The laugh died about three seconds after it started.
I was naked in a cave with a voice in my head telling me things were coming to kill me. The absurdity almost made me laugh again. Almost. Survival instinct won out.
"Okay, Arcan." I kept my voice level. Same tone I used right before breaking someone's nose. "You detect movement. Great. What am I supposed to do about it?"
The pixelated eye in my vision somehow looked more annoyed than before.
『Finding solutions is your job. I'm an analysis and response symbiote, not your mother. Stop whining and start moving. Away from the entrance would be smart.』
"Real helpful."
『I'm literally the only reason you're still breathing. Show some gratitude.』
I swallowed about seventeen different responses and started moving. The cave floor was rough under my bare feet. Sharp in places. I stepped carefully, one hand on the wall to keep my balance in the weak light.
Cold air made my skin prickle. Every nerve ending screamed that I was exposed, vulnerable, completely unprepared for whatever this world had waiting. I didn't enjoy the feeling.
"So what are you?" I kept my voice low. No point broadcasting my location to whatever was crawling around in here. "A ghost? A curse? A really bad hallucination from blood loss?"
『Designation: Analysis and Response Symbiote. I'm a symbiotic entity integrated with your soul. My function is helping you survive by translating the world into a format you can understand.』
"Translate the world," I repeated. "That's the vaguest helpful thing I've ever heard."
『Would you prefer gibberish? I convert reality into numbers. Stats. Levels. Skills. Things your tiny human brain can process without melting. I turn incomprehensible magical bullshit into a video game interface because apparently that's what it takes for your species to understand anything.』
I stopped walking. Turned that over in my head. A system. Like those trashy web novels my sister read at two in the morning. The ones where some loser gets hit by a truck and wakes up as the hero in a fantasy world.
I looked down at my hands. The ring caught what little light filtered from above. Silver and simple. The only thing that came with me.
This ring will help you in your next life.
Grandfather knew. Somehow. That old bastard actually knew.
"Show me then." I started walking again, following the narrow passage as it curved left. "Quantify me."
A window appeared in my vision.
Name: Rome Level: 1 | Title: None | Class: None | Attribute Points: 200
ATTRIBUTES: Strength: F(0/25) | Endurance: F(0/25) | Vitality: F(0/25) | Intelligence: F(0/25) | Sense: F(0/25)
Active Abilities [0/2]:
Passive Abilities [0/4]:
Skills and Traits:
I stared at it. F rank across the board. Zeros everywhere. Two hundred points sitting there like a loaded gun.
『Behold. Peak human potential.』
"I'm F rank."
『You're level one. What did you expect? You have 200 Attribute Points. Don't spend them yet. You're too stupid to know what you need.』
My jaw clenched. "Excuse me?"
『You heard me. Spending points now would be like giving a loaded gun to a toddler. You don't know the cost scaling. You don't know what stats matter. You don't even know what you'll face. Make a dumb decision now and regret it when you're bleeding out because you dumped everything into Intelligence when you needed Vitality.』
I wanted to argue. Every instinct screamed to dump points into Strength and start breaking things just to prove her wrong. She had a point though. A frustrating, logical point.
"Fine. What else?"
I bent down and grabbed a loose rock from the cave floor. Size of my fist. Rough edges. Heavy enough to do damage if I threw it hard.
"Do I have to carry everything? Because that's going to get old."
『You have an inventory. Pocket dimension for your items you get in the Gacha. Just will the item into storage.』
"Holy shit."
『Don't get excited. It's basic dimensional manipulation. Even trash mobs in this world can use spatial storage if they have the right essentia.』
"What else?"
『There's a Gacha. A system for acquiring skills and items by spending points on randomized pulls.』
『I don't recommend it. Cosmic gambling and resource waste. But it's there if you enjoy disappointment.』
"A Gacha." I couldn't keep the disbelief out of my voice. "The universe runs on loot boxes."
『There's a mechanism for acquiring abilities through random chance. Whether you use it is your problem. I'm just the messenger.』
Before I could respond, a new window popped up. A soft chime rang in my head. Pleasant. Wrong.
