Chapter 2: Man vs Goblin

Name：Apocalypse Tamer Author：
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Chapter 2: Man vs Goblin

The basement trembled as Basil switched on the back-up generator. The mechanical device hummed as it gluttonously tapped into a gas cylinder to make that sweet, sweet electricity.

Here we go, Basil muttered to himself. All good.

The house had suffered an hour-long outage before electricity came back and Basil expected more. Either bug monsters had damaged the cables or electrical engineers no longer maintained the grid. Running water might last a few more weeks, but it would go out too in time.

Old Man Ren had spent most of his meager pension funds into installing a solar panel system on the roof, but he could never rely on the sun all year long. The Landes were a temperate region with their share of rain, windstorms, and obscured skies. As such, the old man had brought a second home generator and stockpiled gas to fuel it. Basil could probably last for years if he rationed electricity, and the stream outside would provide clear water once purified the old-fashioned way.

Guess you were half-right, Old Man, Basil said. A disaster came, but not in the form you expected.

Old Man Ren had bet the world would end with a devastating nuclear war, and Basil because of global warming fostering the development of pandemics. None of them could have predicted an alien invasion from video game monsters.

After checking the generator, Basil went on to review the food reserve. The freezer was filled to the brim with fries, fish, deer meat, and frozen vegetables. Rows after rows of canned food filled the basements shelves, alongside pasta, rice, oil, and last but not least, the Old Mans extensive collection of ricard pastis bottles.

Although Ren loved to sit in the garden to sip a glass of ricard in the evening, Basil had sworn off alcohol after watching his father drink himself to oblivion. He had never touched the bottles since the Old Mans passing.

A screen popped up as Basil checked the closest bottles brand.

Old Rens RicardFamily: Consumable (Potion)Quality: DEffect: Applies the [Drunk] ailment on a failed Vitality check.Rens favorite brand of pastis which has now been discontinued. Tastes of nostalgia.

Basil didnt remember taking anything before bed last night, but could he have drunk a dangerous substance giving him hallucinations somehow? Or eaten a bad mushroom? Is that why Im seeing this? Basil asked the screen. Did I drink something and dont remember it? Am I drunk?

Negative.

Am I high?

Negative.

Did I take LSD?

Negative.

Am I dreaming?

Negative.

Hallucinating?

Negative.

Delusional?

Negative.

Dead?

Negative.

Not even in purgatory?

Negative.

Schizophrenic?

Negative.

Under alien influence?

Negative.

In a virtual game?

Negative, this is real.

Do I have a government chip in my head?

Negative.

Okay you win, nothing else comes to mind.

Dismaker Labs wishes you a happy apocalypse!

That name again Basil knew he had heard it before, but where? Questions for later. Also, he said while staring at Rens ricard pastis, why does a bottle of alcohol come up with a description, but nothing else?

Your Intelligence Stat is too low to provide information on most items.

Are you calling me dumb?! Basil choked on his own indignation. Ive got a Masters Degree in fucking Pharmacovigilance!

Which never earned him a high-paying job, but still!

Your current Intelligence score is 11.

Yes, the screen was calling him stupid. Who said that, an internet IQ score?

You can check your stats by selecting Status in your menu.

Basil followed the instruction and an enormous wall of text appeared before his eyes.

Name

Basil Jean-Franois Bohen

Type

Humanoid

Faction

Basils Unnamed Party

EXP

100/250

Immune

Resist

Weak

N/A

Physical, Corrosion, Metal, Wood, Fire, Water, all Ailments.

Manslayer, Soul, Wind, Lightning, Light.

Level

Health Points

Special Points

1 (Tamer 1)

650

235

Strength

Agility

Vitality

Skill

18

16

17

14

Magic

Intelligence

Charisma

Luck

8

11

15

11

Physical

Mind

Soul

Corrosion

Metal

Wood

Life

Support

Ailment

Strong

-

Weak

Strong

Strong

Strong

-

-

Strong

Fire

Water

Earth

Wind

Frost

Lightning

Light

Darkness

Mythic

Strong

Strong

-

Weak

-

Weak

Weak

-

-

Passive Perks

Active Perks

Monster Charmer I

N/A

Basil blinked at the sheer amount of information and struggled to make sense out of it. It looked very much like an RPG game characters sheet, but it included a compendium of elements for some reason.

Basil remembered seeing things like +1 INT or +1 CHA when he leveled up. He guessed they were shorthands for the stats on the screen. Did that mean Basil started with a 10 in Intelligence? Was that good? Bad? Average?

