Doom System Survivor: A LitRPG Apocalypse, page 37
He wanted a hamburger.
Hiro kept Chronokuma close to his chest as Samuel handed him a double-stacked hamburger with melted cheese and onions on it. Samuel had even unwrapped it for him, Hiro not at all concerned about stuffing the hamburger in his mouth as he watched another one come down the chute.
So… Good… he thought as he gobbled the hamburger down, the sweetness of the ketchup and mustard mix, the pickle, the toasted bread, all of it just about the most delicious thing he could remember ever eating.
“More!” Samuel shouted, the Australian able to finish his smaller hamburger in about two bites. “Bit of a dog’s breakfast, but it’ll do!”
“Where the fuck did you all come from?” an employee asked.
“Doesn’t matter, mate,” he told the guy at the fry station, who was trying to make sense of what was happening. “Hamburgers, now. Fries too. Thank you. Thank all of you.”
For once, Hiro ignored the time. It was as if he were in a daze that revolved around how many hamburgers he could stuff in his mouth before everything reverted back to the present, where he was being hunted by Spectators.
Another one came just as Hiro finished his burger. This one was a quarter-pounder, hastily made yet juicy and delicious, certainly the best hamburger Hiro had ever had. He took his final bite, nearly choking on it as they were returned to the present.
“You’re back!” Bianca said.
The four of them unlocked their arms. Valeria bent forward like she was going to vomit, but then she stood, placed her hand over her mouth, and shook her head. “Nuh-uh.”
“That was bloody brilliant!” Samuel said the tail end of a loud belch.
“Literally the best thing I’ve eaten my entire life,” Rena said, her cheeks red. “And I used to hate McDonald’s.”
“I didn’t like it as much here in the States,” Samuel told her. “A bit poorer quality than the Australian version, yeah, nah? But that was something else entirely.”
“Totally not fair,” Bianca said as she turned to them. The shield looked like it was now seated on the counter, one tentacle crossed over another as if they were her legs. “I would have eaten so many hamburgers.”
Hachi barked. And for a moment, Hiro thought that the demon dog could smell the burgers on their breath. But then he looked beyond into the cavernous main corridor of the One World Trade Center to see several pairs of red eyes staring back at them.
Spectators.
“The fight continues,” Samuel said. “Not really anything we can do now, or anywhere we can go to be safe.”
Valeria brought her crossbow up. “Why aren’t they attacking us, dammit? They’re just watching us like owls. Ask the shield if they’ve been here the entire time we were gone.”
“Um, she can just talk to me directly. Who wants to be called ‘the shield?’” Bianca asked.
“She doesn’t know,” Hiro said for Bianca. “But I did learn something from my Companion. The Spectators are the ones killing our followers.”
“Come again?” Samuel said.
“When we sacrifice them at a merchant, it’s the Spectators killing our followers. If we hunt more, our followers will be worth more in the Second Interim because less will be sacrificed. Or something like that.”
“I hate math,” Rena said.
“In that case…” Samuel burped. “Sorry about that. I was going to say something like, ‘let’s get slaughtering,’ but I sort of ruined the moment there. Heh. Doesn’t matter. Let’s see what kind of damage we can do between now and the gates opening.”
Hiro drew his katana instead. He whistled, got Hachi’s attention, and commanded the dog to attack. “Get ’em, boy!”
64
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
With the four of them fighting, plus all of their skills, from Valeria’s ashen Pompeii warriors to Hiro’s demon cats, they made quick work of the Spectators outside of the McDonald’s, each receiving 50 SE. Continuing on, they reached the back of the One World Trade Center, which opened up onto an outdoor shopping mall near the Hudson River.
The fights continued, the group facing a group of strong Spectators again, who rewarded 100 SE a pop. The first one they took down was easy enough, especially with Hiro and Samuel able to meet the Spectator’s bladed attacks with their own weapons while Rena and Valeria provided support.
