Outside the open bay doors, Chicago was screaming.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Gunshots popped like fireworks. People ran past the warehouse, some carrying children, others dragging suitcases. Green portals flickered in the air like torn fabric, vomiting more goblins, wolves, and things that looked like oversized rats with too many teeth.
Jack's grip tightened on the crowbar. He couldn't just hide. Not after what he'd seen happen to Mike.
A woman's scream cut through the chaos close, maybe twenty yards away near the chain-link fence. Jack sprinted out without thinking.
She was cornered against a delivery truck. Mid-thirties, office clothes torn, clutching a metal pipe like it was a lifeline. Two goblins advanced on her, chittering and waving crude spears.
Jack didn't hesitate.
He activated nothing fancy just pure momentum. The first goblin turned at the sound of his boots. Jack swung low and hard. The crowbar connected with its knee. Bone cracked. The creature howled and dropped.
The second goblin lunged. Jack sidestepped, years of warehouse work giving him decent footwork, and brought the crowbar down on its skull. Wet crunch.
[You have slain a Level 2 Goblin Scout!]
Experience gained: 40
[You have slain a Level 4 Goblin Warrior!]
Experience gained: 95
Level Up! You are now Level 4.
+1 to all base stats. Free Stat Points: 2
Warmth flooded his body again. The cut on his arm itched as it knit itself closed faster than before.
The woman stared at him, eyes wide. "What… what the hell is this? Are you seeing the boxes too?"
Jack nodded, breathing hard. "Yeah. System. Levels. Monsters. All real. You got a name?"
"Sarah. Sarah Kline. I was… I was just trying to get to my car." She looked at the pipe in her hands. A small blue box hovered above it: [Improvised Weapon Pipe (Common)].
More screams echoed from deeper in the industrial park. Jack glanced back at the warehouse. It was solid brick, roll-up doors, only a few windows. Defensible.
"Come with me," he said. "I've got a place. Safer than out here."
Sarah hesitated only a second before nodding.
They ran back together. Inside the warehouse, Jack found three more survivors huddled behind forklifts: two young guys in their early twenties warehouse temps named Carlos and Devin and an older man, probably a driver, named Paul.
All of them had the same dazed look. All of them could see the blue boxes.
Jack quickly explained what little he knew. The Integration. The hour-long tutorial. The need to kill to level. He left out the part about his hidden class for now. Too soon.
A new notification pinged for everyone at once.
[Tutorial Quest Update: Survive the First Hour Group Objective]
Defend a location for the remaining 38 minutes.
Bonus: Form a party of 5+ survivors.
Reward: Shared Experience Pool + Basic Class Selection
Jack grinned. "Perfect timing. Let's make this warehouse our spot."
They moved fast. Carlos and Devin dragged heavy pallets and crates to block the bay doors, leaving only a narrow choke point. Paul found a toolbox and handed out hammers, wrenches, anything that could be used as a weapon. Sarah stayed near Jack, pipe ready.
The first wave hit ten minutes later.
A shimmering green rift tore open right in the middle of the parking lot outside. Eight goblins poured through, led by a bigger one wearing scraps of leather armor Level 6 Goblin Raider.
They charged the warehouse like they smelled fresh meat.
"Hold the line!" Jack shouted.
He took the front. The crowbar felt lighter now, almost alive in his hands. The first goblin reached the choke point. Jack stepped forward and swung in a wide arc. The weapon connected with two at once, sending them flying.
Blood sprayed. Notifications flashed.
[You have slain a Level 3 Goblin Scout!]
Experience shared with party.
The others were fighting too. Carlos smashed a goblin's head with a sledgehammer. Devin stabbed one repeatedly with a box cutter. Sarah cracked another across the face with her pipe. Paul stayed back, throwing heavy wrenches like improvised throwing axes.
It was messy, brutal, and terrifying. But they were winning.
Until the Level 6 Raider leaped over the barricade.
It was faster than the others. Its spear thrust toward Sarah's side. She cried out as the tip grazed her ribs.
Jack moved without thinking.
Time seemed to slow. A new instinct flared in his chest the Rule Fracture ability pulsing like a second heartbeat.
He focused on the goblin's spear mid-thrust.
Rule Fracture activated.
He chose the rule: "Projectiles and melee weapons cannot be deflected by non-magical means during Tutorial Phase."
The spear tip met the crowbar. Instead of glancing off or piercing, the metal glitched. Pixels of blue code flickered around the point of impact. The spear bent at a wrong angle, then snapped like cheap plastic.
The Raider stumbled, eyes widening in confusion.
Jack didn't waste the opening. He drove the crowbar straight into the creature's throat with every ounce of his new strength.
The goblin gurgled, convulsed, and dropped.
[Critical Hit! You have slain a Level 6 Goblin Raider!]
Experience gained: 240
Loot obtained: Raider's Spear (Uncommon), 12 copper coins, Minor Healing Potion (Common)
Rule Fracture cooldown started. 23 hours 59 minutes remaining.
Jack felt a wave of exhaustion hit him, but it was worth it. The remaining goblins broke and fled back toward the rift, which was already shrinking.
The party notifications exploded.
[Party formed: Jack's Survivors]
Shared Experience Pool activated.
All members gain 50% bonus experience from group kills.
[Level Up! You are now Level 5.]
Sarah Kline has reached Level 3.
Carlos Ramirez has reached Level 2.
Devin Park has reached Level 2.
Paul Thompson has reached Level 3.
Jack distributed his free points quickly: +1 Strength, +1 Agility. He needed to hit harder and move faster.
He tossed the Minor Healing Potion to Sarah. She drank it without question. The graze on her ribs closed in seconds.
"Thank you," she whispered, eyes shining with something between fear and awe. "That thing… you made its spear break like it was nothing. How?"
Jack wiped goblin blood from his face. "Hidden class. System Breaker. I can… bend the rules sometimes. Just don't spread it around yet. People might get ideas."
The others nodded, still catching their breath.
Outside, the city grew quieter in patches, louder in others. Distant explosions suggested military response or failed attempts at one.
Jack looked at his four new companions. Not friends yet. Survivors. But it was a start.
A soft golden box appeared only for him.
[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: First Rule Fracture During Tutorial]
Reward: +2 to all stats. Bonus Skill: Glitch Perception (Passive) You can now see minor System weaknesses in objects and creatures.
Jack smiled grimly.
The tutorial hour wasn't over yet.
And the real monsters were still coming.
He gripped the crowbar tighter, now faintly glowing with that same crimson-black energy.
"Alright," he said to the group. "Let's loot what we can and get ready for round two. We're not dying today."
As the remaining minutes ticked down, Jack felt the weight of the System pressing on the world like a vice.
He had broken one rule.
How many more would he have to break before this nightmare ended?