Fist Full of Credits: A New Apocalyptic LitRPG Series (System Apocalypse - Relentless Book 1)

by Craig Hamilton

  After a quick check of the final wing, we went back to the stairwell and climbed to the next level where we repeated the process to clear the floor. For ten floors we found no living creatures, but evidence pointed to something having been through the area at some point.

  Each level showed increasing signs of damage, with holes opened up between the levels more and more frequently as if something had burrowed through in random places. At first the holes were small, no larger than the size of my closed fist. The farther we climbed in the skyscraper, the larger the holes became, and we had to carefully watch our steps as we cleared the floors.

  The holes grew large enough that we could soon see through them to the levels above, and our pace slowed. Each floor took longer and longer, as we had to check our footing while looking overhead to be sure nothing waited above to pounce on us.

  The floors blended together, and we lost ourselves in the monotony of clearing every level. Despite the repetitive nature of our task, the tension grew as we climbed. We knew that a threat lurked somewhere in the building, and we just had not found it. Yet.

  On the sixteenth floor, I had just finished inspecting a bunch of admin offices filled with file cabinets when I heard a shout followed by gunfire. I raced back toward the center of the tower. Pearce dashed across the intersection before I reached it and disappeared toward the sounds of combat. Seconds later, I heard the discharge of the sergeant’s shock baton, and I turned the corner at a run to join the fight.

  The first thing I noticed was that Zoey hung upside down from the ceiling.

  A barbed tentacle as thick as my wrist encircled the officer’s leg and was trying to pull her upward through a hole to the floor above. Zoey had braced her free leg next to the hole in an effort to keep the tangled leg from being pulled through while she fired her pistol at the orange appendage that had descended through the ceiling.

  Pearce jumped up with a shout and smacked his baton into the tentacle. The shout was the same as the one he had used to keep enemies focused on him during our previous battles. It seemed to have no effect here though, and the tentacle remained wrapped tightly around Zoey. However, the limb shivered from the shock of Pearce’s baton attack. Zoey screamed also as the shock from the baton traveled through the monster to her leg.

  “Don’t shock me,” yelled Zoey, her teeth gritted in pain and exertion as she pulled against the tentacle that threatened to rip her leg through the gap in the ceiling.

  “My taunt didn’t work,” Pearce called with a glance at me. “The actual creature must be out of range.”

  “On it.” I nodded and darted toward the stairwell. The monster had never appeared as a red dot on my tracker, so it had to be at least two floors above us.

  I clambered up the two flights of stairs and shoved open the door so hard that I nearly knocked it loose from the hinges. I raised my pistol as I ran toward the spot where Zoey struggled below, expecting to find a monster when I turned to face that wing of the tower.

  There was no monster though. Instead, the orange tentacle stretched from the floor up into another hole in the ceiling. The space here was mostly empty, only a few boxes and scattered debris littering the wing as if the previous tenant had moved out and left a bit of mess behind.

  I snarled and dropped my pistol into my equipment storage space as I used my free hand to pull the axe from the sheath behind my back. I planted my foot and spun as I reached the tentacle, using my full momentum to swing the axe into the barbed appendage. The axe head carved completely through the tentacle with a disgusting squelch and only the slightest hint of resistance. Green ichor splattered from the severed tentacle, and the lower part dropped through the hole in the floor.

  A pair of voices shrieked briefly, followed by a heavy thump, and I chuckled as I imagined Zoey falling onto Pearce.

  The upper part of the severed tentacle swung toward me, and I slashed the wound with my knife. I applied Rend to the attack and noticed an immediate increase in the flow of green ichor that dripped from the wound.

  The ceiling rumbled, and a cloud of debris exploded above me as two more tentacles punched down to lash toward me. Spikes at the ends of the feelers dug into the floor as I danced and dodged through the open level, thankful there were no cubicles here to hinder my movements.

