“Aaaaaaaaaah!” Screams engulfed the area along the sound of people calling out for help. The streets of Manhattan New York had been ransacked to the point of unrecognizability, and the shrill sound of mutated animals of all kinds running about added to the chaos.

“Help!” A woman screamed out, she had been trapped inside of her car which had been knocked on its side by a mutated Buffalo, her brown hair was now stained from her own blood, which originated from a small wound on her forehead due to the impact of the buffalo. Her blue eyes scanned the area in a panic, she needed help, and she needed it fast!

“Hang on!” A voice that the woman found familiar gripped her attention, and her gaze turned to the bonnet of the car. “Meghan are you alright!?” A speckle of hope formed in the stomach of the woman. “Sai!” The voice belonged to her senior and friend, Sai Jacobs. The man’s clothes had been torn asunder, and his brown hair was soaked with his own sweat. “Meghan, are you alright!?” The man asked a second time in a more panicked tone.

“Y- Yes I am alright!” Meghan responded, gripping onto the door of the car, and attempting to open it. “Good! Now hang on!” Sai said in a reassuring tone before climbing to the top of the car, his one foot cracking the glass on the windshield. “Can you open your door?” Sai asked in a now lowered voice. “N-No,” Meghan responded trying frantically to open the door. “Alright-“ Sai’s words were cut off by the sound of the mutated buffalo’s breath deepening. ‘What is a buffalo doing in New York?’ Sai’s thoughts distracted him briefly, but the situation he was in didn’t allow for it for long. “Meghan,” Sai started, “y-yes?” Meghan asked, and Sai continued, “can you get to the passenger’s seat?”

Meghan looked up at the roof, then at the passenger seat. “I- I can try,” Meghan said, unclipping her seatbelt which thankfully hadn’t gotten stuck. “Alright,” Sai said, eyeing the buffalo for a brief moment, its humungous size compared to the rest of its species shocked him. “Sai, I am here!” Meghan called out, gripping her hands onto the door. “Alright,” Sai responded walking carefully on the roof to the passenger door. “Now Meghan, I want you to open the door and get out slowly,” Sai started, bending down onto his knees, and reaching his hands down the side of the car. “A- Alright,” Meghan replied, slowly opening the door.

“Then, once you are out, don’t worry about closing the door, just reach your arms out and I will pull you up and onto the roof of the car,” Sai continued, and Meghan did just as he had told her too. “Alright, if anything hurts, please just bare it for a little while,” Sai spoke in a soft and reassuring voice despite all that was happening around them, and Meghan nodded, with her hands now outstretched, Sai reached for her wrists and grabbed onto them gently yet firmly. “Alright, hup,” Sai released a grunt and lifted Meghan up and pulled her onto the roof slowly.

“Th- Thank you Sai,” Meghan said wrapping her arms around her friend tightly in a hug. “Wait…” Meghan’s eyes widened, a particular person coming to mind, “where is Kelly!?” Meghan practically yelled the words out while pulling away from Sai who heaved a sigh.

“She’s fine, Michael is with her,” Sai spoke softly and reassuringly again, prompting Meghan to calm down, “thank goodness,” she said, her blue eyes tracing the recked area around them.

Notice: Congratulations on surviving the first 10 minutes of the first tutorial.

Sai and Meghan were caught off guard by two blue screens that popped up in front of them. “W-What?” Meghan started, “is this?” Sai continued, they both looked at each other and then at the screens, “Sai-“ Meghan began to speak, but her words fell short when something in her peripheral view caught her attention. “Yeah?” Sai turned his head to face Meghan who was now looking up, “my god…” She spoke softly, but the words were enough for Sai to look up, and the same words left his mouth. “My god…”

The sky had turned into a shade of red, as if all the water in all of the world’s oceans had been replaced with blood. “A- are you seeing this?” Sai asked, looking back down at the window that had popped up in front of him. “Yes,” Meghan said looking back down at her own window. Unbeknown to the duo, the mutated buffalo that wasn’t even fifteen meters away from them had come to a complete halt, not even moving a singular muscle. Like someone had been playing a videogame and opened the pause menu to go eat supper.

