Markus walked over to the gate, along with the guards. Vaja stood by the gate, humming to himself. Judging from the number, only he and Bill had taken the quest. After today, this number would change.

The remaining members of the wolf pack paced around aggressively, most likely waiting for the rest of the horde as well as searching for the entrance. A few bared their teeth until they saw the guards take out their weapons, backing away.

The rumbling intensified. Out of the forest came foxes, more wolves, a few snakes this time, and 5 humanoid figures, too far away to see.

Looks like they're keeping a few humans for that, Markus thought. While he waited, he used some of the extra supplies that he got from earlier.

"Uh, what are you doing?" asked Bill, who had just arrived. His clothes were covered in dust and dirt, and his hands were gritty as well, his right hand holding a pickaxe.

"Making grenades."

"...Sorry, I think I misheard you. I think you said you were making grenades?"

"I am."

"What the fuck? How the hell are you making grenades?!"

Several heads turned towards Markus and what he was doing. Markus ignored them and kept working, grinding up araden and wrapping it with reeds and ganbea leaves. He took a long reed and wrapped it around the bundle, making a fuse.

He repeated this once more before turning back to Bill.

"Science."

"...You're kidding me right now, right?"

"Yeah."

Bill breathed out a sigh of relief. "Great, I thought I went nuts---"

"They're just bombs because I don't know how to make safety pins," Markus said nonchalantly.

"That's not what I--"

"Anyway, stand back. I'm gonna throw these in a bit." Markus took two of the sticks he collected before and whittled them against each other, making sparks. After a few seconds, one of the branches caught fire, giving Markus two torches.

"Hold this torch," he said to Bill, who was currently holding his head as he processed information.

Markus waited a few more seconds before lighting one of the fuses and chucking the bomb. It rolled into the midst of the horde before exploding and setting the monsters on fire. The smell of burning flesh and hair pervaded the air as monsters rolled on the ground to stop the flames. One of the wolves had it particularly bad and got some burning pieces in one of its eyes. It howled in pain as it tried to scratch out its eye, splattering blood all over its muzzle.

Learned Crafting Lvl 1! Unlocked Notifications! Critical Hit! Unlocked Luck!

A flurry of blue windows popped up in front of Markus, startling Bill who was watching the carnage unfold from behind. He waved them away as each appeared, smiling after noticing the last one.

He then blew out the torch he was holding before sticking it through the second poorly made bomb, lighting the fuse, and throwing it. The second one did a little more damage because of the wooden "shrapnel" which managed to pierce through a few hides.

Acquired 100 EXP! Adaptation has become Lvl 4!

Since he wasn't strong enough yet, he couldn't figure out the level of the monster or what monster it was, but it was definitely the wolf and probably a Lvl 4 as well.

"Now hurry up and get out there or else the guards will kill them all," he said to Bill, whose mouth was agape after seeing the damage. A few monsters were still on fire, with corpses next to them where they had been struck by arrows. The guards were massacring the monsters at this point, in partial thanks to the fact that Markus kinda fucked up their formation.

Now that I remember, I never asked him what his class was, Markus thought before using Examine on Bill.

William Gravic Lvl 1, Rogue. HP: 114/114. MP: 69/69. SP: 63/63 Examine has become Lvl 6!

William Gravic... sounds familiar. Isn't the mayor of our city called David Gravic? The mayor's supposedly a great person, but he's been involved in a couple of scandals including his son... I'll have to keep an eye on him.

As they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

"Uh, dude, are you okay? You've been staring off into space for a while now. Also, is this thing dead yet?"

Markus snapped back to reality, where William was prodding a wolf corpse with a stick.

"Just thinking about something. And it's dead, so you can stop poking it now."

William stopped poking it, looked up, and then saw the ogres. They were covered in spikes, had fangs, red eyes, and tattered clothes. Scars could be seen on some of their necks, hearts, and heads. They varied in size, but each was easily 7 feet tall. Some were barehanded, but a few had wooden branches they picked up from somewhere.

"Uh, do you know what the hell those are?"

"Dead people."

"They don't look like zombies though..."

"Ogres, then."

The ogre closest to them suddenly let out a roar, charging at them, its stick raised in the air. William turned and ran, while Markus calmly sidestepped and kicked outward, tripping it. As it fell face-first into the ground, he stepped on its back, keeping it down before mounting it and twisting its neck quickly. The ogre struggled one last time before it finally stopped moving.

