The Power

Toby stood there in silence looking at the Golf club he had just bought. He would simply feel its weight as he stood there muttering, "How do you even tell what's a good club?" He considered for a split second searching it up online but he didn't want to. He wanted to play a bit of mini-golf with his friends before. But there was a bigger issue with that. Toby simply didn't have any real close friends he felt comfortable inviting to mini-golf leading to his current situation.

The lack of friends wasn't just his own fault. He had recently moved to this city ever since his last areas Monster attacks had surged. Odds are it was a sign of the fabled big one that would one day come but Toby had always shrugged it off for one simple reason. He never loved violence or liked being around it.

Call it a weakness, call it a softness but he wasn't scared of it. He didn't fear the act of harming another but he hated it nonetheless. Hated the sudden explosion of energy and all that came after. How loud the world would become and flawed everything began to appear. Even as he was stuck in his own thoughts he would mutter, "Destruction is easier than creation."

He snaps out of his little ponderings as he begins to regret suddenly purchasing this golf club. It had looked rather appealing in the store and would look great sitting next to his fireplace. Perhaps he should have just gone with the coat rack as cliche as it was. Nothing wrong with having your house look cliche and nice he thought.

Should he try to invite those folks that tolerated him to mini-golf or would he just be messing up? Did folks Mini-Golf? He preferred to spend time at work, painting his miniatures, reading, and playing video games ever since he moved. Of course, there were things he was skilled at doing but it had been a long time since he used those skills in a social situation. . .How long had it been since he had visited his family?

Life had always been busy but perhaps he was making excuses to not see them. He pauses at that his eyes darting to his phone. He hadn't talked to any of his cousins in a long time besides the occasional hello or happy holidays he sent to them. It was just so far away and the world was so dangerous- who knew when some sort of Superhero fight would crash into your plane or some Harpy would attack it.

It hadn't been a sudden change that had caused him to slowly become isolated. Something had changed he just- felt more and more exhausted hanging around people. More repulsed by being near them. It had made his job so much harder and it had begun slowly sapping the joy out of his work as well. Every day he came home and just sat down unwilling to be near anyone else.

There was a time he would love to talk with people. He still loved to teach but now he knew it wouldn't be long before he hated talking with others. Perhaps this change was natural or a part of his life but he didn't like it. He had slowly grown apart from his family, his old friends and finally severed those connections when he moved. He wasn't even sure why he moved just that the desire to get out of his old city had grown unbearable.

Finally, in the midst of Toby's little crisis, he paused at the text which appeared before his very eyes. He stared at it in silence blinking at what he saw before his very eyes. It was a simple blue box with white words across it. He would blink a few more times as he stood there looking at the strange little box. He blinked a few times trying to ponder what he saw

"Welcome to the Game. You have been chosen. Failure results in Entropy."

"You have completed the Quest "Away from home." EXP rewarded. +2 exp."

He would stand there dumbfounded before reaching into his pocket and starting to dial the number of his local hospital. Odds are they'd be busy as always but perhaps he should get this dealt with soon as possible. Maybe he should play fewer video games and eat some more fish?

Mission Issued: Kill the Goblin.

Blinking twice Toby tries to recall the last time Goblins were spotted in California. He knows there were some dangerous subspecies in Africa, Australia, or the drier parts of the world but how long had it been since they'd been wiped from large parts of the world? Where would he even find one? All throughout history amongst the Monsters- Creatures who defied the logic of blood and guts that humans followed had shaped history. Things that could feel but be driven to hunt humans for reasons that even today no one could figure out.

Monsters were such a strange thing. Without a human nearby they would function as normal creatures some even acting as tribalistic and functioning groups. Goblins were more sneaky and dangerous ones when they were introduced to civilized locations. For example in new york a pack of goblins had "spawned" and burrowed into the subways and carefully planned their ambush. . .a train of unarmed civilians could do very little against a pack of the things

Others such as Harpies or Leviathans would migrate across the world until a human ship or settlement came close. Monsters were diverse with various subspecies across the world. Wiping out a Monster population or driving it to extinction would only bring short breaks. Some believed the malice and hate of an area would bring local monsters back from the afterlife. Other. . . "spiritualistic" people claimed it was demons or magic. Even now with guns and such advanced technology so little was known about the origins of these creatures.

