Zoe tugged at her bird-butt hat for what felt like the hundredth time.
It slipped down over her eyes again, and she growled in frustration.
The oversized monstrosity had been a joke from the start, but now it was seriously in the way.
"I swear, if this thing falls over my eyes one more time, it's going into the nearest bush," she muttered.
The bear-scorpion ahead of her hadn't even noticed her pathetic Firebolt attempt, still lazily smashing a bench with its tail. Zoe raised her staff again, then sighed.
"Okay, plan B," she said, rolling her eyes as she called upon her Snack Vault.
A shimmering light appeared in front of her, and Zoe reached in, pulling out a bag of Milky Malts.
She popped a few into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
The sugar hit almost immediately, sending a small rush of energy through her.
"Alright, snack power. Let's see if you actually work."
With the snack boost kicking in, she fired off another Firebolt.
This one was noticeably stronger, zapping the bear-scorpion right in the chest.
The creature let out a low growl, finally paying attention.
After a few more Firebolts, it staggered, then collapsed in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a pile of junk.
Zoe walked over to inspect the loot, casually tossing the bird-butt hat into a nearby bush. "You're done."
Zoe sighed and kept rummaging through the pile, her fingers brushing against a small, glowing object. She pulled it out to inspect: a circlet, simple but elegant, with a faint shimmer running along its edge.
More importantly, it had better stats than the bird-butt hat she'd just ditched.
"Huh," she said, turning it over in her hands. "You'll do. Not like that hat set a high bar."
She placed the circlet on her head and immediately felt a small surge of power.
Her spells felt sharper, more focused.
If it wasn't for the glow making her feel like she'd stepped out of a fantasy cosplay convention, she might have actually liked it.
"But hey, at least it's not neon," she muttered, adjusting it slightly.
Zoe stood up, brushing her hands off after the last of the loot inspection.
The circlet buzzed faintly with energy, and for a moment, she almost appreciated its boost.
Almost.
Zoe munched on another handful of Energy Chips, already feeling the heat from the spicy kick.
The creatures were inching closer, and she knew a bigger fight was coming.
As she dusted her hands off, a glowing notification screen hovered at the edge of her vision.
[Congratulations Zoe, you leveled up!]
Zoe groaned. "You're using my name in the main text now, too? Seriously, Loom, get a life."
She gave the notification another glance, realizing it wasn't just a message—it was her level up.
"Oh, sweet," she muttered, though her enthusiasm barely registered.
Leveling up meant she could finally upgrade her Firebolt spell.
It had been dragging like it, too, didn't want to be here.
She opened her status screen, casually flicking through the options. "Let's give Firebolt the kick it needs," she said, upgrading the spell with a tap.
Her staff pulsed with new energy, and Zoe smiled, knowing her next attack would pack a punch.
Her eyes scanned the park, and that's when she spotted a giant horned toad hopping around near the Packard Shelter House.
It let out a deep croak that echoed through the empty space, shaking the few benches still intact.
"Great. Frogs. Why not?" she groaned, adjusting her staff.
She raised the staff, aiming carefully this time, and fired off a Firebolt II. The spell zipped through the air, hitting the toad square in its slimy face. The creature let out a startled croak, stumbling back before collapsing into a heap of goo.
Zoe let out a long sigh. "Well, at least I don't have to deal with that all day."
She was about to move on when another creature caught her eye—this one skittering around on too many legs, its eyes glinting in the shadows.
It looked vaguely like a raccoon, but with twice the amount of limbs and a nasty set of teeth. Zoe grimaced. "Nope, not a raccoon."
She readied her staff again, feeling the small surge from the circlet pulse as she prepped another Firebolt.
Zoe fired off the Firebolt with a bit more confidence, thanks to the boost from the circlet.
The spell shot forward, striking the not-a-raccoon right in its furry side.
The creature hissed, darting forward with surprising speed for something with so many legs.
"Oh, come on," Zoe muttered, stepping back quickly. "Aren't you supposed to die in one hit?"
She raised her staff again, but the creature was already skittering up one of the park benches, its beady eyes fixed on her.
"Fine, if you want to play like that…" Zoe smirked, calling upon her Snack Vault.
With a flick of her wrist, the familiar shimmer appeared, and she reached in, grabbing a bag of Pufflers—Sweet Sketti Flavor. She popped a few into her mouth, feeling the sugary energy boost almost immediately.
The creature leapt toward her, but Zoe was ready this time.
With a quick motion, she cast Frost Lance, sending a shard of icy magic straight into the creature's path.
The raccoon-thing froze mid-leap, crashing to the ground in a pile of ice and fur.
Zoe crunched on another Puffler, staring down at the frozen mess. "Should've known better."
She stashed the rest of the snacks in her vault, feeling a bit more energized.
The circlet pulsed faintly, reminding her that she still had plenty of magic left in her, and there were more monsters roaming the park.
"Alright, who's next?" she muttered, scanning the area.
As she continued walking through Packard Park, moseying past the swing sets and approaching the swaying rope-bridge jungle gym, Zoe kept her staff loosely in hand.
She wasn't exactly putting in her best effort but made a mild mental note to be ready for whatever popped up next.
'Probably some demonic teeter-totter,' she thought, glancing around with half-interest. 'Because that's just my luck.'
Still, this was better than playing the helpless damsel in distress, shouting for some idiot to come rescue her.
Zoe smirked at the thought.
No, she wasn't that girl.
