The mission was accepted. Almost immediately, another screen popped up, looking exactly like a character sheet from every RPG ever made.
[Player Status]
[Name: Nox]
[Level: 1]
[Title: None]
[HP: 100/100]
[MP: 0/0]
[Strength: 5]
[Agility: 5]
[Stamina: 5]
[Endurance: 5]
[Perception: 5]
[Luck: 2]
[Unallocated Stat Points: 10 (Starter Bonus!)]
[Skills: None]
'Ten extra points. That's a good start.' He didn't do anything with them yet, just filed the information away for later.
Just then, a hand slapped against the small window of the classroom door. It was covered in something dark and wet that left streaks on the glass.
A muffled voice begged from the other side. "Let me in! Please, open the door!"
A few students near the door screamed and scrambled backwards, tripping over the broken furniture scattered everywhere.
Then a loud roar echoed from the hallway, deep and guttural, nothing like any animal that should exist. Panic levels in the classroom shot through the roof. People were yelling, crying, pressing themselves into corners. It was complete chaos.
"What was that?" one student shouted, his voice cracking halfway through.
"Oh god, oh god," another one whimpered, huddled against a wall with her arms wrapped around her knees.
Heavy thuds started hitting the door, one after another, making the wood splinter and crack. These weren't human fists. The impacts were too powerful, too rhythmic, mixed with low growls that made everyone's skin crawl.
"They're trying to get in!" Mark shrieked, pointing at the door with a shaking hand, his face completely white now.
Ms. Joy stood by her desk, her hands clasped together in some useless prayer gesture. "Everyone stay calm! Stay away from the door!" she yelled, but her voice was thin and worthless.
The doors were starting to give way. Hinges groaned, wood cracked and split, pieces falling to the floor.
With a final crash that sent splinters flying everywhere, the doors burst inward.
Two creatures stumbled into the room. They looked like dogs, but wrong. Bigger, with patchy fur that looked diseased and way too many teeth crammed into their mouths. Their eyes were red and focused, not wild like a rabid animal but intelligent and hungry.
Everyone who wasn't already pressed against the far wall tried to get there now, climbing over each other in their desperation. And all of their terrified eyes landed on Nox. He was still standing there in the middle of the room, the gun held loosely in his hand.
"Nox! Do something!" a girl cried out, tears streaming down her face.
"You have the gun, man! Shoot them!" another boy yelled, his voice high with panic.
He didn't look at the creatures. He looked at the students instead, taking in their terrified faces one by one. 'Now they want my help. Now I'm useful to them.'
Ms. Joy took a shaky step forward, her hands out in some kind of pleading gesture. "Nox, please. We need your help. Those things..."
Mark, surprisingly, found enough courage or desperation to move. He started toward Nox, his eyes on the gun. "Give me that gun! You don't know what you're doing!" He lunged forward, his hand reaching for the weapon.
Nox reacted without thinking. He raised the gun and pulled the trigger.
The sound was deafening in the enclosed space.
Mark stopped mid-lunge. A dark spot appeared on his chest, spreading quickly through his expensive shirt. His eyes went wide with shock, then he crumpled to the floor. He didn't move again.
The other students gasped. Some screamed. Ms. Joy covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide with horror.
Nox finally spoke, his voice flat and emotionless, cutting through their fear.
"You want my help now?" He looked around at their faces, taking his time with each one. "Where was all this concern when I was getting beaten up every single day? When your favorite student, Mark, was making my life hell?"
He gestured at Mark's body with the gun, casual as pointing with a pencil. "You all just watched. Some of you laughed. Ms. Joy, you joined in. You made it worse."
His eyes settled on the teacher, who was shaking now. "You told me 'boys will be boys' while I was covered in juice. Well, this is me being a boy."
He looked back at the cowering students, letting them see the complete lack of emotion in his eyes. "I hate every single one of you. Right down to your bones. I could kill you all right now, just like I did him." He paused, letting that sink in. "But you know what? I think these things out there will do a much better job. And it'll be more fun to watch."
