"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy spirit, we call upon your name to..."


    As the solemn prayer went on, lead by Jin Hyoon, Rheena''s body was gradually evaporating into tiny red specks of light.


    While Jeemin''s head hung low. When he woke up early in the morning, soaked in sweat and shivering from the cold engulfing him, he immediately noticed the state of Rheena''s body. Which then lead him to immediately convened the group.


    Even though he was an atheist, the least he can do was suggest to hold a farewell prayer, for the one that already disappeared from this world.


    Of course, sentimentality wasn''t only the reason he suggested that. If he dealt with the aftermath of one his party''s member''s death with indifference, what kind of looks would they give him?


    His heart ached from grief as his eyes gloomily watched Rheena''s disappearing body.


    As he closed his eyes, he started recalling something. His closed eyelids twitch from time to time as he recalled his dream with difficulty.


    ''Dream.''


    A tremor ran throughout his body when he recalled the hall from his dream, it was blurry, but the people around him had different faces to what he remembered.


    Snippets of hazy memories of him going through a forest, alone, and exploring the cave. At the end of the cave, there were two passages, one leading up, and one leading down.


    It was strange, whenever he tried recalling that point of memory in his dream, he would feel intense regret when he saw the ''him'' in his dream, took the passage leading up.


    "... May you rest in peace."


    Only then he was jolted awake from his dreamy state when the rest of the party spoke in unison.


    His lowered head abruptly turned towards Rheena''s body that was now losing its corporeal form.


    He walked towards her, knelt down, and wrapped his remaining arm on her body as he buried his head but shed no tears.


    After she gradually turn into nothingness, she left her clothes and fallen pouch behind. He stared at the ceilings for awhile, the spacious cave reflected in his eyes.


    His sigh carrying an indescribable heaviness echoed on the eerily silent cave.


    He put the clothes inside the fallen pouch that he picked up with trembling hand.


    ''Never get attached to others,'' or so he thought as he stood up.


    Since when did I ever accomplish such creed without getting myself entangled with people I choose to interact with?


    His gloomy eyes scanned the rest of the party briefly.


    The chirping birds started singing, welcoming the arrival of the rising sun, as the cave started to get brighter.


    He draped the black jacket on his back as he made the status window appear in front of him.


    [Status Window]


    Name: Liu Jeemin


    Titles: None


    General information


    Current state: Struck with minor injuries, loss of limb, excessive blood loss. (Recommended further rest)


    Physical: 62kg/167.3cm


    Cause of Transmigration: Suicide


    Mark: g


    Level 0


    Class: None


    Talent: Average


    Skills:


    A. Unique skills:


    None


    B. Acquired skills:


    None


    Personality:


    -Inconsistent (Does not have fixed traits)


    -Confused


    -Delusional(Imitating other traits)


    -Projection(Tries to present how he think of himself)


    Mental level:


    -Weak-willed (gives up easily)


    -Depress(not enough desire to live)


    -Logical(thinks reasonably)


    -Impostor Syndrome(fear of being exposed as fraud; gaining success though hardwork and luck is not interpreted as matter of true, personal ability)


    Overall Stats:


    Power: 1(0%)


    Agility: 1(0%)


    Defense: 1(0%)


    Stamina: Low


    Mana: None


    Universal Points: 0


    He frowned as he examine his status window closely.


    I swear I saw my status window littered with question marks last night. To top it off, it looks even trashier now.


    "Captain are you okay?"


    Claire Williams who was looking at him asked with concerned eyes.


    His drooped eyelids went up for a moment as he glanced at her, he guessed she might have misinterpreted his frown as a reaction from pain when he draped the jack on his back.


    "Yeah, the special bandage took care of my wounds. All I got are mere scratches around my body, so no need to worry."


    It might be nicer if my limb grows though.


    But then thought, he''s expecting too much of the special bandage. In fact, it was fortunate enough that he received one. Without the special bandage magically stopping the blood spurting out of his left shoulder, he might have bled to death.


    "What''s that?"


    "Oh this?"


    Claire Williams handed the glowing fist sized rock to him. Looking closely, it was color light blue with strange small red rock inside resembling a vein.


    [Information bank]


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    -Very low grade Origin


    Crushed it to produce light for 10 seconds.


    Information bank?


    He went stiff for a moment, before asking, "Do you... perhaps know what it is, its name?" his eyes glinted momentarily.


