Chapter 2: Broken Reality

A rock...after that near death experience with the boss monster and level 10...it's a freaking rock…

What appeared before me is a rock with a bluish hue the size of half a basketball.

Large Gemite (High)

Description

A large chunk of high quality gemite. Can be exchanged to 10 000 G Points in the store.

Hn? G Points? Is that the currency in this thing? Wait, store???

...Well, I wonder if there's also that...[Status].

Status

Name

William King

Level

10

Mana Points

330/330

Ranking

3

Strength

15

Wisdom

23

Agility

24

Stamina

12

G Points

100

Status Points

9

Ohh, there's really a status window huh?

Hmm...the numbers are pretty reasonable. This should be the numerical value of my current physique. There's also no health points or anything so this is actually as realistic as it gets.

There was also no damage value on the weapons. Simply put, there are no numerical values when attacked or attacking so as long as you're alive, that's all that matters.

Wisdom should have something to do with the number of Mana Points. From what I can see, it's (Level + Wisdom) * 10. Well, the numbers might be a coincidence but that's what I think.

Geez, I can only use [Blackest Might] one time or [Devour] three times with this puny mana...luckily, a level up gives 1 Status Point which I can only think that it increases my stats.

I tried thinking of increasing the Level or the Mana Points directly with it but it didn't work. When I willed it to increase the Wisdom, I thought of the number and it increased by 9 more.

As a result, I now have 32 Wisdom and 420 Mana Points. Damn, it's still too little.

As for the Ranking. At first, it was 3, but now it settled to 5. I don't know how large the scope was for that ranking but I may be the 5th strongest person in the world by now...Well, I did just kill a boss monster right from the start.

I'm rather surprised there were others who leveled up faster than me.

Guess I'm not the only cheat character.

Right now, I have 100 G Points, or let's just call it 100G. Either everyone gets random number and I just happen to have exactly 100 or everyone starts with 100. I reckon it's the latter though.

I don't know if this is a high amount or not but I wouldn't know about that until I see the store.

Is there a command for that? Store!

...Nothing.

Shop! Market! Mall?

Well, I guess there's nothing like that…which means that the shop mentioned before is either an external system or there's a physical building in the real world.

I figured there are more things to explore here but we don't have much time now. I see that everyone's already got their equips and familiarizing with it so it's time to think of a plan.

Brook's peering through the curtains of the window and periodically glancing at the door. I understood what he meant and walked to the door and look left and right outside.

The company's location is only one room in a building and there are several more offices of other companies in this building.

As our office was on the leftmost of the 5th floor, there's one office to our right and the view outside to the left.

I looked at that office and saw their doors also destroyed but there doesn't seem to be anyone inside.

I don't want to shout out to confirm that so I went back. Shouting will only alarm and give our positions to those monsters and even if there are people there, it will only be troublesome to take care of them as well.

"There doesn't seem to be any monsters outside. That [Flaming Scaled Lion] earlier should be a boss monster or something or at least, it was strong enough to scare other monsters out of the building...probably." (Will)

"[Flaming Scaled Lion]?" (Van)

"I uhh, the name appeared in a notice window after it was killed." (Will)

"I see...I just looked outside. It seems it's more chaotic out there. People are running in panic and didn't seem to know about the [Inventory]." (Brook)

Well, they couldn't be blamed. After all, this thing came so suddenly without any forewarning at all. And no one in their right minds would think like that. Probably, only the otakus will know about it.

This new world...will be led by otakus, no doubt...well, that's if they don't tell anyone else.

"It's already night. Going out will only be a dangerous so we should stay put for now and plan for tomorrow." (???)

The other female employee said. Different from Ryza, this girl, May Park is someone who smiles a lot. But don't be fooled by that smile.

She has the same job as Ryza, that is, finding the errors.

Imagine, May comes to you while smiling, you'd think that there are no errors or mistakes in your program and be relieved but...this girl, she would list out all the errors with a smile as well.

Everyone, including me, would shiver when I see that sight…

The most frightening part is that her beauty would max out whenever she smiles and you'd always get the feeling of not wanting to let her down whenever you see it, making you spend more time and hard work on the program.

"Stay!? I still have a family out there! We need to help them!" (???)

"Mine as well!" (???)

These two men are our networking experts. Michael Dam and Nicholas Morrow.

