Morning came with a strange clarity. I blinked awake on my makeshift rooftop bed, momentarily confused by the unfamiliar stars fading in the lightening sky. Then yesterday's events crashed back—the goblins, the System, the fighting, the hiding.

  Yet something was different. I sat up, stretching muscles that should have been stiff and sore but instead felt... ready. The nail club lay beside me where I'd kept it close through the night. I picked it up, feeling its weight, the crude construction somehow fitting my grip better than it had yesterday.

  [Status]

  The blue window appeared instantly:

  [Character Sheet: Erik Persson] [Level: 2] [Experience: 495/500] [Health: 95/100] (Fully Rested) [Mana: 70/70] [Stamina: 60/60] (Fully Rested)

  The System had healed me overnight, just as it had said it would. I examined my formerly sprained wrist, rotating it experimentally. No pain. The lacerations on my thigh and arms had faded to pink lines, barely visible.

  This world was deadly, yes. But it also offered tools for survival that our old reality never had.

  I stood, surveying the ruined town spread out below me. In the morning light, it looked somehow less alien, more like what it probably once was—a small urban center, now collapsed and broken. The slightly orange sun rose in an otherwise normal blue sky, casting long shadows across the devastated landscape.

  Something had shifted inside me overnight. Where yesterday had been shock and survival instinct, today I felt a growing resolve. I needed to find people—specifically, Marcus and Sofia. I needed information about this world. I needed to understand what had happened to reality itself.

  And strangely, despite everything, I felt more... present than I had in months. Since Mormor died, I'd been sleepwalking through life, going through motions without connection. Now, every sense was heightened, every decision immediate and consequential. There was no room for the fog that had surrounded me. Here, I had to be fully engaged just to stay alive.

  Was it wrong to find something almost... liberating in that?

  I shook the thought away and focused on practicalities. I needed a plan.

  First, I would scavenge what I could from this building. Then explore the town carefully, looking for signs of other humans. Marcus and Sofia had been with me when whatever happened, happened. They could be nearby. And if not them, then someone who might have answers.

  I climbed down from the roof carefully, using a partially collapsed wall as a makeshift ladder. The store interior looked less threatening in daylight—just broken shelves and scattered debris. I returned to the storage room I'd found yesterday, gathering more of the strange food packages and water containers into my inventory.

  [Inventory] [Goblin Tooth: Trophy from your first kill. Quality: Poor] [Crude Knife: A poorly made but functional blade. Damage: 5-8] [Nail Club: A brutal bludgeoning weapon. Damage: 7-12] [Rebar: An improvised metal weapon. Damage: 4-7] [Leather Scraps: Could be used for basic crafting or repairs. Quality: Poor] [Unknown Food Package (10): Sealed preserved food. Effects unknown.] [Water Container (6): Contains clean drinking water.]

  I'd need more than this if I was going to survive long-term, but it would do for now. I peeked out the entrance, scanning for movement. Nothing immediately visible, but I knew the goblins were out there. I'd need to be careful.

  With the nail club gripped firmly in my right hand, I slipped out of the building and into the ruins. Moving from cover to cover, I made my way deeper into town. My goal: find people, or at least signs of them.

  The town was larger than I'd initially thought, stretching for several blocks in each direction. Many buildings were completely destroyed, while others stood in various states of partial collapse. Street signs written in what might once have been Swedish were twisted and bent, the lettering strangely altered as if whoever wrote them had only a passing familiarity with the language.

  I kept to the shadows, freezing at any sound. Twice I had to duck into doorways as groups of goblins passed nearby—four or five of the creatures moving together, carrying crude weapons and chattering in their strange tongue. I wasn't ready to take on that many at once. Better to avoid than engage when possible.

  Midway through the morning, I wasn't so lucky. Rounding a corner, I came face-to-face with a lone goblin scavenging through a pile of rubble. It looked up, yellow eyes widening in surprise before narrowing with malice.