Notice: You have reached level one.

The ding from the window alerted both Meghan and Sai as the old screen they had been looking at faded away, a new one replacing it. “What?” Sai asked himself before feeling a surge in power, Meghan flinched, feeling a similar surge in power as well.

Notice: Your status window shall now be opened.

_______________________
Status Window:
Name: Meghan Mccallops                        Level: 1
Age: 21                                                     Hp: 50/50
Race: Kitsune (to be)                                Stamina: 35/35
Rank: Unranked                                        Mana: 20/20
Job: Jobless

Endurance(Hp/Stamina): 2

Mana: 2

MP: 3

Strength: 1

Dexterity: 1

Charm: 2

Sensory: 1
_______________________

_______________________
Status Window:
Name: Sai Jacobs                        Level: 1
Age: 22                                         HP: 50/50
Race: Human                               Stamina: 35/35
Rank: Unranked                           Mana: 10/10
Job: Jobless

Endurance(Hp/Stamina): 2

Mana: 1

MP: 1

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 2

Sensory: 4

_______________________

Sai’s black eyes followed the numbers and stats on the screen before he glanced at Meghan, finally noticing that she also had a window in front of her. Carefully he began to read hers, and once his eyes reached her race, they widened. “Meghan, what’s that?” Sai asked, worry beginning to clasp onto his stomach. “I- I don’t know,” Meghan was worried as well, ‘kitsune to be…?’ The woman thought to herself, briefly looking up at the sky which reminded her of the horrors they were now facing. “Meghan,” Sai began to speak softly, but the look of horror that was forming on her bloodied face in contrast to his worry made his words fall short.

“I- I don’t know what this means…” She said softly, almost taking a step back, but the small worry of falling off stopped her from doing so. “Sai,” Meghan looked at Sai, she didn’t know what to think, this window was telling her she wasn’t human, or at least wouldn’t be one for much longer, and Sai who had a worried look on his face, only made her feel worse. “What do I do?” Meghan asked, looking back at her window, her thoughts growing frantic. “Shhhh, calm down Meghan,” Meghan’s thoughts came to a halt, Sai had placed his hand on her shoulder, his worried face and voice had turned into a warm and supporting one.

“Whatever this is, we’ll find out later alright, so calm down,” Meghan nodded, she still felt worried because of the window, but Sai was helping her calm down. *DING* Another ding caused Sai and Meghan to look in front of themselves where another menu had popped up next to the status window.

_______________________
(Meghan)
Skills:
Kitsune Evolution: 0% (Grade S+)
Kill enemies to progress this skill, when progress reaches 100% the player will undergo a forced evolution and become a full blooded kitsune(Fox Spirit) Once evolved all the users stats will increase as seen fit by the system.

Charm: Level 1 (Grade: C-)
This skill is a passive skill that can be used when attempting to dissuade/persuade or even distract an enemy/target. The effectiveness of this skill is determined by level and the stat ‘Charm’

Lunar Energy: Level 1 (Grade: S+)
Lunar energy is a skill that can be used to create Lunar Energy based skills, with every level up you can create a new skill that is stronger than the last.

Items Received:
Blunt dagger
Durability: Poor
Damage: +3
Description: An old abandoned dagger.

_______________________

(Sai)

Skills Received:
Perceiver: Level 1 (Grade: B+)
This skill temporarily boosts the users sight by 25% for 5 minutes.

Hunter: Level 1 (Grade: A++)
This skill allows the user to better perceive tracks on the floor and spot weak points on a target.

Lesser Fire Magic: Level 1 (Grade: C)
This skill grants the user the limited ability of Pyrokinesis, allowing them to coat or charge items with fire. Ability potency increases on level.

Items received:
Old bow
Durability: Average
Damage: +6
Description: An old bow used by an average archer in its life.

_______________________

Meghan’s eyes filled with panic a second time, the sight of the Kitsune evolution skill worried her beyond compare, but Sai’s words from earlier made her calm down again. “I- got a dagger,” Meghan immediately changed the topic in her mind from the skill to her weapon, which Sai picked up on, he too was concerned about the skill, but all he could do was be emotional support.

