Chapter 4: [4] : The Predator’s Coat, Hunting the Hunters

Declan stood in the freezing rain of the Weeping Thicket. His finger hovered over the glowing system prompt. He had exactly twenty-five Origin Points.

Enhancing an item to +10 cost ten points.

For any normal player, this would be a massive waste of resources and a guaranteed way to destroy their gear.

For Declan, it was just Tuesday.

"System," Declan said. His voice was quiet in the fog. "Enhance the Tattered Trench Coat ten times."

A bright flashing light enveloped his body. It was so bright he had to squint. The system chimes rang out in his head and overlapped each other in rapid succession.

[System Enhancement]

↳ Tattered Trench Coat +1. Defense increased.

↳ Tattered Trench Coat +2. Defense increased.

↳ Tattered Trench Coat +3. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

↳ Tattered Trench Coat +4.

↳ Tattered Trench Coat +5.

The light shifted. The familiar warning popped up telling him that the item had reached the normal cap and would shatter.

Declan just grinned. His SSS Rank Talent, Boundless Enhancement, kicked in and ignored the game’s core rules entirely.

[Host Information]

↳ Talent: Boundless Enhancement activated. Cap removed.

[System Enhancement]

↳ Tattered Trench Coat +6.

↳ Tattered Trench Coat +7.

↳ Tattered Trench Coat +8.

↳ Tattered Trench Coat +9.

With every chime, Declan felt the coat changing against his skin. The cold wet sensation of the rain bleeding through the cheap fabric vanished. The rotting holes knitted themselves closed.

The nasty smell of wet dog faded away and was replaced by the scent of fresh high quality leather. The coat grew heavier and wrapped around his body like a second layer of muscle.

Then came the final chime. The light turned a deep shadowy purple.

[System Enhancement]

↳ Tattered Trench Coat has reached +10.

↳ Triggering Conceptual Mutation.

The purple light soaked into the fabric.

Declan looked down at himself. The coat was no longer a tattered gray rag. It was a sleek pitch black duster.

It looked like it was made from some kind of high end tactical material. It was completely dry despite the heavy rain pouring down on him.

A new status screen floated over his chest.

[Item Information]

↳ Name: Predator’s Coat +10

↳ Tier: Scavenged (Mutated)

↳ Defense: 45 / 50

↳ Trait Unlocked: Shadow Meld

↳ Functionality: Grants absolute invisibility when the user is standing perfectly still in darkness or deep shadows. Moving, attacking, or taking damage breaks the effect instantly.

Declan whistled softly. "Defense went from four to fifty. And I get an invisibility cloak. Not bad for ten points."

He looked at his remaining balance. He had fifteen Origin Points left. He could save them or he could start upgrading his basic burlap pants. He decided to save them for now. He wanted to test this new toy.

The Weeping Thicket was incredibly dark.

The rotting trees cast long deep shadows everywhere.

Declan walked over to a massive hollowed out tree trunk. The inside was pitched black.

He stepped into the shadow and pressed his back against the wet wood and completely stopped moving.

He held his breath.

A tiny buff icon appeared at the bottom of his vision. It looked like a little black eye.

[System Ability Active]

↳ Shadow Meld

He looked down at his hands. He couldn’t see them. He looked at his legs. Gone.

He was completely invisible and blended perfectly with the darkness. The moment he twitched his finger, his hand flickered back into view. He stopped moving and it vanished again.

"This is ridiculous," Declan thought. A smirk crept onto his face.

Before he could step out of the tree, he heard the squelching sound of boots in the mud. Multiple pairs of boots.

Declan froze. The Shadow Meld icon stayed active.

Four men walked out of the thick fog. They were wearing a mix of scavenged gear. The guy in the front had a rusty iron breastplate and a massive two handed club. He had a scar across his nose and looked like the kind of guy who robbed convenience stores in the real world.

"I’m telling you Garret, I heard a boar squeal over here," one of the men in the back said. He was holding a flimsy wooden spear. "A big one."

"If someone took down a Level 2 boar already, they probably have decent drops," Garret grunted. He was the leader with the club. "And if they just fought a boar, they are probably at low health. Easy pickings."

Player Killers.

