Rewind: A Grimdark LitRPG Series (Pyresouls Apocalypse, Book 1) by James Callum (reading tree .txt) 📕

Healed to full by the Fire Oppa now perched on his shoulder, Jacob made his way to the two souls and bent to retrieve them and his shield.

You defeat the [Burgon Beast].

Awarded 20,000 Souls.

You gain [Bright Soul of the Burgon Beast].

You defeat the [Incomplete Vessel].

Awarded 15,000 Souls.

You gain [Dark Soul of the Incomplete Vessel].

There were several tense moments when Jacob expected another attack. Something, anything that might go wrong. And then the prompt flashed across his vision, and a feminine voice boomed, the same one from the character creation.

“Congratulations to Jacob Windsor for defeating the Burgon Beast and being the first player to complete the introductory area of Pyresouls Online! The Forbidden Lands are now open. Good luck with the rest of the competition!”

Jacob’s mouth hung open. “What?!” He didn’t have much time to ponder what just happened as the taste of blue raspberries overwhelmed him, and he felt a deep tug at his navel.

36

May 7th, 2045 - 10 Years Post-Collapse.

Jacob awoke to the piercing beeping of a digital alarm clock too far away to smack.

As consciousness came back to him, he thought he was back in the room his parents kept for him when he went away to college. Only, he never left the alarm clock so far away.

Smashing the snooze button as soon as it interrupted his sleep was a priority he would not soon relinquish.

But as Jacob awoke and the dry, dusty air hit his throat, he realized he was not at home. The curving, cracked glass of the FIVR pod greeted him. The seals were letting in the air in the room around him.

A dark room Jacob didn’t recognize.

With a gentle push, the curving glass top of the pod swung wide, letting him sit up. Jacob ripped diodes and an IV out of his arm. The drip bag was long-since emptied it looked like.

Setting his feet down on the cold stone floor, he suppressed a shiver. The world was just as ethereally cold as before. Perhaps more. But he didn’t feel the same as he usually did.

That bone-deep ache as the cold wormed its way into his body was missing. He hurt, a dozen new pains all vied for his attention at once, but that soul-wearying agony was a distant memory.

He felt a faint warmth within his breast. And he remembered Fenris, the Fire Oppa.

Unsure where Alice or Alec were hiding, Jacob stalked across the dark room to the sharp green glow of the blaring alarm clock. He tripped over a wire once or twice along the way, cursing as he stubbed his toe on some piece of furniture.

With less force than he felt like using, Jacob switched off the alarm instead of smashing it to pieces.

Something was wrong.

“Hello?” he croaked, his throat dreadfully dry.

No response.

Shuffling about the room, with his arms out in front of himself, Jacob finally found the light switch. The room was bathed in harsh flickering white light. The heavy door that led out of the room now sported a massive metal locking bar that extended out from a wheel.

The door looked like it belonged on a submarine.

With more strength than he ever remembered having, Jacob turned the wheel. His only thought at the moment was his dire thirst. Halfway through turning the red wheel with its flaking paint, he spied a bottle of water by the FVIR pod.

Ambling over to it, Jacob sated his thirst, draining the thing dry.

Just to be sure he gave it another tilt, but when no more came out he set it back down. Only then did he notice the dozens of sticky pad notes attached to the FIVR pod.

Bending down to read them, they were all hastily scribbled - in his own hand, no less - instructions on how to use the FIVR pod. How much power it required. How to use the [Improbability Ember], and a lot more he didn’t understand.

Wires trailing off of the machine led him to a stand with a computer terminal displaying more code and diagnostic information than he had ever seen in his life. He wasn’t a programmer.

With a shrug, Jacob turned away, examining the room in greater detail. Folded neatly on a rolling cart was a set of armor and a chipped longsword out of its sheath.

There was no other way in or out of the room, and the pieces that he was finding did not paint a picture that made him feel very safe.

Taking all possible precautions, Jacob donned the armor. It was far heavier than his usual equipment had been in the future he last remembered and in much better repair besides. Even the sword, which had noticeable chips and cuts in it, still held a sharp edge.

Suited up again, Jacob turned the wheel with one hand, using his other to keep his sword at the ready. It was slow going, but the last thing he wanted was to die outside of Pyresouls Online. There would be no coming back from death here.

“What the hell is going on?” he muttered as he came into the hall to find it in a similar state of disuse.

The lights in the rest of the underground bunker turned on as their motion sensors triggered, and Jacob cleared the place room by room. There were some signs that people had once lived there but no longer.

The rooms were barren and without any personal effects - no suits of armor or weapons in the rooms, no mementos. The armory, between the mess hall and the FIVR pod room, held an assortment of well-kept equipment, but none of it was recognizable.

Moving down the hall, Jacob saw the telltale glow of light from under a door on his left. A supply room, if memory served. It was where they kept their non-perishables and anything scavenged that had been deemed safe to bring inside.

Hand tightening around the hilt of his sword, Jacob braced himself and opened the door should anything threatening come out.

What