Astral Hoarder: Embrace of Malevolence

— Back at the Webstorm Technologies Building —

There was an uneasy silence here. And it was only made worse by the soft flickering light of the overhead.

On the second level of the building, people were huddling together. They were a group of survivors, at the centre, a pile of food they had to keep safe and hidden.

After all, there were too many of them and too little food to go around. But recently, they had almost forgotten about this since something had happened recently. They had all but forgotten about the paper and debris that they had been using only a few hours before. 

In this place that used to be a productive office, they had no clue what to do. After all, they had just come across something that they could not understand no matter how it was floating in front of them. It was pretty interesting to see and it was pretty funny to see that thing.

Jacques was pacing back and forth at that moment, looking at Maya who was sitting beside the manager in the group with the executives. Even in this place, everyone was split up like some shitty hierarchy while staying together. The teams were sitting together and the executives were together.

Although he felt a pang of pain in his heart when he saw Maya there along with the executives, who had taken most of the food, leaving almost nothing for him even though it was his idea, he still understood that it was all his fault.

If he had kept quiet... if he had gotten himself the advantage without telling anyone else, would he still be in this shitty situation? Would he not be the one who had food and drink right now, other than those lazy executives? 

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Zimo was probably right on this too. Back then he had seen it coming. Even though Jacques was quick on the uptake, he was slow to realise just how bad the situation was going to get.

In his frustration, Jacque began mumbling. "What the hell are we supposed to do with these... things? Abilities, beasts, whatever they are!" He gestured wildly at the glowing, faintly pulsating panel that hovered in the air in front of him.

|————————————

| Universal Tamer System || Stats || Skills | Beasts | Missions | Store | 

—————

Name: Jacques Smith

BC (Beast Coins): 0

Level: 0

States: {Hint: States for a peak human are at 100s for every category}

—————>

Health, Well-Being, Satiety: 87% ++

Energy, Stamina, Vitality: 93% ++

Mentality, Decision-Making, Focus: 82% --

Mana, Casting, Magical Power: 100%

<—————

Physical Stats: {Hint: Basic Stats for a peak normal human are at 10s for every category}

—————>

Dexterity (Agility, Flexibility) → 7

Strength (Speed, Power) → 12

Constitution (Endurance, Health) → 10

Intelligence (Memory, Reasoning) → 12

Charisma (Charm, Persuasion) → 14

Wisdom (Intuition, Adaptability) → 8

Spirit (Mental State, Character) → 11

<—————

Magical Stats: {Hint: Basic Stats for a peak normal human are at 0s for every category}

—————>

Mana (Magical Energy Pool) → 0 (2 * 0)

Arcane Knowledge (Magical Ability) → Rank 1D

Mystic Control (Magical Energy Control and Talent) →Rank 1C

Elemental Affinity (Connection to Elements) → Fire(C Rank)

<—————

————————————|

|————————————

| Universal Tamer System | Stats || Skills || Beasts | Missions | Store | 

—————

{Hint: Only Magical Skills will be listed here. We don't care about your mundane ability to balance on your hands like some ape.}

Taming Skills: {2 Skills}

—————>

>> [Tame (F Rank)]

>> [Beast Eye (F Rank)]

<—————

Magical Skills: {No Skills}

Combat Skills: {No Skills}

Support Skills:{No Skills}

————————————|

Funnily enough, the people around him could see the panel, but they could not see any words on it. What an incredible thing. The more he looked at it the less he understood. He was not a gamer by any right. But he understood that some of those were game terms. It was so obvious to him. Luckily, he had a gamer in his team.

Anyway, it wasn't just Jacques that was confused. Everyone else was just as confused. And the executives? Well, they did not seem to care. They did not have a need to do this kind of low-level thinking. That was what employees were for.

Jacques couldn't help but sneer when he thought of that. And then he again remembered Zimo's words, making him sneer even harder this time at himself and the man who was so far away from everyone else at that moment.

If the world had truly taken a shift… If it was true that there was no need for all these company dynamics and helping each other… then maybe he had been prioritising the wrong things...

Maybe he should have been focusing on himself, on making his situation get better. Maybe if he had a lot of things to himself, then Maya would be with him, and not with those greedy fuckers who had stolen his hard work for themselves.

The others looked just as perplexed. Alex, sitting cross-legged on a desk, sighed loudly. "I didn't sign up for this. I just wanted a desk job. Now, we're talking about taming beasts? What even is this?"

Jacques turned to Alex, frowning. If you're going to talk at least come up with some good ideas, you fat bastard! Before anyone could respond, the door burst open with a loud bang, causing everyone to jump. Felix, the intern, stood there, panting heavily, his face flushed with excitement.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed, clutching his phone as if it was a lifeline. "I know what to do! I think I understand it."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You? Who are you again?"

Jacques stood up, coming forward as everyone else turned to them, saying, "He's the intern."

Jacques was getting a bit excited at that moment, after all, information was power. This was something everyone knew in business. He had stolen this smart kid from another team ever since he had come up with the idea of calling Zimo, and now he knew that there was more to the situation.

