《I Killed Myself but Woke Up in Another World》


 Prologue

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 Chapter 1 - Beginning of Understanding

    In the beginning, the world was a simple place.


    The day before the awarding ceremony on Liam''s Elementary School, he roamed around the campus alone.


    Since the teachers were busy organising for tomorrow''s ceremony, the class was left to their own devices.


    Naturally, these kids would play with each other happily or talk about their favourite cartoons, and banter around.


    But he was different and was proud of it.


    He went out of the classroom and roamed around the school''s campus with numerous thoughts swirling in his head.


    "Why do people live?" He muttered to himself as he pondered.


    The kids playing on the basketball court soon caught his attention as he wandered around.


    Their clothes were drenched in sweat as they dribbled, stole, passed, and shoot the ball.


    His forehead formed deep folds momentarily as he continued on walking.


    When the sun was already setting, the kids on the campus gradually left the school.


    He circled the campus around once again before going back to his classroom.


    Nobody was around.


    Only his bag lying alone on his seat was waiting for his return.


    His eyes were gloomy as he picked up the bag languidly.


    With his bag and earphone as his companion, he walked all the way to his home alone.


    *


    "Congratulations, your son is among the top achievers in the whole  Liam Elementary School."


    His mother was smiling happily and took the numerous certificates from the teacher''s hands, including the medals that she hang on his neck.


    The clangor of the medals soon attracted the students around him as they gave him a look of envy and numerous congratulatory words.


    He let out a faint smile when he heard one his classmate shouted, "I never saw him studying nor carrying notes around, how could he be in the top 3?"


    "You ought to learn from him who listened well to every discussions. He never missed any assignments and projects, nor passed them late," the teacher answered with a smile.


    It was true, although he would study a bit, it was never to the point that he would exert effort more than necessary.


    "Teacher, my son also loves to read. He read a lot of books at home, especially about science."


    His face twitched, his smile disappeared, as his expression suddenly became dark.


    "No, that''s not true. I just glance at them because I fine the pictures beautiful." His voice had a hint of panic in it as he denied what his mother just said.


    He then added to change the topic as he asked, "Teacher, since the ceremony is done, can we go home now?"


    "No can do, we still need to take a class picture."


    "But¡ª"


    "Class, gather in front so that we can take a class picture."


    He rolled his eyes inwardly and helplessly went in front, but he hid behind his classmates the moment the camera flashed.


    *


    In the middle, the world became a little bit complex.


    A highschool student was sitting at the corner of the classroom and reading something on his phone.


    "The general theory of relativity was theorised by Albert Einstein... String theory had become a popular candidate for the grand unification theory..."


    He scrolled down and continued reading.


    "Is that the guy who passed the exam without carrying bag and notebooks everyday?"


    "Yeah, I heard he even started solving complicated mathematical problems beyond the lessons that were discussed."


    "As expected of someone who topped first year to fourth year, truly an Einstein."


    His ears perked up when he heard his classmates whispering about him.


    "Too bad, I don''t have a good impression of him. He was courting a girl and then suddenly left when the girl was already ready to get into relationship with him."


    "Ehhh, is that true?"


    "Yeah, I''ve heard he said ''I''ll find myself first'', what does that even mean? At first year he was quiet, second year he was outgoing, third year he was friendly and talked a lot, but now he''s really weird..."


    "Sshh. He might hear you."


    His eyes turned towards them inconspicuously as he stood up and walked out of the room.


    "I don''t understand, I used the appropriate personalities to interact with people. I changed them everyday to get the best possible outcome, why things turned out this way? I can''t get them all to like me..." He muttered as he walked along the hallway.


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    At the roof of the highschool''s building, a student was standing near the railings as he gloomily casted his gaze down.


    Some people were holding each other''s hands; some students were smiling happily as they talked to each other; while he, was alone standing at the top of the roof.


    "The personalities of the main characters - I''ve donned - in the novels I''ve read, doesn''t seem to work in the real world..."


    The gentle wind made his hairs flutter as he continued looking below.


    Several minutes passed by when he finally muttered something before climbing up the railings.


    "Would it be painful if jumped or would I die quickly?"


    Suddenly, the door leading to the rooftop creaked.


    As soon as the student coming was halfway through the door, he immediately climbed down and casually went back to his classroom.


    Time passed quickly and he was able to finish fourth year high school at top 5.


    But what was different now was, even if the medals hanging on his neck was making medley of clangs; even if the people sitting below the stage was clapping at him; even if his mother was smiling at him; no smile was visible on his lips.


    His eyelids were drooped down the entire time.


    "I should have not tried interacting with them in the first place..." He mumbled to himself.


    *


    A senior high school student was walking at the highschool campus while nodding at the students he passed by.


    New faces, new people, new school, and new identity. He was feeling happy at the moment.


    In his hand was a pen doing circles around his finger from time to time as he headed towards his classroom.


    A girl with high-arched eyebrows gloomily scrolled on her phone beside his seat.


    "No bag again?"


    "Nope, don''t need one, I only need this," he replied as he showed his pen.


    He then sat beside her and took a glance at her phone.


    "You know, you''re really weird back then when we were still grade eleven. I''ve never thought you you''re capable talking to people until now, quite decently at that. At that time you only sat at the corner and read things I don''t even understand."


    He stared at her brown eyes and smirked, "That''s because..."


    "That''s because of me! If I haven''t invited you at our house for a party drink, you''d never become like this."


    A cheeky voice came behind him accompanied by a soft pair of arms wrapping around his neck.


    "Right?"


    Her eyebrows were a mess but her gentle face, outgoing vibe, and older sister personality made her pleasing to look at.


    "Yeah, I never even thought you drink that much." Another girl that was neither fat nor thin walked to him and gently stroke his hair.


    Her face looks almost exactly the same as the girl sitting beside him. The only difference was, the other has a caring attitude and the other has a cold temperament.


    His eyes immediately stared at the girl stroking his hair gently.


    He smiled and held her by her waist as she sat on his lap.


    Suddenly, the cold girl sitting beside him glared at them.


    "I''ll tell Jake about this, you already are in a relationship so behave yourself."


    Soon, months passed by and the days where classes didn''t occur happened frequently.


    They drank beers and wines and tried varieties of drinks to drown themselves.


    One day, he even entered the classroom while drunk and took a test while suffering from severe hangover.


    Things soon went in the wrong direction when he developed an interest to the girl who was already in a relationship.


    When the two was about to do something they shouldn''t, he was the one who would stop it first.


    It was wrong. He was heavily influenced by ideals and took them to heart. What''s wrong is wrong.


    But whenever those events came to pass, he would mull over it at night in regret, and think that he should have not stopped it in the first place.


    Luckily, the cold high-arched girl, became close to him and he was able to have a decent albeit ambiguous relationship with her.


    *


    The light coming from his phone lit up his surroundings.


    Books and papers were neatly arranged, his bag and clothes are neatly folded. The uniforms hanging on his opened closet were tidy.


    His apartment, which was rented by her mother for him, could only be described as spotless.


    He sighed and scrolled on his phone while muttering pensively, "I still wanna die... but I just don''t understand why..."


    The light on his phone turned off as he stood up and decided to switch on the light of his apartment.


    He grabbed the black face mask on the study table and wore it.


    Half of his face was covered as he gloomily looked at his reflection from the mirror.


    He then headed outside the apartment with pack of cigarettes and a lighter on his pocket.


    The streets were devoid of people, the eerie silence pervading the narrow road before him didn''t make him uncomfortable; instead, he found it to his liking.


    Tap, tap, tap.


    The sound of his lone footsteps echoed under the moonlight as he continued walking with a calm gait.


    [Meet me near the river, I''m heading there now.]


    He clicked the sent button on his phone after typing his message.


    After several minutes...


    [I can''t come. I''m busy tonight.]


    His face twitched and pressed the phone hard as he replied.


    [Fine, then see my corpse tomorrow.]


    He then clicked the sent button twice.


    When he saw his phone lit up immediately after he sent the message, indicating a reply has just arrived, he turned off his phone and didn''t open the message.


    "Heh."


    On the way, he kept kicking a pebble in front of him like a soccer ball.


    Then, he stopped at a convenience store to buy some foods. When he went inside, an idea came to him when he saw the cans of beer.


    After paying for the several cans of beer and potato chips, he looked at the girl in charge of the cashier.


    Seeing those tired and weary eyes, he couldn''t resist the urge of asking the question he always had to people.


    "I might be intruding but, your eyes seemed to tell me you don''t want this job. What''s the point of living if you yourself don''t seem to enjoy living?"


    Normally he wouldn''t be able to talk to anyone, much less people he doesn''t know. But today was an exception.


    Her eyes suddenly widened at the sudden question but she was able to reply with, "Are you saying I should just die?"


    "Well... That''s not what I meant, but that''s also what I meant," he scratched his head in confusion.


    "That''s rude and idiotic. Look here, my mother and father are already having a hard time getting my brothers and sisters into school. The money I earned here will not only make my parents'' life easier but it will also provide a brighter future for my siblings."


    He frowned unconciously and asked, "Why does it sound like you were created with the purpose of shitting money for the one who brought you up? That doesn''t sound reasonable, in fact your parents are being selfish for letting you toil like a dog."


    "You..."


    "In fact, it''s more idiotic if you look at it this way; I mean, if you can''t handle growing a bunch of parasites, why bother making a lot of it in the first place."


    "The little parasites suffer because the host isn''t capable of providing enough nutrients. Instead of not making another parasite, the host then stupidly decides to make one of the little parasites a host..."


    His eyes blinked gloomily as he continued speaking, "At the end, the host devolves into a life-sucking parasitic creature that will continuously be stuck on the new host - which is you."


    A moment of silence descended in the cold convenience store.


    "Are you done?"


    "..."


    "Did you just call my parents parasites? Who do you think you are?!"


    Hearing the shrill in her voice, he couldn''t help but swiftly grabbed the things he bought and took a step back.


    "You know it''s not good to shout at the customer. You see the camera up there," he pointed his chin up at the camera behind her and said, "One complain is enough for me to ruin your position in this convenience store."


    Although I''m not sure that would actually happen...


    But when he saw the girl shut her mouth, he felt a strange sense of achievement.


    The sound of the air conditioner reverberated in the silent convenience store.


    "You ask me who do I think I am right?"


    He spoke as he slowly walked away.


    "I''m just a worthless guy who really wanted to die. What''s the point of doing all these things, if you''re going to suffer every single day, and only managed to find joy in life momentarily before you''re sent back to the same cycle of sufferings again and again and again..."


    He paused halfway the exit and looked back at her.


    "... Why don''t you just kill yourself too?"


    The moment his feet landed outside the convenience store, he swore he heard slew of curses when the door automatically shut.


    He heaved a sigh and shook his head.


    "What a moron, she clearly didn''t understand everything I just said."


    I only said that to wake her up, what''s the problem? If people could absolve themselves from sufferings, I''ll gladly advice them to take their own lives as I would, if only I wasn''t afraid of physical pain.


    He was about to check his phone but halfway he put it away when he recalled he turned it off.


    Seeing that there are still no people around under the night sky, he lit up a piece of cigarette and took off his facemask.


    ''Haa.''


    The smoke drifted and scattered as he blew it out from his mouth while lifting his head up, his eyes reflecting the full moon above.


    He sighed several times until he arrived near the river and sat down.


    "Painless ways to die... I just can''t find a way because of my limited resources..."


    Feeling the cigarette between his lips, he stared at the river with a blank expression, while the cans of beer was waiting beside him.


    Hours passed by when he gradually grew anxious.


    Is she not coming?


    He hesistantly took out his phone but decided not to turn it on; instead, he stood up and went towards the stone stairs leading down to the river.


    But he stopped just a step away from getting his shoes wet from the passing water.


    His eyes gazed down at the blurry figure on the surface of the river.


    "I''m not even having a hard time in life, I have foods, apartment, caring step-mother, and had decent grades; but, why do I want to die?"


    The river flowed gently unaware of his nonsensical rambling.


    Suddenly, a girl''s cold voice startled him.


    "I don''t think you''ll die there easily, based on the many ways you told me about, you said this is one of the worst way to commit suicide."


    Tap, tap, tap.


    The sound of her footsteps gradually grew closer behind him.


    Her high-arched eyebrows and brown eyes was illuminated by the moonlight in the cloudless sky.


    She had a sensuous body even though her chest was on the smaller side. It wasn''t flat, but it was so-so. Her unique feature is her posture emphasizing her chest and her butt. If he could describe it in fewer words, then she looks like a proud swan.


    "When I told you to be true to yourself, I didn''t mean for you to become like this."


    "But I was always like this."


    He raised his head and looked up the sky with a rare grin on his face while his back was facing her.

 Chapter 2 - In the Middle of Confusion

    "The stars in the sky are as beautiful as you, your beauty is like¡ª"


    "Like what? Dead stars? You told me most of them are already dead."


    His eyebrows twitched as he replied, "Even the dead ones can be beautiful."


    "Are you necrophiliac now?"


    "..."


    With a sigh he spoke again, "Can''t you tell I''m complimenting you?"


    "What''s the point? It''s over between us. How many times have you pushed me away, and now you''re coming back acting like a child."


    Her voice was cold and irritated as she continued, "Why don''t you just grow up?"


    "Shut up, you''re the one who told me to be true to myself after I acted the ideal personalities you taught me about. Here, I brought some drinks."


    He climbed up from the stone stairs, picked up two can of beers, and offered the other one to her.


    "You...!"


    His brows furrowed noticing that he was being refused.


    "Take it. It''s not like you''re new to this."


    She slapped the can of beer from his hand as it fell to the ground.


    "Aren''t you the one who told me to stop drinking?!"


    Without paying attention to her, he indifferently picked up the fallen can of beer, dusted it, and offered the clean one on his hand.


    When she was about to do the same thing again, he lifted the can of beer up and dodged her hand casually.


    "Drink."


    His gloomy eyes and disheveled hair was reflected in her eyes.


    She felt angry and irritated, but at the same time, sad. Since when did you turn out like this?


    "I''ll reek of alcohol, if I went home tonight. My parents would suspect me again."


    He snorted, "As if you weren''t always like that in the past. I''m sure they are already used to it."


    From the time they spent drinking together in the past months, she would occasionally mention about her problems at home, so he knew about her situation.


    "You...!"


    She tried to suppress her anger, but she shivered in disgust at him.


    "How could you...."


    "Am I wrong? You of all people should know that what I just said, is true.


    Besides, they already view you as a promiscuous girl, it''s never going to change, it wouldn''t hurt to drink a couple of beers tonight, trust me."


    Pak


    The resounding slap disturbed the quietness of the night.


    "How dare you... You were the one who told me to stop drinking, you¡ª"


    "Yeah, I was the one who told you to fix your image in front of your parents, relatives, and the people around you. I was the one who taught you knowledge beyond your comprehension."


    "I taught you how to behave like a proper girl. I tutored you for a long time. I even fixed your mental problems. Don''t you think you''re going overboard? You repay everything with just this?"


    "Just because you''re having a happy life now and everything''s going fine, you''ll forget the things I''ve done for you. Or what, are you going back again chasing bad boys who''ll just fuck around with you?!"


    His veins popped out of his head as he continued while clenching the can of beer in his hand.


    "You see I don''t understand, you don''t get fuck by nice people, but those people who don''t give a fuck about you, are the people you allow to fuck you!"


    She thought she went overboard as she was about to apologize for slapping him.


    But what he just said made her nauseated as she felt a sense of disgust welling up in her stomach.


    Seeing her not saying anything, he placed the can of beer on her hand.


    "Drink."


    When she was about to open her mouth to speak, he immediately cut her off, "Rather than running your mouth off, just drink the damn beer."


    After saying that, he grabbed the scattered beers on the ground and sat near the river.


    He opened the can of beer, gulped it down, and calmed himself.


    ''Ahh.''


    Seeing her still transfixed on her position, he spoke with a pleading tone, "Don''t do this to me. I might really kill myself right now."


    She looked at him with disgust in her eyes but she didn''t say anything.


    The same man who made her a better person; the same man who comforted her without asking for anything in return; and most all, the same man who supported her when she was down alone.


    "You and I both know no that matter what you do, how they view you wouldn''t change so easily," he looked at her and added, "It''s better to stop trying in the first place. I''ve lived my entire life doing that, so this is coming from..."


    She couldn''t hear him anymore as she was lost in thought.


    The same man who encouraged her everyday and gave her hope that someday, her parents would view her in a different light...Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    What happened to you?


    When beads of tears was about to fall from her eyes, she lifted up her head to force it back.


    "Admiring the stars now?"


    Click... fzzz.


    When he heard the she finally opened the can of beer, he felt a sense of triumph.


    But it was short-lived when he discovered the reflection of moonlight sparkling from the drops of tears flowing down from her face.


    She wiped the tears that she failed holding back and drank the beer in one go.


    He averted his eyes from shame, because he didn''t want her to see his guilty expression.


    She sat beside him and picked another beer, glared at him, and gulped it down.


    He couldn''t help but quiver when he saw her drank the cans of beers one after another in one go.


    "Slow do¡ª"


    He wasn''t even able to finish what he was about to say when she opened another can of beer and gulped it down.


    When he tried stopping her, she just flicked his hand away, then grabbed another can of beer beside him.


    He shrunk down from the sudden change in her behaviour.


    His eyes just watched her helplessly, silently drinking the can of beers he bought.


    They sat their for a long time before she finally spoke again.


    "You... I can''t go home... Not like this."


    Only then he noticed she was already drunk. Seeing her like her usual self, he couldn''t resist the urge to bite her earlobes.


    He went near her and stroke her earlobes gently, while gazing at her deep brown eyes.


    His lips slowly went closer to her neck, as his breath tickled her.


    When he was about to kiss her neck...


    "You guys are all the same... Making me drunk then taking advantage of me..." She sobbed as she muttered those words.


    He felt a drop of warm water on his face as he looked up.


    His body shivered uncontrollably when he heard what she just said.


    The denial that was about to come from his mouth was stuck on his throat when he realized, deep down, his true intentions.


    When he felt disgusted at himself, he pulled away from her but was stopped when she wrapped her hands around him.


    "I know... You''re just using me... To get near her... You like my sister... Don''t you think I don''t know that? Why is it she always get everything?"


    Her tears flowed continuously as she cried.


    "You''re wrong... I... I..." He wanted to say something but he couldn''t utter any words, not only he felt disgusted, but his supressed hatred towards himself choke him.


    His hands could only stroke her back to calm her.


    "Don''t cry..."


    "I remember when you... Told me to stop drinking... You even said that everybody will gradually treat me nicely.."


    This wasn''t supposed to happen, it should have been the opposite.


    The wind blew as clouds begun to cover the sky, the light from the stars disappeared, and the moonlight alighting the river hid behind the clouds.


    Seconds, minutes, hours... He didn''t know how much time passed until she stopped crying.


    He took a glance at her and discovered her eyelids were struggling to remain open. But she still had her cold look in her face even when she was dozing off.


    After picking up the empty cans of beers and throwing them on the bin, he carried her on his back.


    *


    There was a figure carrying a girl on his back walking on the street that was empty and quiet.


    As he was about to turn on the next street where her house was located, she suddenly spoke with worry behind him, "No... They''ll see me drunk again.. at your apartment, it''s fine.. let me sleep there."


    A smile that was not a smile emerged from his lips as he turned back hurriedly and walked faster towards his apartment.


    *


    When they finally arrived at his apartment, he gently laid her down on the bed.


    Click.


    Dizziness struck him after he finished locking the door. He lost his balance and accidentally fell on the bed and his head fell directly beside her face.


    He suddenly became lost and intoxicated from her warm body and fragrant scent coming from her.


    Her chest, outlined by her pink clothes, became accentuated whenever she inhaled.


    Those so-so size that he treated lighty now became something irresistible.


    The cloth around the buttons in between her alluring chest would be stretched and loosed in synchrony with her breathing, making her soft twin peaks be pronounced from time to time.


    Just by looking at it, you can feel its delicate softness and he, as a male, couldn''t help but take a gulp.


    His face was just one breath away from her ear, and whenever he exhaled from his nose, the air would lightly hit her earlobe.


    The tension in his body increased, his breathing and heart rate became faster while his eyes was fixated on her lips.


    When a bead of sweat trickled down from her forehead, and another wave of air hit her earlobe, she suddenly let out a moan.


    "Ahhh..."


    He lost control and immediately went to her neck as soon as she let out the moan.


    His lips tenderly kissed her neck as he gradually went up and bit her earlobes gently.


    "Ahhh..."


    Her voice was like a switch that turned him on further. His heartbeat pounded faster as she kissed him back unconciously.


    Their tongues played with each other like hungry beasts who haven''t eaten for years.


    His hands moved on their own and started unbuttoning her clothes. Her warm and soft body further intoxicated him.


    She unconsciously wrapped her hands around his head and kissed him passionately.


    But halfway through unbuttoning her clothes, he suddenly stopped.


    He pulled away from her and shivered.


    "What.."


    He looked at both of his hands with a terrified gaze.


    What the hell was I was just about to do?!


    Looking at her going back to sleep like nothing happened, he immediately realized what was wrong.


    She wasn''t awake in the first place!


    He was just taking advantage of her!


    ''No.''


    He stood rooted feeling dirty as his eyes were blinking rapidly.


    This is not who I am.


    "It should.. the relationship... it should develop naturally. But.. this happened a lot of times with her and her other guys right?"


    Why, why... why can''t it happen to me too? Why can''t I allow myself to do so?


    Come on, move, just do it!


    He urged his body to move, but he simply stood there with his face contorting from confusion, hesitation, disgust, and regret.


    "Why can''t I be like them?"


    A drop of tear welled up from the corner of his eye when his mind was shouting at him not to do it.


    It was wrong, simply wrong.


    Just because she let others do it, it''s doesn''t mean you should do it.


    He fell limply on the floor and held his head with both hands as tears from his eyes flowed nonstop.


    "It''s unfair... why am I like this..."


    His head was buried on the bed near her, he tried reach to her, but he stopped halfway. He didn''t know why, he just stopped himself, because... he knew...


    "...it was wrong."


    His muffled wail, with his head buried deep on the bed, resounded in his apartment.


    "AHHHH! Just what is wrong with me?!"


    His scream was soft because it was muffled by the bed, but it couldn''t hide the despair coming from the voice.


    *


    In the pure dark world, a sharp object hit his head.


    When his eyes suddenly opened from the pain, another object was flying towards him.


    "What the fu¡ª" He reflexively dodged it and asked in surprise.


    "You...!"


    Another object flew at him, but this time he was prepared and immediately caught it on his hand.


    When his mind gradually became clear, he was greeted by her face contorting in anger.


    He walked closer to her and asked.


    "What''s wrong with you?"


    Unfortunately, he was met by a hard slap instead of a reply.


    Only then he finally felt a switch turned on inside him, as he felt angry.


    He glared at her and cried, "What hell is wrong?!"


    "How could you do that to me...." She muttered while sobbing.


    "Huh? What do you mean?"


    "You pathetic human being!"


    He was just simply dumbfounded.


    She cried and spoke, "You''re just using me to get over her. Nothing you did was out of concern for me, even if you did, you''d think I''d fall for someone like you? An inconsistent bastard hiding behind different personalities, imitated from the things you''ve watched and read like a child? And you''re proud of yourself?"


    "We''re done Liu Jeemin, don''t you contact me again you disgusting bastard." Her red eyes glared at him with disgust.


    "You''re misunderstanding something, I didn''t do anything."


    She only covered her unbutton clothes with her hands and threw him another glare as her reply.


    "Trust me I¡ª"


    "How many times have you lied to me? You said you never meet in secret with my sister behind his boyfriend''s back, but I caught you several times. Do you think I''m a fool? Never contact me or my sister again unless you want to stay behind a bar for the rest of your life!"


    "Ridiculous. You have been fucked by different guys whenever you got drunk that I''ve already lost count of, and now you have the gall to say that to me? To me, the only guy who didn''t touch you?"


    At the moment, he just knew... That he just crossed a line he can never come back from.


    So why not continue crossing the line?


    Since the milk has been spilled, the die has been cast, he poured his wronged heart out.


    "Don''t you think I didn''t know when you invited me to accompany you and your sister to a drink, the guy that suddenly arrived fucked you when you slept on his dorm? Heavens! Instead of letting me bring you home, you slept on his dorm!"


    "You invited me but you fucked with that good for nothing brawn with no brain instead of... Just how fucked up is that?! And now you''re accusing me of something I didn''t clearly do? The only guy who accompanied you, kept up with your antics, without taking advantage of you the entire time?"


    "Hell, I thought you knew me. If I knew this would have happened, I would have ¡ª"


    Before he could even continue his next words, she fell down on the floor and cried. He didn''t feel any sense of accomplishment for shutting her up; instead, he felt something worse than just feeling wronged, but at the same time felt betrayed.


    In the meantime, she felt a revolting feeling brewing inside her. The pain she felt was unimaginable, she never expected to hear those words coming from him.


    When he was about to get closer to her and apologize...


    "So what, if I was fucked with guys like those, I enjoyed it! They didn''t made me feel like this. Unlike you! You''re the worst man that could exist in this entire world, fuck you!"


    She stood up, fixed her clothes, and coldly looked at him.


    Her high-arched eyebrows were raised as she coldly said, "And there will never be something between you and my sister."


    "You know, she told me something about you. When she was feeling down and allowed you to kiss her, she said you didn''t, because you said it was wrong. Even though she allowed you to do so and asked you multiple times. But how could you do something wrong to me..."


    Her eyes were hot and wet from betrayal. After leaving those words, she stormed out of the apartment, leaving behind Jeemin standing with a blank expression inside.

 Chapter 3 - End of Life

    In the end, the world became a place he wanted to run away from.


    Time passed by and a college student was sleeping on the second floor room of his mother''s house.


    Ti-ring..


    "Announcement, the passing grade is (3). (3.1) and below are considered failed..."


    His eyes opened up at the sudden notification coming from his phone.


    With blurry and foggy vision, he squinted his eyes and anxiously read the notice.


    Tap, tap, tap.


    Hurried scrolling and tapping could be heard coming from his phone''s screen.


    [3.4]


    [4.0]


    [4.5]


    [4.9]


    .....


    "..."


    He turned it off as soon as he read his dismal grades and lied back on the bed.


    The room was dark and gloomy even though the sunlight was already barging on his windows. Unfortunately, the windows was covered by thick black curtains, unmoving, even when the wind blew.


    "I wish I could just sleep forever and not wake up anymore."


    When he was about to close his eyes, he was jolted awake from the shrill noise coming from below.


    "Get down here! Take your breakfast already, are you going to sleep until noon again?"


    "..."


    He gloomily stood up, fixed his bed, then went down with his forehead creased.


    *


    At the table, a mother and a young man was eating their breakfast.


    He took a sip from the tea while chewing a bread in his mouth.


    He languidly turned his gaze to his mother, who was calling out to him to pay attention.


    "You remember Yun Hyun-Ae, the one who rented one of our rooms last three years? Her son and daugther are already earning decent salaries. How lucky she was to have a son and daughter like that, there was even a rumor that they were going to buy her a house and a car..."


    "..." His face twitched while his eyelids drooped down, to the point that you couldn''t even tell if he was able to see from those narrow slit.


    But his mother was oblivious to his reaction as she continued her usual monologue.


    "His boy, named Yun Jeung-Sook, was earning money and was able to buy his own car as well when he was as young as you..."


    Jeemin lowered his gaze and decided not to listen.


    Her mother sighed and looked at her son.


    "Why can''t you be like that? You only holed up in your apartment and you don''t even have friends in your university. How are you supposed to be successful?"


    "..."


    "Hey, are you listening?"


    Jeemin lifted his head and languidly turned his eyes on her mother.


    "I was listening. I''m into writing now, I don''t think I can continue my course anymore. I even posted some chapters on¡ª"


    Bam!


    She suddenly slammed her hands on the table and stood up angrily.


    "What did you say?!"


    "Tsk, can you just stop comparing me with other people? Is it that hard to understand that people are just different?"


    "When you were still in highschool, you said it''s easy and you can do it? And now you''re saying you can''t do it?"


    He neither replied nor showed any expression.


    "You''re already a third year college student, my God! Look at our neighbor''s son who took seaman''s course, he was now able to provide money to his parents every month. If you''re going to give up the course you chose in the first place, then why aren''t you finding a job?"


    She glared and pointed her finger on him.


    "People at your age are already working part-time jobs. And you, what are you doing lazing around the house and apartment? You think the food you''re eating now are free? Did you think I''m shitting money just to feed a dog?"


    He answered with a flat voice, "I''m writing and I don''t like blue-collar jobs."


    Her mother frowned and angrily replied, "Everybody has to go through cleaning stuffs before they went successful! What''s the point of feeding you? Remember the girl who was working at the convenience store years ago? She was able to buy her parents a house and pay for her siblings'' tuition fees and..."


    "I''m out of here." He stood up and walked towards the door leading outside.


    "You...!"


    "I know what you''re going to say mother. I''m a useless and worthless adopted son. Just pin your hope on my younger brother."


    "Yeah! You know what? I regretted adopting a piece of parasite like you. Good luck paying for your apartment next month, you worthless bastard. You even have the gall to talked back to me?! LEAVE!"Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    She was breathing heavily, gasping for breath as if to prepare for another batch of insults again.


    Annnd, he was correct, just before his body was halfway out of the house...


    "Don''t you ever come back again if you''re going to leave! You think you''re going to earn money through writing? You''re dreaming! Look at your hairs, you even look like an addict. I don''t have a son like you..."


    *


    Jeemin ran.


    He ran away as fast he can without glancing back to his mother who was fuming in anger while shouting at him.


    Disrespectful. Unfilial. Ungrateful. Failure..


    How many words did their neighbours hear when he went past their houses?


    He was sure - everything. His skin crawled when he felt those sharp like dagger gazes.


    After running for several minutes, his speed gradually decreased.


    The heat coming from the morning light further made him uncomfortable as he gasped for air.


    His lungs felt cold whe he forced himself to run because the people around him were giving him odd looks.


    But were they actually paying attention to him?


    He thought so.


    Midway from his apartment, his legs gave up on him as he leaned on a wall and inhaled a mouthful of cold air.


    When he tried to run again, his face contorted from the sharp pain coming from his lower right abdomen.


    He groaned as he trudged forward while he forcibly maintained a proper posture; afraid that the people around him would give him odd looks.


    From the corner of his eyes, he saw several people walking to and fro wearing business attires; students happily chatting with each other; and couples clinging to each other.


    His eyes were full of envy as he stole a glance at them.


    "I wish I could just be one of them..." He muttered while increasing his pace.


    *


    Despite the glaring sun, his apartment was dark. His curtains which has alternated from light blue, light green, and other lively colours, was now color black.


    His bedsheet cover was black, pillow cover was black, almost everything was black.


    It was to the point that if he was allowed to paint the apartment''s wall, he would also paint it with color black.


    On the apartment''s floor, there were several cans of beers rolling around; crumpled and torn papers with complicated writings, and books were scattered everywhere.


    He gloomily kicked the books on the floor while taking the cigarette and lighter on the table beside his bed.


    He was staring blankly at the mess in front of him while savouring the nicotine from the cigarette.


    After sitting on the bed for several hours, in his smoke-filled room, he turned on his phone.


    [191 Unopened Mails]


    [Lin Feng, Hyun De-Rah, Lee Min...]


    [Open Hyun De-Rah Message?](Y/N)


    [Hyun De-Rah, message received few days ago]


    [Hey man, it''s been a long time. I don''t know if you''re going to read this since you haven''t made any contact with us this past few years, but I just want to tell you. That cold girl - you know who I''m talking about - she got pregnant but she didn''t know who the father was, because she went drinking with, I don''t know, four to six guys?]


    [Her sister, by the way, already broke off with Jake long time ago. I''m surprised you haven''t made any move. You just became like a ghost, man. What happen to you? It''s been years man.]


    "..."


    [Delete?](Y/N)


    [Message deleted]


    He sighed and lied down on the bed.


    Smoke would come out from his mouth from time to time as the ceiling full of cobwebs was reflected from his eyes.


    How many hours has passed by? 2 hours? 3 hours? He already lost his sense of time as he continued staring blankly at the ceiling.


    Suffocating; he just felt suffocated for no physical reason.


    ''Haa.''


    His heart was clenching in pain but his expression was blank.


    From the moment she left him and said those parting words, "you''re the worst," he concluded that changing personality again and again doesn''t work; therefore, he stopped interacting with people altogether unless it was necessary. Considering his true personality, which he knew nothing about, was labeled worst.


    Was it already dark outside? He didn''t care.


    The smoke lingered above his head as he exhaled.


    *


    Light illuminated his dark expression coming from the phone''s screen.


    [Congratulations for the new graduates...]


    [Hyun De-Rah has become a popular streamer with 3,000,000 subscribers. He''s young but was now able to earn enough money to buy his own house, a successful man indeed!]


    [The population has increased again! Overpopulation has caused the competition in getting occupation fiercer, making it more difficult to find a job....]


    His eyelids were drooped down as he read and scrolled the posts on his social app.


    It was around 11 p.m that he finally stood up; he was hungry but he didn''t care.


    Standing in front of the mirror, a man gloomily looked back at him.


    Stubby beard, disheveled hair, dark bags around his eyes...


    "How... Just what happened to you..."


    His hand stretched forward to the young man in front of him. He slowly fell to ground while his hand was on the mirror.


    "Kuuhkkk uukkk."


    One of his hand was covering his mouth as his eyes reddened from the horrible figure he was seeing staring at him from the mirror.


    Beads of tears started to fall from his eyes.


    After feeling the warm drops of tears on his face, he forcibly curled up his lips.


    "It''s fine. I''m perfectly fine... I''m okay. Are you okay?"


    "Hey, I asked you a question, are you okay?"


    The reflected figure on the mirror smiled with difficulty and nodded at him.


    "I told you we''re okay... I told you..."


    He then opened his phone and muttered, "Look... We''re going to be a successful writer, look at the reviews, look at them, there''s a lot right?"


    His eyes were blurry so he ended up not being to see what''s on the phone, after wiping of the moist on his eyes...


    [Reviews:


    (1star)Tnhgd123: Every word is utter trash. Not originality.


    (1star)Aesop25: Pacing is atrocious, writing is not for you.


    (1star)Dan1453: I would give negative star if I could. It''s dull, lifeless, and garbage.


    (1star)Grey332: Trash, not recommended. Too slow. Side characters are bland...]


    "..."


    *


    Lying on the bed, he was blankly reading novels that he have been reading these past few years: xianxia, wuxia, xuanhuan, isekai, and worlds with game system.


    "I wish I can go to these worlds... How lively would that be..."


    It was around 12 a.m. that he stopped reading novels on his phone.


    He stood up and walked down to the basement of his apartment.


    After switching on the light and seeing that the things are still there, he went back up.


    He shaved his beard, took a bath, combed his hairs, and wore a black face mask.


    At the mirror, a man gloomily looked back at him while his nose and mouth was covered by a mask.


    He then went down the basement again and climbed on the chair.


    There was a dangling rope attached to the ceiling and a loop at the end of it.


    He looked at it for awhile before wearing it on his neck.


    It''s rough textures normally felt uncomfortable, but strangely, he didn''t find it so.


    The phone in his hand displayed the dialed number of the police station with the accompanying note that he''ll give away his organs after he died.


    [I donate my corpse for medical students who needs to study it; my eyes, heart, liver, kidney, and everything in my body, hopefully, can be donated to those who needs it. I hope with this, I can contribute to the society in my own way.]


