The System Apocalypse Short Story Anthology Volume 1: A LitRPG post-apocalyptic fantasy and science fiction anthology

by Tao Wong

  (Level 4)

  Tāne's Sight

  (Level 1)

  Trophy Hunter

  (Level 1)

  Heart of the Warrior

  (Level 1)

  Rehua's Light

  (Level 1)

  Meteoric Strike

  (Level 1)

  Additional Skills and Spells

  Instantaneous Inventory (Maxed)

  So weird how the language jumps around. Today it’s Kaikiko Toa, tomorrow it’s Vengeful Warrior. Hell, some of them aren’t even proper translations. Cool as it is, it’s not like Haka actually means War Thunder. I really wish the System would make up its damned mind. If it even has one.

  Fuck, I don’t even really know what the System is, other than it’s what creates the floating blue screens, stats, and monsters… and don’t get me started on that impossible What is the System quest. Been sitting in my Quest Log for months and hasn’t progressed an inch. Ugh.

  Looking through my stats, I could probably do with a few more offensive and movement Skills, but for now, I feel pretty rounded. Honestly, I’d rather not spend my credits on them at the moment. Picking up the Instantaneous Inventory was painful enough on my wallet. Thankfully it was totally worth it, what with the number of weapons I go through during an average day of fighting. Summoning items from my inventory with only a thought and being able to quickly collect loot without having to open System windows every time really does improve my ability to kill things. Hmmm, now that I think about it, that’s kinda morbid… maybe I need to take up cooking?

  Going over my inventory one last time, I see the proof of my efforts these last few months. I’ve got several stacks of the rare greenstones, a pile of random monster drops, another dozen low-quality steel spears, and just over a hundred thousand credits.

  It feels nice to know that I’m so close to completing my goal. Guess I’ll have to come up with a new one? Suppose I could do with some armor. Once the implant’s been hooked up, that is. Not to mention that since day one my weapons have been cobbled-together pieces of crap—I mean, scraps from the hardware store—so, hmmmm, I wonder…

  Turning into Canning Place, I pass the back of the bar Jase bought from the System and aim for my one-bedroom hole-in-the-wall above the old kebab place. Maybe I could finally look into buying this joint from the System.

  Lost in thought as to what I could be spending my hard-earned credits on, I begin the jiggle work to unlock my door. Then, coming from the direction of the bar, I hear a soft padding of footsteps.

  As they slowly grow in sound, a woman’s voice calls, “Nate. Naaate! Wait uuup!”

  I turn to see a fallen angel—Ellie godsdamned Hughes. Looking at her, I want to see the girl I knew and loved. Someone healthy, laughing, and always up for an adventure. I remember her curly brown hair flowing in the wind, one hand clamping down a floppy wide-brimmed sun hat as she catches the hem of her dress with her other, all while dancing among the shallow waves. I want to see that, but all those memories are shattered the moment I lay eyes on her.

  Her hair looks like bird's nest. Sunken eyes, pale skin, and loose-hanging clothes scream of someone throwing away their chance at a new life. It completely baffles me. You have to be seriously dedicated to look that bad in a world where most issues disappear in less time than it takes to cook a pizza. Then again, who am I to talk? At least she’s doing what she enjoys while working on her accidental suicide.

  Walking inside, I say over my shoulder, “Go away, Ellie. We’re done. You messed up. I want nothing to do with you. Goodb—uh… ''

  I’m too slow, and she manages to sneak an arm in before I get the door closed. “Wait, pleaasse, c’mon, I know you got some cash stored away.” She’s shaking a bit. “You and ya mates are always off playing in the woods. I just want, ya’know, a little something to help.” She looks at me, makeup running and the bags under her eyes showing clearly, desperation written all over her face. “I can, I can do something for it. Anything. I just need a few hundred creds, that’s all.”

  Her words spill out in a slurred mess as she tries, and fails, to force herself through the crack. Watching her struggle, I say nothing. After a few more attempts she gives up, and just like that she slumps to the ground, passed out, one arm inside, her face leaning against the edge of the doorway.

