Dawn broke over a city that no longer felt like mine. The sky was a sickly orange, streaked with the faint glow of portals that hadn't closed since the Integration hit. From the apartment window, I could see the barricade group from last night—Mira and her crew—reinforcing their defenses with scavenged metal and overturned buses. New York's streets were a maze of wreckage now, dotted with smoldering craters and the occasional corpse, human or monster. The air smelled like burnt rubber and something worse, something alive and rotting.
I hadn't slept much. The System's glitch from last night—*External Observation Detected*—kept me tossing on the lumpy couch I'd dragged to block the door. Was it a bug, or was someone actually watching me? Hunters? The System itself? Something worse? No answers, just a bad feeling. But I couldn't dwell. I was one fight away from level 2, out of Replays until my daily reset, and still armed with nothing but a dented crowbar. If I was going to survive, I needed to get better—fast.
[Status Sheet: Alex Thorne]
• Level: 1 (XP: 70/100)
•Class: Hunter (C-Rank)
• Primary Ability: Replay (Uses: 0/3 remaining, Reset at dawn)
• Stats: Strength 8, Dexterity 10, Intelligence 12, Vitality 9, Magic 5
• Skills: Basic Melee (Novice - 10% Mastery)
• Inventory: Improvised Crowbar (Common, Durability: 45/50)
The System pinged as sunlight hit my face.
**[System Notification: Daily Reset Complete. Replay Uses Restored: 3/3.]**
There it was—my edge. Three chances to rewind five minutes, to grind skills in ways no one else could. Last night's goblin fights proved it: each Replay let me refine my swings, turning sloppy instinct into something precise. If I could do that with combat, what about other skills? Dodging, climbing, sneaking? Hell, maybe even talking my way out of a fight. The thought made me grin. C-Rank or not, I was going to break this System over my knee.
But first, food. My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn't eaten since a stale protein bar yesterday. The apartment's kitchen was a bust—empty fridge, cabinets looted. I'd need to scavenge, and that meant moving through monster-infested streets. Mira's group had food, but joining them felt like signing up for someone else's rules. I wasn't ready for that. Not yet.
I stepped outside, crowbar in hand, scanning the street. The barricade group was busy, but a few stragglers moved through the wreckage—other survivors, probably hunters like me, scavenging or hunting for XP. A distant roar echoed, followed by a burst of blue light. Someone's magic ability, no doubt. Show-offs.
My plan was simple: find food, avoid monsters, and test Replay on something new. Parkour seemed like a good start. The city was a jungle of debris now—collapsed walls, overturned trucks, dangling fire escapes. If I could master moving through it, I'd have an edge in fights or escapes. Plus, I'd always been decent at biking through tight spots as a courier. How hard could it be?
I spotted a good test ground: a nearby alley with a low wall, a dumpster, and a fire escape about ten feet up. The goal was to vault the wall, use the dumpster to boost, and grab the fire escape's ladder. Easy, right? I sprinted, hit the wall, and… faceplanted into the brick.
**[Debuff Applied: Minor Bruise. -5% Dexterity for 5 minutes.]**
Ow. My nose throbbed, and I tasted blood. Amateur move. I shook it off, checked my surroundings—no monsters yet—and activated Replay.
Time blurred, and I was back at the alley's entrance, pre-faceplant. This time, I adjusted: knees bent, momentum forward. I cleared the wall but slipped on the dumpster's edge, crashing to the pavement.
**[Debuff Applied: Minor Sprain. -10% Movement Speed for 10 minutes.]**
Son of a—Replay again.
Back to the start. Wall cleared, dumpster steadier, but my jump to the fire escape was short. My fingers grazed the ladder, and I fell, landing hard on my back.
**[Debuff Applied: Winded. -10% Vitality for 5 minutes.]**
One Replay left. I grit my teeth, rewound. This time, I nailed the wall vault, hit the dumpster at a better angle, and leaped with everything I had. My hands closed around the ladder, and I pulled myself up, panting but triumphant. The fire escape groaned but held.
**[Skill Acquired: Basic Parkour (Novice - 10% Mastery).]**
Hell yeah. Three tries, maybe fifteen minutes of real time, but I'd compressed hours of practice into those loops. My body ached—phantom pains from the rewound falls lingered, which was weird—but the System recognized my progress. If I kept this up, I could turn C-Rank into something unstoppable.
A sharp laugh broke my focus. "Nice moves, rookie. But you look like you're wrestling gravity and losing."
I spun, crowbar raised. A guy leaned against the alley wall, arms crossed, smirking. Mid-twenties, tall, with a leather jacket and a sword strapped to his back—actual steel, not some looted tool. His System tag floated above him: **Jace, Level 3, Blademaster Class (B-Rank)**. The sword glowed faintly, tagged as **Enchanted Shortsword (Uncommon)**. Show-off.