    Beads of sweat trickled down from his forehead.


    How much time did he spend just standing on the chair?


    He felt it was forever.


    "I can''t do this, I can''t do that, and I don''t even know who I really am. Hell, I can''t even kill myself..."


    He gritted his teeth and tightly clenched the phone in his hand.


    But after several minutes has passed, he still couldn''t take the last step.


    *


    It was a deep sigh that broke the quietness on the basement.


    "Maybe it''s not today again..."


    When he was about to take off the noose around his neck...


    An invisible red orb shining in black suddenly appeared in the sky.


    It rotated and shook violently like there was something inside it that wanted to break out.


    Crack, crack, crack.


    Numerous cracks appeared on its surface and red light immediately seeped out from the gaps.


    The light enveloped the whole world momentarily before it gathered again to a point in the sky.


    On its shiny surface, the cracks gradually disappeared but its surface was now black with red hue.


    The moment its color changed, it immediately plunged down from the sky.


    However, it was not actually falling on the ground, but was heading on Jeemin''s apartment.


    A ripple spread throughout the surface of the wall when the shiny black orb passed through.


    The black orb only stopped violently when it reached in front of Jeemin''s chest.


    He was completely unaware of the orb that was shaking violently in front of him.


    When the black orb was finally able to move again, it entered his heart with difficulty. The orb was pushing through his chest but was being pulled back away from Jeemin''s heart by an unusual force.


    After the invisible tug of war ended, it finally was able to rest inside Jeemin''s heart.


    [Sigh]


    A deep sigh came from the orb the moment it entered his heart.


    But he wasn''t able to hear it because at the same time the orb entered his heart; a wave of regret and despair, and powerlessness, engulfed his entire being.


    With that filling his heart, he kicked the chair below him and closed his eyes.


    The problem was, it wasn''t what you can call, a peaceful death like he was expecting.


    His face contorted in pain. His legs flailed nonstop. His arms which he forcibly suppressed from moving was grabbing the tightening noose.


    His eyes felt popping out of its sockets. His neck felt the burning pain from the tightening rope.


    He supressed the faint feeling of regret the he hanged himself in the first as his fingers held on to the rope tied around his neck; and his head felt like it was going to explode from the inside.


    How troublesome, even dying itself is too painful.


    But no worries, this will be the last...


    His final desperate action was curling his lips up as a relieved smile appeared on his struggling face; his eyes finally lost its luster; even the despairing smile lost its form and shape as eerie silence pervaded the room.


    Now, the pain was truly gone.


    His dangling lifeless body swung back and forth inside the basement until it finally came to a stop.


    Even my death is not dramatic huh..


    He sighed but then..


    "Hmm?!"


    He was stunned after discovering he can actually see his entire body hanging on the ceiling in third person.


    When he was about to examine his current state...


    [You have been deemed qualified to enter Heaven/Hell with a mark of g]


    ... a strange notice appeared on his mind and at the same time, his entire being was enveloped by a blinding light.

 Chapter 4 - Gather(1)

    Liu Jeemin was shocked when he saw this message in his mind.


    Heaven/Hell? What''s that supposed mean?


    He felt afraid, who wouldn''t? He just killed himself, a taboo that will supposedly automatically puts him in hell. Am I gonna be burn to ''death'' eternally?


    Recalling all the things he did back then when he was alive, he was sure that the sins he accumulated thus far doesn''t even amount to the sins his neighbours had. But if thought-crime is a crime...


    He was worried that that absurdity might come true.


    As he calmed himself, he reread the notice and dubiously muttered, "Mark of G?"


    Now that he looked at it again, he felt excited.


    Since he have read tons of novels related to xianxia and transmigration, the G here should represent the highest mark, Gold. Heaven or hell, having a gold mark meant good.


    He consoled himself at this hopeful thought while being excited at the possible existence of those worlds. Completely forgetting that he was supposed to sleep forever in peace in the first place.


    [Beginning translocation . . .]


    [Currently, the world is identified as Heaven as per the majorities view of it]


    A dizzying sensation assaulted him, he felt his body being spaghettified. Liu Jeemin felt an insistent migraine for a moment before light emerged in front of him.


    What greeted him was a huge plain white hall.


    Looking around with glittering eyes, he found that there are about 150 people around him and are neatly arranged in rows. He also noticed that the scenery outside the hall was completely dark, like the sky at night without any visible stars.


    He can feel his heart pumping increasingly at the various possibilities his mind concocting at this moment as he was anticipating what is the strange world before him.


    Faint murmurings of ''where am I'' and ''am I in Heaven'' can be heard around, be he couldn''t quite understand the majority of voices due to the difference in languages.


    After feeling nauseated because of the translocation, he was inwardly shocked that he noticed he can still actually ''feel''.


    Which further the idea that this world might not be the heaven or hell he knew about.


    With system messages and usage of the word ''translocation'', and why there are people around him wearing various clothings ¡ª he figured that if they are in heaven or hell, why should clothes even matter?


    Shouldn''t God just either put him in hell or heaven directly without those unnecessary messages?


    Considering, it made even more hassle to gather them first, then judged them one by one. It''s not only inefficient but an insult to an omnipotent and omniscient power.


    If god has something to say, he could just easily imprint it on his brain, then send him to heaven or hell. It''s even more suspicious if god used words rather than directly making people understand him. Like, by using some kind of magical communication surpassing the limits of human language which is filled with barriers.


    ''Hmm?''


    An abrupt pain made him press his temples as he groaned.


    [Synchronization of language is now commencing . . .]


    He felt something weird twiddling with his brain, even though the brain itself can''t actually ''feel''. While holding his throbbing temples, he observed that the people around him was also in the same state, after hearing them groaned and held their head with a painful expression.


    Now that he looked closer, there are varying ages of people here, some looks like no younger than 14 years old and not older than approximately 28 years old.


    "Damn!"


    "Ughh, what the hell!"


    Hearing their curses at the pain of synchronization, he realized that he can now understand them, like they are all speaking the same language as him.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    [A Guide is now being summoned]


    Soon, a general outline of a figure wearing a white cloak, walked out of nowhere in front of them. A presence so domineering engulfed them as silence befell on the hall. As Liu Jeemin was one of the people in front, just trying to take a peek at the faintly visible countenance of that person, under the hood of the cloak, made him shiver.


    "Hmmm. So many." After pulling her hood, she looked at us sinisterly. Her blood-red iris with her white pupils, long draping violet hair, snowy white skin, and tall figure, gave off the impression that she''s someone you don''t want to mess with.


    "I am only gonna talk twice, listen well. After talking amongst yourselves, walk out of the hall."


    After impatiently addressing them, she disappeared immediately.


    "...."


    Liu Jeemin was dumbfounded, what about saying that twice?


    The gaps between the gigantic pillars supporting the hall was like a black hole, dark and imposing. There were no obvious exits around the hall, except the gaps.


    As expected, the crowd went into commotion after she left those words. But Liu Jeemin''s mind was somewhere else.


    ''Status appear to me.''


    "?"


    Organising his thoughts, he recalled the knowledge he had from the novels he read. One of the most common points they had is ''status window''.


    "Errrm. Status window appear."


    He muttered while lowering his head down.


    It seems it''s not working, let me try another phrase.


    "General information appear."


    After several seconds had passed, nothing happened.


    Dismayed, he casually thought about the word status, then...


    [Status unavailable]


    ...it finally appeared.


    Seeing that the status window is unavailable, he closed his eyes for a moment before deciding to leave the hall immediately.


    He had this inexplicable feeling that staying here isn''t a good idea.


    Besides, he doesn''t like crowded area.


    ''But before that...''


    He recalled that gathering people he can use in this foreign world would be pretty reasonable.


    Considering the guide earlier mentioned about ''talking amongst yourselves'', there should be something to it more than meets the eye.


    As an experienced average gamer, he understands the difficulty of soloing a game. In this game like world where system exists, making a party or a group is a must.


    Being alone and aloof didn''t work out to him in his previous world, of course it''s not like he can change his personality that easily.


    But that doesn''t mean he had zero socializing skills.


    ''I swear, if there''s a social stat, I''d maxed that out.''


    First, find competent looking people.


    He tilted his head from left and right, sometimes he craned his neck as he examined what they were wearing. He remembered noting some people when the guide arrived earlier, so he added the people he noted now from that.


    It should be about six...


    After finalizing some of his choices, he felt gloomy at the next step.


    Second step is approaching them.


    The prerequisite on the second step was talking to them. Now that he thought about it, he can assumed a new identity again like he did so in his previous world, whenever he went to a new class or a new university.


    Looking back, most of them were utter failure, because there were familiar faces that forced him to engaged with them with his previous personality.


    ''Hmmm, what should I wear?''


    An identity which has a set of personality that will enable him to command people and convince them. Something he was already familiar with.


    ''Ahh, I should act like a protagonist.''


    And the final step is, setting my goal. Obviously, that would be finding the will to live.


    ''Everything about this is pointless if I can''t feel wanting to be alive here.''


    He gloomily narrowed his eyes as he thought of that.


    In fact, aside from feeling excited of being transferred here, he still felt the hole in his chest, like there was huge chunk missing from it. He still felt the familiar dismal and pessimistic feeling, telling him that all of these are pointless.


    Shaking his mind, he shifted his focus on something else ¡ª the guy talking behind him.


    "What is this place?"


    "Is this heaven? What did the guide said earlier?"


    "She said we should talk to each other. I wonder what that meant."


    Hearing the conversation behind him, he observed intently for awhile.


    "We''re talking to each other now, but nothing is happening. Hey man, did you die before coming here too?"


    A middle-aged man asked as he conversed with the guy beside him.


    "Yeah, I remember¡ª" the guy abruptly stopped from talking as he vomited as if he recalled something horrifying.


    "... I don''t think I can stomach mentioning it, but yeah I died."


    Soon, various people started to talk in unison, as the cacophony got louder, some people begun to gather together.


    "Hey, did that scary woman earlier told us to exit the hall? Don''t tell me we''re going there."


    "Nah, I don''t think so. Look at that, who knows if you end up in hell if you jump there." A burly man pointed at the gap between the pillars.


    "Oh and, don''t you think it''s weird, when that woman appeared earlier, I almost peed in my pants. What''s that about?"


    "Yeah, I felt my body went stiff like being stared at by a predator in a forest. Alarm bells were ringing in my head, man. It''s really weird here."


    Then a dignified man approached them and said cordially, "Gentleman, don''t you think it''s strange that we''re able to talk to each other, despite having different nationality?"


    He brought his hand forward for a shake as he spoke, "I''m Markez, I think it''s best we stick together."


    His chin pointed at a distance as he continued, "Those people have already joined my hand, I''m currently in need of people, it''s best that we joined hands and gather information together."


    Then he added, with a slight cold tone in his voice, "Unless you want to be left behind."


    When they saw several burly man that seemed to be discussing something at a distance away from them, they immediately shook Markez''s hands.


    With a warm and dignified smile, he beckoned them to follow as his dark tiger''s coat swayed when he turned around in a gentlemanly manner.


    Spotting this, Liu Jeemin felt a sense of urgency.


    ''With my lacking physique and average figure, I don''t think I can invite other guys like that.''


    When his eyes darted towards his first target, he felt his hands sweating buckets. Even his breathing got rough.


    The first step was usually the hardest when talking to someone who you know nothing about.


    ''I can do this.''


    He tensely took a step forward, but immediately took a step back, hesitating over something.


    Liu Jeemin felt several gazes coming from the the people near him because of his sudden movement.


    Feeling those gazes, he lowered his head while agonizingly muttering something in his head.


    As his feet ultimately brought him near his target. Like chanting a mantra, he repeatedly muttered under his breath that he should act like a protagonist.


    Then, after pausing his flimsy gait; like he was possessed, he straighten his back and walked like a robot ¡ª caused by being overly conscious by how he look as he carried himself forward.


    ''That''s right. This is how a protagonist acts.''


    After boosting his confidence when convinced himself that he''s a protagonist in a novel he read, he steeled himself and awkwardly walked in front of a woman who is wearing a military''s uniform.


    "I am tentatively familiar with this world, how it works, and vaguely know what''s beyond that darkness outside the hall. Would you like to join me?"


    He avoided offering a hand shake, considering how his hands were sweating like waterfalls.

 Chapter 5 - Gather(2)

    "?"


    She stared at him dazedly for awhile as his voice brimming with confidence rang in her ears.


    ''What''s up with this guy?''


    Familiar? Vaguely figure?


    For some reason, even he was shocked by his own words. Although he said that, the only thing familiar to him was the existence of system in this world.


    But it couldn''t be help, he needed to sell a convincing invitation.


    When the blue irises peeked at him from behind her pair of glasses, with her blond hair draping on her shoulders, he couldn''t help taking a slight gulp.


    His Adam''s apple bobbed up and down in nervousness as she seemed to be appraising him.


    ''Oh, I''m still wearing a face mask. What''s to be nervous about?''


    He tried his best to avoid unnecessary thoughts like how beautiful the woman in front of him is and inwardly cussed himself.


    The reason I came here is because she''s beaut¡ª no that''s wrong! I came here because she''s wearing a military''s uniform!


    She furrowed her brows, not saying anything.


    After inwardly justifying his dubious action in his mind multiple times, he finally noticed that she was hesitating.


    "Of course, the group I''m forming will not only consist the two of us, there are still four people I''m inviting after you agree."


    He brought his hands forward as he continued to explain.


    "Having too few is a bit lacking, and having too many will be difficult to manage. And by having you on my side, it''ll be easier to rope in those people," he shrugged as he looked in to her eyes, "So, are you in or not?"


    "When we''re done forming the ''party'', we will immediately leave the hall. I can''t say this with certainty, but I''m sure staying in this hall is not a good idea, considering the guide earlier told us to leave. "


    After barraging her with explanations, he stayed silent to let what he said sinks in.


    Although he have no idea why it is better to leave as soon as possible, he had this inexplicable feeling that something bad will happen here the longer he stayed.


    As he endured the awkward silence between them, he finally saw her elegantly nod.


    For a moment he was awestruck, but he immediately composed himself and said with a serious tone, "Follow me."


    *


    ".... The devil is tempting us. Do not believe what the woman said earlier brothers and sisters! She is the messenger of the devil and..."


    Liu Jeemin quickened his pace as soon as he overheard that conversation.


    ''As I thought.''


    He gritted his teeth when he realized his prediction came true. That on every scenario where a certain number of people were transferred to another world, there will be at least one person who''ll proclaim the world as nothing more than a test of faith from god.


    Soon, that rumor would spread like a wildfire and the fearmongering preacher would succeed in reigning in the public.


    Making them unconsciously servile as they became more fearful of leaving the hall ¡ª contrary to what the guide ordered them earlier, that is to leave the hall.


    Which will inevitably greatly hinder Liu Jeemin''s plan on making convincing people easier.


    ''Don''t loudly preach yet, let me finish forming the group first damn it.''


    Selling preachings here is usually easier. It''s like carrot and stick.


    First, inform them about the dangers of falling to hell when they do something without thinking carefully, which ingeniously makes the receiver do a double take and spend more time on thinking ¡ª which inevitably makes them more hesitant on taking a risk.


    Second, tell the crowd about the eternal bliss they''ll receive after successfully passing the supposedly god''s test and reached heaven.


    Those kind of charismatic preachings; he knows them all too well, and how easily most people get entranced by those self-righteous preachings.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    As a keyboard warrior with master''s degree in googlelogy, Liu Jeemin had spent most of his time in debating with people of faith on the internet. Of course, overtime he grew tired of it as the arguments got repetitive especially when the other guy''s reply almost took the entire webpage.


    That was where his immense knowledge in philosophy branched out, considering he had too much free time because of his reclusive nature, he had enough time to delved into it.


    Although he was depressed most of the time, he really hated losing arguments. But as time goes by, he gradually got tired of it. Until...


    ''To be honest, I''d rather not know about philosophy. At least I wouldn''t be too aware how pointless my life is.''


    ...he felt the pointlessness of it all.


    He shook his head as he hurriedly walked towards a woman wearing a hiker''s outfit, with her red sleeveless shirt, pair of brown eyes, toned skin and wavy brown hair.


    After arriving in front of her; he stood for awhile, waiting for the blond girl ¡ª whom he had forgotten to ask the name¡ª to catch up, before speaking.


    "I am forming a group heading outside the hall, I am a bit familiar with this world and what''s beyond the exit, would you," he glanced briefly at the blond girl beside him as he asked," Would you like to join us? Of course, there are still three people we''re gonna invite."


    Since he already executed his plan, he decided to fully go through with it rather than hesitating halfway.


    Of course, his confidence has been consolidated by the military women beside him. He almost smirked when he thought that he succeeded in inviting her.


    Her pair of brown eyes examined him for a moment, as her brown hairs swayed when she surprisingly nodded immediately.


    "We''ll introduce ourselves later after forming the group."


    *


    ''I need someone who knows how to handle wounded people.''


    He craned his neck as his eyes narrowed.


    ''That one.''


    Then, as he walked briskly towards his target, he couldn''t quite help but feel guilty when his next target was also a woman.


    She was wearing a nurse outfit, outlining her voluptuous body, coupled with her shy lowered head as she seemed to be thinking of something; made even Liu Jeemin who was very conservative in complimenting people, helplessly praised her in his mind.


    "Uhmm.. Hello.. *cough*."


    ''What''s wrong with me?!''


    Liu Jeemin took a breath for moment.


    "I need you. I''m forming a party to head outside the hall... and I need someone who can take care of the wounded. Ehh.. but I''m not saying it''s very dangerous outside. But... Yeah, look I already invited two. There''s still two after you. So it''ll really helpful if you join us."


    Inwardly his heart was pounding like hell from nervousness. Luckily, the girl before him shyly peeked at him for her lowered gaze and nodded.


    He heaved a sigh of relief when she agreed.


    *


    "Hoh, is this a game like world? Su-goi~"


    He fixed the ends of his long sleeve as he examined the hall with shimmering eyes.


    "Manager would never have thought I was transferred to this place."


    His faced contorted in anger as he recalled how the manager in his company treated him.


    Then, he smiled as he relished the air before him.


    ''Ahh. A brand new world with a level system. My knowledge in game designing will surely help me, and then, and then, ahahaahahaha.''


    Seemingly lost in his own world, a man wearing a black face mask accompanied by three women, approached him.


    As the man invited him, he couldn''t help peeking at the three women accompanying the guy.


    ''Hmm? Invite? Party? This guys a bit knowledgeable. Could it be he''s a gamer?''


    He readily shook the young man''s hand and joined him.


    ''Right, right, I should''ve thought of forming party on my own. But... It''s not like it''s bad joining him either.''


    *


    "Hey, I''m Jin Hyoon, you''re the first one he invited right? Or you knew him beforehand?"


    Her brown eyes looked at the blond haired girl beside her.


    "No, he invited me too. I don''t know anything about this place, that''s why when he said he was familiar about this place, I readily agreed. Information is very important you know. Oh, I''m Claire Williams by the way."


    Claire Williams said as she followed Liu Jeemin from behind.


    Jin Hyoon glanced at the girl wearing a nurse dress and asked hesistantly.


    "What about you?"


    "Uhmm.. ahhh... Uhmm¡ª"


    Before she could finish talking, Liu Jeemin''s voice interrupted them as he started inviting a boy.


    "Hey, would you like to join us?"


    Liu Jeemin observed the boy staring fixedly at his left hand.


    When the boy looked at him and nodded, he started finding a place to organise.


    *


    Liu Jeemin, who was humming in his head merrily, lead them near one of the pillars supporting the hall as he cautiously slowed down his pace to avoid unnecessary attention from the crowd.


    No one has decided to step out of the hall yet, perhaps they were afraid, or maybe they were still sorting their thoughts out; the important thing is, their group would easily catch their attention if they show their motive by walking in group hurriedly.


    ''If I was right, then all these gaps are considered as exits.''


    The gaps betweens the pillars are filled with darkness that seemed to trap one''s soul. If the exit looks like that, it was not strange for anyone to be fearful in leaving the hall.


    After arriving at the location he chose, Jin Hyoon turned her head towards him.


    "I figured it''ll be helpful for us, so let me introduce myself again, I''m Jin Hyoon, a wannabe hiker hahaha. Mhhm, please don''t expect too much of me, my knowledge about hiking is just so-so."


    ''She''s sharp, she immediately figured out my intention.''


    It''s not like he expected them to be so knowledgeable in their respective fields anyway.


    Do I give off that kind of vibe?


    He inwardly scoffed at himself.


    "I''m . . . Uhmm . . Li Jing. I''m not a licensed nurse yet so . . ."


    Li Jing shyly lowered her head, which he found quite cute, those black ponytails and pair of innocent eyes, fair smooth skin; slender figure he can see from the fitting nurse outfit she wore . . . *cough*.


    He immediately assumed an indifferent gaze and appreciatively nodded at her while not trying to look like a pompous buffoon.


    "I''m Claire Williams, studying a related military course."


    Oh, so she''s not a soldier yet. But, she still looks more useful than me.


    He clicked his tongue inaudibly as he nodded at her.


    "Call me Sasaki Seiji, I am a creator. I mean a game designer and a bit of an inventor. I like ransacking machines and designing games. You''re a gamer too right?"


    Sasaki Seiji excitedly introduced himself while fixing his necktie as he looked at him like a kindred spirit.


    He ignored his question as Liu Jeemin gave him a nod and turned towards the boy.


    "I''m Dimitri."


    The boy, who wore plain white T-shirt and jeans, only spared him a seemingly hopeful glance after staring at his left hand again. Although Liu Jeemin felt curious, he felt it''s a bit intrusive to ask why the boy always stare at his left hand.


    ''Now''s the time to speak like a leader.''


    "Ehum *cough* The goal and purpose of this group is simple, to make exploring easier for us. This will be a mutually beneficial group, since we will receive each others'' help. The reason I gather all of you is because I need each of your help, I''m not capable of a lot things, so I need to make this clear."


    To be honest, I don''t think I''m capable of anything at all. He grumbled inaudibly at his uselessness as he continued.


    "As I said before, I''m a bit familiar about this world. But I still want each of your approval if I am to assumed the leader of this party."


    He looked at each of them briefly while speaking.


    "Well, it''s quite burdensome to be a leader, so it''s okay. But, don''t you have to tell us your name first?"


    Jin Hyoon casually remarked. Then followed by the group nodding their heads in approval like it''s obvious that they also agree for him to be the leader, they stared at him, seeming to be asking for his name.


    At first he''s reluctant because he hasn''t yet decided what name he should adopt, but now''s not that time to dawdle around. Seeing the crowd was getting rowdy and agitated, he decided the name he will use.


    "My name is Asmo- "


    He almost blurted that out, but then remembered Asmodeus represents Lust. He''s not sure whether people actually care about the meaning of names, but you know, it''s better to be careful than sorry. While almost losing his composure, he managed to solemnly state his newfound name.


    "My name is Azrail."

 Chapter 6 - Cleaners

    When Liu Jeemin stated his newly created name, a loud voice made the crowd silent.


    Seeing this, he tilted his head in confusion and took a look at the source of the voice.


    A man wearing a white priest robe, raised his hands at chest level, while talking about something.


    "Dear brothers and sisters, I know you''re all confused and afraid. I want that all of us to take a moment of silence, and feel the presence of the Lord," he smiled as he clasped his hands in prayer.


    "Dear God, I hope you forgive us sinners. Brothers and sisters, let us not be tempted by the words of the devil, telling us to leave this majestic holy hall," he smiled and continued, "In fact, it is revealed to me, that the darkness outside the hall is the path towards hell!"


    This is bad, this might incite fear into my newly formed party, they might even leave me.


    The strange dark abyss outside the hall was already scary, adding the words of the priest earlier further made it horrifying.


    "This is just a test from God. I died before I was brought here, I assume you, dear brothers and sisters were also brought here by the same circumstances," the priest solemnly added, "That means that we''re already dead. We are being tested for the last time, before being judged by God."


    "If you want to go to hell; be tempted by the messenger of Satan¡ª the woman earlier ¡ª then feel free to step outside. But don''t blame God for your foolishness," the priest''s eyes gleamed with scorn, "But if we stay here and pray amongst ourselves, the chances of going to heaven will be higher."


    The priest slowly turned his head from left to right, as he observed the people before him like he stood atop a pulpit.


    A man amongst the crowd raised his hand and asked, "How are you sure that this is purgatory? How are you sure that the woman earlier is the Satan''s messenger? Aren''t you just spouting bullshit?!"


    Several people started to laugh after hearing the question.


    Hearing this, the priest only warmly smiled at the man who asked the question, showing not a hint of anger nor irritation.


    "My dear brother and sisters, this is the revelation of God. The answer is in our heart. Of course, you can say I''m maybe bluffing or making something up, I couldn''t absolutely convince you of that," with a calm and dignified voice he added with a slight chuckle, "There''s no harm in believing in it, right? Instead of inciting restlessness, confusion, and darkness in our hearts."


    His back straightened as he heaved a deep sigh, "Let us pray."


    After being answered, the man went silent and nodded at the priest.


    "There''s no harm, right? Rather than taking a risk, I think we should heed the priest''s words."


    "Right, right, quiet now, I''m gonna join the prayer."


    "Yeah, what they said was right, we should also pray."


    Cipriani Markez, with his tiger''s coat hanged on his back, was observing at the side while frowning at this sight.


    When the priest started praying solemnly, some of the crowds, one after the other, begun to join the prayers also.


    Liu Jeemin felt his hair stood on end when he felt a gaze coming from the priest''s position. When he turned his head towards the source of the strange piercing sensation, his eyes met the priest''s ominous gaze.


    "... Begone Satan, begone temptation. Thou shalt not heed thy devil''s lies. I plead God, to grace us, protect us from evil..."


    Jeemin couldn''t help but feel that the words the priest was uttering were directed towards him.


    Before everything else, he thought that he should finish the important matter first.


    "If you feel hesitant, I won''t force you to follow me. It might be dangerous if we step outside the hall, but I had this terrible feeling that staying here isn''t a good idea either."''


    "Whatever choice you choose, I will still head outside with or without you. As the priest said, we are already considered dead. Taking a bit of risk without having evil intentions, I''m sure that God isn''t that petty that he would put us to hell just because we''re curious."


    His face was dark as he studied nervously his newly formed party in anticipation.


    "Well, I''m also curious what''s outside. And I''m not really religious, so it''s fine with me."


    Jin Hyoon said as she twiddle with her brown hair.


    "I don''t care about going to hell. So I''m in."


    Dmitri coldly retorted as he inaudibly added, "In fact I''m already destined to go to hell."


    Then Claire Williams spoke casually, "I''ve been planning to head outside anyways, so yeah, I don''t care what the priest said earlier. It''s not like everything they say is true."


    Sasaki Seiji stretched his arms as he loosened his necktie around his neck before speaking.


    "I don''t see any point staying here. Look... not to mention the danger outside the hall, what about the danger here?" Sasaki Seiji pointed his finger towards a gathering of burly men, seeming to be conspiring something.


    "I don''t have the faintest confidence to say they''re discussing something good." Sasaki Seiji clicked his tongue as Liu Jeemin saw the burly men eyeing the priest with dangerous glares.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    When he turned his gaze back towards the group, the nurse started talking.


    "I . . . also think . . . it''s good. It''s too creepy here. And the exit doesn''t look like ... That scary at all."


    Li Jing softly muttered, as she shyly lowered her head even more. Her innocent demeanor, coupled with her elegant and mature but youthful beauty made Liu Jeemin unconsciously avert his gaze.


    Looking at his ''party'', he was a bit impressed that he was able to form something like this by assuming a suitable personality.


    It was this kind of result that made it even more irresistible to him to change who he was.


    Of course, it also comes with a lot of dangers, which he suffered through in his previous world. But he didn''t care, since it was effective, what more could he ask for?


    He observed each of them, imprinting their characteristics in his head, while constantly muttering their names inaudibly in case he embarrassingly forget it.


    Dmitri was staring at his own left hand, Claire Williams was warily staring at the burly men, Jin Hyoon was jovially talking with Claire Williams onesidedly, while Sasaki Seiji was grinning ¡ª no one knew what he''s thinking about. Then Li Jing at the side was too shy to even do something.


    He licked his lips excitedly as he nodded at them, beckoning them to follow him.


    When they were lined up between the two gigantic pillars, he thought of an idea and turned his head towards them.


    "Let''s hold each others'' hand, so we won''t get separated in case this is a portal that teleports people randomly."


    When he reached for Dmitri''s left hand, he inadvertently grasp Li Jing''s soft and warm hand on his left.


    ''Uhmm.. I didn''t do this on purpose. But God? Why is she so soft and warm.''


    Dispelling his playful thought immediately before it devolve into something perverted, he lead the first step towards the abyss in front of them.


    When both of his feet finally settled on the dark abyss, he suddenly let out yelp.


    He bit his lips as he regretted letting out a strange sound. Luckily, no one noticed, as the group was busy dealing with the situation before them.


    Only then when they disappeared did the several people looking at them gasped in unison.


    "They..."


    "What..."


    "Did you see that?!"


    "The Satan devoured them! People, don''t be tempted!"


    The priest hurriedly shouted to dispel the notion of following Liu Jeemin''s group.


    *


    -Li Na, my dear, are you sure you''re not gonna inform them? It''s a bit of an headache listening to that schmuck yapping on and on about salvation.


    "What''s the point? It''s more interesting this way. I remembered botching this part back then, they should too."


    Li Na snickered, her bloody red irises looked at the crowd with a hint of anticipation and scorn.


    "Hmm. A wannabe leader managed to convince five people to accompany him, interesting. Tch, it could have been better if they remained here and waited for the bloody fest to come."


    Cloaked in invisibility, she glanced briefly at the previous location Liu Jeemin''s group left as she clicked her tongue in disappointment.


    Her long violet hair swayed as she playfully shook her head while her menacing eyes darted towards several thugs.


    They were moving in a coordinated manner, circling around a couple of women while repelling other men¡ªnot part of their group¡ªwith their murderous glare.


    "Now, now," a man wearing a thick tiger''s coat draped on his back, clasped both of his hands in a friendly manner, " Since this might be a purgatory as Mr. Priest suggested before, I might as well start having my last chance of pleasure, right brothers?"


    "As you can see," his eyes surveyed around the crowd before him, "I don''t think there''s nobody here¡ª who''s already way past the point of salvation, who..."


    His chilling chuckle echoed in the hall as his eyes gleamed with dangerous light.


    "... Who doesn''t care about going to hell anymore."


    "Right brothers?" His eyes were deep, seeming to entranced one''s soul who would stare at it for too long, as he continued in a friendly manner, "Maybe Mr.Priest can even join the fun, who knows? I mean... Nobody''s perfect, right? If pleasure doesn''t exist in hell..."


    "Then we still have this place. Maybe God created this place with that purpose in mind. Oh dear priest~, do forgive me for I have too many sins, even Satan would be ashamed."


    He cackled as he nodded at the several men encircling the women.


    Even the skinny innocent looking guys were now looking at them with the desire to get involve, convinced by the man''s words earlier.


    The girls being encircled was shivering in nervousness, fear were reflected in their eyes.


    When they pleaded with their eyes around them, most of the people averted their gazes, seemingly afraid of getting involved.


    The man wearing a tigers coat, ordered one his men to drag one of the girls to him.


    The girl screamed and flailed around as she was dragged by her hair on the ground, while the man dragging her were looking at her with lust written all over his face.


    "Hmmm. Pretty good looking and plumpy. Since you''re the first one to follow my command, she''s yours now."


    "Dear brothers, my name by the way is Cipriani Markez, I treat people who follow me with fairness. And by my grace, I shall freely provide a feast for the eyes."


    He licked his lips, as he held the girl''s chin. Then he nodded at the man who dragged the girl.


    "Thanks Boss."


    "Good, good, what''s your name?"


    "Just call me Rock boss."


    Cipriani Markez cackled with a satisfied expression.


    "... Hmm, no knight in shining armour coming around? Mr. Priest, wanna try rescuing her?"


    He laughed spitefully while everyone in the hall fall into silence, even the Priest stopped praying.


    The Priest''s eyes flashed at such a taunt momentarily¡ª nobody knows what''s he''s thinking about.


    As Rock was attempting to undress the flailing girl in front of them, a system messaged arrived.


    [The allotment time for forming a party has been exceeded]


    [Banishment is now commencing. . .]


    [Cleaners are being summoned.]


    "Here comes the fun."


    Li Na grinned.


    Hounds and humanoid wolves started appearing around the hall.


    The priest took this chance and immediately shouted with excitement.


    "This is it! Dear brothers and sisters, God won''t let cruelty prevail. He is sending these creatures to punish evildoers."


    At first, the people seemed convinced by the priest''s words as they heaved a sigh of relief.


    That was until the number of hounds and humanoid wolves increased. If that was it, it wouldn''t be big deal, but they witnessed an innocent bystander got torn to pieces like paper by the humanoid wolves.


    Not only that, the hounds seemed to grow bigger as they ate the people around them. It was total pandemonium, the crowd got scattered like bunch of ants.


    Screams of agony and torn flesh, with brain matter and bloody skins littered the hall in a blink of an eye.


    The Cleaners massacred them as the number of people dwindled down.


    "This is a test from God, do not be tempted to step outside the hall!"


    Ignoring the priest''s ramblings, Cipriani Markez didn''t even pay heed to his hastily formed men as he proceeded to leave this place as soon as possible.


    His arm got scratched by one of the humanoid wolves, luckily it wasn''t that deep. The hounds were not that hard to avoid and repel, but the humanoid wolves are something that even he found horrifying.


    They can tear a human being into two by only using their sharp claws and ripped arms.


    "Boss wait for me."


    Rock shouted as he managed to find him amongst the crowd.


    Cipriani Markez was astonished that this guy still even think of following him.


    If only there were people like him in my previous life, it wouldn''t be shitty as it was. If it is possible to return to earth, I''d make those guys pay tenthousandfold.


    "Heading out?"


    While panting and dusting his ragged hobo-clothes, Rock asked.


    "Yeah, it''s better than staying here, but before that."


    I need to survive first and have a good impression to these people as much as possible.


    More people, more power.


    He stopped just before his foot reach the dark abyss outside the hall.


    "Everyone, hear me! I don''t think you wanna die again! If you think Mr. Priest here is right, then you''re just handing yourselves in a silver platter to these hungry beasts."


    "But if you don''t wanna die again, then follow me. I''m gonna take the first step for all of you, adios amigos!"


    Cipriani Markez shouted as he jumped at the exit while his coat flapped like a cape. Rock clicked his tongue at his Boss''s grand exit, then proceeded to follow him.


    ****


    Li Na watched them with an amused expression. Torn pieces of body, arms, and heads were scattered around. Screams and cries of the struggling crowds are constantly filling the now bloody hall.


    Even the Priest before was nowhere to be seen.


    [The Watcher Prophet finds your action brutal]


    Li Na scoffed.


    "Didn''t the previous Guide did this to us too?"


    -Seeing these righteous pricks get pissed and not being able to do anything is a sight to behold.


    "Well, they can meddle as they want outside, but not here. Anyways, Grass Eating bastard, it seems you have a lot of time in your hands being able to watch here? Have you finished the job? How about the situation on the border, have you finished handling it?"


    -Ehhh, I just want to relax a bit, and why does it feel like you''re the boss, my position is higher than you?


    "Hmm, say that again, then you''ll see me at the other side."


    -No, I''m just kidding geez. Uwahh...


    Li Na chuckled amidst the bloody massacre happening before her as she heard grumblings and whines at the other end.


