System Fall

Looking out at the vast expansive rooftop in front of me, the experience was surreal. It was an almost overwhelming feeling. All the bosses I’d defeated so far, the challenges I’d overcome, and even the enemies I’d slain hadn’t given me the same kind of response. But that endless expanse of white clouds and skyscrapers, contrasting with what was almost a forest in front of me.

There was just something about it that really made it hit home that I’d been given a second chance and might actually be able to overcome the [Admin].

This was the starting point. The rooftop following the hospital wasn’t just aa sprawling garden in full bloom, it really was practically a forest, including a few trees and thick canopy of green, a canopy I assumed were enhanced by the system.  And as though the spectacle was not grand enough, nestled within this leafy expanse was an imposing greenhouse that gave the impression that the rooftop itself was far larger in area than the building it had been placed upon.

When I peeled my gaze away, I spotted a network of rickety, makeshift bridges connecting the garden-topped rooftop with neighboring buildings. The bridges, each more precarious looking than the last, spanned the short and sometimes vast distances between the other high-rise structures.

The rest of the group had similar expressions, though Lydia had a scowl on her face and Kenney seemed more grim. Our group of 9 had already been whittled down to 8 after Colin fell to his death. I had no intention of staying with the others. Lydia was a capable enough leader of getting the rest of them across, but I had no intention of putting myself in a potentially vulnerable position where the player killer might get an easy shot against me, and as much as I’d like to take her outright, the others wouldn’t follow me if anything happened to her.

The best thing to do, was for me to leave. I had my own goals while I was here. Something I’d missed the first time around.   

Seeing the bridges, knowing the inherent risks they posed, I needed to get going.

"Where do you think you're heading, Nick?" Kenney's voice rang out from behind me. It echoed around the rooftop and held an edge to it. “You’re supposed to help with the group remember? It’s why you got to live.”

“I got to live because none of you were capable of taking me down. I've got business to attend to, Kenney," I responded, stopping in my tracks and pivoting to meet the gazes of the other members of our group. "Just so we're clear, I'm not your guardian. If there's something you need and I happen to have it, and vice versa, we might strike a deal. But know this, I'm not the sharing type and I won't be playing the hero."

After I finished, a silence lingered between us. Kenney's face clouded over, but before he could come up with a response, Lydia stepped forward. There was a sly glint in her eyes as she addressed me, "You're pretty confident for someone who's abandoned his team, Nick. These people were all counting on you. I was too.

I shot her a nonchalant look. "Confident, yes. Foolish, no. I know when its time for a group to split. Some might call it survival instinct.” I looked at Kenney, “I’m sure you’ve thought of something similar.”

 

Kenney's lips thinned. He still held onto the resentment of having been displaced as the group leader by Lydia.

"Are you implying that I need to think about my survival?" he challenged, his voice hardened. I didn’t take it personally, the edge in his voice wasn’t just for me.

"I'm just making it clear where my priorities lie," I said, letting the implication hang in the air between us. “Keeping stronger, staying alive, and beating these challenges.”

Lydia's smirk grew wider, as if she was amused by my directness. "Well, isn't that interesting? I guess we all have our own agendas," she replied cryptically.

She then turned back towards the rest of the group, her hair whipping around as she did so. "Let's keep moving. We still have to move across this rooftop to get to the next bridge.”

They took off in one direction towards the greenhouse and I started off in the other, deeper into the impossible forest on the roof.  

Kenney's brow furrowing into a troubled frown. Nevertheless, he nodded, his understanding evident in his silence. As I resumed my course, I sensed his eyes on me, tracking my movements as I took off. I figured he was trying to predict if I really had what it took to survive on my own, or if I was all talk. Or, just as likely, he was speculating about what his own fate had in store for him.

As they trudged on, I moved towards the precarious bridges, my gaze sweeping over their rickety forms. Lydia, the masked player killer, was clever. She had positioned herself as a leader, and by doing so, had placed herself in a safe zone. It would take some time to uncover her true identity to the group. As for Kenney, it was obvious he was still adjusting to his demotion in the group dynamics. The tension between them was palpable, even as they walked away.

Shaking my head, I moved on. They had their own baggage to handle, and I needed to find my way towards a Hidden Dungeon while I could. First, I had to make my way through the rooftop forest.

