In most games you earned experience from defeating enemies and leveled up after reaching a certain amount.

Van studied his status window.

[Level 1--[0/100]--Level 2]

It takes 100 experience points to reach the next level. My goal should be gaining XP from battle.

Van stood up and approached the door to exit the trailer. 

Subway tokens?

Luke left these behind for some reason. The plastic coins came in 3 colors, bronze, silver and gold. And additionally had numbers and the letter "Ť" printed on them to further express value. 

Bronze was worth one day of rides. Silver was worth a week with a 10 ride maximum. Gold was worth 90 days with a 100 ride maximum. Hence the numbers printed on each coin. 

In Van's time all currency was digital. But thanks to the huge recycling movement backed by the Metro Line Travel organization, people could deposit plastic waste and receive ride tokens based on the amount they recycled. Dealing with physical currency was troublesome but trading in a few bottles for a week's worth of rides made it worth it. Plastic waste was still a huge issue, but this movement helped to alleviate it and repurpose the plastic. Now these tokens serve as the basic currency of this new world.

With the value of 125Ť in his pocket, Van took a deep breath and made for the door but was stopped short.

"Useless"

Ash's voice rang in his head. Memories of his struggles against the Nomads resurfaced. Then a highlight reel of all his past failures and weakness followed closely behind.

His social anxiety and reclusive habits were flaring up. He wasn't diagnosed with agoraphobia but the paralysis he felt intensified due to lack of medication.

Doubt began to overwhelm Van as he turned away from the exit. His back pressed against the door as he crumbled under the weight of his new reality.

His eyes caught a glimpse of the timer on the pod on his way to the floor.

*bang* 

[HP 62/100]

He smashed the back of his head against the door.

Not this again. 

Slowly, he gathered himself up from the floor. 

If I give up without even trying, I'll lose the last family that I have.

Van frantically searched the trailer for writing materials. His therapist always said to make a checklist whenever things got overwhelming. In therapy Van often took it one step further and created quest and subquests for him to complete. But he was too old for playing such games and made a simple checklist instead.

He quickly jotted down his thoughts. But before the pencil could leave the paper a status window blocked his vision.

The words he had just written down were being recorded by his Variant in a fantasy like quest format.

[ QUESTS

Main Quest:

Wake up Sleeping Beauty:[36H12M11S]

•Get a power source for Violet.

•Find a cure for Violet.

•Wake up Violet

Subquests:

•Visit the Archiver ]

I guess the heart wants what it wants.

Van couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He was liking his so-called useless powers more and more. There was even a timer on the quest that matched the pod.

Newly inspired, he raced through the door with confidence.  "I'm heading out now, Vy!"

But again he stopped short, the time a small light blue window within his vision.

[New Skill Unlocked: Willpower]

[New Skill Stat Bonus: INT +3]

Holy crap a new skill already! As expected from a new character. 

Van figured that since his stats were like a baby's he could learn quickly like one too.

He examined his new skill.

[SKILLS

Survival -(¼) 

Willpower -(¼) Novice- Possess a strong mind that can resist fear and illusion. Passive. ]

Now, even more determined he marched straight ahead, the job board was posted right outside the massive gates of a rundown sports stadium. The word "south" wrapped over the archway. This was all the confirmation that he needed, Van was back inside the city he grew up in.

Turning around, Van saw that his shelter was indeed an old trailer sitting in what was once a parking lot. 

In this era, every other parking space had a shack, trailer or tent in it. Under the clear blue sky, people went about their lives without worry. A calm sense overwhelmed Van. The parking lot was clean besides the scattered cracks in the pavement where beautiful flower patches grew. Above the horizon of the stadium Van traced a massive outer wall. He spun in place to confirm that the entire area was within it.

Van admired the community that was formed despite all that happened in the past as he made his way to the job board.

Each job posted had a short description, reward and stars stamped on the upper right corner.

One caught his attention.

[Job Info: Find the parts listed to help build new generators.

Location: Dowanfall Penitentiary 

Difficulty: ☆☆☆☆☆

Reward: Prototype Generator. 500Ť]

Generator? That's just what I need for Violet's pod. That way I don't have to worry about power running out every few days.

"Woah there new face!"

Just as Van reached out to accept the job, a hand blocked him.

"The names Bella, and I haven't seen your cute little face around here before so you must be new."