    "Time to go." She muttered while leaving behind the remaining people alive.

 Chapter 7 - Outside(1)

    [First Arrival Privilege]


    [Choose one item from before your death.]


    [Bonus Rewards is being generated]


    It was dark and completely black before colours started to appear like a paint brush dyeing the whole world.


    The sensation of falling continued until their feet registered the soft green grasses on the ground.


    Liu Jeemin made a slight gasp as his feet softly landed on the ground, but immediately acted indifferent, like nothing can suprise him contrary to the suprise gasps the rest of the group made.


    "As expected, there are rewards for being the first to leave."


    He muttered while glancing at the group, with the intention to make them hear what''s he''s saying.


    [Pick one: Rope, Condom, Cellphone]


    This...


    His expression was weird as he examined his choices.


    Of all the things useful here, only rope seemed to be useful. But that''s not to say condom can''t be use as a water container. But... did I really have that on my pocket before I died?


    "Guys, are you seeing what I''m seeing?"


    Jin Hyoon asked as she scanned the group for reactions.


    "My choices were bottled water, empty bag, and multi-purpose knife. I think the message earlier said we are rewarded one item before our death. I''m wondering if you receive the same message too."


    "Yes, mine are, a bullet, grass, and rock. I don''t think grass and rock is useful, even bullet is useless without a gun."


    Claire Williams'' face was dark as she spoke.


    "My choices are keyboard, paper, and pencil. Hoh, mine''s useless too."


    "Uhmm . . . Mine are stethoscope, tissue, and paper."


    Sasaki Seiji and Li Jing answered.


    "What about you Dmitri? It''s fine if you don''t want to tell us."


    Jin Hyoon felt a bit apprehensive about Dmitri, there was a chilling air around him as he briefly glanced at her.


    "Knife. Nothing else."


    Dmitri coldly showed the knife in his left arm.


    "Can I keep this right?"


    "... Sure why not?"


    Jin Hyoon immediately replied.


    Liu Jeemin walked forward and said, "It seems that we can delay choosing an item. I''ll delay choosing mine in preparation for situations where useless items could be useful."


    "What''s yours?"


    Jun Hyoon asked.


    Looking at their sharp curious gazes like saying, "we''ve told you ours, so tell us yours." His hesitation only existed for a moment.


    *Cough*


    "Rope, cellphone, and .... con...plastic."


    While trying to keep a straight face, he brushed aside the topic quickly and mentioned the other reward.


    [Bonus Rewards: Basic Necessities]


    [You''ve received Potato x3, Bottled water x3, Small Dimensional Pouch x1, Match box x1, Delay-hunger Pills x1, Loaf Bread x3, Special Bandage x1.]


    Six small brown pouch appeared out of nowhere in front of them.


    The rest of group gasped at the sight, still unused by the strange things happening in this place, except Liu Jeemin who was inwardly curbing his excitement by calming his trembling hands reaching for the pouch.


    *


    Is this heaven?


    A curious and bright eyes stared at the scenery before her in awe.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Gigantic trees, chirping birds, clear blue sky, and refreshing air filled her view.


    As she marvelled at the forest before her, the trees that almost reach the heavens, trunks that can''t even be hugged by seven people connecting to each other, and the green landscape brimming with vitality, she thought this was heaven.


    Hmmm?


    Liu Jeemin saw a beautiful young girl, with long black hair, wearing a pink blouse, peeking like a squirrel behind a trunk.


    "Someone seemed have followed us."


    Claire Williams said as she followed Liu Jeemin''s eyes.


    He approached the young girl slowly, afraid of startling her.


    "Would you like to join us?" he bent down as he offered his hand.


    "Is it... okay?"


    The girl hesistantly asked as her eyes quivered.


    "Why not? The more the merrier." he lowered his facemask a little to show his smile.


    "Mind telling us your name?"


    Showing kindness would help my position be cemented, if I turn this young girl away, I''d only appear as a merciless selfish bastard.


    "Uhmm . . I''m Rheena."


    "Beautiful name. Come," Liu Jeemin beckoned, "I''ll introduce you to them."


    He put his facemask back, covering his face, as he turned towards the group, while holding the young girl''s hand.


    "I don''t think anyone''s going object my little friend here in joining?"


    Friend? Rheena thought in fluster.


    "Her name is Rheena, say hi to them Rheena, just a wave would be fine."


    Liu Jeemin said as he look at her as warmly as possible.


    "Rheena, do you mind me asking, did you also receive rewards after leaving the hall? It''s okay if you don''t want to tell us, I''m just a curious friend here."


    Friend? Rheena thought again but with different emotion.


    "Umm . . . No . . . I mean yes, I was given a pouch with a match box inside."


    "Oh, so you''ve left a little later than us. Hmm, here."


    Since he already included her into the group, she is already part of his responsibility. Being able to show not only kindness but thoughtfulness on the surface, would further solidify his role as a leader, or so he thought.


    He handed her a bottled water, loaf bread, and a potato.


    "Tell me if it''s not enough, I still have food here." He said as his eyes were brimming with warmth.


    "Can I re..receive this?"


    She stammered as Liu Jeemin put them to her hands.


    "Of course, you''re part of us now. Put it inside your pouch."


    Liu Jeemin felt something strange nudged at his heart, but suppressed it by thinking he was doing it with an ulterior motive.


    But he never knew how much impact his words brought to the young girl.


    Mother, I made friends. Are you watching me?


    As Liu Jeemin stood up, Rheena held his arm while her blooming smile enlightened the atmosphere of the group.


    *


    Liu Jeemin and others decided to find a place to rest in the forest while exploring it.


    The one who brought this idea was Jin Hyoon, who was experienced in camping. For a moment, Jeemin had the notion that she was the one leading them, not him.


    He could only smile wryly at his uselessness while stuffing a piece of loaf bread in Rheena''s mouth.


    It couldn''t be helped, seeing that bulging cheeks filled with bread made him uncontrollably enamored by her cuteness.


    He never had a little sister. In fact, there were times that he wished he had. Playing the role of the big brother kicking suitors'' butt, defending her little sister with his life on the line was something he occasionally imagined doing.


    But if that was in reality, it might have been the opposite. Considering how useless and inconsistent he was, he might have shunned away her own sister from his ever changing behaviour.


    Just like a fleeting season, even the care he felt for the people around him disappeared like smoke. When his step father died, he even forced himself to shed some tears, afraid of being seen as a heartless person.


    That''s how society was, they treat people who doesn''t care about anything like dregs. But that''s a given, and he understood that. It''s just, he never wished to be born that way.


    But with Rheena''s cuteness all those thoughts went away like smoke, like the dark clouds in the sky.


    Dark sky?


    As Rheena was clinging in his left arm, he looked up. The sky was still blue with the white clouds moving at a snail''s pace.


    "Uhhmm.. I haven''t ask for your name yet, are they calling you captain?" she asked as her bright eyes looked up at him.


    "That''s right. Just call me nee-chan."


    Hehehe.


    He nodded at her while giving her a pat. He didn''t even notice that the act that he was supposed to play as an indifferent leader, was shoved away.


    "Amazing! They''re following you? A captain that leads his fellow loyal sailors into an expedition?"


    "Not exactly like that, but..." Liu Jeemin could only nod his head in helplessness.


    "And you''re kind too. Can I call you oppa?" Her bright twinkling eyes was staring at him cutely.


    What about nee-chan? He inwardly grumbled.


    "Fine, do whatever you want," he said as he examined the forest from time to time while wondering how he was supposed to be useful and how to make this life more different from his previous shitty life.


    Even now he could feel his pulsing heart, pounding heavily, like telling him everything is pointless. The more he stayed idle; the more the environment is idle, the more his sense of pointlessness consumed him.


    That''s not even accounting if he ever felt useless, and as the reality reflected how worthless he was.


    He unconsciously gripped Rheena''s hands when he felt like he was drowning in sorrow again.


    "Oppa, why do you look sad?" the little girl looked up with her innocent deep brown eyes reflecting Jeemin''s gloomy eyes staring at her.


    He sighed inwardly.


    "No I''m not," he avoided her gaze and pretended to appreciate the forest before him.


    She tightened her grip on his arm as she said, "But Oppa you. How about this, I''ll sing a song for you. My mom said singing for someone will make them happy."


    She remembered her father''s warm smile as he caressed her mother singing a lullaby.


    Hearing her beautiful voice, he couldn''t help but listen closely. Although the song was a little sad, it has this charm of calming the soul.


    After she finished singing, he patted her head as he praised, "Beautiful." Her bright eyes looked at him like she was asking for more praises.


    "Okay, okay, very beautiful. You really have a wonderful voice." His eyes were tinged with sadness, wondering how this cute innocent little girl died in the previous world.


    Like a spark inside his heart, he suddenly felt like he had someone to protect. It was the first time he had this feeling.


    ''Is it possible for me to really want to live?''


    When he shook his head at this thought, he caught a glimpse of a worn out brown leather vest lying near a tree, it was camouflaged with the grasses around it and yellow-brown ground.


    He bent down and picked up the worn out poor leather vest. The vest has some scratches resembling claws and some holes that looked like it was torn apart by sharp teeth.


    When he put the vest in his pouch to examine it later, he suddenly felt like he had forgotten about something important.


    Then, a sudden realization struck him when he dazedly halted for a moment.


    Now that they already left the hall, he should and could give the status window a try again.


    As he was about to make the status window to appear, Jin Hyoon and Claire Williams suddenly shouted who were several meters away from him.


    "Captain, I found tattered clothes and torn leather vests here."


    "Same here, there are literally hundreds of them on the ground. I accidentally stepped on one, when I inspected it closely and saw brown spots, although it was already colour brown, I determined that it was dried up blood stains."


    After Claire Williams and Jin Hyoon spoke, Sasaki Seiji suddenly let out a shrill cry.


    "Human bones!"


    As Jeemin turned towards the location where Sasaki Seiji shouted, he felt Li Jing''s gaze. When he looked at Li Jing, he found her directing her eyes towards the sky.


    Awhile ago there were chirping and tweeting birds dancing around, but now the forest looked like it suddenly stood still. Even the wind blowing became chillingly cold.


    The lights passing through the gaps between the leaves of the trees illuminating the forest suddenly went dimmed.


    What he saw when he lifted his head up, following Li Jing''s gaze, was ominous dark clouds looming in the sky.


    As a lightning flashed lighting up the heavens, a reverberating thunderous roar shook the hearts of the party.


    Then suddenly...


    --


    [New task has been updated]


    [The Forest of Labyrinth has been activated]


    Information: Unavailable


    Task: Reach the end of the Forest of Labyrinth.


    Difficulty: Tutorial


    Time limit: 3 days.


    Failure: Become the fertilizer.


    Rewards: 1000 credits, basic equipments, Universal Points +1.


    Constraints: Proneness to Hunger is Increased.


    [Time remaining 71hr:00m.]


    --

 Chapter 8 - Outside(2)

    This...


    After being startled for a moment, his lips curled up. If not for the role he was acting, he might''ve laughed already to his heart''s content in joy.


    He felt like he had never felt this happy before. Seeing the quest window appear before him, forget about the status window, this was enough to almost drive him into ecstasy.


    A quest window only meant one thing for him, that is the confirmation that he was really transported in a game like world. He even had the thought of kowtowing now to thank the gods for bringing him into this world.


    Not only that, he even felt thankful the he killed himself. If he knew this would have happened, he would have killed himself a long time ago.


    This is it, maybe this time I can finally feel what living actually is and stop hating myself. I will finally have the will to live!


    But his happiness was short-lived, not only they didn''t have the time to discuss about the quest window that appeared out of nowhere, they were suddenly surrounded by danger.


    He quickly scanned the vicinity and found numerous hounds with bloody red eyes and black furs encircling them.


    As he focused on one of them, he was shocked by what he found.


    [Information bank]


    [Hound Level. 0]


    Weakness: Afraid of fire


    Characteristics: Hunts in group


    Skill: Evolve by devouring intelligent species.


    Attributes: Agile, moderately strong.


    [Warning! Strength insufficient!]


    ''Information bank?''


    Forget it, now is not the time to think about that.


    After spotting a narrow gap in the encirclement of the hounds, he immediately pointed at it.


    "Run there!"


    He immediately directed the group in the gap while positioning himself at rear, but then noticed that the group was in disarray.


    Damn, I completely forgot about the importance of formation in a party. How could I have forgotten about something so important! Pretending to be a protagonist is harder than I thought.


    As they ran frantically, he found Rheena gasping for breath a certain distance away from his back. When he picked up the worn out vest earlier, he left Rheena studying a piece of flower.


    As she was starting to be left behind by the party, one of the swarming hounds behind them suddenly pounced at her.


    When his eyes met Rheena, he paused for a moment from fear when he caught a glimpse of the hundreds of hounds behind her.


    "It''s fine Oppa, please escape. I''ll slow them down, Oppa, promise me you wouldn''t be sad again."


    The world slowed down, as everything before Jeemin''s eyes went into slow motion, his despairing eyes were reflected by Rheena''s warm gazed.


    Rheena smiled at him as her cheeks puffed up and her dimples caved in, completely devoid of any panic as if saving him gave her a sense of purpose. Jeemin urged his feet to go faster, as hounds practically started on ripping her clothes.


    His emotion which he repressed all the time after being transferred in this world completely blew up.


    "NOOOOOO!!"


    He was enraged. Truly angered at himself.


    As her torn clothes flew into the air....


    "Noo! Aaaaahhh!!"


    Just why did he paused for a moment? Just why was he afraid?


    ''Please no.''


    The hatred within himself grew.


    The resentment in his heart and mind combined as pure rage took over him.


    His heart pounding fiercely.


    Slow, slow, slow, why am I so slow?!


    Please, faster. He urged his body to move faster.


    He slammed his foot on the ground, hoping... hoping to reach her as fast as he can.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    No.


    Her smile, as her hand stretched towards him...


    What felt like that he was the one saving her, were turned completely upside down. Her soft pale hand, reaching towards him, looked like a hand coming from above the heavens, helping him to stand up.


    Telling him to live on...


    He saw... He saw her mouth forming the words, "It''s okay."


    Rage and panic has overridden his mind, with bloodshot eyes he launched his body towards her.


    Faster, please, faster! Did I just hesitate?! Why am I like this?


    Ignoring the hounds clawing, biting, munching on his flesh. He finally reached her. Lying on the ground, was a blurry figure, smiling at him.


    His moist eyes, the tears that were erupting to flow, made the world around him hazier.


    Hazy, unclear, and damp. Maybe it was the rain, or maybe it was his tears flowing from his eyes.


    He can''t understand what he was feeling, but one thing is for sure, he must save her. As the world before him stood still, his heart tightened at the injuries she suffered.


    He immediately bent down and lifted her up.


    He heard a soft voice whispering in his ears behind him, as he carried her on his back.


    "I told you to leave me behind, right? Oppa, you''ll get hurt."


    Her breathing was rough as she spoke. He didn''t reply but ran towards the direction of the rest of the group.


    The emotions piling up in his heart made him hate the party he created. Why didn''t they rescue her? Why did they left her behind?


    Why did I left her behind?


    At the end, he could only blame himself.


    *


    Claire Williams went back as soon as she saw Liu Jeemin heading back further in the rear to rescue Rheena.


    "Captain has fallen back in the rear! Let''s help him."


    Claire Williams shouted at the scattered group while kicking some hounds around her. Picking up a relatively huge rock, she smashed a hound''s head like a watermelon.


    "Isn''t that suicidal?" Sasaki Seiji replied.


    "So what, you''re just gonna run away?"


    After Claire Williams bashed a hound''s head, perhaps the rest of party gained some confidence since they went back towards Liu Jeemin location.


    "Where is the captain?"


    Dmitri asked with cold and slightly panicked face. He sliced off a hound''s neck although the damage dealt was small, the hound whimpered in pain.


    "Over there."


    "Where? All I can see here is bunch of trees. Don''t you think it''s really, really, suicidal to go back?"


    "Then wait here!"


    "No way!"


    Sasaki Seiji thought his survival chance would go up if he stayed with these people capable of holding off the hounds, so instead of staying in one place, he might as well stick with them.


    Li Jing and Jin Hyoon was together as they heard about saving their captain from Claire Williams.


    "Look, he''s running towards us."


    They quickly noticed an indiscernable tiny dot growing more discernable. What they saw was a bloody figure running towards them carrying a dangling body behind his back.


    "Go and clear the way for him, Li Jing and I discovered a narrow cave entrance near here, we''ll lead the way."


    Jin Hyoon suggested as she split off a tree''s branch near her.


    She swung the branch as hard as she could to drive off the hounds pouncing at them while Li Jing was hiding beside her, trembling in fear.


    Dmitri followed the suggestion without hesitation. He nimbly avoided a hound trying to bite his arm and ran towards Liu Jeemin.


    The rest of the group tried their best to clear the way for Liu Jeemin.


    *


    He soon found the group waiting for him amidst the forest, the only thing he remembered was running forward and the pain all over his body.


    "Captain behind you!"


    A huge hound with strange human like clear eyes suddenly jumped behind him.


    Afraid that Rheena might be the hound''s target, he twisted his body in counter-clockwise motion.


    A bloodcurdling scream ensued as a torn piece of limb was seen dangling in the hound''s mouth.


    As the torn arm protruded in the mouth of the menacing oversized hound, its eyes, devoid of any red-hue unlike any of the normal hounds, look at them with a hint of intelligent excitement in its eyes.


    Sasaki Seiji held his mouth with a horrified expression as he saw Liu Jeemin running for his life while missing an arm off. The dangling body behind him almost made him pee between his pants.


    *


    As Jeemin ran, he felt his left shoulder was screaming in pain. An unimaginable pain the he''d never felt before. He thought physical pain was a little bit better than mental problems, but soon found out how grossly he underestimated physical pain.


    He imagined that he was able to evade the hound''s attack, but thought it was still able to scratch him.


    The problem was, aside from the pain, his left shoulder felt strangely light, like something was missing. But he didn''t have the time to mind it as he was trying his best to keep on running, even though his lungs had already went cold.


    His feet, aching from the nonstop running, was finally able to reunite him with the group.


    "Let''s go and follow them, they''ve found a narrow cave entrance near here."


    As Claire Williams muttered in panic at Liu Jeemin''s bloody figure, she pointed at Jin Hyoon a certain distance away from them.


    He just ran, and ran, his head slowly getting heavier. His body which didn''t experience running for a long time was being pushed to its limits.


    The only consolation he found was that he finally saw the narrow cave entrance Claire Williams had told him earlier.


    Claire Williams warded off the hounds from behind with Dmitri, as Jin Hyoon, Sasaki Seiji, and Li Jing collected rocks near the cave''s entrance.


    When Liu Jeemin reached the entrance, Li Jing supported him as he entered the spacious cave.


    Dmitri buried a knife inside a hound''s head as he shouted, "Is it done? How much time do you need?"


    "Wait, it''s not enough!" Jin Hyoon shouted as she frantically threw several rocks inside the cave.


    "I''m having a hard time here!"


    "Go help them! I''ll hold them off." Claire Williams shouted, while swinging a branch''s tree to ward off the hounds attacking her.


    Dmitri ran without hesitation and joined Jin Hyoon and the bunch to threw several rocks towards the cave entrance.


    After going inside, Sasaki Seiji shouted from inside, "There are enough rocks here. I''ll start piling them up."


    "Claire, go inside."


    "Let''s head inside, c''mon faster."


    They reorganized the piled up rock inside the cave to block the entrance.


    While Jin Hyoon and Claire Williams pushed a relatively medium sized boulder inside the cave towards the entrance.


    The strange hound earlier that attacked Liu Jeemin let out an evil cackle as it went near the cave.


    It''s strange human like eyes gleamed with greed, as it tongue hang from its mouth.


    Seeing this, the party blocked the entrance with panic and grave expressions, as they rushed to pile more rocks at the entrance.


    As soon as they were about to finish blocking the narrow entrance, they heard the strange hound growl that doesn''t sound like a growl at all. It was like...


    "Fo..od."


    ...trying to speak.


    They stood rooted, shocked and horrified when they heard the strange hound spoke.


    "It.. it. It spoke!"


    Sasaki Seiji ruffled his hair in fluster.


    While Claire and Hyoon widened their eyes when the hound spoke.


    "Impossible!"


    "I''ve lived in wilderness for quite some time, I''ve never heard carnivorous animals talk!"


    "We''re in a different world after all." Dmitri spoke coldly as he arranged the piled up rocks blocking the entrance.


    Only then they heaved a sigh of relief when they didn''t hear any footsteps outside the cave nor hounds attempting to go inside.


    When they relaxed, Li Jing soft shout startled them.


    Like forgetting something important, Claire Williams abruptly turned her head towards Jeemin''s bloody figure.


    "Ahh!"


    Seiji covered his eyes as soon as he caught a glimpse of Jeemin''s bleeding left shoulder. When he recalled the dangling torn limb on the hound''s mouth earlier, he couldn''t help but vomit.


    When Dmitri saw him puked, he snorted and scoffed.


    "What a wimp."


    "What did you say?!"


    "I said you''re a wimp. I''m younger than you by, I''m not sure, 10 years? Do you see me puking? Do you see me telling people around me to leave the captain?"


    "What? You dare!"


    "So what did you mean when you said, ''it''s suicidal to go back?'' Isn''t that same thing as saying leaving behind captain? Wimp."


    Dmitri spat on the ground with a disgusted expression as he glared at Seiji.


    "Next time, remember, when you are presented with another situation like this, always go for the kill. Act, not run." Dmitri glanced at his own left hand as he curtly turned his back towards Seiji.


    "You¡ª"


    "Enough!"


    Jin Hyoon bellowed as she angrily added, "Stop fighting. Let''s check captain''s condition first."


    When Jin Hyoon darted towards Liu Jeemin, Li Jing suddenly shouted in panic.


    "Captain!"

 Chapter 9 - Outside(3)

    The cave was quite huge inside and it wasn''t dark since there were a lot of sources of light apart from the cracks in the ceilings - letting the sunlight outside in.


    Unlike any cave, that was usually dark, this is one is really bright.


    Rocks and protruding gems in the wall''s cave radiated mystifying and differing colours in contrast to the group''s dark expression.


    "Captain!"


    Li Jing''s voice reverberated into the entire silent cave as it knocked some sense into his mind.


    His blurry vision and dazed expression instantly cleared up before he almost collapsed from exhaustion.


    He quickly recalled carrying Rheena at his back.


    Li Jing helped him put Rheena down as he was having difficulty reaching her.


    "?"


    His mind went blank as he glanced at his left arm that was now missing. Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush, but the pain he have forgotten suddenly assaulted him as he grimaced in pain.


    Where''s my arm?


    His face contorted as he asked himself.


    While looking at his bleeding left shoulder he instinctively took out the special bandage from the pouch he received earlier and slapped it on, on the open wound.


    The bleeding miraculously instantly stopped.


    But he didn''t make any suprise expression as he was to preoccupied to mind the special bandage''s effects.


    When he saw Li Jing glancing at him with a pain expression after putting her ears near Rheena''s nose, his heart sank.


    "Anyone got extra special bandage? Rheena''s still bleeding."


    His voice was evidently sounding desperate as he scanned the party, but no one replied. He frowned in confusion.


    Why aren''t they responding? I''m supposed to be the leader here!


    Only then he saw the reason why they were not responding when he turned his head towards Li Jing. She was shaking her head with tears flowing from her eyes, while covering her mouth with her hands.


    "But we all received it right?" he asked as his teeth clattered from suppressed anger, while completely misunderstanding Li Jing''s response.


    Li Jing looked at him with a troubled face as she nibbled her lips, her mouth hesitantly opened and closed several times before finally uttering something that almost made Liu Jeemin crazy.


    "It''s no use. She''s gone."


    Jin Hyoon walked towards him and examined his left shoulder, while his eyes dimmed. He didn''t even hear Jin Hyoon asking him if he was fine, considering the graveness of his injury.


    What?


    That can''t be.


    He was sure that her eyes were still open when he lifted her up, she even talked to him saying he should''ve left her.


    Her vivid smile, full of vitality, and the desire to live was still clear to him when he lifted her up.


    "That.. that.. can''t be. Impossible!"


    ''I refuse to believe it!''


    He tried to calm down, but his trembling clenched hand betrayed him.


    "But captain... her organs are gone captain."


    Li Jing said as she covered her mouth while her stifled mournful cry escaped from her hands.


    Was it my hesitation?


    He slowly sank and kneel down, holding Rheena''s body into his arm.


    The gruesome state she was in, her scattered and dangling intestines, her visible heart, several chunks of skins and muscles missing from her body, he didn''t care as her blood stained his clothes, as he stared at his beautiful youthful face.


    Looking at her, he couldn''t help but see that she was telling him ''what took you so long?''


    He lowered his head as his chest bobbed up and down, his ragged breathing, evidence that he was crying in grief. There was no sound coming from his mouth as he wallowed in anguish. He desperately tried not to show he was crying. He didn''t want anyone seeing him in this pathetic state.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    He wanted to hug her, but he could only bent his body down as he held her.... because he was missing his left arm.


    When he lifted his head and stared at Rheena''s eyes, a tremor ran through his body. An indescribable emotion flooded him, raging and swirling inside him.


    Level ? Class ?


    Seven Demon Art: (Low)Soul Search Magic Matrix Analysis


    His eyes turned completely white as several projected images played like a film in front of him. It was strange, even though it was images running like film, he felt emotions coming from it.


    What he saw was a young girl crying over her mother''s coffin. His father, who lost his mind from losing his wife vented his anger towards her daughter whenever he went home drunk after gambling.


    One day, the father sold her daughter to pay for his debts accumulated from gambling. When the girl was brought to the man''s house who bought her, he... he..


    Liu Jeemin gnashed his teeth as veins popped out from his forehead as he watched the revolting scene unfold before him.


    When the man was finished with her, the girl escaped and walked to her home barefooted in the middle of the night.


    As soon as she arrived, her father was enraged when he saw her daughter returned, angered that his payment to his debts might be rendered moot.


    The girl hugged his father and cried. But he didn''t care, he was consumed by rage and anxiety. His dark bags around his eyes and bloodshot eyes was a telltale of his drug abuse. He pulled the girl, his own daughter, to the attic by her hair, as she ripped her clothes as he...


    Liu Jeemin, who was watching this felt sick to his stomach, he wanted to close his eyes, to avert his gaze away from the scene. But he failed. Not only he can''t control his body, he can''t even scream.


    He saw the young innocent girl being choke to death by her own father as her father continued on....


    From the scene unfolding before him, he felt the pain she felt.


    He wanted to scream, his heart boiled in rage. He felt he didn''t care about anyone anymore.


    He felt that life''s not worth living anymore. He carried the grief alone in his heart.


    He felt alone.


    Her brown eyes reflected off his anguished stricken face. Maybe it was only his imagination, but he truly saw a merciless demon reflected in those eyes.


    He shivered when he saw himself in that reflection as the scene stopped playing. His mind consumed by emotions made him forget about the strange phenomenon that just occured.


    Thinking back in his previous life, he didn''t really value life. Whoever dies doesn''t really matter.


    Dying is just a form of salvation. It is better to die than live a life full of sufferings.


    But now he even wanted to slap his face by recalling he envied those people that already died, thinking that they have freed themselves from the sufferings of the world.


    But he couldn''t understand why he was feeling this.


    Why would he want to slap himself? Logically, he was correct, he knew that. Living will only make life harder, dying is the easy way out, there''s nothing wrong with that.


    But when he stared at Rheena''s face, remembered how she died, her last words echoing in his mind, her smile as she looked up at him, her voice that soothes the soul... could he say that Rheena was now resting in peace? Could he say that she was lucky because she died?


    Could he envy her because she was already dead?


    No.


    What he was feeling right now was a desire to see her live and enjoy life. It was strange, a very alien thought to him.


    He derided himself for only thinking about himself, assuming that the world is revolving around him, when he just saw a fragile life ignored by the world. If the world revolves solely on him, what about her?


    He raised his head with difficulty as she looked at Li Jing.


    "Can you..."


    "Can you close her eyes?" he closed his eyes as he continued with a forced joking tone, "My left arm, you know, it ''left'' my other arm alone."


    His hoarse voice bordering on weeping echoed in the cave as it betrayed his poorly made joke as his gaze went back on Rheena''s beautiful pale innocent face.


    To think I''m thankful being transferred here.


    The group slowly gathered around him while Li Jing closed Rheena''s eyelids with her trembling soft hand.


    Ahh I wanna die again. Liu Jeemin thought as his eyes drooped gloomily.


    Someone please kill me.


    If only I can transfer my life to her!


    God! If you can hear me, please, just once, you son of a bitch. . . transfer my life to others who deserves it!


    He screamed inwardly, as the words and thoughts echoing in his mind just nestled there ethereally without getting any replies nor response. In the eerie silence, he continued thinking.


    Protagonist? What a joke! I can''t even save a helpless girl. I''m fucking trash. Worthless. Useless.


    ''I don''t have any redeeming qualities.''


    ''I''m weak.''


    ''I''m not intelligent.''


    ''I''m hopeless.''


    ''I should die...''


    Somewhere in his heart, a place where he can''t sense, a voice akin to a devil was letting out a devilish cackle, seemingly rejoicing and approving his state of despondency.


    ''...But I''m afraid of killing myself again.''


    "Haaa," he heaved a depressing sigh as he heard Dmitri spoke.


    "Captain, so what do we do now?"


    Dmitri coldly asked which prompted Li Jing to glare at him.


    "What? Something wrong?"


    At the receiving end of that glare, Dmitri couldn''t help but retort curtly.


    "Can''t you even read the atmosphere?"


    Sasaki Seiji hurriedly took this chance to reprimand Dmitri.


    Jeemin knitted his brows as he felt irritated by the noise they''re making.


    But when he remembered this was the same people who went back for him, he could only let it pass and let them deal with it themselves.


    He slowly lay down Rheena''s body and took off his torn black jacket to cover her, leaving only his bloody white T-shirt on him.


    Although he hated to admit it, he already sobered up.


    He buried his grief deep within him, as he stood up enervated.


    His whole demeanor suddenly changed without him intending it. His usual confident and strong leader vibe he wore, meshed with his enervated and gloomy voice.


    "First, we need to rest. Tomorrow we''ll explore the cave. Don''t worry about the hounds," he greeted his teeth as he mentioned the monsters who was responsible for Rheena''s death, "I noticed the pack of hounds dwindled down when we are being pursued. I assume they''ve found another prey."


    He glanced at the blocked entrance, "If they didn''t found another prey to pursue, I bet they would spend the entire night removing the hastily blockage you made."


    "The rest we''ll figure it out tomorrow."


    Jin Hyoon looked at him deeply and asked.


    "I''m not sure if I should ask this, but, I remember you said you''re familiar with this world, so... why did this happen? If we haven''t left the hall we could have..."


    Jeemin didn''t feel angry when he heard this question, in fact he''d rather address this now than when it''s too late.


    He went silent for moment as he thought.


    "The hall''s no good," he shook his head, "even if we stayed there, there''s nothing. No food, no water, and no way to protect ourselves. Not only that, I''m sure there are certain rules that will force the people there to leave the hall. Something like making them kill each other."


    "I think captain is right, that''s not even mentioning the people who were gathering there that were up to no good."


    Seeing Jin Hyoon unconvinced, Claire Williams decided to interject. As someone who has background in military, she thought that the party must not lose its unity as a consequence of distrust towards the leader.


    "I can''t absolutely say I''m right, I may have inadvertently cause harm to you all. If you don''t want to follow me anymore it''s fine," Jeemin shrugged as he said, "That concludes this meeting, let us rest."


    "What about your arm?"


    Li Jing hesistantly asked.


    The entire group suddenly got quiet.


    "I''ll manage. Find a spot in this cave, don''t stray too far. Try to conserve food and water as much as possible. I just ate a piece of bread earlier, and I''m already feeling hungry, it must have something to do with the constraint written in the task window," he replied as he briefly took a glance at the task window that appeared when he thought about ''task window''.


    [Task Window]


    The Forest of Labyrinth


    Information: Unavailable


    Task: Reach the end of the Forest of Labyrinth.


    Difficulty: Tutorial


    Time limit: 3 days.


    Failure: Become the fertilizer.


    Rewards: 1000 credits, basic equipments, Universal Points +1.


    Constraints: Proneness to Hunger is Increased.


    He beckoned Claire Williams to come to him.


    "Claire, go lead them. Find some safe place to rest. Set up a rotation to guard at night. I lost too much blood and I''m a bit light headed, if it''s my turn, just wake me up."


    Claire Williams nodded as a brief guilt flashed in her eyes.


    When Jeemin sat down near Rheena''s body, leaned his back on a boulder, the rest finally started finding a place to rest at Claire Williams'' behest.


    Only when he determined that they''re a bit far from him, he trembled. He covered his face with his remaining arm and curled up, as his stifled sobbed slowly drifted away.

 Chapter 10 - Status Window

    "What did he say?"


    Sasaki Seiji scratched his head as he looked at Claire''s direction.


    "It''s something about system thing." Claire replied.


    "Huh? Wait, let me ask him¡ª" before Seiji could stand up, Jin Hyoon shook her head by the side and said, "He''s fast asleep."


    "Tsk, captain it is." Seiji clicked his tongue and leaned back.


    "We can''t blame him, he suffered severe injuries. I''m a bit guilty trying to blame him earlier," Hyoon lowered her head in shame, "But I can''t help it, he said he knew about this world."


    "Familiar, not knew. How is it possible for him to know about this world? I guess he probably read about it from fantasy novels or have played games," Seiji said in mocking tone as he added, "In fact I''m also familiar with a world like this, I''ve designed a lot of RPG games."


    "Anyways, you said he mentioned about system. It''s probably about system window. Wait let me try."


    Seiji immediately widened his eyes as soon as he saw the status window appeared in front of him.


    "What is it?" Claire asked as she noticed Seiji''s shocked expression.


    "Try thinking about the word status in your mind, you''ll see what I see."


    Hearing this, Li Jing and Dmitri leaned forward curiously. When they saw Claire''s strange expression, they immediately did the same thing.


    "Amazing, it even has information about my characteristics and how I died¡ª" Jin Hyoon suddenly covered her mouth in fluster.


    "What''s this unique skill?" Li Jing asked as she blushed, her pale face reddened like a ripened tomato when she read something embarrassing.


    "Unique skill... If I am correct, these skills are, as its name implies, unique, meaning there''s nothing like it. But..." Seiji scratched his hair as he added in consternation, "Whoever designed this game is an amateur, there''s no description on the skills under the category of unique skills."


    Dmitri by the side waved his knife from left to right as he sat, he made a thrusting motion then retracted it swiftly as he nodded coldly, seemingly lost on thought.


    Suddenly, Dmitri''s stomach growled as the rest of group gave him odd stares. The tip of his nose reddened as he glared at them and took out a loaf bread and devoured it one go. He drank from his bottled water, gulped down a quarter of it, stood up, and lie down near a wall.


    Seeing this, Jin Hyoon couldn''t help but let out a laugh.


    "We should also eat."


    "Yeah," Seiji nodded as he took out a loaf bread and asked, "What do you think about the people who left the hall but didn''t get any food?"


    "Rations are very important, considering captain said that there is a constraint or condition placed within us. Hmm, something like increasing our susceptibility to hunger. Which basically means our digestive system is on overdrive, I''m not sure," Claire glanced at the blocked entrance and continued, "But having no ration means it is possible for them to get crazily starved, it''s just a matter of time."


