As Ayaan chose 'No' and time resumed, his mind was running at its highest.
His vision narrowed and he only focused on the monster and its sword. The blade is coming at him.
'Can't dodge'
'Minimize damage'
He leaned to the side, making the blade slash on his shoulder. It cut through his flesh and slipped off. The wound wasn't exactly deep. It didn't reach the bone, but its not shallow either.
The monster tripped forward.
*THWACK*
Ayaan stabbed the sharp edge of the Rebar, into the side of the monster's stomach.
*GRRRRR* A painful groan escaped the lips of that monster.
*BANG*
Ayaan kicked on the rebar piece he just stabbed, digging it deeper into the monster's body. Using that recoil, he let himself fall on the ground, and rolled into the room.
*SLAM*
In a fluid motion, he kicked the door close and bolted it.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
The monster started kicking and punching the door. The metal door soon had several dents. Ayaan sat beside the door. He removed his shirt hurriedly and tied it around the injury on his shoulder.
He held the rebar piece in his hand and stood up.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *CRASH*
The door couldn't hold it anymore. It came off its hinges and crashed into the ground. The monster stepped in.
*THWACK*
Ayaan was stabbed from the side. The sharp end of the rebar pierced the neck of the monster.
*G…*
Even the painful growl didn't come out. Blood spurted from its neck.
*SWING*
The blade came at Ayaan, but he wasn't there anymore. He took several steps back and picked up an old rusty IV pole. He looked at the monster carefully
Level 1 Mutant Human (Complete)
HP: [███████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 40%
Its health bar dropped to 40%.
The monster looked at Ayaan with a hateful gaze. The previous look it had, the look of arrogance and amusement is long gone. Whatever intelligence that it had to lead the level 0 monsters disappeared and its instinctual nature kicked in.
And with that instinct, it foolishly took out the rebar pieces sticking in its flesh.
*SPURT*
Blood gushed out from both wounds.
[██████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 36%
The health dropped further.
The monster tried to come forward, swinging its sword. But Ayaan kept the distance.
He pushed the IV pole as if he tried to hit its stomach, but he changed the trajectory and hit the monster in the knee. Ayaan didn't aim to hurt the monster. He didn't try to deal any damage, whenever it stepped forward, he stepped back and pushed it away, before he moved in a different direction.
Soon, the monster didn't even realize that they almost made a circle around the room, the distance between them didn't reduce.
Before the monster knew it, Ayaan was near the door while it was deeper inside the room.
*G…*
With an almost inaudible growl, it swung its sword.
When Ayaan used the IV Pole, it didn't back down and cut it.
*CLANG*
The blade went through the IV pole smoothly. The piece fell off. Ayaan dashed backwards exiting the room and seemingly ran away into the corridor.
The monster dashed out angrily.
*BAM*
As soon as it stepped out, the pole slammed against its face. Ayaan swung it with all the strength he could muster.
[█████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 32%
Ayaan felt a bit dizzy. The bleeding slowed down, but it didn't stop. And the blood loss is making his movements heavier than they already are.
The monster fell to the ground. Ayaan took the chance and ran into the opposite room before bolting the door close.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Once again, the monster angrily banged the door. This time, it didn't take as much time as before. The door came off and fell to the ground. But it seemed like the monster learned the lesson. It didn't barge in like before.
Ayaan who hid behind the wall, stepped away.
*SWOOSH*
The monster jumped into the room. Its feet didn't even touch the floor until it reached the center of the room. As soon as it landed…
*SWOOSH*
Ayaan swung the pole, aiming at its head. It dodged the attack and cut down another part of the pole.
It is now only one-third its original size.
The monster charged at Ayaan with bloodshot eyes.
Its sword stabbed and slashed at him angrily. Ayaan tried to keep his cool.
'Breath'
'Focus'
'Follow the movements.'
'Observe'
His labored breathing stabilized a bit. The pole in his hands got shorter than before and there wasn't much distance between him and the monster.
He realized that dodging became a lot easier despite his fatigue and exhaustion. It seems like the monster has become a lot more tired than him.
He observed the attacks to the best of his ability.
'Fast'
'Sharp'
'Precise'
'Predictable'
All of a sudden, he threw the pole in his hands at the monster. The monster changed its posture and stood sideways, before stabbing forward.
Ayaan also turned sideways, letting the sword brush past his back. The sharp sword left a gash on his back. He brought his arm down and held the sword against his back, with his arm applying force on it.
'Steal'
He forcefully turned and the sword came out of the monster's hands.
Ayaan let the sword slip, crouched, and caught the sword.
'KILL'
He slashed it upwards.
*SLASH*
The sword left a deep gash on the monster's torso. It started at its navel and stopped at its chest.
