The Gods are Always Wtaching

Dawn Of a New World

The next day, chaos reigned all over the world. It was the emergence of a new and different world

People weren't sure what was real and what wasn't. Many portals were found all over the world. Those are probably the dungeon gates that that hologram talked about, Adam thought.

Adam and his family didn't leave home after coming back, as anarchists broke, stole and murdered. They did whatever they wanted as the government was unsure about how the world should operate. A lot of people thought that the end of the world was approaching and that the red sky was an omen. In a way, it was just that.

On the internet, we learned that all major governments had held a long meeting to determine their priorities , a couple of hours after the "god" hologram gave his message.

That hologram never came back. Althought the "wristband" associated with the System answered many questions. Such as where the closest dungeon gate was, how stat points and skills worked.It also talked about what the ### signs on the status window were.

It had been less than 24hours since the hologram gave it's last message. And from that moment on, Adam's father was nowhere to be found. It looked like he went out while Lea went to look for Mika and Mina, he still hadn't return. Nobody minded really, except Adam's mother.

The four of them learned many things and wrote all the information as notes:

A)Dungeons: The closest dungeon gate was only 100meters away from their home, the closest one after that one is 500meters away from their home too. The System didn't give an answer as to  how many dungeon gates there were on earth but it did say that as one dungeon is cleared, another gate will appear somewhere. Clearing a gate doesn't make that gate disapear. If gate A is cleared, a gate B will be created somewhere in the world, but gate A doesn't disapear, it can be cleared infinitly.The catch is that each time a specific gate is cleared, the rewards from clearing that gate will decrease.They would basically be divided by two each time. So if a gate gives a reward of 100xp, the next time it's cleared the reward will be 50, the time after that 25, and so on.These gates are supposed to be training and they only exist for us to get stronger during the next 5 years before what the System called "The Second Phase". All the System said about this "Second Phase" was that it would be different but that those who relentlessly tried to get stronger during the First Phase would be okay.

B)Stat points: Each stat point covers a physical ability.The more points you have in strength, the more power your muscles can exert. Meaning augmenting your strength will one day help you lift a boulder, a car or a plane. Everything depends on how high you drive your strength stat. But one needs to keep in mind that their are 4 fundamental stats and that each of these stats are not enough on their own. A synergy between all of them isnecessary. Strength is brute force. Meanwhile agility has to do with mobility, flexbility but also with speed when dodging or sprinting.High agility would give you fantastic sprinting speed, amazing reflexes and great stability that comes into play when fighting. The third stat was Senses . Increasing the Senses stat  would help you discover enemies more easily and can heighten your senses.If high enough, the Senses stat will give birth to a new stat called "MagicAffinity". MagicAffinity was the stat that dictated wether one could use magic or not and what types of magic that person could learn. Finaly, the fourth stat Vigor & Endurance was pretty straightforward. The higher it is the higher your HP and Endurance were. Endurance goes down the more you move or use skills. Endurance regeneration was natural. HP goes down when injured or poisoned. After being injured or poisoned, HP will keep draining slowly until the wound or poison has been taken care of. The System recomends the use of Health Potions that can be sold in the Store that comes with the System.Additionnaly, unused stat points are points that one is free to affect to the stat of his choosing. They are mainly obtained when levelling up. Stats  can also be increased by training your body and senses.

C)The store. A function of the System. Gold is used to buy things from the store. The store sells items such as potions, armor and wepons but alsomiscellanous objects such as torches or bandages. The Store also sells Skills but these are extremly expensive apparently. All of this was answered by the system as they could not verify it.  a condition had to be fulfilled before having acces to the store. And that was entering at least one dungeon. Meaning that, during and after your first dungeon you will be able to use the store but not before that. The next logical question is how does one get gold then. According to the system there were three ways of winning gold. The first one was killing monsters inside of dungeons.Each monster, according to his ranking would give a certain amout of gold. The stronger the monster, the more gold one can win. The second way of winning gold was clearing the dungeon. When the condition to clear the dungeon is fulfilled, the people who cleared will obtain many different rewards that usually constitute a non-negligeable amount of gold and some items. Also, the way you clear a dungeon has a big influence on the rewards. If 50people enter a dungeon versus if 3 people did of course the reward for these two teams would not be the same. The combined rewards given to the 50 people would be inferior to the combined rewards given to the team of 3. The last way to win gold is to steal it. The same way monsters drop gold, humans would too. But you are stealing the gold. Meaning only a person who already has gold ,can drop gold.

