Chapter I.
A beginning of sorts.
Joseph opened his eyes on what should have been a normal Tuesday afternoon. Instead he was greeted by a paragraph of incomprehensible symbols floating transparently directly in the center of his vision.
He blinked as before my eyes the symbols changed to English letters. What in the world is going on?
Welcome Joseph Smith to the apocalypse. May success and glory guide your way.
Chalking it up to a bad night’s sleep Joseph groggily climbed out of bed and lurched down the hallway to the kitchen where he fumbled with the coffee pot as he struggled to pour himself a glass, spilling a good third of it.
After adding way too much milk and sugar Joseph took a big swig, draining the whole mug in one go. More Words appeared in front of him.
You have been blessed by the effect caffeinated. (+2 on Dexterity for the next 3 minutes.)
What the hell is going on? Joseph thought. Maybe my doctor was right and I do need glasses.
As he contemplated whether or not he should schedule an appointment with his eye doctor he heard a noise coming from the backyard.
Joseph groaned. That was the third time this week that the Neighbors dog Elliot had somehow once again escaped into his backyard. He probably ruined the strawberry bushes he thought as he moved to open the back door. He was going to file an official complaint with Mr Thompson the second he got his lunatic dog back in the backyard. His backyard was covered in dung and his Strawberries had taken a heavy beating.
But when Joseph opened the door Elliot was nowhere to be seen. What he did see though was a gaping hole in the fence along with several strawberry bushes that had been completely torn from the ground.
He Swore Colorfully. The only thing keeping him from completely losing it was the comforting thought that Mr Thompson would probably have to pay for the hole in the fence along with the ruined strawberries.
As Joseph Moved toward the hole in the fence to inspect the damage, curiosity overtook him.
He now doubted it was Elliot who made the whole. After all no Australian shepherd dog could have not torn a hole in the wiring as he’d originally thought but completely rammed the fence so hard that it had collapsed. And no dog no matter of their breed could leave those types of footprint in the ground that were clearly made by some kind of bird.
Joseph considered calling the police but then thought better of it. Even if there were birds large enough to make those tracks in this climate where there weren’t, they couldn’t have trampled a fence. He’d have to investigate this matter for himself.
As Joseph gingerly stepped through the hole in the fence, carefull not to step on any barbed wire he thought back to when his parents had bought a house just down the street when he was 10.
He and his brothers had been very excited about the woods just outside their backyard and had spent hours playing in them each day.
Smiling fondly he trekked through the underbrush, doing his best to avoid all the tangles and thorns and failing miserably.
At first it was easy to follow the footprints. They were everywhere. But as the woods became more overgrown it became harder and harder for Joseph to spot them.
Finally at around noon he reached a small clearing in the middle of a particularly nasty thicket.
When he saw what he had been tracking he gasped. The creature was covered in feathers and hard claws perfectly matching the ones he’d seen in the backyard. It looked like a chicken except for the fact that it came up to his chin.
The target is a level 4 “Mega Chick.”
Strength: 6.
Dexterity: 7.
Vitality: 6. (60 HP.)
Magic: 0. (0/0 mana.)
Core Immunity: air.
Core weakness: fire.
A distant relation of the Velociraptor, these chickens are no joke. They are indeed “Fowl.”
Joseph recoiled as the Mega-chick turned its attention on him for the first time.
In its beak was a severed arm that was still holding a gun which He recognized as Mr Thompson’s pistol which he could be seen often polishing it on the front lawn for all to see.
After slurping up the rest of the arm the Mega-chick dropped the gun and with an angry BUGAWK it charged surprisingly fast as Joseph, who just managed to dive out of the way.
Grabbing a stick he swung at the Mega-Chick who managed to jump out of the way long before he hit it.
Your club proficiency is now Level 2.
XP: 25/50.
Suddenly the stick In Josephs hand became lighter. The Stick in his hand became smoother yet firmer at the same time.
With a roar He swung it again and this time The Mega-chick jumped out of the way a fraction of a second before it connected.
Swinging it again Joseph brought it down hard on the Mega-chick’s back.
Critical Hit.
Your club proficiency is now Level 3.