That's when a small green blur would slam through his window and scream at him. Toby would tense up and flinch and would do what came as a reflex and swing hard as he could. With a resounding bwionk the little green ball would be sent flying into his wall. He paused as the little creature whimpered as it laid against the wall. Heroes were usually needed to deal with invasive Goblin nests when they built up somewhere and spawned a mage or a Warlord but by themselves, your common human with a gun could deal with them.

Of course, this also applied to dogs, cats, snakes, and other creatures. Didn't mean you wanted to fistfight any of them. "Holy SHIT," Toby whispers as he stands there gripping his golf club. It was somewhat bent now as the creature looked up at him and hissed. Slowly inching forward he would keep the Club held tightly in his hands as he began to inch his way to the phone.

KILL THE GOBLIN. 0/1

These words would flash across his vision. Yet as he stood there looking at the goblin hissing at him from across the room he would feel for a split second a flash of pity. Despite most humans' common views on the nasty critters Toby knew there was proof the things were very family-oriented creatures and that was often how the Warlords were drawn out. Capture the young goblins, kill them, and the rest of the colony would often throw itself at the Heros and forsake its normal craftiness and stealth.

Despite the simple fact that Goblins alongside most other monsters hated Humanity Toby would feel a moment of guilt for the creature. Just as he did for any ant, caterpillar, animal or bug he came across or accidentally disturbed or for the folks he saw on the bus whenever he'd take it to work. He would hesitate as he stood there clenching his golf club, "Shoo! Get out!" He shouted at the little thing as he began to try and shoo it with his golf club.

It would bite onto the end of his stick causing him to begin slowly pushing it back and down the hall. It would growl and try to yank the golf club out of his hands as he pushed it forward back against the wall as he opened the closet at the end of the hallway. He would then quickly take a step back yanking the Goblin and letting it stumble towards him before he kicked it into the closet as hard as he could and slammed the door behind it.

The only issue was the Goblin still had his club in its mouth causing the closet door to not fully close. He huffs simply putting his foot against the bottom of the door and reaching for his phone. Someone else could kill this thing.

KILL THE GOBLIN. 0/1

The words would flash across his screen once more. He paused and finally tried to address this strange thing, "I'm a history teacher not some sort of serial killer. I understand killing for food, good food, and necessity but. . .someone else can kill this thing. There are hotlines for this shit."

KILL THE GOBLIN. 0/1.

Rewards: EXP.

He paused at the rewards section that had finally shown. He would lick his lips at the change as he asks, "Exp? So it's like a game- Doing stuff I get exp. . .I- No."

NO CHOICE. KILL THE GOBLIN.

REWARDS: More EXP.

EXP leads to power. Power leads to strength. Strength leads to victory. Attain EXP.

"By even talking to you I display my mental strength isn't in the best position- Killing for EXP? I'm getting checked by a doctor before doing that shit or doing your little psychological conditioning. Today it's Goblins tomorrow it's my neighbor," Toby winces a spike of pain filling his head as the words shake as they appear across his sight. Yet when the text first appeared he had felt a small rush of. . .excitement and joy.

KILL THE GOBLIN.

TIME LIMIT: 5:00

CONSEQUENCES: MOTHERS LIFE.

NEW QUEST ISSUE.

AVOID DOCTORS.

REWARD: SISTERS LIFE. EXP.

CONSEQUENCE: SISTERS DEATH.

Toby would pause at that. For a split second, a hint of doubt entered his heart as he stood there. He felt guilt at the idea of killing the thing for no reason and doing what this thing said but- maybe this thing wasn't bluffing. He hadn't seen them in so long but he knew he'd do anything for his mother. He would do anything for his family.

He would sigh closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath as that little timer began to count down. He would yank open the door as quick as he could and kick the thing in the head forcing it to release his golf club. It was almost broken yet that wouldn't stop him from slamming the Golf Club into the thing's jaw and to repeat this a few more times.

A flicker of guilt would fill him as he hit it in the head again and again until its green blood splattered across the old shoes and junk he had in there. He didn't stop as a small hint of fulfillment flooded his chest as its head got crushed, He was out of breath by the time he finally stopped. Yet he looked up and saw the white text returning back to its normal format. He felt a faint rush of pleasure and accomplishment flood into him causing him to gasp. Far stronger and pleasing than the first time.

