Jack expected his life to never change, his same boring routine would play on repeat.
Work, Eat, Work, Sleep.
If he was being honest, he had come to terms with his simple life, but he always dreamed of becoming a protagonist in a novel. Cool powers, monsters, and beautiful women that fawned over his inhuman power.
Jack knew it wouldn't happen, because he lived in a world without monsters and magic. A world where your place in life was decided by wealth instead of raw power. At least that was the world he lived in.
One day he opened his eyes and was lying down on the sand, grains stuck to his face and neck.
[Welcome to 'The Island', defeat the boss and return to your world.]
A singe message was in front of his face, the text hovering on a semi-transparent screen.
'I must be dreaming.' Jack thought.
How could anything interesting happen in his repetitious life?
Not really believing his situation, Jack wandered into the forest. Tropical plants lined the forest floor, while towering coniferous trees stood all around him.
"Is that a portal?" This time Jack spoke aloud, assuming he was alone in his dream.
In front of him was a spiraling stream of wispy blue particles, it looked like a giant swirling sea.
[Goblin Dungeon - Common]
[Requirement: 1 Person]
[Reward: Common Armor Loot Box]
The screen appeared in his vision again, this time describing a dungeon. What kind of middle syndrome dream was he having?
"Might as well enter." Jack said, before letting out a giant yawn.
Using his fantasy knowledge, Jack deduced that to enter all he would need to do was walk inside. His deduction was correct and his scenery changed from a dense forest to open plains, not a single tree in sight and the horizon continued as far as his eyes could see.
Jack expected to not feel anything in his dream, but wind whipped at his face; making him question if he was actually dreaming. A low growl came from behind, but the wind whisked it away and Jack was too focused on standing upright to turn around.
"AHHH!!"
Something had smashed into his fleshy leg, tearing some of his skin off. Cool liquid started to run down Jack's leg as he finally turned around to see what hit him. A small green humanoid figure stood 3 feet off the ground, its ears sharper than any knife Jack had seen. Across it's chest was a crude breastplate and in it's hand was a short club, the size of a police baton.
'This can't be a dream, how could I feel pain like this in a dream?? If this is real than a goblin could easily kill me if I don't fight back.'
Clenching his fist, Jack finally woke up realizing he was not in the construct of his brain but in fact inside a dungeon. Limping backwards Jack gained distance from the creature, but it was not kind enough to wait.
With a low growl it charged forward, club in the air. Jack wasn't planning on sitting still and waited until the green monster struck down with the club, lodging it into the ground. This gave Jack enough of an opening to land a solid roundhouse to the temple, sending the little creature tumbling on the ground.
It stood up promptly once it's momentum stopped and charged again, this time baring its yellow stained V-shaped teeth. A shiver ran up Jack's spine imagining the set of pointed bone digging into his flesh.
'If it charges into me again I should be safe to use my legs to keep striking from a distance. Unless it closes distance I am not putting my hands near a maw like that.'
Fortunately, it darted directly towards him again. Unfortunately, he missed the creature after it ducked his repeated attack. Within an instant the foul smelling beast was on top of Jacks chest, inches from sinking its teeth inside the humans chest cavity. With a swift movement Jack wrapped his left arm over the opposite shoulder of the goblin and reversed the position.
A flurry of blows rang down onto the green opponent, flinging blood and leathery skin into the air. Bones cracked like rusted metal snapping apart, but the blows never ceased. Jack swung with a manic expression and didn't stop until a ring appeared in his ears.
[You have defeated, Goblin]
[First Kill Bonus! You have received 'Common Stat Loot Box']
A metal box appeared in front of Jack, hovering in midair. Standing up, he didn't even notice the corpse that disappeared into particles, and opened the lock that ordained the center of the crate.
Light blinded his vision, but disappeared as quick as it came.
[+2 Strength]
Jack wouldn't even need to see his strength stat to know that it was increased at least two-fold. Even after training Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu all it took was killing one monster to overshadow years of work. Jack couldn't exactly complain though, why put in the work at all if he could just get stronger through life and death situations.
The wind blew over him again but had no effect on Jack. He stood like a stone bust that was nailed into layers on cobblestone, except without the aesthetic proportions.
When more goblins approached Jack was ready, his stance was sharp and his stared daggers into the two little creatures approaching. He didn't wait to be caught off guard this time and instead charged into the pair, axe kicking the first one; its head imploded.
[You have defeated, Goblin]
The second humanoid swung it's wood club, but was met with the sole of a shoe before it could even gain speed. A pop rang as Jack's fist pushed through the invisible barrier of wind, landing a clean hit that shook the brain of the goblin. Jack expected it to just get stunned, but instead it ragdolled through the air, spinning countless times before a faint crunch disturbingly entered Jack's ears.
[You have defeated, Goblin]