D) Skills. There is no sure way to develop a skill. Every skill is different and the conditions to develop or gain that skill are also different. But repeated actions can help create a skill. Additionnaly skills usually utilize endurance. A very small number of skills utilize endurance and vigor. Skills can be upgraded using items or simply by using them a lot.

E) The ### signs were information not yet available.

This was all they knew and it definitly was not enough to put them at ease.

"Mom, do you think we're going to die?" Mina asked, looking at the ground.

"Of course not, me and your big brother will protect you" she answered while stroking her daughter's hair.

Mika who was on the internet looking for news or information called all of them"Hey look." He pointed to Adam's phone that Adam lent him,"It's Breaking News, the prime minister is about to talk, it's probably important."

Everyone stood behind Mika while he held the phone.

The prime minister gave a speech about the current situation and the agreement that he and the other world representatives had come to. After sharing general knowledge about the System that Adam's family pretty much figured out on their one. He talked about how the government had decided to handle the dungeon gates. Firstly, prisonners who have to spend their whole life in prison will be obligated to enter these dungeons,same for death row convicts. The prime minister said that they were to be sacrificed for the greater good and to be remembered in history. Secondly a prize equivalent to 10Million dollards will be given to those who clear the first 50 dungeons excluding those by criminals or convicts.

This clearly was an attempt to push people into this dangerous journey. But no amout of money would be enough for me to risk my life or my family's life, Adan thought.

But that's when the prime minister said:"Now, I will leave the microphone to the courageous man who decided to be the first in the world to take on the challenge of the dungeons. He should be an example to all of us in both nobility and strength of character. The first man who decided to get on the journey to saving the world...."

And that's when he came out. He stood there, shaking the prime minister's hand, smiling, looking at the camera with those same eyes that Adam hated seeing everyday. The person who brought nothing but misery to his family, was smiling.

His father had decided to take on the challenge of the dungeons? That's impossible! How can a coward? What is his goal? Adam thought.

He looked at his mother and siblings. They were all suprised and deep in thought.

"Thank you sir, your compliments are more than I deserve. Yes, as the prime minister said, I shall take on this challenge for all of you. For my country, for the world  and for humanity!" Cheering could be heard after Adam's father said that, but his son felt sick listenning to him.

"Not only do I plan on going into a dungeon gate, but I plan on doing it today, in less than 4hours." The cheering stopped, everyone was suprised at the amout of courage and guts this man displayed. Only some , at the other side of the screen, knew that this was all a facade.

"The prime minister advised me not to go into the dungeon alone. I decided to listen to him as my pride hasn't to this day become arrogance. I can't go with prisonners or murderers as I would be too distracted by having behind my back that I wouldn't be able to focus on the monsters in front of me. But I can't bring innocent random people in with me either. Therefore, my family and I have decided that we will go together."

"WHAT?" screamed Mika."What is he talking about? Did any of you talk to him?" Everyone shook their head.

Adam laughed "That's probably how he plans on back pedelling. He will say that we, his family, convinced him not to go. When the date we had agreed on arrived we all got scared and he couldn't leave us alone.He really wanted to do this but...too bad his family got in the way. People will think that he was a noble man who wanted to sacrifice himself for humanity but couldn't."It was a nice bit of publicity for him, Adam had to admit.

But, Lea, Adam's mother still looked tense.

"Indeed, a special force from the military is now on their way to pick them up. I will meet them directly in front of the dungeon gate that  me and the Prime Minister chose as the perfect first Dungeon gate for humanity to clear. Please cheer my family and I on while we risk our lives to protect yours."

Just as they heard that, the door from their house was destroyed and a dozen men in military uniforms came in and took them out of the house. No matter how much they resisted, they couldn't fight so many specially trained men. They were taken by force. Even the young Mina and Mika.

They were placed in an armouredbus. Each member of the family had one soldier on his right and one soldier on his left. There was no was to escape.The man that looked like their captain said:"Listen I know you are women and children, but you did a promise to your country, a promise to all of humanity and a promise to the world.No matter how scary it seems, you have to choice but to keep going."

Adam was angrier than he ever was in his life "What? You coward! Sending children and women. That man lied, he might be my father but we have nothing to do with him."

The captain answered"That doesn't matter you 3 children are under 18years old. As children your father as the right to choose what is right for you. You have no choice in the matter. Even your mother's opinion is secondary to that of your father! Plus you all recieved this device didn't you? Well we're all Lv1 Humans now. There is no difference between a child or an adult."