Acquired 200 EXP! You have leveled up! +1 CONS, +1 AGI, +1 STR Unlocked Achievements!

Achievements? I never saw this in my last life...

An enraged howl startled him, causing him to wave away the next blue screen that popped up. It didn't matter at the moment, since he could read it later, and so he focused his mind on the fight.

Markus took out his bag and stuffed his rewards into it. He was sitting on the ground, a little out of breath. Bill was next to them, looking at his new wealth.

"...Hey, how come you got like double the money I got? Also, what the fuck were those things from before?"

"This quest is based on contribution. You just got a bunch of assists, while I killed a few of them."

"Ok, but what were those things? They kinda looked like cavemen..."

"So you know when we, the players, or an NPC, kill a monster it just leaves a corpse, right? Well, when a demon kills a monster it becomes 'demonized' and evolves into a different monster."

"Okay..."

So what do you think would happen if a demon killed a player?"

William's eyes opened wide as he thought about it. "Wait, so those things used to be people? Like, real, living people? But how'd they get so many of them? And wouldn't they fight back?"

"Well, what do you think happened to all those people that went to NYC? And demonized monsters, in general, are considered the same as demons, as they see players and NPCs as enemies and demons as allies. Besides, didn't you see how I took down one of them? They're too fucking stupid to fight---."

A blue notification popped up in front of him, abruptly cutting off his sentence.

Unlocked Achievement: Monster Hunter I Become one of the first 10 players to solo kill a demonized monster.

Rewards: Armor Box I, Weapon Box I, Tool Box I, Skill Box I, 5000 Credits

As you are currently in combat, rewards will be distributed when your quest is over.

Quest has been completed. Rewards will be distributed shortly.

In a flash of light, 4 metal boxes appeared on the ground, neatly stacked on each other and each with a different symbol. One had a sword and shield on it, another a breastplate, a third a pickaxe and sickle, and the fourth a book. Each of them was roughly the size of a pencil case and had a small metal clasp locking it. A heaping pile of credits then appeared, which Markus quickly grabbed and placed into his bag, now full. He then opened up the shop, where a new item could be seen.

William was focusing on his money pile, stacking them up on each other when he heard the loud clink. He turned his head to see Markus's now large money bag.

Where the fuck did he get that much?! I swear it was practically empty a few minutes ago...He wouldn't notice if I took a little, right? He reached out towards the opening of the bag but it suddenly shrunk up, leaving it empty.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, I just thought there was something in your bag, cause it got so full all of a sudden...Wait, what are those boxes?"

"I think they give me items." After he had opened the shop window, he had purchased the bank for 1000 credits, before depositing all of his money. This way it couldn't be stolen and would also accumulate interest.

He then took the armor box, unlocked the clasp, and opened it. Inside he found a small card, which he took out and examined.

Storage Card: An item crafted with spatial magic. Stores an Iron Chestplate. After the chest plate is taken out, the card will vanish because the user does not have the required skill. The item can be taken out by saying "Appear," then the name of the item.

"...Appear, iron chestplate."

The card vanished to reveal a polished, brand-new piece of armor. Markus didn't bother examining it before putting it on. It fit snugly around his neck, protecting his chest and lower torso. After checking his status, however, he noticed that his DEF, a newly unlocked stat, went up by 10 points, STR by 3, RES by 5, CONS by 5, and AGI by 2.

He then opened the three remaining boxes, taking out the items from the cards one at a time and examining them.

Spiked Iron Gauntlets: +5 STR, +5 AGI, + 3 DEX, +5 DEF (for each glove). Iron gloves with 4 spikes on each hand, minus the thumbs. These are generally considered a beginner weapon for those with the Fighter class. Has a chance to inflict the Bleed debuff on enemies. Iron Hoe: +5 STR, + 7 DEX. A tool used for farming. If used for purposes other than farming the durability will drop quicker. If used to make shitty puns the user's LUCK stat may drop.

Mana Amplification Skill Tome: Teaches the user the skill Mana Amplification Lvl 1. If the user's intelligence is less than 10, read the description below.

Mana Amplification Lvl 1: Allows the user to imbue mana into parts of their body as well as objects. The power of the object being imbued will increase at the cost of its durability.

What's with these descriptions? This didn't happen in my past life...At least I don't have to get this stuff later.

He put on the gloves, learned the new skill, and slung the hoe over his shoulder.

"Hey, dude, uh....just what the fuck did you do? Are you frigging hacking the game or something?"

