Ep.2 On the Run!
Jae ran down the hall while looking at his watch. Before he left, he took a look at the layout of the ship on the cracked display of the map. Although the control room was easier to reach going through the cafeteria, the left side contained the armory. There were security personnel on-board, and while Jae didn't know if any were alive, there must be couple gears left lying around.
Jae decided to go for the armory instead, because he remembered the advice his dad had written. People normally remembered the first and last part of what they read, and, as a normal person, Jae remembered the very first advice his father wrote:
1. Stay away from the tutorial NPC. Passing the tutorial is easy, but with no risk comes no rewards...
As he reached closer to the armory, he was already on the page that displayed the image he uploaded earlier. He scrolled down to reach the set of instructions his dad left once he reached StarFell. It was thanks to this guide that Jae wasn't too surprised when he realized he was trapped in a [Break Point].
[You'll start StarFell inside a rift, almost like a dungeon, called Break Point. The case is programmed to do this for a tutorial, but even I can't control where you'll go... but remember:
1. Stay away from the tutorial NPC. Passing the tutorial is easy, but with no risk comes no rewards. Unless the difficulty of the rift is above C. Stay with the guide until you find weapons and teammates...]
Jae facepalmed. He wasn't clearheaded enough to give the damn exclusive guidebook a read before he did something so rash. He looked back at the mission difficulty in the off chance he read it wrong initially:
[Difficulty grade: B-]
Jae sighed. It was too late to go back, the insects in the room had probably breached the window by now. Looking up, Jae could see a sign pointing left displaying the words "Armory". Jae bolted left, immediately greeted by large steel doors. Jae yanked at the heavy doors that lead to the armory, hoping there wasn't a lock.
Luckily, the system was off, and all the doors were unlocked, letting Jae inside without much difficulty. Inside was a small lounging and reception area, with a gated fence and door that held all the weapons in the back. Looking around at the containers and boxes with hope, Jae let out a sigh of relief.
Jae set a time of five minutes on his watch and began searching the back for loot. He opened nearly every container and box in the room, but came up empty handed almost every time. The best thing he found being a dingy helmet.
============================
Worn Helmet
Grade: Normal
+1 Def
============================
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Jae stared at his hands, during the five minutes he allotted himself, al he found were two set of bandages, a type of spray, and the shitty helmet. Following the instructions on his watch, Jae stored the items into his limited inventory and wore the helmet, which offered minimal protection at best. Jae kicked the fence in anger. He felt like he was letting down his father by not being able to complete even a tutorial properly.
KRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA
Jae turned around, the scream of some monster sounded not too far off from the armory. Scared that he might've alerted the monster earlier, his mind raced to find solutions. While not an escape plan, a lightbulb went off in his head, while he was thinking of potential places to hide.
Scrambling towards the back of the armory, Jae opened the door that was labeled "Firing Range". In a hurry, Jae had forgotten to check the firing range, tunneling his vision towards just the armory.
============================
Stinger
Grade: Normal
-no requirements-
Phy. Dmg: 5-10
*only takes in 9x17mm cartridges
"Called the stinger because cadets were told the bullets would only sting when shot at them in practice."
============================
============================
9x17mm standard bullet cartridges
Grade: Normal
+1 Phy. Dmg
============================
Jae was rewarded with a functioning weapon, stored away in a container at the corner of the range. Perhaps they believed the pistol was merely used for training, and didn't bring it into combat. He held pistol in his hands, a wave of emotion passing through him. Gripping it tightly he made his way back to armory.
KKRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!
As soon as he opened the door he saw a long slender bug that looked like a twisted rope of flesh and shells. It's it had hundreds of small legs wrapped around it's body, spiraling from its head to its tail, its body rotating clockwise as it moved forward. In his excitement, Jae had forgotten to close the door behind him, letting the insect into the armory.
Luckily it didn't seem to have eyes as it wasn't immediately alerted to Jae's presence. Instead it began convulsing as the front end of its body began wriggling upward. The front of its head began to unfurl, spiraling out as it "bloomed". The unwrapped tentacles fanned out—reminding Jae of a flower..
The petals all slowly turned towards Jae, numerous holes visible on its surface. The center of the blooming insect suddenly gaped open. All the holes began inhaling, tightening up ever so slightly.
KRAAAAAAAHHHhhh!!
BAM!
Jae instinctively rolled to his side, in the place where his head should've been was a long, yellow pole. Pole? Jae followed the end of the pole, reaching the opening of the insect where it must've shot out from.
In panic Jae tried firing at the insect while it's tongue-like attack was stuck.
Click. Click. Click.
Jae stares at his gun incredulously, confused at why it wasn't shooting. Instead of pondering any longer, Jae went around the insect, heading towards the exit of the armory. Before he closed the door, he saw the spear-like projectile detach from the wall, revealing a set of teeth on the ends.
Gulp.
Jae immediately slammed the door and ran the opposite way.
BANG! BANG!
