[SYSTEM ERROR]


    The blood-red words hung in Henry’s vision as he felt something slither under his flesh, a virus. He tried to shake it off, pulling his body in every direction, yet the words followed and the miserable feeling only increased.


    [DEBUFFS APPLIED]


    [SILENCED - STUNNED - ROOTED - PARALYZED]


    Static noise filled his head. Henry tried to reach out to the overlord for help, but he couldn’t keep his thoughts straight. His body refused to move; even his throat felt clogged as if some magical force had shoved a pylon down it.


    [AFFINITY SWAPPED: UNDEAD -> HOLY]


    He screamed. His flesh burned as divine light shone from above and forcefully rewrote his DNA. His midnight-ck hair fell out in clumps, leaving him bald. His ruby eyes dissolved and dribbled down his cheeks, leaving his eye sockets empty. The Nightmare followed a simr fate and copsed to the ground.


    Victor watched from the shadows; he debated charging up a Doom Ray and decimating the area, especially killing that mysterious mage. But he decided not to for many reasons. They called him a Hacker, a term from Earth. Are there other people from Earth on this? If there are, that changes my ns once again… He ignored his henchman’s scream. Henry was both receable and summonable. What is more critical is data; that Hacker is far too dangerous to approach without knowing the limit of his power. What if I carelessly attack and that mage lowers my stats to zero? Would I cease to exist?


    Victor had grown an ego over thest few months. The monsters in this cursed forest offered little challenge, and his status page screamed overpowered, but what use was a stat page if a Hacker could alter it? There may even be mages out there that could ignore stats and attack his soul. This world is vast, and I must remain humble and not let my ignorance cause my death.


    A few seconds passed, and the Hacker’spanions recovered. The gem golem that came up to Victor’s waist in height shook the ground as he maneuvered behind the Hacker and covered his nks with his enormous body.


    Ah, I see their strategy now. Victor eyed the party members. The Hacker is the most crucialponent. I still don’t know the limit of his power, but I assume Henry is at least an A-ss threat, yet he was rendered useless by that spell…


    “CRYSTAL. FORTRESS,” the gem golem shouted as he imnted his four limbs around the Hacker; the ground trembled as a pce of stone with encrusted gems slowly rose and confined the Hacker within its walls. The gem golem integrated into the stone pce and became the roof; eyes appeared atop crystal spires and scrutinized the tree line.


    With the Hacker secured, a woman with flowing pink hair that reached her butt charged forward. She wore a hot-pink bikini that failed to obscure her bulging muscles. She kicked the ground and shot through the air with a shout. She mmed into Henry like a pink wrecking ball, causing his body to tumble a few meters through several trees. There was a loud crack as Henry’s spine snapped in two as he rested against the final tree in a heap of blood and guts.


    Under cover of dust and flying wood, a man wearing a business suit weaved his way through the destruction with unmatched skill; as he approached Henry, he unsheathed a ck de from his zer and hurled it. For Victor, the world seemed to slow as the ck-tipped de cleaved through the air and obliterated Henry’s entire head like a watermelon thrown from the top of the Eiffel Tower.


    Everyone paused as the dust settled. The bikini warrior grabbed arge branch and poked Henry’s corpse. “Good shot, Zedd. I think it’s dead.” She frowned. “But Sam, couldn’t we have heard it out? It’s rare for a corrupted to speak and even engage in conversation.”


    The crystal fortress crumbled as the Hacker walked out with trembling steps. He looked haggard with dark circles around his eyes. “Yes, Eve. It was necessary.” He leaned on his bamboo pole and took deep breaths.


    Victor smiled from the shadows. Although I can’t be sure, that mage looks out ofmission. With the major threat gone, he used his Raise Undead skill on Henry’s corpse. Over a thousand stat points vanished from his status page as Henry’s corpse shuddered.


    “Huh?” Eve turned and saw the corpse missing. “Hey, guys, it’s missing!” She twirled toward her party members and failed to see the Nightmare emerge from her shadow with a furious rider. Without hesitation, Henry raised his spear and aimed to skewer the woman.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    “Watch out!” Zedd shouted and darted toward hispanion.


    Henry had a ruthless grin as he thrust the spear with all his strength; a sonic boom resounded as the spear smashed into Eve. A pulse of orange energy shrouded the woman in a spectral suit of armor, and a loud ding echoed through the forest. Eve stumbled a little but was otherwise fine. Everyone stared at her as if she was a ghost. Even Victor was shocked; what he had just witnessed shattered his worldview.


    That bikini is a piece of armor? Victor swore he would spend more time and effort learning about this world. This fight had humbled him greatly. Perhaps a stealthy visit to a city is in order.


    Henry stared at the tip of his spear in confusion. “Did the overlord give me a defective weapon? I am sure I hit that unarmored woman with all my strength…”


    Eve put her hands up in a boxing stance and slowly backed away. “Retreat,” she hissed over her shoulder. “That hit took a lot out of me.”


    Without hesitation, the gem golem scooped up Sam in his massive hand and shielded him with the other.


    In this critical moment, Victor had to make a hard decision with little information. Should I let them go? It was a question not born frompassion but rather his survival. All they know is that a reasonably powerful undead has made its home in the cursed forest and that there may be a powerful necromancer lurking nearby. I don’t think that information will warrant the same response from the Empire as four adamantite Delvers being killed, including a Hacker.


    If I reveal myself in an attempt to silence them and one of them sessfully teleports away somehow, then I am fucked. Also, if I kill that Hacker and his mentor or whatever hunts me down, my life will be far more difficult than it needs to be. So right now, my priorities are gathering intel and discovering a way to fix my constantly falling stats.


    Victor didn’t want to be enemies with people he didn’t even understand. I have to keep my ego in check. The goddess listed Netherborne at ten points alongside other races like dragons. So I am not above everything, but I am an apex predator.


    Content with his decision to let these people go, hemunicated his thoughts with Henry over their connection. “Let them go but scare them off. We need to buy some time.”


    Henry galloped forward; mes red from the Nightmare’s nostrils as he barreled into Eve, knocking the wind from her lungs. Eve grabbed the horse’s head with a pained expression; she dug her feet into the ground and tried to push the monster off. “Teleport us!”


    An exhausted Hackery in the Rock’s hand; he shakily held up his bamboo pole and chanted, “Initiate program: Return Home.” The group was gone in a sh of green light as if they had all just logged out.


    Henry stood off to the side in silence. His face was dark with unresolved anger.


    “Rx, you did well,” Victor tried to console his henchman. “Without the Hacker, we would have handled them easily.”


    Victor decided his next objective was to learn all about these Hackers and any other potential threats to his existence in the future, and that required some infiltration. Luckily, I have the perfect girl for the job. Now, what is Alice up to?


    Victor went into his mind and looked across the ck ocean. He nced south toward his ice sculptures, but Terry was nowhere to be found. Victor franticallybed the ck ocean until he looked directly north. Why the hell is Terry near the Grand Dungeon?