Michael had a neat short cut black hair, well trimmed mustache, and a square face. He's one of the easy to approach kind of people and also very doting to his daughter.

How do I know? He brought her here once and that point was visibly obvious, she was a 5 year old and would definitely grow up into a beauty one day. That is, assuming that she doesn't die before that.

Nicholas had a curly blonde hair, apparently he's half American and it could be noticed in his dark blue eyes and contours.

Oh, and by the way, I'm a Filipino. So yes, this is the Philippines.

Like Michael, Nicholas is also well caring for his family. But instead of a daughter, he has a son which is a year older than Michael's daughter so there had been some jokes in the company that the two are planning to get the two kids together.

"For now, call everyone you know. We'll think of what to do after that." (Brook)

As he said that, everyone pulled out their phones and dialed, calling the people they know.

Sam seems to be crying as she waited for her parents to pick up, then she smiled so I assume that her parents were still alive, judging from her excited and worried expression.

Van's also calling someone but he didn't display any sort of emotion as if he was just checking because he had nothing better to do.

May was also on the phone, with an unusual tear on her eye...maybe her boyfriend, or family didn't make it…

Brook was checking up on his ex-wife, seemingly relieved. I can tell that he was calling his ex-wife because he only makes that sort of expression whenever he talks to her.

Michael and Nicholas were talking seriously, instructing their wives and kids on what to do.

Me? I have no one to call. I don't have a family left.

3 years ago, both my parents and little brother and sister died in a car accident. Only I survived. The last King. I was in despair for a week after that but I continued going to college, thinking that's what my parents would've wanted.

The dean's a friend of my mother's so she was kind enough to give me full scholarship as long as my grades weren't too low.

As for money, I used the money left by my parents and engaged in stock exchange. Buying and selling stocks. I'm no pro but I at least knew how to buy low and sell high so I've been earning for a bit.

Of course, I wasn't always lucky as I would lose out some money sometimes.

Anyway, I've long since moved on from that. And I'm actually glad that they wouldn't get to experience this...whatever this is. Otherwise, I would be worried to death.

But it seems I'm not the only one without a relative.

I looked at Ryza who doesn't seem to be calling anyone and caught her looking at me as well, pondering on something.

To this, I only raised a brow and didn't mind it anymore. I fear that if I asked her about it, she'll just give me a cold response.

After seeing that everyone's done, Brook started the discussion.

"Before anything else, are we all going to stick together or go our separate ways?" (Brook)

Everyone looked at each other, hesitating.

"I think we should stick together. I already called my family and told them about the [Inventory]. They should be safe for a few days in our apartment. It's just a few blocks away from here, we can get there by tomorrow." (Michael)

"Can't you go by yourself?" (Van)

"Wh- are you tossing me out there!? I only got a D rank dagger here and an E+ rank chest armor. As for the accessory, it's just a D+ rank bracelet that can enhance my Agility by 2%! I won't stand a chance alone!" (Michael)

"Me too, my equipment's roughly the same, and my family is farther from here. I can't go there on my own. My weapon is just a spear, I have no idea how to use this at all..." (Nicholas)

"Tch- you guys would only drag us down." (Van)

"If you're so great, why don't you go out on your own then." (Michael)

Michael and Nicholas started to glare at Van who only snorted at them, acting all great.

Damn, what an annoying guy. And he was the one crying like a baby when the monster came.

Brook sighed and looked at May and Ryza.

"And you?" (Brook)

"I don't mind either way...I...my grandmother's no longer answering...she was already too old, I fear that…" (May)

May shook her head, no longer answering.

Seeing as Brook turned to her next, Ryza was silent for a while, then looked towards me.

"I'll follow William. If he stays, I'll stay. If he goes, I'll go with him." (Ryza)

...…...Eh?

Everyone looked at me and her, dumbfounded. Hey! Don't look at me, I also don't understand!

Why is she...why does she want to follow me? Did I trigger a flag somewhere? But...I don't even interact with her that much.

"Ryza, why are you going with that kid? Heh, before, I didn't know about these powers but now, I'm definitely stronger than him. What do you say, you and me, let's get out of here." (Van)

As expected, playboy Van has started his attack!

Before this, he doesn't dare make any moves on her because of her cold personality but now, he probably thinks that there's a chance to melt the cold beauty's heart if they were alone together.

Ryza only coldly looked at her and snorted.