Declan rolled his eyes. It hadn’t even been an hour since they all dropped into this hellhole and people were already forming gangs to rob each other.

It made sense though. The tutorial voice said to trust no one. Some people took that to heart.

Garret and his crew walked right past the dead Razor Boar. They saw the massive pool of blood and the giant carcass dissolving into pixels.

"Look at this," Garret said. He poked the dissolving meat with his club. "Somebody definitely killed it. Check the area. Spread out. If you see some weak looking idiot limping around, break his legs and take his inventory."

The three goons nodded and started fanning out.

One of them walked straight toward the hollowed out tree where Declan was hiding.

It was a skinny kid with a rusty dagger.

Declan didn’t blink. He didn’t breathe. He just stood there and gripped his +10 Chipped Cleaver tightly.

The skinny kid stopped literally two feet away from Declan. Declan could smell the guy’s bad breath. The kid peered into the dark tree trunk and squinted.

Declan was completely invisible. The kid saw absolutely nothing but shadows.

"Nothing over here Garret," the skinny kid yelled. He turned his back to Declan. "Just mud and dead trees. This place sucks."

"Keep looking you idiot," Garret snapped. He walked over to join the skinny kid. He passed right in front of the hollowed out tree. "The guy can’t have gone far. Look for footprints."

Garret stopped right in front of Declan. His back was turned. He was looking at the mud to find tracks.

Declan smiled. The game was simple. You survive, you hunt, you evolve. These guys wanted to hunt him. That meant they were just walking loot bags.

Declan stepped out of the shadow.

The Shadow Meld icon shattered. Declan instantly materialized right behind Garret. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t make a cool speech.

He just raised the mutated meat cleaver and brought it down hard across Garret’s exposed back.

Schwing!

The blade sliced through Garret’s cheap leather shirt like paper. It left a shallow jagged cut from his shoulder to his waist. It wasn’t a deep wound. It barely did any base damage.

But Declan didn’t need base damage. He had the Hemorrhage trait.

Garret let out a confused grunt and turned around. "Hey, what the"

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. The shallow cut on his back exploded! A massive spray of dark digital blood erupted from the wound. It was like a high pressure hose had been turned on inside his body.

"Aaaaaagh!" Garret screamed. He dropped his club and fell to his knees in the mud while clawing at his back. "Help! Help me! What is this?!"

His health bar appeared over his head. It was draining at a terrifying speed. Fifty HP a second. Garret only had about a hundred and twenty health total.

"Garret!" the skinny kid yelled. He backed up in pure horror. The other two goons froze.

Their eyes were wide as they stared at the man screaming in the mud.

Declan stood over Garret. His black coat was completely spotless and the bloody cleaver rested casually against his shoulder.

He looked like a nightmare that had just stepped out of the fog.

Three seconds later, Garret’s screaming stopped. He face planted into the mud totally drained of blood. His body began to dissolve into blue light.

Declan looked up at the three remaining goons. He didn’t run at them. He just took one slow step forward.

"Monster!" the skinny kid shrieked. He dropped his dagger and bolted into the fog as fast as his legs could carry him.

The other two didn’t hesitate. They threw their weapons in the mud and ran in the opposite direction while screaming for help.

Declan didn’t chase them. He had a base agility of 5. He wasn’t catching anyone who actually wanted to run away. Besides, he didn’t care about a bunch of cowards.

He looked down at the spot where Garret had died. There was a small pile of loot sitting in the mud. Declan knelt down and picked it up.

[System Resources]

↳ Origin Points: +15

↳ Item dropped: Rusted Iron Breastplate

↳ Item dropped: Heavy Wooden Club

"Declan crouched, collected the loot, and stood back up without a word.

He checked his system. He now had thirty Origin Points. He tossed the breastplate and the club into his system inventory. They were trash but maybe he could sell them later or use them for spare parts.

He stood back up and pulled the Predator’s Coat tighter around his chest. The rain was getting heavier and the fog was getting thicker.

It was time to find a place to rest. He was overpowered sure, but his stamina was starting to dip from the adrenaline crash.

He needed a safe spot to sit down before he did anything else. He gripped his cleaver and started walking deeper into the Weeping Thicket.