The Charismatic Glass Cannon

The six onion men from earlier had now turned into zombie onion men. Shredded zombie onion men. Shredded onion zombie men that now saw a food source just reveal itself in front of them. The one in the front had a twisted ankle and was dragging it behind him towards us. They started making high-pitched zombie noises. They sounded like zombies that had been given a hit of helium.

“Let them get close. I’ll blind them. You slice them,” I said.

They were definitely the slow-moving zombie kind and were quite torn up from their interaction with the bearshark thing earlier. A few of them had to use a single arm or a single leg to propel themselves on the floor towards us.

I blasted my orb, the zombie onions temporarily blinded. Jace made quick work slicing off their heads. Then we ran. I wasn’t sure if having a head or not did anything to those onion guys, and I didn’t want to wait and find out. We took off back down the hall.

“I got to level 3,” Jace said as he jogged next to me barely out of breath.

“Me,” I paused catching my breath, “too.”

We jogged for another minute until we found an alcove that we stepped into. There were no signs of anything down either way down the hall. I pulled up my notification my interface reading.

You are now level 3!

Campfire is unlocked! User may place a campfire and be transported to their camp. Location is saved, and user will be returned to the same location after leaving their camp.

A dotted white line appeared from my hand towards the ground. I felt like I was in one of those building games. The dotted line ended with a campfire including flame, rock border, and wood pointing up in the middle. The campfire was white where it couldn't be placed and green where it could. I moved it around clicking when it turned green tucked into the corner of the alcove. A notification came in both of our screens asking if we wanted to combine our camps. We both selected “yes.”

Things are easier in numbers! With your track record, you sure do need numbers if you want to have a sliver of a chance to stay alive. Your camp size is increased!

I mentally selected the campfire and was transported.

I was now standing in a cozy library. It looked like I was in a medieval tower spire. A huge tower spire. I looked up, seeing it go on and on to what looked like infinity. I could just barely make out the faintest ceiling at the very top, but there had to be close to twenty or more floors before nearing the ceiling. The room was shaped like a heptagon. Of the six sides, one had a wooden door labeled exit, another was labeled dorms, another labeled party, and the other three had tall bookshelves that reached to the second floor. In the center of the large room was an ornate wooden spiral staircase. The staircase was greyed out. I walked over to examine it. There was a chain across the stairs with a circular sign with a lock with the number seven on it.

The room was massive. There were large comfy couches, armchairs, and large and small desks placed throughout the room. Candles hung from the bookshelves, on the tables, and on the walls providing light. At least fifty people could be in here reading comfortably. I went up to one of the bookshelves, and as I got closer, it was greyed out just like the stairs. One bookshelf had a lock with a two on it, another a lock with a four, and the last a lock with a six.

I opened the door that said dorm. Inside was a room that did remind me of a college dorm room. There was a bathroom which included a shower, which I found way too much relief in knowing I had at my disposal. Instead of the room having two twin beds in each corner there, as typical in a college dorm, there was a large California King bed with a thick blanket centered in the room. Looking at the bed, I realized just how tired I was. It looked so damn comfy. I didn’t even know how long it had been since we entered the dungeon. But I was also hungry.

Food first. Then sleep.

I went back out to the library room. The one thing really out of place was the TV mounted above the exit that came to life as I looked at it. At the top was a large countdown showing 25 hours and three minutes until Level 1 ended.

“Holy shit,” I said aloud, “There is a fucking time limit to this shit now? A fucking countdown!”

Below the countdown read:

[Total Starting Population: 8,128,828,837]

[Total NPC Population: 4,545,646,536]

[Total In Stasis: 2,528,637,474]

[Total Mob Population: 126,286,371]

[Total Died in Dungeon: 423,837,927]

[Total Remaining in Level 1: 504,417,779]

[Total Remaining in Level 2: 2,750]

[Total Remaining in Level 3: 0]

[You are currently in your camp. Time is halved in camp.]

I blinked at the numbers. Jesus Christ. Over half the world population was now an NPC, whatever that meant. Kiwi hadn’t been much help in this conundrum. Of the total eight plus billion people in the world, there were only around 500 million that remained. Over 400 million had already died in the dungeon. I felt sick to my stomach. I watched the numbers for a few moments the Total Died in Dungeon number ticking up quickly.

I was glad to see the message about time being halved. It would be nice to catch my breath. But we still hadn’t found the way to Level 2, and we were no closer than when we first got here. My family was one of the 2.5 billion people in stasis, and I was determined to get them out. I stared at the 2.5 billion number. Fuck you, game. I was taken out of my spiraling thoughts as Jace opened the door with the party sign.

“Whoa dude, this is sweet,” Jace said looking around. “Have you checked out any of the books?”

“It’s all locked out. I assume I have to level it up or level more myself, not sure.”

“Yeah, my area is the same. I have stuff locked out too. Come check out my digs.”