  [Goblin, Level 2]

  No time to retreat. It charged, swinging a jagged piece of metal. I sidestepped, bringing the nail club down hard on its shoulder. The creature shrieked but didn't fall, swiping at me with its free hand, claws raking across my chest. Pain flared, but I ignored it, following up with another swing that connected with its head.

  The goblin dropped, its body already beginning to dissolve into those familiar motes of blue light.

  [Experience Gained: +45] [Health: 88/100]

  I was bleeding, but not badly. The System would heal it, given time. For now, I needed to keep moving. The goblin's shriek might have attracted others.

  Continuing through the ruins, I gradually built a mental map of the area. The town center seemed to have taken the brunt of whatever cataclysm had transformed the world—buildings there were little more than scattered rubble. The outskirts were in better condition, with some structures nearly intact.

  Around midday, hunger drove me to try one of the strange food packages. It contained what looked like a protein bar, though the texture was odd—slightly spongy. The taste was bland but not unpleasant, and it filled me more effectively than its size would suggest.

  I kept searching, moving methodically through the town, looking for any sign of human presence. A piece of clothing that wasn't decayed. Footprints that weren't goblin-shaped. Fresh disturbances in the dust. Anything.

  Instead, I found another goblin.

  This one was larger than the others, with a greenish tinge to its gray skin. It was alone, which seemed unusual based on what I'd observed of their behavior.

  [Goblin Brute, Level 3]

  It spotted me before I could retreat, letting out a bellowing roar that echoed through the empty streets. This one didn't rush blindly like the others. It approached cautiously, hefting a crude axe made from what might have once been a car part.

  I needed to end this quickly before the noise attracted more. I circled the brute, nail club ready, looking for an opening. The goblin mirrored my movements, those yellow eyes tracking me with more intelligence than I'd seen in the others.

  It lunged suddenly, axe swinging in a wide arc. I ducked under the swing and drove forward, bringing the nail club up into its midsection. The creature grunted but didn't fold, instead bringing its elbow down toward my head. I twisted away, the blow glancing off my shoulder instead.

  Pain shot down my arm, but adrenaline pushed it aside. I stepped back, reassessing. This one was tougher, smarter. The direct approach wouldn't work.

  I feinted left, then dodged right as the brute committed to its counter. The opening was brief, but enough. I brought the nail club down hard on its knee with a sickening crack. As it stumbled, I followed with a blow to the back of its head.

  The goblin collapsed, its form already breaking apart into light.

  [Experience Gained: +85] [Level Up! 2 → 3] [2 Free Attribute Points Available] [Basic Blunt Weapons has increased to Level 3] [Item Acquired: Scrap Metal Axe] [Item Acquired: Leather Scraps]

  I took a moment to catch my breath, examining the notification. Level 3. And... attribute points? That was new. I could apparently allocate these points myself rather than having the System assign them automatically.

  "Status," I said quietly.

  [Character Sheet: Erik Persson] [Level: 3] [Experience: 125/1000] [Health: 79/110] [Mana: 75/75] [Stamina: 52/65]

  [Attributes:] [Strength: 8] [+] [Agility: 11] [+] [Vitality: 8] [+] [Intelligence: 16] [+] [Wisdom: 11] [+] [Charisma: 9] [+] [Available Points: 2]

  [Skills:] [Basic Blunt Weapons (Level 3): You have developing knowledge of how to fight with clubs, staves, and similar weapons. +15% to accuracy and damage with blunt weapons.]

  [Unique Talent: Mormor's Prodigy]

  Each attribute now had a small [+] symbol beside it. This had to be how I allocated the points. But which attributes should I increase? What would be most useful for survival? For finding my friends?

  My first instinct was to boost Intelligence further—it was already my highest stat, and in games (according to what little I knew from Jonas's endless chatter about them), specializing was usually better than generalizing. But was that true here? This wasn't a game, not really. It was life and death.