Mission complete. +3 EXP rewarded.

Level 1- 50% to Level 2.

Mother spared.

The teacher would pause as his phone would ding. Reaching for it once more he unlocks it and freezes up at the text. His mother hadn't texted him in so long when he had stopped texting her back. "Heya I know I haven't text you in a while but just wanted you to know I got my yearly X-Rays. No breast cancer or anything thank god! You need to come by soon!"

"Okay- It's fine I have something going on here. The text is rewarding me for doing what it said. Grooming me perhaps? That means. . .a power? I haven't been exposed to a lot of monsters or a natural disaster I think, maybe a weak one," There was no text that appeared this time. He would simply stand there for a few seconds thinking to himself, "Skills." His voice came out as a whisper.

SKILLS.

GOLFCLUB WIELDER- AMATEUR

He would blink at that. There wasn't anything else here besides that one skill. It made him feel somewhat inadequate. "Okay hold on. History knowledge and taking my time to analyze this shouldn't I have some stat points or a massive list of skills? I'm a good cook so that should apply," for a split second he recalled his younger years of playing DND and talking with the DM or being one himself. It was a good sense of nostalgia.

UNRELATED TO KILLING OR FIGHTING. IRRELEVANT.

"Okay then shouldn't I have something then? I'm just a baseline Human according to this- Wait! Stats," He shouted the last part as a new list of stats popped up. The format reminded him slightly of a character sheet. Reaching his finger out he gently scrolls down and reads.

STRENGTH: 8 VITALITY: 8

ENDURANCE: 8 INTELLIGENCE: 11

WISDOM: 11 CHARISMA: 11

DEXTERITY: 8 MELEE SKILL: 8

WEAPON SKILL: 10 BALLISTICS SKILL: 10

RACE: PLAYER

HP: 80/80

MANA: 110/110

"Already looking at these stats I can see those numbers are going to get crazy. So is Melee unarmed and Weapon skill swords and stuff? C'mon just answer me or something. . .fuck. Okay so wait- If I don't see a doctor that quest passes. What if I tell a Hero or Supervillain- Nevermind don't wanna come off as crazy. Perks," He expected nothing to appear in this section yet there were three perks. Far more than the zero he expected.

PERKS-

GAMER MIND- UNABLE TO FULLY ACTIVATE. USER ERROR. Partial activation successful.

TO MANY MONOLOGUES- In exchange for a -2 to Charisma the User is able to ignore withdrawal from social encounters. But, they must monologue to themselves or speak their thoughts. Player does not notice but NPCs may be creeped out.

LOCKED: Understand this Perk at level 13 and upon completing the Class Quest.

"Wait so- Holy shit already I'm not able to notice what this shit doing to me. I need to contact the police or a Hero organization and," Toby slams his mouth closed and holds a hand to his jaw. His body is tense as he simply stood there and began to mutter through his hands, "I can't teach like this. I have a class tomorrow I need to- Can I disable Self monologue?"

NO.

"Okay noted. So- I need to somehow make this work. The best thing I can do is contact a Hero agency but they may force me to see a doctor and. . .Fuck. Okay, I can just- call in a sick day tomorrow it's fine. This is too cohesive to be a dream or hallucination so I need to get around this fucking Monologuing," Toby would pause as an idea soon struck him. He would rush to the bathroom and dig in one of his cabinets before pulling out two things.

A face mask and an old box of gum. Taking two strips he carefully chews them pausing to look at himself in the mirror. His hair a brown and smoothed to the left, his skin tanned and body unfit. This wasn't the body of a chosen one or anything. Just a slightly unfit and uncaring history teacher. He finally put on the mask and waited.

"Hm-Hm," The words came out as each time the gum pulled on the front of his mouth he was able to put some effort in not moving his jaw. It would be far less strange to hum in class then it would be to Monologue out loud and cuss. The trick he was aiming for was something to remind him to keep his mouth shut each time the perk kicked in. With the mask, it seemed far more like humming and hiding the gum.

Taking the gum out he sighs, "Okay so I just need to keep being reminded. Maybe lots of gum and a facemask then? Strong flavors or something on my hands to act as a constant reminder? A leather jacket might. . .Holy shit I already hate myself. . .Fuck what do I do." He whispers to himself once more uncertain. At this point was his mind even his own?