    "I don''t know what it''s called, but we discovered awhile ago it can act as source of light for around 10 seconds. At that time, Sasaki Seiji was playing with it when it fell off from his hand and shattered."


    He made an educated guess that they don''t have an information bank like him since they don''t know its name.


    "Have you all eaten?" He asked as he devoured a loaf bread in one go and gulped down a quarter of water from a bottle.


    The party nodded at his inquiry.


    "Before we explore the cave, have you check your status window yet?"


    "Yes! It''s incredible, we''re like inside a game."Sasaki Seiji excitedly answered.


    "Good. This is optional, but I''d like to know what''s your unique skill, if you have any. The reason is, if by some chance, we met monsters when we''re exploring, your unique skill could be timely use."


    "Mmmm. Captain I have a unique skill called Precision, but I don''t know what it is for," as Claire Williams unhesitatingly replied, Jeemin thought for a moment.


    He bent down and picked two small rocks and gave one to Claire. After that, he walked several meters away from Claire and said, "Try hitting this rock and feel the word precision while doing so."


    Claire furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before nodding. Jeemin threw the rock upwards and signaled Claire to hit it.


    "Precision," Claire muttered as she threw the rock towards the airborne target. She was doubtful, thinking she would not hit it. But then her eyes narrowed when the rock she threw accurately hit the target.


    Meanwhile, Jeemin was gloomily smiling underneath his mask. Why didn''t I have a unique skill?


    "Next," said Jeemin as he patted his pants, dusting off the dirt from his hand.


    "Mine is called short blade affinity. I think it increases my proficiency in using knife," Dmitri spoke as he made a thrusting and slashing motion and adeptly switching the orientation of the knife in his hand.


    Jeemin nodded depressingly.


    Not only one of them, but the kid also has a very useful unique skill.


    Li Jing then shyly went to Jeemin and whispered in his ear as she stood in tiptoe.


    "I have the unique skill called. . . umm."


    Her face flushed as she stammered.


    "It''s called handjob..."


    His face twitched several times as he almost said "that''s what a unique skill is!"


    He immediately crushed the thought of testing it before contemplating in silence, as he struggled to maintain a straight face.


    "Since you''re a nurse," he nodded at his own conclusion, "Maybe it has something to do with the way you handle wounds, especially in performing complicated operations."


    That makes it three unique skills. He thought as he turned his head towards Seiji who was beaming with a smile.


    "Mine is Design. I guess it has something to do about my nature in designing games and gadgets. Who knows, this might allow me to make mecha in this world!"


    So that''s why he''s so happy, I''d rather be as hard as a mecha than pilot it, smaller is nimbler after all. Thinking about it, I''m getting excited what''s after adaptation zone. Maybe it''s called ''outside'' the adaptation zone...


    When Jeemin looked towards Jin Hyoon, she quickly shook her head and said, "None."


    He heaved a sigh of relief as he finally met one who was the same as him.


    "I got none too," he said with a flat tone.


    He took out a worn out leather vest from his pouch.


    "Have you been able to pick up the vests you saw yesterday, before the hounds appeared? If you did, then now''s the best time to wear it for protection."


    When they didn''t make any sound, Jeemin who was examining his newly worn worn-out leather vest, lifted his head in confusion.


    "What?"


    They were looking at him with weird gazes.


    "But aren''t you already wearing a silver armour underneath your shirt?"


    "Silver what?" he blurted out uncharacteristically.


    "I received a silver armour after the purple hair lady disappeared, it appeared underneath my cloth. It''s more like silver armoured vest, plated vest? I''m not sure what to call it." Jin Hyoon said as the rest followed suit.


    "I''ve been given bronze plated vest," Dmitri coldly spoke.


    "Mine''s gold," Claire lowered her head while clenching a pouch in her hand as a brief guilt flashed in her eyes.


    "Well, mine is not that flashy. It''s just a simple, literally, leather vest. Leather plated leather vest?" Seiji sighed.


    "Uhhmm... I''m not wearing anything underneath."


    Li Jing spoke shyly.


    Jeemin doubted his ears as he blurted out again uncharacteristically, "Not what?"


    "... ahh.. no.. I mean, uhmm the notice said, ''reinforced current cloth''. I''m not wearing a vest underneath.. that''s what I mean.. I''m sorry..uhm," Li Jing said in a fluster as she twiddle with her fingers.


    Claire at the side thought for a moment before speaking, "I think this would make it clearer."


