DIE TRYING [A Roguelite Extraction LitRPG]

Almost everything was hitting his vitality. Dexterity and stamina were also down a stat point each too. Was this his subconscious trying to tell him to see a doctor or something? No, that would require asking for time off, and he'd need to dig into his wallet.

Wowowow, that's a lot of debuffs (；￣Д￣)

Well. Play was back. "You're just learning this now!?"

Learning it for the first time, same as you are. I don't know everything bub.

The notion boggled Wade's mind. "How could you not know? Aren't you supposed to be a god!?"

Here you go being mean again (≖､≖╬)

I am a divinity. Of games and stories, remember? This wouldn't be a very fun game or interesting story if I already knew how it goes right? Where's the adventure, the shared discovery?

"If you wanted to win some stupid game, pick some jock or olympian MMA fighter. Or some spec ops military hero, I don't even know. There's hundreds of people better fit for this. Why me?"

He was literally a half-crippled retail wage slave, basically, according to the debuffs here. His chances of surviving a horror game like this were just about zero.

Cause Market picked you. And he's the god of fortune and trade.

"I don't follow."

If the god of gambling picks red forty-three, I'd put all my money on red forty-three too. He found earth by sheer luck, ofc I'd pick who he ended up going to. Market's waaaaay stronger than anyone thinks.

Another text appeared under.

Also, I owe him a lot for the whole finding earth thing. He got a chance to be part of THE GAME but wasn't lucid enough to accept at the time, so I figured I'd help out in his place. Don't tell him I got soft (￣▽￣*)ゞ

"This is what you call help?!" Seriously, whoever or whatever Play was, it seemed more hellbent on annoying him.

You got the game system didn't you? The system that turns everything into game logic? The system that can warp reality itself around you? That little system? Kind of a big deal Michael, you should use it~

Wade groaned, but he knew there was a point to this: There was a System, and surviving whatever shit this was, he'd need to use all of it. "What exactly is it? The System?"

Too many questions, not enough walking boo ┐(︶▽︶)┌

"I'm going to walk straight into a trap and die at this rate, Play."

You got one more thing to identify before you win the quest right? Maybe you'll identify a trap ahead~

Ah. That's what Play was after. Maybe Identify really could catch a trap early, which might even be the final unique target he needed for a weapon.

Think about it this way, if a colony of ants used tiny rocks to spell out your name and the words 'sugarcube pls', would you give it to them? For fun? Curiosity maybe?

Wade stopped, processing. "Uh, sure?"

Exactly. We're the ants. And we managed to get its attention.

An ant drawing the attention of a human… "You summoned Cthulhu?"

lmao, sorta. Maybe scale's the best way to explain it. If Azdrial is a cute little bacteria, then the System would be a blue whale and we're inside it. Maybe in the kidneys or embedded in the side of a bone.

"But how is it able to turn reality itself into a video game? Just because it's huge doesn't mean it can bend the laws of reality."

Ants probably also think pure sugar's impossible. And yet some little ant happened to ask for the impossible anyhow and the eldritch entity dropped an entire skyscraper's worth of it. Point is, the System is massive. Like universe massive. That kind of power can do just about anything it wants. All it needed was the right nudge ♡(>ᴗ•)

He asked a few more questions, but Play danced around the subject again and again, telling him part of the fun was to figure out the answer himself. Apparently there was an answer, and Play knew it. The ant analogy was the most he was going to get out of that god however.

For now, Wade decided to think of the System as Cthulhu itself: Some incomprehensible higher dimensional being or order that could overwrite reality, and the gods here apparently managed to get it to help. As for the reasons why they'd do that, Wade had no idea. And until he could figure out more about what was going on, that's how he'd think of it all.

Wade sucked in a breath and continued walking, keeping himself close to the wall side. Identify so far could stay active and scanning in general, it might catch something early on. He could only hope.

The next signpost showed up soon enough, leading off to the left side, and seemed to be going upwards.

'Graveyard processing unit'

The fuck did that mean? Wade had no idea, but if it was a graveyard, probably even more filled with things that wanted him to join the dead. "Not this way for sure."

And then he finally found a way forward. The next sign he came in this ant-hill tunnel system sounded like an actual good direction:

'Safehouse/supply depot.'

He turned to that tunnel fork, and realized there was a signpost right behind him, from the pathway he'd left.

This one simply said something to the wording of: 'Headquarters/Golem Ammunition Mine.'

That's where he was leaving from? Ammunition? Was this entire mine complex all about digging up ammunition? He didn't know what headquarters even meant either, but one thing was certain: No way he was going back that direction. Safehouse sounded much better.

