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[Mankind is on the brink of extinction. Arise and despair for they had come.]
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The words flash in my mind like a recording. I got up and looked around my cheap apartment and saw that it wasn''t my apartment that I have known. The walls are dirty , broken electronics, and garbage littered the flood. My bed smells like piss , sweat, and dirty laundry.
It is my apartment if it was abandoned for years.
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[Would you like to enable tutorials, advices, and hints? Y/N]
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What the hell is this? I am sure that I was awake right now. I pinched and slapped my face but all it did was hurt my face. I tried to imagine flying or summoning magical powers but to no avail. Now, I am sure that I am awake. The message is still here in my mind like a conscious reminder. Curious and confused , I want to get answers.
Yes
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[Help enabled]
[Danger Alert! Hostile detected within 5 meters! Advice: Hide under the bed ]
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Then I hear a soft hissing sound coming from the hall outside. It was the sound of a million snakes slithering .I quickly and quietly hid under the bed. As the thing, whatever it is, is just outside my door. A horrible putried smell like the guts of a dead fish came pouring in from the seams of the door. The feeling of death and despair washed over me like a 10-foot killer wave. I felt a very real sense of danger coming from the thing outside my room. I almost vomitted but kept still . Every fiber of my being is screaming for me to get the away from it but I know that any noise will attract it and that thin wooden door wont keep it more than a second. Seconds pass. Ten seconds. Thirty seconds. A minute. The presence and the hissing noise where now far away , maybe at the stairs at the end of the hallway. I breathe a sigh of relief.
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[No hostile presence inside your zone. Upgrade Athena to improve Awareness range.]
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Athena? Awareness range? What are these things?
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[Athena refers to all functions of the mind. Improving Athena will improve all aspect related to it such as Awareness.]
[Awareness is the detection of useful objects, presence (hostile , neutral, and friendly) , and resources. Current Awareness range is 5 meter radius]
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How useful! Is this thing in my mind head sentient?
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[Negative. Persona has no awareness of itself.]
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Really? But it is damn close to having one. A loud screeching sound coming from outside shook the apartment building like something very large passed overhead. I looked at my window, it was a dark and cloudy night. In the distant, I can faintly makeout a shape flying away from the building. I dont know what it was but the moment it passed overhead I got visions of misery, agony, and despair. It was a chilling experience , it felt like I was staring in to the abyss.
What do I do?
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[Objects in range: Running shoes, clothes, baseball bat, bottled water, large backpack, kitchen knife, swiss knife, matches, crank flashlight]
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After looking around in my room, I found them. So this thing works. I put on my clothes ,a black jogging pants , hoodie and shoes. I put the swiss knife, matches, kitchen knife, bat, and water in my backpack. I dont know what time it is but maybe this thing knows.
What time is it?
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[Information not available, baseline required]
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Ah shit, I think it needs a base time just like when you buy a new gadget. So, Im back to not knowing anything about what to do.
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[Hint: Check other rooms]
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What? Is that even safe? Well, since I could detect a hostile presence within 5 meters , if I am careful and quiet it shouldn''t be too dangerous. Even so , I''m still scared. I took my mechanically-powered flashlight and began to crank it till the flashlight lit up the room. Carefully unlocking the door ,with my baseball bat and flashlight at the ready, I stepped outside the room. The hall was filled with garbage and wet slime with millions of worm like creature swimming in them, they were black , thin as a needle. I closed my apartment door and stepped on the worms. Thankfully, they cant climb on my shoe. I went for the door across my room. I remember a family living there once but they move on a couple of months before this happened. It has been vacant ever since then. I pressed my body againts the door, aware of my ability to detect things.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
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[No presence detected. Large weapons and food cache of resources found: Machete, AK-47,MP5 fitted with a supressor, AWP sniper rifle with supressor, Benelli 20 gauge shotgun, FN 57, ammo and shells, binoculars, night vision device, military vest, combat boots, gas mask, combat and hunting knives, military large backpack, 250 cans of pork and beans, 30 gallons of water, signal flare, first aid kit.]
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Jackpot! I couldnt believe my luck. Although, it made me think about why would there be a large cache here.I reached for the door knob and found that it was locked, luckily the weak wooden door was easy to break even without the decay so I slow give it a shove then heard the door lock broke. The room was dutsy and filled with cobwebs. They were news clippings everywhere.
(Mysterious creatures sightings Japan, Hawaii, and the west coast of the USA.)
