Floating in the air above the wolf's corpse, there was text. Glowing faintly, like a hologram. Like something from a video game.
[+50 EXP]
He stared at it. Then he blinked. The text was still there, hovering about chest height.
Then more text appeared, filling his vision.
[INTERFACE - INITIALIZING]
[SCANNING HOST...]
[PERFECT MATCH DETECTED]
[SYSTEM ONLINE]
A window materialized in front of him, transparent but clearly visible against the trees. Stats. Numbers. Information laid out like a character sheet from a game.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Finn Porter
Level: 1
Class: None
Generation: Unawakened
Stats:
Strength: F (15/100)
Agility: F (18/100)
Stamina: E (22/100)
Intelligence: C (58/100)
Spark Capacity: F (8/100)
Luck: E (25/100)
Skills: None
Skill Points: 0
Attribute Points: 0
He read through it twice, not quite believing what he was seeing.
A system. An actual system interface. The kind protagonists got in stories like this.
But Finn Porter wasn't supposed to be special. He was an extra. A nobody. Someone he'd barely thought about when building this world. Just a name and an age and a basic situation. Nothing more.
More text appeared below the status window.
[WELCOME, HOST]
[YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS THE PERFECT HOST FOR THIS INTERFACE]
[YOUR UNIQUE NATURE AS CREATOR AND PARTICIPANT PROVIDES OPTIMAL COMPATIBILITY]
[PROCEED WITH CAUTION. THIS WORLD IS NO LONGER ENTIRELY YOUR DESIGN]
That last line made something cold settle in his stomach.
Not entirely his design. What did that mean?
He thought about the side story. About Marcus and Vanessa and Joel forcing him to write scenes he'd never planned. About the changes they'd made without his consent. About characters and plot points that weren't his.
'They corrupted it,' he realized. 'The parts I wrote under duress. The self-inserts and the forced romance and all the things they changed without asking. Those are part of this world now.'
Which meant he couldn't rely entirely on his author knowledge. Some things would be different, changed, now unpredictable.
Before he could think too hard about it, he heard sounds in the distance. Multiple sounds. Movement through the undergrowth coming from different directions.
The pack was coming back.
His eyes went to the experience notification still floating in the air. Fifty experience from one wolf. How much did he need to level up? The system didn't say.
But if the pack was coming, he could find out.
He moved toward better ground. A small clearing about twenty feet away where he'd have room to maneuver. Where he could see them coming.
The sounds got louder. Closer. He counted at least three different sources. Maybe more.
"They should be more. Unless the hunt on Finn's party ended badly for them. They are not exactly impossible to kill if you have a team willing to stand their ground and fight,'
'I wrote these things,' he thought as he positioned himself in the center of the clearing. 'I know how they hunt. How they move. Where the weak points are.'
The chitinous plates were strongest on their backs and sides. Weaker around the joints and belly. The head was vulnerable if you could land a solid hit. They relied on speed and numbers, not durability.
He could use that.
The first wolf emerged from the trees to his left. Then another from his right. A third straight ahead. All of them moving slowly, cautiously, spreading out to surround him.
They'd found their dead packmate. Knew he was dangerous now.
Good. That meant they'd be more careful. More predictable.
The wolf to his left lunged first, testing him.
He sidestepped, bringing the sword around in a wide arc that caught it across the snout. The wolf yelped and retreated, blood spattering the ground.
The one on his right tried next, darting in low to go for his legs.
He jumped back, swinging down hard. The sword bit into the wolf's back where the plates met. Not deep, but enough to draw blood and make it think twice.
They were testing him. Looking for openings. Waiting for him to make a mistake.
He didn't give them one.
The third wolf lunged, and while he was focused on it, the first one came in from behind.
He heard the claws on the ground, spun, and swung in a wide horizontal arc. The sword caught the wolf mid-leap, cutting across its chest. The wolf crashed into the undergrowth, whimpering.
But the third wolf was on him now, jaws snapping at his arm.
He brought the sword up, catching the wolf under the jaw. The blade sank in deep. The wolf's eyes went wide and it collapsed at his feet, blood pooling beneath it.
[+50 EXP]
The notification appeared over the dead wolf's body.
Two left. Both injured now. One favoring its snout where he'd cut it, the other with a gash on its back.
They circled him more cautiously, moving in tandem, trying to coordinate their attacks.
