Gem, “Huh, just DemiBoss showed up? Anyway, I’m going to assume it matches this boar. Wonder where it is taking us?”

  June scrunches her eyes closed, “This wasn’t how I expected to spend the time getting used to this body.”

  Gem, “No, seriously, I wonder where it is taking us. We’ve taken a turn towards the deeper forest. Like, we’re down pretty bad, but this isn’t assured death quite yet.”

  June cranes her head to see behind Gem, “Oh.”

  Gem nods, “Yep!”

  June looks back at the deer chasing them, “I don’t think we’re getting out of this.”

  Gem, “Meh, they’ll hit something else up to their standards soon enough!”

  And Gem was wrong, they soon came across a bobcat that stood its ground. However, not before a bunch of other critters ran away from them as they didn’t have the same logic about pyers.

  Gem holds June closer, “Get ready! This is where we bail.”

  June, “Why would we bail?! We can’t fight any of these monsters!”

  She gets no response as Gem focuses entirely on the bobcat, head turned so far it is painful. The legs tense on the bobcat, but still they wait. Almost there. And. Now!

  Gem releases her legs and tumbles forward off the back of the boar, directly at the deer’s legs. Their body rotating in the air to move June away from any potential impact. Except the only impact is their back on the ground, the deer having lept over what it perceived as an attempt to trip it.

  At the same time, the bobcat flies through the space formerly occupied by the pair and right into the deer.

  As the pair roll uncontrolbly, Gem focuses on a nearby fallen log and ignores the chaos behind them. Then, as their roll slows down, they take control and when their feet are next under them, do a small hop. Though it is enough to get behind the log.

  Gem nds ft on their back, keeping June above them. Though once they stop moving, June scrambles out of Gem’s hold and gets into position next to them. She didn’t know the “pn”, but hiding behind a fallen log is better than nothing.

  June can feel bruises all over their body and the sting of scratches on their hands and face. Not the most comfortable of situations. Then Gem pulls up a blue screen and draws her attention to it.

  {

  Debuff: Fractured Left Foot

  }

  That wasn’t good! They didn’t have any healing items and besides, the ones in their price range wouldn’t heal that anyway. Though what worried June more was that her new friend still had that smile on.

  All the while, they hear the enraged bellows and howls from the other side of the log. A few times, the log even shakes as one combatant brushes up against it. Then a new sound could be heard.

  Neither was sure what it was, but it certainly wasn’t one of the extent threats. Though such a noisy fight was going to inevitably attract attention, so not unexpected. What was unexpected? What happened after the first monster fell.

  The boar, already having suffered damage in its earlier crash with the deer combined with carrying the two all this way meant it was the weakest. But that death squeal! And worse, there was a response.

  Yeah, that adolescent tag wasn’t just for show. It had grown up retives deeper in the forest. June went to get up, but Gem held her down, so she mimed her helping Gem walk.

  Gem tapped their own wrist and shook their head. June couldn’t help but roll her eyes. It seems there was another “pn”.

  And there was, but it wasn’t all that complex. The moment Gem heard the deer die, it was go time! Though by that point, they could hear something in the distance making quite a racket.

  At least their foot was only fractured. Gem wasn’t feeling all that well, but June’s assistance is enough to get them moving towards the new pyer section of the forest. Though they take one st gnce back and shudder. Above the treeline, though just barely, they could see the tops of hills. Hills that are moving towards the fight.

  Unaware of the danger, the bobcat and a rge fox fight over the two bodies. They don’t even look at the retreating pyers, preferring the food at their feet to a potential challenge in the distance. Though not long after the duo get away, both turn their heads in the opposite direction, before abandoning the fight and food, running off in opposite directions.

  Back with Gem and June, they’ve made decent time. It is almost as if everything had just gone into hiding. Well, not “as if”. It is exactly that. Even the two of them can feel an oppressive sense of foreboding. All of their instincts are telling them to hide somewhere and to weather “the storm”.

  At the same moment, they both gnce at the other. Yeah, no, that wasn’t going to be a viable solution for them. Everyone is on about how well dogs and wolves can smell, but pigs are amazing at it as well. Chances are, the boars will be able to track them.

  Gem, “Well, I can’t go into the city.”

  June nods, “And neither can I. Got my own problems.”

  Gem shrugs, “Eh, either way it would be a bad idea as they’d certainly pin the bme on us. Worse, it is a city, so a good bit rger than we can expect to cover before trouble shows up.”

