Fist Full of Credits: A New Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (System Apocalypse - Relentless Book 1) Read online

  The pain from the buckshot in my left arm had faded to a distant throb as I hurdled the low wall of the busted kitchen window and jogged toward where the man had disappeared.

  When I reached the treeline, a depression in the foliage was the only sign that remained where the man had fallen. A few scraps of the white chemical suit were caught on brambles, torn from the suit as he crawled farther into the forest. Fortunately, the early spring growth had sprouted enough to leave a clear trail, the vegetation parted and knocked aside where my quarry had fled.

  I ducked under some low-hanging tree limbs and followed. I would not let him escape, not after taking shots at me.

  As I ran, branches whipped across me, leaving scratches on the exposed skin of my hands and face. I ignored the stinging pain and kept up the pace. Ahead, I heard my target crashing through the underbrush as I closed the distance between us.

  I soon had the man in view, though there were plenty of trees to give him cover and he had not yet seen me catching up. I held my fire, figuring it was better to close more distance to give me a better shot.

  He limped from the bullet wound in his leg, though oddly, the wound seemed to lack the significant blood trail that had been left inside the house.

  I followed, gradually closing the distance as long minutes passed, but the man glanced back and finally noticed me trailing him. He turned sharply and fired the shotgun from his hip. The pellets from the shot blasted a chunk from a tree beside me, but this time, all of the shot missed.

  I returned fire more accurately, a trio of shots aimed at his center of mass. A patch of bright crimson blossomed on the man’s chest, the stain spreading across the white chemical suit. He staggered backward into a tree, then slowly slumped to the ground.

  A blue box popped up in front of me, obscuring my vision, and pure agony spiked directly into my mind.

  Chapter 2

  The pain staggered me, and I stumbled to lean against a nearby tree. Eventually, the stabbing sensation in my head gradually faded, but I remained frozen in place as I read the text floating before me.

  Congratulations! You are the 74th sentient to kill a member of the human race (and survive the encounter).

  Rewards: +10,000 XP, +10,000 credits

  Level Up!

  You have reached the experience requirements for Level 2 without having taken the time to confirm your Class selection.

  Since you were too focused on the pursuit and termination of a member of your own race, an appropriately bloody-minded Class has been added to the pool of options selected for you. Congratulations, killer!

  Now pick your damn Class.

  I stared at the blue box and slowly came to the undeniable realization that I was not hallucinating. I tentatively poked the box with my left index finger. A slight resistance met my touch, like sticking my finger into gelatin, but I could still see my finger going through the box. The window stuck to my finger for a moment as I moved it around, like dragging an app menu on my smartphone. When I pulled my hand away, the box hovered in place where I’d released it.

  If the floating blue box was real and I wasn’t having a complete mental break, then the first ones I’d seen back in my car were probably also real.

  With some mental focus projected at the windows in front of me, I brought back up the previous notification boxes. They layered themselves on top of one another, with the first one at the top of the stack.

  This time, I carefully read through each one of the windows.

  Greetings citizen. As a peaceful and organised immersion into the Galactic Council has been declined (extensively and painfully we might add), your world has been declared a Dungeon World. Thank you. We were getting bored with the 12 that we had previously.

  Several more paragraphs described how this powerful Galactic Council recommended that sentient inhabitants should leave the planet while the transformation into a Dungeon World occurred. Dungeons and monsters would be spawned randomly and increasingly all over the world for the next 373 days, so the likelihood of survival was low.

  The next array of blue boxes cited a series of Galactic laws that made my eyes cross after the first sentence. Only my experiences with completing the court documents used in bounty hunting kept me on track. I eventually parsed out the legalese that indicated I had earned several Perks due to my location when the Galactic Council had activated Earth as a Dungeon World.

  Additionally, the native inhabitants of Earth had been granted access to a user interface which provided the ability to acquire Classes and skills—and explained the blue notification boxes.

  With all these notifications, things about Perks, and the need to select a Class, I felt stuck in an overwhelming video game come to life. I had never been much of a gamer, at least until I ended up hospitalized courtesy of the bombs that had killed my fireteam during a tour overseas. The handheld and console games in the hospital were ostensibly there to promote physical therapy and help wounded veterans recover their coordination. In reality, the games were just as useful in distracting myself and passing the time while I waited for my body to heal.

  I hardly had considered myself good at any of those games, especially with my nerve-damaged left arm, but at least they’d given me an idea of what to expect now.

  From what the notification messages implied, things on Earth would quickly grow more and more difficult, so I had to become more powerful if I wanted to survive. In video game terms, that meant I needed to gain levels by killing the monster spawns and clearing the dungeons mentioned in the introduction message. That meant if I wanted to live, I needed to pick a Class, just as the snarky welcome message had said, and start Leveling.

  I prodded at the blue boxes for a bit until I pulled up the options for Class selection. A lengthy list appeared, but the top selections were highlighted as “System Recommendations.” Most of the options listed were labeled as Basic Classes—Soldier, Scout, Ranger, Hunter, and Marine. However, a single Advanced Class sat at the top of the recommended list.