'Pack hunters,' he thought. 'They're learning.'
The wolves came at him together this time, one high and one low, trying to overwhelm him with simultaneous attacks.
He dropped into a crouch, avoiding the high attack, and drove the sword up into the belly of the low-coming wolf. The blade punched through the weaker armor there and the wolf's momentum carried it onto the blade. It slid off with a wet sound and didn't get back up.
[+50 EXP]
The last wolf landed behind him, claws scrabbling for purchase as it tried to turn and attack again.
He was faster. Spun and brought the sword down on its back with both hands. The blade cut through chitin and spine. The wolf collapsed, legs going limp.
He hit it again to be sure. Then again. Until it stopped twitching.
[+50 EXP]
Silence settled over the clearing. Just his ragged breathing and the sound of blood dripping from the sword blade.
He'd killed four Razorwolves. The first one in a desperate fight. The next three in a coordinated pack attack.
And he was still standing.
His arms felt like lead. His shoulders ached from the impacts. His hands were cramping from gripping the sword so hard.
But he was alive. And more than that, he was grinning.
Actually grinning.
Because he'd just used knowledge he'd created to survive in a world he'd built. The creatures he'd designed, the tactics he'd written, the weaknesses he'd established. All of it had been real. Had saved his life.
Who would have thought? Him, reincarnating into his own book.
More notifications appeared.
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 3]
[+6 ATTRIBUTE POINTS]
[+2 SKILL POINTS]
[ANALYZING COMBAT PERFORMANCE...]
[SPATIAL MANIPULATION DETECTED]
Wait, what? He hadn't used any spatial manipulation. He'd just fought with a sword.
[INSTINCTIVE USAGE CONFIRMED]
[ABILITY AWAKENING INITIATED]
A rush of sensation flooded through him. Like something unlocking in his chest. Like a door opening in his mind that he hadn't known was there.
[SPATIAL MANIPULATION - AWAKENED]
[NEW SKILLS AVAILABLE]
[ANCHOR POINT - LV. 1]
[PHASE STEP - LV. 1]
[SPATIAL BLADE - LV. 1]
[SCAN - LV. 1]
[SPATIAL CACHE - LV. 1]
He stared at the notifications, mind racing.
The System had given him spatial manipulation. A power that existed in his world, but one he'd never imagined having himself.
He looked down at the dead Razorwolves scattered around the clearing. Text appeared over each corpse.
[LOOT AVAILABLE]
[RAZORWOLF PELT x4]
[RAZORWOLF CLAWS x4]
[BEAST CORE x4]
He walked over to the nearest corpse and reached out. The moment his hand touched the wolf, the items dissolved into light and disappeared. A new notification appeared.
[ITEMS STORED IN SPATIAL CACHE]
So the system had an inventory function. That would be useful.
He collected the loot from the other corpses, watching the items vanish into storage. Beast cores were valuable. Could be sold in the city for good money. The pelts and claws too, if he could find a buyer.
The sun was lower in the sky now. He'd been fighting for longer than he'd thought. He needed to keep moving, find his way back to Bastion Seven before night fell.
The Outlands were even more dangerous after dark.
He picked a direction and started walking, leaving the clearing and the dead wolves behind. His body ached but felt good in a way it hadn't in years. Strong, capable and alive.
The system interface remained visible in the corner of his vision, showing his updated stats.
[STATUS WINDOW]
Name: Finn Porter
Level: 3
Class: Spatial Reaver
Generation: 4th Gen
Stats:
Strength: F (15/100)
Agility: F (18/100)
Stamina: E (22/100)
Intelligence: C (58/100)
Spark Capacity: F (8/100)
Luck: E (25/100)
Active Skills:
Anchor Point (Lv. 1)
Phase Step (Lv. 1)
Spatial Blade (Lv. 1)
Passive Skills:
Scan (Lv. 1)
Spatial Cache (Lv. 1)
Skill Points: 2
Attribute Points: 6
He had points to spend. Skills to test. A whole system to figure out.
But first, he needed to get somewhere safe. Somewhere with walls and people and distance from things that wanted to eat him.
The rest could wait. Understanding this system. Learning how his new abilities worked. Figuring out what "not entirely your design" meant.
He was in his own book. Living in a world he'd created. With a system that gave him power and skills he'd only imagined before.
The smile came back as he walked through the forest, heading toward where Bastion Seven should be.
This was going to be interesting.