Level up

Two hours had passed when Jake, with a mix of desperation and hope, dragged Kyle out of the cave. "Kyle, wake up! Are you okay?" he asked, his voice tinged with the fear that he might be too late.

"Woah, what happened?" Kyle's voice was weak, barely above a whisper.

"I thought you were dead," Jake admitted.

"How long have I been out?" Kyle's eyes were wide with confusion.

"Just two hours," Jake replied, trying to mask his concern.

"Two hours?!" Kyle's voice rose in panic. "Let's get out of this cursed forest, and I mean right now!"

"Yeah, I'm with you," Jake agreed, hastily gathering their belongings.

As they made their way to the forest's edge, the beast that had pursued them seemed to have disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared. They climbed over the fence and stepped into the realm of the known, only for Kyle's mind to be invaded by an unexpected message:

```

[**Hello New User, You have been granted 2 Stone Hubs. Congratulations!**]

[*Name: Kyle Asender*]

[*Health: 15/20 (Mortality)*]

[**Strength: 10/20*]

[*Agility: 10/20*]

[**Level: S2 (Weak)*]

[**Exp: 30/100*]

[**Abilities: None*]

[Stone Hub: +2]

[.{Store} Not Available Yet]

[System Notification: To gain Exp for leveling up, go on quests.]

```

"What the heck did I just see? A system in my head? How is that even possible? And what's a Stone Hub?" Kyle muttered, bewildered.

```

[**System Help: A Stone Hub is granted after a mission. As a new user, you will be granted 2 Stone Hubs. It can be used to buy abilities from the store, which is open to only Level S0. Gain 10,000 More Exp to Open Store.**]

```

"That's whack. You can't be serious," Kyle scoffed.

After a twenty-minute walk, they arrived at the bus stop. It was nearing midnight when the bus arrived. Jake inserted a blue tech coin into the reader, and a computed female voice announced, "J & K next stop: Relats Holes."

The coin, a marvel of technology, served as both payment and a mind-reading device to announce the passengers' stops. It was a relic from the Mild, used by the Vists for transportation.

Thirty minutes later, they reached their destination. The bus, devoid of any driver, came to a halt as the computed voice announced their stop.

Stepping off the bus, Jake and Kyle made their way home. When they reached their door and prepared to use the R-locker card, the door swung open without authorization. Inside, their room was in disarray, as if someone had frantically searched for something of great value.

"Who would do this? What could they possibly want from our place?" Jake wondered aloud, scratching his head in confusion.

"We don't even have anything worth stealing," Kyle grumbled, dragging in a bag of mail left outside their room. "Sorting through this is going to take forever," Jake sighed, eyeing the pile.

Suddenly, another system message appeared before Kyle:

```

[**New Quest: Search the room for a blue chip that resembles a peg.**]

"What blue chip?" Kyle asked aloud, puzzled.

[**Find it and Break it. Accept/Decline? Rewards: 200 Exp and 5 Stone Hubs.**]

```

"I'm too tired for this. I'll look for that blue chip later," Kyle decided.

"No, let's run!" Jake exclaimed, peering out the window. He stumbled backward, urgency in his voice. "We need to get out of here, now!"

Without hesitation, they bolted from the room, the night air hitting their faces as they sprinted down the street. Behind them, the sound of shattering glass and the roar of an unseen beast filled the air. They didn't dare look back, the fear of what might be pursuing them propelling them forward.

As they ran, Kyle's mind raced. The system, the quests, the Stone Hubs—what did it all mean? And more importantly, how could something from the forest still be bleeding into their reality?