    Jin Hyoon furrowed her brows and muttered, "I heard he asked Rheena if she received the same rewards as we did..."


    Perhaps mentioning the young girl who was brutally killed, which the group clearly was trying to avoid mentioning, her voiced couldn''t help but trailed off as the rest suddenly went silent.


    Seiji who was oblivious to it went "aha" as he said, "I clearly heard that she didn''t receive any food, else captain wouldn''t give her food. I guess he''s pretty useful after all. Because that means that we''re the only one having it easy. Think about..."


    Jin Hyoon cut him short as she interjected as though she realized something, "... About the people who didn''t decide to leave the hall that wouldn''t get the First Privilege Reward. They wouldn''t have any foods at all, add that to being pursued by several hounds, they''d be in a worse situation than us. I see, so captain gave us the opportunity to be ahead of them!"


    When Jin Hyoon scanned the group she found Li Jing was already fast asleep.


    While Claire at the side was nodding at her, "See, that''s why we shouldn''t blame him. Of course he made a mistake, but he already paid for it. It''s not like, just because he''s the leader, he''s responsible for everything. We have our own mind to think for ourselves, and we''ve agreed to join him voluntarily."


    Claire lowered her head as a brief guilt flashed in her eyes while clenching a pouch in her hand.


    She stood up as she sat near the entrance, "It''ll be my first turn, get some rest now."


    Seiji lied down on a flat surface uncomfortably while cursing as Jin Hyoon walked towards Claire.


    "Before I sleep, would you mind me asking? How did you end up here, how did you die? You seemed capable, intelligent, and successful."


    Claire brushed off her blonde hair covering half of her face, her oceanic blue eyes stared at Jin Hyoon for a moment as she answered flatly, "Shit happens."


    "Pardon?" Jin Hyoon asked dazedly, apparently caught off guard by her remark.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Just go to sleep. The night is long. I''ll take captain''s turn so the more you rested, the more I can be assured you wouldn''t fall asleep while guarding tonight. I don''t wanna wake up missing an¡ª" Claire stopped short when she was about to utter "arm" but immediately changed it with "ear," even though it doesn''t make any sense.


    "Okay, I''ll just lie down near here, just give me a nudge." Jin Hyoon lie down sideways as she softly muttered, "Isn''t this like living my dream, hiking and camping?"


    Meanwhile, Jeemin who was behind a boulder, far away from the entrance, veiled by a shadow, opened his eyes.


    ''Haaa.''


    Liu Jeemin lifted his head up in a daze, before regaining focus. He scoffed at himself as he said, "''Gave you opportunity''? It''s pure luck that we were rewarded food. If you didn''t discovered the cave, I would have ended up as a food, and I would be responsible for all of your deaths."


    He sighed depressingly.


    Then he furrowed his brows, lost in thought.


    A strange skill just activated beyond my control...


    A skill on that magnitude that can read people''s memories, even though it can only grasp fragments of it, is highly unlikely a passive skill.


    Passive skills are a type of skill that either amplifies active skills or are always active(on) skills without the user needing to actually ''act'' on using it.


    Moreover, if the general information he had from the varieties of novels he have read are true, then memory-reading related skills are not unique, and are something that everyone can learn and use.


    Soul search, to think that I have such an insidious skill.


    In normal occasion, he would be incredibly happy at this discovery, but now, he actually felt even more depress, knowing that that skill was used on Rheena''s soul.


    His guilt deepened when he remembered what he saw earlier, considering soul search is generally harmful towards a soul.


    Is revival allowed in this world? I have to find ways to revive her. It should be possible in this fantasy like world, right?


    He clenched his fist as his nails dug on his palm.


    Not only he had no idea what laws does this world has, his grasp on the nature of the system is still minute.


    He wiped his silvery tears and stared at the empty air in front of him for a moment.


    He noticed that the cave was strangely bright. It seems that the rocks and gems scattered everywhere the cave serves as the source of light illuminating the things around them.


    [Status Window]


    Name: Liu Jeemin, ???


    Titles: None, ???


    General information


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


    Physical: 62kg/167.3cm


    Cause of Transmigration: Suicide, ???


    Mark: g, ???


    Level 0


    Class: None, ???


    Talent: Average


    Skills:


    A. Unique skills:


    ~Resonance


    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 felt dizzy reading the barrage of information in front of him, add that to his lightheadedness from losing too much blood, his eyelids struggled to hung open. He then decided to just examine it tomorrow.


    At least he was able to inform the rest of the group first about the status window.


    Consumed by drowsiness, he glanced at Rheena''s body briefly before he fell asleep.


    Claire, who was observing Jeemin from the blocked entrance frowned when she heard Seiji''s elephant-like snore.


    Dmitri jolted awake and picked up a pebble near him and threw it towards Seiji''s direction. The pebble almost went inside Seiji''s mouth as Claire prepared to jump in a moment if Seiji accidentally choke on the pebble Dmitri threw.


    Luckily, it only hit his face as he groaned and covered his face with his arm. Not only that, he also stopped snoring but showed no indication of waking up.


    When Claire was about to scold Dmitri, he was already fast asleep while sucking on his thumb.


    She could only shake her head in helplessness.


    *


    "What the hell."


    Cipriani Markez gasp for breath as he ran like a dog after falling into the Forest of Labyrinth from the hall.


    "You useless priest, why not just get yourself eaten and slow them down. You''d be saving us, the heavens will surely reward you for that."


    He vented at the priest grabbing a hold of his coat as if it was the priest''s last life''s support in life.


    "The God guided me to you!"


    "What in the bull is that?!"


    "Ahh God dammit! Rock, try throwing me some tree''s branch."


    "Yes boss! Boss, it''s getting dark, where are we heading?"


    "Do you I think I have any idea about this place?!"


    The dusk started to creep in the sky as the hounds chasing after them slowly dwindle down in numbers.


    Noticing this change, Cipriani Markez slowed down and scanned some trees with lower, climbable branches.


    "There!"


    As he slapped the hand of the priest holding his coat, he climbed on the tree nimbly.


    I hope these hounds can''t climb.


    As soon as he arrived at the top of the tree he immediately shouted, "Rock, crouch down!"


    Hearing that, Rock abruptly crouched down and narrowly avoided a huge hound pouncing behind him.


    "Boss, ahh, you''ve already found a tree''s branch?"


    "Quick moron, I ended up finding one, climb on the other side."


    Cipriani Markez''s heart was pounding because Rock wasn''t even aware he just avoided death.


    "What about the priest boss? This branch here can hold two people."


    Rock asked as he climbed atop the tree like a monkey.


    "Go lend him a hand."


    Cipriani sighed at the sight of the priest praying in front of the huge hound heading towards him.


    "Hey, Mr.Priest, grab a hold of Rock''s hand, praying will only get you eaten."


    The priest seemed to be waiting for such words as he quickly move like a fox as he grab a hold of Rock''s arm pulling him up while his priest''s robe got bitten by the hound.


    "Ahh!"


    While watching the tug of war, Cipriani Markez took out a matchbox and lit a stick on fire, shocked by how strong the fire emanating from the matchstick, he almost dropped it down.


    Hope this works.


    "You owe me one you damned priest!"


    He yelled as he threw the lit matchstick towards the hound playing a tug of war with Rock while the priest served as their rope.


    He could only wryly smile as he saw Rock grinning atop the branch, seeming to enjoy the tug of war.


    After the lit matchstick hit the hound and burned its fur on its face, it whimpered and loosen its hold on the priest''s robe, causing Rock to finally pull him up.


    The hound''s eye menacingly looked at Cipriani Markez like it was etching the face of the man who prevented it from having a delicious meal.


    "Y..o...u f.o..o...d."


    After growling and uttering almost incoherent words, it immediately left like it was afraid of something.


    "Boss, you heard that?! The dog spoke!"


    Cipriani Markez looked at the receding figure of the strange hound as the darkness completely swallowed the sky.


    Interesting, worthy of becoming my pet.


    He licked his lips and disappointedly glance at the spot where the hound spoke.


    [The Watcher Prophet is thanking you for saving the priest]


    [You received 750 credits from the Prophet]


    [100 credits has been deducted due to the Adaptation Zone''s policy]


    What''s this?


    [Tutorial Shop is now available, would you like to purchase items?]


    His eyes narrowed as he received weird messages inside his mind.


    Hahaha, what an interesting world, there''s even the concept of money.


    His lips curled up at that, what he considered, as an incredible discovery.

 Chapter 11 - Preparation

    "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."

 Chapter 12 - Lost Expert

    Tap, tap, tap.


    The sound of their footsteps echoed around the cave. It was spacious and wide, illuminated by the light coming from the cracks in the ceilings and gems on the walls.


    The footsteps suddenly came to halt when they passed a narrow region of the cave.


    There were two paths before them, one was bright and wide that lead up, while the other was dim, narrow, and has a naturally formed stairs that lead down the cave.


    When he was about to suggest that they should take the safer passage, he felt a raging emotion welling up from his heart. His mouth bobbed up and down, unable to mutter the safer decision.


    [Resonance 1%]


    A system message appeared before him, but it was invisible to his eyes.


    He only felt that he should take the left path, and so, after struggling with the decision, he decided to follow what he considered as his, ''intuition''.


    "We have collected enough light Origin right?"


    Jeemin asked as he walked forward towards the left path.


    "Shouldn''t we go right?"


    Seeing this, Sasaki Seiji couldn''t help but voiced out in fear.


    "Don''t worry, we''ll retreat if we used up half of our light Origin reserves."


    Without adding any more words, Liu Jeemin followed his gut and went inside as the lead.


    "It''s better to encounter an enemy, that way we can train and be able to get used to our formation," as his feet landed on the stone stairs he added, "I know it''s riskier here, but my gut is telling me we''ll get something here, maybe a treasure. If you don''t want to follow, then take the right passage."


    Hearing this, the rest of the party looked at each other. Recalling the rewards they received after leaving the hall when they followed Jeemin, they nodded at each other... except Seiji.


    "No. It''s a huge red flag! Look, it''s dark and narrow, and leading downwards. Compared to the right, the difference is literally between heaven and hell," Seiji shook his head violently.


    Dmitri coldly retorted, "No one''s forcing you, go by yourself, no one cares," he then added a snort at the end.


    Jeemin crushed a light Origin in his hand as he scanned the lit narrow passage in front of him. There were cobwebs in the ceiling, while there were many bones littered on the path continuing downwards.


    "Me? Alone? Hell no!" Seiji said as he hurriedly catch up to them.


    When Seiji entered the passage, the party behind Jeemin suddenly stood rooted.


    When he noticed he couldn''t hear footsteps other than his, he glanced back, making a questioning face


    as he furrowed his eyebrows.


    But before he could ask what happened, a system notice suddenly appear.


    --


    [Hidden zone has been discovered]


    [300 credits has been rewarded]


    [Sub-task has been activated]


    [Sub-task is being updated]


    Information: Tomb of Eleanor la Mili Montse


    Task: Find the forgotten stele.


    Difficulty: ???


    Time limit: None


    Failure: Death


    Rewards: Map of the Forest Labyrinth.


    --


    Death?!


    "Failure is death?!" Seiji shouted.


    Suddenly, a group of skeletons started to appear around them.


    "Throw a punch to your right!"


    Jeemin instinctively shouted at Claire Williams.


    Claire swiftly reacted at his warning and crushed a skeleton''s skull that was about to bite her.


    Jeemin narrowed his eyes and saw that the rear was blocked by a strange black barrier.


    I knew I would regret this! He cursed inwardly as he pointed in front of him.


    "Don''t worry, we''ll survive this. Look, the reward is the map of Labyrinth, that''s definitely very useful. Follow me!"Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Jeemin shouted as he ran forward while pushing a skeleton''s skull away from him. He almost vomitted when he was punched in the gut by a stray strike behind the skeleton he just shoved away.


    Useless vest.


    [Information bank]


    [Undead Skeleton Lvl. 0]


    Weakness: Brittle


    Characteristics: Hatred for living beings.


    Skill: Reform(reform when broken apart)


    Attributes: Slow


    Seeing that they are not considered strong, he kept on running forward


    as he swung his arm around.


    When he saw a purple light coming behind from the skeletons, he raised his alertness.


    But when he passed the skeletons in front of him, as his feet planted outside the narrow passage, he stood rooted on the ground.


    As the rest of the party ran and finally caught up to him, their jaws almost dropped to the floor.


    They didn''t even notice that the skeletons chasing after them went back and disappeared.


    What greeted them was an upside down forest with trees, rooted above, hanging in the ceilings of the cave. If that was it, it wouldn''t make their faces show an utter display of dumbfounded awe.


    The trees were not only huge, broad, and tall, but also glittering with various colours. Most prominent was the combination of light purple and violet.


    Vines that hanged loosely from their upside down bodies were dangling in front of them.


    The wide, unending field below the ceiling stood in contrast to the floor they were standing on. Bleak, moist, and littered with human-sized holes and field that stretch far beyond the human eyes could see.


    "Amazing!"


    Sasaki Seiji said as he touched one of the harmless looking vine dangling in front of him.


    But then...


    "AHH!¡ª"


    The vine suddenly wrap around Sasaki Seiji in a blink of an eye without giving them time to react.


    His body was abruptly pulled up as he shrieked.


    Only after he disappeared did the party finally registered happened.


    "What¡ª"


    The question was cut short as a vine darted towards Claire and wrapped around her in a blink of an eye.


    Jeemin reflexively reach for her hand, but before he could reach her, another shout startled him.


    One by one, the dangling vines started to come alive and darted towards the remaining party.


    Even Dmitri with his knife was helpless.


    Jeemin tried to evade the vines heading towards him, but it was futile as a vine immediately wrap around his body.


    As he was being pulled up, his consciousness started to fade away, he felt somewhat dizzy and intoxicated at the same time.


    Fumes were being excreted from the pores all over the vine wrapped around his body.


    The last thing he saw was a scenery of purple fog engulfing him before his consciousness slipped out of his control.


    *


    He felt that his body was being put up in a sitting position while his distorted perception of the world whirled in his eyes.


    His breathing was getting rougher, his body felt heated, intoxicated, and becoming more and more sensitive as time goes on.


    Liu Jeemin felt something soft, brushing and pressing against his back. It felt strangely comfortable and addicting. Then his body was sending him signals that someone was undressing him.


    Before that someone hugging him from behind could take off his mask, his mind suddenly went slightly clear.


    Although dizzy, he regained a bit of control and manage to take a look behind him.


    What greeted him was a woman''s beautiful face, her naked body with her soft plump chest pressing and rubbing against his back while hugging him further accentuated her pristine beauty.


    Her face was so close to his as he heard her rough and ragged breathing. His mind was hovering between the state of consciousness and unconsciousness as her soft lips was gradually reaching his mask.


    After using her teeth to remove his mask, her lips went closer to his lips. But before she could reach it, he regained control of his consciousness.


    Hearing her rough breathing and seeing her intoxicated eyes, he immediately stop breathing in more fumes and turn his whole body to face her.


    Although I might regret stopping this, later, well, what the hell, this isn''t right. There are just those things you regret even if you know what you did was right.


    He forcibly suppressed his desire to go out of control to take things further. He thought that this is not the time for a situation like this. In a completely foreign place, danger might pounce on them anytime.


    As soon as he was about to stand up, her hands grabbed a hold of him which caused him to lose balance and accidentally gasp a mouthful of air as he fell backward.


    His fragile sense of reasoning was nearing on snapping completely as the fumes further circulated inside him.


    Sitting atop him, she buried her face into his neck and started licking it. Her tongue slowly toured around his neck as his hand desperately search for his mask.


    As their faces got closer and closer to each other, he managed to finally recognized her.


    Li Jing!


    He somehow caught a familiar birthmark under her right ear.


    As she rubbed her body against him, his mind already teetering between intoxication and clarity, was on the verge of losing control of his actions.


    When his hand finally reached his mask, he immediately covered her nose.


    He then lightly pushed her away and went to her clothes.


    After getting her clothes, he quickly covered her up with it and finally managed to sigh in relief.


    Her beautiful, serene face has now fallen unconscious as soon as he finished covering her up.


    Then he carried her on his right shoulder like a sack of grains.


    After surveying his surroundings while feeling light-headed, he saw trunks of trees slowly being revealed in the pink-purple fog around him.


    Hmm, am I in the middle of a forest?


    Then he felt the strange ground he was standing on as he stomped on it. It felt soft, like he was standing on a beach.


    What was worth noting was, although it was soft, he felt it was warm. Like the sand on the dessert.


    Since the fog was mostly obstructing his sight, he couldn''t get a clear view of the soil beneath him.


    So he decided to kneel down and look at the ground closely.


    When his face was almost touching the ground, he felt his back creaking from the improper posture he was maintaining, since he was still carrying Li Jing on his shoulder.


    Not bothering at the dull pain emanating from his back, his mouth went dry. He felt cold sweat trickling on his back.


    Fear and shock almost completely took over him. He shivered as he finally caught sight of the ground he was standing on.


    It was a red sandy-like-soil. Bones beyond recognition are littered everywhere. He wasn''t sure if he was looking at a human''s skull, partially buried in the ground, or if it was an animal remain, since it has horns on its forehead.


    Not only that, but now that he was fully aware what the ground looks like, he felt that he was slowly sinking on the sandy soil he was standing on.


    It feels like the ground was trying to eat me.


    He immediately brushed off the plan on finding the rest of the party as he felt a sense of urgency.


    Forget about worrying about them, I should be worrying for myself.


    If he took his time here, he might end up being buried alive.


    As he walked with a single direction, he heard Li Jing muttering something.


    "I . . no. I can''t take it anymore. I''m a failure. Please forgive me mother and father, I couldn''t take it anymore."


    Is she having a nightmare?


    "I''m sorry . . . it''s better to die, I can''t graduate anyway. . . I''m just a dumb girl."


    He shivered when he heard the word "college."


    He unconsciously rubbed her back to provide some comfort. He did try waking her up, but ultimately failed.


    As he continued on walking, he felt something strange, he felt she was familiar but was sure he didn''t know her.


    Maria? Impossible.


    He shook his head and focused on finding a way out of this place.


    After aimlessly walking around for hours, he noticed tiny green lights resembling like fireflies ahead of him.


    It was like horde of fireflies flying around.


    But when he get closer, he noticed that they were heading in one particular direction.


    He narrowed his eyes as the fog around him scattered away when he reached the denser part of the horde of fireflies.


    Looking closely, they weren''t actually fireflies but just a bunch of tiny yellow-green lights floating around that seems capable of repelling the purple fog around.


    He curiously followed where they were heading, instead of walking aimlessly.


    After walking for nearly an hour, his feet felt like it was finally going to give up.


    That was when he managed to see a silhouette of a rectangular rock, standing vertically, surrounded by tiny yellow-green lights.


    When he took a closer look, the tiny lights seemed to be forming words on the rectangular rock. Suddenly, he heard faint indecipherable murmurings. He paused for a moment, but still decided to went closer.


    As he forced his tired feet to walk closer, he finally saw what was written on it.


    [Tomb of the Lost Expert]


    Is this it? Oh, I can''t hear the random murmurings anymore.


    Liu Jeemin thought as he layed Li Jing down. He examined the surrounding with scrutiny, wondering why the system notice hasn''t appeared yet.


    He frowned while checking the task window.


    [Find the Forgotten Stele]


    It doesn''t look like a stele though.


    After walking closer to it, the tiny orbs of light scattered away and so the words written on it too.


    He caressed its rough texture with his remaining hand. The blank, empty, and bleak, dirty stele stained his hand with charcoal like dirt.


    While kneeling down, he gazed at the stele and fell into thought. I wonder what my grave looks like?


    "Ahh!"


    He suddenly let out a yelp as his hand was pricked by something.


    Before he could pull back, the blood dripping from his hand was suddenly absorbed by the stele.

 Chapter 13 - Mili

    The whole forest shook.


    The tiny yellow-green orbs of light suddenly gathered around the stele as they gradually become red.


    As the shaking of the forest increase in intensity, the stele produced a red pillar of light.


    Jeemin squinted his eyes as the glaring beam of light became brighter and brighter. As the red light reached its peak brightness, it suddenly contracted on top of the stele.


    As he heard a faint chuckle drifting in his ears, he opened his eyes with difficulty.


    "How long has it been? *Yawn* Where''s your other arm? Don''t tell me you got beaten by a low level monster? A-yaa, so weak, in my time I singlehandedly finish the adaptation zone, I even ******¡ª"


    Jeemin was shocked as he found a yammering child sitting on the stele as he staggered back unconsciously. She was wearing a black gown inlaid with strange golden patterns. Her height was just on Jeemin''s waist, and her hair was colour white, as long as her feet.


    Her appearance wasn''t the reason he staggered back, it was her see through body. She was like a transparent being, more like a soul. Her eyes can only be described as terrifying. Just staring at it for a brief moment felt like his soul was getting sucked out of his body.


    Her irises was completely black, not only that, it was constantly rotating like a black hole. Her pupils were gold, while the white around her eyes were so serene and holy.


    She had an immortal flair around her that Jeemin felt like he was an ant before her.


    His throat bobbed up and down as he gulped from nervousness.


    "Tch, the system is not allowing me to speak of my great tale, just as annoying as ever," she pouted as she looked at him, "Why are you staring at me like that? I''m a ghost but a cute beautiful ghost, so it makes me mad seeing you afraid of me."


    "W-who are you?"


    "Isn''t it obvious? Take a look at your system task window."


    He did what she suggested and read, "Eleanor la Mili Montse."


    "Ehh? Stupid system. You see, that''s wrong. This is the correct one, listen carefully," she raised her chin as she spoke, "Exalted Goddess Gravitas Eleanor-e la Mil-i Montse, silent ''e''. Don''t forget, silent ''e.''"


    Jeemin''s face slightly twitched as he found it difficult to pronounce her name correctly. "May I request such Goddess to be called Mili, that sounds cuter anyway," he said as he bowed slightly.


    She frowned for a moment before nodding with a smile.


    As Jeemin calmed himself down, he asked politely, "Are you an immortal?"


    Her head suddenly went down as she spoke with an annoyed tone as she played with her feet, "Yes but... Quasi-Immortal."


    "Anyways, as you can see, me appearing before you could only mean one thing, you''ve finished the hidden task. Aside from the reward you will get from the system, I''m also obliged to offer you a reward," she spoke with a high-pitch voice, "And you''re lucky, you''re the first one in history to ever meet me here."


    "First one? Why?" Jeemin find it unbelievable that he was that lucky.


    "One, the stele that was suppose to wake me up is... broken. It needed energy," she then muttered, "Strange, why does your blood contain energy? You haven''t even started cultivating your mana yet."


    She raised her eyebrow at him, waiting for an answer.


    "I-I don''t know," Jeemin stammered as he felt the pressure coming from her, forcing him to answer.


    He then saw some strange mini-lightning appearing around her body.


    She waved her hands like she was shooing flies as she spoke in annoyed manner, "Fine, fine, what an annoying system. I didn''t even have a killing intent!"


    When the mini-lightning around her subsided she looked at him with an amused expression, "Well, everyone has their own uniqueness. It''s not like you were the first human being who had energy on their blood. It just means you''re suited on cultivating mana."


    "But, yeah, you''re the first one who have been able to activate the stele. The second reason is, you didn''t give in to lust. I was watching. If you did give in, you''d end up being fertilizer to my babies."


    "Babies?" He asked as he thought that it was his mask who really saved him, if it weren''t for it, he might''ve inhaled too much fumes, which would then make him lose his mind.


    "I am an expert of Spirit, Necromancy, and Spatial control. The ground your stepping on, the trees around you, this upside down forest, are my babies, my creation."


    Jeemin pondered as soon as he noticed that she was answering his questions. He was shocked about how powerful she was, being able to create something like the majestic upside down forest.


    "Can I ask more?"


    "Sure go ahead, it''s been a long time since someone woke me up anyways."


    "What''s outside of the adaptation zone?"Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Her black gown swayed as she stood up and walk to and fro seemingly thinking about something.


    "Hmmm. The system won''t allow me to give you information about outside, but I can tell you one thing. You must put up a good performance," she then looked at him with pity, "But I think you already failed that, not good start, losing your arm..."


    She shook her head at him.


    "What''s your level?"


    "Quasi-level 7, and stop asking useless questions. My time is limited."


    "Not level 7? Doesn''t that mean you''re weaker than a true level 7," he asked unconsciously.


    Her face suddenly contorted like her pride was trampled on.


    "You..."


    "Youuuuu...!"


    The forest started to shake violently as her hair rose up and her face reddened.


    "Hey, hey I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to offend you. I just wanted to know the clear difference between the two. Calm down."


    Liu Jeemin panicked as he waved his hand around.


    "I''m a quasi-level 7 Spirit-Necro-Spatial Magician, don''t you dare look down on me! I specialized in three fields. You hear that?! Three fields. Spirit, Necromancy, and Spatial magic!"


    She shouted as she angrily glared at him.


    "Okay, okay, you''re really amazing. But I''m curious, what made you stopped at quasi-level 7?"


    When she heard him calling her "amazing," she


    gradually calmed down as her raised hair fell down.


    "I died," she answered flatly.


    What?!


    Jeemin trembled from shock as he asked, "How¡ª"


    "How am I alive? Actually, that''s not the case, as I said, I''m also a specialist on Necromancy and Spirit. This ''me'' here, is only my will that was assimilated to the system so that I can stay in this form. Basically, I''m a parasite taking advantage of the system''s power."


    Jeemin''s eyes suddenly dimmed, he thought that he finally found a chance and a clue to revive Rheena, but her response crushed it immediately.


    "So fast? Was it because I release too much power earlier?" she muttered as she glared at him, "It''s your fault, I don''t have enough time anymore to chitchat."


    "So, do you want to get stronger?"


    Hearing that she didn''t have time anymore, he gloomily brushed away the questions he planned on asking and nodded at her.


    The grief in his eyes didn''t escape her notice, as she thought for a moment. She immediately made a connection why his eyes earlier was full of life before she told him that she wasn''t really alive.


    So he wants to revive someone. He probably lost his arm because he tried saving someone and ultimately failed.


    She now looked at him in a different light.


    "Listen carefully, there are two rewards you can choose from, the other one is what the system obligated me to give, while the other one is personally from me. "


    Mili showed him a weirdly shaped flat rock, glowing in red in her right hand and a thick triangular red rock on her left hand.


    "This one in my right hand is from the system, it can strengthen your whole body, but the power given from the natural Origin is distributed all over your body," she said as she raised her right hand towards him.


    "While this one, can strengthen only one part of your body but has a potential risk. Because the power is only focused on one part, there''s a high chance of crippling that part of body."


    "They are both level one natural Origin but.."


    She looked at her left hand, "My personal reward for you is a natural Origin that I found outside, not only I have few information about its use, I can''t exactly call it natural Origin. It might be a consumable one."


    She then looked at him with a solemn expression, "Absorbing a consumable Origin in your body would destroy your mind. Never attempt absorbing one. Even a harmless very low grade consumable Origin would kill you."


    Jeemin nodded as he pointed at her left hand.


    "Are you sure?"


    "I''m sure. This one is more useful, I only have one arm. I don''t need to distribute the power given by the Origin, I can''t use my entire body anyway in fighting."


    "But you might die."


    "I killed myself in the first place before I was brought here, who cares?"


    Mili sighed as she said, "Give me your right arm."


    Without any hesitation he placed his right arm on her hands.


    Her nails cut his palm open as he grimaced from pain.


    She then inserted the thick triangular fist sized rock on the open wound.


    As soon as the natural Origin was inserted on his palm, tiny tentacles started to emerged from it.


    When the tentacles pierced the flesh around it, he suddenly rolled on the ground from pain.


    He clenched his fist hoping to ease the pain as he screamed and flailed around like a fish.


    The pain was unimaginable, it was akin to his whole arm exploding from the inside. The tentacles pierced inside the bones of his arm as it connected to his nervous system.


    Mili went closer to him as she held his arm. After she muttered something, he immediately went still. When she examined him, she couldn''t help but widened her eyes.


    "Your magic matrix is all over the place!"


    His seven orifices bled¡ªeyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Even his brain felt burning as he lost control of his right arm.


    "Kukk uhkk!"


    His hand was pulled away from Mili''s grasp as it started choking him.


    Mili tried to stop his own arm from killing him but was repelled by a strange ominous aura. She shrieked after getting hit by the aura emanating from his body.


    She was shocked at the immense pressure his aura was giving. She felt an incredible amount of resentment, anger, rage, greed, and other incomprehensible emotions coming from that aura.


    "No, no, you''re being absorbed instead." She shook her head as she activated a skill.


    Level 6 Class Magician


    Necromancer Heavenly Art: (High) Reverse-Decay


    His right hand gradually became colour red, black veins could be seen squirming up from his palm to his arm. The squirming halted as soon as she activated her skill.


    She furrowed her brows as she felt a strange force repelling her skill, considering Jeemin''s level, this shouldn''t be happening. But the force was negligible as Jeemin''s arm turned brown. After it rotted for several seconds, it returned to its original state.


    "Hey, don''t close your eyes."


    His struggling eyelids lifted up as soon as the pain went away. He dazedly lie down for awhile before propping himself up.


    "That was very painful, I almost died from pain," he said with a terrified expression.


    "No, you would become a mindless puppet of your own natural Origin. A natural Origin usually has its own consciousness, there''s a chance that it will follow its owner''s desires and take over a part of your body at beginning of merging."


    "Then, if you''re able to survive and retain your mind after this, your consciousness will replace the natural Origin''s consciousness."


    Jeemin chuckled mockingly, "Desire? It''s because my desire to die was heard by the natural Origin that I ended up almost killing myself? I''m very sorry that I made a mess of myself." He lowered his head in shame.


    He then asked, "Have I fully merged with it?"


    "No, since I stopped the process, you''ve only merged partly with it. You still need to gradually replace its consciousness."


    "How?"


    "Nothing. Just let time pass, avoid overusing it, and don''t be consumed by it."


    Jeemin went silent for a moment as he repeated what Mili said in his mind.


    "I''ve used too much of my life force, I need to go now. Your entire party would be transferred outside the cave, don''t worry."


    Life force? She used her life force to save me?


    "Also, natural Origin needs to eat too, you''re lucky, your natural Origin seems to fed on your blood and muscles. And you can only absorb one natural Origin at your level, don''t be greedy."


    She spoke rapidly with a thoughtful expression, seeming that she was having fun talking.


    Jeemin lifted his head up as he spoke, "Mili, can I hug you?" He guessed that she would be going to sleep again for a long time, alone.


    He felt saddened at her situation.


    Mili, who was thinking what else should she remind him, was stunned at his request.


    "What?"


    Without waiting for an answer, he walked forward, knelt down, and hugged her.


    She stood rooted on the ground, her expression changing from time to time. From shock, stunned, confused, then gradually turned into a saddened expression.


    He wasn''t expecting to be able to hug a soul, but when he hugged her, he felt warmth, not only that, he suddenly remembered Rheena.


    His hugged tightened as he closed his eyes and patted her back, muttering, "It''s okay, I''m here, it''s okay, don''t be sad... I''ll always remember you." He didn''t even notice the tears flowing from his eyes.


    His words might not have been for Mili, but Mili moved her hand as she ruffled Jeemin''s hair.


    She smiled, her smile was like a wilted flower, blooming again after thousand of years of being alone.


    "Go," were her last word.


    Their meeting might have been short, but Jeemin was sure that he wouldn''t be able to forget her.


    Jeemin''s outstretched hand reach nothing as she gradually disappear, being pulled back by the stele.


    "I will free you! I promise, I''m very thankful for everything you gave me," he bowed in gratitude as he added, "So please wait for me. I will revive you both!"


    He lifted his head up as he saw the most beautiful and warm smile in the world.


    Her moist eyes was the proof that his words, reached her.


    Like a Goddess she appeared, like a Goddess she disappeared, as a bright light warmly engulfed them.

 Chapter 14 - Escape

    "What happened?"


    A white haired middle-aged man asked as he glanced at the back.


    There was a huge panel divided into several panels in front of them showing different view of people as four people stood inside a dark room. On the panel, some were being killed, some were being eaten, and one of the panel turned black.


    "The six of them must have taken that passage, the death zone," said a man while waving a fan in his hand.


    "Each generation seems to become even more trashier. Just in the hall almost half of them died," an old man said as he scratched his disheveled hair.


    "Can''t help it, the previous generation came from a war stricken era, else that guy wouldn''t be able to singlehandedly finish the adaptation zone like a walk in park, don''t compare them," replied a woman wearing a windbreaker, while her bluish hair was ponytailed up with a katana.


    The white haired man said, "Old man, I don''t think they''re really that weak, it''s just that... Why Li Na? Of all the guide available."


    With a cough the old man replied, "According to what the old monsters agreed upon, it''s their turn."


    "She''s being petty," the man holding a fan scoffed.


    "She''s always been like that, look what happened to your friend''s sect. Destroyed overnight, want me to tell her what you just called her?" The woman with a katana on her hair said with a chuckle.


    The white haired man widened his eyes and asked, "Ling Tian, you said they went there, how are they alive?"


    The previously black screen was now showing six figures that were thrown outside a cave.


    "Impossible! I remembered a group of thirty people going there, but they never came back alive. Even one high level cultivator wasn''t able to come back when he checked that place," he almost dropped his fan from shock as he replied.


    Their eyes darted on the panel that were previously black showing a one-armed man holding a blunt sword, swinging it around like a normal sword.


    The white haired man glanced at the old man and asked, "Old man Zai Zen, he''s that guy earlier who didn''t even attempt to touch that sword right?"


    "Did he receive something from there?" Ling Tian turned his head towards Zai Zen as he waved his fan.


    "According to the legend, there''s a legendary immortal who died and was buried there. She was one of the most gifted nonnative cultivator in the earlier Era," the woman with the katana on her hair spoke, seeming to recall something.


    "Nameless is only half-correct, I believe she hasn''t reached immortal level yet, according to some rumors, she was ambushed by her trusted allies when she was attempting a breakthrough. But that''s not the topic here," Zai Zen coughed as he continued, "These six people survived that place."


    "Too bad we can''t asked them about that, their memories would have been wiped out after they left that place, every hidden zone has that rule. The question is, what reward they received from her. It must be a relatively good low inheritance," the white haired man clicked his tongue as he spoke.


    "Too bad they''ll get surrounded if they still plan on sleeping," Ling Tian yawned as he spoke.


    "The only promising one here is that guy," Zai Zen pointed at a panel showing a man with a tiger''s coat draped on his back.


    "One of the Old Monster is probably supporting him. I guess it''s the Emperor." Ling Tian said as he fanned lightly.


    "No, it''s must be one of the bishop. They saw him saving that poor soul," Nameless said as she pointed at man wearing a priest robe.


    "How about the other zones?" Ling Tian asked as he glanced at the white haired man.


    "This is depressing, the zone handled by the Guild is already done. Even the three adaptation zone near the border is halfway done," the white haired man cursed as he added, "Bunch of trash. Look, they''re even fighting over meager food. The patriarch would surely vomit blood if he knew this."


    The other three of them shivered when they heard him mentioned "patriarch."


    *


    Meanwhile Jeemin was running while giving orders with the map in his hand. The darkness engulfing the forest was heavy and dense. The rustling sounds of leaves and hurried footsteps echoed around the forest as six people were running in a formation.


    "Claire, to your left. Li Jing, stay at the center. Dmitri, avoid going too far. Seiji, keep your eyes open at the right. Jin Hyoon throw the light Origin to distract them."