The three children looked at their mother. She was looking at the ground, she couldn't find words to describe what she was feeling as her children were threatened. Hate, Treason, Sadness, Powerlessness.

The captain continued"As for you ma'am,"Adam's mother looked up"While your promise to the country is still binding, you can try to revoke it."He paused.

"But will you leave your children alone so you can save yourself?" The captain knew exactly what he was doing.

Lea looked down again, before muttering "Of course not, I will die protecting them."

The four of them looked at the ground, tearing up. Preparing mentally for the worst. Although Adam could only think of one thing, and that was punching his father.

The captain added"Good. Anyways isn't it a good deal for you anyways? As your father gave the idea of the price money for clearing gates, you will receive 100million dollars for clearing the first gate in the whole world. You won't ever have to think about money again. You're pretty lucky if you think about it."

Lea, Adam, Mina and Mika could only despair.

The bus took them outside the city and into a rural area.They passed by multiple fields and small houses. After two hours on the road, they arrived at the site.

It was the first time they went out since the apperance of gates so they had never seen one.

The gate chosen was located just outside a forest, near a military base.

The gate was some sort of portal that emitted blue light. One couldn't guess what was on the other side. It's dimensions were 2meters in height and 3meters in width.

Adam's father was there, with a smug smile on his face, putting on a bulletproof vest. He was as fat as Adam remembered him, his belly full of beer.He had two guns attached to his waist, a shotgun over his shoulder and carried a bag full of weapons and explosives. More than 200 cameras were on the site from various news channels comming from all over the world. When he saw them he dropped his bag and weapons and came to hug each one of them . They were paralysed. They didn't know how to react. Until he hugged Adam, pulled him closer and said "Listen you little s**t, you usually always mess up my plans but today you're going to shut up and do as I say. Do you understand?"

Adam was dumbfounded, all he could do is nod.

Each one of them was given a bulletproof vest and a military knife.

"A knife? Are you joking?" Lea asked

"Well of course,we can't give you weapons. We wouldn't want the women or children to hurt themselves now would we?"

Adam was enraged.

The captain from the military gave a signal and it was time to enter the dungeon.

Adam, Lea , Mika and Mina all held hands and closed their eyes trying not to cry or scream. They were doing their best not to despair at the situation but to actually fight instead.

Even though he was supposed to pass for a hero. Adam's father still pushed them in front of him, saying that he will protect them from behind. All Adam could think of....

When they crossed the other side of the gate, they found themselves in a forrest.

A digital screen appeared in front of each person who entered. But before they could read anything, the father punched Mika in the stomach.

The small boy started vomiting, crying and was curled up on the ground, he had problems breathing.

Just as Adam and his mother turned around to see what had happenned, they saw weapons pointed towards them.

"All right my dear family. I don't want to hurt you more than I have to okay?Listen well you're all going to shut up. Do as I say. Stay in front of me and if I see something I'll shoot it to death. We're going to all make it back alright.If my beloved children die how can I be a hero. So come on start walking. I've lived enough of a shitty life because of you damn kids."

All Adam could think of was....

They finally looked at the digital screen.

[        Welcome to "The Forest of Goblins[F]"

The Forest of Goblins is an F rank dungeon.  This dungeon is filled with goblins. Goblins[F] are green creatures as strong as a 10 year old human and as intelligent as a 5year old. They use multiple weapons such as: Crude Spear[F] , Rusty Knife[F] or Broken Wooden Bat [F]. Goblins have a strong sense of unity and community.

Participants: 5 Humans

Clear Requirement: Survive in The Forest of Goblins for 5 days

Minimal individual reward: 100Gold,300xp,Access to the storage option in the system.]

'Minimal reward?That probably means it is the reward for doing nothing more than survivring, killing goblins must be extra then. And access to the storage is probably the reward everyone gets upon clearing their first dungeon.'Adam thought.

[ As you have entered your first dungeon,

  You can now receive messages from deities and gods who are watching your endeavors.]

"What? Really?" Mina muttered. "You mean we can talk to gods and goddesses?"

A small screen digital screen appeared in front of everyone of them.