"Hmph, Van, out of everyone here, you're the least person I want to go with." (Ryza)

"W-what!?" (Van)

"Let's ignore your irritating personality for a second. Have you already forgotten? You're the one who led that monster here. For what? So you won't die alone? If William hadn't acted, we would've been all dead." (Ryza)

Van's face twitched, unable to refute anything.

"Also, I noticed that William immediately backed up even though you just said monster. If it were anybody else, they would be confused if not disbelieving. But he immediately took action which saved him and Samantha. This shows that he's decisive and cautious." (Ryza)

Ehh, it sure feels weird being praised by the ice queen.

"He was also the first to know about the [Inventory]. For whatever reasons he would have to think about that word, I don't know, but this still shows that his way of thinking is something needed in this new world." (Ryza)

Emm, that's because I'm an otaku though…

"And most importantly, like me, he no longer has any ties in this world. I already confirmed this, seeing him not calling anyone earlier. Which means, there won't be any dead weight if I go with him." (Ryza)

Ah, I see...so she really has no one else to care for in this world as well huh?

"B-but, why would you also decide to stay if he stays?" (Sam)

"Because...even I think that I, alone, cannot survive out there. So if he stays, might as well stay. If he leaves, I'd have better chance in surviving with him." (Ryza)

Everyone was silent, looking at me...uuu, why am I suddenly the focus of the entire group.

After a while, May nodded and smiled.

"Un, I also don't have anyone in this world. I'll also stick with William." (May)

Eh? You too!?

"E-eh? T-then, me too! I already told my father about the [Inventory]. I think he can protect mother and I'll keep in touch with him to let him know if we'll be settling in a base somewhere." (Sam)

Sam too!?

What is this!? A harem novel!? Eh??? Why did I suddenly have a harem!?

No no no no, they don't like me at all, it's just that I have cheats so it's more convenient to be with me. Un, Cheats are the best.

"T-then, I'll go along as well!" (Van)

Ah!? Bastard Van! Don't ruin my harem!!!

"Eh? Then, can I go as well? I'll be fine as long as we can get to my apartment." (Michael)

"Me too" (Nicholas)

"Then, it's decided. It seems William will be our leader." (Brook)

Eh? Eh?? EH???

Oi oi oi oi oi! Why am I suddenly the leader!?

Looking at them looking at me, I sighed.

...Sigh...fine, let's just do this...

"Sir Brook, will you also be searching for your ex-wife?" (Will)

"Nn? You can drop the sirs. And yes. I just called and she said she's safe for now. She and her friends are holed up in the mall nearby." (Brook)

I nodded and started to plan out.

Beside me, Sam looked at me and let out a mischievous smile.

"Hehe, my King, what are your orders?" (Sam)

"Sam...don't even joke about that..." (Will)

Sam stuck out her tongue and no longer talked.

I can only shake my head at this girl and closed my eyes. After a while, I exhaled deeply and open my eyes which now shone with decisiveness.

"First thing we need to do is understand the blue windows and what more can it show apart from [Inventory] and [Status]. Everyone can freely explore this." (Will)

I then turned towards Ryza and May.

"I'll leave it to you two to see if we can exploit something from these. This is just like a program, if there's any glitches we can exploit, then we'd have more advantage in the future." (Will)

The two nodded, having understood what it would mean if there's an exploit we could use.

"The rest should focus on resting or gathering information. The internet is still there. Look for news and forums regarding this incident and commit the important facts to your memory or print it. Either way, we need a lot information. Especially regarding the stores." (Will)

"Stores?" (Nicholas)

"Yes, look at your [Status] and you will see there your stats, level, name, and G Points. I believe the G Points are the currency of this system." (Will)

They all did that and nodded. Seeing them all nod, I also nodded and continued.

"In games, monsters would be stronger during the night. Even if we say that the same is not true here, it's still dangerous during the night as plenty of unexpected things may happen as well as low visibility. We'll take turns on days for the night watch in pairs of two." (Will)

"Then, me and Van will take first watch." (Brook)

"What!? Why me!?" (Van)

"Don't forget, you led that thing here and almost killed us all. Just keep quiet and accept your punishment." (Brook)

Ignoring the grumbling Van, I nodded.

