The capsule's seals whispered shut, and the room's hum narrowed to a clean, surgical pitch. Evan's palm rested on the acrylic lid, steady. Round two, he told himself, not with drama, just with intent. A thin progress bar crept along the rim of his vision.
[NEURAL LINK: STABLE][LOADING: GODSLAYER]
Color welled up from black. For a moment the world was only numbers pretending to be a sky. Then a plate of UI slid into place like a door on well-oiled rails.
[WELCOME, PLAYER][TALENT DRAW AVAILABLE][DRAW? Y/N]
"Yes."
Cards unfurled—glyphs, odds, little devils of probability. They spun, collided, and settled with a soft, self-satisfied chime.
[RESULT: HUNDREDFOLD REWARD MULTIPLIER][PASSIVE ACQUIRED][NOTE: CERTAIN REWARDS MAY BE AMPLIFIED. SCOPE VARIES BY CONTEXT.] [CHECK: exact scope pending confirmation]
"Good morning," he murmured.
No lingering. "Summoner."
[CLASS SELECTED: SUMMONER | RACE: HUMAN | LEVEL: 1]
A staff found his grip, weight true; the head curled into a glassy gourd that held its own dusk. Robe and pants settled on his frame, rough weave against skin, the kind of Bronze starter kit that looked better on the inventory panel than in life.
[EQUIPMENT OBTAINED: PUMPKIN STAFF (GOLD-TIER)][EQUIPMENT OBTAINED: WOLF ROBE (BRONZE-TIER)][EQUIPMENT OBTAINED: WOLF PANTS (BRONZE-TIER)]
The starter crate icon hovered at his hip like a smug thought.
[STARTER PACK READY] — [OPEN?]
"Yes."
Light popped like corks. Coins chimed into his purse; paper-scent rose as a scroll unrolled in midair.
[COINS: +10,000] [CHECK: Hundredfold interaction unknown here][SKILL BOOK: SUMMON THUNDER SPRITE — "AURORA GREYLIN"][POTIONS/MATS: ASSORTED]
The world stepped sideways.
[SPAWNING: NOVICE VILLAGE]
He stood on dirt tamped by generations. Eaves leaned over a narrow lane; the well rope creaked; somewhere a pot lid rattled because a hand forgot to hold it. Beyond the roofs, fields lay combed into green ribs. The light had that un-owned clarity of morning.
Panels rained.
[CHARACTER PANEL][LEVEL: 1 | CLASS: SUMMONER | TALENT: HUNDREDFOLD REWARD MULTIPLIER][STATS] Strength: 8 | Agility: 8 | Stamina: 8 | Charisma: 95/100 | Reputation: 0 | Luck: 1[SKILLS] Inspect (≤ LV5), Summon: Mech Goblin | (Skill Book available) [CHECK: Intelligence/Spirit stat labels not surfaced]
"Charming as sin, unlucky as taxes," Evan said. "We'll take it."
The hall door across the lane groaned open. The Village Chief stepped out—braids neat, voice tuned to quest-giver warmth.
"Adventurer. You arrived when we have need." His hand indicated the fields. "Boars raid at the edges. Workers are hurt. Seedlings are lost. Will you assist?"
A pane answered for him.
[QUEST AVAILABLE: FIELD RAIDERS][OBJECTIVE] Cull boars, recover usable hides.[REWARD] Coins / Materials / Reputation [CHECK: numeric values not displayed]
"I'll handle it," Evan said.
[QUEST ACCEPTED]
He walked the lane without stopping at the merchants or the gossip knots of fresh players. A child NPC ran past with stakes under one arm; a dog argued with a shadow; thyme hung crisp under a window, leaves flicking in the breeze like small green flags. It all felt good and real, and he let it pass through him without grabbing.
The road thinned to soil, then to furrows. Bean rows drew straight lines across the earth until they didn't; a low fence sagged where something heavy had not respected it. The smell of torn plant and damp dirt sat thick in the nose. Evan palmed the staff head, felt the hum coiling inside the glass.
"Let's set the table."
He traced a circle with the staff, a habit his hands liked. The ground thudded as if a stagehand had kicked a trapdoor from below.
[SUMMON: MECH GOBLIN]
The Mech Goblin levered itself up out of light, plates clamping into place, a brass skull with polite, murderous eyes. It tested its wrench against its palm—clang, ready.
"Anchor and punish," Evan said. "Short steps."
The scroll waited. He unrolled it with a thought.
[USE SKILL BOOK: SUMMON THUNDER SPRITE — "AURORA GREYLIN"] — [Y/N]
"Yes."
Ink became sparks; the sparks organized into a slender figure whose skin looked like glass with weather moving under it. Lightning fluttered around them the way a bird flutters when it approves of a branch.
