A Novel Concept

Priam turned to the source of the shout. He hadn't spoken to anyone in a week. Yet it seemed like years. Tightening his grip on his spear, he ran to the stranger's aid. Using his skills to the fullest, he accelerated quickly, swallowing the distance between himself and the danger. Moments later, the mist gave way to a young woman being threatened by a dog.

The beast was impressive, a canine specimen one meter high at the withers. Visibly enraged, with a bloody muzzle, the dog was leaping towards the girl perched on an isolated shrub. Under the blows of the dog, it was shivering. The makeshift shelter would not last long. I recognize this situation! She's a villager, and I can recruit her if I save her from the bad dog, right?

Forgetting that no one got the Age of Empire 3 references anymore, Priam stuck his spear in the ground and charged the beast with his bare hands. He wasn't used to fighting yet and didn't want to repeat a pathetic performance. He had already fought in the street to protect some of his girlfriends. He was confident in his fists and characteristics.

The dog, a variant of an English mastiff, must have weighed more than 150 kg and developed terrible power. The wolves were just children in front of such a monster. Priam was confident. The dog was slow compared to a rabhorn. Terribly slow. Instinctively, like a predator facing its prey, Priam knew he was in no danger.

Two meters before contact, Priam cocked his fist. A final [Kinetic Control] propelled his right leg and brought it into contact with the beast. He touched the dog's chest and then demonstrated his skill again. The animal flew off the ground. Its body was propelled several meters backward and landed on its back. Too bad for it that it is not a cat...

Turning his head toward Priam, the dog whimpered softly, hurt. It sniffed the air and then barked at the girl. It seemed to ignore Priam, too angry at its first victim.

"Maybe you don't want to fight me, but I won't let you hurt this girl. Go away!" he said, shaking his hand.

Priam glanced at his hand. It wasn't broken, but he shouldn't have closed his fist, and he knew it. Hitting with his palm would have had the same impact. His quick thinking was far superior to a normal man's, but there was no point in having a big brain when you didn't use it.

The dog watched the newcomer for a few seconds. Priam didn't know if the beast understood him. There seemed to be a glimmer of intelligence in its eyes, but it was quickly eclipsed by rage. The dog understood that ignoring Priam would not be enough to make him forget it back. He sighed at the belligerent attitude of the monster.

The animal leaped towards the tree, trying to dodge Priam. In a lightning acceleration, he repositioned himself next to the dog, grabbed it by the neck, and with a pirouette, threw it violently to the ground again. Only a few meters from the tree, the wounded animal struggled to get up. Do I really have to kill a monster that doesn't even attack me?

As Priam wondered what would happen next, the girl slid down the tree trunk. Her feet touched the ground lightly, and she moved toward the dog.

"Watch out!" exclaimed Priam as he stepped forward to protect the girl.

"Thank you very much for your intervention, sir, but I'm not in danger anymore, I think." replied the lady.

A French woman?! Priam froze in surprise. He had thought long and hard about the language problems in Elysium. While communication was less difficult with other humans than with aliens, he had not expected to find a girl who spoke his language directly. Unless the Concepts had grouped humans based on their geographic location when the Tutorial was announced? If so, my family should be close!

Deep in thought, he looked up just as the girl plunged a dagger - in her small hand, it looked like a sword - into the animal's heart. Shocked to see someone kill a dog in cold blood, he couldn't gather his thoughts before she continued.

"You seem shocked? I just got here a few minutes ago, and I've spent half that time being chased by this dog. I'm not even its first victim. The blood on its muzzle is not mine. A rabid dog, ready to kill me and who has already tasted human blood... No, I didn't hesitate to kill it." said the girl, wiping her dagger on the animal's fur.

Priam calmed down. It is the new world, he thought. A young woman must have the guts to kill a bloodthirsty beast to survive. Her lack of hesitation... I should be learning from her rather than criticizing her.

If he were to be completely honest with himself, Priam had killed a rabhorn just to eat. It was a more difficult action to defend morally than what the young woman had just done. He knew that someday the time would come to kill animals, but he would rather kill bloodthirsty-looking monsters than dogs.