Side note: Swinging a club at a target always gives XP. Actually hitting it however deals double the XP. Dealing Critical hits gives you an extra half XP.
XP: 50/75.
The Mega-chick screeched and in a flash it turned around, its sharp beak, cutting into Joseph’s thigh.
The Stick in Joseph’s hand changed again, It was now completely smooth, it also felt amazing in his hand.
Suddenly remembering the gun Joseph dived for it. The Moment he seized its handle though it disintegrated.
This is a reminder to all players that firearms are not allowed.
Suddenly Joseph instinctively brought the stick up to protect his body just as the Mega-chick crashed into it.
Instantly the rod changed. It’s wood turned a silvery sheen and as the Mega-chick crashed into it there was a loud crunch and the Mega Chick fell to the floor, a pool of blood and gray matter forming around its head.
You have advanced to Level 2.
XP: 100/300.
You have gained 4 stat points.
Your club has advanced to rank 2 and is now an iron rod. Mana: 0/100. You can evolve your club on two separate paths.
Path I: Path of the Club. Your club continues to become harder and sturdier allowing it to deal more damage.
Path II: Path of the Baton. Your Club becomes lighter but firmer and will eventually allow you to channel magic through it. It will however lose its iron form and become wood once more. (Unlocks the Ninja Magi Path.)
Joseph began breathing heavily. Only then did he realize how close to becoming the Mega-chicks next meal.
Then there were the words that kept popping up in his head. He’d only then realized how accurate they were. He was starting to think the World had somehow turned into an RPG.
There was only one way to test that theory. Remembering what the words had said about stat points he thought stats.
Strength: 1.
Dexterity: 1.
Vitality: 1. (7/10 HP.)
Magic: 0. (0/0 mana.) (No magic based paths chosen.)
Joseph stared at the words in disbelief. It had actually worked. This was amazing.
Apparently Magic was locked until he chose a Magic based class which the game referred to as a path. Noting this Joseph put 1 point in each of the three remaining Stats and after some consideration put the last point into Vitality as well.
Your Strength and Dexterity have increased to 2. Your Vitality has increased to 3. (HP: 7/30.)
Giddy with excitement Joseph attempted a backflip. He executed it perfectly, landing on his feet without spraining an ankle. He also noticed that his chest which until then had been severely lacking muscles had just gained some small ones.
He Decided to do some more experiments, starting by thinking the word skills as clearly as possible, as that was a word commonly used in RPGs.
Skills.
Strength.
None.
Dexterity.
None.
Vitality.
- Regeneration L1.
Magic.
None.
With that out of the way Joseph began to walk home. As he walked he kept a close eye on his surroundings in case anything else decided to attack him.
Reaching his back fence at half past four Joseph made his way through the hole where he proceeded to go inside his house and lock his back door before putting a frozen pizza in the oven.
Once the pizza was done he grabbed a slice and made his way into the living room where he flopped down on the worn out leather couch and turned on the TV.
Scrolling through his option Joseph found that not much was on except for new channels. Shrugging he turned one on curiously to see how the world was reacting to this new development.
“-hundred thousand casualties have amounted all over the globe,” the TV reporter was saying from a helicopter. While he was talking three soldiers fended off some type of pterodactyl. “We have just received a report from the capital where a large group of Ogres have taken it by force. The Surviving citizens are being kept in cages. The report suggests that they are being kept as food and that is so far our best guess. People from all over the country are fleeing to the Great Wall where the Chinese military is working on restoring it to its former glory. It has been effective against keeping out a band of goblins but only time will tell how useful it will be.”
Joseph was about to switch off the TV, he had heard enough when suddenly his ears pricked up at something the reporter had just said.
“That’s right Ladies and Gentlemen. Random structures across the country have been transformed into dungeons. The Military is preparing for an expedition into a nearby one. Time will tell how Successful it will be and what benefits clearing it will bring. We have a list of all noted dungeons in china that we will be posting on our website. The Link is…”
Tossing his pizza crust aside Joseph frantically grabbed his laptop from its case and hurriedly typed in the link.