*GRRR*
[██░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 10%
He didn't let the monster recover from the shock.
*THWACK*
He stabbed the sword into its throat, letting the health bar finally hit zero. The light in the monster's eyes disappeared.
[░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 0%
The monster fell to the ground and disappeared in a puff of red sparks.
[Exp+10]
Ayaan looked at the sword in his hands and collapsed to his knees.
He caught his breath and tried to keep himself from passing away. At that moment, a notification appeared in front of him.
==============================
NOTIFICATION
==============================
Congratulations, Ayaan Rakshit!
You have defeated the Tutorial Boss:
**"Mutant Human [Complete]"**
==============================
==============================
QUEST COMPLETED!
==============================
Congratulations, Ayaan Rakshit!
You have successfully completed the Tutorial Quest:
**"Survive for 30 minutes"**
==============================
QUEST SUMMARY
==============================
- Total Kills: 73
- EXP Gained: +86.5
==============================
REWARDS EARNED
==============================
- Level Up (+1)
- All Stats +2
- Standard Mutant Soldier Sword (Uncommon)
==============================
Would you like to exit the tutorial?
==============================
[Yes]
[No]
==============================
Ayaan looked at the sword in his hands.
The item details appeared.
==============================
ITEM DETAILS
==============================
Name: Standard Mutant Soldier Sword
Grade: Uncommon
Durability: 100
Level Req: None
Description:
A reliable blade forged for mutant soldiers.
Its sharpness and balance make it ideal for combat.
==============================
It's a bit heavier than usual, but it's of excellent quality. Ayaan looked at the current Quest clear notification and went into deep thought. He stayed like that for five minutes. He is not bleeding as much.
His breath also stabilized.
For some reason, the Yes or No question is making him hesitate to leave this place. After some thought, he still chose No.
He slowly stood up and walked out. There is nothing on this floor. He walked downstairs with the sword in his hand. In this building, there is only this ground floor left and he wanted to see what will be there.
But what greeted him was just an empty lobby. There is nothing else. He walked the lobby from one end to the other but didn't find anything.
There are only two rooms on this floor. One of them is for cleaning supplies and another for the sheets and bedding supplies.
He first checked the cleaning supply room, but there was nothing in there except for the cobwebs and rotten brooms.
The bedding room,h owever, made him frown. It looked just as decayed and destroyed. But there is only one difference. The floor is relatively clean. There is no debris, no rotten stink, no dir,t and grim.
He walked in and his suspicions were well founded.
*TAP* *TAP*
One of the tiles appeared hollow. He crouched down and checked the edge of that tile. There it was. A small gap. He inserted the pointed end of the sword inside and tried to raise the tile.
It came up easily without much struggle. He threw the tile away and found a flight of stairs leading into the darkness.
A notification appeared.
==============================
NOTIFICATION
==============================
You have discovered a Hidden level
of the Tutorial
"Mutant Lab"
==============================
DETAILS
==============================
- Difficulty: Low
- Rewards: Unknown
- Hidden Boss: None
Will you enter the Hidden Stage?
[Yes]
[No]
==============================
Ayaan selected yes. The darkness that seemed endless just a moment ago, illuminated. He slowly got downstairs and he found himself in the middle of what looked like a Sci-fi movie.
There are several glass cylinders on either side of the room, with humans floating inside some translucent liquid. There are dozens of them. There is an aisle in between leading to what looked like some ultra-modern supercomputer.
In front of the computer, there was a corpse of an old man strapped to the chair. The body is cold, but it shouldn't have been too long since it was killed maybe a few hours. There are a few holes stabbed in the legs, clearly from the sword Ayaan is holding now.
The hand of the corpse is still on the keyboard of the computer.
Ayaan pushed the hand away, to see if he could find anything in the computer. All of a sudden, the screen lit up and a video played. The figure of the same old man who is now strapped to the chair appeared and the background displayed the same lab.
It was a self-recording.
"I am Doctor Ashwin, the head of the Mutant research lab.
Today is 1 January 2056.
It has been thirty years since the cataclysm. Humanity was not prepared and we faced absolute defeat. We barely survived and I was lucky to be a part of that surviving group.
Around a decade ago, we established this secret Mutant research lab to find a way to fight back against the invaders.
The progress was a lot slower, but it was steady. A month ago, however, one of the mutants that reached a completed stage has woken up. However, I realized that the algorithm responsible for its control was not working properly.
Although it can't communicate, it still possesses human intelligence. It took over the lab and changed the programming of the rest of the mutants. If all of this is completed, it will have a mutant army that obeys its every command.
It captured every able-bodied researcher in the lab and placed them in the mutation chamber.
I was the only one left alive to ensure that the mutation process will go without any hiccups.