  I feel guilty, revolted, and nauseated. Why’d she turn out this way? Why’d someone who’d just become a junkie in this new world get to live while so many didn’t? Why didn’t she let me help when all this started? Why’d she…

  Reality snaps back, and I’m looking at the hollowed out mess of a woman I once loved, lying on the sidewalk.

  “Jesus. What’s wrong with you?” Looking closer, I call upon the god of forests and birds to activate Tāne’s Sight, and as I read the System message I’m shocked to see just how close to the edge she really is.

  Status Screen

  Name

  Elise Hughes

  Class

  Ranger

  Race

  Human (Female)

  Level

  6

  Titles

  None

  Health

  20/110

  Stamina

  5/110

  Mana

  0/240

  Mana Regeneration

  4 / minute

  Conditions

  Fatigued, Depressed, Addict, Mana Withdrawal

  Effects

  Hel’s Breath - Euphoria, +40% Perception, -40% Constitution, 50% Reduced Healing

  Loki’s High - Negative-Memory Block, +40% Intelligence, -40% Willpower, 50% Reduced Mana Regeneration

  Curse of the Undying Wraith - Perception Amplification, Insomnia

  Overdosed - Persistent Damage Over Time (10 damage / minute)

  Attributes

  Strength

  13

  Agility

  26

  Constitution

  11

  Perception

  31

  Intelligence

  24

  Willpower

  4

  Charisma

  12

  Luck

  9

  “Jeez!” Acting quickly, I drag her inside and get her on the couch.

  Calling upon the star god, I use Rehua's Light to heal her for one hundred hit points. It’s not powerful enough to purge her body of the toxins or get rid of any of the many debuffs affecting her, but it buys some time. I slap her face a few times until she comes around.

  “Whaaaa? Go ’way,” she slurs.

  “Ellie. Ellie, wake up.” I slap her again. “You almost died, and you’re still being affected by whatever you took. You need to go to the Shop and do a proper cleanse.”

  Fed up as I am, I try to stay polite while pushing down the fear and anger I’m holding onto for her. I feel a little sick, thinking of what might have happened had I not come home when I did.

  “Mmmi’cnt,” she manages to burble.

  “Why, Ellie, why can’t you?”

  “Cats banned me,” she says, this time easier to understand.

  “You need to get a body purge. Did they say for how long or what you need to do for them to let you back in?” A bit of my worry and frustration leaks out.

  Rolling away from me and pushing her face into the cushions, she mumbles, “Noooo, they just don’t like me.”

  My mixed emotions surface again as I mumble, “Can’t imagine why.”

  Ugh. I shake my head. No, that line of thinking isn’t getting me anywhere. Damn it. Why today? How the hell am I supposed to handle this?

  “Ellie, I’m going to go to the Shop to see if there’s anything I can get that will help. Do you have any money or equipment I can use?” I say, but don’t expect or receive a response beyond some snores.

  Fine then, it’ll just go on the tab. This better not hamper my plans. I regret that line of thinking as my eyes burn and I taste bile in the back of my throat. Damn you, Elise.

  I quickly w
ash my face, change my shirt, and cast another shot of Rehua's Light as I rush out the door to the Shop. Should have just under 20 minutes before I need to heal her again. I really hope I can get there and back before she runs out of time.

  ***

  Arriving at the foot of what was once the Whakatāne Information Centre, I can’t help but notice the energy in the air as the Vaaharu and their evening workers complete their tasks. The entire area smells of seafood. Their fishing and prepping-for-transport methods look as though they came straight out of a fish factory. Then again, considering they’ve remodelled the old pathway to suit that purpose, the comparison is more than apt.

  While I race up the stairs, I take a second to appreciate that the mud and debris that constantly filled our river is gone, leaving behind a crystal-clear thing of beauty. It’s brimming with so much life that the Vaaharu barely ever take their reinforced, System-registered boats out to tackle the larger sea life. Although, when I think about it, I suppose they’d rarely want to, what with the Dungeon World mutations not only affecting the land creatures, but also those in the water. Seriously, who knows what kind of creatures are waiting just off the coast?