  I pulled up the information on that class, and the interface expanded into a new window.

  Advanced Class: Relentless Huntsman

  Relentless Huntsmen are elite combatants skilled at tenaciously pursuing bounty targets for capture or elimination.

  Class Abilities: +1 Per Level in Strength. +3 Per Level in Agility and Constitution. +2 Per Level in Intelligence and Charisma. +1 Per Level in Perception and Willpower. Additional 2 Free Attributes per Level.

  +60% Mental Resistance. +20% Elemental Resistance

  Warning! Minimum Attribute Requirements for the Relentless Huntsman Class not met. Class Skills Locked until minimum requirements met.

  The class seemed like a good fit for me, focusing on endurance and speed. Unwilling to make a choice without at least looking at the other options, I also pulled up the statistics for the Basic Classes.

  After I read through the other options, I was far from impressed with them. The Basic Classes only offered between 5 and 9 attribute points per level, while the Advanced Class option provided a much more substantial 15 points per level and added resistance bonuses.

  On the other hand, if I chose the Advanced Class, my Class Skills would remain unavailable until I raised my attributes to certain ranks.

  Despite the more immediate downside, it seemed like a straightforward choice if I planned for the future. I confirmed my selection of the Advanced Class. A warning window popped up in response.

  Selection of this Advanced Class option will consume your Large Perk. Do you wish to continue with this option?

  Y/N

  I hadn’t looked at any of the Perks yet, but the opportunity to earn two or three times as many attribute points per level was too good to pass up.

  When I confirmed my selection and closed the Class information window, I got another new notification.

  You have reached Level 2 as a Relentless Huntsman. Stat Points automatically distributed. You have 2 free attributes to distribute.

  Cl
ass Skills Locked.

  The Class Skill point normally awarded at Level 1 was unavailable to me, just as the description message had warned before I took the Class.

  I decided to move on and closed the notification before I attempted to assign my remaining Small and Medium Perks. With a thought, first dozens and then hundreds of Perks scrolled through the window in front of me. I prodded at the window in the same way that I had managed to bring up the Class information, and I soon figured out how to sort through the menu.

  I might not have been a gamer, but I was no idiot either.

  I needed bonuses that would be as advantageous later as they might be now. I started off by looking for a Small Perk that would provide powerful long-term boosts to my Class abilities. After a few minutes of browsing through the options, I narrowed my selections before I settled on the one I thought would be most useful.

  Gut Instinct

  The hallmark of any seasoned investigator is knowing when to follow their intuition. You subtly absorb information from the System that leads to making the right decision. Whether in the heat of conflict or after considering all the facts, those around you will be amazed by your ability to always make the right call.

  Effect: The user has an uncanny, System-assisted knack for making occasional connections others miss and discovering hidden information.

  The Medium Perk took a bit more time to determine. While I had slightly fewer options available, they were all significantly more powerful than the abilities I had browsed through earlier. Finally, I found a Perk to help offset the fact that my Class Skills were currently unavailable.

  Head Start

  You’re naturally gifted, starting off with advantages of which others can only dream.

  Effect: Gain access to two additional Class Skill points that may be applied to any Tier I Class Skill, regardless of whether you currently meet the prerequisites of that Class Skill. These points do not count toward a Skill evolution but will not prevent the chosen Class Skill from evolving.

  With my Perks now addressed, I closed those windows and found that a new notification waited for my review.

  You have three unassigned Class Skill points. Would you like to assign them now? (Y/N)

  Interesting. It seemed as though I could use the Class Skill point from Level 1 now, even if it was not normally available. A bug in the System, one I’d be happy to exploit.

  I selected the yes option, and a new screen appeared that showed my Class Skill tree. The tree had three main branches labeled “Utility,” “Pursuit,” and “Combat.” Each of the main branches had four tiers of abilities. Between the three main branches were two smaller columns that seemed to grow out of the primary paths. Only the first row was highlighted as available now, with everything in the levels above grayed out and unable to be selected.

  Reading through the available options took a minute, but I felt pretty comfortable with my plans for the three Class Skill points provided by the perk.

  I selected the first skill in the Combat tree and applied my first point to the Tier 1 ability. A new notification popped to the fore over the other visible boxes.

  Class Skill Acquired

  Hinder (Level 1)

  Effect: All physical movement by a designated target within 10 feet is Significantly Impaired for 1 minute. Cost: 40 Stamina + 20 Mana.

  I closed that Skill window, then applied a point toward the first skill in the Pursuit tree, which resulted in another pop-up.

  Class Skill Acquired

  Keen Senses (Level 1)

  The user is more in tune with their body and more accurately interprets information gained from their surroundings. This manifests in the user as increases to vision, audition, gustation, olfaction, tactition, and proprioception. Mana regeneration reduced by 5 Mana per minute permanently.

  Once I closed that latest notification, I made my final selection from the first tier of abilities, with the Class Skill that lay in the column between the Pursuit and Utility trees. As I spent my last free point, another box appeared to display the results of my final selection.

