Chapter 77: Resetting the Clock (Patreon)

Damian and I braced ourselves against the door. The zombies pounded at it and we felt a jolt go through us each time. Neither of us said anything, but we were both wondering if this door would hold.

After a few more minutes, some shouting and screaming caught the monster’s attention. They forgot about the door and ran off after an easier meal.

I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on a nearby chair.

“You know we can’t stay here,” said Damian.

“I do. I just need a moment to check in with the others and allocate my points.”

Stats

Name: Lucas Hudson

Race: Human (Class F)

Class: Blood Reaver Level 26

Currency: 212 coins

Strength: 165

Vitality: 150

Intelligence: 20

Constitution: 110

Dexterity: 563

Perception: 277

Willpower: 17

Free points remaining: 425

Seeing 425 points sitting in my menu ready to be allocated felt good. Between the high level zombies and the men I’d killed in the tavern, it had been quite a productive day. But as I looked my stats over, I realized that I’ve been leaning a little too heavily on dexterity. Sure, my speed and grace were far beyond most of the other humans I’d encountered, but I couldn’t let my secondary stats fall too far behind. That zombie that had grabbed my ankle in the cemetery was a testament to that.

I threw a hundred points each into strength, vitality, constitution, and perception, while the remaining twenty-five went into dexterity. I clicked accept and felt a rush of power surge through me. My body instantly growing in strength and toughness. It felt like I could crush a mountain or that bullets would bounce right off of my toughened skin.

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the feeling, and even Damian, who was usually so stoic, let out a small smile as he upgraded his stats.

His face went blank when he saw the rare loot box I put onto the table.

“Is that from the town founder quest?” he asked.

I nodded.

“You know solving the quest is what caused all of this? Though I guess I can’t blame you. Part of the terms I was given for founding the town is that no one could know it was me. As long as my identity remained a secret, the town could continue to exist. It said the town would help people, but by the time Martin started to corrupt it, it felt too late to back out. Now people are getting slaughtered because of me.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“No? If this town had never been built, then everyone would have stayed in the wilderness fighting for points and focusing on climbing down the tower. I tried to help, but all it did was make some of them weak.”

“Some of that is on them. They saw how the System would alter the rules by enacting things like the curfew. If they thought of the System as their friend, then the blame lies with them.”

“Do you think she’s dead?” he asked, suddenly switching topic.

It took me a moment to realize that he’s asking about his wife. Both the grave and the mural inside the church pointed to that being the case, but then again, that might just be the System messing with him. It was more the idea of Martin holding this woman captive for so long that made it seem unlikely. To me, it sounded like a lie Martin had made up to taunt Damian with.

“Yes,” I said honestly.

He gave no reaction except to merely nod. We were both a little pessimistic, and it seemed like the most likely outcome.

“Do you know where the quest title came from? The Rose, the Thorn, and the Root? Maria was pregnant right before this all started. I think I’m supposed to be the thorn and Maria the root that supports the rose that was supposed to be our baby.”

“I’m sorry.”

I didn’t know what else to say. Damian nodded again and turned away to have a moment to himself.

I returned to consider the Rare loot box and pushed the button while silently hoping for a jetpack. I mean, we are dealing with aliens here. A jetpack shouldn’t be out of the question.

The box opened up with a spray of confetti to reveal an amulet on a silver chain with a dark red teardrop crystal.

*Item Identified!* [The Amulet of Aamon, Rare: F-Grade] – This is a gift freely given by Samara, the Red Queen. It is an amulet crafted with a single drop of blood from a god long since dead. Any blood related Class who wears it will see a temporary boost in all stats when they make contact with the enemy’s blood. The time window for this bonus stat boost is very short, unless renewed with fresh blood.

I put the amulet on and tucked it under my clothes. I was surprised to see that Samara was still interested in helping me, but I was happy to take the item. It wouldn’t break Yakeshi’s rule around blood drinking and adding a temporary power boost to my blood power repertoire sounded perfect.

Damian saw the amulet but didn’t ask about it, so I went into party chat to figure out where everyone stood.

[Lucas Hudson: Are you guys still here?]

[Elise Evans: Yes, the zombies have ignored us so far. Maybe because we’re so high up that they can’t sense us? It doesn’t look like anyone else has been so lucky.]

[Lucas Hudson: You should take the elevator and get out of here. You’ve got Earnest’s resident’s pass. The three of you can get to safety now.]

[Hugo: What? No way! I’m not leaving.]

[Elise Evans: We can’t leave, anyway. I checked the elevator, and it’s not working. I think the System has put this floor on lockdown.]

I clenched my fists and resisted the urge to smash something. The System wanted people to rush for the elevators, but it didn’t want them to actually escape. Nobody is allowed to just run away. If you benefited from the town, then you have to stay for the consequences.

Even worse, it was hard to tell if the clock tower was safe in the long term.

[Elise Evans: Shit. I think one of the zombies might have noticed me when I looked out of the window.]

No, they couldn’t stay there. Eventually, the zombies would tear the town apart looking for people. Searching the clock tower would be inevitable for them.

[Lucas Hudson: With every second that passes, they get smarter and faster. Stay where you are and we’ll come to you.]

They wanted to argue some more, but I wouldn’t hear of it. The safest plan was for me to get to them and then we leave the town together as a group.

*New Quest Unlocked* [Resetting the clock will take more than brute force] – It’s that moment when everything is at stake and you wonder if things couldn’t go back to how they were before. The simpler times. But resetting the clock won’t be easy. It will require daring and taking ownership. It’ll be a thankless job at this point, but someone’s got to do it.

“Did you get the quest?” I asked Damian.

“I did. Though I have no idea what it means.”

What was it that the others had said? That the System always offers a solution, and it’s never as unfair as it first appears. This is the System’s way of dealing with the zombies. It’s offering us a way to save the town, but how?

What if resetting the clock wasn’t just a metaphor? I asked Damian about it, who frowned.

“That could be the case,” he said. “The System is rarely random and it would explain why it chose to put a clock tower in the center of town.”

“Which, if Elise is right, is the most zombie infested part of the town.”

“Taking ownership might relate to you specifically as well, since you possess the clock tower key.”

It was interesting timing. The quest appeared right after we’d decided to get to the clock tower and then flee. Almost like it was afraid that we’d do that. It wants to keep us in the town and it wants its quests to be completed. The System said that doing it would be a thankless job, which means it wouldn’t bring anyone back to life.

Still, this could end the zombies before they got too powerful and unlock the elevators again. That was more than good enough for me.

Together, Damian and I strategized a plan that would get us to the clock tower. We assumed that every zombie would out level us at this point and factored that into the plan.

With nothing left to say, we stood up and readied ourselves to face the zombie horde that was waiting outside.