Dean took a breath and looked at the Abilities tab, where around seven options glowed on the panel in a tidy list.
**Abilities**
1) Suspiciously Lucky Coin Flip – 5 Points
Flip a coin that somehow always lands in your favor… unless it's life or death
2)Reverse Psychology Aura – 20 Points
People are 25% more likely to do something if you say not to do it.
3)Speed Whisper – 50 Points
Can whisper directly into someone's ear from up to 15 meters away.
4)Ghost Veil – 100 points
Become completely undetectable to all monsters for 7 seconds — they won't be able to see, hear, or sense you. This effect works only on monsters, not on humans or any other beings.
Cooldown: 45 minutes.
5) Echo Mute – 60 points
Silence all sounds you make for 15 seconds.
Cooldown: 20 minutes
6) Adrenal Surge – 100 points
Double strength and speed for 20 seconds. Cooldown: One hour
7)Blood Rush – 95 points
Push past exhaustion for 30 seconds. Once the thirty seconds are over, you fall unconscious.
Cooldown: One hour
**
One ability in particular caught his eye—Ghost Veil. Seven seconds of being completely invisible to those creepy bastards out there.
But before making any concrete decision on what to buy, Dean decided to have a look at the skills and provisions available for him to acquire.
**Skills**
1) Nap Anywhere Protocol – 45 Points
Can fall asleep instantly, even in danger. Helps in regaining mental stamina.
2) Professional Side-Eye – 15 Points
Grants the ability to silently judge others so intensely they feel vaguely guilty.
3)Keen Eyes – 60 points
Enhances visual perception. Spot movement in the dark and notice small details others would miss.
4)Silent Step – 100 points
Greatly reduces noise made when walking or running, useful for sneaking past monsters or enemies.
5) Iron Will – 80 points
Grants high resistance to fear, panic, and mental pressure. You can think clearly in stressful situations.
**
**Provisions**
1) Rusty Pocket Knife – 5 Points
Barely sharp, but it's better than nothing. Good for close defense or utility cutting.
2) Lighter + Half Pack of Matches – 15 Points
Firestarter kit. Works even if it's damp, but limited uses.
3) Canned Rations (3 meals) – 80 Points
Enough food to keep you going for a day.
4) Flask of Clean Water – 50 Points
1 liter. Purified and safe — crucial in a place where water may not be.
5) First-Aid Kit (Basic) – 40 Points
Bandages, antiseptic, and painkillers. Heals minor injuries and stops bleeding.
6) Flashlight + Spare Batteries – 80 Points
Strong beam, lasts about 8 hours. Batteries can be swapped 3 times.
**
Dean went through every glowing word on all the three tabs, reading each line like it might decide whether he lived or got torn apart tonight. The list wasn't long, but that almost made it worse. Seven abilities. Five skills and a few provisions that really didn't seemed to be useful as per his current situation.
He had exactly one hundred points to spend. One shot. It was like being starving with a vending machine that only had a handful of snacks—you could stare at it for hours and still overthink which one to grab.
Some of the skills and abilities were tempting right away. Iron Will? That was a good "don't lose your shit" power, especially in this nightmare town where fear could get you killed faster than teeth and claws. Silent Step? Well, come on—being able to move around without a single sound was straight out of every stealth video game he'd ever played.
But none of those made him feel what Ghost Veil made him feel.
One word came to mind when he read it: untouchable.
Seven seconds. Seven beautiful, glorious seconds where monsters couldn't see him, hear him, smell him, sense him—nothing. In this hellhole, that was like getting handed a god-mode button. He could think of at least a dozen ways it could save his ass.
Sure, the cooldown was annoying—forty-five minutes between uses meant he couldn't just spam it every time a monster appeared. He'd have to use it smart. But still, Ghost Veil was the only one that made him feel like maybe, just maybe, he had a fighting chance here.
There was just one problem.
Ghost Veil was only useful if there was somewhere safe to run to during those seven seconds. If he hit it too early, he'd end up invisible in the middle of the damn street. Once it ran out, he'd be back in plain sight, surrounded, with a monster licking its lips. That would be less "survival" and more "suicide with extra steps."
So yeah—he'd need to know that a safe door was close by, and more importantly, that someone behind it would actually let him in.
That's where his weird, almost-cheating knowledge came in handy.
This wasn't Dean's first time seeing this messed-up little town. He'd seen From. Watched the show. Binged the hell out of it. He already knew a few of the locals—not personally, but enough to make some educated guesses about who'd slam the door in his face and who'd open it.
Two names stood out instantly: Boyd Stevens and Kenny Liu.
Boyd was a damn rock. No-nonsense, tough, a leader through and through. He could be suspicious of strangers, sure, but Dean was ninety percent sure that Boyd wouldn't just leave him out there to die.
Kenny was the other good bet. Younger than Boyd, maybe not quite as battle-hardened, but a solid guy with a good heart. Dean remembered moments from the show where Kenny risked himself for people he barely knew. If Kenny was the one at the door, there was a good chance Dean would make it inside before anything sharp and hungry caught up to him.
He thought about the layout of the town. If he triggered Ghost Veil at the right spot, he could make it to Boyd's place in time. Same for Kenny's. But this town didn't exactly like playing fair—streets could be blocked, or worse, one of those smiling freaks could be standing right in front of his target house.
"Hell of a gamble," Dean muttered, keeping one eye on the road to make sure he didn't crash into a monster or a tree while weighing his options.
The thing was, every scenario he ran through ended with Ghost Veil being the winner. Every other option either helped him avoid trouble or made him better in a fight, but neither of those meant much if something caught him out in the open. Ghost Veil was the only one that was basically a big red button that said, "Not Today, Satan."
Dean let out a long breath and closed the glowing tabs in his head. They faded away like fog in the morning sun, but Ghost Veil stayed stuck in his mind like an itch he couldn't reach.
He wasn't buying it yet—at least, not now.
No, first he needed to make sure Boyd and Kenny were actually inside, awake, and willing to let him in. From what he remembered, nights in this town meant everyone stayed locked up until sunrise. If he could get their attention before things got bad, maybe they'd give him some kind of sign—a flash of light, a quick wave through a window, anything—to tell him where to go. Then he could buy Ghost Veil, make the run, and not die like an idiot.
That thought stayed in his head as he rolled into the edge of town.
It was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that made you feel like the world had stopped breathing. The streetlamps gave off a weak, yellow glow that didn't seem to reach very far.
Dean slowed the car. His headlights cut through the empty street, but the beam felt small, like the dark was swallowing most of it.
Then it happened.
A soft metallic ping echoed in his head, and the World Travel Panel popped up in his head. It was like a notification you get on your phone.
**[Mission Assigned]**
Objective: Survive until sunrise.
Time Remaining till sunrise: 30 minutes.
Reward: 200 Points.
**
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Note:
Dear Readers,
This is not a translation. It's my original fanfiction. So there won't be any 'young master' or 'courting death' shit here.
Though I still used AI to correct the grammar and phrasing of sentences wherever I feel it is required, as English isn't my first language, neither second, nor third. But still if you feel that words in the story become little too complex or poetic or the conversations become heavily affected by AI...or if they become robotic, please comment on it and I would do my best to improve themmake sure such stuff won't happen in the next chapters.
Love you guys.
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