  Strength would make me more effective in combat. Agility might help me avoid combat altogether. Vitality would increase my survivability. Wisdom... what did that even do in this context? And Charisma seemed the least immediately useful in a world of monsters.

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  After considering it carefully, I decided to wait. Two points could make a difference, but without knowing exactly what each attribute affected, I might waste them. Better to gather more information first.

  I added the scrap metal axe to my inventory, noting its damage was higher than my current weapon:

  [Scrap Metal Axe: A crude but effective axe made from scavenged materials. Damage: 9-14]

  I quickly calculated the difference. The nail club did 7-12 damage, but with my Basic Blunt Weapons skill at level 3, that would be increased by 15%, making it effectively 8.05-13.8 damage. The axe showed 9-14 base damage, but would that also benefit from my blunt weapons skill? It wasn't clear if an axe counted as a blunt weapon or if it would fall under a different category.

  If the axe didn't benefit from my skill, the nail club might actually be more effective in my hands. But if the axe had its own advantages—perhaps a higher critical hit chance or better against armored enemies—it might still be worth using.

  After a moment's consideration, I decided to test the axe. If it didn't perform well, I could always switch back to the nail club. I stored the nail club and equipped the new weapon. The axe felt heavier but better balanced, and its longer reach would be an advantage regardless of damage calculations.

  The afternoon stretched on as I continued my exploration. I encountered two more lone goblins, dispatching them with increasing efficiency as I grew more accustomed to combat and my new weapon. The axe seemed effective enough, though I couldn't be certain if it was benefiting from my blunt weapons skill. Each victory brought more experience points, pushing me closer to whatever threshold would trigger the next level.

  But of humans, I found no trace.

  The sun was beginning to lower in the sky when I decided to find shelter for the night. I was deep in the southwestern part of town now, in what might have once been a residential area. Many of the houses here were still partially intact, though all showed signs of damage.

  I selected a two-story building that looked relatively stable. The front door was gone, leaving an open entryway that I approached cautiously, axe ready. The interior was dark, and I paused in the doorway to let my eyes adjust.

  The house was dusty but largely intact. Furniture remained in place, though everything was coated with a fine layer of gray dust. It looked as if the residents had simply vanished, leaving everything behind. No signs of looting or disturbance beyond what the initial cataclysm had caused.

  I cleared the ground floor room by room, finding nothing threatening. The kitchen still contained dishes in cupboards, though the refrigerator was empty. A dining room with chairs neatly pushed in. A living room with a couch facing an empty entertainment center.

  The staircase to the second floor creaked ominously under my weight, but held. Upstairs were three bedrooms and a bathroom. I checked each room carefully, finding them all empty of life. The largest bedroom had a large bed with a dusty comforter. The second contained a desk and bookshelf. The third, smallest bedroom was clearly a child's room, with colorful paint and small furniture.

  It would do for the night. Better than the exposed roof where I'd spent the previous night. I decided to use the master bedroom—it had the best vantage point through its windows, allowing me to see anyone approaching the house.

  I was just setting down my axe when I heard it—a tiny sound from downstairs. A creak of floorboard that couldn't have been caused by settling.

  Someone was in the house.

  I retrieved the axe silently, moving to the top of the staircase. Listening. Another soft sound—a whisper, quickly shushed. The voice sounded... human.

  My pulse quickened. After a full day of searching, had I finally found other people? Or was it a more intelligent monster, capable of mimicking human sounds?

  I descended the stairs as quietly as possible, pausing every few steps to listen. The sounds were coming from the kitchen. I approached the doorway, axe raised, and in one swift movement, stepped into view.

  What I saw made me freeze mid-motion.

  An older man, perhaps in his sixties, gray-haired and thin, stood protectively in front of a small child—a girl, no more than eight years old, with dark pigtails and wide, curious eyes. The man held a kitchen knife in a trembling hand, his posture making it clear he expected to die defending the child.