"Aurora," he said. "Tap-staggers. Keep arcs off the crops."
They tilted their head in a nod that hummed.
The first boar gave itself away with an overeager snort. It pushed out of the beans with a crown of leaves stuck in its bristles. Inspect kissed the edge of his mind; he let it flow.
[INSPECT][TARGET: BOAR (LV2)][HP: Moderate | Damage: Moderate | Traits: Thick Hide, Charge][ADVICE: Flank during feed. Punish recovery.]
"Mech, meet. Aurora, thread and reset."
The boar dropped its head and came in a low, ugly glide that would break a man off his feet. The Goblin stepped into it and turned the charge into noise; the wrench's face rang off tusk and skull ridge. A thin lance of blue stitched through the boar's shoulder, neat as a tailor. The animal's forelegs buckled a breath; that breath was the window. Evan snapped the Pumpkin Staff to spill its stored charge—more insult than injury, but insults matter when you're stacking delays.
[HIT][STATUS: STAGGER—SUCCESS]
"Again," he said.
Two wrench-jabs and a bolt later, mass lost the argument with timing. The boar skidded into furrow shadow and did not get up.
[ENEMY DOWN: BOAR (LV2)][LOOT GENERATED][YOU OBTAIN: BOAR HIDE ×1][COINS: +?] [CHECK: coin value not surfaced]
He knelt and worked the hide at the UI's polite highlights. The system liked clean seams; he obliged it. Leather rolled with a soft resistance, inventory swallowed it with a muted ping.
[QUEST PROGRESS: HIDES (1/??)]
Leaves shivered farther down the row. Another boar, bigger sound, same appetite. Evan shifted to keep the fence to his left, crops to his right—lines clean, retreat lanes clear.
"Mech," he said. "Shoulder bite." To the sprite: "Two-count between bolts."
The boar committed and met iron. Aurora's first bolt walked from jaw to neck; the second landed where his earlier spark had marked. The boar's legs argued with orders and lost again.
[HIT] [HIT][STAGGER—FAIL → CHARGE INCOMING]
It found its feet and lunged late; Evan slid his back foot and let mud drum his boot instead of ribs.
A soft flag blinked at the edge of his sight.
[HUNDREDFOLD: CONTEXT FLAGGED][POTENTIAL AMPLIFICATION: MATERIAL YIELD] [CHECK: scope display consistent?]
"Hello, leverage," he said under his breath.
The Mech Goblin smacked the boar off its line; Aurora threaded a bolt exactly where the boar's weight had just vacated, so when the animal tried to stand inside its own future, there was nothing to stand on. It toppled hard.
[ENEMY DOWN][LOOT GENERATED][YOU OBTAIN: BOAR HIDE ×?] [CHECK: if yield ×100, ×2, or quality upgrade][QUEST PROGRESS: (2/??)]
He didn't smile. But he felt the numbers begin to purr—small, domestic, promising to turn feral if fed right.
They moved. The fence ran along his left shoulder like a low, friendly wall; beans whispered at his right hand. He kept the Goblin half a pace ahead as a metronome and Aurora quarter-left as the knife that arrives before the thought.
Third boar: rooting, too invested in tearing breakfast to notice a party arriving. "Flank," Evan said. The Goblin obliged, wrench jabbing into the hinge of movement; Aurora looped a bolt under the boar's jaw, and Evan bled the staff's charge in a quick sting to hold the tempo steady. The boar collapsed into the furrow with a soft, angry sigh.
[ENEMY DOWN][YOU OBTAIN: BOAR HIDE ×1][COINS: +?] [CHECK]
Somewhere behind the hedgerow, a heavier thing exhaled. Not louder—deeper. Like air moved by a larger decision.
"Hold," Evan said. To Aurora: "Keep current low and ready." To the Goblin: "Brace. If it charges, take the first line, then pivot left."
The hedgerow bulged in two spots, then in one, the way a muscle does when it has a mind of its own. Inspect primed itself, the prompt hanging like a word on the tip of the tongue.
He waited.
Branches cracked—clean breaks, not twigs. Leaves tossed like green confetti for a wedding no one asked for. The silhouette coming through was tall at the shoulder, skin like bristle-pelted stone, and it did not hurry. Animals that fear you hurry.
"Mech," Evan said, voice gone thin with focus. "Set."
The Goblin grounded its stance; Aurora's lightning wrote nervous cursive around their fingers and then stilled, reined to a hum.
The hedgerow tore wide.
Something stepped into the beans and kept coming, hooves punching commas into the soil, head swinging with the unembarrassed gravity of a creature that had never yet learned its own limit—