    The people around them were throwing rocks at them while some people tried to tackle them as they ran.


    Jeemin remembered being transported atop the hill after receiving the map in his hand, no matter how hard he tried to recall what happened after they were chased by undead skeletons, his memories become foggy.


    He inquired about it with the party but found out they were in the same state as him, they only remember being chased by skeletons, after that, nothing.


    The only things he can recall were the task window, his conversation with Mili, and fragmented memories of him seeing Li Jing naked, her birthmark, and carrying her.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Information about what he did, specifically, how he completed the task, was erased from his mind. The location, scenery, and geography of the place was absent from his memories.


    After unfolding the map in his hand atop the hill, he plotted the course they were now following.


    When they went down before dawn, at the forest, they were ambushed by bunch of hungry people. At first they tried to plead for food, but then as they got closer, they suddenly rushed at them, almost completely catching them off guard.


    If not for Jeemin''s wariness, they might have been surrounded much earlier.


    His hand reached for Claire while running in front, "Hand me the sword."


    His eyes shone with confidence as he said that.


    "Here," Claire threw him the pouch without hesitation.


    He rummaged through the pouch and felt the hilt of the sword. As he pulled it out, his speed went down a notch.


    He activated the natural Origin in his palm as he swung the sword bluntly towards the three people coming at him.


    He felt that the natural Origin on his palm was part of his body. It was able to increase the strength of his entire arm, enabling him to wield the blunt sword.


    Their eyes widened in shock as the three of them were carried away by the blunt sword. Jeemin wasn''t disappointed by the result, since he didn''t expect them to be cut in half, considering the sword was just too thick. He was just using it like how a burly man would swing a log around.


    He put the sword back inside the pouch and checked the map.


    "We''re getting close," he shouted while evading a huge rock flying towards his face.


    What surprised him was, these people moved in an organized manner. They were not simply just behaving like a mob trying to steal their food.


    It was as if, someone was directing them. Not only that, they obviously knew they had spare foods. He was racking his brain for answers how they knew.


    He guessed that maybe, when they were eating late last night, when they cooked the potato using fire, they must have discovered their location.


    Maybe they guessed that they still have food to spare for them, even though in truth, they were already running out of food.


    They spent an entire day inside the cave, when they were transported atop the hill, it was already the second night.


    Luckily, after they ate and went to sleep, Jeemin decided to woke them up early. He had a guess; since hounds weren''t making a move on them in the middle of the night, they are only active when the sun is around.


    If they haven''t departed that early, they would have been surrounded by the people chasing them now.


    As the light Origin that Jin Hyoon threw exploded, the people chasing after them scattered away from the blinding light.


    They kept running like that for hours until dawn finally arrived.


    He sensed an ominous foreboding as the surroundings suddenly grew quiet.


    An arrow flew towards him as his instinct took over and pulled his rectangular sword from the pouch and narrowly block it.


    "Who?!" He shouted while he cautiously scanned the surroundings.


    "Who would''ve thought someone could block my arrow."


    A handsome man jumped from the tree as his red hoodie fluttered. He nibbled a blade of grass on his mouth while he observed them.


    He coldly smiled at them as he beckoned several people behind him to block their way.


    "Hmmm. If you could hand me over those girls over there, and your foods, I''d probably let you live," his eyes glinted with greed as he looked at the women behind Jeemin with lecherous look.


    He could feel a dangerous vibe from the guy in front of him, a 6 footer with a well built physique apparent from his thick neck, his hand gripping the bow showed callouses that hinted an experienced depth, further made Jeemin raise his alertness.


    Jeemin walked forward and said, "Fine, they''re yours."


    Jin Hyoon raised her eyebrows when he heard Jeemin''s words.


    He counted his steps while pretending to walk forward casually like he didn''t care.


    "Nice, I''m Dae Kyung-Sam, are you interested in becoming one of my bodyguards? Your sword looks interesting by the way."


    Even though he was planning on launching a surprise attack, Jeemin couldn''t help but feel Dae Kyung-Sam''s wariness.


    Without hesitation, as soon as he got closer to him, he quickly swung his sword. He was almost dragged forward by the weight of the blunt sword when he hit nothing but air.


    Dae Kyung-Sam sneered as he dodged the sword coming towards him.


    When Jeemin failed, he swung his blunt sword from left to right, and right to left, again and again as he started running forward.


    He could feel his whole arm screaming in pain as it creaked from the excessive force he was exerting.


    Dae Kyung-Sam jumped backward as Jeemin continued on charging forward.


    Jeemin shouted behind him, "What are you doing? Charge forward."


    The party behind him immediately reacted.


    Claire Williams crushed a man''s jaw with her red gauntlet, while Dmitri stabbed people who went near him.


    "Hmm, what''s with these people having weapons? Don''t tell me an S mark is giving weapons away?" Dae Kyung-Sam said as he cursed and pulled out a sword from his pouch as he threw his bow behind him, "Use this and distract him."


    As the man behind Dae Kyung-Sam nocked an arrow on the bow aimed at Jin Hyoon, Jeemin threw himself in front of Jin Hyoon.


    An arrow flew at a breakneck speed as it lodged on Jeemin''s left shoulder. He grimaced from pain while Jin Hyoon widened her eyes from surprise.


    "What¡ª"


    "Forget it, just continue running forward."


    When he glanced at the arrow lodged on his left shoulder he caught a glimpse of the people at the rear chasing them.


    His eyes narrowed to a slit as he saw some of them biting their own allies.


    They are at the point of cannibalising?


    He muttered to Jin Hyoon at his back, "We''re already near the exit. Beyond that blockade is the entrance towards the next zone. It seems like they also had information about it."


    Why are they still staying around here? For us? That can''t be, that''s only possible if they knew beforehand that we''ll appear atop the hill. There must be something they knew that made them stay here.


    .. Jeemin wondered momentarily.


    Dae Kyung-Sam didn''t miss the chance after the arrow distracted Jeemin, he hid behind a tree then jumped towards him.


    Jeemin felt danger as soon as he turned his head right, a sword was already darting towards his neck.


    He dropped his sword quickly and ducked to avoid the sword, then he activated his natural Origin to punch Dae Kyung-Sam in the guts.


    He groaned in pain as he felt like his fist''s bones was cracking apart. It was akin to punching a solid steel. He suddenly recalled that Claire Williams said she received a golden vest underneath her clothes.


    What made it worse was the force he exerted was beyond what his arm can endure. He felt like his right arm dislodged from its joint as the impact from the punch bounced back.


    Dae Kyung-Sam widened his eyes as he felt the force of the punch in his guts. Although it was weaken to a degree, he still felt something hot gushing out from his throat.


    He endured the pain, swallowed the blood, staggered back, and swung his sword down, as it barely reached Jeemin''s right shoulder.


    Anger immediately flashed within Jeemin''s eyes, "I''m not gonna lose one of my arm again."


    He grabbed a handful of dirt on the ground and threw it towards Dae Kyung-Sam as Jin Hyoon kicked him at his side.


    Dae Kyung-Sam lost his balance as he struggled to open his eyes after the dirt obstructed his view.


    Jeemin thought of finishing him, but then recalled the one who shot the arrow was probably aiming at them again.


    He grabbed his blunt sword, and taking this chance, ordered Jin Hyoon to shatter all the light Origin they have.


    As soon as Jin Hyoon was about to shatter all the light Origin, Jeemin ordered the group to gather behind him, "Don''t worry, just keep running forward behind me, and close your eyes."


    His eyes memorized the path where the trees weren''t blocking them in front, fortunately, the trees were scattered around so running forward wouldn''t be a problem.


    Light flashed blindingly as he ran forward while activating his natural Origin as he swung his blunt sword in front of him again and again.


    From time to time, he felt his sword hitting something soft but heavy, which caused his arm to burn with pain from overexertion.


    At this rate, I won''t be able to use my arm anymore.


    But he didn''t stop swinging while hoping that he won''t accidentally hit a tree.


    The tree won''t get damaged, but his arm would definitely suffer. The increased force and the weight of the blunt sword hitting a tree would definitely cripple him.


    It would be fortunate if it''s only his wrist, but how would he face the next stages after this without being able to use his hand?


    Only when his body crashed into, what felt like a tree, did he stopped.


    When he opened his eyes again, he was stunned as the sun was already high up in the sky.


    Wasn''t it supposed to be morning?


    As soon as he realized he was already on the next stage, a system notice appeared before him.


    [Congratulations for completing the first task]


    [First Cleared Bonus Reward has already been taken by Cipriani Markez''s group]


    [Leader position was detected by the system, privilege authority has been given to you]


    [Would you like for your members to receive the rewards?]

 Chapter 15 - Three Terrains Survival

    [You''ve received 1000 credits, leather armour x1, knife x1, combat shoes x1, Universal points +1]


    Jeemin excluded the other names that appeared in the system window from receiving the rewards.


    Luckily I was assigned as the leader, so the people who accidentally went in with us won''t receive any rewards.


    "Where.. where am I?"


    "What the hell is this place?"


    "Isn''t this what Dae Kyung-Sam called the next stage?"


    There were seven people talking behind Jeemin''s party.


    Jeemin coldly turned back as he dragged the blunt sword behind him and approached them. A trail of line followed the blunt sword as he walked with a threatening glare.


    "Explain to me why some of you started eating each other. Speak, otherwise," he gazed at each of them as he went closer.


    No matter how he thought of it, it was strange that some of them resorted to cannibalism.


    "Turn back!"


    "Let''s go!"


    Two of them immediately turned away and ran as the rest followed.


    Bang. Bang.


    A sound akin to a person running into a door made of glass resounded as the two previously running guys fell into their butts.


    Jeemin was momentarily stunned before chuckling menacingly. He went closer to them as he swung the rectangular sword aimed on one of the man''s gut distracted by the sound. As the edge of the blunt sword hit the man''s gut, he exerted a downward force.


    The man fell on the ground as his eyes widened in shock.


    Jeemin looked at the man coldly, as the man held his stomach from pain.


    He raised the thick rectangular sword and rested it on his shoulder, "Are you injured? Do you want help?"


    "This will be easier if you just answer me. You see I''m really, really, really pissed." Jeemin aimed the blunt rectangular sword on the guy''s head as he spoke coldly, "In ten seconds, if no one answered my question, we''ll witness how to crack a watermelon."


    "10,9,8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, ¡ª" as he was about to swing down the rectangular sword, the man on the ground suddenly shouted.


    "No, please! They ate the hound''s meat. Dae Kyung-Sam told us not to tell anyone about this."


    "So that''s the case," Jeemin thought for moment and inquired, "How did you find us?"


    "We spotted a bonfire. Dae Kyung-Sam''s original plan was to wait at the entrance leading to the next zone." One of the guy who crashed on the invisible wall replied.


    "What plan?" Jin Hyoon asked as she emerged behind Jeemin.


    Seeing them hesitate, Jeemin lifted the sword again as one of them immediately spoke, "To steal foods! Dae Kyung-Sam said that the next stage will take longer and we need to have stocks of food to survive."


    "Where did he get that kind of information?" Jeemin asked as he frowned.


    "From killing a werewolf at the hall."


    Seiji curiously walked beside Jeemin while clicking his tongue as he glanced at the sword Jeemin was holding and asked, "Werewolf?"


    "Wait, you don''t now? Are you the first set of people who left the hall?" A guy wearing a yellow t-shirt asked with a suprised expression.


    "We''re the one asking, not you," Jeemin coldly snorted. Inwardly he was feeling impressed of himself by acting like this.


    He thought that the more he acted like this the more dependable he looks.


    "If you''re the first set who left the hall, then you probably didn''t witness when the hell descended on that place. People were being torn apart by these monsters like piece of papers," the man explained with a terrified expression.


    Jin Hyoon and Claire Williams glanced at each other with a relieved expression, while Dmitri, beside Li Jing who was twiddling with her fingers, was looking at something else, completely ignoring the interrogation happening.


    "After that, when we left the hall, we suddenly felt hungrier as time goes by. We tried looking for food the entire day, but to no avail."


    The guy who was lying on the ground said, "That was when we discovered Dae Kyung-Sam shouting that he''ll offer us food if we help him. He was being beaten by several men when we saw him that time, looking like they were trying to steal his pouch."


    "After we helped him, some of us ate the meat from the hounds we killed as Dae Kyung-Sam ran out of food to feed us. He said that the food he received from the hall ran out. And that was when a terrifying night ensued," he continued as he slowly crawled away from Jeemin, "People who ate the hound''s meat started going mad and tried to eat us. And the people who got bitten also went mad."Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    The man who bumped on the invisible wall said with a pleading tone, "You see, man, we''re having a hard time too. We''re just doing it to survive. We saw food, we got greedy."


    Claire spoke with an indifferent tone, "But you already harmed us."


    "Yeah, I almost died." Jin Hyoon added.


    Jeemin coughed as he coldly said, "I''ll let you go if you give me all of your pouches, I don''t care if it''s empty."


    The seven of them immediately rummaged through their pockets and handed it to Jeemin as he put back the rectangular sword on Claire''s pouch and handed it back.


    He then opened his pouch and put the pouches they handed to him inside it.


    "If I notice anyone of you following us. I won''t hesitate to kill," Jeemin coldly spoke as he turned around.


    Looking at the surroundings before him, he discovered the thick tree he bumped into. Luckily, he didn''t hit it with his blunt sword, or else he might''ve cripple his remaining arm.


    His arm was throbbing in pain like it was suffering from severe delayed onset muscle soreness ¡ª the soreness one get after the next day of an intense work out.


    He couldn''t help but lament the lost of his left arm. The reason why he didn''t beat the people who accidentally followed them, was because he didn''t want to overexert his arm anymore.


    Ordering his party to kill them isn''t an option either, who knows how will they react if he suddenly ordered a slaughter.


    Plus, every time he activate the natural Origin on his palm, his head would throb in pain, and several indistinct murmurings would reverberate in his head. Not only that, he couldn''t help but feel nervous as he noticed his right arm was getting paler.


    I remembered Mili saying it was feeding on my blood. Now I know why I felt a little light-headed.


    Dmitri suddenly coldly spoke, "Captain, should we walk around the mountain?"


    Jeemin was startled for moment before walking past him.


    As he was about to nod his head...


    --


    [Three Terrains Survival]


    Information: None


    Task: Survive and pass each terrain.


    Time limit: 6 hours every terrain.


    Failure: Death


    Rewards: Universal Points +1.


    First Constraint: Test of Mark


    Second Constraint: ?


    Third Constraint: ?


    --


    The world turned black and rumbled. A dense and heavy pressure suddenly shrouded the tall mountain in front of them.


    Jeemin and the rest stood on the shaking ground with difficulty.


    Two thick walls made of black marble quickly emerged from left and right, completely blocking the path that allowed them to walk around the mountain.


    As Jeemin checked the conditions of the party behind him, he saw the third thick wall that was about to emerge behind them.


    He immediately ran instinctively as he pulled Claire and Hyoon towards him, then unsteadily ran towards Seiji as he pulled him away from the emerging thick walls


    .


    The seven people who was loitering around the invisible wall screamed in horror as the thick wall made from black marble carried them up.


    One of them was courageous enough to immediately ran and jumped away from the top of the wall as it rose up quickly.


    But his courageous spirit could only be described as stupidity as his body went mushed on the ground as he fell from the top of the wall, completely miscalculating the speed of the wall''s ascent.


    Seiji closed his eyes, Claire averted her gaze, Hyoon puke on the ground, Li Jing was unaffected, and Jeemin gulped from the gruesome state the guy turned into. While Dmitri, as usual, didn''t care about what happened as he maintained his balance from the shaking ground.


    When the earthquake subsided until it disappeared, the six people atop the wall immediately took a peek below.


    One of the men''s knees who took a peek below, buckled from fear as he only saw small dots on the ground. Even the ground was hardly visible.


    They are so far above the ground that Jeemin and his party''s figure was akin to ants.


    Jeemin lifted his head up, turning away from the cracked watermelon, grey matter and scattered thick pink noodles, in front of him, to look up.


    He was dumbstruck when he couldn''t see the end of the wall.


    Unclimbable wall.


    For a moment he doubted his eyes, he assumed it was just because it suddenly went dark. But even when he narrowed his eyes, he still couldn''t see the end of it.


    He muttered gloomily as he turned around, "Walk around huh."


    In front of him was a tall mountain shrouded in a mysterious dense aura, looking left and right, there was an unclimable wall made from black marbles blocking it aside from the trees around them.


    He checked the state of the group and found out that no one was injured, but still asked out of concern, "Is everyone''s okay?"


    Hyoon turned her head towards him as Claire finished rubbing her back.


    As she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, she pointed at his left shoulder and said, "We should be the one asking that. Thank you for saving us."


    She bit her lips as she looked at the arrow still lodged on his left shoulder.


    "Nah, it''s fine, I''m the one who brought all of you to danger, we could have stayed safe at the cave one more day, so this is the least I can do," he couldn''t help but bashfully reply as he let out a hard cough as soon as he noticed his uncharacteristic reply.


    Inwardly he was still guilty at the mess he caused at the cave, even though he can''t remember most of it, he recalled making shameless excuses as he chose a dangerous passage.


    They didn''t even get any treasure, I''m the only one who benefited from that trip!


    "When will you remove the arrow?" Jin Hyoon asked worriedly.


    "If I had a special bandage, I would," Jeemin scratched his head as he replied.


    No, I do wish they won''t give me one, so that I can have an excuse to not remove it!


    Feeling the burning pain every time he move his left shoulder, he couldn''t help but imagine how painful it would be by removing it.


    "Here, I have mine here," Jin Hyoon pulled a special bandage from her pouch.


    "Captain, you can take mine, I have extra. Since you only had one, you should save it Jin Hyoon," Claire went to him and directly put the special bandage on his hand, causing him to be unable to reject it.


    "But¡ª"


    Before Jin Hyoon could say she should be the one responsible for Jeemin''s wound, Claire immediately spoke, "I still have extra special bandages, and we all are responsible for Captain getting injured. If it wasn''t for us dragging him down, by trying to convince the people not to attack us by giving them food, we might have escaped much earlier."


    "That''s right Captain, I never thought they would attack us, if it weren''t for your early warnings, I could have been killed," Seiji interjected, finding a chance to atone for his mistake when he said to leave Jeemin behind when they were being pursued by hounds after they left the hall.


    But the recipient of their words payed no attention as Jeemin muttered all the names of gods he knew. While he hesitated to whether to pull the arrow or not.


    As he abruptly pulled the arrow while gritting his teeth, he grunted from pain. Not only the pain worsen, the arrow didn''t even budge!


    Was it stuck at the joints? He asked himself in doubt.


    Then, he immediately thanked the heavens when he recalled he didn''t have a joint connecting his left arm from his shoulder anymore.


    Maybe it was stuck between the clavicle and shoulder blade?


    Upon noticing that he was having a hard time removing the arrow, Li Jing shyly asked him, "Could I?"


    He nodded with difficulty. But still whispered, "Can''t we just let the arrow stay there? I mean, it''s not like I''m losing blood or anything right?"


    Li Jing furrowed her brows and replied, "I know you don''t want to waste time, but your wound would get infected if you let the arrow stay inside, especially when we have a special bandage to take care of the wound."


    He sighed and said with firm voice, "Pull it."


    Luckily, it''s wasn''t a broadhead arrow. The only reason he wasn''t able to pull the arrow was because he was afraid of the pain.


    He quickly slapped the special bandage on the wound as soon as the arrow was removed. He almost cried from pain as his eyes became moist.


    When the pain subsided, he recalled the Universal Points he received from the reward.


    "I advice you to not spend your Universal Points yet until we have sufficient information on how to spend it efficiently."


    He bent down as soon as he was finished talking. He removed his shoes, put it inside his pouch, took out the new combat shoes, and wore it.


    Looking at the tall mountain in front of him, he felt a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu.


    In front of them was six paths divided by thick trees. Almost all of them were identical except the third one.


    Looking at the third path, Jeemin could feel his skin crawl as chill went down his spine. It was the typical path on a horror film. The thick dangling vines from the tree, which Jeemin find strangely scary, and the brambles on the ground made it obvious to not choose that path.


    So he picked the fifth one, the only path that gave him a sense of weird familiarity.


    "We only have six hours to pass through this mountain, so let''s start climbing."


    "Hiking." Jin Hyoon softly spoke from behind.


    "Pardon?"


    Jin Hyoon walked past him as she said, "Nothing, let''s go."

 Chapter 16 - Test of Mark

    The moment Jin Hyoon walked past him, she suddenly let out a yelp.


    "What happened?" Claire asked worriedly.


    "It feels like something is pushing me to the ground," Jin Hyoon replied and added, "But it''s manageable, it''s just like carrying a bag of foods."


    Jeemin stopped just before his foot was about to step on the ground leading up as Dmitri and Seiji simultaneously went up.


    "It''s much heavier than a bag full of foods, but I can endure it." Dmitri described coldly.


    Seiji frowned and said, "It does feel heavy, but I can ignore it."


    Then Li Jing and Claire followed. Li Jing didn''t say anything but sweat dripped from her forehead as she climbed up.


    "Strange, I don''t feel anything at all. In fact, I feel lighter," Claire creased her brows and looked behind her.


    Jeemin immediately had a guess when he recalled the constraint written on the task window.


    [Test of Mark]


    "It must be because you''re an S mark. I think this mountain test one''s mark. Anything below S mark suffers from a constraint," Jeemin explained in a solemn voice.


    Claire nodded and asked, "Why are you still staying there?"


    Jeemin fake a cough as he replied, "I''m just catching my breath. Go on, I''ll just catch up."


    As soon as the party were nowhere to be found, Jeemin willed the status window to appear.


    [Status Window]


    Name: Liu Jeemin


    Titles: None


    General information


    Current state: Normal.


    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


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    He fixed his eyes on the ''Mark'' as he thought for a moment.


    He then lifted his index finger and pointed at the status window before him, specifically at the ''Mark''.


    When nothing happened, he pressed the ''Mark'' on the status window screen floating in front of him.


    [Bonus experience +0%, Bonus Universal Point per allocation +0, Chances of forming a core, aperture,(information unavailable), +0%, Mana Absorption +0%, Breakthrough bonus +0%, Information unavailable (Please increase your level).....]


    "..."


    He closed the status window dejectedly as soon as he finished reading just how much benefit he wasn''t given. He don''t even want to imagine what would an S rank has.


    Even if he did not understand some of what was shown to him, he could estimate just how much he lost.


    Could it be because I committed suicide? What decides one''s mark anyways?


    Looking at the path in front of him, he couldn''t help but feel nervous.


    He jumped, stretched his neck, and shook his legs. He even lied down to do some curl ups as a warm up.


    Meanwhile, the people observing a panel, glued their eyes on the screen with anticipation, specifically on a one-armed man doing a curl up on the ground.


    "What hell is he doing?" The white haired man asked as he watched with a confused expression.


    "Dylan, just watch. I''m sure he''s the one responsible for completing the hidden task, I''ll be the one who''ll guide this kid after he passed the adaptation zone," Old man Zai Zen said as he brushed his thick white beard with his hand.


    "I thought you said you''d take that one," Dylan pointed at a man with tiger''s coat draped on his back trekking the dessert leisurely.


    "I changed my mind. That guy seems to behave like mafia boss, he''s more interested in collecting people than doing things by himself," Zai Zen scoffed as he added, "I mean look at him, why does it look like he was forming an army behind him. If he didn''t waste the credits he had to feed them, I wouldn''t have any gripe with him."


    "Look he is¡ª"


    When the girl who had a katana on her ponytailed blue hair was about to speak, her jaw suddenly dropped.


    Jeemin who finally entered the path after stretching for several minutes immediately fell face flat.


    His face was buried on the dirt as he let out a grunt.


    An incredible pressure suddenly descended on him the moment he walked forward.


    His body twitched several times as he made an abject expression, his eyelids drooped down, almost covering his eyes.


    When he tried lifting his head, it only resulted in his head being slammed on the ground.


    Seeing this, Dylan couldn''t help but ask in confusion, "Has this ever happen before?"


    "..." Zai Zen neither reply nor made an expression as he averted his gaze from the panel.


    Ling Tian covered his face with his fan as he supressed his laughter.


    But Nameless, the girl with a blue hair wearing a windbreaker, creased her eyebrows.


    "Even if you had the lowest mark, you''d still be able to climb up the mountain. I remember a mark F being able to reach the top of the mountain in five hours and fifty-six minutes," she spoke as she recalled, "Even then, that mark F was able to reach the top without falling face flat on the floor."


    "This is just unprecedented."


    Meanwhile, Jeemin tried to prop himself up several times, but ultimately failed.


    Thoughts whirled in his mind as he tried to think of ways how to reach the top of the mountain in his current state.


    Then a sudden thought struck him. He activated his natural Origin to force himself up.


    But as soon as the natural Origin shone in black, numerous small teeth appeared at the center of his palm.


    The pressure pushing him down gradually disappeared. He then smiled in joy underneath his black face mask as he stood up.


    I don''t know what happened, but one of the gods I called must have heard my prayers.


    The people watching on the panel had quizzical expressions on their faces as Jeemin started running up the mountain like nothing happened.


    *


    "What''s taking him too long?" Claire asked as she looked below from the top of the mountain.


    "Perhaps he''s taking care of something." Jin Hyoon said while she peeled a banana on her hand.


    "Are you sure that''s not poisonous¡ª"


    When Claire was about to ask, Hyoon already swallowed a piece of the banana she just took a bit off.


    After she took another bite she replied, "Guess not, wait¡ª"


    Suddenly, Jin Hyoon''s face contorted as her body trembled, and the hand holding the banana shook. Her irises went up as white took over her entire eyes.


    "Hyoon!" Claire shouted as Li Jing climbing up the mountain immediately ran towards Jin Hyoon.


    Even Seiji, who was constantly cursing as he climbed up was alarmed as he quickened his pace and reached the top.


    While Dmitri uncharacteristically smiled when he saw Jin Hyoon suddenly burst in laughter.


    "Geez, you guys are too tense. It''s dreary as it is on the mountain, a little laughter could brightened up the day... Or night. Whatever," Jin Hyoon waved her arms as she passed the remaining bananas to the rest of the party.


    Claire was about to scold her but swallowed her words when Hyoon put a banana on her hand.


    "The last one is for Azrail," Hyoon waved the last banana as she announced.


    "Where did you get this?" Seiji asked as he quickly munched the banana Hyoon just gave.


    "There," Hyoon pointed at a normal looking tree.


    "That isn''t even a banana tree," Seiji frowned when he turned his head towards where Hyoon was pointing.


    "Yeah, I thought so too. Everything''s weird here, so it being weird is actually normal, don''t you think?" Jin Hyoon casually shrugged as she spoke.


    "Like Captain''s name?" Seiji muttered out of nowhere.


    Claire and Jin Hyoon immediately bursted out in laughter, even Li Jing almost choked on the banana she just bit.


    "I mean, how is it possible to be named Azrail in this Era, it just sounds... wrong," Seiji said as he added, "But it is normal if we were in game like world."


    As the rest of them quieted down, Dmitri suddenly asked in a serious tone, "What''s that?"


    When they went closer to Dmitri, they took a look at where Dmitri was pointing.


    The other paths became visible as soon as they went further on top of the mountain.


    What they saw made them shiver in fear.


    On the right side was a path full of dangling weapons, there were even hounds and humanoid wolves loitering around the path.


    Luckily, there was an invisible wall separating them at the end of each path, making it impossible for any creatures to cross over to their location.


    On the left side was even more scary. Although the mountain was dark, the right side was even darker to the point that it was even impossible to see where you''re stepping on.


    "Desert," Seiji suddenly spoke as he pointed in front of him while walking forward.


    He then soon stopped as he was about to reach the sandy part of the top of the mountain leading towards the desert.


    "How is it even possible?" Jin Hyoon asked as she turned her head back and forth between the desert in front and the mountain she was stepping on.


    The top of the mountain could only be described as a part of the desert, and the path they just climbed on could be considered as also a part of it.


    But when Jin Hyoon look further right, she soon noticed that there was nothing there.


    Seiji suddenly spoke, "Ahh I see, it''s like the division between stages in a game. Every zone is an incomplete terrain and if you could get a bird''s eye view, the whole place is just like floating in space."


    "It''s like the whole place is just ... Floating in space?" She asked doubtfully.


    "Captain is here." Claire immediately spoke when she saw Jeemin''s figure emerging behind them.


    Well, that was relatively easy. Jeemin rubbed his nose when he fell in thought. But the dark surroundings made my skin crawl all the time, I should have just went with them. I almost fell and rolled on the ground when the trees suddenly rustled, I could have died of heart attack.


    "There''s still, hmm, surprisingly four hours left. We should rest for awhile," he spoke as he observed them observing something.


    He then went further up to take a curious look to what they were looking at.


    He was immediately stunned when he saw the desert in front of him. His eyes glanced at the sky as he suddenly had an idea.


    Hyoon walked towards him as she handed him a banana. "It''s safe, I picked it out from that tree. And yeah, it doesn''t look like a banana tree."


    Jeemin had a weird expression when he looked at the tree she was pointing at, but what''s weirder to him is their eyes was obviously avoiding him.


    He suddenly felt anxious about what they are thinking.


    Is it because I went last? Do I not look dependable anymore? Oh no, have they forsaken me?


    It was true that he gathered them for his own use, but he still haven''t broken from the shackles of trying to think what they think of him.


    He anxiously asked, "What''s wrong?"


    Seiji immediately bursted out in laughter as Claire and Jin Hyoon guiltily averted their eyes away from Jeemin.


    Claire coughed as she spoke, "We''re just thankful because you picked the right path captain. The other paths are littered with traps."


    But why is Seiji laughing? He asked inwardly as he nodded and spoke seriously.


    "We should cross the desert as early as possible, while the sun is still nowhere to be found," he then walked past Seiji as he added, "Who knows, maybe consuming the time left would make the night into a day, like how a day awhile ago, turned into night."


    "And I don''t think it''s a good idea crossing the desert when the sun is around," he said as he added, "We would perspire a lot causing us to lose water reserves quickly. So it''s better if we start crossing now."


    When his feet went over the line separating the desert and the top of the mountain, his heart pounded in anticipation.


    I hope I''m not making a mistake here. He thought as he kept the banana in his pouch and stared fixedly at the night sky, as the cold wind blew, making his long black hair flutter with the wind.

 Chapter 17 - Night of Devouring

    When the sun didn''t rise up in the sky as Jeemin had hoped, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    I need to get stronger as fast as I can, in order to do that, I need to finish this damn adaptation zone soon.


    ''Forming a core and aperture huh.'' He recalled what the status window showed him earlier.


    Thinking of being able to cultivate and achieve a power to turn heaven and earth upside down in the novels he read, he couldn''t help but excitedly lead the way.


    I don''t care if I don''t have any bonuses or anything, I''m fortunate enough to be transferred here.


    As he continued walking forward, a girl''s voice suddenly startled him.


    "I suggest you take a rest first before crossing the desert," a purple haired girl said, as she impatiently shooed him with her hand.


    The girl suddenly appeared in front of him out of nowhere. Her eyebrows were sharp and high-arched.


    She had a knee-length purple hair, blood-red irises and white pupils, looking at Jeemin with a hint of anger.


    Jeemin, who was naturally a man, couldn''t help but catch a glimpse of her well-sized rack accentuated by her - a rather fitting robe. But he didn''t look at it too long, he was worried about being labeled by himself as pervert.


    His eyes gloomily looked at her as he asked with indifference, "Why should I listen to you?"


    She furrowed her brows, which made her even more ravishingly domineering.


    "Because I''m the guide." She replied with chill.


    Guide?


    Now that he took a look closer, she really was the guide earlier. The memory of the guide''s appearance in the hall gradually overlapped with the girl in front of him.


    He raised his hand briefly to silence the commotion behind him as he coldly spoke, "You let the people in the hall die miserably. How could I trust your words?"


    Inwardly Jeemin was nervous how would the girl in front of him would react, but he maintained the eye-to-eye contact and his indifferent tone.


    "Because I''m the guide," she replied with a slight anger in her voice.


    "Don''t mind her, let''s go." Jeemin spoke coldly as she brushed past her.


    One, two, three, four-...


    Jeemin counted in his head as he felt a domineering aura suddenly engulfed his body. I expected her to stop me, but I never thought she would stop me with this!


    He stood rooted on the ground as his hair stood on end.


    A dark violet aura gushed out from the girl''s body as she menacingly glared at him.


    He turned around as he look at her in the eye.


    "You''ll follow because I''m the guide¡ª" Li Na abruptly stopped from speaking when she saw his eyes glimmer with intense greed and excitement.


    Without caring for the dangerous aura she was letting out, instead of staggering back, Jeemin walked closer instead.


    His breathing was getting rougher as his eyes glimmer with amazement, excitement, and .... intoxication.


    "What are you planning to do?" She asked as she was stunned by Jeemin''s sudden change in behaviour.


    "More, more, more," he muttered as he savoured the murderous aura she was emitting.


    Being an avid reader of fantasy novels, Jeemin was naturally deeply enthralled at the idea or the existence of aura.


    The aura that she was using to scare him was actually the confirmation that Jeemin was wishing for - the existence of cultivation!


    "Ahhh, this feels good~ Increase it more, ah~" he uncharacteristically let out a muffled moan as he continued walking forward.


    Li Na doubted her eyes as she saw two hearts forming on Jeemin''s eyes as he looked at her with intense desire.


    Meanwhile, the rest of the party was shivering in fear as they felt the foreign thick murderous aura shrouding them. Even Seiji almost peed his pants as he reeled back from the pressure.


    When Jeemin was almost a breath away from her, the system forcibly sealed her aura as it was already considered harmful towards the participants.


    When she saw the dismayed look on Jeemin''s face when the system sealed her power, she was dumbfounded.


    His gloomy eyes gazed at her white pupils as he indifferently spoke, "Now that I know this kind of power exists here, it makes me want to finish the adaptation zone more in a hurry."Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "I don''t know why are you intent on stopping us, but based from what you did at the hall, you think I''d trust you? Don''t you think it''s dumb to trust me, if I was you?" He held the eye-to-eye contact even though his heart was already on his throat.


    He turned away coolly and started forward.


    "You....!" She was fuming in anger as she can''t explain what would happen if they continue tonight, not only that, she was challenged by someone who doesn''t posses any mana yet.


    The gall! She gritted her teeth as she angrily thought, The higher ups are already barraging me with complaints about the mess in the hall, I can''t let the number of people go down anymore.


    She is restricted from harming the participants on the adaptation zone, that''s why she couldn''t exert a power to completely stop Jeemin from being able to move.


    "You...! Come back here!" She said while clenching her teeth.


    But Jeemin ignored her... or rather, he was slowly running away from her. For all he knew, she was a dangerous person to deal with. A cold blooded person who would let many people die at the hall isn''t something he''s equipped to deal with now. Although he was unsure if the guide is allowed to kill him, it wasn''t a bad idea to get away as far as possible from her.


    He signaled to the party as he continued walking forward, leaving Li Na behind him fuming in anger.


    As they walked past her, Claire and Hyoon glanced at her with fear and admiration for her beauty apparent in their eyes.


    "You people will regret this!"


    Seiji ran beside Jeemin, as Dmitri and Li Jing brushed past Li Na.


    *


    As they went further away and Li Na''s figure receded from behind, the chill and cold pervading the desert seeped on Jeemin''s bone as his teeth clattered.


    "Was that the guide?" Claire asked as she caught up to Jeemin.


    "Yes," Jeemin replied succinctly as he felt the freezing coldness from the air, his sweat from climbing up the mountain further made him shiver.