  "Stay back!" he commanded, his voice quavering despite the firmness of his words. His accent was distinctly American. "We have nothing worth taking!"

  I slowly lowered the axe, relief washing over me. People. Actual humans. Not Marcus or Sofia, but people nonetheless.

  "I'm not going to hurt you," I said, setting the axe down on the counter to prove it. "I've been looking for other people all day."

  The man didn't lower the knife, his eyes darting from me to the axe and back again. The little girl peeked around him, her expression moving from fear to curiosity.

  "He has the blue lines too, Grandpa," she said softly, her American accent matching her grandfather's. She pointed at my exposed forearms where the faint blue markings were visible. "Like us."

  The old man's stance relaxed slightly, though he kept the knife ready. "You're... human? Not one of those... things?"

  "Human," I confirmed. "My name is Erik. I woke up in this world two days ago. Been trying to figure out what happened ever since."

  The little girl stepped forward despite her grandfather's attempt to keep her back. "I'm Lily," she said with the directness of children. "This is my grandpa Walter. Do you know how to play hide-and-seek? I'm really good at finding things!"

  Despite everything—the danger, the exhaustion, the uncertainty—I found myself smiling at her innocent enthusiasm. Here, surrounded by destruction and danger, she still retained the spirit of a child.

  Walter finally lowered the knife, though he kept it in hand. "We've been here almost five days now," he said. "The creatures seem most active at night. We were upstairs when you first came in, afraid to make any noise."

  Five days. They'd been in this world longer than me. "You're American?" I asked.

  Walter nodded. "We were on vacation in Europe when this happened. Not even in Sweden, actually—we were in Prague. Then suddenly we were... here. Wherever here is." He gestured vaguely at the window. "This certainly isn't Prague anymore. Or any place I recognize."

  That was interesting. They'd been transported not just through time but space as well. The System seemed to be randomly placing people around this new world, regardless of where they'd been before.

  "Do you know what's happening?" Walter asked, hope and desperation mixing in his voice. "What is this... system? These levels and attributes everyone's talking about?"

  "Everyone?" I asked, focusing on that word. "You've met others?"

  Walter shook his head. "No. Just overheard some people passing by yesterday. They were discussing 'leveling up' and 'allocating attribute points.' Sounded like nonsense until..." He gestured at his own arms, where the same blue lines traced patterns beneath his skin.

  "I'm level four," Lily announced proudly, bouncing on her toes. "Grandpa's only level three. I find all the best hiding spots!"

  I blinked in surprise. This child had outleveled not only her grandfather but me as well? They'd been here longer, but still—it was impressive.

  "How?" I asked simply.

  "Lily has a... talent," Walter said carefully, glancing at his granddaughter with a mixture of pride and concern. "She's very good at spotting things that most people miss."

  "I can see all the special spots!" Lily clarified, her eyes bright with excitement. "On the monsters, on buildings, on everything! My talent is called 'Critical Eye.' Grandpa says it helps us stay safe."

  I looked at the little girl, struck by how she seemed to view this deadly new reality as some kind of adventure. Her innocence was preserved even as she adapted to survive. Children were resilient in ways adults couldn't match.

  "Do you have a talent?" Lily asked, looking up at me expectantly.

  "Yes," I replied. "It's called 'Mormor's Prodigy.' It means when I get good enough at something, I can get even better at it really quickly."

  Lily nodded as if this made perfect sense to her. "That sounds useful. Better than Grandpa's."

  Walter sighed. "My talent is less... exciting," he explained. "It's called 'Elder Wisdom.' I can sometimes recall information I've never actually learned—as if accessing the collective knowledge of the elderly. It's unpredictable, though."

  I considered this. Walter had been reserved and cautious before the System, while his talent forced him to share knowledge. Lily had probably been shy and withdrawn, while her talent made her exceptionally perceptive and outgoing. And my own talent—forcing me to engage deeply with skills rather than remain detached and indifferent. The System seemed to be pushing us all to become our opposites.

