It's 5:40am. You're walking through the woods before sunrise. Not a great decision, but it's not like there's monsters or anything, right?
Then, the tree in front of you opens one large red eye. In shock, you turn to run away, only to find an odd, squid-like creature... it has four tentacles, attached to a large exposed brain, with sharp teeth in its opening jaws. There really are monsters here, and now it's gonna–
BANG
The monster disintegrates as the smell of gunpowder fills the air. It leaves behind a small gemstone, which quickly absorbs into your body before you can react, making you feel slightly... invigorated?
You turn around once again and see the cause of this. Standing behind you with a fierce expression, two SMGs raised, is a young woman in a cape, with bright red hair and energetic eyes. She looks at you and smiles gently.
Abby: "Heehee. I guess you owe me one, huh? I'm Abby."
She pauses, as if coming to a realisation. A look of mild horror briefly flashes across the woman's face.
Abby: "Wait a sec... What are you even doing here?! This place is super dangerous!! Especially now..."
She looks around; as you do the same, you realise there are more of those monsters all around you. Abby's face turns serious for a moment, and she hands you one of her guns.
Abby: "Look. Those monsters are gonna come at us thick and fast, and they're not gonna stop until dawn, and that's in 20 minutes. Our only way out of this is to fight them off until then. But, it's not too difficult. Remember that XP shard (and yes, I'm using videogame terms) you just got? Enough of those will upgrade you! Your speed, your durability, even that SMG I just gave you, it's all upgradeable. How does it work? Haha, I have no clue. But it works, and that's what matters. Let's do this."
The monsters close in.