The light of dawn finally broke, spewing over the backs of dead monsters. My eyes fluttered open and shut, adjusting to the morning light. I wiped remnants of slime and black blood from my face. My eyes were wild with frenzy. Sweat beaded down my arms, soaking through the waistband of my sports bra. My hands held the kitchen knife unsteadily as my bloodied knuckles burst white with pressure.

Ding!

[Phase 2: Compression, Status: Complete]

My body let out a cry, “Finally…”

Scrambling to wipe away the screen, I fell to my knees, resting for a moment atop a mountain of monsters. I could feel the hot steam from the bodies as they melted away beneath me. My body trembled as though my stamina was negative. All night I had been running around on fumes, fighting as many low-tier monsters as I could find. None seemed quite as terrifying as the howler that had found its way into my apartment just mere hours ago. 

As the city around me began to wake up I could see the damage and destruction the monsters had brought with them. Buildings along the busier streets had smashed windows and caved-in rooms, the city was in ruins before me.

Mroah? Grendel mewed from behind me. Taking off my pet carrier I peered down at him in his little bubble. “We finally get to rest now… hopefully.” I stroked the bubble as I talked, trying to comfort him after being bounced around all night.

Didi

Huh? I must be hearing things. Concentrating, I opened up my profile once more. I hadn’t seen this screen in a while and it appeared as though it was in chaos. I was able to collect some experience points from defeating monsters all night, but most only gave a few points each. The howler on the other hand had given a few hundred. Thanks to all my hard work I had gained 12 points to use on my stats. Too tired to figure out the level system quite yet, I noticed a blinking notification mark from the internal system messenger. Pressing the button I was brought back to the strange message from someone named Beowulf. Looking at the list of contacts it seemed I now had another. Clicking on the new conversation I was met with a familiar screen name. 

_knightMare: Finish the tutorial, then come find me.

What tutorial? As far as I know, there hasn’t been any message from the system regarding a tutorial. “Well, at least that means John’s alive and well. If I remember right, he doesn’t live too far away…” God, I really am exhausted. By the time I was done thinking the pile of monsters had all but dissipated. Laying down on the road I could feel my body start to drift towards sleep.

“Help! Can anyone help!” Shaking myself awake, I stared at an older woman as she staggered into the street. There were a few other survivors of the night’s long battle down the street, but otherwise, the roads were predominantly deserted. “You there! Could you help me please?” the woman asked some of the others closer to her. Observing them, they seemed to shove her off before heading back down the road. The woman looked defeated. Picking myself up, I grabbed the carrier with Grendel in it and headed toward the woman. I want to make sure she’s okay. Someone, her age shouldn’t be walking around here. Especially when it looks like a warzone. 

“Excuse me, ma’am. Are you alright? You’re not hurt are you?” She doesn’t appear to be bleeding, but something else might be wrong.

“Oh thank you miss,” she said, taking my hands in hers. “You see, I seem to have lost my cat.”

“I can see how that would be upsetting. With everything that went on last night, its hard not to imagine the worst. Tell me, when did you last see your cat?”

“I’m not quite sure. I have trouble remembering sometimes you see. It was about a day ago… I had let little Sable out of the house to go roam around the garden and he just never came back. Sometimes the neighbors feed him so I wasn’t too worried at first, but he didn’t show up when those monsters came. I - I don’t know what I should do.”

Meorw. The old woman perked up to Grendel’s soft mew. “Sable?” She began encircling me. Looking for where the noise came from. “Oh,” she placed her hand gently on Grendel’s bubble. He pawed at her hand from the other side of the plastic. “This little one belongs to you,” she sighed. “My poor little Sable is a white cat. Missing an eye as well, poor little thing. It’s nice to see that someone else’s cat is doing just fine though.”

“Right! Since Grendel and I made it through the night in one piece I’m sure -” That’s right… I almost lost Grendel, didn't I? The Howler had him and I nearly froze. I don’t know if Sable is alright. Do I have the right to lie to her?

“Dear?”

“Oh - sorry, I sincerely hope that Sable is alright. I’ll keep a look out for him while I’m still in the city.”

Ding

Another screen flashed up in front of us

[Phase 3 commencing… Installing safe zones]

A large beam of blue appeared to rip through the air, threatening to ignite the morning sky. It resonated outward from the center of the city. A blue barrier expanded as it swallowed up buildings and people alike. After a few moments, it stopped. The barrier’s edge remained etched into the heart of the city. It hadn’t even reached our street. Slowly the barrier began to fade, the bright blue turning transparent in the morning light. The city is about to get a lot more dangerous. 

“Do you see where the light ended?”

“I think… my eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be.”

Ding

[Installation Complete. Safe zones have been installed surrounding most settlements. For larger cities, zones have been limited to the city center for your convenience]

For your convenience, my ass. Turning to the woman I could see she was as confused as I was. Maybe I should walk her to the safe zone. The next phase hasn’t started yet so it should be safe for now.

 “I think we should make our way to the light,” the woman spoke before I could suggest the same.

So we began our walk toward the heart of the city.