The system hadn’t provided any sign that Mayor Borokurk was a boss. There was no outline or title. The bluebottle jellyfish just stood there, sword drawn, looking about as menacing as a jellyfish with a sword could be.

  “So, how do you rank in the Hardbody Crustaceans?” Father asked.

  Borokurk flourished the blade, giving it a dramatic spin before clasping bunched tentacles around the grip. Individual tentacles wriggled like fingers, drifting away from the bunched hand-like appendages.

  “Every operation needs a figure in charge,” Borokurk said.

  “You’re not the leader of the Hardbody Crustaceans.” Father inched forward. He kept his feet apart and steady with his claw nearly twitching with an eagerness to pull the trigger.

  “And what would an oaf like you know about it? You look like you just woke up. You’re not even dressed.” The jellyfish’s weight shifted. It was slight, but Father had seen enough combat to know when someone was about to pounce.

  “I am as dressed as I need to be to fry every single scum like you. Everybody in the Hardbody Crustaceans will die to my claws.” Father fortified his stance. “I will start over as many times as it takes to get this right.”

  On cue, Borokurk dashed forward. The jellyfish moved with surprising speed. He was much faster than Father, even with a few points in agility.

  Despite the jellyfish’s speed, Father had more than enough time to fire the shotgun. He had expected a spray of jelly, but he instead watched the buckshot sink into the jellyfish’s flesh and soon saw a flash of a katana as it bisected Father’s body.

  Returned to Start.

  Beginning Run 39.

  Set Attributes.

  Strength 05

  Endurance 10

  Agility 05

  Intelligence 25

  Luck 05

  Saving his Son in less than forty runs was starting to look unlikely. His confidence was a little misplaced. There were powerful sea creatures out there that he had never met before. It wasn’t as simple as he had once hoped. He had no idea what challenges existed after Doctor Holo, and he had yet to find a real strategy to beating the sea cucumber.

  The start of his run, when ordinary, was so predictable that he was sure he could handle it with any mix of attributes. Within minutes, Father used one round to take out the guard, then marched right back into the city hall.

  The mayor wasn’t a boss, but he had a weapon and he was involved in the modestly deep trench part of the Hardbody Crustaceans. Even if he didn’t give a class or a buff, he was going to die. A few runs were an easy sacrifice to make when considering the end result. Getting into the forties and beyond was fine if it helped Father learn. He would become faster, stronger, and smarter even without changing his attributes.

  Stealing a shotgun from the shooting range felt a little questionable to his morality. It really wasn’t, considering the things he usually did to get his weapons. Nobody was harmed. After a few runs spent inside the gun club. He knew where everything was kept. He grabbed a bandolier loaded with shotgun shells and left before anyone could try to stop him.

  Father stormed into the mayor’s office and repeatedly fired one handgun. Three bullets hit the jellyfish and sunk into the translucent flesh. Without words exchanged, Mayor Borokurk leapt over his desk and drew his katana. Tentacles hit the ground and propelled the creature across the office.

  A handgun was far too weak to handle the mayor. Father tossed it aside and raised the shotgun. He didn’t aim at the mayor’s head. Not this time. Once was enough for him to learn.

  The katana flashed, light dancing off the polished metal. It was the sharpest thing Father had ever seen. He had barely even noticed when it had cut him in half. But a katana was just a tool. Without a wielder, it was nothing.

  Father kept the shotgun low until the jellyfish was within range. The shotgun could hit from across the office, but to do what he really needed, he had to wait until the last moment. The katana was raised high, blade threatening to drop like a guillotine.

  Father pulled the barrel of the shotgun up and nearly pressed it against the jellyfish’s wrists. A flash briefly covered all of Mayor Borokurk as the shotgun released its buckshot.

  Jelly splattered against the wall and dripped down an old portrait of the jellyfish mayor. The katana fell to the ground with tentacles still wrapped around the grip.

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  Borokurk took a step back with arms raised. Fluids leaked from the ends of severed tentacles. Suit sleeves stained blue with jelly. “How . . .”

  Father pumped the shotgun, aimed it down, and shot out the equivalent of a jellyfish’s knee. The buckshot was ineffective against the main portion of the jellyfish, but it tore through the tentacles with ease.

  Mayor Borokurk collapsed. His remaining tentacles squirmed like snakes.

  “The Hardbody Crustaceans will never let you get away with this.” His voice wasn’t the least bit strained even as he leaked into the surrounding water.

  “Who is going to stop me?” Father calmly walked to the wall, propped his shotgun against it, and grabbed the fallen katana. It took a simple swipe of his claws to clear away the withered tentacles.

  “My comrade,” Borokurk said. The jellyfish pulled himself along the ground, leaving a trail of jelly behind. “Mister Logs will kill you so easily, he—”

  Father put a foot on Borokurk and halted the mayor’s pathetic flight. “I’ve killed Logs so many times. I’ve lost count. I’ll head over to Trash Co. and kill him again as soon as we’re done here.”

