New World Day 1

Scrolling through my Status there were a few questions that plagued me. Primarily, I wondered exactly what my stats did. Right when the thought crossed my mind, a pop-up appeared with a quick explanation of my four current stats.

HP: The state of your current health. You will die once it reaches zero. Injuries to the head, heart, and other vital points will still result in nearly instant death.

Endurance: The stat that primarily governs your physical stamina. It also slightly increases your physical defense.

Strength: The stat that primarily governs your physical strength. It also slightly increases your physical defense.

Speed: The stat that primarily governs your physical speed. It also slightly increases your physical stamina.

Touching my chin in wonder I thought, “That was certainly freaky! I guess the System is constantly reading my mind.” I didn’t feel very comfortable thinking about being constantly monitored and so, I did my best to move on and distract myself with other issues. There were some important decisions I would need to make. The first was what I was going to do with my bonus stat points. I could save them and use them later on in the future when it would be much harder to improve my stats via training, or I could use them as I received them. The former would likely provide me with the greatest benefit in the long run, but the later would likely make my immediate survival much easier. Before I could decide what the best path would be, I needed to decide my overarching plans for the future. The big picture plan was simple enough. I needed to get to Cincinnati and find out what happened to my family. They were good people. Strong people. But no one in the world was truly prepared for such a nightmare scenario. I needed to get to them, to see that they were alright with my own two eyes, but traveling to Cincinnati wouldn’t be an easy task. In the best case scenario, I would need to travel 40 miles through hills and valleys that were likely infested with magical beasts by now. Quite a bit of strength would likely be required to safely make such a trip, and that was just the best case scenario. The worst case could see me having to travel two or three times the original distance through new and dangerous lands. I went back and forth and back and forth in my mind. My face twisting and contorting as I debated the best path forward. I wouldn’t do anyone any good if I died, but hurrying too much could easily lead to a quick death as well. In the end, I decided to take a risk and hold the bonus stat points back for as long as I could. I felt that the initial adjustment period would be slow and fraught with danger. However if I could survive that period, I would then be able to swiftly and steadily improve myself.

With my long term goals and status issues resolved for the moment, I turned to my immediate survival needs. My parent’s house was a fairly new and well-maintained two story house complete with a full deck around the outside of the first floor. The inside of the first floor had a single bedroom, a single full bathroom, a modest sized kitchen, a set of stairs leading to the half-size second floor, and a great room with a massive arched ceiling. The great room was filled with large windows that gave an incredible view of the nearby forest and lake. I had spent many a day just staring out those windows watching the wildlife, but those windows were now an enormous liability. It wouldn’t be hard for a human to break those windows and get into the house let alone a monster like the beast that had chased me. The upstairs were a liability as well. There was one daybed at the top of the steps, a second daybed down at the other side of the open air hallway, a bedroom behind each daybed, and a full bathroom sandwiched between and only accessible from said bedrooms. Each of the two bedrooms had a large window that creatures could potentially use to get into the house and eat me in my sleep. That meant that the basement would have to be my base for the moment, and I would need to fortify and supply it as best I could.

The first thing I would need to gather would be water and food. I suspected that the water lines were broken just like the power lines, but I didn’t want to waste any water by trying the tap. I would need to grab some clean buckets or large cups to catch any water that might still remain in the lines. I would be ok for the immediate future because I knew there were a lot of bottled waters in the downstairs refrigerator and at least a few more in the refrigerator in the kitchen upstairs. Food would be the next priority, but that was all upstairs. Taking a deep breath, I put the pistol in the holster on the bed and buckled the holster to my waist. Then I took the shotgun in my hands and headed over to the steps. Taking a deep breath, I began to slowly creep up the stairs. Each step brought me closer to the first floor and potential danger. I hadn’t heard any windows breaking, but you couldn’t be too careful. Halfway up the steps there was a loud creak that caused me to wince and freeze in place. I strained my ears listening for anything responding to the sound, but gratefully heard nothing. Reaching the top of the stairs, my heart pounding in my chest, I twisted the door knob and cracked the door open. Grasping the shotgun tightly in both hands, I slid the barrel gently into the crack and nudged the door open wide enough for me to slip through.

My body began to lightly shake and shiver as I crouched down and stepped into the first floor kitchen as quietly as I can. In front of me was a white wooden breakfast bar jutting out from the wall. Trying my best not to let my sneakers squeak on the off-white linoleum floor, I duck walked over to the breakfast bar and put my back to the cabinets underneath it while jerking my head left and right searching for any dangers. The kitchen was dominated by two rows of deep brown wooden cabinets that ran from the breakfast bar to the left wall and then to the front wall. One row ran all along the ground and the second was right above the first at head height. They formed an overlapping double C shape. The only break in the pattern was for a stainless steel sink and an overlooking window. Opposite the sink, alongside the right wall, there were a handful of additional cabinets, an old refrigerator, and a lightly lit hallway. The white wooden door that led outside to the front porch lay between the end of the C pattern cabinets and the group of cabinets on the kitchen’s right wall. Shifting my sight I stared down the hallway checking for any home intruders. The gray carpeted hallway had a door on the left that opened to the first floor bathroom and 4 wooden closet doors along the right side. It ended in a doorway that led to the only bedroom on the floor. The door to the bedroom was still firmly shut just as I had left it. The kitchen and hallway were both clear!

