Hello, Mask again.
I had to run through several buildings to make that monster lose my trail. Now I believe I left off on monsters. Now, how can you survive against them? Well, that is quite simple.
You either run and hide for your life. Making sure you don't stay in one place for too long or else you gain the attention of these beasts.
Or you stand your ground and fight against them. Act tough and strike first before they do, in hopes of being on top.
Now the two options are good choices, but I prefer the first one. Mainly because the latter one is basically a death sentence if you survived less than one month. Why one month you might be asking. The reason is quite simple.
Power.
Or more specifically, superpowers. Though, calling them superpowers is a long shot, since they really aren't powers and more of you are adapting to this world. I'm going to assume you only enter the Blank maybe for a week, and have no clue what is real or not. So allow me to give you the guide of this world.
Yes, you were kidnapped into this world against your will. Yes, you've seen strangers, maybe friends and family, get killed in front of you by the monsters. Hell, you might even have thoughts of just ending it here and now. But allow me to tell you the good old benefits of this world that I learned during my stay and from other survivors.
First thing is first, you probably noticed that you aren't hungry or thirsty. Even though you haven't eaten or drank anything for days. Well, that is one of the benefits. You see, your need to eat or drink is lessened. To the point where you won't have to eat or drink for up to a month or two, it varies with each person. But it's always a month.
Now this is good, since this means you won't have to venture into the different sectors to get food or water. And possibly either falling into a monster trap in a convenient store or entering a nest full of baby monsters inside a giant mall. I will get to the sectors and whatnot later.
Of course, I said benefits. With a S at the end. So there is more than one.
The second benefit comes in after you survived for a week inside the Blank. Your body experiences an increase in physical resistance. From small simple things like a paper cut or stabbed from a splinter that would either draw blood or cause you pain. Will simply not happen because your body's skin has been boosted. Yes a stab to the stomach will kill you, but now you don't have to worry about small inconveniences like stubbing your toe.
Now in the second week you will have a boost in your physical capabilities. It's not going to be dramatic, like being able to run at championship speed or lifting weights similar to the world record. But you will be able to run a mile faster than you did in your previous world and lift a few pounds more.
Third week is where the superpower starts. Sort of. This week, you are given a small minor regeneration. It's not like the ones you see in movies, that will heal wounds in a second or even regenerate lost limbs. But any nasty wounds that would originally be thought as a problem, could now be considered a minor wound. Of course life threatening wounds and such are going to be a big deal. After all, an empty hole in your stomach is going to kill you no matter what.
Fourth week is, in my opinion, the most needed week. Since it boosts your mind and, in a sense, your will power. This is greatly needed since you will experience horrors that would make you pop your own head just to get away from it. So having something that makes you hesitate before you do this is quite needed. Now, you might be saying "oh, that's just us getting used to the world. It's not a benefit." And you would be wrong, since once this week starts, you will experience a skull splitting headache followed by nausea that will make you want to pop your head. Of course, once that is over you get the benefit.
Now once a month has passed the good stuff comes in. Here you officially get superpowers. Or something close to it. It's basically a gamble on what you get. Hell, some of these powers don't even match their respective person. For instance, I have seen a gambling addict with alcohol problems receive a power that allows them to gain the ability to summon spirits. Problem is, these spirits do not respect him because of his alcohol problems and most of the time don't bother helping him. Another time, I've seen someone with the ability to summon lightning from the sky and think "Oh, they must be a strong brave person." Turns out, they are a seven year old kid who has no clue what is going on in this world.
Don't worry, gave the kid to someone who is able to take care of them. Speaking of them, this guy is probably one of the few who actually has a power that fits his character. I mean he is the type of guy who would save lives no matter what gets in his way and his power is being able to generate yellow bubbles that he can use as a forcefield. They aren't invincible, but they sure as hell keep a monster or two at bay for several hours.
Now you might be wondering, "Mask, what power do you have?" And I will gladly answer it. My power, which I named myself, is called [Ghost Walk]. Cool name, right?
It allows me to disappear from everyone's sight. I don't mean I go invisible or that I don't exist in the world. I mean no one can see me, hear me, or even smell me, the last part is important since so many monsters rely on their senses to hunt us down, in a sense I basically become a ghost.
Of course, it has some flaws to it. For instance if I do it in front of people, they won't forget me as they will still know I am there. Also, when I am near people while my ability is activated, they get a feeling in the back of their minds telling them that something is wrong, that something is with them or watching them. Of course people tend to ignore this feeling and move on with their lives.
But not monsters. Those guys rely on their instincts with their lives. If not for the fact they can't see me, hear me, or smell me. Well, the many times I had monsters push their face close to my own would have ended in a different way.
On a bonus plus side, I can sort of choose who I want to see me. So that's a good thing.
Now once you have survived a month, you must survive another month. While you survive the second month, the previous benefit cycle begins again. Only this time, instead of giving you benefits, they boost them. Except the hunger and thirst one. That one is permanent for a month or two.
How far can these benefits boost you? I don't really know, since I only lived for a month or so. I have had the pleasure of gaining some of the boosted benefits, but not all of them. From what I personally can tell, I can't get hurt by small physical harm such as.
Actually, I don't really know. I basically dodged any possible source of harm after the month. So I really can't say. I probably can still get hurt by minor grazes from monsters, but probably won't be deep. Just skin level deep.
Now that you know the benefits, it is time to explain why I wrote you should run away from monsters.
Sure, if you survive up to a month you will get a power that can make living in this hell hole easy. But don't get too confident about it.
As I said before, think of them like creatures that made nature kill itself. Yes, they will bleed. Yes, they can also be killed. But that does not mean you should aim to kill. Instead, you should aim to wound.
Here is a rule that I learned while in this world. Weak creatures tend to live in groups, while strong creatures tend to roam alone. This rule very much applies to monsters. Sure, there are monsters that form packs of sorts with other monsters, but that is because they know they can't hunt humans and animals down by themselves. They know they are weak, so they group up with other weaker monsters to help in hunting.
But strong monsters like to live by themselves. They know they are strong. Maybe even the strongest. So they have no need of sharing their spoils when they can easily hunt by themselves. Which is why they roam the streets and forests of this world by themselves. They know the other monsters will avoid them because of how strong they are.
But we humans don't know that. At least those that just got to this world. Arrivers typically stay away from packs since they only see big numbers and know they will get overrun. But when they see a lone monster wandering the street, they think they can take it out. Especially if they have powers, are in a group, and said monster is the size of a human adult.
You have no clue how many times I have seen small groups of arrivers get turned into red paste on the side of buildings in the matter of seconds. Just because they are overconfident in their powers or in their group strength.
Which is why you must always aim to wound. Yes, you can try to kill the monster. But you are most likely going to die. And if you try to run away, the monster will just kill you once your back is turned. Which is why you must wound the monster hard enough that it is either too slow or too hesitant to chase you.
So always, run away when you encounter these monsters.
Speaking of monsters, the monster that was hunting me a while ago is hot on my trail. I can see its black root sprouting back, lumbering towards the street of the building I am hiding in. Each step, quaking the ground I am standing on. Each breath lets me see its orange insides and root filled moth.
Best to leave before it arrives here.
Till next time.