She had her Snack Vault safely stocked and figured she could handle a few more monsters before breakfast arrived.
She was just about to check the DashGrub delivery status again when a loud clanking noise caught her attention.
From behind the jungle gym, a large metallic creature lumbered into view.
Its body was a twisted mass of gears and cogs, its face an unsettling blend of a rusty old playground slide and something straight out of a nightmare.
Zoe raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so not a teeter-totter, but close enough."
The creature lurched forward, its heavy metal legs scraping against the pavement as it approached her with a grinding roar.
Zoe sighed, pulling her staff up and prepping for the inevitable battle. "Let's get this over with."
She summoned another frostlance, watching as the beast froze in mid step then shattered.
"Hey, you tried." Zoe told the shards as they melted away.
A minute later and Zoe felt the all-too-familiar ache in her legs.
Her body was quick to remind her that she wasn't exactly in top physical shape—years of gaming and snacking hadn't prepared her for even the mild exertion of walking around a monster-infested park.
She groaned, glancing around until she spotted the wannabe Chinese baby pavilion in range without too much effort.
"Perfect," she muttered, dragging herself over and planting her bum on the picnic table with a relieved sigh.
Her staff leaned against the edge at her hip, within easy reach.
Without a care in the world, she pulled out three soft chocolate chip cookies tucked in a tan ValueMart-branded deli bag from her freshly stocked Snack Vault.
She had zapped them in the microwave for a few seconds before tossing them in there.
She took a bite, letting the warm, gooey chocolate melt in her mouth, feeling momentarily pleased with her decision to actually take the Loom up on that perk.
Zoe glanced at her phone, checking the time.
Ten minutes until her DashGrub delivery was supposed to arrive.
She tapped over to her Creature Craze Online app, but the same annoying server maintenance message popped up, estimating another forty-five before the game was back up.
"Great. Just enough time to be stuck in this nightmare," she muttered, licking some melted chocolate off her fingers.
A rustling sound from behind the bench made her pause mid-bite.
Without turning around, she pulled up the floating screen in her peripheral vision and gave it a lazy glance.
Sure enough, another monster had spawned nearby—a gnarled, wolf-like creature with glowing red eyes and mangy fur.
It was creeping down the sidewalk from the closed walkway spanning the Mahoning River, approaching the adorable little bridge she used to play princess on as a kid.
It was clearly eying her like some kind of easy target.
Zoe sighed, not even bothering to shift much.
With the final cookie still in one hand, she reached for her staff and flicked it lazily in the creature's direction as it came bounding toward her, clearly hoping for a Zoe-sized snack.
"Frost Lance."
The icy projectile shot out, nailing the wolf-creature square in the chest.
It let out a whimper and crumpled to the ground, shattering into shards of ice within seconds.
Zoe took another bite of her cookie, watching the monster dissolve without even a hint of enthusiasm.
"Can't you see I'm busy here?" she mumbled through a mouthful of cookie.
With the threat dealt with, she parked her foot on the seat, eyes flicking between the glowing Shard down past the sloping hill and across the baseball field near the lake where she and her dad used to fish, before he got sick and passed.
She sighed, pushing the memory aside and checked the time on her phone.
Her snack situation was handled, the monsters were a nuisance but manageable, and her game was still down.
The only thing left to look forward to was breakfast—and that, at least, seemed to be on track.
Zoe dusted off her hands and pushed herself up to stand on the seat, stretching her arms above her head. "Alright, I've had enough of this. Time to go home."
She hopped down and turned to leave the park, ready to head back to her apartment for pancakes and peace.
But just as she took a step forward, something shifted in the air.
The temperature dropped sharply, and the ground beneath her feet trembled slightly.
Zoe froze, glancing toward the Shard, which was now pulsing with a faint blue light, growing more intense with each passing second.
"Oh, come on," she groaned, clutching her staff a little tighter. "What are you doing now? Spewing mobs to stop me from getting to Dusty?"
Zoe watched as the Shard pulsed softly, its blue light rippling outward in slow, steady waves.
The temperature dropped a bit more, enough that she could see her breath puffing out in the cool air.
She frowned, feeling something strange in the atmosphere—like the park wasn't quite the park anymore.
Her eyes darted to the edges of her vision. For just a second, the trees near the baseball field seemed... wrong.
Taller, darker.
The leaves swayed unnaturally, too slowly, as if they belonged to a completely different place.
She blinked, and the image flickered—just for a moment—before the familiar outline of Packard Park reasserted itself.
"What was that?" she muttered under her breath, gripping her staff a little tighter.
She glanced back toward the Shard, which pulsed again, sending another wave of that strange, reality-warping energy through the park.
The air around her shimmered, and she swore she saw the faint outline of towering trees where the park's bushes and benches should be.
For a moment, it felt like she wasn't standing in Ohio anymore, but in the middle of some ancient, forgotten forest before Packard Park returned again, except for that unnatural chill hanging in the air.
Vines rose up in the distance, twisting tighter, completely sealing off Mahoning Avenue.
Zoe's eyes darted to the trees—they stretched taller, darker, like they were trying to reach for the sky.
The park flickered, the outlines of an ancient forest creeping in like two radio stations fighting for the same spot on the dial.
One second, she was staring at the baseball field, the next, it was gone, replaced by towering trees and mist.
Her grip tightened around her staff.
"Alright, that's definitely not normal," she muttered, her voice flat, though the chill creeping up her spine told a different story.
Trapped in the park, surrounded by monsters and... whatever this was. Perfect.