"Then, tomorrow, I'll take night watch. Who wants to pair with me?" (Will)

"Ah! M-" (Sam)

"I ca-" (May)

"I'll do it." (Ryza)

"Uuu...why do I suddenly have a lot of rivals..." (Sam)

Hn? I think I heard Sam and May speak up...nah, probably my imagination. Sam's muttering something though.

But still...did I really raise a flag on the ice queen somehow?

...Nah, let's not think about it.

"Then, next will be?" (William)

"Un, me and Nick will take night watch." (Michael)

"Then, I guess that leaves me and Sam for the fourth watch." (May)

I nodded and proceeded.

"Tomorrow, everyone will present their gathered information. Then, our next step is to build a base where we can return to. We will send a few people out to search for food while escorting your relatives back to the base and then we can start to worry about what we do next. We'll make a more detailed plan once we got enough information." (Will)

I looked at them and they all nodded.

"Then, that's all." (Will)

With that, everyone found a place to sit and brought out their laptops while Ryza and May were busy looking at their own blue windows...which is weird as I can only see them looking in mid air.

However, after a while they found out that they can view their window in any angle so they found a comfortable posture to look at it without looking like an idiot staring in midair.

Then, let's explore the blue windows.

But there really are a lot of possibilities here...ah, would [Menu] work?

As soon as I thought that, a blue screen appeared in front of me.

Status

Skills

Equipment

Personalized

Inventory

Logs

Leaderboard

Help

It worked!!!

I looked towards Ryza and May, wondering if they also found out about it.

...Well, I'll explore on my own for now.

I already know of [Status] and [Inventory]. [Skills] show the skills I have, which is only [Flame Aura]. Clicking the skill, I saw its effects and description. Basically I have 10% resistance to fire and a low fire damage in contact for 20 MP per minute.

Leaving the [Skills] window, I switched to [Equipments] window which revealed a shadow figure of a human with clothes that I wore. It seems that even ordinary clothes are considered as an equipment.

I clicked here and there and got the description of the clothes.

Next is [Personalized] but well, it's just a list of the personalized equipments.

Then there's the [Logs]

Wisdom +9!

Large Gemite (High) added to Inventory!

Mystery Box x1 used

Phoenix Cape personalized!

Starter Apparel Gift Pack x1 used

Soul Crown personalized!

Starter Accessory Gift Pack x1 used

Mystery Box added to Inventory

Flame Aura skill gained!

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Level up!

Level 52 Flaming Scaled Lion defeated!

God Devourer used on Level 52 Flaming Scaled Lion

Blackest Heart personalized!

Starter Weapon Gift Pack used

Level 52 Flaming Scaled Lion appeared!

Outsiders released

Releasing Outsiders…done

Installing Outsiders…done

Reinstalling Stores in the background...

Installing Stores…error

Installing Skills...done

Installing Accessories...done

Installing Apparels...done

Installing Weapons...done

Installing Items...done

Installing Menu...done

Initializing Broken Reality sequence

Downloading Broken Reality...done

At first, I glanced through the first few entries with interest, but when I read from the bottom up, a shiver trailed down my spine as beads of cold sweat dropped from my forehead.

This...this is simply…

I looked up, seeing Ryza and May with pale faces as well. They must've seen the [Logs] as well.

Seeing us act like this the others asked us what was wrong.

When we told them about it, they also checked it for themselves and similarly paled.

"...These Outsiders...are they the monsters?" (Van)

"Most likely." (Will)

"Shit." (Van)

I nodded silently in my heart. Shit indeed…

"And this [Broken Reality]...I guess that's what this program is called." (Brook)

"Un, sigh...never mind, we can't do anything about this. It's better we focus on the task at hand." (Will)

Everyone nodded while still feeling unsettled.

"...Will, I'm scared..." (Sam)

Sam pinched the hem of my clothes as she faced downwards, seemingly holding back her tears or that she didn't want me to see her cry.

I sighed and patted her head to comfort her.

"I don't know what's in store for us in the future, so we can only face it together." (Will)

"...Un!" (Sam)

She looked at me silently, and nodded with a smile. Phew, seems that I properly comforted her.

After settling down Sam, I proceeded to look at the [Menu]. Next is the [Leaderboard].

Leaderboard

Ranking

Level

Name

1

15

Aya Kitashima

2

12

Rodrigo Reyes

3

11

Matfey Bogomolov

4

10

Anton Johansson

5

10

William King

It was actually a long list but I only gave a glance on the ones below mine and focused on the top 4 above me. Judging from their names, it seems this [Leaderboard] is world wide huh?