    "The system sent a notice saying, ''Grade S is eligible to receive higher grade armour x1, gauntlet x1, special bandage x3, medium sized dimensional pouch x1, high grade random box x3, medium grade consumable Origin x1, low grade consumable Origin x3, pill of hardening x1.''"


    Claire Williams listed off the items given by the system like it was nothing as she added, "Did anyone got the same message too?"


    "Hmm, that''s a lot. I''ve only received silver armour and one low random box. It''s confusing, the system said it''s armour, but in actuality, it''s only a silver plated vest. I expected something more like a Knight''s armour, you know."


    The rest of the group also mentioned that they received the armour the system mentioned and one random box.


    Jeemin, who was dumbfounded at this, was wondering why he didn''t receive anything in the hall, considering he too was graded.


    According to the status window I was graded G, it should mean gold right? What was Claire Williams'' grade again, was it S?


    He touched his chin in thought.


    Assuming S is the highest, then the general ranking should be S A B C D E F.


    As he pondered about this idea, he felt that he was missing something.


    His pupils suddenly constricted, his heart thumped chaotically as he sensed an ominous forboding. To be sure of his guess, he took a look at his status window again and focused on the "Mark" part.


    Mark: g


    It''s not even capitalized!


    S A B C D E F ... G? g?!


    As soon as he thought of this, he felt like someone dropped a hammer on his head.


    So if it isn''t gold, then ''g'' could only signify one thing.


    It was ''garbage''.


    If it wasn''t for his mask, they would definitely see his face twitching violently.


    His left arm was torn apart from him, the girl he tried to save died, and the benefits he expected to get for getting a high grade, blew at his face.


    Since it was this anyway, there''s nothing I can do. But this is bad, I still don''t know what benefits or how grade affect someone''s growth. I should keep an eye on Claire.


    He quickly regained his composure as he further thought, "if I can''t get it by my own grade, then maybe I can benefit from others."


    He was feeling rather hopeful amidst the despair creeping on him when he thought he made the right decision of not tackling this world alone, even though he wanted to.


    Wait, doesn''t that exemplify how weak, worthless, and wretched I am?


    "Claire Williams . . . err would you like to open the random boxes now, I suggest you do it now since the rewards could be useful before we start exploring the cave."


    He spoke in a low voice, avoiding directly mentioning ''sharing'' the rewards.


    "Yes, I agree captain, I was planning on telling you anyway so we can divide it if necessary."


    Divide? Did she guess my intention? It''s not like it was obviously implied from my previous statement, right?


    "No... no, that wouldn''t be fair to you. It''s yours, so nobody would expect you to have the obligation on sharing it. As I said, this group''s goal is for mutual benefits. And I won''t forgive myself if just took things from anyone of you without me giving anything in return," he said as he waved his remaining arm casually.


    "Oh, okay... But I''ll still share it if there are items that are useless to me."


    Claire Williams'' eyes briefly flashed with an unnoticeable guilt as she glanced at his missing arm.


    If only I threw the sword I received from the benefits earlier in the hall, he might not have lost his arm... and she might have... survived..


    She took out her medium sized pouch and brought out three small golden boxes. She examined the boxes and pressed the red buttons on top one by one, as they started hovering in front of her.


    [Opening High grade Random Box x3]


    -Gauntlet of Power x1 has been obtained


    -Trap Nullifier Talisman x1 has been obtained


    -Blunt Sword x1 has been obtained


    They looked at the hovering random boxes disappearing as it was replaced by the said items.


    Liu Jeemin immediately examined the items, eagerly waiting for the information bank to appear.


    -Gauntlet of Power: Increased power slightly.


    -Trap Nullifier Talisman: Disassemble traps nearby


    -Blunt Sword:


    Heavy sword forged from slabs of metal.


    His gloomy eyes brightened lightly as he consoled himself that even though he has a garbage mark, at least he have an information bank. But to what extent it can identify items, he didn''t know.


    What peeked his interest was the Blunt Sword, sure it was very huge, almost as tall as his height and thick as his arm, but he thought he could use with some practice.


    The only problem is, it lacks sharpness.


    He thought he would be better off swinging hammer around than the Blunt Sword.


    Claire Williams immediately noticed Jeemin''s interested gaze at the crude huge rectangular blunt sword.


    "Captain do you want it? I can''t wield something like this, it''s too heavy," she said as she emphasized her excuse.


    "Hmm. How about trying to wear the gauntlet then wield the blunt sword?"


    Jeemin suggested without paying heed to what Claire Williams told him.