  Class Skill Acquired

  On the Hunt (Level 1)

  The Relentless Huntsman has the ability to disguise their visible titles, class, level, and stats. Effectiveness is based on the user’s Skill level and Charisma. Mana regeneration reduced by 5 Mana per minute permanently.

  The ability to hide information about myself seemed wise, especially considering how my Class had been acquired. Even if the world was massively changed as a result of whatever was going on, I couldn’t imagine polite society being comfortable with an individual who advertised his presence as a killer.

  With all Skill points applied, the window closed itself, and I finally found that no more blue boxes waited for my attention. Without the distraction of the windows, I immediately noticed the increases to my perception granted by the Keen Senses ability. The colors of the forest seemed brighter and more intense. I heard the gentle straining of trees in the morning breeze and smelled the coppery tang of blood from the body a few paces away. It took me a minute to adjust to the new sensations before I could focus back on my current situation.

  According to the notifications that granted me Perks, the Greater Pittsburgh Area had been designated as a Level 80 Zone. At only Level 2, I needed to get the hell out of here.

  No longer able to distract myself otherwise, I finally regarded the corpse a few yards in front of me. The earlier notifications had told me that I’d killed him, but I felt uncomfortable trusting the blue boxes completely.

  I walked over to the body and kicked the shotgun out of his limp grasp. When he didn’t react, I leaned over and picked up the weapon. I looked over the gun, checking it for any damage that might have happened during the gunfight, but I found nothing wrong.

  A thought popped into my head. If things worked like a video game now, then maybe I had an inventory system like a video game too.

  As I had that thought, a five-by-five grid appeared in front of me. I tried to push the shotgun into the grid, but a red border flashed around the outline of the grid and I felt the sensation of the gun being pushed back. I tried with a few other items that I carried, but each of them also received the red flash and the pulse of rejection. I frowned. I had an Inventory, but I couldn’t put anything into it for some reason.

  Again, I sensed that I should be moving on soon. Maybe the feeling was part of my new Gut Instinct Perk.

  I looked at the body by my feet, uncomfortable with leaving it behind. Pulling my smart phone from my pocket, I tried to activate it, but the screen was black. I held down the power button for several seconds, yet the screen remained dark.

  My newly sensitive hearing picked up a faint rustle in the undergrowth, just before a growl from that direction interrupted my attempts to get my cell phone turned on. I jammed the nonfunctional phone back into my pocket and racked the slide on the shotgun. With a shell in the chamber, I flipped the ready weapon up onto my left shoulder as I pulled my pistol and slowly stepped back the way I had come—away from the body and farther from the approaching noises.

  Occasional snuffles interspersed with the growls grew louder as a shadow emerged from the foliage and revealed the shuffling form of a black bear. I continued backing away as it sniffed around like a dog until its nose twitched as it reached the corpse.

  The sharp snap of a branch breaking shattered the quiet as my foot crunched down on an unseen tree limb. The bear’s head jerked around with a snarl, and it locked eyes with me. When it noticed me continuing to back up, the creature’s whole body swung around to face me, and it pawed at the ground with a roar. The bear’s eyes flashed red, and it lumbered toward me in a run.

  I squeezed the trigger on my pistol, the recoil raising the barrel, and I lowered it to fire again as soon as the weapon dropped back on target. I emptied the magazine into the charging bear, which seemed largely unaffected by my shots. I dropped the empty pistol and leveled the shotgun as I stepped around a tree, putting
the trunk between the bear and me.

  The bear rammed its shoulder into the tree, roaring and swiping at me as it tried to reach me around the trunk. Desperately, I mentally reached for my new Class Skill in the same way that I had controlled the translucent blue windows. In response to my will, an invisible rush of energy flowed through me and out to cover the bear. The force of Hinder pressed down on the bear, and its movements grew sluggish, as if suddenly burdened with heavy weights across its body or moving through a viscous liquid.

  The now-lethargic bear moved as if it was in a slow-motion video, and I took a second to aim before I fired the shotgun. The buckshot blasted into the bear’s face, and its right eye exploded in a splash of gooey pulp.

  The bear snarled and shuffled around the tree before it lunged at me again. I dodged the slow-moving attack and pumped the slide on the shotgun as I retreated. I fired, then stepped behind another tree as the bear chased me. I’d hit it twice in the face, and blood streamed down the bear’s snout to splatter across the forest floor with each of its angry roars.

  Suddenly, the bear sped up, and it pounced forward with renewed momentum. I dove to the side, but claws raked through the back of my left hamstring. I screamed in pain as I tumbled across the ground with the realization that Hinder had already worn off from the bear. I rolled behind the trunk of a tree and activated Hinder once again as the beast circled me.

  When the bear lunged at me, I jammed the barrel of the shotgun into the beast’s snarling mouth and yanked the trigger. The blast exploded out of the back of the bear’s skull, and the beast dropped like a puppet with the strings cut as the slow-motion effect ended. Stuck in the shotgun’s trigger guard, my right index finger snapped as the shotgun was jerked from my grip when the bear collapsed.