The Site opened revealing three pages worth of Locations. Joseph scanned through them, mildly curious until he saw the fifth to last location.
For the second time that day Joseph swore. The Dungeon was located in this very town at the public library. He didn’t know what having a nearby dungeon would mean but he doubted it would be good.
Slamming the laptop shut he began to search the internet, trying to find anything he could about these dungeons.
He found another news site that was created by A Chinese general explaining that based on their studies the Dungeons generated a certain theme based on the structure that they inhabited. Based on that theme the Dungeon populated it with certain treasures along with creatures. It also said that after the first wave the dungeon didn’t naturally spawn creatures. The Creatures in it bred to increase their number naturally. The Dungeon raised their reproductive cycles so that several dozen were born each month and they reached adulthood by the end of their six month. The Dungeons also expanded depending on their population.
This left Joseph with only 3 options. Number one was let himself die as he definitely would if he stayed with the growing dungeon and hope that wherever he ended up was better than this earth turned hell.
Number two was to pack his things and flee to the Great Wall of China. He could regroup and let the world’s military take care of this issue. Then when everything was over he could return home and have fun goofing off with this new RPG system.
But what if the military couldn’t fix things? Or Joseph didn’t make it to the wall. His car wasn’t equipped to travel halfway across China and neither was Joseph.
That left option three. Destroy the Dungeon himself. It was the option Joseph hated the most but at the moment it seemed like the best. If he cleared the dungeon before the military cleared theirs then they would probably treat him like a hero. It would make surviving much easier if he had the armed forces on his side.
“Alright,” Joseph said to himself. “Better get some good sleep. Cause tomorrow. I do battle.”
Chapter II.
The Literary Vandal.
Joseph checked over the belongings he was bringing for the last time before setting off on his expedition.
His pocket knife, a small bag of trail mix in case he got hungry, his bow and quivers of arrows just in case he had to do ranged combat (He hoped not. He was a terrible shot), and the stick from yesterday’s fight with the Mega-chick. After carefull consideration he had decided to choose the path of the baton for it. Although it had lost its iron quality it was now lighter and just as solid.
He had considered taking his car to the dungeon but he had decided against it as he had read somewhere that car noises attracted Monsters. (He was in his Zombie apocalypse phase, OK.)
Instead he brought his bike out from the garage. He had to do it from the house to not make noise using the garage doors. After somewhat efficiently tying the bundle containing his belongings to his back he set off.
The Public library was on the other side of town so It took Joseph a good half hour to make it there. There was one particularly gruesome moment when he had come across the corpses of a couple lying in his path but besides that nothing really bad crossed his path. That was until he arrived at the library.
It had somehow grown an extra story along with a large tower smack dab in its middle. Joseph swallowed. Maybe this was a mistake.
Struggling to control his fear Joseph cautiously approached the front door. When he was ten feet away a message popped up in his head.
You have arrived in the dungeon “Cult HQ.” A dungeon housing the members of the Cult of the knowledgeable. Clear this dungeon and you will be fairly rewarded.
Warning: This Dungeon’s recommended Level for a solo run is 40. The chances of you succeeding are slim.
When Joseph saw the message he knew that he was in no position to clear this Dungeon anytime soon. He was turning around to head back home and start packing for his trip to the Great Wall when he heard something.
“Pssst. Over here.” Joseph turned around again to see a woman poking her head from behind the Laundromat. He considered running but when he saw the troll that had decided to take a nap on the road leading home he decided to take his chances.
He made his way over to her and saw that with her were 4 other men and another woman. Realizing he’d been tricked he turned to run but one of the men called “Wait!”
Turning around, Joseph surveyed the group again. The woman who’d called to him was thin with blonde auburn hair and tan skin. The other woman was squat with white hair and dark sin as well. The men were identical with blonde, black, green, and brown hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. Joseph figured they were brothers. All of them had tattered clothes and deep cuts on their bodies.
“I’m Thomas,” said the Blonde one. This is Mark, Peter Dean, Layla, and Kate. We were on our way to the Dungeon when we saw you. You weren’t thinking of tackling that alone were you?”
“No, I was about to head home,” Joseph said. “My plan is to evacuate this town now that I can’t get the Dungeon.”