Basil suddenly felt very insecure about his IQ score.

So if my intelligence stat increases, he asked for confirmation, Im getting smarter?

Intelligence improves spell memorization, influences your chances of learning crafting recipes, unlocks many Crafter classes and provides information on items and enemies.

So it didnt improve intelligence as much as knowledge. Since the screen appeared in a good enough mood to answer his questions for now, Basil fished for more details. What about the other stats? What do they do?

Of course, a goddamn wall of text came up. Basil grunted as he forced himself to read everything.

Health Points represent your life; if they reach 0 after taking enough damage, you die. Special Points represent a pool of energy used to power active perks such as spells or techniques. Both HP and SP regenerate over time.Strength represents your physical might. Strength affects access to many Fighter classes, the power of weapon attacks, and your ability to wear heavy equipment.Magic represents your spellcasting might. Magic affects access to Spellcaster classes, the power of magical abilities, and your odds of learning new spells.Skill represents dexterity, accuracy, and perception. It affects your chances of detecting enemies, your odds of hitting a target, and access to many Rogue classes.Agility represents your speed, reflexes, and chances of dodging attacks. The higher it is, the faster you will move and react. High Agility will also allow you to attack more often.Vitality represents your constitution; it affects your resistance to ailments, tolerance for physical damage, and rate of HP recovery.Charisma represents your personal charm and willpower. It affects the power of your support abilities, tolerance for magical damage, and rate of SP recovery.Luck represents your good fortune. It mostly affects critical hits, drop rates of items, and your chances of triggering beneficial events.

Thank you, Mr. Tutorial. Basils piss-poor magic didnt surprise him, since he had never cast a spell in his life, and his physical stats looked good. He guessed exercising regularly had paid off.

Come to think of it, Basil remembered that some options of the System could be changed with the setting option. He immediately checked it and a list of propositions appeared before his eyes, none of them good.

Disable Auto-Translate?Disable Level-Ups?Disable Menu Features?Disable Quests?Increase Difficulty?

Wait, you win this game by reaching level 100 and become Overgod, right? Basil asked, utterly confused. So whats the point of disabling level-ups?

Some players enjoy the thrill of death more than the possibility of becoming Overgod.

So it was an option for masochists. What about difficulty?

You can increase the difficulty to Hard. Enemies will inflict x1.5 more damage and they will receive x0.75 damage from your attacks. Once chosen, Hard difficulty cannot be disabled.

Is there any practical benefit to it?

You get a nice visual icon on your System Screen.

Ill pass.

Basil couldnt imagine what kind of madman would make the apocalypse harder for themselves. Come to think of it, all of the setting changes available involved worsening the users conditions rather than easing them up.

Basil was about to ask more questions when he heard a noise coming from upstairs. Whats happening?!

Little green men in the garden! Plato shouted back from upstairs. They want to eat the hens!

Sighing in exasperation, Basil prepared to defend his property again. Thankfully, Basil had checked up on Old Man Rens belongings after the centipede attack and found his hunting rifle.

Basil had never seriously used a firearm, but it couldnt be too hard. Just point and fire, right?

Right.

When Basil barged out of his house with the hunting rifle loaded, he found Plato and the red centipede shielding the coop and hutch from a gang of five monsters.

The little green pigs would have been a better term to describe the creatures rampaging through his yard. No bigger than human children, the beasts had snouts, boar-like tusks, and red tufts of hair on their skulls. Though they moved on two legs and carried wood branches as improvised clubs, the creatures wore nothing more than tattered loincloths. Pustules grew all over their green hides.

GoblinLevel 1 [Beast]New Quest: Baddest Ogre in TownRecommended Level: 5.Objective: Conquer the Barthes Dungeon by defeating Ogremoche.Reward: 500 Bonus EXP + [Ogre Necklace].Critical Hit!Your party earned 500 EXP (166 EXP each). You earned 1 level!

Faction

Basils Unnamed Party

Experience

266/500

Immune

Resist

Weak

N/A

Corrosion, all Ailments, Wood, Earth

Bugslayer, Mind, Frost, Water, Wind

Level

Health Points

Special Points

1+1

730

175

Strength

Agility

Vitality

Skill

26

(C+20%)

13

(D+20%)

24

(C+20%)

10

(C+20%)

Magic

Intelligence

Charisma

Luck

3

(E+20%)

9

(E+20%)

9

(D+20%)

14

(D+20%)

Physical

Mind

Soul

Corrosion

Metal

Wood

Life

Support

Ailment

-

Weak

-

Strong

-

Strong

-

-

Strong

Fire

Water

Earth

Wind

Frost

Lightning

Light

Darkness

Mythic

-

Weak

Strong

Weak

Weak

-

-

-

-

Passive Perks

Active Perks

Poisoned Fangs

N/A

Carapace

N/A

Tremorsense

N/A

From what Basil read, he was in a team with his two pets and experience points were shared between them. But why was their level marked as 1+1 instead of 2?