    "What did she said?"


    "She said we shouldn''t cross the desert," Jeemin explained as he added, "Remember what the guy said, we interrogated earlier, about the hall?"


    Claire thought for a moment and replied, "Hell descended at the hall and people were torn apart by humanoid wolves and hounds?"


    "Yeah. Don''t you think it''s strange that the guide didn''t tell us about what would happen if we stayed longer at the hall?"


    "It is indeed strange," Hyoon nodded as he listened beside Claire as the moonlight made her brown eyes visible from the dark.


    "But man, she''s hot, really hot," Seiji spoke while casting an occasional glance behind him.


    "That''s why we shouldn''t trust anything coming from her mouth. What if we stayed there and get ambushed by strange creatures?" Jeemin explained further, "See how suspiciously intent she was on forcing us to stay?"


    But Jeemin added just in case, "But I hope I made the right decision."


    As they continued crossing the desert, some occasional gust of wind swept up the sand.


    The silent night made the atmosphere heavy as they can''t even hear their footsteps.


    Seiji broke the silence as he scratched his ears, "Man it''s boring... hey, anyone interested in telling their story?"


    When no one spoke, he decided to be the first.


    "Fine, I''ll start first," he heaved a sigh and continued, "You see, before I was transferred here, I was living a wretched life in our country. My boss, hehehe, my boss occasionally abused me by giving me so much work."


    "I can''t even have time to enjoy life," then he stopped, "Okay this getting depressing, anyways, so my occupation is designing games, and my hobby is inventing stuffs."


    "You wouldn''t believe how I died. I was hit by a truck! It''s every man''s dream!"


    As soon as he said that with an excited voice, even Jeemin couldn''t help but look at him with sympathy.


    But the rest of the party only gave Seiji odd looks.


    "Why is getting hit by a truck is ''every man''s dream''?" Hyoon asked with a strange expression.


    "That must have been painful," Li Jing muttered from beside Dmitri.


    "Well at least you had a job," Jeemin said in front.


    "No, you people don''t understand, it was a popular concept that when you get hit by truck-kun, you''ll be transferred to another world," Seiji explained exasperatedly as he replied to Jeemin, "It''s more like a torture than a job."


    "Well I died of hunger," Jin Hyoon said with a hint of sadness, "Nothing special. I went climbing a mountain and got trapped between a narrow cave with no way out. Well... that sums up my entire life."


    Seeing Jin Hyoon have told her story, Seiji spoke, "Who else?"


    Swish, swish, swish.


    The wind blew for a moment as the flying sand made the rest cover their eyes.


    "It''s probably traumatic for them," as Jeemin added helplessly, "Don''t force them." He was curious about their life as well, but it couldn''t be help if they don''t want to talk about it.


    Seiji dejectedly let out a sigh as he replied, "But it''s boring... what about you?"


    Jeemin only replied with a cough as he thought, I don''t want to look pathetic saying I killed myself, definitely not a good idea. He shook his head as he added, not befitting of the image I''m maintaining.


    "We''re not here for vacation. I suggest you take this seriously," Claire spoke as she rubbed her eyes.


    "Ack!"


    Seiji suddenly let out a yelp.


    "What''s this?!" Seiji shouted as he stomped his feet on the ground in panic.


    [Night of Devouring has been activated]


    [Time left for Devouring: 3 hours]


    "Hmm?" Jeemin looked up at the huge system notice at the sky.


    "I''m gonna die! I got stung by a scorpion!" Seiji shouted.


    When Jeemin saw the crushed scorpion below Seiji''s feet, he immediately went alarmed as he took a look at the sand below him.


    Fist sized white scorpions started burrowing out of the sand as he narrowed his eyes.


    He immediately stomped on the scorpion that was about to sting him with its tail.


    "W-what''s that?!" Jin Hyoon shouted with a trembling voice.


    When Jeemin looked at the direction she was pointing, he saw several disgusting creatures, slightly bigger than a human was running towards them.


    They had differing appearances, some had their mouths on their forehead, some had eyes on their bellies, some had a terrifying scythe on where there arm was suppose to be.


    Their mangled flesh strewn by strange thick black threads wobbled as they darted towards them. Some of them even had skins of human faces strewn on their arms, bellies, feet, and chest.


    It was more appropriate to describe them as combination of pieces of human flesh, meshed with each other to form a horrifying bipedal creatures.


    The grotesque sight made Jeemin felt a sour juice on his throat as he swallowed it back.


    "Stick with the formation¡ª"


    "Captain! Seiji has fallen unconscious!" Claire suddenly shouted making Jeemin to swallow what he was about to say.


    Seiji was convulsing on the sand as he started foaming from his mouth. His body was twitching violently as his skin become paler and paler.


    Li Jing immediately bent down and examined Seiji''s condition.


    "He was poisoned!"


    "Quick, Dmitri and Hyoon, carry Seiji away," he spoke as he stomped on another scorpion burrowing out near Li Jing, "Claire protect them, I''ll slow those creatures down. Find a way and a place to treat Seiji."


    He then stretched his hand towards Claire and said, "The sword."


    As Claire threw the pouch containing the blunt sword, she asked, "Can you handle them?"


    Of course not... He thought.


    "I can... I have this after all," he waved the heavy blunt sword while his arm burned in pain after giving back the pouch to Claire.


    My arm hasn''t fully rested yet from overexertion when we were pursued earlier. But strangely, the Origin in my palm feels vibrant. Oh, the teeth are gone as well. He glanced at his palm for a moment as he lowered down the heavy blunt sword.


    "Go."


    Dmitri and Hyoon hurriedly carried Seiji''s body away as Claire from the rear acted as their guard, and Li Jing stayed at their center.


    Jeemin looked at them, waiting for anyone to look back worriedly.


    But the party receded from his view without anyone of them even sparing a glance at him.


    He was hoping that someone would convince him to do otherwise or someone would suggest to be left behind with him to deal with the swarming creatures. Then he''ll decline the offer and say, "It''s fine, I can do this, your lives are more important than mine."


    But contrary to his expectations, they immediately receded from his view.


    He let out a depressing sigh as he dragged his heavy blunt sword on the sand behind him.


    ''It was to be expected, it''s my fault after all.''


    He darted towards one of the pudgy creatures running towards the direction of the party, and hacked it from its head with the help of the amplification of his power by the Origin in his palm.


    The heavy blunt sword stopped halfway to the creature''s belly as he pulled the heavy blunt sword back and darted towards another creature pursuing them.


    "Hey! Don''t ignore me you, you.... what hell are these things even called?! "


    Even though they''re disgustingly huge, they''re surprisingly good at running.


    As the stench drifted to his nose, coming from their rotting mangled flesh and the disgusting viscous fluid dripping on the blunt sword, Jeemin felt increasingly nauseous.


    Suddenly, he felt a burning pain behind him as he stomped on a scorpion that was about to sting him with its tail.

 Chapter 18 - End of Devourers

    "!"


    Jeemin lost his balance and fell forward as a soft huge flesh struck him from behind.


    Bleck!


    He spat out the rough sand that went in from his mouth as he fell face flat.


    He immediately rolled leftward to grab ahold of the slab of iron that fell from his hand, then lifted it up in front of him as he blocked the scythe heading towards him.


    As the scythe made contact with the slab of iron he lifted up, a clanging sound reverberated around the desert as the creatures still pursuing the party came to halt.


    Their ears, placed differently from their body, pricked up from the noise as their heads turned to his location.


    "Shoot!"


    He quickly propped himself up as he thought he was lucky that it wasn''t the scythe that hit his back, or else he might have been gravely injured now.


    "Courting death!"


    He angrily swung the slab of iron sidewards aimed at the pudgy creature while he tightened his grip on the hilt and felt the contraction of the muscle fibers on his arm.


    The power from the natural Origin coursed throughout his arm''s muscle fibers, and brought its speed and strength of contraction to the limit.


    Woosh


    Stale blood spurted out from the rotten flesh cut in two from its belly, as its upper body fell to the sand with a squelching sound.


    Jeemin was dragged to the side caused by the momentum of the heavy slab of iron he just swung.


    He gritted his teeth as he went dizzy from his head bobbing up and down from rolling on the sand several times.


    He quickly stood up again and hurriedly darted towards the fallen heap of iron and held its hilt as the world before him tilted.


    He tried to shake the dizziness away but ended up making it worse as he ran away wobbly from the creatures running towards him.


    Seeing that all of the creature''s attention were now directed at him, he needed to regain clarity first before diving deep into dealing with them again.


    He made a U-turn as he ran, and decided to head towards the party''s direction.


    At least he thought, he would still make progress in crossing the desert while simultaneously handling the disgusting creatures behind.


    He turned his head back as he thought his plan was ingenious, but his heart sank when several of the creatures was already an arm''s length behind him.


    If he kept running at this pace, he knew they would eventually reach him. The only result of falling again would be death, unlike earlier when their attentions were still diverted.


    When he realized he''s out of options, he swung the heap of iron behind him and managed to put another two disgusting creatures down.


    The enlarged intestines fell to the sand now dyed in blood as Jeemin retraced his arm burning from pain. He recoiled from the sharp wretched stink coming from the mangled flesh and bits of unrecognisable organs on the sand.


    When a thick arm was about to reach him, he activated the Origin in his palm again and swung the slab of iron up, completely stopping another creature in front of him.


    Jeemin didn''t know how much time has passed as he kept on mindlessly swinging the slab of iron he named greatsword, after nearly going mad from its weight.


    He even talked to it and cursed its weight several times whenever his arm felt it was going to fall from his shoulder.


    Bam


    Sand dyed in blood flew in the air with several white carapace of scorpions as Jeemin slammed the greatsword down, massacring the scorpions that was about to swarm his feet.


    ''Haaa.''


    His lungs felt cold as he heavily breathed from his mouth.


    He didn''t even have anytime to sort his thoughts out as he swung the greatsword again with difficulty as he wobbly lifted the greatsword up again.


    "Damn it, how much time is left?!"


    When he took a quick look up he was stunned when terrible heat suddenly engulfed his body.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    His lips curled up as he let out a maniacal laugh and fell to the ground, when he saw the disgusting creatures darting towards him scattered like ashes.


    The gray ashes, resembling burnt papers, fluttered with the sand as the gust made a howling sound.


    [Night of Devouring has Ended]


    His grin disappeared from his mouth as his heart sank.


    "Seriously, after all of that why are there no rewards?!"


    His voice reverberated around the hot desert as he lied down tiredly on the sand.


    "Ouch, so hot."


    *


    "What do you think happened?"


    Jin Hyoon wiped the sweat on her forehead as her brown hair glistened caused by the sun hanging high up in the sky.


    "I think the Night of Devouring is already done," she replied as she gulped down the water left from her bottled water.


    "I mean to Seiji''s body," Li Jing said anxiously as she bit her lips.


    "Probably in those monsters'' bellies by now. You''re the one who said he can''t make it without any antidote or cure. And where are we supposed to find those things in this place?"


    Dmitri coldly retorted as he bent down and wiped the blood stains on his knife on the sand.


    "If we didn''t do that, we''re all be dead by now. I didn''t even manage to kill one of those disgusting creatures with my knife; or are you saying we should have sacrificed ourselves for his tiny chance of survival?" Dmitri coldly added as the chill in his voice was devoid of any hint of regret.


    "B-but.. but he could have.." Li Jing stammered.


    "Enough," Jin Hyoon said.


    "It was a matter of life and death, that''s it. We don''t even know if the captain was able to survive when we left him," Jin Hyoon spoke as she added, "Even Claire''s survival chance is questionable, she even handed me her gauntlet, which ended up becoming useless in my hand..."


    She then paused and said, "I was supposed to protect everyone with the gauntlet increasing my strength, but I ended up using it to throw Seiji''s body instead."


    "And don''t blame yourselves, it''s the captain''s fault. We wouldn''t be in this situation if it wasn''t for him," Jin Hyoon suddenly lifted her head up as her eyes widened as she recalled something, "Just like what happened in the cave."


    She gritted her teeth as the searing sun made her red sleeveless shirt drenched in sweat.


    *


    Claire ran while holding a cold broadsword soaked in stale blood in her hand. Her disheveled blond hair bounced up and down as she breathed through her mouth.


    Her bright blue eyes were wandering around as she turned her head left and right with a worried expression.


    "I hope he''s still alive, I''ve swore to myself in the past to never do that again, but I ended up repeating my mistake," she clenched her teeth as she warily looked left and right.


    "Are they gone?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she sped up towards Jeemin''s direction.


    "I hope Hyoon and the bunch were able to find a safe place and cure Seiji."


    As an aspiring girl who longed to wear a soldier''s uniform, she holds militaristic creeds high. Leaving behind the captain was against her beliefs, but according to ranking, a soldier must follow the captain''s order.


    She held the badge on her collars as she recalled the last scene she saw.


    "Can you handle them?"


    Jeemin waved his hand holding the heap of iron as he averted his eyes from her gaze.


    At first she was reluctant to leave him alone fending off the swarming Devourers, or so she called them.


    But when she saw the incredible strength he showed; he gave off the impression that he was invincible against the Devourers.


    Her worries disappeared as she decided to stick with her role as the rear guard.


    But as they went further and further away from Jeemin, she suddenly recalled the war she was involved with in the previous world when she joined a terrorist organisation.


    As soon as she remembered those memories, she suddenly felt increasingly worried about Jeemin''s condition.


    "I can''t have people dying on me again, I''d have enough of that," she muttered as her hand wrapped around the broadsword''s hilt tightened.


    Several hours has passed and the sun glaring at the earth still hung high up in the sky.


    The brownish white sand basking from the sun''s wrath occasionally flew up in the air with the help of the wind to retaliate back but ended up falling again, drifting away from its previous home, desolately.


    Heat distortions further accentuated the desolation pervading the desert.


    She felt dizzy as she kept running under the intense heatwave. She suddenly thought it was better being pursued by those monsters than enduring the hot rays of the sun, but immediately brushed the thought away when she remembered how difficult it was to kill them.


    Her pupils suddenly shrunk as she saw a figure from afar trudging the desert with a crude rectangular sword, using it as a support.


    His disheveled long hair and torn black jacket, the white T-shirt underneath stained with dried up blood peaking out from his jacket, exemplify his pitiful state.


    When he fell down with the slab of iron supporting him, she ran as fast as she can towards him as she shouted, "Captain!"


    *


    Jeemin was shocked to find that Claire went back for him. He was secretly relieved that someone was actually worried about him.


    When he saw her, he immediately had a thought as he fell on the sand.


    The corner of his eyes stared intently at the incoming figure. But then his expression suddenly went blank, his eyes dimmed from disappointment when she saw her examined the greatsword first.


    Ahh, yes, it was for my friend, the greatsword, that she went back. Looking from her worried gaze as she intently examined the greatsword, he was confident that his expectations went downhill again.


    What am I expecting? Why am I expecting? Oh~ so bleak and dreary, the gray world before me, aye, oh leave me be~


    He sang in his head depressingly as he suddenly stood up, tilted his neck from left to right.


    Crack.


    ''Ahh!''


    Did I just broke my neck from stretching?


    He jumped lightly and gave Claire a nod and asked, "How are they?"


    Claire was in dazed as she looked at him rotating his arm repeatedly, looking some sort of another form of stretching.


    He raised his eyebrows and asked again gloomily, "How are they?"


    Did I damage the greatsword? Yeah, it''s a bit dirty, so I''d be angry if it were me.


    Jeemin''s nose twitched as the stench from the horrendously disgusting foul odour of the equally abjectly disgusting bipedal creatures was still stuck from his memories and nose.


    He felt nauseated just by looking at the slimy liquid stuck on the greatsword. As his gag reflex was about to be triggered, he swallowed hard and picked up the great sword.


    "Your pouch," he said as he signaled her with his chin.


    Claire woke up from her reverie and immediately took out the medium pouch.


    When Jeemin finished putting the greatsword inside, he then walked forward as he asked, "Have you found a place to reorganize? We only have few hours left, let''s hurry."


    Claire nodded and didn''t say a word as she was still thinking about something with a confused expression behind Jeemin.


    She shook her head helplessly when she saw him changed his pace from jogging to running.


    *


    There are three figures drenched in sweat; one wearing a nurse''s outfit, one wearing sleeveless red shirt, and the other one wearing a plain white T-shirt.


    At their back was a huge distorted wall depicting a hazy haunted mansion, with dilapidated gate in front. The pavement leading towards the bleak mansion was littered with orange dead leaves and vines, at its side was tall trees without any leaves.


    The sky at the other side was grey in complete contrast to the bright sun shining on the desert.


    At the side of the aged gate was a signboard that was impossible to read because of the distortion.


    "There''s only five minutes left," Jin Hyoon said with a worried expression, her eyes were downcast.


    Li Jing nibbled her nails as she looked at the direction where they came from.


    "We should cross and wait for them on the other side if there''s only 2 minutes left," Dmitri coldly spoke.


    Jin Hyoon'' heart skip a beat as her ears pricked up.


    "''Wait for them on the other side''?" She asked as she looked at Dmitri with a strange expression.


    "What? Something wrong?" Dmitri replied expressionlessly.


    Wait for them on the other side... Does he know he''s jinxing them?


    Li Jing continued nibbling her nails as Jin Hyoon shook her head helplessly.


    When there''s only three minutes left, Jin Hyoon suddenly widened her eyes.


    She saw two figures running towards them from afar.


    When they came to halt, she heard their heavy breathing.


    Jeemin immediately scanned them as a deep fold appeared on his forehead.


    "Where''s Seiji?"

 Chapter 19 - I Wish I was a Vulture

    The sun high up in the sky shrouded the entire desert with its pressuring heatwave.


    Jeemin and Claire panted heavily. Breathing through their mouth, their lips went dry as they inhaled the hot air pervading the surrounding torrid environment.


    "Where''s Seiji?" Jeemin asked as he gasped for air and his eyebrows furrowed.


    Jin Hyoon averted her eyes from him and said hurriedly, "We only have 1 minute left, we need to get on the next stage first, I''ll explain everything later."


    Jeemin nodded as he took a glance at the task window when he saw the creepy distorted haunted mansion in front, separated from them by a hazy wall.


    [Three Terrains Survival]


    Information: None


    Task: Survive and pass each terrain.


    Time limit: 6 hours every terrain.


    Failure: Death


    Rewards: Universal Points +1.


    First Constraint: Test of Mark


    Second Constraint: Intense Thirst and Increased Depletion of Water from the Body - Cancelled for Surviving the Night of Devourer.


    Third Constraint: ?


    --


    After seeing the task window, he didn''t dare to imagine how difficult it would be to cross the desert with the constraint.


    But his heart was in the state of unease as he followed behind Hyoon and the rest.


    Apart from Seiji being nowhere to be seen, he also have some questions for Claire.


    A nearly transparent ripple spread throughout out the hazy wall as they entered consecutively.


    Immediately, an oppressive feeling shrouded his heart as soon as he stepped on the other side.


    The feeling gradually spread throughout his body, with the biting chilly air, in contrast from the scorching desert, he felt suddenly refresh but depressed.


    The sense of unease in his heart tugged at him as it grew gradually, making him feel gravely anxious.


    What greeted him was a gray sky with an oppressive atmosphere. A dilapidated gate and an old mansion with vines growing on its walls. The pavement leading towards the mansion was surrounded by trees without leaves on its branches.


    [Third Constraints: None]


    [Rest Time: 1 hour]


    When he checked the constraints and saw what was written on it, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    After the rest of the party acclimated from the new environment, Jeemin immediately asked again.


    "Tell me what happened," his eyes gazed at Jin Hyoon as he sensed an ominous foreboding.


    "He didn''t make it, there was no cure."


    "We threw him to slow down the disgusting creatures pursuing us."


    "I''m sorry, what?" Jeemin asked uncharacteristically as Dmitri and Hyoon replied simultaneously.


    Hidden underneath his black face mask was a dumbfounded expression.


    Hyoon glared at Dmitri before speaking again, "He didn''t make it because we had no antidote."


    "We threw him," Dmitri spoke coldly.


    After they simultaneously spoke again, he finally got the gist of what happened.


    "So... you threw him to slow down the creatures pursuing you because it was unlikely he''ll survive from the poison," he clarified and added, "Technically, he wasn''t dead yet when you threw him, am I right?"


    He creased his eyebrows as anger started to erupt from his heart.


    Then for what purpose did I stayed behind for?


    Li Jing lowered her head behind Hyoon and anxiously twiddled with her fingers.


    "T-the p-poison.. already spread through... throughout his body, I''m sorry it''s my fault, I''m the one w-who said we need an antidote to save him," she said as she stammered.


    Jin Hyoon frowned when she heard Li Jing''s words.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Her brown eyes darted towards Jeemin and spoke, "We would die instead if we didn''t threw him away, considering he was already a lost cause. And where are we supposed to find an antidote in the first place?"


    She then turned her head and looked at Li Jing and said, "It''s not your fault, it''s not my fault, and it''s not Dmitri''s fault either. Don''t blame yourself."


    "... Although I''m still thankful that you took an arrow for me, I couldn''t help but think whose fault it really was that Seiji died..." Her voice trailed off as she shoot a look at Jeemin then turned away.


    Jeemin clenched his fist as he had no idea what to say.


    "It''s my fault, I left them. I didn''t know this would happen. In fact when I went back to save you, the creatures pursuing us were not considered a lot," Claire spoke behind Jeemin with a trembling voice.


    "The numbers grew as soon as you left." Dmitri said flatly as he asked, "And when did you get a sword? If you left that instead of that useless gauntlet, maybe we could have dragged Seiji''s body until here."


    Jeemin was in no condition to even think about why Claire has a broadsword as he thought back about what she said.


    So she went back for me?


    If she did went back for her greatsword, he wouldn''t feel as guiltier as he felt now.


    "I-I picked it up accidentally somewhere on the sand," Claire explained while stuttering.


    Jeemin didn''t mind her explanation as he said, "Thank you for going back. Don''t worry, don''t blame yourself. It''s my fault Seiji died anyways, Hyoon''s right."


    With that, he turned away and walked towards the bare trees beside the pavement as he spoke, "Have a rest for awhile, we still have an hour left for resting."


    *


    In the middle of the bare forest, with the gray sky and thin clouds above, accompanied by the occasional unpleasant squawking of black vultures, a man with a missing arm slammed his fist on a bare tree.


    After banging his head on the tree several times, not contented on using his own fist, he took out a knife from his pouch and aimed its tip to his neck.


    I feel disgusted that I feel bad at them being disappointed at me more than Seiji''s death.


    He closed his eyes with force as his forehead formed a deep fold. But there were no tears coming from his eyes even though he wanted them to fall.


    ''Haaa.''


    He inhaled a mouthful of air as he exhaled and looked up. The knife flew away from his hand as he gritted his teeth and angrily threw it away.


    What''s wrong with me? I''m even thinking Claire likes me for Pete''s sake, I mean, right now?


    What else is the reason she went back, took a risk, and tried to save me, if not she likes me?


    Let''s not get ahead of ourselves shall we. He shook his head vigorously as he thought, "My years of seclusion must be influencing my mind."


    What I need to be thinking about now is finishing the adaptation zone as fast as I can, explore this world, and start cultivating.


    He calmed his heavy heart down and consoled himself as he muttered, "Since we''re at this point..."


    "...it''s time to dothat.We''ll separate ways anyways, I can''t have people under me making me feel bad about myself."


    He slowly lifted his head up as he looked at the black vultures flying at the grey sky waiting for another corpse to fill their bellies.


    "... How I wish my brain is the same as them, with only one goal in mind impossible to distract with thoughts, contradictory complex emotions, and incapable of wallowing in despair."


    Under the bleak atmosphere, with the gray sky and bare trees, he lowered his head and walked towards the direction of where the knife flew.


    Surrounded by the relatively not-so-tall bare trees, his eyes reflected the soil that seemed to have suffered from drought for several years.


    The hard and uneven texture of the ground underneath his feet, the absence of verdant field and stray weeds, made the environment even more gloomy.


    The knife on the ground rested, waiting for its owner that abandoned it to pick it up again.


    As he was about to bend down and stretch his hand, a cold sharp object pressed on his neck.


    "Don''t move or I''ll slice your head off, you damn prick made me nearly lose my¡ª"


    Jeemin jolted his head back and felt some teeth hitting the back of his head.


    He immediately used his hand to pull away the foreign arm holding the knife and escape.


    Jeemin kicked his resting knife on the ground as he ran forward, then after gaining some distance away from the man who threatened him, he picked up the knife.


    "You bastard!"


    When he took a glance behind him, he immediately knew who it was.


    Dae Kyung-Sam!His red hoodie was tattered as he pursued him from behind.


    "You shouldn''t have spoken to me nor brought your head closer to the back of my head," Jeemin coldly said as he ran away from him.


    Shoot! I''m going in the wrong direction.He inwardly cursed as he hid his anxiousness about not being able to know how to use a knife as a weapon.


    He discovered that it was easier to swing the massive greatsword around - as he can do it mindlessly - than using a short blade.


    With a short blade, you''d have to think of ways to hit your opponent while avoiding them hitting you at a close distance. Any minute movements would matter as a small mistake could easily lead to a disaster. In fact, this is even more obvious when you''re using a normal sword against an opponent using the same weapon.


    But with a massive greatsword, the only thing you should be mindful is; the speed at which you would have to swing back after completing a swinging motion.


    He clenched his teeth resisting to shout for help as it will destroy the image he built up.


    The sounds of their hurried footsteps broke the stillness and silence of the bleak surroundings.


    "You damn coward, get back here!"


    "I''m not a coward," Jeemin coldly replied.


    "Then why are you running away from me?!"


    "..."


    He kept running forward as his heart pounded heavily from fear. He have no idea what would happen if he continuously ran away from the direction from where the rest of the party is resting.


    It would be a different story if there''s already an erected thick wall blocking the way preventing them to go around the mansion, but unfortunately, there was neither a wall nor a warning.


    Several minutes has passed as he kept running, enduring several insults thrown at him. He even had the urge to activate the Origin on his palm and threw the knife at Dae Kyung-Sam behind him.


    But he didn''t have the chance as stopping would give Dae Kyung-Sam the chance to close in on him, considering he it would take a second for him to aim as he spun around.


    I need to make a U-turn, I''m getting far away from the rest of the party.


    As he was about to take a U-turn, a clear outline of a figure suddenly emerged some meters away from him.


    The figure was wearing an office uniform with its neck tie flailing around as it ran towards him.


    When Jeemin narrowed his eyes, he saw who the figure was.


    Sasaki Seiji!


    But how?


    Jeemin sped up towards Seiji. After getting a clearer view of Seiji''s body, he immediately noticed that something was wrong.


    Seiji''s eyes were green while his skin were yellow, and his voice was raspy as he growled at him.


    When Seiji''s eye met Jeemin, he stopped and made a confused expression.


    Seiji held his head and scratched it. Jeemin, who was about to change his direction was stunned when Seiji ignored him and ran towards Dae Kyung-Sam.


    "What the hell is this?!"


    Dae Kyung-Sam shouted as he was tackled by Seiji. The knife cut through Seiji''s clothes but didn''t pierced his skin.


    Jeemin immediately made a decision and continued running forward, completely forgetting that he was supposed to make a U-turn to return from where the party was resting.


    But he didn''t forget about throwing his knife towards Seiji''s side, if it is useless in his hand, it was better to give it to Seiji. At least he could make some excuses why he left him, he thought.


    His lungs felt cold and his speed slowed down as he continued running after several minutes more.


    He frowned as he gasped for air.


    "Have I already made a U-turn?" He asked himself in doubt.


    Don''t tell me...


    When he was about to realize he was running in the wrong direction all this time...


    The ground suddenly felt different underneath his feet.


    It was the same pavement from before he entered the bare forest.


    When he saw Claire and the rest of the party in front of him, he immediately realized something.


    He glanced back and muttered in realization, "If you keep running leftwards, you''ll eventually be sent back from where you came from."


    He darted towards Claire and said, "The greatsword, let me borrow it. I was attacked by Dae Kyung-Sam."


    Jeemin deliberately avoided mentioning that Seiji was alive, considering the state he was in.


    But when he went back to their location with the rest of the party in tow, Dae Kyung-Sam and Seiji was nowhere to be found.


    He even made an uncharacteristically dumbfounded expression, wondering if he had already lost it because of banging his head repeatedly on a bare tree.


    Did I just hallucinate?


    He felt chill in his heart at the thought that he had finally gone insane.


    The knife that he threw away was still on the ground as he looked at it dazedly. After laying the greatsword down and putting the knife back on his pouch he said, "Claire, I''ll hold on to your weapon for awhile."


    He stood back while dragging the greatsword, its end making a scraping sound on the uneven ground, as he went towards the gate of the mansion.


    The signboard on the side was finally readable.


    [Welcome to the Mansion of Traps - Test of Intuition and Mind]


    His lips curled up when he read the word ''Traps'' as an idea immediately popped up on his mind.

 Chapter 20 - Strange Memories

    The ancient gate stood like a behemoth in front of the impressive yet mottled mansion. It is connected and supported by a thick wall side by side as the gate lied close in front of Jeemin.


    Reflected in his eyes were an aged signboard.


    [Welcome to the Mansion of Traps - Test of Intuition and Mind]


    When an idea popped up in his mind, he immediately felt that he have forgotten something important.


    He frowned as the recollection was like at the tip of his tongue - but he wasn''t able to put his mind on it.


    After staring blankly at the signboard, he sighed as he still can''t remember what was the important thing he have forgotten.


    Something that could have made crossing the desert easier...


    Now that he thought of it, he felt terrified as his eyes widened, feeling that it was better not to recall it in the first place.


    He turned away from the signboard and faced the rest of the party.


    Since I was going to do ''that'', then I don''t care anymore.


    "If you still want to follow me after all that happened, then follow me," he spoke languidly as his eyelids drooped down.


    Jin Hyoon frowned momentarily but didn''t speak a word.


    Li Jing and Claire nodded while Dmitri stared at his own left hand.


    Jeemin pushed the gate open with the greatsword as its rusty hinges creaked.


    The gate opened surprisingly smooth different from what he expected.


    Jeemin gulped after entering when he swept his gazed from left to right.


    The left side was field with gray weeds with hundreds of hundreds of bear traps awaiting for its next victim. It was the same for the right, except that there was a tall tree with orange leaves all over its branches.


    Below the tree were dozens of rusty bear traps, lying prone open.


    He immediately dispelled the idea of going around the mansion, doing so is only courting death.


    They walked carefully on the strangely clean pavement, with grey tiles adorning it.


    A wide wooden stairs greeted them as they got closer to the mansion''s front door filled with cobwebs.


    Jeemin caught a whiff of the smell of the old wooden stairs and the aged mansion in front of him.


    He lifted his head up and was amazed how huge the mansion was.


    As he was about to step on the wooden stairs leading towards the wide door, the door suddenly swung open from the inside.


    "Be careful¡ª"


    A strong suction force suddenly swallowed them as he was about warn them.


    Blag.Dag. Thud.


    Several sounds of something falling on a wooden floor echoed on the still and silent surroundings.


    "Ack!"


    Jin Hyoon rubbed her butt as the front door slammed shut.


    Dmitri rubbed his face and stood up with an unusual terrified eyes while Li Jing and Claire dusted off their clothes.


    When Jeemin was about to stand up and picked up the greatsword beside him, he suddenly groaned in pain.


    His face contorted as he held his head from pain. Veins popped up from his forehead, his eyes were bloodshot as he scraped his scalp with his hand from pain.


    With a kneeling posture, he slammed his head down on the floor as he gritted his teeth from the pain.


    It was pain, unimaginable pain. He felt like someone was playing with his brain, squishing it and pressing it randomly.


    The rest of the party was alarmed at his condition and went towards him.


    "What happened?" Claire asked.


    Blood dripped down from Jeemin''s nose as deep folds appeared from both sides of his eyes from the pain throbbing inside his head.


    He hammered his head with his hand to ease the pain but ended up making it worse. He used the back of his hand to hit his jaw as his brain juggled up and down.


    The world before him tilted from left and right as he went dizzy. But the pain went away as he recovered from the light-headedness. He discovered that the veins on his arm was wildly pulsing, his palm felt hot as he clenched it.


    When the scorching heat coming from his palm went away, he spat out a mouthful of air.


    He stood up and calmed himself down as he thought,what the hell just happened.


    "Are you okay?" Claire asked worriedly.


    Do I look like I am?He thought then frowned.Why am I agitated?


    After remembering what Mili said to him about the Origin, he said, "It''s just the side effects."


    Without explaining further, he examined the wide hall in front of him. The staircase backdrop was adorned with what seemed to be a red carpet. But its appearance became a telltale of its age. What once a magnificent red carpet was now gray.


    The design of the interior of the mansion was... weird. The staircase backdrop completely blocked anything beyond the ground floor.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Leaving the rest of the party with only the left and right doors to explore.


    An old chandelier were hanging on the high ceilings as dust pervaded the room.


    Hyoon was walking leftward and stared at a wooden door full of cobwebs. The door knob was missing and the hole was completely black, sucking away any sources of light, making the mansion even dimmer.


    As Jeemin was looking at the wide windows with strange designs, the dim light reflected from his eyes, he caught sight of Hyoon that was about to touch the right door.


    "Don''t," he said as he ran forward while dragging the greatsword.


    "Let me."


    He went past Jin Hyoon and cautiously peeked at the hole where the door knob was supposed to be.


    When he determined that he can''t see anything from the hole, he slowly pushed the door open.


    But as soon as he made contact with the door, it suddenly swung open.


    He was startled at first and instinctively put the surface of the greatsword in front of him.


    When nothing happened, he cautiously scanned what was inside.


    A narrow tunnel with walls that had uneven surfaces and damp ragged ground greeted him.


    He held the greatsword in front of him, using it as a shield and slowly trod forward.


    Kak, kak, tak, tik, tik, tik..


    When both of his feet made contact with the damp ground, a sound of series of gears turning suddenly came from the walls around him.


    Clang, clang, clang, clang..


    Numerous arrows hit the surface of the great sword as Jeemin''s pupils shrunk. Then a huge axe hanging upside down from the ceilings swung down towards him.


    Jeemin flew back like bag of sack from the force as he gritted his teeth.


    He immediately stood up after falling and warily eyed the narrow tunnel, while his back was screaming in pain.


    After discovering that there were no more arrows heading towards him, he heaved a sigh of relief as his hand shivered from fear.


    Jin Hyoon trembled and immediately backed away from the tunnel as soon as Jeemin was sent flying back.


    The ominous gleam of the axe fixed on the ceiling slowly swung back and forth inside the tunnel, awaiting for its next victim. It gradually fixed itself on the ceiling as it was ''swallowed'' back inside it.


    A strange and scalp tingling realization suddenly beset the party.


    Jin Hyoon muttered with a terrified voice while her eyes wandered around quickly, "Traps..."


    But Jeemin, who almost got killed by the trap - if not for the greatsword blocking the axe - was smiling.


    His lips twitched in joy as the idea that popped up in his head awhile ago in front of the mansion''s gate resurfaced.


    "Hope it works..." He turned around and walked towards Claire, put down the greatsword, and stretch his palm open in front of her.


    "... Remember the white lengthwise paper you showed me? The one with strange writings on it, and its back has a thin film of plastic covering it?" Jeemin said as his heart thumped in excitement.


    Claire creased her eyebrows and thought for awhile. After several seconds has passed, in the midst of the gloomy and dusty mansion, she brought out a pouch from her pocket.