  I circled the building support columns, using them to block the trio of tentacles from trapping me in place as I twisted back on my previous path. With the appendages stretched across the space and wrapped around the columns, I attacked the tentacles well away from the pair of jagged barbs at their tips that raced after me. I noticed that the tentacle I had originally severed had pulled back up through its hole as I hacked and stabbed at the limbs that remained.

  These two tentacles were thicker, faster, and resisted my attacks far better than the one I had cut through at first. With the ends in pursuit, I landed a couple blows then weaved around to give myself enough space to attack the same spot again. The pair of tentacles managed several slashes that ripped through my jumpsuit and dropped my health, but neither managed to wrap me up like Zoey had been.

  Gunshots from the mezzanine by the stairs indicated that Pearce and Zoey had finally caught back up.

  “The body isn’t here,” I yelled. “Go up another level.”

  The gunshots cut out, and I focused on avoiding the tentacles while getting hits in whenever I could.

  It took several minutes of intermittent attacks, but I finally managed to chop completely through one of the thicker tentacles. With only one tentacle as a threat, I combatted it more directly. The tip of the feeler ended in a jagged spike as long as my hand that held up against my attacks, but just beyond that hardened material was the rubbery orange flesh that took damage from my weapons.

  I alternated between parrying the spike with the blade of my knife and the sharpened edge of the axe head, using the free weapon to land hits each time I deflected a blow. I had chopped most of the way through the tentacle when suddenly the whole limb went limp.

  I stood alert for a moment, just waiting for the monster to move again, before I realized that Pearce and Zoey must have killed the body of the creature somewhere above.

  I headed back to the stairwell. It took a climb of three floors before I found the officers.

  Gunfire and cracks of jolting electricity echoed from the level when I caught up, indicating they were still fighting something, but it sounded as if they were handling it.

  A glimmer of an idea blossomed. Instead of rushing out to join the fight, I cautiously peeked out from the stairwell. The empty lobby section for the floor was all I could see, and it sounded as though the fight was around the corner in one of the wings.

  With the officers distracted, this could be my chance to turn the cold war into a hot one between the goblins and the Krym’parke-backed police.

  I slipped out of the stairwell and crossed to the door that led to the opposite set of stairs, the northeast stairwell we had avoided so far. I pulled a device from my Right Tool for the Job storage space, another one of the cool System items I had purchased for my return to bounty hunting.

  Cacophony Decoy IV

  This remotely activated noisemaker can be programmed to generate a variety of sounds across a wide range of audible frequencies.

  The noisemaker was a gray, rectangular block the size of my index finger. I set the decoy to mimic the sound of the door swinging shut and stuck the device to the underside of the door handle.

  Then I pulled up the details for a spell I had bought at the same time as my bounty hunting equipment but had yet to cast.

  Lesser Disguise (I)

  Effect: Creates an illusory visage over the target of the spell that changes the target’s appearance. The caster’s familiarity with the desired form of the disguise increases effectiveness. The spell does not provide any abilities or mannerisms of the desired form, nor does it alter the perceived audible or tactile features of the target.

  Cost: 75 Mana plus 10 Mana per minute to ma
intain the illusion

  I frowned as I reread the spell description. I needed familiarity with the target, and I really needed to get the details right.

  I brought up my Inventory status and swiped past my Right Tool for the Job section filled with equipment and weapons. Instead, I looked over the section dedicated to Meat Locker and spent at least a minute in study of one of the corpses as I memorized every detail. I dismissed the status screen and listened to the fight still going on.

  My Mana dropped as I cast the spell, and I felt a sudden sense of dissociation as my body shifted to translucence before it became completely invisible. I looked down, and at waist height, I saw a goblin also looking down. I shifted my head from side to side and the visage matched my movements.

  The sounds of combat from down the hall died off, and I pulled the goblin yeet cannon from my Inventory, the same gun I had found next to the goblin figure I now imitated. I checked that the tiny weapon was loaded and ready to fire, even though my index finger barely fit through the trigger guard. I raised the firearm, and the illusory goblin at my waist, now armed with a matching weapon, pointed its gun in the same direction.