► New Daily Quest Issued: 「Stop Being So Pathetic」
Description: Your physical vessel is pathetically weak. Neglecting it is the fastest way to get yourself killed. Perform this basic regimen to ensure minimal operational standards. Do it quickly so we can move on to something important.
Objectives:
Complete a 10km Run (Pacing must not drop below 15 km/h)
Perform 100 Push-ups (Perfect form only. I'm watching.)
Perform 100 Sit-ups (No cheating.)
Rewards:
+50 Attribute Points (AP)
Bonus Reward (First Clear!): 1x [Normal Gacha Token]
Penalty for Failure:
Status Effect: [Lethargic] for 24 hours
-10% to all AP gains from any source
Minor stamina regeneration penalty
I read it twice. Looked at the empty cave around me. Back at the quest.
"You're kidding."
『The System requires baseline physical fitness. Fail to complete it and you'll be penalized.』
"I'm naked in a cave with monsters nearby and you want me to do calisthenics."
『I want you to survive. The System wants you to do calisthenics. Big difference.』
The passage opened up.
I stepped out of the narrow tunnel and my words died. The space beyond was massive. Cathedral didn't do it justice. Pillars thick as redwoods rose from the floor and vanished into darkness overhead. Moss clung to everything in thick carpets of green and grey. A single beam of weak light filtered down from some crack I couldn't see, turning dust motes into lazy snow.
This wasn't a cave. Caves didn't have pillars. Or architecture.
This was a ruin.
Stone carvings covered the walls. Worn down by time until they were just suggestions of shapes. Faces maybe. Or letters in a language I didn't recognize. The floor was paved with massive slabs that had cracked and shifted over centuries. Weeds grew through the gaps.
The smell hit me next. Old stone. Wet earth. Something else underneath. Metallic. Foul. Rot mixed with rust.
"Okay," I muttered. "Definitely not in Kansas."
『My initial assessment was incomplete.』
Arcan's voice had lost some of its bite. She sounded cautious now. Almost uncertain.
『This structure is artificial. Energy readings are unstable. I advise extreme caution.』
"Full of great advice today, aren't you?"
I moved along the base of one huge pillar. Kept my back to the stone. My eyes swept the chamber for movement. Exits. Threats. Anything useful.
Then I heard it.
Wet. Tearing. The sound of something ripping through meat. A low, guttural snort echoed off the walls.
I froze. Every muscle locked. My breathing stopped.
The sound came from ahead. Behind another pillar. Close enough that I could hear wet smacking as it chewed.
I moved. Slow. Silent. Pressed myself flat against the stone and edged around until I could see.
Twenty feet away.
The thing squatted in dim light like a nightmare fever dream. Sallow green skin stretched tight over a frame of sharp angles and bones. Long arms reached almost to the ground. Claws tipped spindly fingers. Its head was too big for its body, dominated by a mouth full of jagged teeth currently buried in a corpse that might have been a rat the size of a dog.
Beady black eyes. Hate-filled and empty at the same time.
It held a piece of bone in one hand. Sharpened to a point. Crude weapon.
I watched it tear another chunk free. Watched gore drip from its chin. Listened to the wet sounds of chewing.
The creature froze.
Its head snapped up. Bits of flesh fell from its mouth. Those black eyes locked onto mine with the kind of focus that said it knew I was there the whole time. Waiting.
Silence. One heartbeat. Two.
The thing's mouth opened. A high-pitched shriek tore through the chamber.
It dropped the carcass. Rose to its feet. The bone-shiv came up.
Then it charged.
The speed was wrong. Too fast for something that looked half-starved. It covered the distance in a blur of green skin and flashing teeth.
My body moved on instinct. I pushed off the pillar, stumbling back, arms coming up in a guard I learned in a life that felt like someone else's.
The creature closed the gap. Five feet. Three.
"ARCAN, WHAT THE FUCK?!"
A text box flashed in my vision.
『Warning: Hostile entity detected. Combat is a valid method of acquiring experience points.』
The goblin thing leaped. Bone-shiv aimed at my throat.
I didn't have time to be scared.
Just pissed off.