    How many times can I swing that thing with only my right arm anyway? For Pete''s sake, it looks like the sword will be the one wielding me.


    He forlornly scoffed at himself for having the thought of even using it as he signaled Claire.


    Claire carefully wore the red gauntlet and tried to lift the sword lying in front of her.


    She exhaled heavily as she lifted the sword with her right hand wearing the only gauntlet she received.


    After holding the blunt sword with both of her hands, she was able to raise it in front of her. Her arms were shaking terribly as her breathing started to get rough.


    After enduring for several seconds, the blunt sword finally fell to the ground producing slight airwaves around it.


    Thud.


    "Captain, although the gauntlet can make the sword a little bit light, I still can''t wield it properly."


    So you think I can do it, with only my right arm?


    If not for her sincere expression, Jeemin would have assumed she was mocking him.


    "If no one can wield it, just keep it until it becomes useful."


    He heaved a deep sigh as he regretted not being able to use it. If he had his left arm, maybe he could''ve give it a try.


    Seiji helped Claire in putting the blunt sword in her medium pouch.


    Jeemin nodded as he looked at the item in Claire''s hand, "So the gauntlet can increase your power?"


    Claire nodded and asked, "What about this?"


    -Trap Nullifier Talisman


    "I''m not sure either, just keep it, in case we discover how it is use," Jeemin said beguilingly as he asked back, "How about, what was it called again, Origin?"


    "Here, and yes it''s called Origin."


    As he looked at the four Origins in his hand, various information popped up in front of his eyes.


    [Information bank]


    -Medium Grade Origin(consumable):


    Shatter to produce medium explosion.


    What?!


    His mouth went dry as he carefully handle the only medium grade Origin in his hand. The stone was glowing with faint redness, and it felt like a living organ when he stared at it.


    He couldn''t helped but think that the item on his hand could have save Rheena''s life if he knew of its existence. He sighed depressingly but then thought, how powerful would the explosion be?


    "So this is medium grade origin? It''s slightly bigger than these three. Here, handle it with care," he said as handed the medium grade origin.


    "Hmm, do you remember the rock I asked you about awhile ago? You said it produces light when it is crushed or shattered," his voice was solemn as he explained further, "Since we have no idea what function that medium grade origin has, handle it with care. You never know, it might be more powerful than a grenade if it explodes."


    As soon as she heard this, she quickly put the medium grade Origin inside her pouch.


    -Low Grade Origin(consumable):


    Shatter it to produce light for 30 seconds.


    -Low Grade Origin(consumable):


    Shatter it to produce low strength buff(wide area effect) for 30 seconds.


    -Low Grade Origin(consumable):


    Unknown. Warning do not absorb, insufficient information.


    The three low grade origins on his hand were glowing in different colours and has different shapes.


    Liu Jeemin thought that their shapes and colours could be the key in identifying each Origin.


    The one with buff was glowing in blue and was shaped like a pill, the one that produces light has no definable shape but glowing in faint light blue with what seems to be an red artery inside.


    But the last one was like a black hole, it was pure black. To be precise, it was glowing in black.


    "This one looks like the rock you showed me that produces light, it''s just slightly bigger. This one, looks relatively safe to use, it might be a strength buff, I''m not sure," he casually explain like he was guessing as he added, "But this one, no matter how you look at it, it''s apparently dangerous."


    As he gave the three low grade origin back, Claire handed him a gray pill.


    -Pill of hardening:


    Fortifies the skin like a steel for 30 seconds.


    He racked his brain to explain its effects without inviting suspicion, "This looks like the pill I''ve commonly seen on the internet and eastern mythologies, it can make your skin as hard as a metal," he paused for a moment as he added, "And commonly, its duration is 30 seconds."


    He handed back the pill to Claire as he immediately change the subject to avoid any questions that might arouse their suspicion.


    "This is what I''ve found yesterday when we were chased, our formation was a mess," he straightened his back as he explained, "No, it''s not a mess, we don''t have a formation."


    "So this is my suggestion, me at the front, Dmitri at the left, Claire Williams at the right, Sasaki Seiji and Jin Hyoon at the rear, while Li Jing is at the center. This way the retreat path will be more secured."


    After waiting for several seconds he asked, "No objections?"


    He was itching to explore the cave whenever he recalled his hazy dream.


    As he lightly swung forward his remaining hand to signal their departure, he glanced at the area where Rheena''s body disappeared, then closed his eyes as he gave a solemn nod, before moving forward.


    "Well then, let''s head out."