[ The majority of earth's gods are watching the first dungeon raid with excitement]

[ A big amount of angels adore the human child Mina]

[ A large number of evil creatures wish for blood and death ]

[ A certain evil is watching you with a disinterested look]

"Hahaa did you hear that? Angels adore me!" Mina said proudly

'Oh am being watched being a hero, isn't that great?' Adam's father thought

As the family walked deeper and deeper into the forest, more and more goblins showed up.

At first there were lone goblins that Adam's father shot with his gun from dozens of meters away. He usually needed 5shots to land 1 of them. His accuracy was terrible, they could hear him breathing heavily from walking and each time a sound was heard, he jumped and shot his weapon in a random direction. He truly was the coward Adam had known him for.

'He might act high and mighty in front of cameras, but when it really counts, he was nothing but a piece of s**t and a coward' Adam thought, while looking at his father with hateful eyes.

Slowely but surely, the number of goblins in each group they encountered rose, 1goblin became 3, which quickly became 6 and now the group of goblins were more like hords than groups. At least 10 goblins were in front of them. But Adam's father threw two grenades towards them and they immediatly died. Although the explosion sounds left Adam feeling uneasy.

The children's father was drunk on the power those weapon gave him. He just kept killing and killing. Plus, the notification from the system sounded sweet in his ear

[1 goblin has been killed. Congratulations! You have gained 5Gold and 10xp]

He had amassed about 100G in total had leveled up twice. While the rest of the famile was still at 0G and 0xp.

They had entered the dungeon about 8 hours ago. They were all tired but the father wanted more, he wasn't satisfied. Not even a little bit. They had crossed the whole forest and arrived at the edge of a cliff. The whole forest was located on a cliff it looked like. They were safe here. They could notice a green goblin coming from afar now that they weren't in a forest full of green trees and green plants. But the father wanted to go deep inside the forest again.

When they all protested, he took his shotgun in between his hands and reloaded it.

"Do you understand what this means?" He asked. He shot three times towards the night sky.Their was no sound in the forest, so these shots sounded extremely loud and probably echoed throughout the whole forest.

" Your lives are between my hands. Do you get that?" He added. "So if I say we walk, we walk. You retards."

[A number of evil beings love this situation]

Five minutes later , they heard sounds coming from every direction. Something was moving inside the bushes, tree branches were breaking, a ton of breathing noises could be heard. Then, yellow eyes glowed in the dark, about 20pairs. They were getting closer. Adam realized first that they were surrounded. It was because of those shots his father took.

"RUN" Adam screamed. "This way, the cliff was this way".He pointed  Everyone followed him. His father having levelled up, sprinted and went away first as fast as he could leaving his bag of weapons and explosives. "You dumbass" Adam screamed.

They all ran as fast as they could. They were out of the forest and about 30meters from the edge of the cliff. There, Adam saw his father on the edge of that cliff screaming " DON'T COME....I...I...They're following you...You cursed children....Everything is your fault... Stay there."

When they continued running, he pointed his gun at them, screaming at the top of his lungs. His voice was extremly high " STAY BACK..I...I'll SHOOT YOU." He started shooting immediately.

All Adam could think of was ####

At that point, they were more likely to die from his father's shots than from the 7 goblins who actually went out from the forest

If only I could run faster. Adam thought.

A notification popped up:

[Will you allocate you unused stat point to agility?]

"Yes" He screamed while sprinting towards his father who was at the edge of the cliff. He wanted to tackle him towards the edge of the cliff. Where only death waited for him.

His agility had gone from 5 to 8. The speed gained was not negligeable. He was basically 1.5times faster.

His father startled started shooting at him. After shooting twice, he lost his balance and fell off the cliff. A corner of Adam's lips rose.

[ All gods and heroes who adore father and son conflict are pleased]

But he had no time for that. One of the last shots from his father's gun injured a goblin that was in the forest. Therefore, they all decided to come out.

All 20 of them came at them as fast as they could.

Lea,Mika and Mina finally arrived at the edge near Adam. The cliff was so high that the bottom could not be seen.

The ones in the back began throwing their spears at them while the ones on the front were waving their knifes in an intimidating way.

One of the spears pierced Mika's thigh. He screamed and cried because of the pain.He held onto his mother for balance.

They had nowhere to go in front of them were twenty goblins. Behind them was a seemingly endless cliff. The only way was to jump and pray that a river was there or something to break their fall. All of them immediately understood that.

Lea cried "Kids, am sorry for all this.Hold onto me"

They all held onto their mother's hands and  jumped together with their eyes closed.

[The majority of angels and good spirits are looking at you with pity]