  As I pass through the Info Centre’s doorway, I vanish from the real world and find myself transported to a fancy retail setting. Luxurious couches and coffee tables make a pathway to the counter. The walls are lined with opulent shelving, and lights point perfectly at a selection of equipment, armor, vehicles, and more that’s far outside of my price range.

  Making my way toward the empty counter, I notice today’s attendant float out from the rear entrance. It’s a creature I’ve had pleasant enough dealings with in the past.

  The best way I can describe it, is that it looks like a messed-up turtle that has the tail and fins of a shark, wearing the top portion of a three-piece suit. I’ve always thought of it as a Turark. Never asked or scanned to see what race it is, as I figured it might notice, and it may come across as rude—seeing as I’m in a hurry, I see no reason to indulge that line of thinking.

  “Hi,” I say before the assistant gets a word in. “I have some really stunning bits and pieces for you today, and I’d love to see what you have in the way of body cleanser Skills or items like that I can take with me as a gift for a friend.”

  “My, my,” the Turark’s beak snaps open and closed, its voice sounding like someone chewing on a mouth full of gravel. “Don’t we appear to be in a rush today? Must be a hell of a catch to have you wanting to spend so quickly on something so special.”

  The fiendish salesman has seen straight through me. Today just isn’t my day.

  Flustered, I cough lightly while waving. “Psh, me, in a rush?” In an attempt to gather myself, I gesture with enthusiasm. “No, no, no, no rush, just excited to get these beauuuutiful gems off my hands and into your gorgeous fins.”

  “Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Atkinson,” it coolly replies as it floats a little closer. “Now let’s see what it is that you think would suit me and mine so well.”

  Opening the Shop system tabs that allow me to show what I have to offer, I prepare myself to make a deal. I drop the loot from today, along with a stack of sixty gems and a bundle of other items I’ve been hoarding for my upgrades.

  “Well, well, well,” the Turark says after going through the list. “This is a tidy little present you’ve brought me.” Its eyes roam me, looking for a response—which I hope I’m not providing. “I can offer you… thirty thousand credits for everything. How does that sound?”

  It sounds like I’m about to get screwed is what it sounds like. I’ve been scrimping and saving for months. I’ve forgone repairs, and I’ve been living in a non-registered house for almost a year. This haul should have been enough to get me over the 160,000 creds I need for the audio implant and module, leaving me plenty to live off for a while. Instead, its offer leaves me over twenty thousand under what I need for just the gear.

  “Interesting,” I say as nonchalantly as I can. If he wants to play the ridiculous offers game, I can do that too. I bring up the Shop screen and spin it around to show the item I’d like.

  Skill: Fortune’s Flush

  Instantly recover user from all status effects (no limit). Performs a full body purification. Grants 24 hours immunity to negative statuses and toxins.

  Cost: 300 Mana

  Target Cooldown: 30 days

  80,000 Credits

  “I was thinking more along the lines of the Fortune’s Flush skill, plus sixty thousand credits. That should make us both incredibly happy.”

  And with that, our session of haggling begins.

  ***

  That did not go my way. Well, not entirely.

  After a few minutes of back and forth, I’m sure it could tell I needed to be somewhere. All I managed to get was enough credits for the audio gear, with no room for error, along with a purification pill. As I’m in a rush, I forgo the purchase of the equipment. So, while I’m a bit miffed at the outcome, I’m excited for my next visit.

  The pill I successfully bargained down for will do the trick as far as purging Ellie’s body of the toxins and most of her negative conditions. Thankfully, this includes the overdosing effect. Unfortunately, it won’t do anything for her other debuffs. I suppose she’ll have to let those work their way through her system.

  With the transaction complete, I sprint home.