Oh wait, the monsters in my group cant be a higher level than me, Basil thought. Ive got to assign mine before they can do the same.

I dont see any Classes on your stat sheet, Basil informed his allies. Is that normal?

Classes? Thats something for humans, Boss! The centipede uncoiled from his last victim. We monsters, we gain new Perks by evolving into stronger forms once we level up enough!

Could I become a lion? Plato raised his tail with sudden interest. A smilodon?

So the letters and percentage beneath their stats were their expected growths on a level-up? Good to know. Basil was about to ask the centipede a very important question when another came up first. Whats your name?

The centipede gave Basil a funny look. Im sorry, Boss?

Whats your name? Basil asked. Im tired of calling you centipede in my thoughts.

The bug lowered his antennae in shame. I dont have a name.

You dont have a name?! Plato mocked him while licking goblin blood off his fur.

I-I thought a human would drop one upon dying!

Well, Ill give you one right now Basil trailed off until he had a eureka moment. He snapped his fingers, proud of himself. Bugsy. Bugsy Alphonse Venture.

Powerful. Sophisticated. Transgressive.

Bugsy looked up at Basil with his beautiful green eyes, astonished by the honor done to him. B-Bugsy, Boss? It sounds a bit stupi

Are you talking to me, Bugsy Alphonse Venture? Basil interrupted his uppity minion.

N-No, Boss! Bugsy immediately submitted to the pecking order and accepted his fate. Its a great name!

Red Centipedes name has been changed to: Bugsy Alphonse Venture.

Perfect, Basil said. Now, Bugsy, did you repair the fence and the greenhouse?

As it turned out, he did a poor job out of it. Bugsy had closed the hole in the fence with a pile of stones and melded back the glass shards of the greenhouse with his poisonous saliva. A shoddy work all over.

When Basil finished his inspection, Bugsy flattened on the ground like a living carpet. His antennae wavered in fear. Clearly, he expected his head to roll. So, Boss?

I give you some points for effort. In retrospect, Basil should have known that an armless centipede would make a poor manual laborer. Okay, Ill consider your debt paid. If you swear never to harm another human again, Ill let you go.

Go? To Basils surprise, Bugsy looked downright horrified. But where?

Anywhere you want. Basil frowned. What, you wanna stay with us?

Can I? Bugsy whistled in happiness. Your nest is so warm and safe, Boss and youre so tough! Nobodys going to mess with us and live to tell the tale!

Nobody dumb enough to threaten someone with a rifle at least, Basil thought. Well, in that case, welcome to the team long-term.

Plato was all too happy to exploit the situation. I will allow you to live if you respect my seniority. You will hunt food for me whenever I feel too important to walk.

The poor centipede didnt dare to argue. Yes, Mr. Plato!

Youll protect the chicken and the rabbits when I let them out of their homes, Basil ordered Bugsy. No more intrusion on your watch.

Yes, Boss! Bugsy nodded furiously. No living goblin will get past the fence!

What do we do with the dead ones? Plato asked while pointing at the pile of goblin corpses. Do we dump them in the river? Or do we feed them to the chickens?

Are goblins even edible? Basil asked, slightly curious.

Plato smelled the goblins, exchanged a glance with his owner, and then looked back at the corpses.

A few hours later, Basils pets anxiously watched their owner as he took the days dinner out of the oven.

Basil put the plate on the counter and cut off a piece with a long kitchen knife. The tender goblin meat seemed to melt as the sharp steel edge sliced it. Basil had stuffed the creature with apple, onions, and mushrooms before adding a dash of pepper. The whole thing was served on a bed of homemade potatoes. Their soft golden surface cracked from the heat with an appetizing sound.

Basil raised his fork like a man going to war, stabbed the slice of meat with a deft strike



And ate it.

A tense silence settled in the kitchen as Basils teeth sank into the meat, his tongue savoring the flavor. So? Plato asked while wagging his tail.

They taste a bit like boar, a bit like duck too, Basil answered before taking another bite. More than that, it tasted like karma and victory. Its good, you can eat it.

Basil watched on with happiness as Plato and Bugsy ate their fill of meat. That settled the matter.

Goblins were the new boars.