“I’ve got an old bow,” Sai responded, the bow suddenly appearing in his hand, light blue particles tracing it from core to tip until it fully appeared, and the particles fell to the ground and dissipated. A similar thing happened for Meghan’s dagger which appeared in her left hand. “I guess the bow is good for you right?” Meghan said, thinking on the brightside, having completely forgotten about the buffalo as well. “Yeah, I don’t suppose you know how to use a dagger do you?” Sai on the other hand, had not forgotten about the buffalo, and was now actively thinking of a way to get past it, with or without killing it.

“I- yes…” Meghan said looking at the dagger, “I know the basics of self-defence, but I haven’t been trained for using a dagger extensively…” Meghan turned her hand to face palm down so she could look at the rusty daggers other side. “That’s good enough, so long as you know how to hold a dagger and stab something that’s fine,” Sai smiled, hope replacing the worry in his stomach

Notice: Npc’s will now begin to move again, hunt them down and survive 24 hours to move on to the next stage of the tutorial.

“What npc’s?” Meghan looked around them noticing the buffalo again, at first it was standing still, but after a brief moment it began to move again, its pitch black eyes meeting Meghan’s, and suddenly, she felt like she was staring into a void, something so dark and filled with nothing, it froze her body. “Sai…” Meghan spoke softly, raising her right arm she weakly pointed at the buffalo which had turned to face them again.

“Yeah?” Sai said looking at her hand and then in the direction she had been pointing in, causing his eyes to widen. “Meghan,” Sai spoke firmly, causing Meghan to look out of the buffalo’s eyes and then at Sai, “I want you to stab the buffalo,” Meghan’s eyes widened, “sorry what?” She had to confirm what he was saying. “I want you to stab the buffalo in the neck or head, after I shoot it,” Sai responded, “b- but…” Meghan was cut short by Sai placing his hand on her shoulder again, she hadn’t noticed it but there was a quiver on his back as well. “Relax, I won’t put you up to anything I don’t think you can handle,” Sai continued speaking in a firm tone, which reassured Meghan properly for about the 10^th time that hour.

“A- Alright,” Meghan said softly, looking at the buffalo which was now slowly walking in their direction. “Now, there is no chance we can outrun the buffalo, so killing it is our best option,” Sai said to Meghan, ‘I probably should’ve started with that,’ Sai thought to himself for a brief moment before redirecting his attention to the situation at hand. “I- I see,” Meghan said glancing back at the buffalo. “So here is my plan,” Sai started, drawing an arrow from his quiver. “I’ll shoot one of its eyes out, then when it gets to the car we’ll both jump off of it just before it makes impact, I will jump to the side of the car and you will aim for its neck or head, whichever is closest to you when you jump,” Sai continued readying his bow while Meghan gripped onto her dagger with both of her hands.

“Alright,” Meghan replied, almost referring to him as a professor. “Get ready,” Sai began to aim, and Meghan planted her feet onto the roof of the car in the way she could vaguely remember being taught when she was younger, bending her knees she leant her torso forward so she could lunge forward and off the car at any moment. “Hold on…” Sai spoke softly now, the buffalo was increasing its pace and the tar underneath its hooves began to crack under its weight, “just a bit longer…” Sai continued to aim, making sure that he had the perfect shot. “Perfect,” the word came out as a whisper, but it alerted Meghan just in time for Sai to release the arrow, which shot right into the buffalo’s right eye causing black blood to trickle down the side of its face accompanied by a hellish roar, “RNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGH!” The buffalo set its remaining eye on the car Meghan and Sai were standing on, suddenly moving towards it at an incredible speed.

“Hold on just a second!” Sai yelled out, getting ready to jump onto the pavement, “just a bit longer!” Meghan steeled her heart and leant her torso slightly to her right as well. “Now!” Sai yelled out jumping off of the car roof and onto the pavement, Meghan on the other hand did as she had told by Sai and lunged right off the roof just before the buffalo made contact with the car and went right above its massive head, ‘come on!’ Meghan thought to herself aiming for its neck.