Garrick had a good life in his little camp. The beasts in the area were weak, and no powerful faction had discovered him yet. He had faced several close encounters with the undead, but one day, they simply vanished. Now, life was better than ever.
He exited the system shop after purchasing a new armor set, one that suited his needs perfectly. Towering trees stretched high above his camp, their dense canopy rendering it nearly invisible, even to creatures flying overhead. His base was filled with strong individuals, each striving for the perfect evolution. So had even begun learning professions. They now had smiths, builders, runemakers, and alchemists. It was a remarkable achievent for such a small settlent, and Garrick took great pride in his people.
No one dared challenge his position. He had only needed to kill one of his fighters, a man who had been unfortunate enough to possess a legendary helt that Garrick wanted. To everyone else, he spun a tale about a powerful beast attacking them and how, despite his efforts, he couldn’t save the man. A tragic loss, truly. He wasn’t foolish enough to wear the helt imdiately. Instead, he stored it safely in his spatial ring, along with the corpse. He was confident that nothing could shake his mood at the mont.
Then, a notification appeared on his status screen.
Survivors, the tutorial will end soon.
In two weeks, all participants will be teleported to the fifth stage.
In three weeks, the next special quest will appear. More information will be provided in two weeks.
The tutorial will conclude in six weeks.
At that ti, you will be teleported to a random location in the new world.
All spatial rings and constructed buildings will be reclaid. In compensation, you will receive rewards based on how much you owned.
Garrick’s eyes widened as he reread the ssage. What the hell was going on? Had the system lost its mind? Why grant them spatial rings only to take them away? They would have to start from scratch in the new world, carrying only what they could physically hold. Perhaps the system shop offered more spatial rings, but if they would be confiscated, what would be the point? None of this made sense.
The worst part was that they would be forced into the fifth stage against their will. If one of the true powerhouses discovered them, they would be slaughtered without a chance to resist. Hopefully, the special quest would be completed before then. Otherwise, that cursed Ankhet would be coming for their heads.
They needed stronger defenses. But if the system was going to reclaim everything, would they still receive rewards if their buildings were destroyed? Probably not. That ant buying more structures was a waste of resources. Garrick didn’t have many credits to spare, and he wasn’t about to throw them away. It was smarter to run and hide. He had no confidence in winning a fight against the vampires, so why sacrifice precious resources protecting others?
That didn’t an he had to burn all his bridges just yet. He could still use the people in his base to his advantage, at least until it was too late for them to realize what was happening. If he saved his money during the next system shop visit, he might be able to afford an escape token. That was a far better investnt than fortifications that wouldn’t last.
The others continued about their business, oblivious to the notification. They probably hadn’t seen it yet. Without hesitation, Garrick slipped out of the gate, setting off on another hunting trip. He had no intention of being there when they finally realized their fate.
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