Still shivering, I straightened up slightly and craned my neck backwards to check out the great room. The big room had the same gray carpeting and white walls as the rest of the house, but it had giant windows that lined most of the walls. The only exception was the stone fireplace in the center of the back wall. Above the fireplace there was a ribbed pattern of beautiful stained wood that reached all the way to the arched ceiling. Right in front of my hiding place on the right side of the enormous room, there was a large gorgeously stained wooden dinner table with matching chairs that gleamed in the sunlight shining through the windows. A blue and white couch and loveseat set sat in the center of the room facing a TV and cheap wooden entertainment center. The TV and entertainment center sat along the back wall of the house and were positioned slightly off-center due to the fireplace. Behind the couch, there was a large wooden antique desk sitting snugly against the stairway wall that was festooned with old knick knacks. On the left side of the room, a computer and computer desk sat to the left of the loveseat. A small antique wood table with a group of nice comfortable cushioned chairs lay behind it. To the left of the antique table there was a door that led out onto the deck that circled the first floor. Further to the left, there was a small closet and the steps that led up to the second floor. Except for the normal furniture, the room was empty, and nothing could be seen prowling on the deck.

Seeing that everything was still just as I left it, I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. Now that I knew it was safe, I straightened up fully and slung the shotgun on my shoulder from its strap. It was time to gather all of the supplies I could from the kitchen. I rummaged through all of the cabinets grabbing anything edible from spices to granola bars to a few bags of chips. Next, I starting picking up anything that might prove remotely useful such as silverware, cleaning chemicals, bowls, and cups. Moving on, I took all of the drinks from the refrigerator and emptied the freezer of all of its stored food. Everything was thrown haphazardly into plastic bags that I pulled from the kitchen closet. Once I had a group of bags full, I would transfer them to the downstairs workshop near the basement refrigerator. I wasn’t sure how much time I would have to loot the house before another beast came calling. So, I was sprinting up and down the stairs and all over the kitchen while ignoring the creaks, groans, and squeaks as best I could. I winced inwardly each time an especially loud creak emitted from the steps, but time was of the essence.

Pausing for a moment at the bottom of the steps to wipe the sweat from my eyes, I pondered on what else I would need to grab from the upstairs. All of the kitchen supplies had been moved to the basement. I had even emptied what water still remaining in the water pipes into some cups from upstairs. When I looked down at my still damp pants I knew the next thing I wanted to do was to grab all of the clothes from the top floor. Even if I they all didn’t fit me, I still might be able to use the cloth for something. Racing back up the stairs with the shotgun still slung over my shoulder, I rounded the corner at the top of the stairs and ran into the great room. Sssssccccccrrrrrrrrreeeooooow! A terrifying sound greeted me as I entered the room causing me to jump in fright and nearly shit myself. Whipping my head up, I stumbled backwards smacking into the desk along the wall and fumbled for the shotgun.

I had gotten careless! Standing there glaring through the window along the wall to my right, there was small light green figure. It was perhaps 4 feet tall and dressed in a dirty fur kilt and vest. Its face was scrunched with small beady eyes, a large thick nose, a gaping mouth filled with short needle fangs, and wide circular ears. The creature’s dark black hair was matted and twisted into a messy mohawk. Its arms were abnormally long, stretching to almost three quarters the size of its entire body and ended four fingered hands crowned with sharpened pitch black nails. Only one word for the creature came to mind. Goblin! One of the goblin’s hands was closed around the pickaxe that I had thoughtlessly left outside while the other, the other was holding some weird bloody stone, dripping with blood and gore, and pointing one finger straight at me.

The goblin wasted no time in trying to get at me and jumped forward straight towards me. Smack! It smashed into the window only to be bounced backwards hard enough that it almost flipped over the deck’s railing. Dazed, the goblin shook its head, narrowed its eyes in rage, and roared. The stupid creature seemed to blame me for its pain. Learning from its mistake, the goblin raised the pickaxe and brought it down hard against the window putting the pickaxe right through it. The window shattered into countless pieces, and the momentum of the blow from that long lanky arm caused the goblin to stumble forward and fall halfway over the window sill. Pieces of the shattered window flew across the room peppering me with small glass shards. Sharp burning pain from a series of new small cuts woke me from my stunned state. Raising the shotgun on my shoulder, I took aim at the goblin that was still struggling to stand up straight and pulled the trigger. A loud bang reverberated through the room and caused my ears to start ringing. The goblin staggered backwards as dozens of small bloody holes appeared across its chest and arms. Looking down, the goblin stared at the wounds for a moment in shock before it glared at me and rushed forward roaring in anger. The creature hopped the window sill effortlessly this time and landed in the center of the dinner table. It stood there there slightly hunched over, using its long arms to regain its balance. Before it could launch itself at me, I pumped the shotgun sending the empty shell flying into the air beside me and fired once more. The blast took the goblin in the chest and caused it to fall backwards spread eagle on the table. The pickaxe fell from its now limp hand onto a nearby chair with a loud clatter. It twitched a few times and took a handful of ragged breaths before it stopped moving altogether.

I stood there frozen, unable to move until I saw a blurry movement in the corner of my right eye. Reflexes kicking in, I swung the shotgun to the right and pulled the trigger. The pellets flew through empty air and out the broken window. The odd stone the goblin had been holding continued rolling across the top of the table undisturbed by the swarm of pellets as silence reigned.

Name: Jason Silver

Job Name: N/A

LVL: 1 15%

Job LVL: N/A 0%

Job Points:

N/A

N/A

Titles:

Survivor (B) LVL 1 5%

Title Points:

*

1

Stats:

HP:

Endurance:

Strength:

Speed:

Bonus Points:

80/100

6

5

7

3

Status Effects:

N/A

Skills:

Basic Axe Mastery (B) LVL 1 0%

*