“What if we worked together?” The Tall woman named Kate said. “There are seven of us now. I bet we have a much better chance now.”
“We’ll Mabey,” said Joseph, who had never been fully on board with the idea of evacuating.”
“Let’s check what the recommended level is for a group of seven,” Dean said. Then we’ll decide what to do.”
The group made their way back to the Library where It turned out the recommended level for each of them was ten.
Everyone besides Joseph was Level five, having had to kill a pick of Direwolves on their way to the Dungeon so everyone decided that it was worth the risk to try it.
When they arrived at the front doors Layla tried to turn the door handle. It was locked tightly.
Peter grabbed a hairpin from his pocket and began fiddling around with the handle. Seeing Joseph’s questioning look Mark explained. “Peter was good with locks back before all this happened. Whatever System is controlling this place decided to enhance this ability.”
“Got it,” Peter shouted just then. “The group crowded around him as he turned the handle revealing a short corridor leading to another door.
This one however was flanked by two Men in black robes. On their robes were the symbols of a golden book. Both of them were unarmed.
“You dare disturb the Sacred temple of Knowledge,” The man on the right hissed in anger.
“Yeah we dare,” Mark said boldly, stepping forward with no hesitation in his step. “Bug off or I’ll-“
His words were cut off as the man on the left said something in a language Joseph had never heard of before and a ball of light flew out of his hands and hit Mark in the Stomach.
Mark collapsed to the ground, his eyes had rolled back in his head. As Joseph watched His body disintegrated leaving nothing behind but a pile of clothes and a steel baseball bat.
“MARK,” Peter screamed. Thomas and Dean echoed his screams as they rushed the Cultists with Layla and Kate at their heels.
Although Joseph hadn’t known Mark well he felt a boiling anger about how carelessly the Cultist had killed him and a determination to avenge him. He raised his bow but the string broke as he pulled it.
Cursing he pulled his Baton out of his bundle and ran forward to assist his teammates as best he could.
Once He got near the Cultists words popped up in his head.
The Target is a Level 12 Member of the “Cult of the Knowledgeable.”
Strength: 6.
Dexterity: 8.
Vitality: 10. (100/100 HP.)
Magic: 10. (180/200 Mana.)
The Target is a Level 11 Member of the “Cult of the Knowledgeable.”
Strength: 5.
Dexterity: 7.
Vitality: 9. (90/90 HP.)
Magic: 9. (180/180 Mana.)
Joseph adjusted his grip on the Baton so that he was holding it from the middle and twirled it around hitting the one who killed Mark in the side.
The Cultist sent another ball at Joseph who barely managed to dodge it. He knew that the Man could only cast it eight more times so until then he had to just keep dodging.
Twirling it again he hit it in the head doing a critical hit.
Your Baton proficiency is now Level 5.
Mana: 25/125.
The Baton Instantly became straighter in Joseph’s hand. Sensing his foe’s new power the Cultist sent two more balls at Joseph.
The First one he managed to dodge. For the second as if of its own accord his hand raised the baton and deflected the ball which bounced into a wall and evaporated.
Joseph then learned that Blocking projectiles also raised his Batons XP. It was no at 75/125.
With newfound Vigor Joseph Smacked the club onto the Cultists groin dealing another critical hit.
Your Baton proficiency is now Level 6.
Mana: 25/150.
The Baton now had a small red glow around it as Joseph swung it again and again, dealing more critical hits than regular ones and Dodging even more balls.
Finally after another blow to the head the Cultist collapsed to the ground. Joseph quickly scanned through the messages floating through his head.
Your Baton proficiency is now Level 10.
Mana: 50/250.
You have advanced to level 5.
XP: 100/600.
You have 6 Stat points available.
Two Enemies in the Dungeon have been killed. 20/22 more to go. (Not counting Bosses.)
While Joseph was battling One of the Cultists Peter, Thomas, Dean, Layla, and Kate had finished off the other. They regrouped at the door leading into the next room.
“We should turn back,” Layla said. There’s no way we can kill another 20 more of these plus an unknown amount of bosses. Let’s just evacuate to the Great Wall and let the government take care of this.”