“There’s another couple of wankers ahead,” Samuel said as he turned toward a memorial. The spectators rushed toward them, Hiro able to land a few debuffs with {Kiss or Slap}. He continually tried {Thoughts and Prayers} with each new wave of fighters, yet it was getting to the point that it felt like he was casting the skill out of spite.
Thunk!
Valeria took one out that had appeared on a rooftop. The direct shot brought the Spectator down to the streets below, killing her instantly. Without a ranged weapon and the ability to fight, Rena mostly stayed back, but she did manage to ignite a Spectator that rushed out of an alley prepared to attack Valeria with her fire ant hands.
“Thanks!” Valeria called to her as she used her Heelys to scale up the side of a building and get a better sniping position.
She continued to lay down cover fire as Hiro and Samuel fought. Hiro felt like he should be exhausted by this point, yet his boosted Stamina held strong, as he alternated between his normal attacks and the Bleed-causing reverse grip.
“A couple things,” Hiro told the group once they gathered near a pier, the Statue of Liberty once again visible in the distance yet far enough away that it hadn’t tried to attack them. He produced his metal bottle of Doom System Go Juice.
“What the hell is that?” Valeria asked Hiro.
“It will increase all of our stats by one point. It’s usable four times. There are four of us.”
“Bloody right,” Samuel said. “What’s the look on your face?”
“The stuff is foul,” Hiro told him. “I haven’t tried it yet, but it stinks.”
“I reckon.” The Australian pointed ahead, further down the pier, where more Spectators had just landed. “Shall we?”
“Let’s get them!” Bianca shouted as she pinwheeled off Hiro’s arm and bounded toward the Spectators.
They battled their way through the next group and the next, Hiro getting even more comfortable fighting as part of a team. There was a cadence to it that he understood better as he moved in and out of the melee, sometimes commanding Hachi to do the same, oftentimes letting the dog do whatever it wanted.
The prompt came a little bit later as they finished off a powerful Spectator wielding a pair of greataxes.
Level up!
You have new followers!
Hiro kept fighting until they had defeated the weaker Spectators as well, the remnants of their explosive attacks causing the area to fill with smoke.
His phone buzzed. Once he was sure he was safe, Hiro crouched to check the message from his Companion.
Information flashed before him, and he blinked through it.
Hiro Johnson
Level Nine
Current Title: Wolf Ronin of Wall Street
Interim Performance Grade: B-
STR: 1.9 [+1 Roulette Boost]
STA: 2.8 [+2 Roulette Boost]
DEX: 1.8 [+1 Roulette Boost]
REG: 1.8 [+1 Roulette Boost]
MIND: 2.6 [+2 Roulette Boost]
“Got a level,” Hiro called to the others as he slipped his phone away.
“I did too earlier,” Samuel said, “But I haven’t checked it yet.” He took his phone out of a pocket stitched into his cloak. “Not… what I was expecting.”
“What’s up?” Rena asked.
“Um, did any of you all take a look at the timer?”
Hiro, Rena, and Valeria all got their phones out at the same time.
“What the shit?” Valeria’s eyes bulged. “Less than an hour.”
“Not at the way it’s ticking,” Samuel said.
“How?”
Hiro squinted at the numbers. Time, at least time according to the countdown on their phones, had sped up dramatically.
“I don’t understand,” Rena said.
“The Doom System plays by its own rules,” Valeria told her. “And we suffer because of it.”
Hiro froze up. He wanted to scream, he wanted to throw his phone, but he knew the only way to eventually deal with the Doom System, if that were even possible, would be to comply.
He stood there for a moment, dumbfounded as Samuel’s eyes darted left and right, the Australian doing math in his head.
“It’s counting down at 10x speed. That would mean we have around five minutes to reach the gate.” The Australian looked back in the direction of the gate just as a few more Spectators appeared. “Christ. It’s going to be a sprint to the finish, isn’t it?”
“Rena, on my back,” Valeria told her partner. “I can get us there.”