Jacques had wanted to tell Felix to say whatever was on his mind, but he was beaten to the punch by the president, who sat there looking at him while drinking a can of coke.

"You're telling me you've got the answer?" the fat man said with a supercilious look, taking away all the attention of everyone else from the man to him. And then when they turned back to Felix, only to see him nod enthusiastically, they all listened intently.

"I didn't understand it before… But it makes total sense now. I'm freaking out because Senior Zimo once caught me playing this Beast taming game and he didn't rat on me… What am I saying? Anyway, I've played tons of games like this! Beast taming games. It's a Beast Taming Game System!"

"We know that already, Felix! Tell us something we dont know." Someone said this at that moment and it mimicked everyone's feelings. They already knew about this Taming. It was literally in the name... But making it seem like a game was... What was this a joke?

"They always follow the same logic. If we want to tame these things, we need to match their elemental affinities and then cast the [Tame] Skill that we all have. You know, like if you have fire affinity, you can only match with a fire Beast, water with water Beast, that kind of stuff. If we find the right match, we can tame them. Of course, skills have some conditions, that you have to make sure to follow. Like for example, you cannot tame a beast that is over five levels above you."

"Slow down, Felix," Jacques said, approaching him and patting him on the back with a smile on his face. His eyes were glinting with ambition as he said, "Explain it to us carefully."

"Okay… So you have a level and a [Tame] Skill. And you also have an [Beast Eye] Skill, which will allow you to see the information of Beasts! Putting together this information, you will need to use the [Beast Eye] to check your attribute, and then tame the Beast that has the same affinity as you!"

The group stared at him, blank faces betraying their scepticism.

"Are you seriously basing our survival on video game mechanics?" Maya asked dryly, having gotten up from the floor and now leaning against a nearby wall with her arms crossed. Was this nerd serious? There was no way this was a game! People were dying out there, and someone was saying this was a game...

Anyway, she really couldn't be bothered to hear all this, but she was still pretty interested. After all, she would either be listening to this, or listening to those disgusting executives and higher-ups talking shit about going back home and seeing their kids that had already died for sure.

Everything was fucked. She was so lucky she had no boyfriend or girlfriend. And she had nobody to look to to see something other than whatever she wanted.

Felix shrugged. "You got a better idea?"

Everyone stared at him. They did not have a better idea. But hearing this idea, that was based on the ideas of some nerds... How was it possible to believe? Wait, they were an app development company. So didn't that mean they were a company of nerds?

Jacques on the other hand was looking at Felix with bright eyes. He could feel it. This kid was probably right and it was so obvious. How could these idiots not get it?

There was insight in some of his words. As he thought this far, he thought back to ZImo... Maybe Zimo was an idiot after all. How was he going to live alone? In a situation like this, you need to split up into different responsibilities. And it was pretty obvious to see how it would work. Like a group of people that worked together to build something real together

This Felix Brat was a genius. He was going to keep him by is side for sure!

Just as Jacques was about to say something, a deafening crash echoed through the building, followed by bloodcurdling screams.

Everyone froze. What the hell was that? That was on the first level was it not? Had the Zombies or Deadspawn come in? No, they had been trying all day and they had still managed to put a scratch there.

Everyone sped to the windows, and then when they saw that the streets below were almost empty, with only some zombies coming due to the noise, they couldn't help but wonder. Where were all the zombies? And why was it so quiet, as if the zombies had all run away from something...

Wait, if the Zombies were gone then... If it wasn't a zombie, then what exactly was it?

The sound of shattering glass and heavy footsteps grew louder, reverberating through the hallways beneath them and then in the next moment when they heard something come up the stairs, coming towards them, they began running backwards.

"What the hell is that?" Rob whispered, his face pale as he moved towards the walls and away from the stairs.

The Executives and Managers were all moving away and when they saw the people attempt to move with them, the CEO bellowed. "Everyone come here and grab a weapon. Be ready to defend yourselves!! Stand together!!"

After hearing those words, everyone was completely disturbed and then they understood. There was strength in numbers. If they all stood together and worked together, then they would at least be able to face whatever was coming.

The group scrambled to arm themselves with whatever they could find—broken chair legs, metal rods, even a stapler or two. They gathered near the wall, their breaths shallow as the footsteps approached.

And, funnily enough, the executives had managed to huddle themselves in the centre, with all those bodies around them, prepared to protect them. The CEO was such a quick thinker. It was impossible to not be impressed with the Leader's leadership.

Even Jacques grabbed Felix, making sure he couldn't get away. This smart kid was going to help him reshape his future. He had felt the same way about Zimo before, and it had worked out well for him. It was the same this time too.

Then, in the next moment, it appeared.

It was a massive feline creature, its fur a shimmering silver and purple streaked with black stripes, and it stalked into the room, looking around. Its glowing eyes scanned the survivors with a terrifying intelligence. 

It was no ordinary cat; its size was as large as a small car, and its presence radiated an aura of danger. Everyone stood there with bated breath. This creature had entered, ascended the stairs, and was now staring at them. It was going to attack them, right? They were going to die.

The room fell deathly silent. Completely silent except for the words of one person that echoed the room.

"Phoebe?"

Phoebe? Who was Phoebe?