Something pounded on the doors as soon as he closed it. Jae began running faster as he started forgetting the fine line between reality and virtual reality. The map he rushed memorizing was too hazy to recall, and even more useless now that he was starting to panic.
Jae looked up at the signs when he reached the nearest crossroad.
[<—- Armory]
[Residential—>]
[Entertainment—>]
Jae took the diagonal turn into the entertainment area, he vaguely remembered that area being somewhat close to the control room. As he kept running down the wall, his watch began beeping:
[Warning! Stamina low! Advised to rest]
Jae was fatigued but he didn't really feel that tired. He shrugged it off, hoping to make it to the area before the insect caught up.
KRRRAAAAAGGGGGGHHH!!!!
A furious roar echoed off the walls, causing Jae to sweat uncontrollably. Finally, at the end off the hall, an automatic door with signs labeled "Entertainment Room" was in sight. Too afraid to look back, Jae went right through the automatic doors, revealing a large casino filled with broken machines and dilapidated tables. There was a door at the back corner of the room, but the screech of the insect was even closer than Jae was to the door.
Jae turned around and pointed his gun where the insect would be coming through. There was map in this room as well; turns out, the entertainment room was basically below the control room. The automatic doors began to shut, it was made of steel, instead of the usual glass, so he wouldn't be able to tell how close the insect was until it was in front of the door.
"Hey if you're going to shoot the insect, you have to reload the gun first."
Nearly shitting his pants, Jae spun around again and pointed his gun at where the sound was from. On the one slot machine that was still functioning, an older man was hunched over on a chair, wearing a bloodied jacket over his shoulders. While feeding coins into a slot machine, the man waved his free hand, as if reminding Jae to turn around.
Jae hesitantly pulled the pistol back without taking his sights off the man, remembering how they did it in movies. The gun clicked as the hammer clicked back.
"Now now, don't go aiming that a defense old man like me when you have something else to worry about."
Comedically spinning around for the third time, Jae began panicking again from the sudden developments. The air felt tense as Jae began to hear his own heartbeat through the blood rushing into his head. Sweat began dripping
"Shoot the insect when it faces towards you. Your pistol can't pierce its shell. Hit its flesh instead."
The voice behind him, once again, leisurely gave advice— the voice clam and steady despite the situation. Jae calmed down a little from the man's gentle voice. His eyes began focusing. The insect was nearly completely unfurled, like before it began convulsing before slowly turning toward to Jae. Everything else began to slowly fade away as Jae fully centered his vision on the enemy in front.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Jae fired three continuous shots, his eyes already closed by the second shot. Immediately afterwards, he let out the breath of air he was holding.
"Its not over yet!"
Jae snapped his head back, the insect was in pain, but the head was still squirming resiliently. Swaying side to side in anger. It screamed before randomly firing in Jae's direction. The speed at which it moved was too fast for Jae to avoid in time.
"NGhhhHHhh"
Jae grimaced in pain as the sharp, yellow stinger speared into his shoulder. The pain momentarily cleared his head as Jae gripped the stinger, then fired the gun with his other hand.
BAM!
The tongue partly shot through.
BAM!
The bullet pierced straight through its mouth.
BAM!
Jae slumped down right as he felt the tension disappear in the yellow flesh. His watch vibrated soon afterwards with notifications.
[A Refugee has been killed +100 points]
"Kid you got some spunk. Chat with this old man, and ill teach you a couple things while were stuck in this shit hole together."
Jae stared at the old man. Getting a better look, he could see that one of his legs was gone from the knee down. The bandages wrapped around it was still freshly died in red. Jae shook his head and pointed towards the map near the entrance of the casino.
"The control room? You need someone with an access card to reset the system… wait, did you survive with anyone else?"
The man's face began to slowly light up, as if he had just received a present. He threw his bucket of coins aside and shifted his body to get a better look at Jae.
SCEEEEEECCCHHHHH!!!!
Sounds of metal being torn apart sounded just outside the casino. The noise from the battle alerted the various insects, creating an audible rumbling as they all converged towards the casino.
"Well nice to formally meet you. I was once the Commanding Officer aboard the ship, but now I guess I'm more of a dirty drunk."
The man turned around. Perhaps it was because it was hunched over, but Jae became alert as he "felt" the gaze of the man meet his.
Why did he seem so much.. larger?
The previously shabby man in the casino suddenly appeared to be a hulking giant now that his shoulders no longer hunched.
"How about you help accompany me to the command room, its not much, but I will make sure we survive."
As he spoke, he flexed his muscles and revealed a gun tucked off to his side. Grinning, he reached out his hand.
"My names Jeff."
[Hidden Quest:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragons
Grade: D+
Help the strange fellow Jeff reach the control room. The vessel is very dangerous, it seems interesting he seems so relaxed...
Reward: Sub Class related to type: Firearms.]
Jae's eyes shined. He knew a little bit about Sub Classes: the more the better. Jae grinned for the first time in a long while as he firmly shook Jeff's hand.
[Quest Accepted.]