The air in the tutorial's simulated city was thick with the scent of smoke and something metallic—blood, Liam realized. His group moved cautiously through the rubble-strewn streets, their footsteps light, their eyes darting into every shadow. Aria led the way, her collapsible staff extended, her posture coiled like a spring. Behind her, Liam adjusted the strap of his scavenged backpack, his fingers brushing the cracked screen of a phone he found—useless now, except as a makeshift mirror to check blind spots.
Marcus, still tendering to the almost closed gash on his arm from their earlier encounter with the clawed predators, kept his crossbow raised. "How much farther or how much time do we have left to survive and escape?" he muttered.
"Until we find enough supplies and stay alive enough to trigger the system's completion," Liam replied. "The tutorial said 'scavenge,' and 'survive' not 'clear the whole damn city.'"
Priya, clutching her potion like a lifeline, frowned. It seems that her healing potion despite its healing power was still limited to the type of wound it could heal and lacked speed. "What if the monsters respawn? Or worse, what if another group got here first and took everything or even tried to kill us?"
Aria didn't look back. "Then we improvise."
Liam smirked. "Improvisation's my specialty."
A flicker of movement ahead. Aria froze, her hand snapping up in a silent command to halt. Between two collapsed buildings, a lone crate sat untouched, its surface marked with the system's glowing emblem—a stylized "A" for Ascension.
"Too easy," Rita whispered, her sword humming faintly in her grip.
Aria's eyes narrowed. "Trap?"
Liam exhaled. "Only one way to find out." Before anyone could stop him, he stepped forward— and the ground rippled.
A grotesque, worm-like creature burst from the pavement, its maw lined with needle-thin teeth. Liam barely dodged, rolling to the side as Marcus's crossbow bolt projectile slammed into the thing's side. The explosion tore through its segmented body, but two more worms erupted from the asphalt.
"Fan out!" Aria barked.
Rita lunged, her sword cleaving through the first worm's skull. Priya ducked behind a car, her potion at the ready and a makeshift club for the possibility of offensive strikes. Liam scrambled to his feet, his mind racing. Think, think—
Then he saw it. A rusted fire hydrant, its valve half-buried in debris.
"Marcus! The hydrant!" Liam yelled.
Marcus pivoted, aimed.
BOOM.
The explosion shattered the hydrant, and a geyser of water erupted, blasting one worm off its trajectory. The creature writhed, disoriented.
Aria moved. Her staff blurred, striking like a viper, caving in the worm's skull with a sickening crunch.
Silence.
Panting, Liam approached the crate. The system's emblem pulsed brighter as he touched it.
[Tutorial Task Complete: Scavenging]
[Rewards Distributed]
A chorus of chimes rang out as blue screens materialized in front of each member of the group.
Marcus grinned. "Hell yeah. Got [Explosive Bolt Enhancement]—D Rank!"
Rita's sword shimmered. "[Bloodthirst Edge]—enemies bleed more. Also D."
Priya's potion vial glowed. "[Healing Mist]—can heal small groups now. D Rank too." "And a dagger... that's good".
Aria's screen flickered. "[Shadow Step]—short-range teleportation. C Rank." Her lips quirked. "Not bad."
Then all eyes turned to Liam.
His screen was... different. Glitchy. Text scrambled and reformed.
[Reward Corrupted]
[Compensating...]
[Skill Granted: [Improvised Arsenal]—D Rank]
[Description: Turn mundane objects into lethal tools. Creativity scales effectiveness.]
Liam blinked. "Huh."
Marcus whistled. "So you're the MacGyver of the apocalypse. Fitting."
Aria studied him, her gaze unreadable. "You're still at Level 0. That shouldn't be possible."
Liam shrugged, pocketing a broken pipe from the ground. It shifted in his grip, edges sharpening. "Guess the system's got a sense of humor."
A distant roar echoed through the ruins.
Aria sighed. "We're moving. Now."
As the group hurried toward the next objective, Liam couldn't shake the feeling that his "corrupted" reward was just the beginning of surprises to come.
The distant roar faded into the ruins, but the tension in the air remained thick. Liam's group moved swiftly, their newly acquired skills humming with potential. The streets twisted into narrower alleys, the skeletal remains of buildings looming over them like jagged teeth.
Aria held up a fist, signaling a halt. "We're being followed."
Liam glanced back. Shadows shifted unnaturally between the rubble. Not monsters—players. A rival group, their eyes locked onto Liam's team with predatory focus.
"Scavengers," Marcus muttered, tightening his grip on his crossbow. "They let others do the work, then jump them for the loot."
Rita's sword pulsed faintly, as if eager for a fight. "Do we run or stand our ground?"
Liam's mind raced. Fight? Risky. Run? They'll just track us. Then his eyes landed on a shattered storefront—its interior littered with broken glass and twisted metal. His [Improvised Arsenal] skill tingled in his fingertips.
"Neither," Liam said, a slow grin spreading. "We ambush them."
The rival group crept closer, their leader—a hulking man with a serrated axe—snarling orders. They stepped into the alley, confident in their numbers.
The rival group became suddenly tensed, aware of the unusual silence, before they could react, the ground exploded.
Liam's makeshift bomb—a cocktail of pressurized cans and sparking wires—sent a shockwave of debris and smoke into their ranks. The axe-wielder stumbled, coughing, as Marcus's [Explosive Bolt] whizzed past his ear, detonating against a rusted car frame. The resulting fireball forced the scavengers to scatter.
"Now!" Aria barked.
Rita lunged from a side alley, her [Bloodthirst edge] carving a crimson arc through the air. One scavenger screamed as his weapon shattered under the blow, his arm bleeding profusely from the skill's effect. Priya darted between allies, her [Healing Mist] sealing minor wounds before they could slow the team.
Aria? She vanished.
One moment, the scavenger leader was swinging his axe at Liam—the next, Aria materialized behind him, her [Shadow Step] leaving her a ghost in the chaos. Her staff cracked against his temple, dropping him like a sack of bricks.
The remaining scavengers froze, their bravado shattered.
"Leave," Liam said, his voice calm but edged with steel. "Or the next explosion won't miss."
They scrambled back, retreated and fled.
As the adrenaline faded, Priya knelt beside the unconscious leader, her fingers probing his wrist. "He's got a system tattoo—different from ours. Almost like…" Her breath hitched. "He's marked."
Aria's eyes narrowed. She rolled up the man's sleeve, revealing a glowing insignia—a serpent coiled around a tower.
"An Astral faction's sigil," she murmured. "They're not just scavengers. They're proxies. Sent to test us."
Liam's stomach dropped. The Astrals are already playing games.
Marcus kicked a rock, scowling. "So what? We just became someone's entertainment?"
"Worse," Aria said. "We're being evaluated."
A cold realization settled over the group. The tutorial wasn't just about survival—it was a screening process. And Liam's corrupted system? It made him a wild card.
Or a target, it seems.
As if on cue, Liam's glitched system screen flickered to life:
[Astral Viewer Engagement: 87%]
[Fan Gift Incoming…]
A small, crystalline orb materialized in Liam's palm. Inside, something shifted—a swirling, ink-like substance.
[Received: [Echo Mimic] (C Rank)]
[Description: Replicate the last skill used near you. Duration: 60 seconds.]
Liam's pulse spiked. This changes everything.
Aria's gaze sharpened. "What did you just get?"
Liam pocketed the orb with a smirk. "A way to keep up."
The message was clear—his "audience" was watching. And they liked him.
For better or worse.