It wasn’t so much that it was that massive, it was more that the foliage was thick and made it hard to pass through minus what System Fall tried to pass off as game trails. I felt bad about it, but I took out Legender and the glowing blade easily hacked through twisting vines and ivy as I carved a path for myself through the greenery.

It didn’t take long before one of my least favorite monsters worked its way over to the trail I was making. It was a [Carrion Vine] a type of sentient, at least partially sentient plant that ate flesh. I wasn’t a big fan of them. Not because of the danger they posed, but the smell. In another life if I didn’t have my Magic Resistance ability, it would be different, but for now none of its abilities could really effect me.

A vine snapped forward and lashed at me.

“Oh come on, you’ll have to do better than that,” I said, bringing Legender down to cut through the vine.

The first time I’d navigated through the rooftops, I'd stumbled onto a monster we'd labeled Roof Rats. The term felt underwhelming when it came down to what they actually were, almost people like creatures with rat like bodies that scurried around on the rooftops. One of those ran out of the foliage past me, and another Carrion Vine snapped out, splitting the Roof Rat open along its spine before another vine lunged out and did the same.

Then they came for me.

With a swift side-step, I avoided the Carrion Vine’s strike, bringing down Legender in a quick arc. The vine fell to the ground where I’d severed it and the other end rapidly retracted.

Before it had even finished retracting, a new Carrion Vine erupted from the underbrush, its thorny tendrils thrashing around hungrily. It was a primal urging that I couldn’t ignore, but I could use to my advantage as I pressed forward through the last of the trail.

I assumed a defensive stance and Legender started to glass. The vines lashed out again, one, two, three, all at a time with barely any staggering between them, and yet with my enhanced body, I was able to keep up. I cut them down and kept going.

Survival wasn't merely about raw strength; it was about instincts and reflexes, honed to a razor's edge. It was about landing the perfect blow, again and again. And the [Eyes of Legacy] took that ability to a whole new level.

I could see it - the slight shiver of tendrils as the Carrion Vines marked me as their next meal. Their deadly thorns, normally hidden within the sinewy lengths, didn't attack all at once. A near tendril would strike first, followed by its opposite. This fraction of delay was all I needed, a crucial gap for me to exploit. I began picking up patterns in their coiling stems, predicting the strike angles. It defied logic, how a plant without muscles could telegraph its moves. But this was not a world bound by the laws of logic.

Using Eyes of Legacy  gifted me the edge, the precise point to strike. My senses were heightened; I could perceive the imminent adversary and the shifting surroundings. I plunged into the deadly rooftop garden, preempting the next strike, my blade slashing through the expected trajectory. The garden responded with a flurry of vines, each cut down mid-strike.

Soon I’d cleared the rest of the foliage and came out on the other side to find the walled outline of the rooftop, but more importantly, another bridge.

"Good work, Legender," I mumbled to myself, looking at my blade. Legender was exceptional, cutting through the thick stems of the Carrion Vines like butter. Even their corrosive sap didn't affect the blade. It was a great weapon and cleaning it with a flick after use had become a habit.

I put one hand onto the rickety bridge, and then another and started to move my way across. Careful to watch my steps as I did and take nothing for granted.

While moving, I heard the panic stricken cry of a woman and looked to see the rest of the team had cleared the greenhouse and were just now getting to the edge of the rooftop. They were looking haggard.

“Come on! We have to hurry. You saw that right? The hospital is disintegrating! The bridge too!” The lady in the office garb shouted as she looked backwards at something I couldn’t see.

I noticed Kenney come up to her. His voice calm against the crumbling concrete. "It’s going to be ok…”

 His gaze was fixated on the dislodged debris of concrete and iron which plunged into the churning sea of clouds beneath. "She’s right though Lydia. We need to go now.”

Behind them, Lydia said nothing, instead she looked over at me on the bridge with a cold smile and started to usher the team across.

The bridge under my feet was a feat of hasty engineering by the system. It was constructed from an odd mix of wooden planks and metallic sheets.  Each wooden segment was rough and uneven, providing a challenging surface to navigate.

With every step I took, the planks creaked in worrying protest, threatening to give away under my weight. Splinters of wood peeked from the planks, reminding me of those who’d been less cautious.

Despite the wind moving against me, causing the bridge to sway slightly, there were no handrails to steady myself. The only options were to move forward or fall. Especially with the buildings behind me starting to collapse. I needed to move.