The next branch came up. This one had more easy to understand wording: 'Cave in ahead.'

Seemed fairly obvious. Whatever these rebels had been, at least they'd kept these tunnels pretty well detailed and mapped out.

So far, other than the slow steady sounds of his feet walking on the dirt here, there wasn't any other sounds. Maybe a droplet of water in the distance, but otherwise quiet.

Until it wasn't.

Something skittered over rocks. Wade froze. It sounded small, but small things didn't mean less deadly. Could even mean the opposite. So it was probably something worse given his luck.

He turned off the light, and stared into the darkness beyond.

"Identify."

Level 2 Blackrot rat - 100%

"Oh, thank god it's only you little chef." Wade whispered in relief. He'd been steadily creeping in the darkness, in the direction of the sound, just so he could get identify to let him know if he should turn back and run or stay the course.

His gamble paid off.

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It really was the small rat that led him to salvation. Its name had popped up, along with a thin red bar beneath it. Back at full health now too. He couldn't see the tiny monster itself in the darkness, just the bar moving around, getting smaller and vanishing away.

"Hey Remy, wait up for me." He whispered out, mostly to keep himself sane. The tunnel curved left, then right. The rat paused at each turn, health bar wobbling as it sniffed the air. "I'll get you cheese somehow if you can lead me out of here, you can trust me buddy."

His guide came to a stop. Wade's eyes caught something beyond it - a faint golden glow in the distance, barely visible around another bend in the tunnel.

Normally light might have made him feel comfortable, but in this case, it terrified him.

"Please nothing worse. Please please please." Wade whispered as if that would actually change something. The rat's ears twitched at his whispered voice, seemed to get spooked and scurried forward toward the glow.

Wade followed behind, then peeked past the corner. Compared to the darkness, the little glow at the end of the tunnel ahead seemed almost blinding. But once his eyes adjusted he could see more.

It was a small chamber of some kind. Shelves were setup on the edges of the walls, and floor cots. Like this was some refuge center point.

It looked blurry at the distance he was, and he cursed his lack of glasses, but at least he could sort of see some of it.

At the center of it was a dusty table made of metal, covered in something. A lantern sat on it, giving off the yellow light. Correction - he couldn't tell if it was actually a lantern or not. Looked more like it belonged in some snooty rich house as a decorative quirk. A salt-lamp of some kind maybe? A giant crystal lump with a golden metal sconce at the base and the crystal inside seemed to glow softly like it was filled with string lights.

There were simple-looking metal stools all around the table, some knocked down and others pushed away. No one had been here in a while, judging by the stale air and clear dust all over the place.

Time to start with his current favorite method of dealing with anything so far: "Identify?" He whispered.

And then he slowly started creeping forward until he reached the range. A new tooltip appeared above one of the items ahead.

Unstable Metal Stool

Glasses of the trade: Identify targets 30/30

Glasses of the trade complete! One storefront coin added to inventory.

Luck triggered: Identify upgraded to Improved Identify

He had a small list of system notifications to work through, but right now all he cared about was one single line:

One storefront coin added to inventory.

Money. Money was the world's greatest treasure and even his nightmares couldn't break his one true faith. They all say money can't buy happiness, but it sure as hell could buy steak and pay rent, which was basically the same thing to Wade.

He scampered backwards into the safety of the tunnel, back where he knew he'd been safe, and then sat down to look over his gains.

Right now he'd kiss even Play's boots if this game would just include a pay-to-win cash-shop. Let him buy some overpowered level 20 equivalent weapon or something. He was perfectly happy to become a wallet warrior if it meant staying alive out here. "Play, what can I use this coin for?"

I fence you things like that skyviper boon. Says here five coins and you can permanently buy it.

"The useless fucking boon you gave me? In a world where I don't even have a starting weapon? Fuck off and fuck you. What else can I get?"

Hey hey, don't be mean (≖､≖╬)

Damage over time is pretty useful in plenty of situations. Plus I wasn't the one who picked the boon, it's random each time you pop into Azdrial.

Wade sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. 'Pop into Azdrial,' this goddamn absolute asshole. "Random each time? You're saying there's going to be a next time?"

Sorry to say, but you're in THE GAME Michael. The System's in charge now.

Wade stared at the small blacklight in the gloom. "I want my phone call."

Want me to do some google searches for public defenders? (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

That was bait, and Wade knew better than to start screaming. At least he was safe down here so far and had some more information on this crazy shit. Solutions floated through his mind.