Disney and a cognitive bias had taught him that beauty meant goodness. It was wrong, of course, but it was so easy to think that a beautiful dog was always nice and a terrible hyena was always evil. Life was not so Manichean, and Priam was slowly becoming aware of this. Realizing that he was once again deep in thought - one of his main faults - he focused on his interlocutor and apologized for his behavior.

"I was shocked, that's true, but I understand your reaction. Eat or be eaten, right? Anyway, You have to be a fighter if you're out of the dome." Priam replied.

Priam observed the young blonde woman. Seen up close, she must be between eighteen and twenty-five years old. Quite tall and slender, he suspected she must have been practicing a sport before the Tutorial. She had that sharp look common to those who practiced combat sports. With keen eyes, she observed Priam's movements and placement. Rather pretty, she didn't seem afraid of Priam despite his strength and attire. He was aware that he was only wearing a leafy loincloth in front of a girl. I hope she doesn't think I'm a pervert. It's not my fault if I can't sew jeans with two leaves and a rock.

"Yes, I chose to fight in the Tutorial. I've always been a fan of fantasy as well as a boxer. When I saw that I could fly and fight monsters, it seemed like a good idea then..." sighed the young woman.

Normally he would have been happy to converse with her, and perhaps even more, depending on the mutual feeling. But right now, every second seemed to separate him from his family and potential doom. He wanted to get information about them and answers to his questions quickly.

"I understand. I made pretty much the same choice as you did, as you can imagine. The presentation at the Tutorial forgot to mention the danger. Did you see any other humans after the Tutorial? By the way, my name is Priam."

"Claire, nice to meet you. After the Tutorial? I only finished the Tutorial two days ago, so I may not have the answers you're expecting. But yes, I found myself in a new village, lost within a new world."

"A village? That's not bad, I was on my own. Did you manage to adapt? As much as one can adapt in a few days..."

"By yourself?!" Claire exclaimed. "Congratulations on surviving, then. It couldn't have been easy, I sympathize."

Surviving is what I do best, I think... That and pancakes. Not thinking about pancakes, not thinking about pancakes, not...

Claire continued. "For the adaptation, I was lucky. The village was created by the first people who passed the Tutorial. We have about a hundred members who all passed the Tutorial on normal difficulty. What more can I say... Life is not easy. No real command structure has emerged yet, and there are attacks from beasts that look like animals but... Deformed? Corrupted? At least I can defend myself, while non-combatants depend on the protection of some. Fortunately, most of the people in the village stick together. How about you? "

Most of the residents... The girl hadn't clearly mentioned any behavioral problems. Of course, Priam was willing to bet that some people must have taken advantage of the lawlessness caused by the apocalypse. But justice in this new world was often as summary as it was expeditious. No one had time to waste on a trial and a prisoner when they weren't sure they'd have enough to eat for themselves...

But that wasn't what Priam was most interested in about Claire's story.

The Concepts group together those who have chosen the same difficulty. But all those who have passed the Tutorial on the same difficulty do not necessarily end up together. A hundred survivors on normal difficulty seems far too few to me. So there must be multiple drop-off points. Humanity is fragmented and separated. It means that there will be no pseudo-government capable of identifying the survivors. Finding my family will be complicated. Maybe in the dome, there is a System feature?

"Me? Oh, I found myself in a pretty inhospitable place, and the loneliness almost drove me to invent an imaginary friend," Priam laughed.

"Other than that, I've been around Death enough to become buddies with it. I've seen a lot of interesting things too. For that matter, haven't you seen any...other intelligent life forms?" Priam asked while observing the surroundings to verify that no beast was planning to attack them by surprise.

"Other intelligent life forms?" asked Claire with a frown.

"Yes, I feel silly asking this based on your answer but... No elf, dwarf, or anything?" Arnold and the hoplite were clearly not human... Is this specific to Elysium?

She laughed. "No, sorry. You're right, it's not impossible in this new world after all but... No fantastic creatures. Just mindless monsters and idiots." she added, seeming to lose her good mood.