  Satisfied with my preparations and with my appearance now masked by magic, I crept back across the lobby area and peeked around the corner.

  Pearce and Zoey fought through another empty suite, this one filled with a tangled mass of tentacles that mostly lay limp and unmoving. I finally glimpsed the main body of one of the creatures we had been fighting, but only a single monster remained standing in the nest.

  Tentacled Grabber (Level 29)

  HP: 126/626

  The orange-skinned monster limped backward on four short, stocky legs that reminded me of a rhinoceros or hippopotamus. The creature had no head, just a large tooth-filled maw in the center of its front torso. A thick tentacle extended from a shoulder joint on either side of the monster’s thick body above the front pair of legs. The creature moved backward slowly, one of its forwardmost legs dragging lifelessly as the quadruped retreated from the officers who attacked it relentlessly.

  The monster was an ambush predator that captured prey with the lengthy tentacles that held victims helplessly as they were fed into the cavernous gullet. Only there was no disabled prey here. Even as I took in the scene, beam weapon fire from Zoey laid down cover fire for her partner’s assault. Pearce took advantage of the support and leaped over the body of a fallen creature toward the last monster, his baton raised for a powerful overhead attack as he landed in front of it.

  With both officers preoccupied by the monster, I aimed the goblin pistol at Zoey and opened fire. Six shots cracked out from the weapon as I walked my fire across the officer’s back, intentionally missing with my first and last two shots.

  Zoey spun toward me and blinked in surprise when she saw the goblin firing at her. I squeezed off another round that hit the officer in the chest before Zoey managed to return fire. The beam from her shot scorched the wall next to me, and I ducked back around the corner.

  Once out of sight, I dropped the tiny goblin pistol at the same time I dispelled the magic from Lesser Disguise. With my own figure now visible and the illusory goblin vanished, I punched the wall at waist height. The drywall crumpled beneath my fist, and I summoned the corpse of the goblin with the smashed skull from my Meat Locker storage space. I jammed the head of the broken body into the hole that I had just smashed. Blood and brains drenched the cratered sheetrock as I let the corpse sag to the floor.

  I no longer heard combat from beyond, but footsteps rushed toward me from around the corner, and I flicked the pistol away from the body with the tip of my boot. The pistol skidded out across the floor, visible to whoever rushed toward me.

  “You guys okay?” I called.

  Zoey swept around the corner a moment later, her pistol leveled. The officer stopped in surprise when she saw me, then she looked at the goblin corpse. Her eyes flicked to the gore-splattered wall, and she lowered her weapon, accepting the evidence as presented. She knelt over the body as if to search it, and I activated the decoy.

  The sound of the door across the lobby closing echoed in the silence, and I drew a pistol as I spun toward the sound. As I expected, I saw nothing and looked back at Zoey. The officer still knelt beside the goblin corpse, but now she also had her weapon aimed toward the far stairwell, and she glanced at me.

  “There’s another goblin,” Zoey whispered.

  “On it,” I exclaimed and charged toward the door.

  With my body blocking Zoey’s line of sight to the door, I slipped the decoy from the handle and back into my Inventory as I yanked the door open, then I charged into the darkened stairwell.

  So far, my plan seemed to be working, but this was the most dangerous part. The deception could still crumble apart depending on how quickly the two officers followed me.

  With my tac light at full brightness, I raced down the stairwell and listened for sounds from both above and below. We had not cleared this stairwell, so it was possible that something might lurk within.

  I made it down about a half dozen floors before I heard movement above me. From the echoes of booted footsteps pounding through the stairwell, it sounded as if Pearce and Zoey were trying to catch up.

  Since I was running at full speed, the trip down was much faster than our climb up, and I soon reached the ground floor. Instead of leaving the stairwell, I continued down another level to the underground parking garage. I sprinted out of the stairwell and passed the elevators to the parking area itself.