  Mayor Borokurk turned around. Little navy blue eyes watched Father with newfound horror. “What do you mean?”

  Father pressed his weight into Borokurk’s torso and felt the jelly consistency. With a little more force, it felt as though his foot might puncture the creature. “I keep dying. I keep coming back. Thirty nine times around, and I’ll keep going until every one of you Hardbody pieces of shit is dead and my son is home again. You killed me once, you know. Feels like five minutes ago.” Father pressed down a little harder. “Too bad you didn’t learn a thing.”

  “Please,” Borokurk squeaked.

  Father slashed the katana directly through the jellyfish’s head. All tentacles fell limp and the resistance under Father’s foot gave way. His foot fell through, squishing jelly out of the sleeves, pants, and neck openings of the suit.

  After doing his best to wipe his foot off, Father retrieved the katana’s sheath, slung it over his shoulder, and headed back out to the lobby. He planned to go directly to his car and head to Trash Co., but the receptionist of city hall watched him with an evil look. An evil look from a clam wasn’t that different from their normal look. But Father could sense the ire in the mollusk.

  “Are you part of the Hardbody Crustaceans?” Father asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The answer was a little too fast.

  Father approached slowly. “Do you know anything about the Hardbody Crustaceans?”

  The receptionist stared through the crack between the shells. “I haven’t the slightest idea what you are talking about.”

  Father pulled the katana from its sheath. “How many people in city hall are bought out?”

  The receptionist eyed the blade.

  “It’s a shame you are all corrupt.”

  “Wait.” The receptionist closed its shell.

  Father forced the blade into the space between clam shells and jammed it inside. The clam screamed as Father sawed back and forth. Its shell gave way as the clam died and fell to the side.

  By the time Father arrived at Trash Co., Pleven was waltzing in like nothing could go wrong. Little isopod feet slapped against the ground while multiple arms pumped with a dramatic flair.

  For a time, he had looked at the isopod as a friend. It was sad, in a way, to lose that small connection. It was artificial anyway. Each new run meant Pleven needed to learn who Father was again.

  They were never friends.

  He had no friends.

  It would have made Father sad in the past. Those self realizations about who he was and the failures he had, both socially and emotionally, never made him feel any better.

  Father had accomplished a single thing in his life. He had raised a wonderful Son.

  A single bullet killed Pleven, and a quick slash of the katana killed the receptionist. The snow crab and the shotgun-wielding isopod were easily dispatched. His new shotgun was better maintained, so Father only gathered the ammo and slotted it into the bandolier across his rippling chest.

  1st Checkpoint Boss

  Mister Logs

  Father no longer felt any fear upon seeing the eel. Even as the yellow outline traced the tail or the needle-like teeth, Father stood calm with weapons in hand. A shotgun in one claw and a katana in the other.

  It was impractical, but it didn’t matter.

  “I killed Borokurk,” Father said.

  That made the eel twitch. “Why?”

  “He was a Hardbody bottom feeder like you.”

  Mister Logs launched from the shadows. Father fired the shotgun once, bracing himself as the kick pressed against one arm. Buckshot sunk into the pale eel flesh. Father spotted an overly confident smirk from the eel before its jaws parted.

  Father stepped to the side, dropped the shotgun, and gripped the katana with both hands. Instead of chomping Father, Mister Logs was greeted with a sharp blade through the roof of its mouth and into the eel’s stunned brain.

  1st Checkpoint Boss

  Mister Logs

  Defeated.

  Father’s vision fuzzed.

  Continue or Return to Start?

  Choose a Class.

  Wizard - Spell-slinging master of the arcane. Wizards gain a basic set of abilities to use immediately, but must find tomes or scrolls to unlock their true power. Favors Intelligence.

  Father was no longer sure having a katana, shotgun, and handguns really made sense. He hoped that a wizard was somewhere close to the books and movies he had grown up with. If it was abilities like a stage magician, Father would just find a way to kill himself and start again.

  He took a careful step back so as to not impale himself on the eel fangs less than an inch from his chitin. Father tore the katana free, allowing Mister Logs to slump the rest of the way to the ground.

  Abilities:

  Spark

  Zap

  Chill

  Tickle

  Hop

  Father fought an urge to roll his eyes. At least the system did say he could find tomes or scrolls to unlock true power. Until then, he would make sure to keep all his weapons close.

  Tickle

  Cause a single target to fall into a fit of laughter.

  Hop

  Jump higher.

  “Yeah, I guess.” Father sheathed the katana, grabbed the shotgun, and headed back outside. There wasn’t any reason to linger in the trench. He had a sea cucumber to murder. And, hopefully, some scrolls and tomes to find along the way.