The mutant has tied me to this chair and has been making trips outside. It has captured every stray human in the nearby settlements and placed them in the mutant chamber as a new member of its army.
From what I can see, the mutant I made ended up being another enemy of humanity. Its base instinct is to spread its kind and is moving towards that goal aggressively.
I have already sent an SOS signal to the nearby settlement.
I am experiencing severe blood loss and I knew that I would die in a while. So, I am making this final entry.
Whoever you are, if the mutation has not been completed, please halt the process immediately. You need to kill the power source and empty the mutation chambers.
Please help me do that and save me from being the sinner who brought another calamity to humans."
The video was cut off abruptly.
A notification appeared in front of Ayaan.
==============================
NOTIFICATION
==============================
A Hidden Tutorial Quest has been revealed!
Quest Name: **"Stop the Mutation Process"**
==============================
DETAILS
==============================
- Objective: Prevent the mutation process from completing.
- Rewards: Unknown
Will you accept the Hidden Quest?
[Yes]
[No]
==============================
Ayaan accepted without thinking much.
Now, when he looked at the mutation chambers, levels, and names are being shown over them.
Level 0 Human [Mutation in progress]
He saw a notification like that in all the chambers.
As he gave a sweeping glance, his eyes landed on the generator. He walked up to it and checked it out. The kill switch was pretty obvious. He immediately pulled the lever and the generator shut down.
The whole lab went dark for a moment.
But the next second, some LED lights on the ceiling gave off dim lights. Ayaan walked to one of the chambers and slashed it with the sword.
*CRACK* *PSSST*
The glass broke and the liquid started pouring out. The crack widened within a second and the whole chamber broke in no time.
Ayaan proceeded forward and started breaking each glass chamber.
It took a long time before he was done with them all. He counted 162 in total and there are still some empty chambers left.
After he broke the last chamber, the system notification appeared.
==============================
NOTIFICATION
==============================
Hidden Tutorial Quest has been Completed!
Quest Name: **"Stop the Mutation Process"**
==============================
DETAILS
==============================
- Objective: Prevent the mutation process from completion.
==============================
REWARDS
- Exp+16.2
==============================
This notification is followed by another notification.
==============================
LEVEL UP!
==============================
Exp: 102.7/100
Level 0 àLevel 1
==============================
LEVEL UP REWARDS
==============================
FULL RECOVERY STAT POINTS + 5
==============================
He saw his system screen again. The Exp has changed.
==============================
SYSTEM INTERFACE
==============================
Name: Ayaan Rakshit
Level: 1
Class: None
Title: None
==============================
STATS
==============================
Strength (STR): 13
Agility (AGI): 16
Endurance (END): 20
Intelligence (INT): 35
Perception (SEN): 50
Available Stat Points: 5
==============================
HEALTH & MANA
==============================
HP (Health Points): 100
MP (Mana Points): 0
==============================
EXP PROGRESS
==============================
EXP: 2.7 / 1000
[□□□□□□□□□□□□] 0.27%
==============================
PHYSICAL STATUS
==============================
Fatigue: 0
==============================
SKILLS
==============================
Active Skills: None
Passive Skills: None
==============================
UPCOMING QUEST
==============================
Quest 1: The First Guardian (2 days to go)
==============================
INVENTORY
==============================
Slots: 0/10
- Empty
==============================
The Exp, the quest section and the Stat points have been updated. Then came the Quest complete notification.
==============================
QUEST COMPLETED!
==============================
Congratulations, Ayaan Rakshit!
You have successfully completed the Tutorial Quest:
**"Survive for 30 minutes"**
Hidden Condition met
==============================
QUEST SUMMARY
==============================
- Total Kills: 73
- Mutation stopped: 162/162
- EXP Gained: +102.7
==============================
REWARDS EARNED
==============================
- Level Up (+1)
- All Stats +2
- Standard Mutant Soldier Sword (Uncommon)
==============================
Would you like to exit the tutorial?
==============================
[Yes]
==============================
Ayaan looked at the exit options. Only Yes is available and he chose it.
The flash of grey enveloped him again. Ayaan is standing in the hospital room. The familiar beeping sound of the equipment invaded his ears. Maya is still lying on the table. Showing no signs of waking up.
His body reeked of sweat and grime. His pants are dirty and his shirt is still tied on his shoulder.
But his shoulder didn't hurt at all. He untied the shirt. The wound disappeared, but the scar is there. He remembered all the stuff he has gone through. It has been a little over an hour, but he has done a lot.
He still appeared pretty unfazed.
There is no expression of wonder, nervousness, fear or even thrill. His face is cold and flat.
He took a new pair of cloths from is bag and went into the bathroom to washup. While doing so, he opened the system screen to check out the rewards he gained.