"No, Nox, please!" a student begged, practically sobbing now. "Don't say that! We're sorry, okay? Just help us!"
"He's crazy! He's going to let them kill us!" someone else shrieked, pressing harder against the wall as if they could phase through it.
The two dog-creatures in the doorway took a few more steps into the room, their heads low, growling steadily. He could see more shapes moving in the hallway behind them.
Nox ignored all the pleas and crying. He looked at the blue screen that only he could see, the one showing his stats. He focused on the 'Unallocated Stat Points: 10' line. He thought for a second about the best distribution, then mentally directed all ten points into Strength.
His Strength stat changed from 5 to 15.
He immediately felt the change. His muscles didn't get bigger, but they felt denser, more powerful. His whole body hummed with barely contained energy.
He turned his back on the students and the approaching monsters. He walked over to the nearest window. The earthquake had shattered most of the glass, leaving a jagged opening to the outside. It was a two-story drop to the ground below.
He didn't hesitate. He jumped.
The fall should have hurt. Should have at least jarred his legs or made him stumble. Instead, he hit the ground in a perfect crouch, the dirt and broken concrete actually cracking under his feet from the impact. He barely felt anything beyond a slight pressure in his knees.
'That new Strength stat is already paying off.'
He looked up at the window he'd just jumped from. A few faces were visible through the jagged hole, staring down at him with expressions of complete disbelief. He recognized a couple of them, their mouths open in silent shouts or screams.
He slowly raised his middle finger, holding it up long enough to make sure they all saw it, then turned away.
'Idiots.'
He started running, not away from the school but toward the main entrance. The mission was to clear the dungeon in the school, and that sounded way more interesting than anything else he had going on. Plus, more monsters meant more chances to test his new strength.
The area around the school entrance was a disaster. Bodies were scattered everywhere. Some students, a couple of teachers. They were torn up pretty badly, blood pooling on the concrete and soaking into the grass.
"Looks like those dog things have been busy," he said to himself, stepping over a severed arm without really feeling anything about it. It was just the new scenery now.
He rounded a corner toward the main doors and saw his first monster up close and personal.
It was one of those dog creatures, bigger than any normal dog should be, with matted fur that looked wet with blood or saliva. It was sniffing at a fallen backpack, its massive head low to the ground. It hadn't noticed him yet.
He didn't hesitate. Didn't even think about using the gun still tucked in his waistband. He wanted to see what his new strength could really do.
He sprinted straight at it.
The monster looked up at the sound of footsteps, startled, its red eyes locking onto him. It let out a low growl and tensed up, muscles bunching under its diseased-looking fur, ready to spring.
He was faster.
He reached it in just a few strides, covering the distance before it could properly react. The monster snapped its jaws at his arm, teeth flashing, but he dodged the bite easily, his body responding faster than ever before. He grabbed its upper and lower jaw with his hands, fingers digging into the surprisingly tough flesh.
The creature thrashed wildly, its claws scraping at his arms, leaving red marks but not breaking skin. His grip was solid, unbreakable.
"Man, you stink," he said, a detached observation about the creature's rotting meat breath.
Then, with a grunt of effort that was more for show than necessity, he pulled. Hard.
There was a wet tearing sound, cartilage and bone separating, and the monster's struggles stopped instantly. He had literally ripped its jaw apart, the lower half hanging by strips of flesh. It collapsed to the ground, twitching once before going still.
He let go, wiping his hands on his already ruined pants. The blood was warm and sticky. He looked down at the dead creature, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction.
"Huh. Easier than I thought."
A familiar blue screen popped into his vision.
[You have slain a Plague Hound!]
[EXP +10]
"Experience points," he said quietly, reading the notification. "Just like in their stupid games."
Ten experience points. He wondered how many more he'd need to level up. The mission was to clear the dungeon, which meant killing everything in the school. This was just step one.
He looked toward the ruined entrance of the school. There were definitely more of those things inside, probably a lot more.
"This is going to be fun."