    She rummaged for it for awhile and took out a lenghthwise yellow paper with unreadable inscriptions and adorned with random geometrical shapes.


    There were writings on it that seemed to be written in the Korean language, but it was hardly readable because it also looks like written in Japanese. When Jeemin narrowed his eyes, the overlapping letters dizzied him as it became Chinese characters, then became the English letters of alphabets that was beyond recognition; and then Korean characters again.


    Jeemin woke up from his daze because of the throbbing pain coming from his temples. Since he can''t figure out what to call those writings, he just named it runes.


    [Information Bank]


    -Trap Nullifier Talisman Disassemble traps nearby.


    A memory in his mind was jolted awake as soon as she was about to put the talisman on his palm.


    Claire put the talisman on his palm as he stared dazedly at her bright blue eyes. Her soft and warm hand brushed past his palm as she retracted her hand.


    She tucked a strand of her blond hair behind her ear with her smooth and white finger as she frowned when she noticed his gaze.


    "What''s wrong?" She asked with her mature voice.


    "... Shoot." Jeemin muttered in fluster as the talisman almost fell from his hand.


    We had a medium-grade consumable Origin capable of acting like a grenade! Why didn''t I thought of using that when we were attacked by those creatures in the desert?!


    His lips twitched violently as he walked to the right door.


    He let out a deep sigh and closely examined the talismans on his palm.


    Afterwards, he lifted up his black face mask and peeled off the thin plastic film on the back of the talisman with his teeth. He then covered his face again with the mask.


    The back of the talisman was now like the surface of a tape. He hesitated for a moment before slapping the talisman beside the door.


    It stuck firmly on the wall as he went inside the tunnel with the greatsword as his shield again.


    After reaching the middle of the narrow and damp tunnel - with his hand clenching the hilt of the upside-down greatsword in front of him - he stood for awhile before nodding in satisfaction when nothing happened.


    He continued walking forward until he met the end of the tunnel.


    He used the greatsword to prod the wall at the end of tunnel as a muffled metallic clang rang out around him. After prodding the wall several times, he tilted his head as he examined the wall.


    When nothing surprising happened, he turned around and went to the left door.


    A scraping sound of a heavy object being dragged on the wooden creaking floor resounded in the entire mansion.


    Jeemin twitched his ears from the noise he was causing as the rest of party watched him walked towards the left door.


    He kicked the door open, brought the greatsword in front of him and quickly went inside. The same thing happened when he entered the left door, the traps were not triggered, and the end of the tunnel was also blocked by a wall.


    "It''s safe, but be careful." He said as he started towards the staircase backdrop.


    Thud, thud, thud, thud...


    He dragged the greatsword behind him as he climbed the staircase backdrop.


    "Swept the other doors around, I''ll take the left," he coldly ordered.


    There were three doors on the left side full of cobwebs.


    Jeemin was surprised to find that the traps in the three tunnels were also affected by the talisman.


    He clicked his tongue as he took a glance at Claire''s direction. She was opening the third door from the right side of the second floor with caution while Hyoon and Dmitri did the same.


    The atmosphere between the party could only be described as tense, perhaps it was because of the gloomy mansion, but Jeemin was sure that their awkward treatment of each other was caused by the problem earlier.


    Their eyes were avoiding each other and they spoke as succinctly as possible. Even their expression was blank in contrast to how they were just talking to each other before Seiji ''died''.


    Jeemin sighed as soon as they finished opening all the doors.


    The weight of the greatsword numbed his hand as he walked towards the wide middle floor of the staircase backdrop with the old dusty gray carpet.


    As soon as he stood at wide middle floor, his eyes widened from shock as the whole staircase suddenly caved in.


    He freed his hand and covered the back of his head as he fell down.


    Dusts flew everywhere as the cracking sound of wood filled the insides of the mansion.


    Claire and Hyoon looked at each other and immediately darted towards the staircase leading down.


    Claire waved her hand in front of her as the dusts covered her vision while Hyoon did the same.


    When the dusts flying around gradually got thinner, they saw Jeemin dusting his tattered jacket as he coldly said, "I''m fine."


    Claire was about to heave a sigh of relief when she Hyoon frowning.


    "What?" She asked in a whisper


    Hyoon glance at her and replied with a whisper too, "Don''t you think he''s better off doing everything alone? Why does it feel like he''s treating us as nothing but baggage...."


    "... And I can feel something is off about him, I just can''t put my finger on it."


    "Perhaps you''re just imagining things."


    Hyoon scoffed and whispered, "Aren''t you creeped out by how he stared at you awhile ago?"


    "..."


    Meanwhile, Jeemin was staring at a white door inlaid with eight golden runes.


    The runes were glowing brightly, and white light seeped out from the edges of the white door.


    He walked towards the door and hesistantly touched it.


    A bright golden light engulfed the whole mansion briefly as it retracted again in a blink of an eye.


    The doors that they left open slammed shut one by one as Jeemin saw a faint outline of golden rune appeared on his palm.


    He narrowed his eyes and examined the golden rune on his palm, but the rune disappeared as soon as all the doors slammed shut.


    Several sounds of series of gears turning came from the walls. As the sound grinded to halt, the white door opened by itself.


    A white narrow tunnel with the ceilings, walls, and floor made from white marbles greeted him.


    The tunnel didn''t feel dangerous. It was neither damp nor filled with dusts, everything is clean and immaculate.


    Jeemin dazedly picked up the greatsword beside him and walked inside the tunnel with awe. It felt warmth and smelled fresh.


    But as soon as he entered the tunnel halfway, his head throbbed in pain again. He dropped the slab of metal in his hand and curled on the ground.


    He pressed his head fiercely as he banged his head on the floor and the walls of the tunnel.


    Blood dripped down from his forehead as it stained the immaculate white wall and the floor red.


    [Resonance: 1%]


    A system notice appeared and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Jeemin missed the system notice as strange memories imprinted itself on his brain. His conciousness suddenly faded out.


    Whenherecovered from the pain, a cold glint appeared on his deep black eyes.


    After turning his head on the entrance, his chilly gaze made the rest of party felt their scalp tingled.


    His voice cold and devoid of emotion as he said, "The gate is safe, just push it open and rest up at the next stage."


    He pointed towards the the golden gate at the end of the tunnel and walked out of the entrance without saying a word. He didn''t forget to return the greatsword as he disappeared from their view.


    "See," Hyoon mouthed as she turned her head towards Claire.


    Claire shrugged lightly as she scanned the blood dripping from the walls and floor.


    She frowned and recalled Jeemin''s figure when he brushed past them.


    Since he wasn''t saying anything, it must be nothing serious.


    Dmitri and Li Jing pushed the golden gate open and saw a rusty stairs leading up.


    Dmitri coldly glanced at them and said, "What are you waiting for?"


    After leaving those words, he went up as Li Jing and Hyoon followed suit.


    As soon as Claire was about to reach the top of the rusty stairs - with the fresh breeze making her blond hair flutter and the light of the sun reflected from her eyes - her footsteps suddenly came to halt.


    Rest up?


    "''Up''?" She muttered as her eyes narrowed looking at the end of the stairs.


    How did heknow?

 Chapter 21 - Golden Chest!

    In the dark room where a huge panel was displaying different scenes, four people was watching with solemn expressions.


    A small part of the huge panel displaying a scene of the gloomy mansion, suddenly went black.


    "What? Is there a secret zone on the mansion?" Dylan asked as his eyes widened from suprise.


    As he sat near the panel, he was the one who noticed it first.


    "There has been no record about that, I think It''s just a technical error. It happens from time to time." An old man wearing a golden black Daoist robe said while stroking his beard.


    Dylan soon calmed down and said, "Well if it persists, the Guardian should take care of it. Any news about the city?"


    "Well, nothing special is happening now," Ling Tian waved his fan and replied as he yawned, "The major families haven''t made any move. In fact it''s so peaceful that I find it scary."


    Nameless glanced at Ling Tian and sighed, "Let''s hope nothing happens. The higher ups are keeping a tight lip on my side. I can feel something is brewing."


    "Tsk, tsk, you youngsters are overthinking about things," Zai Zen said with his wizened eyes.


    "Forget it, let''s just focus on watching, there are two stages left. After that I''ll finally be able to go outside and continue to cultivate." Dylan said as he turned his head towards the huge panel.


    Nameless raised her eyebrows as the katana on her blue hair glinted, "I thought you''re focusing on leveling up?"


    "..."


    Dylan''s face twitched and helplessly replied, "Guess, I''ll do that as well."


    "But how can you do both if you still haven''t payed your debts? The Guild isn''t as merciful as the Pagoda Corporation."


    "Fine, I''ll be your slave for the next few months." Dylan sighed as he replied.


    Nameless crossed her arms and smiled with satisfaction, her eyes were cold as she turned her gaze on the huge panel. She was looking at a girl wearing a green scholarly robe giving orders to several people.


    *


    A figure suddenly emerged from the collapsed middle floor of the staircase backdrop.


    His eyes were cold as he swept his gaze around the interior of the mansion.


    His movements were swift as proceeded to open all the doors that were slammed shut after the white door with golden inscriptions opened by itself.


    Then as he was about to enter the right door on the ground floor, a violent gust of wind raged inside the mansion.


    Dust flew everywhere as he reeled back from the wind.


    The front door of the mansion swung open as a figure was swallowed from the outside.


    When the surroundings soon calmed down, he saw a man dusting off his red hoodie.


    Dae Kyung-Sam scanned the interior of the mansion as his eyes suddenly looked towards a familiar man wearing a black face mask.


    His lips curled up and said, "I guess it''s fate that we met again."


    He drew his broadsword and immediately darted towards the man wearing a black face mask that had no weapon on his only arm.


    But as soon as he thrusted his sword, he hit nothing but air.


    Dae Kyung-Sam immediately swung leftward as he felt danger coming from that direction.


    "Die!"


    But his sword missed again as the figure before him was bobbing and weaving. The figure''s movements was like a veteran who had gone through numerous battles, an experienced fighter who was swiftly moving efficiently.


    The figure in front of him suddenly threw a feint step forward as Dae Kyung-Sam instinctively swung his sword.


    The moment Dae Kyung-Sam realized that he made a mistake, the man before him disappeared from his vision.


    As the man duck down, Dae Kyung-Sam reflexively moved his chin when he saw out of the corner of his eyes a fist coming from below towards him.


    But he was dumbfounded when the world suddenly tilted before him. The next thing he knew was he was lying on the floor.


    He propped himself up several times before he was able to wobbly maintained his standing posture, wondering in his groggy mind what just happened.


    As the reality gradually became clear to him after staring dazedly at the man picking the sword that fell from his hand, he gradually realized that the man before him hit his jaw with a hook. The uppercut was just a feint!


    He staggered back as soon as he saw the man picked up the broadsword.


    Without any hesitation, he immediately ran mindlessly towards the staircase backdrop, he didn''t even care as he fell from the middle floor as the death looming on his back sent chills down his spine.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    He wasn''t like that before! Dae Kyung-Sam screamed in his heart.


    As soon as Dae Kyung-Sam disappeared and entered the white tunnel, Jeemin darted towards the right door.


    ".... Wasted my time," his voice was hoarse as he muttered.


    The same damp narrow tunnel greeted him, after reaching the end of the tunnel, he turned his head from left to right as his eyes roamed around the tunnel''s wall.


    Beads of cold water dripped down from the ceiling as he dropped the sword and let his hand wandered around the uneven surface of the damp wall.


    His hand soon became moist from patting the damp wall on the tunnel.


    Then, as his hand made contact on a specific region on the surface of the wall, a golden light suddenly shimmered from his palm.


    A faint rune extricated itself from his palm and disappeared as it went through the wall.


    The sound of series of gears turning resounded in the entire mansion. After the rumblings subsided, Jeemin suddenly collapsed on the ground.


    *


    His vision was cloudy as the sensation of something moist startled him. His back was cold and the uneven surface of ground made him feel uncomfortable.


    As soon as his senses came back to him one by one, he caught a whiff of the familiar smell of the narrow damp tunnel.


    "What..."


    He muttered dazedly as he sat up while supported by the wall behind him.


    The coldness coming from it gradually made his mind clear.


    He forced his stiff neck and turned his head left as he saw a faint golden hue beside him.


    His eyes soon widened in shock as he was taken aback from the sight of the golden chest beside him. It took him several seconds to register what it was.


    When he was about to touch the golden chest, he felt a cold metallic feeling coming from his hand.


    With his head slowly turning towards his right, the silver broadsword shone in gold as it reflected the color of the golden chest beside him.


    He was immediately stunned when he saw the sword on his hand.


    "What the hell just happened..."


    He brought the sword closer to his eyes and examined it.


    "Who''s sword is this?"


    Clang.


    The sword fell from his hand when he was suddenly attacked by a migraine.


    He held his head firmly as he shut his eyes from the pain.


    What''s these?!


    Foreign memories playing like a film cascaded on his mind. He felt like he was having a dream and those memories felt like it was naturally from him and yet not at the same time.


    When the film stopped playing he gradually recover and made a dumbfounded expression.


    He slowly lifted his hand up and slapped his face hard to jolt himself awake.


    ''Haa, huff, haa, huff.''


    His mind soon calmed down as he breathed through his mouth.


    I''ll deal with these strange memories later.


    He cleared his mind and started to organise his thoughts and the event that transpired.


    "I lost consciousness when I went inside the white tunnel..."


    He looked left and right, his eyes calmly scanning the narrow tunnel; his ears perked up as he listened closely to any minute sounds coming from the outside of the tunnel.


    "So I''m the only one here."


    He thought for awhile while staring at the broadsword on the damp floor, he then picked it up as he stood up.


    His brows furrowed while examining the golden chest before him.


    The golden hue surrounding the chest gradually subsided. He then lifted the broadsword up and warily prodded the chest.


    His other foot was placed a distance away from the chest, prepared for anything that might happen.


    Thud, thud, thud.


    He even inserted the tip of the sword on the keyhole and rotated it several times. When nothing unexpected happened, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    Suddenly, his eyes flashed with greed. He soon dropped his calm pretense as his heart pounded from greed and joy.


    I''m rich. Definitely rich! Is this what they call heaven-defying luck?!


    He rapidly turned his head back and front and shivered, like a thief who suddenly got ahold of loads treasures, afraid of being caught.


    As he walked forward with unsteady gait, he almost slipped from nervousness and accidentally dropped the sword in his hand.


    Clang. The sound of the sword falling was louder than earlier as it fell from a higher height.


    His heart skip a beat as he froze. His stiff neck turned back again and waited if any people would come and take away the treasures from him.


    Numerous thoughts and schemes clashed in his mind as he concocted ways how he would deal with the person who might have caught a whiff of the treasures behind him.


    When several seconds has passed that felt like forever, he spat out a mouthful of air and knelt down.


    He rubbed his hands vigorously - with his imaginary left hand - like preparing for a once and life time feast. His eyes lit up from excitement when he was about to wipe the nonexistent dust from the top of the chest.


    Suddenly, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. His pupils dilated when a huge palm appeared out of thin air above him.


    The surface of the huge palm was in the shade of black and violet with visible pulsing veins all around it.


    What was striking was the vertical straight line on the center of its palm.


    As fear gripped his heart, the slit on the palm suddenly opened. A huge reptilian vertical eye emerged from it. Its sclera was bloody red, the iris was yellow, and the pupil was deep black.


    It stared at him as a formless pressured descended making him unable to move. The open palm with its eye intently staring at him grew closer.


    Its huge frame flew around him while parts of its body pass through the walls from time to time.


    It then fixated its eye on his chest, specifically his heart.


    Several minutes has passed but the palm was still unmoving. Beads of sweat trickled from Jeemin''s forehead as he too didn''t make any move.


    Suddenly, the black-violet palm ''spoke''.


    [BE]


    [BEE]


    [GONE]


    [GONE]


    Jeemin reeled back from the booming voice reverberating inside his head. He felt like there was something inside him shaking. His heart shook violently, he can feel his soul being dragged away from his body.


    An emotion deep within his heart was stirred as he suddenly felt an intense emotion welling up inside him.


    The raging emotion coming from his heart appeared and disappeared abruptly, making him confused momentarily.


    But as soon as his heart calmed down, the palm was already nowhere to be found.


    He could only gulp in fear from the strange series of things happening before him.


    But when he discovered that the chest was still there, his eyes shone from happiness as he breathed a sigh of relief.


    I don''t care anymore, the most important thing now is collecting the treasures before me.


    He steeled himself and lifted up the cover of the golden chest.


    The chest opened without a hitch as his eyes shimmered when he saw the items inside it.


    He saw several bottles containing different liquid, golden pouch, silver ring, pair of black earrings, an ominous black face mask, black leather robe with veins on its surface, a bronze spear, and a golden bar.


    He reined in his excitement and immediately took the golden pouch.


    Afterwards, he decided to examine each of the items and waited for the information bank to appear.


    The first item he took out was the black leather robe with veins on its surface. He clicked his tongue when he found it to his liking.


    [Information bank]


    Robe of Thalos


    Grade: H-1


    Class: Warrior


    Type: Armor


    Durability: 100/100


    Attributes: None


    Effects: Slightly increase defense according to the user''s stats.


    Weapon Skill: (1)


    (Art of Berserker - Rage)


    Feeds on the user''s flesh and blood to increase the user''s power and speed. Overusing the skill would gradually corrode the user''s mind.


    He hurriedly wore the black leather robe with an ecstatic expression after seeing the description.


    But then, he felt several needles pricking all over his body. When he noticed it, the pain have already vanished.


    Huh?


    [New Skill Acquired]


    [New Skill Category is Acquired: Equipment''s Skills]


    [Art of Berserker: (Very Low)Rage]


    When he saw the system notice, he thought for a moment before activating the skill.


    [Activation failed!Insufficient mana!]


    His eyelids drooped down as soon as he saw the system notice.


    When he saw the remaining several items inside the chest, he thought for awhile, brushed off the thought of examining them all, and stood up. He then begun putting them inside the golden pouch.


    After seeing the available space inside the golden pouch, he was shocked. He couldn''t even begin to imagine how huge the space available was.


    Several ideas popped up in his mind as he grinned with a crafty look in his eyes.


    I should try them if I had enough time, I can''t let other people suddenly eyeing my treasures if I took my time here.


    After rapidly putting all the items inside the golden pouch, he stood up and was about to leave the damp tunnel.


    His footsteps faltered as an irresistible idea suddenly bloomed inside his head.


    He immediately ran back at the end of the tunnel.


    With all his might, he shoved the golden chest inside the golden pouch as he thought, "I should have done this in the first place."


    A few splashes of water rang out as he headed towards the exit of the tunnel.


    He patted the golden pouch on his pocket to check if it''s still there.


    Thud, thud, thud, thududud...


    As he was about to exit the tunnel, consecutive sounds of people falling on the wooden floor reverberated in the entire interior of the gloomy mansion.


    His heart sank immediately as numerous thoughts melded and clashed inside his head.


    He unconciously put his hand on his pocket and thought of several ways to deal with these newly arrived people.

 Chapter 22 - Mana Jack

    The cold tip of the bronze spear glinted as Jeemin took it out of the golden pouch.


    "Man, that hurts..."


    "This is like haunted house..."


    Several voices of people came at the center of the mansion. When he took a peek, he could vaguely approximate around twelve people were talking and studying the interior of the mansion.


    At the center of the people was a girl wearing a green scholarly robe. She was gracefully looking around with her emerald eyes. Her skin was smooth and pale white, while her lips were rosy red.


    Her eyebrows were sharp but had a hint of gentleness. She would check the condition of the people around her and would help them up from time to time.


    Around three people were closely guarding her. A tall burly man with a tattoo on his arm, a lean guy with a poetic vibe, and an average man wearing a simple blue shirt.


    Jeemin gripped the spear tightly and took a breath.


    "Check the second floor, we''ll handle the first two rooms." The girl with emerald eyes spoke.


    "Go up muscle head, I''ll take care of Lily here." The man with a poetic vibe went closer towards the girl wearing green scholarly robe.


    "Have Carl stay with you, who knows what perverted things you might do to Lily."


    The poetic man glared at the burly man and smiled at Lily, "Mademoiselle, I''ll go to the ends of the earth for you. My life is yours to take and¡ª"


    "Dale be careful, there might be traps lying around the second floor," Lily said as she ignored him. He could only wryly smile and swallow the words that he was about to say.


    She gave him a look and said, "Lee Mingwoo, we don''t have much food and water now, I suggest for you to save your energy for useful things."


    "You''re no fun," he sighed.


    "We''re not having fun here. We already lost five people from the forest, six people at the mountain, and three people died of thirst on the desert just now. I know you don''t care about them, but each of them had their own stories they weren''t able to tell."


    He could only sigh and gave a nod as he saw the grief in her eyes, "This is the reason I like you, you have something I don''t, alright let''s be careful."


    She frowned for a moment but decided not to speak.


    As they were about to explore the interior mansion, a figure wearing a black leather robe with a spear in his hand emerged from the right door.


    Dale immediately drew his sword as Lee Mingwoo and the average guy wearing blue shirt quickly went in front of Lily while holding knives on their hands.


    Neither side spoke. The eerie and deafening silence pervaded the mansion.


    With his eyelids drooped down, he coldly pointed his spear towards the collapsed staircase backdrop.


    "That''s the exit." His voice was cold as he stood firmly and looked unfazed in front of them.


    Little did they know that his feet was trembling, the hand clasped around the spear was sweating like waterfalls, and his heart was almost at his throat.


    Luckily, I could still remember that there was a gate at the end of that tunnel, whether it''s the exit or not, I''ll just have to bet my life on it.


    "Who are you?" Dale asked, his voice was deep and fierce.


    "You can call me Azrail," he replied as he retracted the spear and held it upside down.


    "If that''s the exit how are you still here?"


    Jeemin gulped inwardly as he concocted excuses on his head.


    "That''s none of your business." When he couldn''t generate a solid excuse from his measly brain, he decided it was better not to make any in the first place.


    Dale was about to speak but Lily interrupted him, "Check what''s below the collapsed staircase backdrop."


    Dale looked towards Lily and then his gaze lingered on Jeemin for awhile before climbing up the stairs. After he reach the middle floor, he stretched his neck and peeked below.


    "There''s a white tunnel and a door here."


    "How can you prove that there''s no trap there?" Lily asked calmly as her deep emerald eyes gazed at him.


    "You could send one of your people there," Jeemin replied flatly.


    "What if you are lying and one of my men dies in there?"


    Jeemin frowned as he was starting to get anxious.


    "What if I''m not lying and one of your men don''t die in there?"


    Lily was stunned momentarily before speaking, "Well, we''ll thank you of course."The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "..."


    After some unbearable awkward silence, Lily finally spoke again.


    "Anyone wants to volunteer to check it?"


    "Screw that! Why don''t he check it?!"


    "Look at him looking cool and shit, I say we beat him up and spill information for us!"


    "Yeah that''s right, he could still have food and water with him!"


    "He even had a spear on his hand!"


    The crowd behind Lily started walking towards Jeemin. Their eyes were weary but was filled with greed; just one word from Lily, Jeemin was certain that they would immediately pounce on him like hungry beasts.


    But Jeemin neither spoke nor made any movements, his eyes were cold and calm. He tilted his neck to ease his anxiousness, but Lily and rest perceived it differently.


    How can he be so calm? Lily thought.


    Dale gave her a look that said, "forget it, don''t mess with this guy."


    Suddenly, Jeemin roused his Origin and swung the down the spear. The wood on the floor cracked dangerously, some splinters of wood even flew into the crowd''s direction.


    The gust of wind produced from the single swing he did was enough to cause them to widen their eyes.


    Lee Mingwoo took a step back from shock.


    What strength! That''s not something you could normally do.


    He raised his guard as he went closer to Lily and whispered, "That movement just now, if that hit a human being, I''m sure he would be cut into two."


    "If you still don''t want to leave this place, then don''t blame me from going on a rampage. I''m a little bit stiff dealing with all the traps here so I might make a mistake and hit one or two if I swing again, and oh, it''s a good training by the way." He said with lackadaisical tone as he rested the spear on his shoulder.


    "Feel free to steal my spear. Of course, that is if you are prepared to pay using your life."


    He snickered but his legs was trembling unnoticeably.


    I should regain my limb as soon as possible, I can''t use a weapon properly. Without Claire''s greatsword, I''m nothing but a baboon swinging a long stick around.


    Lily fell in thought and said, "Then I''d rather check it myself if there''s no traps."


    "Lily!"


    "No, we''ll do it for you, you''ve already done a lot for us!"


    "It''s just that, what if we die?"


    Lily sighed and spoke, "Then that''s easy, I''ll be the one who''ll¡ª"


    "I''ll do it."


    The man beside Lee Mingwoo interrupted as he swiftly went below the collapsed middle floor of the staircase backdrop.


    Soon, a cry came from the white tunnel.


    "There''s a stairway here leading up. The air is fresh and the sunlight is warm! There''s no trap, it''s safe."


    As soon as the man wearing a blue shirt shouted, the rest of them followed one by one. But they didn''t forget to glare at Jeemin as they left.


    What''s with these people? Are they right on the head? Jeemin sighed in his heart.


    "I''m sorry earlier by the way, you know, we''re just being careful. We''ve lost a lot of lives already, I''d appreciate it if you''d understand." Lily walked towards Jeemin without paying heed to Dale''s warning.


    "What''s the point?" Jeemin frowned and uncharacteristically asked.


    Her emerald eyes and her meek and beautiful face was making him uncomfortable, he took a step back and spoke coldly, "I''d appreciate it if you leave this place faster."


    Lee Mingwoo tugged at Lily''s sleeve and said, "Let''s go, he''s not right in the head. It''s better not to get involved with him."


    Lily gave him a scrutinizing look before leaving with the rest.


    Cold sweat trickled from his back as Jeemin breathed in and out, calming his trembling hands.


    After determining that there were no people left on the mansion, he kept the bronze spear away as he swept all the remaining tunnels clean for more treasures he could find.


    He found a worn out incomplete map of the desert and forest, to which he deemed useless. Going back is just courting death because there was no time left.


    He also found some broken sword, aged boots, leather vest, chopping board...


    "!"


    Chopping board?!


    He found some rotten apples, dusty bottled wine, tattered shield....


    Suddenly, he saw what seems to be an audio head jack lying on one of the tunnels.


    As he picked it up he couldn''t help but cried out in suprise, "There''s even a manual!"


    An earphone jack was resting on his hand as he read the manual before him.


    [Mana Audio Jack]


    After plugging it on a phone, insert mana on the  jack to initiate charging.


    Charger?


    Now that he thought of it, he immediately recalled something.


    The first privilege reward after we left the hall!


    He looked at the empty air and muttered, "Privilege rewards."


    [Pick one: Rope, Condom, Cellphone]


    After he chose the cellphone, it was sent immediately to his golden pouch. When he checked the phone, to his suprise, its battery was completely drained.


    He then plugged the mana jack on the phone with difficulty. After he was done inserting it with the help of his teeth and remaining hand, he asked himself, "Now what?"


    He pressed his thumb on the magic jack but nothing unusual happened. The phone didn''t lit up nor made any signs of being charged.


    His eyelids drooped down depressingly as he realized what''s wrong.


    I don''t have any mana yet.


    When he determined that there were no treasures left on the mansion, he sat on the staircase backdrop for awhile as he gathered his thoughts.


    His chin rested on the back of his palm as he started organising in his head.


    Now, I need to deal with these strange memories. If these things are really what I think they are, then I should make a rough plan first...


    My performances in the subsequent stages after the cave is good as Mili reminded me, there might be some decent organizations eyeing me now...


    *


    Inside a crude hut sat two people talking to each other with stern faces, with the table in between them.


    One was leaning forward with an interested gaze while a tiger''s coat was resting on his wide back.


    "...So they''re called watchers huh..."


    Cipriani Markez held his chin as he spoke with deep voice. His eyes narrowed as he said, "Interesting. Continue."


    "As I said, the prophet told me - the one you told me to communicate with - said that they are called watchers."


    "They?"


    "Yeah, the prophet said that the name displayed on the system notice we''re just their make up names. They''re not allowed to divulged any information from the outside. But before the prophet stopped replying to me, it mentioned the word ''recruitment.''"


    "... Hmm. So, have you tried talking with the other watchers yet?"


    "Yeah."


    "Did you gain some important information?"


    The man wearing a white priest''s robe hesitated for a moment. Seeing this, Cipriani Markez gave him a smile that was not a smile as he spoke, "I guess even a god''s servant is greedy. Fine, keep all the information all by yourself. Oh, am I forgetting something? I swear I remembered saving someone, he even called me, what was it again, saviour?"


    Cipriani Markez smacked his lips as he rapped on the table with his other hand. He leaned his back casually on the chair and tilted his head as his deep unfathomable gaze landed on the priest''s eyes.


    "Augustus, we know that this awful place is just the beginning. If I am right, there''s a vast world out there. I''m sure they''re watching over us right now as they deliberated who are they going to choose among the participants."


    "Don''t you think it''s better to build a bridge between us before we go separate ways outside?"


    Augustus unconsciously glared at him and spoke in a loud voice, "Bridge? You''ve already burned it when you dismantled the congregation I was trying to form at the hall!"


    "Now, now, calm down. Shout at me one more time..."


    The table in front of them suddenly trembled. Cipriani Markez''s piercing gaze made Augustus reeled back from fear.


    He felt a formless force pushing him down as his eyes widened from shock and terror. Cold sweat dripped down from his back as his hairs stood on end.


    "You¡ª"


    Knock, knock, knock.


    The wooden door of the hut shook as someone knocked from the outside.


    "Are you trying to break the door?" Cipriani Markez bellowed and retracted the formless force.


    "No Boss, I''m just too strong. Anyways, we have another batch of new arrivals."


    "How many?"


    "About fourteen, I guess."


    Cipriani glanced at Augustus as he stood up, "Let''s continue this later, let''s take a look."


    When Cipriani was about to leave, Augustus suddenly spoke, "T-the information is about the next stage."


    Cipriani stopped in his tracks, looked back and said, "Explain it quick."


    "The next stage requires the cooperation of the entire people around here. The danger far surpassed the previous stages, Based from the information, whatever it is, it can kill several people in a blink of an eye."


    Cipriani creased his eyebrows. He was confident because he already gained control of some sort of power, but he was taken aback after hearing Augustus'' information.


    "Was it stronger than the intelligent hound we killed?"


    "According to what the prophet told me, the next one is likely closer to a human being."


    Cipriani Markez face became stern as he said, "Then we''ll just need more people."


    Augustus'' hairs stood on end when Cipriani Markez uttered the word ''people'' like he was speaking of disposable items soon to be used.


    When he recalled the amount of people who died on the mansion, he couldn''t help but swallow his saliva from fear.


    "Do you think you''re special enough to be called twice?" Cipriani Markez coldly spoke when he was already halfway through the door.


    As soon as Augustus was jolted awake, he immediately stood up and followed behind.

 Chapter 23 - Mana Cultivation, Kill?

    A hall was surrounded by verdant field at the center of the green forest, engulfed by the orange hue of the setting sun.


    In the hall supported by several mottled gigantic pillars, three group of people were tensely gathered.


    The three leaders of the group were discussing something at the middle of the hall.


    Beyond the hall was a massive gate equalling the height of a ten-story building.


    "That''s the gate for the next stage." Cipriani spoke with his gray eyes gazing deeply at the girl wearing a green scholarly robe.


    "Quite obviously, you don''t need to tell me that." Lily spoke expressionlessly.


    Claire who was standing a distance away from Cipriani, and in front of Lily, was displaying an obvious sign of anxiousness, as her left foot was tapping lightly on the floor.


    It had been hours since Jeemin left the party to her own control. She made contact with Cipriani as soon as she climbed the stairs.


    At first, everybody treated the other side with hostility and started drawing swords at each others'' throats. Until Cipriani dispersed the tension by treating them as an equal group.


    But Claire soon realized how terrifying Cipriani was, when Lily''s group made contact with them.


    Lily and Cipriani only stared at each other for a moment, but they were able to make the people around them shiver in fear.


    Claire didn''t know how to explain the formless pressure they used as their form of confrontation, but it was enough to make her raise her cautiousness against them.


    Perhaps captain knows about it...


    But the captain she was waiting for hasn''t still arrive, it''s been hours since then.


    At this moment, she can''t even talk to the two people in front of her even though she also had the same status of a leader in the meeting.


    "Claire, your name was it? How many people died when you crossed the mansion? You can choose not to answer if it''s too much."


    "?"


    Claire was in a daze after she heard Lily talked to her suddenly.


    "Mhhm. I understand. It must have been painful. Cipriani here told me that they lost around 15 to 20 people, but the thing is, there''s something I can''t understand. We''ve easily crossed the mansion without suffering any casualties."


    "Ahh no..¡ª" She almost blurted out that they had used a talisman to cross it but immediately changed it midway and replied, "Our captain found a way to remove all the traps."


    Hearing this, Cipriani narrowed his eyes and immediately view Claire''s group in a different light.


    Lily''s eyes lit up and spoke, "Wait, speaking of your captain, is he a male or a female? Because we found a strange guy at the mansion holding a spear, wearing a black leather robe, and seems to have lost his left arm."


    Claire thought for a moment and only replied with a nod indicating that Lily was talking about their captain.


    "So, about the alliance..." Cipriani coughed.


    "... The next stage has considerable level of danger that neither your group nor my group can handle alone. I suggest we formed a tripartite alliance to deal with it."


    "That sounds logical. Claire, what do you think?"


    Somehow, Claire could feel some hint of gratitude in Lily''s eyes


    "Yeah, I think it would be reasonable."


    Clap.


    "Since we''ve reached the conclusion of the meeting, the meeting is adjourned. Let''s meet again when the gate is already open."


    Cipriani gave the two a nod and left the hall as he headed towards their base of operation with his subordinates in tow.


    *


    The sun was already gone when Jeemin went inside the tunnel and arrived at the hall.


    His eyes flashed with greed when he saw the gigantic gate beyond the hall as he felt the cold breeze around him.


    [All participants has arrived]


    [You''ve received Universal Points +1]


    [Next stage will be open after 3 hours.]


    His eyes wandered around the hall and the outside surroundings for a moment before he shouted, "I need a task."


    After several seconds, in the dark and cold hall, a young girl clad in bronze armour suddenly appeared in front of him.


    Her eyes were dark violet and her hair was jet black. She had a face that seems gentle and meek. Her height was just about Jeemin''s chest.


    After taking off her helmet, she shook her head as she fixed her jet black hair.


    She creased her eyebrows and tilted her head as if to study him.


    "You sure?"


    Jeemin nodded at the young girl before him. Her gaze made his hair stood on end, even his stomach started to churn when he looked at her eyes.


    "I don''t know who told you about this... This was supposed to be kept as a secret agreed upon by the higher ups." Her commanding but comically childish voice drifted to his ears as she sighed.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    [Special task has been issued]


    [Emperor''s Representative has received the Authority]


    Information: Unavailable


    Task:


    Kill any of the following: Lily, Dae Kyung-Sam, Claire Williams, John Augustus.


    Difficulty: ???


    Time limit: Until Adaptation Zone ends


    Failure:


    Death.


    Rewards:


    Starter Pack


    Jeemin''s eyes widened to a circle as didn''t expected the task would be like this.


    But in the memories.... Wait..


    He gritted his teeth as he felt like he was tricked. When he recalled the foreign memories earlier, he swore he only saw some names and rewards and the task was obviously not to kill. The only thing different was...