Hiro whistled for Hachi and scooped the dog into his arms. Hachi nipped at him once, but eventually relaxed. By this point, Samuel was already bounding toward the Spectators that stood between them and reaching the gate in time. He collided with the first, providing an opening for Valeria and Rena to zip past.
Behind them, and with Bianca yelling all sorts of crazy shit about how she wanted to stay and fight, Hiro jumped to the nearest rooftop. He surged forward from there, hit another roof, and continued even as a Spectator with a giant scythe pursued him.
I have to make it, he thought, only to remember the idea he’d had earlier in his fallout shelter. What if the gate opening is a trap? What if all of this is a ploy from the Doom System to lure us in and do something terrible?
Ask the right questions, Hiro reminded himself once he landed on a roof near the gate, which hovered above the streets below, growing brighter than normal. What’s the worst that could happen when the gates open?
“Don’t say I never did anything for you!” Bianca jumped off Hiro’s back, sent her tentacles out, and slammed into the face of the pursuing Spectator, killing her instantly.
Hiro peered down at the streets below and saw a man made of metal rushing toward the gate. “Is that… Juan?”
He jumped down, his sudden appearance surprising the Puerto Rican, who swiveled like he was going to tackle him. “Hiro? ¡Puñeta!” Juan lowered his baseball bat as he looked up at the hovering gate. “Where are the others?”
“Almost here. You survived?”
Juan fist-bumped Hiro, his knuckles still metal. “I did, amigo. Teleported to Queens. I used to live over there, though, so I knew how to get back.”
Valeria appeared, Rena on her back. “You’re here,” Rena said as soon as she was down. She approached Juan and gave him a hug. “And Samuel?” she asked Hiro.
“He’ll be here.” Hiro got out his phone to check the time. Just two minutes, now. “Guys.” Once no one responded, the three too busy discussing their portaling, he spoke again, louder this time. “Guys, we may have a problem.”
“What’s that?” Valeria asked.
“What if this is a trap? Some sort of trick?” Hiro looked up at the gate, his nerves tingling.
“A trap?” Juan, whose metal features had begun to fade, slowly tilted his chin up at the hovering gate. “You think?”
“The last three days have been dedicated to being here when the timer ends,” Rena said. “We’re here, and the timer is finishing.”
He took a big step back and placed Hachi on the ground, the dog’s tail tucking between his legs as more Survivors approached, faces he didn’t recognize. Hiro paid little attention to them, his focus entirely on the three people he trusted and what they may have to say.
“Maybe you’re right,” Valeria finally told him. She also took a step back. “Rena?”
“What? No. I think we’re fine. We’ve done it. We made it.”
“What did I miss?” Samuel said as he landed, the cloaked man surprising a few of the Survivors around him. “What? You all have never seen a cloaked bloke appear out of nowhere?” He laughed and grew tense as he registered the looks on Hiro and Valeria’s faces. “What’s going on?”
“What if it’s a trap?” Hiro asked as a few more Survivors rushed toward the gate, people from all walks of life. They were all like roaches in that way, appearing out of nowhere. Some even seemed to have been camped out in nearby buildings, awaiting the gate’s opening.
“What if what’s a trap?” Samuel asked.
A flash of energy drew their attention. The Lady in the Yellow Raincoat rose from the portal just as Hiro and Samuel jumped back. “Hello,” she said, her face concealed by a veil of chainmail. “Glad I made it in time.”
65
STAR RATING
Valeria immediately brought her crossbow up, her weapon aimed at the Lady in the Yellow Raincoat. She squeezed the trigger before Hiro, Juan, or Rena could act. For his part, Samuel simply took a step back, his cloak covering him, the Australian not quite sure of who the woman was.
“Lucky me,” the Lady said as Valeria squeezed the trigger again and again to no avail.