  ***

  Getting back with but a hair's breadth to spare, I notice that the door’s open, and hunched over Ellie is a hooded figure. Who the fuck is that, and what the hell is he doing? I seriously don’t have time for this.

  “Oi! Mate! Back the fuck off right now and maybe I won’t hurt you for busting into my place and disturbing my friend,” I blurt while loading up my Skills for a fight.

  Moving closer, I realize, using Tāne's Sight, that any efforts to fight him would likely be futile. All I see are question marks. Not even a name or race.

  Standing with a casual grace, the mysterious stranger surprises me by raising his left hand and producing a key. That’s—that’s a key to my flat. Not many know where to find my spare, and while it might be easy enough to locate or create such a thing with Skills or spells, I recognize the jawline and build of the person holding it as he slowly turns to face me.

  “O? That you?” I say, a little shocked to see who I believe is a friend from the old days.

  He replies as he removes his hood, “Kia ora. Hey, bro.”

  “Hah, holy shit!” There’s a touch of excitement in my voice as I clasp his hand and shake him by the shoulder. “Otiniara motherfucking Matetu.”

  My mind’s awash with happiness from seeing one of my best mates. Otiniara had been out of town when everything went down, and after all the friends and family we—no, that’s a lie. All those I’d seen taken from me—I’d never had the heart to look up people in the Shop.

  “Damn, man, I never thought I’d see you again.” Shaking my head, I continue in a rush, “Where, how, why, but… oh, shit!”

  I suddenly realize I haven’t given Ellie the purification pill. I fall down to her side and reach to wake her, but O places his hand on my shoulder.

  He says, “It’s all right, man. She’s good now.”

  Looking up, I see the honesty in his face.

  His eye twitches a bit as he continues. “I saw her through the window when I rocked up, and could see her health dropping. I remembered you used to hide a key in the tree across the road, so I let myself in. You almost lost her, man.”

  Looking at Ellie I say, “Lost her months ago, O. We were both fighting to save a memory.” I take a quick glance with Tāne's Sight and can see that all her status effects and debuffs are gone. All except one condition that’s listed as a question mark. “Holy shit. You must have some crazy powers man. How’d you do that? And what’s up with the effect?”

  Otiniara’s left eye twitches again as he replies. “I—it’s been a rough trip, man.” He looks away from me. “Was forced to pick up some tri
cks along the way.” Looking at Ellie, he continues. “I didn’t see a pop-up telling me that this is a Safe Zone. You know you have to buy the place to stop the monster spawns, ay?”

  Feeling a little rebuked, I say, “Yeah. She collapsed in the doorway as I got home. The Shop’s just down the street, and she’s been banned from it, so all I could really do was hope she’d be okay for the few minutes I was gone.” I add a bit of a smile to my words and slap O on the back. “If I’d know you were coming, I could have saved myself some coin.”

  “Ha! You hinting that the drinks are on me?” He laughs as he falls into a chair and sticks his dirty boots on the dining room table. “There even a place to get on the piss round here anymore?”

  ***

  A short while later, we’re dropping Ellie off in a chair at Jase’s bar before snagging a table for ourselves and getting the lay of the land.

  “Hm, pretty busy,” Otiniara says while looking at the various groups around the bar. His gaze falls on a group of battle-worn ladies in the back corner of the room.

  “That’s the Coastlands Quartet,” I say, interrupting his ogling. “They’re a group of high school teachers led by our old PE teacher, Mrs. Terrell. They all took warrior and hunting classes and have been working on getting the other side of the river clear of monsters.”

  With a look that speaks volumes, he says, “Nice. They all look to be in their thirties. Seem pretty flush too.”

  “Heh, yeah, so I’m gonna assume you mean levels. The highest over there is Mrs. Terrell at 39. Pretty sure she’s the highest in town. When she hit Level 30, the four of them went dutch on the golf club out by the airport. Turned it into a place where people can test their Skills and spells without pissing anyone off. Takes a bit of work to get out there, but last I checked, they were setting up cages and rounding up low-level creatures to help level people up. Been a while since I went out that way though.”