Stretching his arms out lazily, Ray yawned and cleared the sleep from his eyes. Half amazed at how well he had slept, feeling more refreshed and energized than he had felt in years. Abrutly stopping his stretch as his eyes came into focus, suddenly realizing he was face to face with a floating blue text box, just as it had been from yesterday. Memories of the terrifying lottery coming back to him.

Kill a monster? Ray frowned, unsure what the text could possibly mean, moreover the task was supposedly mandatory. Would he die like the others if he didn't do it? Feeling uncomfortable with the situation but nonetheless remaining unnaturally calm. Strange... normally he would be panicking right about now, Ray thought to himself while he examined the state of his body. No aches, no pains, and despite the despairing situation that was unfolding he felt rather... energized. 

Pouring himself some cereal while he flipped on the television, only to be greeted by an empty production set. The normal Sunday news nowhere in sight, only an empty telecast production set that looked like it had been abandoned midway through.

Oh, right.

Ray thought to himself. Finding the off button on the remote before and resuming munching on his cereal, seemingly unfazed. Even he could recognize his behavior was oddly positive, but the only thing he could think of was the lottery from the night before. Normally a lottery winner received a prize of some sort, was this part of his 'prize'? The sound of his spoon scraping the bottom of the bowl woke him from his pondering, finding to his surprise he had already finished eating. Still hungry he drained the rest of the milk in a prolonged drinking motion, not minding the portions that spilled along his mouth. 

"Very strange." Ray couldn't help but noticing the changes to his body by now. Pausing for a second before shrugging off any concerns, a surge of alacrity powering his step as he moved on to refrigerator to search for more nourishing sustenance. Ravaging the remaining food he had before his stomach settled and the oddity of his situation dawned, "what on Earth has come over me?" He asked, spitting out a half-eaten chicken nugget into the trash. A bit disgusted now with how much he had just eaten. Washing his mouth out briefly before his eyes turned to the door. 

Find a monster and kill it? Strange task, but no way that it's going to get done with him wasting time in here. Grabbing a small fruit knife from his kitchen before stuffing it in his pocket along with his car keys. He wasn't sure what kind of monster he would encounter exactly, but killing definitely needed a weapon, and until he got something better this would have to do.

Beginning to drive around his neighborhood, Ray craned his neck as he searched the empty streets. Ignoring any street lights due to the lack of people or cars, the red light camera flashed every time just the same. Wouldn't really matter much now would it? Ray couldn't help but hum, more amused by the situation that horrified. 

So what exactly did the text mean by 'monster', and where exactly would he find one of these so called 'monsters' to kill? His life was on the line here, and whether that meant finding a chupacabra or even the bigfoot itself, he intended to catch one before the day's end if that meant he survived.

"Now let's see, where I find one of these? He thought while stopping the car in the middle of an intersection, reaching down for his phone so he could search up the names of any monsters he had heard about it movies or media. 

Dracula... fictional, doesn't exist. 

Frankenstein... also fictional, doesn't exist. 

Mermaids... they're a monster right? Hmm says here that they also don't exist. The Greeks had some stories about them though. Ah that's a bit too far to travel for me then. 

Glancing up from the dashboard with a shake of his head only to spot a streak of green standing in the middle of the road in front of him. A short, chubby, fat goblin stood staring at him with a warted face, fangs bared, and clothed only in a loincloth.

No, no, no. It couldn't be this easy could it? Ray shook his head before stepping on the gas. Rubber turning on hot pavement as he floored the gas-pedal, crushing over the lone goblin who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere with his barely functional half-ton death machine. His appraisal of the old 1999 civic already rising up a step from before. Who knew that the low hanging bumper that he never fixed and always scraped the ground would serve equally well when scraping over goblins. 

Stepping out of his car and leaving the door open while he inspected the monster road-kill. Doing his best to scrape the ugly green mess from the front. Surely this counts as killing a monster, right? Receiving a conveniently timed pop-up textbox to confirm his suspicions. 

A small paper-wrapped box appeared in his hands like magic, looking like something he would expect for a birthday gift. Carefully unwrapping it, Ray peeked inside through the top of the box, finding a small ring inside that looked like it was made out of ordinary metal rather than silver or gold. Small red and blockish lines covering the outside which reminded him faintly of a circuitboard. 

Latent abilities? Ray wasn't sure what that meant, but he liked the sound of it. Putting the ring on without hesitation, he felt a sting on his finger for a brief moment as the red grooved lines lit up. Taking a moment to get used to the sensation before he noticed the changes to his environment.