"Too bad, I would have liked to meet a dwarf. An elf too, but I think it's easier to get to know a dwarf. Over a beer, for example. Or rather, over a barrel of beer."

But if the barrel is too high, how can the dwarf drink? Or can he jump in and drink all the beer before he drowns? Sounds like a good challenge for a dwarf... As Priam's thoughts wandered again, he pulled himself together. He still had to find his family before he could satisfy his curiosity about dwarf customs.

"Thanks for the information, but I have to go. I want to find a way into the dome as soon as possible." Priam smiled.

"Wait!" exclaimed Claire. "I... I'm sorry but can I come with you? I can run fast, don't worry. Besides, there will probably be other monsters, and I can be useful. I'm sorry to ask you this when you don't seem to need help. If another corrupted dog attacks and there's no tree in sight, I won't be able to escape it. Please?" she pleaded.

"I..." Priam pulled himself together. He was ready to refuse, his family was waiting, and Claire was going to waste precious time. But as he looked into her eyes, he felt a twinge of sadness. She was about the same age as his sister, and if he left her here, depending on the population of monsters, she had a real chance of dying. He knew his family, they would not have chosen to be fighters. For now, they were bound to be safe in a dome. There was little chance they would be in immediate danger. That was not the case with this girl. Priam considered the situation.

Can I really look someone in the face and tell them their life doesn't matter to me? Certainly, if my family was in imminent danger. But right now, I have no idea how healthy they are... Plus, having someone with me might help convince others of my sincerity. There are pros and cons, but in the end, who am I? I'm not a saint, but I don't want to be a monster. It's too easy to use the apocalypse to stop caring about others. For humanity to survive, we must, above all, remain human.

Priam had made his decision. Before accepting, he checked one last thing.

[Identification]
[Claire ?] - A survivor of the Tutorial. She considers herself brave, but others would use the word impulsive. While Claire has no particular talent for violence, she has other unique abilities.

Strange. I got a lot more information about Arnold or the Hoplite...

"You're right, we may need each other. Besides, why not help out a fellow countrywoman if I get the chance?" Priam smiled. "I'm just warning you that I plan to run. I need to find my family as soon as possible. By the way, do you have any information on the 'threat' that needs to be eliminated to get into the dome?"

"Thank you very much! For the 'threat', nothing but the System quest. The statement was pretty stingy with details..."

"It's often like this with the System," Priam nodded.. "Let's not waste any more time. If we run into monsters, I'll deal with them."

He had always wanted to say that.

"Okay!" smiled Claire. "If you don't have any destinations in mind, I thought I heard some noise over there." she indicated.

Priam turned toward the direction she was pointing. Claire followed him, using all her strength not to lose sight of him. The mist was moving, and danger lurked.

Claire watched Priam's back, her hand on her bloody dagger. She needed someone who could distract the monsters. The young man seemed honest, but how could she know in this new world? The dog's master had smiled too, before trying to betray her. She had plunged her dagger into his heart.

Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)

PHYSICAL:
Strength 58
Constitution 77
Agility 90
Vitality 112
Perception 66

MENTAL:
Vivacity 75
Dexterity 46
Memory 29
Willpower 44
Charisma 36

META:
Meta-affinity 8
Meta-focus 16

Potential: 140

Tier 0

Priam

100th Run: A Regressor’s LitRPG Adventure
The world devolved into chaos as a game-like system reduced the population to a series of statistics and screens. Confusion reigned as everyone struggled to survive in this new reality. Everyone but one man. Anthony Franklin had a secret. One that gave him an edge. He had lived through this exact series of events... 99 times in a row.

Anthony needed to take advantage of all he accomplished over the past centuries: every play, shortcut, and strategy, to save as many lives as possible by the end. He would contend with vicious boss monsters, elude the ever watching eyes of the system administrators, and watch his back from the scheming players that wanted the game to go their way no matter the cost.

In a world where every individual has their own goals, dreams, and fears, shepherding them won't be easy. Anthony must use all of his considerable experience to gain a powerful class and put the scared populace on the right track and take out threats before they become too big. There will be no more chances; win or lose, his 100th run shall be his last.