What the heck? What kind of advice is ‘hide’?

Shadows were a type of monster that sometimes appeared in F-rank and E-rank gates. They were stronger than goblins but not by much and were often easier to beat. Shadows worked alone unlike goblins who traveled in groups. The biggest danger surrounding them was that they could change size, depending on what was around for them to copy, and that they were fast. For someone like Doran who used a greatsword, it was a bad match-up when they were human size or smaller.

Another screen appeared.

[Clear Reward: 100 coins + 2 free stat points + 1 free skill point]

[For every ‘shadow’ slain, you will gain progress toward (currently unavailable)]

[Failure: Death???]

“What’s up with this thing?” asked Yohan as he swiped through his screen. “Can we use the coins for anything?”

Andy answered, “I’ve heard of this kind of thing happening before. It was a big event in our guild. One of our A-ranked parties went into a gate that the government detected late, so it was in its yellow state. They were in there for a while but when they came out, they mentioned being able to see stats, you know, like they entered a ‘game’ gate. One of the guys had a new sword on him and when we asked which monster it dropped from, he told us that he bought it from a store.”

“So we can access a store to buy things from,” Yohan said.

“That’d be my guess based off what I’ve heard but I can’t seem to find it at all.”

[The market will not be available until after the “First Event”]

Well that makes sense I guess. No use shopping when we’ve got no money to buy stuff with anyway.

Yohan was still looking over the alert on his screen. Doran peered over his shoulder and skimmed the contents. He noticed something was off. “Hey, Yohan. What do your tips say about the shadows?”

His question was met with a confused look and a shrug. “It says they have low vitality and are easy to kill.”

“Same here,” someone else said.

“That’s what I have,” replied another.

“Uh…” Doran read his screen again and the hint, ‘[HIDE]’, was still there. Was it possible that his system or whatever it was, was the only one bugging out? It didn’t surprise him. His luck had always been bad. “I have an extra tip. It says to hide.” the moment he said that he regretted it.

The shit eating grin Mekan wore broke as he burst into laughter, “Even the fucking system is telling you you’re a useless piece of trash. You should’ve quit as a hunter a long time ago. Hunters like you are only good as donkeys to carry the shit we drop. I bet your whole family is ashamed of your bitchass. ”

The last sentence set him off. Doran marched up to him knowing it was foolish to do so. They were the same size and build, both being greatsword wielders and occupying the role of front line damage dealers, but Mekan was multitudes stronger and faster. If they fought right now, there was no chance he’d win unless someone else joined on his side.

Doran opened his menu. He watched with a smirk on his face. “What are you gonna do kiddo?” Mekan mocked. He ignored him and went to his stats, activating the skill that seemed unique to him.

[Skill: “sYsTeM eDiTor” hAs beEn useD]

[Skill: “SyStem EdiTor” has 2 uses remaining]

[You mAy now eDit the SysTem]

[Vitality: 7 (-1)]

[Strength: 6 (-1)]

[Endurance: 5 (-1)]

[Dexterity: 4]

[Intelligence: 5]

[Luck: 8 (+1)]

He chose strength.

[BecaUse the “Skill leVel” is too lOw, sOmE funcTions mAy not be accessEd]

[You mAy cHanGe/adD/deLeTe: 1 digit]

What? Only 1 digit? Whatever, I can still beat him with 1 digit.

[Strength: 96 (-1)]

Because he already ‘used’ the skill, it didn’t ask him if he wanted to edit. It just did it for him. If he was already stronger than the average person with a six, how much stronger was he at ninety-six? Mekan would soon find out.

[ERROR]

[The edit has been REJECTED]

[The change does not match the “potential” of the user]

[The change does not match the “logic” of the user level]

[Would you like to override?]

[Yes/No]

He confirmed the override. As he started pumping his fist, another message appeared.

