. Goodbye.' The last thing i remember is Mr kang calling my name. I ran and ran, looking for Anna, but I couldn't find her. It's already night. I decide to rest since monsters are lurking, planning to wake up early to find Anna and reach Seoul as quickly as possible.