  "Have you remembered anything about this world? What happened to reality?" I asked Walter.

  He shook his head. "Fragments. Nothing cohesive. Something about the merger of worlds. A system integration. But it's like catching glimpses through fog."

  Lily tugged at my hand, her small fingers warm against my skin. "Are you going to stay with us?" she asked directly. "Grandpa gets scared when it's dark."

  I glanced at Walter, who looked embarrassed but didn't contradict her assessment.

  "I'm looking for my friends," I said. "They were with me when... whatever this is... happened. But until I find them..." I paused, considering. These two needed protection. I needed information and allies. "Yes, I'll stay with you. At least for now."

  Relief washed over Walter's weathered face. "Thank you," he said simply.

  Lily clapped her hands together. "Yay! Now we can all play together! I can show you all my favorite hiding spots!"

  As darkness began to fall outside, I helped Walter secure the house as best we could, blocking the doorways with furniture and ensuring all windows were covered. Lily chattered about her "adventures" since the change, describing the hiding places she'd found and how she could "see special spots that glow" when she looked carefully at things. Her grandfather had managed to shield her from the worst of the danger, letting her believe this was all some grand game.

  We shared food—they had scavenged different supplies than I had, including some canned goods from other houses. The normality of sitting around a table with other humans felt strange after the past two days of desperate survival.

  As Lily's eyelids began to droop, Walter carried her upstairs to the child's bedroom. When he returned, his expression was grave.

  "I couldn't say this in front of Lily," he said quietly, "but I've been trying to protect her from understanding how dangerous this world really is. Her talent has saved us several times—she can spot weaknesses in the monsters, safe pathways through dangerous areas, hidden resources. But she thinks it's all a game." He sighed heavily. "I don't know if I'm helping or hurting her by maintaining that illusion."

  I nodded slowly, understanding his dilemma. "For now, maybe it's better this way. Children adapt, but they still need to be children."

  "There were rumors," Walter continued. "Those people I overheard—they mentioned a gathering place. A sanctuary forming to the east. People with high levels protecting others."

  "How high?" I asked.

  "Level ten or so," Walter replied. "Much higher than any of us. Apparently, the System affected different parts of the world at different times. Some people have had weeks to adapt and level up."

  Hope flickered within me. A sanctuary meant organization, information, possibly a way to find Marcus and Sofia.

  "Then that's where we'll go," I decided. "First light tomorrow."

  Walter nodded, relief evident in his tired eyes. "Thank you," he said again. "Lily is... she's all I have left. Her parents were back in the States when this happened. I don't know if they..." He trailed off, unable to complete the thought.

  "Get some rest," I told him. "I'll take first watch."

  As Walter headed upstairs, I positioned myself near a window, watching the stars emerge once more. I thought about the day's discoveries: attribute points I could allocate myself, other humans surviving in this transformed world, the possibility of a sanctuary with experienced survivors.

  And most intriguing—the child with the talent for finding hidden things, and the old man who could access knowledge he'd never learned. Each of us changed by the System in specific ways, our talents seeming almost... designed to be the opposite of who we were before.

  But designed for what? And by whom?

  These questions would have to wait. For now, I had found what I'd been searching for: other people. It wasn't Marcus and Sofia, but it was a start. And perhaps, with Walter's fragments of remembered knowledge and whatever we might find at this sanctuary, I would eventually understand enough about this new reality to find my friends.

  I glanced up the stairs, thinking of the sleeping child and her exhausted grandfather. Five days ago, they had been tourists in Europe, suddenly transported to this ruined town where I'd found them. The System seemed to be plucking people from all over the world and scattering them randomly across this new reality. Marcus and Sofia could be anywhere.

  Outside, a goblin's shriek echoed in the distance. I gripped the axe tighter, preparing for another long night. But for the first time since arriving in this impossible place, I felt something close to hope.