[ERROR]

[The oVeRrIdE has been REJECTED]

[The “Skill Level” is too low]

[Skill use has been refunded]

[Skill: “SyStem EdiTor” has 3 uses remaining]

“What are you doing?” Mekan asked as he pushed him back, causing Doran to fall. “If you’re gonna get in my face you better be prepared for a beating.”

“Alright, alright,” said Andy, stepping between the two, “That’s enough for now. We’ve got more important things on our hands.”

Yohan helped Doran to his feet while Mekan sneered. They kept their distance after Andy intervened but the tension was still high. At least it was Mekan rather than Jun. Jun would have stomped on his body before he even got the chance to realize what was going on.

“We just have to hunt some shadows. Let’s split into groups of two and spread out. We need to clear this as fast as possible. They shouldn’t be too difficult even if we’re alone. Mekan and I will pair together. Everyone else, find your own partners. We’ll meet back here in two hours. Good luck everyone,” Andy said as they disappeared into the forest.

“What the hell,” a man said, kicking the ground. “Those bastards are the strongest among us and they pair up together? This is bullshit.”

Doran agreed but there wasn’t much any of them could do. The other E-ranker paired up with a girl and walked off in the same direction as Andy and Mekan. Yohan became his partner, and they went to search for shadows. It looked a little past midday in the Tutorial and there were few very dark places like caves nearby so finding any shadows would take awhile. They were a full hour and a half in and still found nothing.

In the meantime, Doran took the chance to get to know Yohan better. He had originally lived on the East Coast of the United States before the Great Collision. When it happened, he and his family were away to visit some family in the Midwest so they weren’t in ground zero for the first of the gate outbreaks. On March 9th, 10 and a half years ago, all the continents suddenly shifted, moving together at a rapid pace. People evacuated the coast lines in droves while some refused to believe the news of impending disaster, even with the ground shaking beneath their feet. On March 11th, only two continents remained on the earth, Antarctica, and the New Pangea. Cities all over the world were devastated. On March 12th, the first gate appeared in New York City. On March 14th, a gate break happened.

And, on March 16th, the city was no more.

It was the first ever disaster, and the first ever calamity.

“Where were you when the Great Collision and First Calamity happened?” Yohan asked.

Doran shrugged, “I was just starting middle school somewhere in a town I don’t even remember anymore. We were far away from the epicenter of it all so we were safe. But, I remember coming home and seeing my dad flipping through the tv. I asked him what was going on since all the kids at school were talking about it, and the teachers wouldn’t say anything. He just looked at me and said he didn’t know. A year later, we moved to the city of Bastion.”

“Huh… I can’t even imagine being a kid and growing up during that whole mess- Did you see that?” Yohan hoisted up his shield and pulled out his sword. “Right there, I think I saw one of the shadows move.”

Doran got into his stance, his hands near his waist with his greatsword angled to the ground ready for an upward slash, as he eyed the trees and bushes. He wasn’t fooled by the swaying leaves and neither was Yohan. Until shadows copied something, they often moved by jumping from surface to surface. They inched toward the area Yohan pointed out, a tight bundle of three trees.

Once Doran was in range, he swung with his greatsword toward the shadows. Like a blur, it shot to another tree. Yohan thrust with his sword and nicked it. The shadow stopped trying to hide and evaded their attacks until it built up the speed to leap greater distances. From tree to tree, it circled them as if they were now the prey. They stood back to back, closing up their weaknesses, and looking for a chance to strike.

All of a sudden, the shadow lunged toward them. It was still in its ball-like form as it latched onto Yohan’s shield. It spread itself out, growing thin black tendrils that enveloped the shield and crawled up his arm. “Doran!” Yohan yelled as he struck his sword against the shadow. Doran spun around, sending all his built up power into one strike. As the tendrils restricted Yohan’s left arm and pulled at his lips, slithering into his mouth, Doran’s greatsword slammed against the shield.

The shadow squealed in pain, falling from the shield and retracting into a circle on the ground. He stabbed it.