An older woman stepped out in front of the job board. She wore a tan cowboy hat and shades that covered most of her plump face except for her round nose and full lips. Her cut off jean shorts were definitely on the short side, but her long hand woven poncho covered what would have been inappropriate for young eyes.

"Hi, I'm Van." He replied shyly.

"Now normally, I just let folks grab what jobs they fancy. But my conscious won't let me ignore a suicide run when I see one."

Suicide?

Before Van could take offense, Bella continued to explain.

" First off there's job types. 3 in total. Docs, Techs, and Scavs. Now, Doc and Tech jobs require some credentials. Seeing as how those are more skill specific. You need to register before taking those."

Van paused as the heavy set woman took a breath.

"Scav jobs are up for grabs by anyone since they're just finding stuff and selling stuff."

Bella tapped on the middle of the post.

"Problem is, you picked a 5☆ job. And that cute little face of yours is screaming that your a 1☆ kind of guy."

Van couldn't hide his puzzled expression, so Bella continued. But her examples only served to confuse him even more. Eventually, Van was able to gamify all the information he was given into terms he could understand.

In this new era of danger and adventure, jobs were to quests as Scavs were to adventurers. 1☆ jobs were simple fetch quests where you may encounter a few weak zombies but nothing too dangerous. More stars meant a higher difficulty, so expect to run into zombies of increased quality and quantity. A 5☆ job would be like going into a dungeon and facing a boss monster at the end.

Bella grinned when she saw Van's eyes light up. She quickly scanned the board and tore off a job more suitable for the newly awakened refugee.

" Here, this one is more your speed. And remember, if you need to post anything, come to me. Docs can make you medicine and Techs can craft you things if you find the parts."

Van inspected the job. No sooner than he began reading did a new window appeared before him.

[Side Quest:

Food run. 

Join the effort in exploring the outer areas for food items and other valuable resources.

Location: Outskirts

Reward: 5Ť per canned food item. Other loot negotiable.]

By the time he finished reading, Bella had already disappeared into a small hut behind the job board. Just as Van was going to call out for help, the wind picked up and twisted the paper in his hand revealing a map on the back of the page.

He waited a moment but nothing happened. So he flipped the page and followed the map, walking through the town around the outside of the stadium.

Along the way, he passed people of all kinds. General fashion was a combination of survival and style. Clothes were a mix of athletic and comfort wear with additional padding, bags, cloaks and pockets added on.

"Hey there Scav!"

Van heard people yell out the moment he stepped into the shopping district. But had no idea they were calling out to him until a stout burly man stepped in his path. 

"I said, hey there." The older man spoke while catching his breath. "Been chasing you for a while now. I saw you holding a job post and heading outside, so I knew you were a Scav." 

"Really?" Van looked up from his map and caught the stares of a few shopkeepers he passed along the way. There were stalls and buildings renovated into stores. Oddities of all kinds as far as the eye could see. 

Fresh and canned foods were found near the entrance. Then clothes and unexpected bits of technology could be found in the middle. Of course there were batteries of all sorts, but there were also things like electric fans, lamps, small motors and scrap wire.

Towards the end were the supplies geared towards survival. First aid kits, utility knives, flash lights and bags. Which is right where the old man had led Van.

"Look here." The old shopkeep pointed at some wares. "Step back into my shop for some basic gear. You can't be going outside the Settlement dressed like that. "You don't even have a bag! How're you supposed to carry what you find?"

Van was surprised but quickly agreed to follow the man. In all his worry he forgot the most basic RPG etiquette. Buy new gear when you reach a town and never leave town without starter gear. He got starter money from Luke, so there was no excuse.

In a hurricane of item selection, the old shopkeep had picked out a flashlight, bag, shoes, gloves and a mask. Surprisingly, everything fit perfectly. 

"That'll be 50 tokens, my good man" The old shopkeep was smiling triumphantly as Van handed over the gold token. "25 tokens is the sale back for the set in decent condition." The old man passed back 4 silvers and 10 bronze while retreating under the shade of his stall. 

As Van turned to leave the old man passed on a free bit of information. "Might wanna get a knife too before leaving, there are worse things out there than the zombies."

Van knew that advice all too well and purchased a sturdy feeling kitchen knife and handmade leather sheath for 60Ť from the stall further down.

Fully equipped with his starter gear, Van was ready to depart on his first quest.