Blood for Power: A LitRPG Apocalypse

*Player Identified* [Earnest Johnson, Class: ???, Level: ???]

Earnest was a man in his late fifties who prided himself on staying in shape in his later years. Though an injury to his hip had caused him to walk with a limp and use a cane for the last six months. Despite this fact, he is as sharp as ever and more than capable of shooting a potential home intruder. He was ex-military, you see, and after serving with distinction, he opted to start his own private security firm. The business became very profitable, and it was what allowed him to purchase an apartment in the building. Recently, he had also fired his gun.

I know all of this because he told me so as I was ushered into his apartment at gunpoint. Well that, and I could detect a chemical smell off of the gun barrel when he pointed it in my face.

“How long ago did you fire that thing?” I asked him.

Earnest smirked. “Why? You thinking I’m too old to properly maintain a firearm?”

“No, I’m thinking that I’ve been awake for a while and I never heard a gun go off. From what I understand, they tend to be quite loud.”

Earnest waved with his other hand. “Over there,” he said, pointing.

I thought he wanted to move me to another spot to better control me, but as I went around the corner, I saw the body of a goblin dog corpse on the floor with several bullet holes in it.

“I killed it ten minutes ago,” he said.

“The rooms must be soundproofed,” I realized. Though that didn’t explain how he’d heard me knock on his door. Maybe the soundproofing was just until the monsters died to ensure that everybody fought their beasts solo?

“You can put the gun down now,” I said. “I’m not here to hurt you. I just wanted to see if there were any other survivors on this floor.”

“There probably isn’t many. The System made itself known and started changing things at 11am, so by that time, a lot of people had left the building and gone to work. Being semi-retired, I guess I’m one of the unlucky few that got caught in this mess.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. After I woke up, I spoke to someone in charge and they hinted that the world outside of the tower was even more dangerous. Plus, it called this place a tutorial, which means it’s meant to be training for something. Did you level up or increase your stats after killing the dog?”

Earnest rolled his eyes. “After I got out of the army, I went to college. In addition to getting my degree, I played an unhealthy amount of EverQuest. I’m not an idiot. Of course I did. Tell me, why should I trust a man that comes knocking on my door holding a knife and sword?”

He had a good point. It wasn’t exactly my best look. But I felt that my reasons for doing so were perfectly valid given what had happened.

“I almost got killed by one of those things,” I said. “It broke down my front door and attacked me. I barely survived it. Considering how severe my injuries were after the encounter, I decided not to enter another room unless I was armed. The sword and knife are just the best that I could get on short notice.”

“You don’t look torn up to me,” he said, putting his cane to one side and sitting in a chair. I assumed it was to help him relax his hip while allowing him to steady his gun with both hands. Earnest’s expression told me that he didn’t seem convinced that I was telling the truth.

“I got better as part of my Class.”

He studied my face intently. My heart thundered in my chest as I wondered if this was it. My life didn’t flash before my eyes, though I felt a sense of shame that I didn’t do more with the time I was given. Why didn’t I just move on from Alice sooner and ask out that nice girl from the park during that cosplay showcase? Instead of just awkwardly hanging around and trying to drop hints like some teenager with a crush.

He lowered the gun. “Okay, I believe you.”

I let out a tense breath I hadn’t known I was holding in. Surprised, I then asked, “Just like that?”

“Well that, and the fact that I saw you help Mrs. Gonzalez with her groceries last week after the delivery guy left the heavy bags outside her door instead of carrying them inside.”

“Do you think she’s…?” I struggled to say it out loud.

He shrugged. “She’s normally out on a Wednesday. It’s Bingo day. As to whether she’s alive? I think only the System could tell us that right now.”

That reminded me to ask if he’d seen any strange coins or tokens lying around.

“It’s funny you say that, since I used to keep a spare jar filled with pennies, but it disappeared when the System took over, along with the cash that was in my wallet. Why?”

I explained the payphone in my apartment and what the caller had said. I even offered to show it to him, but he said that he believed me and that he’d keep a lookout for any coins.

Suddenly, a new message popped up.

[Would you like to join Earnest Johnson’s party? Y/N]

“Did you do that?” I asked him.

“I thought about it and then a message appeared telling me the invitation had been sent. I figured that there was strength in numbers and that we’ve got enough monsters to worry about. We don’t need to add fighting amongst ourselves to the list. Also, if this system does function like an RPG, then there might be a way to form a party. Not sure what good it will do, but I figured it was worth a try.”

I accepted the request.

[You have joined the party]

[Party leader is Earnest Johnson, Class: Marksman, Level: 2]

The gun plus the name Marksman made his class seem pretty self-explanatory. Mine, however, was less so.

Earnest scrunched up his face in confusion. “What the hell is a Blood Reaver?

I suppressed a sigh. “It just means that I can heal myself with other people’s blood.”

“That sounds kind of goth.”

“I didn’t pick the name or the class,” I said curtly. “It was forced on me after I slept through orientation.”

“You slept through the end of the world?”

“It had been a long night and you know what? Now that I know all the rooms were soundproofed, I feel less embarrassed about it. What did the orientation say, anyway?”

“Just that our planet has been taken over and transformed by the system. That many would die, but those who survived were all being placed in tutorial dungeons or towers. These places also operate on a time limit and everyone in them is expected to grow strong enough to escape before the time runs out. It then scanned me and my place before giving me twenty different class options to choose from.”

Twenty?! I almost missed out on getting one. I guess I couldn’t complain too badly. The health regenerating effects from the blood were nothing short of miraculous. If I’d picked any other class, then there was a good chance I’d still be lying on my kitchen floor, passed out and succumbing to my wounds.

Earnest explained that he had another reason for starting a party, which was that he required my help in checking on the other residents. That if every apartment got a visit from a goblin dog, then there might be people in there right now still fighting for their lives.

*Quest Unlocked* [Help the crippled man by feeding his savior complex?] – There are still several unexplored apartments. Hidden survivors, enemies, or supplies may be found within.

Earnest’s eyes brows rose. “Did you get the same…?”

I nodded, and he swore.

“I’m not crippled,” he said. “My physio therapist said that I’ll be off the cane and back to normal in a few months.”

“If I were you, I’d consider putting points into constitution. This isn’t the sort of place where you want to stay injured for long. When I reached level 10 dexterity, I felt an instant improvement in my speed and reflexes.”

Earnest replied by saying that he’d already allocated his extra points to dexterity as well to help with his shooting and a couple of points into strength to aid his weakened leg muscles. I could understand his logic but I still thought constitution might be of greater service unless he could find some kind of health potion. If I was able to craft one for my class, then there was likely a way to make others as well.

I figured we’d set out and search the apartments together, but Earnest explained that while he’d love to help, his injured leg might be more of a hindrance and, for obvious reasons, he wasn’t willing to part with his gun. He did instead offer a reward that he’d give me for completing the task. It was a rectangular block sitting on his kitchen counter and touching it told me what it was.

*Item Identified* [Enchanted Whetstone (Common: F-Grade)] – Used to sharpen F-Grade blades. When others were out partying or going on dates, you stayed home and used this to study blade sharpening like a dork.

Excited, I asked Earnest if it was okay for me to use it first and explained the dire situation my sword was in. He didn’t see why not, since the blade was likely to grow dull again from use at some point. I took out my katana and ran the edge along it like I’d seen samurai do in the movies.

*DING!* The condition of [Standard Katana, common: F-Grade] has been upgraded from Poor to Perfect – Now no one will doubt that it’s capable of cutting butter… among other things. Go test it out.