If Play died, would he be free of THE GAME? That might be the actual win condition. Get powerful enough he could assassinate the sociopath before said sociopath got him killed. He'd need to find some other source of info on if killing the god would actually work. But any of these steps required the same setup: Get powerful first, do things later. And to get powerful... "These random abilities, you mentioned I can buy them permanently. Does that mean I can bring them with me each time you pull me into this shitshow?"

Yep. Looks like limit is one boon right now, so you pair the best thing on your roster and hope it works.

If he was sent back to earth and pulled back here at intervals, given a random boon to work with at the start of each round - then the game's main loop was completing enough quests to buy abilities that were worth keeping to compliment or fix up whatever he randomly got. The bigger issue was if the game was made to be balanced or not.
What if another player just happened to get and buy a strong boon early on to run around with? They'd snowball far beyond anyone else stuck like him with a weak boon.

No, there had to be more control over his destiny and direction. And the only direction he could think… "What else can I use the coin for Play? Can I buy a weapon?"

I got a small list here, but it also includes 'Starter gear and storefront supplies.' Looks to be a general category rather than items.

Perfect, that's exactly what he needed. "How much for stuff in that category?"

Not a price listed, it's more like you tell me something generic and the storefront here gives you the starting variation of it. Clearly meant to outfit you each time before you go into the next round.

Ah. But there was more he could pull out of that than just a weapon and armor. This was actually a test of creativity, so Wade went with something that would let him punch higher up than just a good weapon or armor: "Fine. I want a weapon, what have you got?"

Gotta be more specific ┐(￣∀￣)┌

"Got a gun?"

Nope. Not starter gear looks like lol

As much as a gun or shotgun would be great, that just wasn't going to save him for long if it ran out of ammo. A crossbow or sling might mean he got some ranged hits out with possible reloads, but given the number of skeletons after him...

He needed a horde clearing weapon that never ran out of ammo and would always be ready to use. It would have been great if it had been a ranged weapon, but Wade needed reliability. Something that would hit hard, and require the least skill to use. "How about an axe that can actually deal damage to these skeletons?"

Yep, it's there. One coin.

Relief came out of his breath. "Buy that please." He waited for the transaction.

You gotta make it up to where I am buddy to actually buy it. Them's the rules. (￣ω￣)

Wade cursed, "And where exactly are you?"

Don't worry, the system will give you an opportunity when you get out.

When he gets out? "You're telling me I got to get out of the dungeon crawling with skeletons, just to get a weapon so I can survive in the dungeon crawling with skeletons?"

Play sent back a massive thumbs up emoji, once more written with characters Wade had no idea even existed.

Wade wanted to strangle someone. And by someone, he meant Play.

"Inventory." Wade whispered. At least he wanted to see what these coins were.

Unfortunately, no inventory appeared. He tried a string of other possible words. "Bags. Gear. Equipment. Storefront."

Storefront coins: 1

The textbox remained in his face, taunting him. "That's great, I want it out here now. Please."

No answer. He swiped his hand through the text and it vanished with nothing in his hands. "Wallet. Bank. Piggybank. Personal bank? Fuck you, give me my goddamn money!"

Language Michael! What has the poor system done to deserve that?

"Everything." He half hissed, half whispered. "I want my money. Also it's goddamn Wade, not Michael. Nobody calls me by my full name except for my sister."

Not what it says on your stat screen Michael~

He argued back, but Play had vanished after that. Which meant the god was bored and wanted to see him do something else.

Fine. If he couldn't get a weapon here, maybe the storehouse ahead had something he could use. It did say supply depot, and for rebels that probably included weapons.

He creeped back forward, slowly, cautiously. Identify started picking up more than the metal stepstool.

Mana-crystal Lantern (High Quality)

Ah. So, that's where the improved identify works. He could now tell the quality of things. Neat, if somewhat completely useless, upgrade.

He tried to focus on what was on the table, besides the lantern.

Mana-preserved papers (High Quality)

Unstable Metal Stool (Poor Quality)

That came up another three times. The table was pretty large, and a few of the stools were actually knocked over now that he got somewhat closer.

Destroyed Bedcott (Poor Quality)

Those started to appear, in a small row. He couldn't quite see them well due to his bad eyesight, but he could tell they were neatly arranged in a row.

Was there a weapon somewhere? Supplies? Come on, what else was there?

As it turned out, there was something else in there. Just not a weapon. A health bar.

Level 37 Undead Nathir Slave - 100%

Ah shit.