(Anarchy and panic as creatures decimates population.)
(Formation of United World Extermination Iniative to fight against monstrous beast)
(World Army scores a victory against the Eldritch in the pacific ocean 100 miles off the western coast of the USA.)
( All nations celebrates World independence day )
( Fatal virus infects the world. Plauge infect millions every week.)
(Soldiers who fought in the Pacific war suspected being the carriers.)
(Rumors of gigantic eldtrich spreads throughout the world!)
(Bizarre storms, blizzard in Africa, poles melting, unexplained animal extinctions, mass dissapearance of populations around the world.)
(World reels back from virus and natural disasters)
(Hawaii is silent, rumors of it being overrun by eldrichs rampant through the media)
(Fall of the USA, Asia, and Russia to anarchy)
(EU crumbles under from civilian unrest)
It was dated some 20 years aftermy past timeline. I dont know how many years has it been since. I looked around for the large cache but couldnt find any. Confused, I started looking for a hidden door or trapdoor. Finally, looking inside the closet a false panel was there. The smell inside was do horrible it made me gagged. I search for the source with my flashlight and saw something in the corner of the small room.
Oh God.
Decaying corpses Three of them.The biggest one held two little small ones.
Shit.
He must be the father. Their skulls blown off with a single bullet hole. The news must have broken their last hope of a better world.
They thought death might be a mercy compared to the fate they might have in these new world or being eaten by these eldrich.
I covered my nose as I searched the room , lo and behold I found exactly what my detector said. The problem now is where to store these weapons safely.
Hmmm.
Maybe I should get rid of the bodies and fortify this floor , first. I carefully inspected the other rooms thugh most of them only have a few useful items. The thing from earlier never returned ,fortunately. I used a garbage bag to transfer the bodies to another room. I poured some detergent I found on the blood stains to blunt the horrid stench as there is no running water to clean it. I dont want to waste precious drinking water since I dont know when or if I can find a stable source. Shit, I just remember that where should I take a dump if nature decides to call. I would just have to find a bathroom from the other rooms to use as a dumping site. I was lucky to find some of toiletries in one of the rooms. I decide to make the floor secure or at least make it so that I have a few seconds to escape if something came up.
The first thing I did was sealed the room where a giant hole is in the sealing. It was here the thing came through. I put tables , bed, and bookcase against it. Next, I made a barricade near the stairs. I dont want to block it completely because I may need to use it for escape or exploration on the other floors later on. I also checked the fire exit but it was locked shut by a huge padlock. I can break it using a hammer but I dont wanna make a noise, especially when there are those things....eldritchs out there. Ialso put up some silent alarm traps, just a simple weight mechanism and string to alert me and provide precious seconds to hide in the storage room. Satisfied and exhausted, I flopped to my bed and against my will I fell asleep. I woke up as the warmth of the sun warms my skin and bright rays nudging my eyes to open.
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[Eldritch essence acquired.]
[Athena upgraded. Awareness range increased to 15 meters. Analysis raised. Instinct/Intuition raised. Intelligence raised.]
[Ares upgraded. Martial Might skill raised. Weapon Spirit basics unlocked. Olympian Body raised.]
[Hephaestus upgraded. Deadalus raised. Rennaissance Mind raised.]
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Huh?
I sudden felt like my body has been through a fucking triathlon and my brain is splitting into two. The pain was so unbearable that I dropped and began twisting like possesed by a demon. I was in and out of conciousness. I hallucinated, visions of my body being torn apart by a million centipedes and my brain birthed more centipedes. I began sweating like a pig. I felt my clothes being soaked like someone poured water on me. I began to get hungry by the minute and as excruciating painful minutes passed my hunger went from unbearable to hellish starvation. My lips began to dry as dessert sand and my stomach rumbleslike a thunder god. Unable to withstand the hunger, I forced myself to crawl to the storage room. Inch by inch felt like I was crawling on knives with an elephant stepping on me and a horde of maggots gnawing at my stomach. I arrived at the room and forces myself to stand up.
Is this what Atlas felt? Bearing the weight the sky for eternity.
I moved the false panel and went inside. I gorged through my food supply. Then suddenly a snap. Then another. Then all over my body. My bones are breaking like brittle glass. My teeth began to loosen up and start to fall. All of my muscle are cramping, tearing, and convulsing. I felt my clothes getting tighter and tighter. My vision began to fade.
Then.
Darkness.