"Don't worry about it too much. Besides, I'm probably not even in the top 10."

"Are you serious? If even you aren't in-"

A group of people walked over to them, cutting William off. They wore ragged, dirtied clothes with a few wounds here and there. A teenager came out of the group and stepped closer to Markus.

"Hey, you look rich, so share some of your money with us! I'll pay you back once we get out of here!

Markus's eyes narrowed. Compared to the rest of the group, the kid's clothes appeared to be cleaner and he looked more well-fed than the rest of them. Considering this guy's attitude, he was the standard "spoiled rich kid" stereotype.

"And what are you going to do if I don't? Also, who the fuck are you? This game is supposed to be 18+, you know."

"My dad's the president of IAN, and if you don't share your money with us we'll beat you up!"

"IAN headquarters are in Japan where the president happens to live. Why the fuck would the president's son be in New York?"

"We're on vacation, idiot!"

"You don't look Japanese though."

"I-I'm adopted, okay! Just hand over the money already!"

"Hell no. I didn't work my ass off for this money just to hand it over to a bunch of idiots following a spoiled brat around. How the hell did you even survive this far?"

"Alright, that's enough Tom. You're pissing the man off and it's clear he doesn't like you. Now get lost."

Another man walked out from the crowd, shooing Tom away. He turned over to Markus, a warm smile on his face.

"Now then, I'm sorry you had to see that. So good sir, would you mind donating just a bit of your wealth to-"

"Fuck off." Markus walked away. William stood there for a second before following Markus as well. The crowd huddled closer together, encircling the boy.

"Dammit Tom, don't you think you could have persuaded him a little better?"

"B-but I didn't think he would be like that! Everyone always-"

"Shut up, both of you." Their leader spoke, silencing both of them temporarily. "You guys are useless sacks of shit, so you two are next."

"Wait, what?! Just give me another---" "You can't do that! My dad will---"

"Get them."

Strong, rough hands from every angle grabbed onto Tom and the man. Both of them struggled, but to no avail.

"HEMMMPHHH" *SNAP*

Tom was crying now, screaming for his mommy. A dark wet stain formed on his pants, followed by another loud snap.

"Someone go start a fire. Jack, start cutting them up. And Trevor and Chris, go get some sticks from the forest."

The leader chewed on something while he waited. It was a leftover finger from the night before.

"So, why are you following me?"

Markus abruptly turned around, causing William to stop in his tracks.

"...I'm not following you, we're just going in the same direction."

Markus gave William that look before going into the guild, where he saw that all the training rooms were full...

He sighed before heading off to the inn, where he put his hoe in the storage rack, put his dirty clothes in the wash, took a shower, and went to bed with his armor on. The hotel had tight security, but you could never be too careful.

DAY 3

Players Remaining:

916,874,562

Markus checked the player counter, wrinkling his forehead. The numbers had more or less stayed the same, which was a little weird. Even though roughly 1% of the world's cities were demon cities, the number should have kept falling a bit more, right?

He shook his head. He'd think about it later. Thanks to unlocking achievements, he could now accelerate his plan. He bought breakfast, put on his clothes, and stepped outside.

William was up early, snacking on some bread and a yellowish colored liquid he probably got from working in the mines.

The bubbly, thick concoction he was drinking was made of Zabra berries, which when fermented and blended made a liquid close to alcohol in the real world. As a result, he looked a little woozy, drooling a little bit on the side of his mouth.

Markus ignored him before going outside of the city. Based on his memory, the temple would be a little south of the city and based on the way the achievements worked he just might be able to unlock one by getting there quickly. Though I do have to make sure I don't run into that group or any monsters, he thought.

He walked quietly, keeping low to the ground with his hoe slung over his shoulder. He wasn't allowed to leave it in the hotel, and besides, it would give him some extra range at the cost of its durability.

At least it helped him harvest plants more easily, he thought after getting his gathering skill to Lvl 2.

He heard a snap from a twig behind him. So they've revealed themselves, he thought.

Suddenly, a growl came from in front of him. Markus smiled, "What good timing. Have fun dealing with each other," he said before running off towards the temple. The wolves let him, knowing that they would be killed if they fought against him. They then turned their attention to the group of now wary and scared humans that had awoken them, charging and howling, calling the rest of their brethren.

Markus grinned as he hid a few meters away from the massacre. Screams faded away as chomping and munching sounds emerged.

Hiding has become Lvl 2!

A wave of adrenaline coursed through him. This was too easy.