"You stalking me?" I asked, lowering the crowbar but keeping my guard up.
"Nah. Just scouting." He stepped closer, sizing me up. "Saw you save that family yesterday. Not bad for a C-Rank. What's your trick? No way you took down a level 3 brute with *that*." He nodded at my crowbar, disdain clear.
"Luck," I said, shrugging. No way I was spilling about Replay. That glitch last night had me paranoid.
Jace snorted. "Luck doesn't cut it out here. Join a guild, or you're dead by week's end. My crew's recruiting. We've got A-Ranks, real firepower. You'd be… what, cannon fodder? But better than solo."
"Thanks, but I'm good." His attitude grated, and that B-Rank tag screamed privilege. He probably woke up with that sword and a stat boost.
"Suit yourself." He turned to leave, then paused. "Word of advice: stay out of the subways. Something big's spawning down there. Even I'm not dumb enough to poke it." He flashed a grin and vanished around the corner, moving faster than any normal human should.
Great. A rival, and a cocky one. But his warning stuck. Subways? Bad news. I filed it away, refocusing on my plan: food, then more grinding.
I climbed the fire escape to the roof for a better view. The city stretched out, a warzone of smoke and flickering portals. A bodega two blocks away looked intact, its shutter half-open. Food, maybe. I plotted a path—rooftops to avoid street-level monsters, using my new parkour skill.
The first jump was shaky, but I made it to the next building, crouching to avoid attention. The second was smoother, my body remembering the motions from the alley loops. By the third, I was grinning. This was *working*.
Then the roof shook. A portal tore open ten feet away, spitting out a creature: **Skittering Hound, Level 4**. Dog-like, but with six legs and a maw of needle-teeth. It locked eyes on me and charged.
No Replays left—I'd burned them on parkour. My heart raced. Crowbar up, I dodged its first lunge, barely, its claws scraping the roof. I swung, aiming for its head, but hit its shoulder instead. It yelped but kept coming, snapping at my leg.
**[Debuff Applied: Minor Bite. -10% Movement Speed for 15 minutes.]**
I rolled, pain flaring, and scrambled to the roof's edge. The hound lunged again, but I'd seen its pattern—head low, front legs splaying before a bite. I sidestepped, using my parkour footwork, and smashed the crowbar into its spine. It howled, stumbling. Two more hits, and it collapsed.
**[Enemy Defeated: Skittering Hound (Level 4). XP Gained: 40.]**
**[Level Up! You are now Level 2. +1 to all Stats. Skill Point Available.]**
A rush hit me, like caffeine and adrenaline mixed. My wounds still ached, but I felt… stronger. I pulled up my status.
**[Status Sheet: Alex Thorne]**
- **Level:** 2 (XP: 10/200)
- **Class:** Hunter (C-Rank)
- **Primary Ability:** Replay (Uses: 0/3 remaining)
- **Stats:** Strength 9, Dexterity 11, Intelligence 13, Vitality 10, Magic 6
- **Skills:** Basic Melee (Novice - 15% Mastery), Basic Parkour (Novice - 10% Mastery)
- **Inventory:** Improvised Crowbar (Common, Durability: 40/50)
Skill point? The System prompted me to allocate it, but I held off. Melee was my bread and butter, but parkour could save my life. I'd decide later.
The bodega run was quick after that. I dropped to the street, slipped through the shutter, and grabbed canned beans, a stale sandwich, and a water bottle. No monsters inside, thank God. As I ate on the roof, savoring the lukewarm beans, another System ping hit. This one flickered, the text warping like a bad signal.
**[Hidden Notification: Replay Anomaly Logged. Source: [Redacted]. Warning: Temporal Echoes Detected. Avoid High-Risk Zones.]**
Temporal echoes? High-risk zones? The subway, maybe? The glitch vanished, but my gut twisted. Jace's warning, now this. Something was off, and it was tied to Replay. I needed answers, but first, I needed to survive.
Back at the apartment, I barricaded myself in again. Mira's group was still out there, their lights visible through the window. Jace's offer echoed in my head, but I wasn't ready to play sidekick. Replay was my edge, and I'd grind it until I could stand toe-to-toe with B-Ranks like him.
Tomorrow, I'd push harder. More parkour, maybe test Replay on something like lockpicking. If the System was watching, I'd give it a show.
**[System Update:]**
- **Current Level:** 2
- **Skills Mastered:** Basic Melee (Novice - 15% Mastery), Basic Parkour (Novice - 10% Mastery)
- **Replay Uses Remaining:** 0/3 (Reset at dawn)
- **Recent Buffs/Debuffs:** Minor Bite (-10% Movement Speed, 12 minutes remaining), Level Up Boost (+5% to all Stats for 1 hour)
- **XP Gained:** 10 / 200 to Next Level
- **Flavor Text:** "Every loop is a lesson. Every fall is a step."