The other Survivors around them all bristled in their own ways as Hiro tried to draw his katana and failed. It felt as if it had been cemented into his sheath. Something similar happened to Juan as he lifted his bat, the man’s arm trembling as if he were trying to pull a light post out of the ground with one hand.
Mana fizzled all around them as the gate began to open.
“It appears that we cannot fight at the moment,” the Lady said.
“Bitch, as soon as I get the chance, you’re fucking gone,” Valeria hissed. “I can squeeze a trigger faster than you can disappear.”
“Perhaps,” she told Valeria as light radiated above them.
“I’ll pin her down,” Bianca told Hiro, the shield now strapped to his arm. “I can’t move at the moment, though. It doesn’t look like anyone can.”
The Doom System spoke, its voice amplified all around them and sending a chill down Hiro’s spine as it often did.
[Congratulations, remaining Survivors. You have made it to the opening of the gate. If you survive the encounter that awaits, you will graduate to the Second Interim, where you will receive new Roulette Skills to tackle a challenge that I am certain all of you will enjoy. Your feedback is important to me, and it aids in the functionality of this experience. There have been tweaks along the way, and there are more to come. At the conclusion of this encounter, you will be provided with a customer survey. Remember, anything below five stars will be considered a failure on my part.]
Five stars? Hiro looked over to Valeria, who was already cursing under her breath.
He had heard something similar before with the rideshare companies he worked for about ratings; he knew how badly he would have been dinged if he had received anything less than five stars. But if we rate the Doom System poorly, it will retaliate…
While this hadn’t been confirmed, Hiro sensed it. Then what’s the point? he thought as the Doom System spoke again.
[I believe you will like where this goes next. Please await further destruction…]
“Destruction?” Samuel said. “Did I hear that right?”
“I heard it too,” Valeria told him, the woman alternating between aiming her crossbow at the hovering gate and at the Lady in the Yellow Raincoat. “Still can’t use my weapon,” she said after squeezing the trigger at the Lady.
“You’d be dead if you could,” the woman told her with a cackle.
The gate continued to fizzle, a few of the Survivors moving closer to it, but most moving back.
Hiro was one of the ones who continued to shy away from the portal, yet something also kept him from fully fleeing.
Deer in the headlights was how he would later describe how they all stood around the gate, intoxicated by its power. Maybe it was human nature to gather around the light, or maybe it was the Doom System was toying with their minds. Whatever the reason, the glow shattered as a massive leg ending in a hooked claw burst through the gate.
It slammed into the head of one of the Survivors and sent another claw out, one that caused Valeria to yelp.
“Rena!”
A third claw tore out of the gate as Hiro scrambled backward, this one spearing the Lady in the Yellow Raincoat and killing her instantly.
“What the shit?” Bianca shouted, her form tensing.
By this point Hiro was already running for cover as an enormous spider emerged from the gate, spewing venom at Survivors and spearing others with the claw on the tips of its legs.
The Doom System’s voice clarified everything a few terrifying moments later.
[Defeat the spider, and your group will be rewarded with entry to the Second Interim.]
A massive health bar took shape over the spider, and a new timer appeared.
00:29:59
00:29:58
00:29:57
“Shit!” Samuel said as the huge spider fired a web at a police car that happened to be on its side.
Rather than use the vehicle as some sort of leverage to propel itself forward, the spider yanked the police car back to its body, killing two Survivors in the process. After spitting a stick residue on it, the spider quickly fixed the police car on the abdomen and fired another web, this one at a nearby building, where it reached the roof and pulled the spider toward the East River.
Some of the Survivors took off after it, leaving Hiro, Samuel, Juan, and Valeria, who had already started firing bolts in the fleeing spider’s direction.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
She kept firing them, long after the spider was gone, long after the remaining Survivors had moved on in pursuit of the monster. Valeria turned to Juan, who stood dumbfounded as he looked down at Rena and the Lady in the Yellow Raincoat.
“Val,” Juan told her as she kept her crossbow at the ready, a crazed look in her eyes.