I'm surprised that the top 1 is a girl...and it's actually Level 15! Just what on earth did this girl experience for her to level up this high...But how come Anton is higher than me despite the same level?

Hm...it must be the stats huh? Or excess exp?

No matter, being top 5 is already good.

"...William, you're already level 10? Or is this not you?" (Brook)

"Ah, that's me. Right, I gained 9 levels from that mon...Outsider earlier. That's why I said that it might be a boss class or something." (Will)

"But you defeated it with one shot..." (Nicholas)

"Ah well...that was an OP skill of my sword...though, I can only use it once every 3 months..." (Will)

Michael whistled.

"What rank is it? It must be B or higher right?" (Michael)

I only smiled, not confirming or denying but Michael was more or less satisfied.

"Haha, Will, look at this. Everyone's talking about you guys at the top 5!" (Sam)

Suddenly, Sam showed me the screen on her laptop. It seems she was browsing the forums and arrived on a discussion about the [Leaderboard].

TheInsaneGuy: /Dude! The hell are these monsters!? The lowest in the top 5 is actually level 10 already! Look at the 6th guy! He's just level 5! Do you guys know how hard to get exp!? Level 5 is already good but these guys...the fuck!/

QwErTy: /They definitely have cheats! Find them! Take their weapons!!!/

Already-Taken: /1st is actually a Japanese chick with level 15! Well, it's Japan after all./

ALLCAPSMAN: /TOP 5 IS SURNAMED KING! HAH! I BET HE GOT A CROWN AND A CAPE FOR THE ACCESSORY AND APPAREL GIFT PACKS!/

RationalitY: /It's only been 2 hours since Broken Reality struck without any warnings but they actually got 10+ levels already? One should know that you'd have to defeat 20 of those goblin Outsiders to level up once. And this is when you're level 1! At level 2, the goblins you'd need to kill are about 70! And at level 3, 300 goblins! These 5 are freaks!/

TrollerTroll: /Trolololololololololololololol/

ZhangYeNumber523fan: /I bought a watch last year!/

Cool=Guy=Me: /The fuck!?/

ZhangYeNumber523fan: /Oops, wrong forum. Carry on./

And so on…

Well, what can I say? I guess I'm really a cheat.

But that ALLCAPSMAN...does he have a divinity skill or something? He actually got it right…

There were also a bunch of people commenting nonsense while some provided good information. Like the one who talked about goblins.

First of all, it seems there are golins around as well and could be considered as a slime on other games. He provided the number of goblins needed to kill to level up to 4. All in all, you need to kill 390 goblins. And it seems the exp needed after levels are way bigger than the previous…

"As expected of a level 52 Outsider..." (Will)

"Level 52..." (Sam)

Sam was shaken before going back to her laptop to search more. Occasionally smiling for some reason. As if she was proud or something...I wonder why?

"Haha, it's good that we have a top ranker in our team! Right, our King?" (Michael)

"Hehe, King, we'll be counting on you then!" (Nicholas)

"Fufu, my King, we'll be in your care from now on." (May)

"You guys..." (Will)

Hearing them calling me King, I can only sigh and laugh bitterly. What can I do when my surname is King?

"...King." (Ryza)

Suddenly, Ryza gave me a thumbs up with her deadpan face…

"Even you, Ryza!?" (Will)

It might be my imagination, but I think I saw her lips curve upwards a bit. Though, everyone soon laughed so It might be an illusion that came from the laughter.

"Mumumumumu..." (Sam)

To the side, I heard Sam muttering only to see her pouting. When she saw me look at her, she quickly turned around and faced her laptop.

I tilted my head, confused, but didn't say anything else. However, I did catch a glimpse on the corner of my eye something troubling.

Van's been glaring at me for a while now but I seriously have no idea what to do with him…

Sigh, it would be nice if that guy was already eaten outside but he just have to return here…

...Forget it, let's think about it tomorrow. For now, let's check up on the [Help] section. I bet there are useful things to learn there.

Status

Name

William King

Level

10

Mana Points

420/420

Ranking

5

Strength

15

Wisdom

32

Agility

24

Stamina

12

G Points

100

Status Points

0

Skills

Flame Aura