[Congratulations! You have slain: 1 “Shadow”]

[Progress has been made toward (currently unavailable)]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have gained 3 stat points]

[Your Strength has gone up by 1!]

[Your Endurance has gone up by 1!]

[2 of the 3 stat points have been applied automatically]

[You have 1 free stat point]

[You have gained 1 free skill point]

“Hey, did you level up too?” Doran asked, looking at his screen. “I think I feel a little stronger. Yohan?”

Yohan clutched his chest and panted, “I haven’t fought a lot of shadows recently, but that wasn’t a normal shadow.”

“What do you mean?” Doran’s encounter with shadows was also on the lower side. Goblins and kobolds were much more common foes for F-ranked gates.

“I might be wrong, but shadows don’t usually latch onto stuff. They like copying, transforming, more,” Yohan said as he stood. His shield was heavily dented at the center. “Great hit though. I definitely felt that one.”

“Sorry bout that.”

“No, you saved me there. Let’s go meet back with everyone.”

Doran had marked the trees so they knew where the meeting spot was. As they went back, he decided to check a question floating in his head for a while. It was rude to do behind Yohan’s back but he didn’t want people to find out about his skill yet, especially if someone like Mekan was so close by. That asshole might ‘ask’ him to up his stats.

[You cannot access another user’s status]

He nodded. Guess I was right. I’ll have to use my skill then.

[Skill: “SysteM Editor” has BeEN used]

[Skill: “SyStem EdiTor” has 2 uses remaining]

[ERROR]

[You cannot access this user’s status]

[The “Skill Level” is too low]

[Skill use has been refunded]

[Skill: “SyStem EdiTor” has 3 uses remaining]

Interesting. So it was rejected right away? What if I level it up?

He looked at his one free skill point. Would it be enough? No, probably not. He opened up the ‘System Editor’ skill and read its description for clues.

[Skill: “System EdiTor”]

[Rarity: [ERROR]]

[Rank: [ERROR]]

[Level: 1]

[Requirements: [ERROR]]

[Rank Up Requirements: [ERROR]]

[Required Skill Points for Level Up: [ERROR]]

.

.

.

[ReQuired sKill Points for LEveL uP: 2……..]

[Skill Description: aLLowS usER to eDit the “SYsTeM”]

I need two skill points to level up? What if I...

[ERROR]

[The edit has been REJECTED]

[Skill points and free skill points may NOT be permanently changed]

[WoUld yOu like to OveRride?]

[Yes/No]

[Free skill points has been [TEMPORARILY] changed]

[You have 2 free skill points]

[Skill: “SyStem EdiTor” has 2 uses remaining]

It worked!

He didn’t want to run into a wall like he did with the stat changes so he settled on just adding 1 more to his skill points since they were close to the meetup point now. He put them into the “System Editor”.

[Skill: “System EdiTor” has leveled up!]

[YOU mAy nOw ediT mORe tHinGs]

[YOu nOw havE moRe FreEdom in edItiNg]

Right before he could use the skill on Yohan, they met up with a pair of hunters who had gone in the same general direction as them. They were standing still, staring at nothing in particular. Yohan waved them down, “Hey guys! It’s almost time for the check-in. Let’s head back together.”

Neither of the two moved. They exchanged looks and with a nod, approached the two hunters. “Hello?” Doran called out when they got closer. “Are you guys alright?” His grip tightened around his sword and Yohan raised his dented shield.

The two hunters turned around, “Sorry about that,” one of them said, scratching his head. “We were a bit dazed after fighting those shadows.”

“No worries. Let’s go back then,” Yohan said.

“Great. You two lead the way.”

They started back onto the path, but something felt off about the two hunters. Doran’s neck tingled and a message popped up.

[Skill: “Danger Sense” has activated]

Doran twisted his body. A sword pierced right through where he was standing a moment ago. “What the fuck?”

“Ahhhhh…” the two hunters’ eyes turned black. “You shouldn’t have turned around.”

[A new tip as arrived]

[RUN]