  I didn’t have much time.

  I summoned the goblin bike from my inventory and frowned when I examined the bent front wheel in the light of my flashlight. It would never pass for functional.

  I turned the bike toward the exit from the garage then tipped the vehicle onto its side, as if I had flipped it to keep the driver from fleeing. I pulled the second goblin corpse from my inventory and placed it beyond the bike. A casual examination would make it seem as if I had tackled the goblin and flipped the bike in the process.

  Then I straddled the body and drew my knife before running the blade through the slash that bisected the goblin’s chest and coating the weapon with blood.

  Just as I finished, I heard the door crash open behind me, and I pushed myself to my feet before I turned to face the sounds. Pearce and Zoey gasped for air as they stumbled to a halt, their Constitution not up to the pursuit. They took in me, the wrecked bike, and the blood that dripped from my knife.

  “I told you.” I grinned darkly. “I don’t like goblins.”

  I bent and wiped my blade clean on the corpse at my feet.

  “I can see that,” Pearce said as he caught his breath.

  I sheathed my knife and kicked the body. “If they’re starting to attack in the open, things might be worse than I thought.”

  “We need to inform the warden.” Pearce frowned.

  “You guys do that,” I said. “I bet these goblins are with that group from the casino, but I’ll backtrack them from here and see what I can learn anyways.”

  Zoey righted the bike and noticed the bent front wheel.

  “Piece of junk,” Zoey said dismissively as she kicked the wheel, which only twisted it further.

  “Leave it,” Pearce said. “We need to move. See you back at the courthouse, Hal?”

  “I’ll see you back at the courthouse.” I nodded as the two officers started back toward the stairwell.

  I left in the opposite direction and headed toward the parking garage exit, the illumination from my tac light leading the way.

  Chapter 26

  Late afternoon sunlight streamed down into the tunnel entrance as I walked out of the underground garage and climbed the slight incline of the dual-lane ramp that led into the parking structure. The alley opened up before it ended abruptly at street level, and I found myself on Fort Duquesne Boulevard.

  A pile of rubble on the street to my left made me take another look at the partially collapsed building. Somethin
g incredibly large had burrowed through the front entrance to the structure.

  I winced as I examined the debris and realized that I had been the cause of the destruction here. This was where the jabberwock had pursued me into the condominium towers, and I had lucked out with the specialty ammunition for my hybrid rifle.

  Like most of the damaged buildings throughout the city, until someone claimed System ownership, the structures would continue to fall into disrepair. If I recalled correctly, a city-wide Safe Zone required that residents have ownership over something like eighty percent of the buildings in an area before monsters would no longer spawn.

  I shook my head, and my resolve hardened. I had already committed to a path, but this realization only reaffirmed my decision. I might not care for the Gribbari and their exploitation of the locals who could not afford to access the Shop, but the goblins were investing in the city and expanding their operations. Eventually they would control enough of an area for that Safe Zone to manifest, and the citizens would no longer face the dangers of monster spawns.

  It didn’t hurt that the choice would let me finish a Quest for significant rewards in both Credits and experience. At least one Quest. There remained a strong possibility that I could complete a second if I took some risks.

  I turned away from the ruined condos and trekked up the street. There were a few pedestrians out, but I noticed that there were fewer people the farther I walked.

  Only half paying attention to the area around me, I pulled my map interface and zoomed out until all of downtown was displayed. A glowing dot was headed south, farther and farther away from me. The tracking unit I had placed on the Wolverine showed the location of the vehicle on my personal map as it raced toward the courthouse. I had been pretty sure that Pearce and Zoey had bought into my deception, and the tracker confirmed that they hadn’t stuck around to keep an eye on me.

  I turned north two blocks later and crossed back over the Allegheny River on the Roberto Clemente bridge. Had it only been yesterday morning that I had come south over the bridge?