Systematic Survival

36 - The Headline

Matt started to wake up as he got a notification on his phone. He blinked a few times before reading it.

[Direct Deposit Received for $300]

He had gotten his paycheck from his bookstore job.

'Nice, now I can finally finish the rent quest!'

He got up from his bed and instantly checked the quest.

__________

[Quest in Progress]

Pay the Rent [$989/800] [Reward: +Mystery Reward, +30xp]

__________

'Ok, so I guess I actually need to pay it for it to work. I assumed that anyway.'

He closed the menu and got dressed for the day. He realized that, if he was really going to leave for college, this would be his last day of work. He felt a bit sentimental but remembered that this was the best choice.

The world wouldn't be the same soon, and so it would be better to level faster. The bookstore didn't really give him quests anymore, so being in an environment like a college would be more beneficial.

'I really want to get that mystery reward so I'll just head over to pay now!'

He counted all the cash he had and realized he needed to withdraw the rest he needed from an ATM. So, he headed outside and checked his map skill for the nearest ATM machine.

But, he realized it didn't display any. It seemed to only display locations.

'Oh, I guess I need to upgrade that again.'

He put away his map skill for now and just used his phone. He found the closest one and started to head over. After a few minutes, he arrived.

He withdrew what he needed and then headed back to his apartment block to drop off the rent in the front office. But as he was walking back, he heard something strange in a passing conversation.

"Did you see the article about that flying guy?"

"What? You need to stop getting into those conspiracy theories."

"No, I'm telling you, bro, it's real! Everyone's talking about it! Look, they even got a video."

"Come on man, that looks so fake! Look, it's even blurry! They were trying to cover up the CGI!"

Matt paused and his heart jumped. Normally, he would've brushed off something like this as a fake rumor, but he knew about the system. He instantly knew what it could mean.

'Why did I never consider that there were other beta testers?!'

He searched online for the article and found it instantly. And the headline read:

[The Flying Man, Superhero, or Something Else?!]

It seemed to be popular. It described that many eyewitness reports talked about seeing someone flying. Not using a plane but with their body.

He clicked on the video, and while it was a bit blurry, he saw a figure flying from building to building. He wondered why they didn't just keep going, and instead kept landing every block or so. But he imagined it was some sort of limitation of their ability.

He was familiar with games and knew that closed beta releases usually involved a few thousand people. It had just honestly slipped his mind that this system would work like that too. He was too obsessed with preparing for the public release, he had forgotten to watch his back for other players now.

He assumed they probably wouldn't be aggressive, but it would still be better to be safe, just in case. He planned on really trying to lay low from now on. Who cared about scientists, he needed to worry about players.