“The governments been slaughtered by Ogres,” Joseph said. “I saw a news video about it on TV.”
“Then let someone else take care of this mess,” Kate said. “I don’t want to die for no good reason.”
“But what about Mark,” Peter said. “Me, Thomas, and Dean are staying whether you stay or not. Mark was our Brother don’t you forget. We’re not going to let him die in vain.”
“I’m in to,” Joseph said, surprising himself. “We can handle this dungeon no problem. I mean the more enemies we kill the more Stat points we gain which allow us to get stronger.”
Everyone turned to look at Layla and Kate. “I guess I’m in,” Kate said. “I can’t let you have all the fun.
“Me too,” Layla said. “Let’s rock this dungeon.”
You are now eligible to form a party with one another. Do you wish to do so? Party members can talk telepathically and can also share stat points between each other.
“Oh cool,” said Peter. “See. I told you we could do this no problem. This is going to help so much.
After forming the party Thomas, who the group had elected as their leader, turned the handle on the door and opened it.
Through the door was a massive room covered in bookshelves. Unlike a normal library these books were securely chained to their shelves.
Ten Cult Members stood in rows of 5 facing them. At the head was A Man dressed in red robes instead of black.
The Target is A Level 15 Priest in “The cult of the Knowledgeable” and a Mini boss in this Dungeon. (This is an elite. Double XP for killing him.)
Strength: 20.
Dexterity: 24.
Vitality: 28. (280/280 HP.)
Magic: 28. (560/560 Mana.)
Drat, said Joseph telepathically, readying his Baton in preparation for the upcoming fight. Something tells me this isn’t going to be easy.
You think so, said Peter. I say there’s a very good chance we’re all going to die before it’s been five minutes.
Alright everyone, Thomas said. I’m assuming everyone’s Leveled up. use Your stat points. You’re going to need it.
Joseph did as told.
You have put 2 stat points in Strength, Dexterity and Vitality. (+20 HP. 50/50)
The first wave of Cultists surged forward. And Were met by the hard resistance of the Party.
Joseph and Peter worked on one of the cultists while Everyone else tackled one on their own. This time it was easier.
The two of them Finished off their foe and helped The others tackle theirs. The Battle ended in 10 minutes.
You have advanced 2 levels and gained 4 stat points.
Current Level: 7.
XP: 0/800.
Your Baton proficiency has advanced to Level 13.
XP: 100/325.
Your part has slain 5 members of a dungeon. 15/22 members left. (Bosses are not counted.)
The Priest casually raised a hand and The Second row attacked. This time they were all Level 13 instead of 12. The Party Defeated them two minutes faster than the last row.
You have advanced 1 level and gained 2 stat points. (Available 6.)
Current Level: 8.
XP: 500/900.
Your Baton proficiency has advanced to Level 14.
XP: 25/350.
Your party has slain 5 members of a dungeon. 10/22 members left. (Bosses are not counted.)
Now only The Priest was left. He stared at them for a minute until his gaze landed on Joseph.
Instantly he shrieked and flung 7 balls of Energy at him all of which Joseph mannaged to deflect with his Baton.
Your Baton proficiency has advanced to Level 15.
XP: 0/375.
Kate and Layla charged the Priest, weaving in and out of his balls, distracting him while Peter, Dean, and Thomas hacked away at him from behind.
Joseph watched them all without making a move to help. The way the Priest had reacted to him made him feel like he had sensed something about him. Something he didn’t like.
When the Priest finally died Joseph gained another two levels despite not doing anything to help.
With 8 available stat points he put two in each of the Categories but held onto the last two in case of emergency.
“What happened?” Peter asked Joseph as they rejoined him. “You just froze up. Are you Ok?”
“I’m fine,” Joseph lied. The truth was he was terrified. “That PRiest just surprised me, that’s all.”
Peter nodded, seemingly satisfied by his answer. Joseph breathed a sigh of relief. He was not in the mood to explain how he’d felt.
The Party climbed the steps to the next floor and this time Joseph opened the door, determined to prove he wasn’t scared.