  June, “What? So no crazy pn to solve this situation as well?”

  June shakes her head, “Wait, that came out hotter than I meant it to. This has been fun, just not how I expected to spend my day.”

  Gem sighs, “Fair enough, it wasn’t exactly in my schedule either.”

  June nods, “It was an exciting day, to say the least. Anyway, since you’re tapped out of pns, let me give it a spin.”

  Gem gnces over her shoulder, “What have you got? I don’t mind dying, but I would definitely prefer not to. Much less be responsible for getting you killed.”

  Akhier

  Dungeon's Path

  So the world ended. Whoopsie? We didn’t even see it coming. Quite literally as it came at us faster than the speed of light. Don’t worry though, it got better. Also, I am not joking about the world ending. Most people say that and mean humans are inconvenienced for some reason. Nope, all matter disintegrated at the atomic scale there for a few moments. Apparently the local universe wasn’t actually stable? Don’t ask me to go into too much detail. It would require both of us to have a few more college degrees than sense, and I at least ck them (both the degrees and the sense). Anyway, the energy/matter/wibbly wobbly strings were at a local minimum and not the universal minimum. Basically, what we took for sea level was actually a nice little mountain ke and when the dam busted so did, well, everything.

  Now here is where things go a bit off track with what normal meant before. You see magic is real, qi is real, gods are real. Not on old Earth mind you but souls pay little attention to time and space so we dreamed of it. In fact, the closer the shift in reality got to Earth, the closer our dreams got to the new reality. This is basically me tip toeing around the fact that it was a ‘System Apocalypse’. Reality became a video game, I became a dungeon, and this is my story.

  Doyle Huxley just wanted a normal life but as the above might clue you in on that just isn’t in the cards. He gets to experience a “Path Based System Apocalypse” and some early paths he takes, both literally and figuratively, lead to him becoming a dungeon.

  The aim is to release chapters once a week on Friday.

  Cursing will be avoided and no naughty adult action will take pce in the story.

  NeoRealm

  Jason has just turned 18 and will be finally be able to py The biggest VR game out there, NeoRealm. Using a bit of knowledge from his past (life) he wants to start his adult life with a bang. Taking the road less traveled will sound quiant compare to where he wants to go.

  ~NeoRealm~ the most realistic VR game to date. A Fantasy world which even after years of exploration is still mostly unknown. Want to experience the mysteries of the Arcane? Become one of the many types of Magic Users and work to improve your ranking till you can move mountains, or just ftten them if you prefer. Do you just desire to wield sheer physical power? Then train your melee skills beyond all others and decimate towns with a single swing. Or maybe you just want to know what its like to be a cat person. We have those too. Come on in and join us at 5x the speed of boring old reality (you heard us right, not your average everyday 4x time compression!). *WARNING - limited to those age 18 and up, we are not responsible for any minor losing their grasp on reality, sanity, or species

  Banished Talent

  There were things hidden in the darkness and they’re about to introduce themselves to the hood of my car. Not that the knowledge will do me much good. Some Talents aren’t too appreciated by the Powers That Be, and with magic? Sometimes the best option is to just Banish the problem.

  I’m Alvin Smithson and let me tell you my story.

  Alvin grew up on Earth, or at least one shockingly simir to what you’re familiar with. Except for the magic. And Alvin? Despite never having experienced magic before, he believed in magic a little too much. So when magic found him, he was past the point of being returned to his boring modern life. Then things got worse when they tested him to see if he had any magic of his own.

  Join me, as we get a front-row seat to Alvin being banished from Earth and as he descend into a painful rebirth. He won’t be leaving the pnet alone, though. Much to his misfortune, a person going along has decided this is all Alin’s fault and is more than willing to make their displeasure known. So now Alvin only has a limited time to learn about his power in a pce actively trying to kill him.

  Can Alvin adapt fast enough? Gain the power needed? Or will he be just another life snuffed out in a realm where no one has ever escaped from?

  This novel has been finished and while you can read it in the entirety here and on my Patreon, there is a more polished version avaible for purchase as an ebook for 3.99 on both Amazon and my Patreon. I will get more of the cut if you buy it on my Patreon shop, but I understand that getting an ebook on kindle can be a hassle so feel free to use Amazon. If anything, it will help boost the story in the algo.

  [colpse]