Emily Harris
Stories
6
Chapters
1,488
Words
2.2 M
Comments
0
Reading
7 d, 19 h
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It happened as Jack was stalking his ninth earth bear in a row, a prowling beast at Level 18. In the past day, he’d already cut down their population by more than half, meaning that only the high-level ones were left; he’d even seen one at Level 20 but avoided it for now. He’d also gotten two Levels for his hunt, bringing him to 17. All stat points were distributed evenly, as he’d been doing. As Jack stalked this bear, debating whether to attack it or not, a low growl hummed through the…-
126 •
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There were so many high numbers. When his Physical broke into three sub-stats, he expected his 38 points to be divided, not tripled. He didn’t feel three times stronger than before. A bit, sure, but not to such a degree. Thankfully, Jack was a scientist—he almost had a PhD, too. This hypothesis was based on little, but it made sense. The System wouldn’t just triple his power for no reason. Unlike his other stats, he In any case, he could see the utility of breaking down the stats. Keeping…
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126 •
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After the goblin tribe was defeated, Jack lay on the grass, struggling to take in his rewards. He couldn’t sleep here. He needed to move. He’d gotten four Levels at once. This was a massive bonus, and it indicated that there was something else at play besides the experience from individual monsters. Maybe the monster group counted as a big monster itself? He’d also gotten the High Speed Bush, the resource guarded by the goblin tribe. Finally, the System had informed him that he could now choose a…
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126 •
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As Jack skulked by a wall of the goblin tribe, a door opened right in front of him. He froze for a fraction of a second before darting behind it and holding his breath. Inwardly, he cursed; he didn’t just have to watch out for patrols, but also random goblins that needed to pee! The door sandwiched him against the wall, and he was forced to put out a hand and gently stop it. He cursed again. In the silence of the night, and with his senses heightened from all the stalking, the door’s creaks came to…
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126 •
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Through the battle haze, Jack grinned. Everything suddenly became so much easier. The trajectories of the shortswords were clearly telegraphed before his eyes, and he could tell where the next attack would come from before the hobs even moved to enact it. Suddenly, he realized they weren’t really veteran fighters, only familiar with fighting. Their stances weren’t carefully refined, just decent. They had holes he could see and punch through. And he did. Through the maelstrom of attacks, a fist…
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126 •
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Jack stared at the bear. The bear stared at him. It growled. He jumped. “Shit!” The bear wasn’t one to waste time. It lunged at Jack, swiping a large paw at him, and he only narrowly dodged the strike. The claws dug thick lines on the tree behind him. Jack caught on fire. The now familiar fight or flight instincts kicked in, taking control and giving him greater power than his body could wield. A thousand synapses fired in his brain, all at once. As if in slow motion, he considered the issue. One…
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126 •
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Unfortunately, the goblin leader was not an idiot. When he learned about Jack, he stopped sending goblins out to be killed. The next day, only one hunting squad left the tribe, and it was made up of three hobgoblins. They weren’t only hunting prey, but Jack too, and he scrambled to avoid them. He didn’t even dare come close. The hobs were brutally efficient, constantly wary, and fiercely intelligent. Even beating one of them was difficult, let alone three. Moreover, the three hobs were so good at…
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126 •
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The goblins rested in a clearing. There were five of them, including the hobgoblin, and they were arrayed in a loose circle so that all angles were covered. The corpses of a boar family rested between them, while only one goblin was lightly injured. The hobgoblin was clearly much more skilled in warfare than its lesser brethren. The scene Jack currently saw was a far cry from the distracted, disorganized, inefficient hunting squads he’d fought before. That made things difficult. Half his success was…
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126 •
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The goblin tribe originally had seventy-two members, including the one that spawned in Jack’s cave. Five were hobgoblins, and one was their leader, the Goblin Shaman. On the first night, seven hunters failed to return—three had been killed by Jack. On the second day, the goblin squads went out as usual, but a whooping thirteen goblins never returned. On the third day, nine more went missing—however, this time, the goblins had learned to avoid the other monsters. They couldn’t have lost nine…
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126 •
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The Integration happened on the 19th of September, 2024. A day later, on the 20th, the world was nowhere near adapting. Millions had died, and the rest were busy organizing into small communities that could protect their members. The bravest had already defeated a monster or two. On the morning of that day, Jack Rust waged war on a goblin tribe. The goblins didn’t know it, of course; he didn’t walk in with a war declaration and his head on a silver plate. All they saw was an increased number of…
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126 •
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