The party door led to a short hallway. On one wall was a machine that looked very similar to an old-school pay phone, but without a phone and with a larger, squarer, slot for where coins would go. Well, something thicker than coins but a similar slot. As I passed it, I saw it was greyed out a sign floating with a lock stating “Locked Until Campaign Level 3”. We continued down the hall towards a stainless-steel door, like one in a restaurant. One of those restaurant doors that you could push with your shoulder when your hands were full, that automatically flapped back until it closed. I looked back and admired my door; it was dark and ornately decorated wood. It looked pretty sweet not going to lie. Jace pushed open his door and I was led into a large commercial kitchen. In this moment, with my current hungry state, I was glad Jace was a chef. The kitchen was large, with most of it greyed out. There was a walk-in freezer, ovens, fryers, stoves, dishwasher, and all sorts of other areas.

“The stovetops work and there are a few pans. That’s pretty much it. There was a small welcome package with some ground beef and veggies. Looks like I’ll get some additional bonuses with my culinary creations as I level this place up. For now, it’s just normal food fuel. Hungry?” Jace said.

“I’m starving, and I can’t eat another energy bar. I’ve hit my limit of tongue and love handle. No offense.” I said, gesturing with my hands.

“No offense taken,” Jace said with a laugh. “I’m on it.” He finished as he moved towards the stovetop.

Opening my tab, I saw our combined camp name the interface taking a juvenile approach by mashing our names together to come up with “Kence.” Jace’s commercial kitchen room also had an exit door with a classic exit light-up sign, and another door with a sign in the same font and style as a classic exit sign that said, “Chef’s Quarters.” After Jace started everything cooking, he led me to take a quick look at his quarters. I was glad for my own accommodations but didn’t say so out loud. It looked like crew quarters on a mega yacht. Circular windows had a painted scene of the ocean. There was a queen-sized bed that directly attached to a small bathroom.

We went back to the kitchen. At the end of the long stainless-steel counter, there were a few stools. I sat down, and within a few minutes, to my surprise, Jace placed in front of me a juicy burger with carrots and asparagus on the side.

“Is this real? Am I really about to enjoy a nice juicy burger?” I said to Jace. “I’m not sure what you are complaining about with this whole chef class thing.”

“I would trade being able to make a mean burger for some actual god-damn power,” Jace said in reply with a small chuckle.

That small chuckle turned into both of us laughing. We laughed hard, way harder than the comment warranted. One of those sleep delirious inside joke kinda laughs. When we stopped, I looked down solemnly.

“Did you see the screen?” I said to Jace pointing at his own screen mounted on the wall above some counter space.

“Yeah. Fucked up. Only 500 million people left fighting in the entire world. Hard to believe.”

I tried to open my spell loot box but received a message that for level 1 loot boxes could only be opened in a dungeon. No surprise with this fucked up game, there had to be some catches somewhere with having this much peace and comfort. We talked for a few more minutes but sleep was overcoming me. I was normally someone who didn’t need more than six or seven hours of sleep, but once I started to go into overtime, I started getting whooped fast. We talked about the need to keep watch, but neither of us thought we could keep our eyes awake. On top of that, we needed to be ready for the next day. We didn’t have many hours left to find Level 2, and I felt stressed beyond measure. We were no closer now than when we first started, and if anything, I am worse off on multiple fronts.

I headed to bed, snuggling into my large comfy bed. Damn, did it feel nice. I was glad to also have a nice meal in my stomach other than an energy bar or tongue and love handle. I closed my eyes and thought I would just go right to sleep, but something kept me up. Guilt overwhelmed me, not allowing my brain to drift off. First, the guilt of what my Light Orb had done to those college kids, an action that most likely caused their deaths. It sure didn’t help. I wondered if they would still be alive if I chose not to use it. I also started to feel guilty about what I had done between the two frog groups. I knew they were trying to eat us, but then again, what did that princess ever do to me? She’s probably dead now. Those cute little Onion Men. Were they even a threat?

I tried to distract myself and thought of some questions I had for Kiwi.

Why is my map so shitty? I thought towards Kiwi.

Why can’t I see how much health creatures have? I thought towards Kiwi.

Kiwi, why can’t I see how much damage I do? I thought towards Kiwi.

Kiwi, why can’t I see how much experience I get for kills and encounters? I thought towards Kiwi.

Yet again, I was unsure about this class that I had and the whole only getting Charisma stat bumps for levels. It looked like perception was pretty valuable. Racial skill tree selection and class selection cards sounded pretty sweet though.

What is a racial skill tree selection and class selection cards? I thought towards Kiwi.

Are you really sorry? I don’t think you are really sorry. I think you get off by withholding information. I thought towards Kiwi.

I thought being a snarky asshole was the other guy’s job. I wasn’t in the mood to fight her anymore as sleep was starting to overtake me.

Hey Kiwi, I thought, If I survive what level will I see my family?

That’s fucking right I am.

With that, it was the last thing I thought about before drifting off to sleep.