New Year, New World, New Game

Monsters

Everywhere

All at once

Before Miles could register what was going on, the message in the holographic window changed.

[Do you want to convert your previous avatar's data to home-world 39515's latest version?]

[Yes] [No]

A goblin-like creature leaped towards him — green skin, pointy ears, black eyes that shone in a reddish hue, mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, drooling all over Miles — ready to make him its next meal as he thought 'Yes'.

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[Unable to recover the avatar's previous data]

[Forceful reset in progress]

Before he could think of anything else, a simple wooden sword materialized in his hand and he collided with the concrete floor of the street with a deaf thud, the alien creature clacking its teeth at his face.

Without a single second to think, he felt the hilt of the sword within his grasp, and with a sudden, subtle motion, Miles brought the weapon with all the strength he could muster in that precarious position, towards the goblin's head, hitting it with the sword's pummel.

[Forceful reset concluded]

[You may experience a few bugs, but the support team is doing their best to fix the issue]

The sound of cracking bones and the feeling of squelching flesh underneath his touch made Miles' stomach churn, and he tilted his head ever so slightly at the contents of the message, but the attack was effective enough, leaving the goblin's body contorting in spasms on top of him.

Soon after, the holographic window changed before Miles' eyes, with new lines of text glowing in a ghostly blue light.

[You have killed a Creature - Tutorial's Spawn]

[You received ??? EXP]

"What... The..." Miles got up, heart pounding in his ears, panting heavily. 'I have to get out of here, fas-'

Before he could finish the thought, though, he was sent flying by something that had just tackled him.

'Damn it! Another one?' Miles swung his sword clumsily in an attempt to mimic a move from favorite character in Devil Might Laugh. The sword slipped from his grip while the goblin that had tackled him sunk its teeth into his side, sending a jolt of blinding pain through Miles' torso.

"Argh!" He gasped.

Without a second to think, the image of one of his bullies flashed through Miles' memory. Looking at the goblin, which was almost half his height, he grabbed the creature's neck, held it in a somewhat headlock, and tried to strangle it as hard as he could.

Looking around, as he felt relieve course through his body when the goblin finally opened its mouth, trying to breathe, Miles' eyes went wide as he saw three more goblins charging towards him.

'Damn it! I'm done...' But he did not let his grip over his second attacker loosen up.

While he was entangled with one goblin, his eyes still shut, he heard the sound of an explosion close to him, and when he opened his eyes, feeling his attacker's body lose its strength, there were no other goblins coming for him.

Instead, there was a single girl standing between him and where the three creatures were.

He let the goblin fall flat to the floor, and noticing that the system had not rewarded him with any experience points, he ran towards his sword, grabbed it, and ran straight back to the unconscious goblin, smashing its head with the flat of the wooden sword's blade.

The holographic window appeared before him once again.

[You have killed a Creature - Tutorial's Spawn]

[You received ??? EXP]

The girl - with long, red wavy hair, green eyes, freckled white skin, slightly taller - looked at Miles with a mix of derision and disgust, but Miles did not see it, having turned around and sprinting towards an alley well away from the field of view of his enemies.

Panting heavily, Miles hid behind a trash container, recalling his experiences with videogames, trying to get at least some understanding of what was going on.

But before he could put his thoughts in perspective, his attention was drawn to a bright light that moved from side to side in the dark alley.

"What the..." Miles got up slowly, looking at the moving light the size of his hand. The closest he paid attention to it, the more he felt like being able to discern its features, and it looked like a...

"A rabbit?"

It was, indeed, a bright, white rabbit, jumping from here to there, seemingly without a care in the world, and as soon as Miles understood what the luminous thing was, observing it attentively as to not let his guard down before a probable enemy, the rabbit turned its head towards him and blinked, disappearing just as suddenly as it had appeared.

The window appeared before him again, but this time, Miles' eyes widened at the lines of text, glowing against the dark window's background.

[You have acquired a hidden quest]