    ..the name attached next to the task. In the foreign memories it was Ancestor''s Task, not Emperor''s Task.


    "Can I return the task?"


    "No."


    "Why?"


    "Because it''s a special task. If I were you, I''d start now, you don''t have time left." She spoke with a commanding tone as she studied him with interest.


    "Since we''re the one who issued the task, then I''ll teach you how to open your mana paths."


    Jeemin was sweating buckets as he stared at the task window before him when his ears suddenly perked up.


    Mana?


    "The easiest way is to have a picture of your veins and blood flow in your head. Then imagine them becoming into something else. Like a flow of energy, from there, you would command the energy to carve a path inside you so that you can store them in those paths."


    When Jeemin was about to ask for clarification, she disappeared like smoke.


    *


    Jeemin went outside the hall and sat under a tree with a stone on his hand.


    There are four names written on the soil in front of him.


    John Augustus, Lily, Dae Kyung-Sam, and Claire.


    He crossed out John Augustus'' name since he didn''t know him, he crossed out Lily''s name when he considered the number of people protecting her. He then crossed out Dae Kyung-Sam''s name as he have no idea where to find him.


    The forest was huge and dark and there was no time left to find Dae Kyung-Sam''s whereabouts.


    I need to be the first one to enter the next stage, I can''t waste time anymore.


    At this moment, he started to doubt the foreign memories.


    Maybe the task I received was different is because the event from the strange memories happened in a different time?


    He couldn''t help but be curious about the origin of the strange memories imprinted on his head.


    But time was running out.


    *


    He exhaled as he sat down like a monk and closed his eyes.


    Clear thoughts, random thoughts, go away. Come again another day¡ª


    He frowned as his mind started to sing.


    Clear, clear, clear.


    Soon, an outline of veins on his body formed in his head.


    A scene of blood flowing in his veins and pulses of his heartbeat gradually emerged from his mind.


    ''Haaa.''


    As he maintained his focus, the blood coursing through his veins suddenly became formless. They lost their thick red colour as they became dimmer, and dimmer, until they turned black.


    ''Huff.''


    His breathing unconsciously became regularized. He felt free and yet caged. The black liquid in his mind slowly coursed throughout his body.


    He frowned as the pathways suddenly became complicated, numerous veins diverged and converged as the black liquid continued traveling its path.


    Some subparts of the liquid diverged from the main body as it went into the other pathways.


    He suddenly vomitted blood when numerous subparts of the main body crashed to each other because of the messy paths. But instead of cutting off his focus, he forcibly continued imagining the pathways.


    He followed the main body, enduring the pain whenever another subparts crashed on each other, like opposite trains traveling on the same track.


    Jeemin avoided trying to view the pathways as if he was above them, since they''re so convoluted that they end up forming illogical paths at all.


    As blood dripped down from his lips, he urged the main body of the black liquid to make one cycle all over his body.


    His face contorted in pain when the other subparts of the main body clashed at each other again.


    Veins popped out from his temples as he endured the pain and continued on pushing the main body to finish the cycle.


    But when he saw that there were no paths left in front of the main body, he frowned.


    How could I make a cycle if there''s no path?


    He only thought for a second, before pushing the main body again, fearing that he might lose his concentration.


    But he was shocked when the black liquid fell from the ''track''. And when he kept on urging it to move, the black liquid gushed out at the end of the pathway.


    [Mana Ejection has been learned]


    When he opened his eyes he saw a black aura gushing out from his left shoulder, specifically from where his arm was originally connected.


    [Foundational Skill category has been added on your status window]


    He raised his eyebrows and deactivated the mana ejection skill.


    He sighed when he felt not a hint of joy when he gained a new skill.


    ''Haa, huff.''


    If I don''t kill, I would die instead; and I need to get the cultivation art on the beginner''s starter pack according to the strange memories.


    He stood up as various thoughts whirled up on his mind.


    *


    The sky was dark as the clouds blocked some of the lights coming from the stars.


    In the dark forest, a figure was roaming around as if he was trying to find something. After several minutes has passed, he finally found what he was looking for.


    He went towards the blond girl wearing a military uniform with a sword on his hand.


    The cold gleam of the sword immediately catched the girl''s attention.


    She raised her sword with her blue eyes reflecting the dark figure walking towards him.


    "Who?!"


    The figure neither spoke nor stopped walking towards her.


    When she was about to shout, the figure went past the shade of the tall trees and revealed its true appearance.


    She heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Oh, it''s just captain. How are you? Have you dealt with your headaches? We were worried about you."


    The moment Claire said those words, Jeemin stopped walking. His hand clasped around the cold hilt of the sword tightened and loosened, as if the holder was hesitating about something.


    It''s just a girl, they''ll betray me in the future anyway. They''ll leave me anyways... They''ll turn their back on me anyways.. And they can''t be mine anyways..


    His mind was in disarray as Claire kept asking about his condition and told him how she was anxious when he still didn''t return.


    He could see the relief and worry in her bright blue eyes staring at him.


    No... I can''t fall for tricks like this anymore. They care for you for a month, but then suddenly vanished when they discover who you really are. And although it''s not their fault that Rheena died, they should''ve made an attempt to go back for her instead of me losing my arm.


    As he was about to raise his sword, Claire suddenly pulled out the greatsword from her pouch.


    "Here, I can''t really use this. I''ve really tried to, but I can''t. It''s yours now, no need to return it to me. You have no idea how abnormal the other two groups are, their leaders has this strange power..."


    She explained everything that happened when he was gone from the party, from start to finish, as she left the greatsword on the ground.


    Jeemin bit his lips since even before they entered the mansion, he already decided to leave the party on their own. He can''t bear it anymore. Their disappointed looks and when they whispered to themselves when Seiji died.


    The momentary disgust from Hyoon''s eyes that he noticed when he was in a dazed staring at Claire at the mansion, struck a sensitive part on his heart.


    Since he has an overly conscious sense of awareness, he could naturally pick on what people were thinking of him.


    I''m not even thinking something perverted.


    Since these people are talking behind his back, what''s the use of keeping them around?


    Since these people are disappointed in him, making him hate himself even more, what''s the use of keeping them around?


    This world is now his home ground. The vast knowledge he accumulated from numerous fantasy novels he read was enough to elevate him beyond these people.


    He provided help when they needed it, what did he get in return? Talking behind his back? Disappointed gazes? Blames?


    I''ve had enough of this shit. These flowery words are just tricks to benefit from me more. I need to...


    When he was about to raise his sword, he stopped.


    Because of what Claire said.


    "... Oh Cipriani''s right hand was a priest named John Augustus.. and then the leader of other group was Lily, her guards are.... they even mention about you... Cipriani''s base is right there.."


    John Augustus?


    Jeemin''s vision went clear the moment he was given a reason not to kill the girl in front of him.


    The choice that he was about to take that he poured so much justifications to, vanished into thin air.


    His heart was gripped by guilt as he lowered his head and thought back to the disgusting thoughts that went in his mind earlier.


    He stared at his feet, as his eyes started to become moist. His eyes reddened from disgust and guilt as he gripped the sword hard.


    "...I-I''m .. s-sorry.." he muttered unconsciously.


    Claire suddenly stopped speaking as she looked at Jeemin with confusion.


    "I''m sorry, what?"


    "....I''m..." His throat went dry as he felt being choke when he thought about what kind of person he would become if he really killed the girl in front of him.


    "..sorry."


    It took several seconds for Claire to be able to speak as her lips opened and closed, thinking of an appropriate reply.


    "You don''t need to be sorry. In fact..." She sighed.


    "... In fact I''ve lied to you all along. You see this sword here," she raised her broadsword and continued, "This has been in my possession even before we left the hall..."


    Jeemin suddenly lifted his head up and asked, "What did you say?"


    "..."


    "You said... that you had a sword in your possession even when Rheena was about to be killed at the forest? Am I getting this right?"


    His voice suddenly turned sharp as his feet moved on their own and carried Jeemin closer to Claire.


    "You... why did you? Why didn''t you..."


    "Just why didn''t you throw it at our direction?! I could have save Rheena, I could have preserve my arm. Why..."


    "Captain what are you¡ª"

 Chapter 24 - Art of Berserker: Rage

    "I told you Claire you can''t trust him! He''s not right in the head!"


    Jin Hyoon emerged behind a hut and glared at him.


    Dmitri and Li Jing were hiding behind a tree watching the commotion happening between Claire and Jeemin.


    He stopped and widened his eyes when he saw the rest of the party looking at him oddly.


    "No I¡ª"


    Tick, tick, tick.


    Hundreds of needles suddenly pricked all over his body.


    The black leather robe shone in red and arteries appeared out of its surface.


    Blood red liquid started to flow on the arteries.


    Tud dud, tu dud.


    Tu dud.


    Tudd duudd!


    Suddenly, his eyes glowed in red as he thrusted the sword in front of him.


    Swish..


    Fortunately, Claire immediately stepped back at the same time when red glow appeared on Jeemin''s robe, making him missed his target.


    "I told you, you didn''t listen to me Claire. He''s totally lost it!" Jin Hyoon shouted with terrified voice.


    "Arghh."


    [Art of Berserker: Rage activated]


    His legs were shaking violently whenever he took a step forward as if he was forcing himself not to do so in the first place.


    When his eyes momentarily lost its red glow, he immediately kept the sword on his pouch and hurriedly explained.


    "No you''re misunderstanding¡ª"


    Tu dud, tud dud, tud dud.


    His heart beat suddenly increase when the needles coming inside from the robe dug deeper into his skin.


    It''s the Origin inside my palm!


    Jeemin can feel the ''thoughts'' coming from the Origin influencing his mind, forcing him to feel rage and activate the art of berserk: rage.


    With his mind gradually being consumed by the rage welling up in his heart, he made a split decision.


    He picked up the greatsword, ran away from them, and headed to the direction where Claire pointed earlier: Cipriani''s base of operations.


    *


    "Where''s Rock, why the hell is he sleeping at the hut? Haist, I''m tired, let me sleep."


    "Shut up, you were just sleeping a moment ago."


    "Oh am I? Okay, watch for me for awhile..."


    How can this guy sleep while standing?


    The man keeping watch in front of Cirpriani''s base shook his head and yawned.


    However, he soon caught a figure darting towards them like a red bull.


    It was fast, very fast.


    The next thing he knew, it was already some meters away from them.


    "Hey wake up! A ghost, a devil, I don''t what to call it hey!" He shouted with terrified voice and slapped the back of the guy''s head beside him.


    "What are you¡ª"


    "Holy F! Run."


    They immediately left their assigned post and ran away for their dear life.


    "Is that a new monster?!"


    "I didn''t sign up for this. I only signed my first novel contract but I was suddenly transported to this world! I literally didn''t sign up for this!"


    The man''s cry resounded in the entire forest causing the owls and birds sleeping on the trees leave there nests.


    If the birds were startled, then what about the people sleeping on the base?


    "What happened?" A man asked as he went out of his hut.


    "M-m-monster!"


    "Hmm? Useless, let me handle it." He drew out his sword immediately and headed to where the horror-stricken guy was pointing.


    Bam!


    A resounding explosion caught him off guard. Debris and splinters of woods from destroyed huts flew everywhere.


    When he finally saw the ''monster'', he couldn''t help but frown.


    Eh, it''s just a human being, what is there to be afraid off¡ª


    His thoughts was soon cut short when he saw the arteries glowing on the man''s robe. It was beating violently to the point that he can hear a sound akin to a loud heartbeat.


    Tud dud, tud dud, tud dud.


    "Interesting. Maybe if I can bring someone like him down I can get his robe and that gigantic weapon and exchange it to Cirpriani for learning the strange power he got."


    His licked his lips and pulled out another sword.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "Get out of there!" He shouted at the several men gathering around the man wearing a robe.


    When he was about to move, someone was sent flying in his direction as he duck down immediately.


    He turned his gaze on the man who just vomitted blood and fainted.


    "Bunch of useless twigs."


    He licked both of the surfaces of his swords and decided to observe the rampaging man''s movements for awhile.


    Quite frankly, the man''s movements were just simple in his own opinion.


    If he could describe it, the man was only mindlessly swinging, lifting, and slamming his huge heavy weapon around.


    But a shiver went down his spine when he heard the air parting ways  whenever the man swung the slab of iron.


    "I definitely can''t receive an attack like that. Although it''s simple, how the hell was he able to powerfully swing a weapon like that?!"


    However, his eyes glinted when he saw an opening.


    As Jeemin was about to swing the greatsword again, he suddenly felt a piercing pain coming from his lower right.


    He instinctively let go of the great sword as he intentionally fell on the left, to make the weapon that hit him deviate from its target.


    Clang.


    Rock frowned when he discovered that Jeemin''s robe was as hard as steel.


    [Warning! Blood is being consumed to negate the force. Durability 98/100]


    Jeemin felt groggy and the red glow in his eyes flickered as he crouched on the ground, warily staring at the man who was breath away from taking his life.


    Clarity soon returned to him when he realized that if it wasn''t for his leather robe, he might have actually lost his life.


    But the needles coming from the robe were still stuck inside his body.


    Hmm? The needles aren''t painful at all, it must be one of the effects of the Art of Berserker: Rage.


    He also discovered that whenever anger welled up in his heart, he felt his power increased.


    So this is how I can use it? Through anger?


    He shook his head and draw the broadsword on his pouch.


    His back straightened as he stood up while maintaining his wary eyes on the man holding two swords.


    The hand clasped around the hilt of the broadsword was shuddering from anxiousness.


    I honestly don''t know how to use a simple sword.


    One mistake, and he knew, the man before him could easily cut his head off.


    It was easier to use the greatsword as he can mindlessly swing it around because of its length, despite its weight.


    Fortunately, an idea came to him when he took a look at the greatsword resting a distance away from him.


    He checked if he can still activate the Origin inside his palm. However, his arm shook violently when he activated it.


    It felt like that if he used it two or three more times, the Origin inside his palm would go out of control and consumed him instead. Since the Origin inside his palm was like a part of his body, he naturally ''know'' how would it react if he overused it.


    I need to defeat him in one move.


    The muscles in his arm started to swell up and thick veins popped up on the back of his hand, clenching the hilt of the sword.


    I only got once chance.


    "Oh, Cipriani, I was hoping to see you."


    As he spoke suddenly, he casually lifted up the broadsword and allow it to rest on his shoulder.


    "?"


    The moment Rock turned his head to take a look, a silver object flew in his direction. The wind parted ways as the sword flew straight forward.


    He instinctively raised his two swords and managed to stop the sword by its hilt. But its tip was able to pierce his chest.


    "You¡ª"


    When he was about to speak, Jeemin was gone like a wind while dragging the greatsword behind him.


    *


    He ran forward with his whole body feeling tired while the world was tilting from side to side in his vision.


    Jeemin greeted his teeth and continued locating where John Augustus was sleeping.


    His eyes were clear and not a hint of red was visible, the same as his robe.


    Damn it I almost harmed Claire earlier...


    He shook his head and chose to defer the matter for now.


    The wind blew as the trees swayed back and forth.


    The huts placed randomly on the field with trees occasionally hindering his view, made it harder to find his target.


    Although his heart was pounding at the idea of killing a human being with his own hand, he knew he would be doing this in the future.


    He''ll just go with flow for now and allow the rage consume him momentarily; he''ll just deal with the regret later after the deed was done.


    When he went deeper into their base, he heard a creaking sound of a door being opened.


    His head immediately turned towards the source and spotted a man wearing a priest robe yawning in front of the hut''s opened door.


    Jeemin quickly twisted his waist, slammed his left foot forward, activated the robe, and with his eyes glowing in red, threw the heavy greatsword sideward.


    The priest who was rubbing his eyes was unaware of the huge flying object heading towards him.


    "What¡ª"


    His groggy voice abruptly changed into a yelp as he flew back with the slab of iron on his stomach.


    The hut behind him was torn to shreds as he left a trail of blood on the ground.


    Augustus grunted as he tried to prop himself up. But there was a heavy and thick slab of iron pinning him down.


    Augustus was still dizzy from getting his head hit the ground, making it almost impossible for him to remove the greatsword.


    Suddenly, blood spurted out of his mouth caused from the several cracked ribs piercing his organs.


    "What in the world?!"


    He muttered in difficulty as he coughed several times.


    Who was it? Was it someone who knew me from the previous world?


    John Augustus turned his head from side to side to check his surroundings, but the darkness enveloping the night sky only made it hard for him to see anything.


    He heard footsteps gradually coming closer to him as he lifted his head up and took look in that direction.


    A man clad in a black leather robe inlaid with numerous red arteries; glowing red eyes and a black face mask covering half of his face; and with his black hair fluttering ominously made John Augustus frightened out his wits.


    "Who are you? What do you want?!"


    "Nothing personal."


    Jeemin was trembling as he grabbed the greatsword resting on Augustus'' body.


    Strange, why do I feel like I''ve killed multiple people in the past before?


    Jeemin lifted up the greatsword as he stepped on Augustus'' chest.


    The red hue on his eyes was flickering from time to time as he hesitated.


    Noticing that the sword hasn''t cracked his head open yet, Augustus decided to speak.


    "You''re hesitating? Is this your first time?"


    The red in Jeemin''s eyes suddenly dimmed down as soon as he heard the priest speaking.


    "Shut up," he replied coldly.


    The priest sighed and continued, "I don''t know why you''re doing this, but I know you do have your own reasons. All people do. So let me be honest with you, I''m not buying time. Just kill me when Cipriani arrive. Until then, lend me your ear."


    Jeemin neither spoke nor nodded.


    [Mana running low!]


    "I started out as a¡ª"


    "Too long, get to the point," Jeemin immediately interrupted when he saw the notice.


    The priest chuckled and said, "I once killed a human being too. At first I felt horrible as the little child''s eye begged for mercy. But as I said, everybody has their own reason why they would kill a human being."


    "You see, I was just born this way. It''s unfair. So every time I did it again, I''d convinced myself I had another reason. The killing went on and on as I mercilessly choked another child to death, until I develop a certain addiction doing it."


    "Long story short, the reasons I had justifying my actions flew right out of the window. It devolved from; ''I was doing this because I don''t deserve getting imprisoned based on the people I helped'' to ''I''m doing this for their own good''. Until I became..."


    The priest closed his eyes as he said, "Until I became a monster administering ''salvation''. When I realized what I had become, I knelt down and prayed, and begged for forgiveness. But I never heard God''s voice again."


    "... I was coward you know. Instead of atoning for the sins I''ve commited, I''ve decided to run away and killed myself."


    Jeemin who was listening to him couldn''t help but feel his stomach churned from disgust. Just imagining the things the monster in front of him had committed made his skin crawled.


    The hesitation on his mind went into smoke as he lifted up the greatsword and the red glow on his eyes was even stronger than before.


    Even if I''ve killed you thousand times, I don''t think I''d ever feel guilty doing it.


    "The point is, even if you do have a reason to kill; it wouldn''t stop you from becoming a monster. Sure, you had a reason in killing me now, but..."


    "But what? Just stop talking, you just gave me a reason to kill you, you disgusting monster."


    "No, that''s not what I meant, listen, I meant this..."


    The priest''s words trailed off as he suddenly shouted, "Cipriani now!"


    A blue aura with faint traces of black suddenly engulfed Jeemin as his hand raising the slab of iron aimed at the priest''s head slowed down.

 Chapter 25 - Ape King

    Rather than Cipriani''s intervention being of helped, the fact that the greatsword was already falling down at Augustus'' head, it strangely helped Jeemin instead.


    Bam!


    The heavy slab of iron crushed Augustus'' head like a watermelon.


    Red juice spurted out from the crushed head and the pink matter scattered on the ground made the scene gruesome.


    [Special Task Completed]


    [You''ve received Starter Pack x1]


    [Item has been transferred to your inventory]


    Jeemin felt something strange because things were happening so smoothly. However, he had no time left to think about it as the Origin on his hand was on the verge of going out of control.


    He quickly shoved the greatsword on his golden pouch and activated the skill Rage again.


    Without glancing at Cipriani''s direction, with his remaining mana, he leapt away and darted towards the gate''s direction.


    Cipriani''s pupils constricted.


    "So quick," he clicked his tongue and retracted his aura.


    He walked towards Augustus'' corpse as he thought to himself.


    So the Emperor sent that guy? Well, I couldn''t kill Augustus'' myself without offending the Prophet. Hmm, it was really the right choice that I''ve sent Augustus to this hut without alerting him.


    He feigned a pained expression and knelt down beside Augustus.


    "I''m sorry I couldn''t protect you, may your soul rest in peace."


    ...rot in hell bastard.


    Cipriani lifted his head up as if he was looking at something, he shook his head with a rueful expression and made the sign of the cross.


    [The Watcher Prophet is sympathizing with you and said that they will handle the perpetrator.]


    [The Watcher Emperor doubts your loyalty.]


    His lips twitched imperceptibly as he stood up.


    He then turned his gaze towards Rock who was walking towards him while holding his bloody chest.


    "Still alive?"


    "Course I''d be, tch. Damn guy escaped."


    "No need to fret about it, someone will handle him."


    Cipriani took something out his pocket and threw it at Rock.


    "Here, apply it directly on your wound. You''ll recover immediately if it isn''t that deep."


    "What about the power thing?"


    He coldly looked at Rock and said, "Don''t be greedy."


    Cipriani then turned around and muttered, "Open Tutorial Shop...."


    *


    [Next stage will be open after 2 minutes.]


    Rustle.


    A figure was running unsteadily in the forest while heading at the hall''s direction.


    "Haa, huff, I can still make it."


    Jeemin glanced at his back and frowned.


    Weird, why are they not chasing me?


    He slowed down and gasped for air.


    Dawn has yet to arrive but the sky was strangely bright. It was because the gigantic gate was giving off radiant light at this moment, making it easier for him to locate it.


    However, he also spotted several people standing inside the hall.


    He stopped behind a tree and studied them carefully.


    After making some calculations, he inhaled and exhaled to calm his nerves down.


    I can''t even get a breather from these events happening nonstop.


    His eyes drooped down for a moment before he slapped his cheek and widened his eyes.


    Jeemin crouched slightly to prepare himself.


    One, two, three¡ª


    He put force on both of his feet like an athlete catapulting himself from the starting line.


    Swish.


    [Mana Insufficient! Activation Art of Berserker: Rage failed.]


    Jeemin greeted his teeth but continued running. He already took into account that he won''t be able to properly activate the skill.


    However, there was a faint feeling in his heart that he can activate it forcefully.


    But the problem was, he didn''t want to bet what would happen to him if he lose 100% of his mana.


    Would he collapse? Would it cripple his ability to sense and use mana?


    So he decided not to push himself anymore because he was starting to feel anxious when he saw his remaining arm was already emaciated.


    "Hey!"


    "Look, who''s that?"


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Lily, isn''t that guy familiar?"


    Dale asked while drawing his sword.


    "Looks like the guy at the mansion," Lily creased her eyebrows as she replied.


    "Looks like he''s heading towards the gate. Should we stop him?"


    "Let him, this is actually good for us. We''ll use him to probe the next stage for us, considering Cipriani said it was dangerous. Remember the strength he displayed at the mansion? And the benefits we got from it?"


    Dale turned his gaze at her and asked with confusion, "What are you getting at?"


    "Look, we easily passed the mansion that was supposedly full of traps, right? If he died at the next stage we''ll lose nothing. If we wait for some considerable time and enter, who knows? The so-called ''dangerous'' stage could become a walk in the park."


    She let out a faint smirk after explaining and tucked some strands of her smooth black hair behind her ear.


    "Here''s something I find weird. If the mansion was safe and he knew where the exit was, then why was he still there when we arrived?"


    Lily shrugged and replied, "Who knows. There might be treasures."


    "So we should¡ª"


    "Greed can easily take people''s lives, destroy their conscience, and make one lose one''s way. Remember how those group of ragtag boasted how they will easily get food from just ambushing people?"


    Dale nodded as his response.


    "Where are they now?"


    "..."


    *


    Jeemin squinted his eyes when he reached the massive bronze gate glowing in bright blue.


    His heart was pounding crazily but he resisted the urge to breathe through his mouth. Because he needed to maintain a relax composure to make the people at the hall wary.


    Fortunately, they were not making any moves, since he was in no condition to fight against them.


    His sword was gone, his arm was closed to being crippled and his mana was running low.


    Using the heavy greatsword was just impossible, also.


    Even Jeemin''s lips had a shade of blue while his complexion was pale white from the amount of blood drained away from his body.


    He knew he was moment''s away from collapsing.


    But I couldn''t. Even if I die, so what?


    The bright blue light coming from the massive gate shrouded his body, making his complexion harder to see.


    So the people at the hall had no idea what shape his body was in.


    [Resting Time Left: 0]


    [The next stage is available]


    [Warning! Please cooperate with each other.]


    Jeemin narrowed his eyes since this was the first time the system notice gave a direct warning regarding the next stage.


    He slowly turned his gaze at the gate and stretched his hand forward.


    The massive gate opened automatically the moment his hand made contact on its surface.


    Surprisingly, despite its size, it opened smoothly without making any sound.


    There was nothing inside the gate except absolute darkness, even though the gate was shining in blue just a moment ago.


    Seeing the scalp-numbing darkness, he couldn''t help but hesitate.


    However, his hesitation only lasted for a second as he immediately went inside and shouted, "Close!"


    [Participant "Liu Jeemin" has closed the door. Further entree is forbidden until the participant is eliminated]


    The moment the gate closed, the darkness devoured his entire vision.


    He gnashed his teeth when he saw the system notice announced his name.


    Only when the system notice disappeared from his vision did he notice the surroundings.


    *


    It was completely dark around him.


    The absolute defeaning silence even made his heavy breathing loud. Even the movement of his teeth making contact with each other echoed on the darkness around him.


    When he tried to closely observe his surroundings by narrowing his eyes, the only thing he ''saw'' were the various static noises that one can only see when your eyes were closed.


    Even looking at his own hand was impossible.


    After several seconds has passed, a bright light suddenly engulfed the surroundings, causing him to squint his eyes.


    The light spread and instantly replaced the darkness.


    After his eyes acclimated from the sudden emergence of light, he was finally able to see the crude Roman Colloseum before him.


    The brown eight-story tall elliptical structure, with him on the center, made him widened his eyes in suprise.


    It is even more amazing than what I saw from the foggy memories I received on the mansion.


    He licked his lips and stared at his palm.


    Are those memories from the Origin? Or..... Impossible. How could that even be possible. I''m not going to be conceited enough to even consider that possibility. The possibility that it came from the future.


    ..


    He shook his head vehemently and decided that those memories came from the previous owners of the Origin Mili gave him, rather than thinking of himself as that special.


    Why? Because, if he was in the future and was able to go back in time, he''d rather kill his past self, since that was his wish in the first place. And his past self would even thank him while performing dogeza a hundred times.


    --


    [New task has been issued]


    [Defeat the Ape King]


    Information: Unavailable


    Task: Defeat the Ape King


    Difficulty: Tutorial(Cooperation)


    Time limit: None


    Failure: Death


    Rewards: Staff of Ape King x1(last hit), 2000 credits(last hit), random high grade equipment with effects.


    --


    While Jeemin was reading the task window, his ears suddenly twitched when he noticed the violent gust of wind heading towards him.


    He crouched instinctively as the object aimed at his head made a swooshing sound.


    His heart sank when he saw a massive hairy ape looking at him with bloodshot eyes.


    The Ape was sporting a massive physique and a tall height.


    It was to the point that Jeemin was only at its waist-level even if he stood straight.


    The Ape King swung its silver staff downwards with its bulging muscles.


    Grawwwrr


    He immediately rolled sideward to evade the staff but the Ape King suddenly changed its course halfway from hitting the ground, and swung in his direction.


    Clang.


    Sparks flew from his robe when the silver staff made contact on its surface.


    [Armor''s durability 25/100]


    Bang!


    Almost at the same moment, Jeemin flew like a broken kite and his back crashed heavily against a wall as dust flew everywhere.


    [Armor''s durability 10/100]


    Hu, hu, hu, hu, grawwrrr!


    The massive Ape King slammed its chest with one of its hand proudly and growled at him.


    Afterwards, while its silver staff was resting on its shoulder, the Ape King charged at his direction.


    Its every footsteps shook the Colloseum while sweeping up dust.


    Ha, ha, ha, hu, hu, hu.


    The Ape King''s strange voice sounded rather amused at Jeemin''s condition as it spun its silver staff around while charging at him.


    Unfortunately, Jeemin was seeing stars revolving on his head. He even saw himself in third person for a moment.


    When he regained a bit of clarity, he immediately pulled something out of his pouch.


    Jin Hyoon, if this works, you just unknowingly save my measly life.


    He slightly tilted his head and coughed out mouthful of blood while making sure that no blood hit the item he was holding.


    He groggily turned his gaze in front of him.


    Cold sweat trickled down from his forehead as the Ape King''s reflection enlarged from his eyes.


    He took a nervous gulp when he thought back how the special task given to him earlier was different from the foreign memories he had.


    Well, if it doesn''t work, who knows? I might get transferred to another world again. New people, new identity, and new personality...


    The Ape King lifted up its silver staff and changed its thickness.


    The silver staff now became as thick as a tree compared to earlier when it looks like a tooth pick in the Ape King''s hand.


    *


    "Ahh this one''s gone for good."


    Dylan closed his eyes and whistled as he crossed his huge ripped arms.


    His white hair was tied in a messy man bun complimented with his white scruffy beard.


    Suddenly, Nameless pushed him at his side.


    The room shook a bit when Nameless saw he didn''t budge.


    "How many times I''ve told you, you''re blocking half of the panel!"


    When Nameless was about to draw her katana from her ponytailed blue hair, Dylan immediately moved sideways.


    He swallowed mouthful of saliva and said, "The heck, you call me a brute but you solve things with your sword!"


    "Well, do smashing things apart are elegant to see? Hell, even your body is disgusting. Look at that oily ski¡ª"


    Sizzle.


    Suddenly, the sweat all over his skin evaporated.


    He then made his pectoral muscles bounce up and down while his eyebrows were rising up and down, too.


    She glared at him, and as she was about to speak again...


    "The Church just sanctioned a decree. They said that whoever accept that guy in their organization would suffer from a severe consequence."


    Old Man Zai Zen stroke his long beard and frowned.


    "Who told him to take the special task anyways? He''s lucky his name didn''t get in the Judgement''s List," Ling Tian waved his fan and casually said.


    "Listed or not, this Old Man believes it''s useless. He''s dead anyways. What kind of moron would take the Ape King alone. Even at my time..."


    "Ughhh not again."


    "Aghhkk no, not again."


    "Eughhh, I''m going to die.."


    The three simultaneously let out a groan as soon as they heard Zai Zen spoke the last phrase.


    "What''s wrong? You get to learn one or two from this old man. You might even gain enlightenment¡ª"


    His voice suddenly came to a halt as soon as he saw what Jeemin did to the Ape King.


    "What?!"


    The four of them simultaneously asked in suprise with their mouth agape.


    Dylan''s expression crumpled unpleasantly and said, "No, I''m not gonna take that guy. That''s not how you deal with this stage, not at all."


    Zai Zen nodded with his dark expression.


    "I can forgive him betraying Claire if he''s sorry, but doing this. This is just cheating this old man. I got several broken bones from this stage in my time."


    Nameless shook her head while Ling Tian asked with a blank expression.


    "How do we test the remaining people?"


    No one replied. Because this was an unprecedented and unforseen event.


    *


    Jeemin flinched when he saw the huge silver staff on the Ape King''s hand. But he was still able to present his palm forward holding the item Jin Hyoon gave him, even though he was gripped by fear.


    The Ape King suddenly stopped its attack and started to eye him from head to toe for a moment as soon as Jeemin presented the item on his hand.


    "Hu?"


    Swish


    It might be his slow reaction due to the built up fear gushing out from his heart, he neither dodged nor flinched as the staff was swung down aimed at his head.


    But the moment it was about to hit, Jeemin lost his contact with his already tottering conciousness as he completely gave up from resisting.


    Tongk.


    His head was lightly hit by the silver staff but the unconcious Jeemin didn''t react


    .


    The Ape King suddenly laughed and took the item on his hand. It brought the item to its nose and sniffed it as it nudge him to hold his silver staff so that it can properly peel the item.


    But the silver staff only fell to the ground while its size shrunk.


    When the Ape King held the item for several seconds, it suddenly grew in size. It became a huge banana!


    The same banana that Jin Hyoon gave Jeemin when he reached the top of the mountain!


    The Ape King peeled the enlarged banana happily.


    After the Ape King was finished eating, it poked Jeemin several times.


    But noticing that he wasn''t reacting. The Ape King hesitated for a moment before picking up the silver staff on the ground and putting it on Jeemin''s lap.


    It then patted Jeemin''s head before it ran off and headed towards the gate at the end of the Colloseum.


    As soon as it was about to disappear, the Ape King shrunk and vanished after crossing the gate.

 Chapter 26 - Slightly Clear

    [The task to Defeat the Ape King has been completed.]


    [Next Stage has been completed.]


    [You will be transferred at the briefing room for finalization.]


    [Time left before transference: 180 seconds.]


    Cipriani Markez froze in his tracks the moment he saw the System Notice.


    "What the? He finished it alone? What about my tripartite alliance?"


    Cipriani thought that Augustus was causing him troubles even after his death. Since it seemed, he lied to him about the next stage being that dangerous, seeing that Jeemin was able to finish it alone.


    He could only let out a sigh as his plans went into smoke.


    Cipriani then gathered his remaining men and stood in front of them with his tiger''s coat draped on his back.


    "You''ve followed me well until here."


    Rock nodded as the rest beside him listened.


    "Now, since I''ve already informed you about the recruitment, you''d get better recruitment deals from now on. You might not know its value now. But sooner or later, you''ll do. Remember, after you become stronger outside. You''re welcome to contact me anytime."


    Then, Cipriani pulled out something out his pouch and threw it at Rock.


    "You''ve serve me well, here''s how you can use mana."


    Rock excitedly caught the scroll with his hand.


    "Thanks boss."


    Cipriani also took some items like bandages, pills, and other things inside his pouch and gave it to the men in front of him.


    After they shouted in gratitude, Cipriani curled up his lips. His condition could only be described as perfect as he wasn''t tired nor suffering from any injuries, it was like, the Adaptation Zone was just a walk in the park.


    He turned his gaze at the empty air above him, made a cross, and bowed lightly.


    Cipriani Markez then muttered, "Tutorial Shop."


    [Tutorial Shop: Items are sold out]


    *


    At the same time, Lily was surrounded by the people who followed her.


    "Is it true? We''re not going to suffer anymore?"


    "Does the new message means that they we''re done here?"


    Lily raised her hand to signal them to quiet.


    "Yes. According to what the other leader said, that was the last stage."


    "Thank God."


    "Oh thank the heavens."


    "Lily, thank you for leading us."


    She smiled genuinely and shook their hands.


    "I should be the one thanking all of you, without each of you helping me, I don''t think I could survive this long either."


    "No, no, it''s because of you we''re alive.."


    "That''s not true, you even shared your own foods with us.."


    After dealing with their words of gratitude, Lily heaved a sigh.


    Lily turned her gaze outside the hall and looked at the sky.


    "Now, the only question is, if we can go back to our world. I wonder what my mom and dad are doing. Little brother and sister, are you all doing fine? Big sis here will do everything to go back."


    A drop of warm water trickled down from here eyes as dawn finally arrived.


    *


    "So that bastard''s name is Liu Jeemin huh," Hyoon said with indignation.


    "Why are you so harsh on him? He even saved your life couple of times."


    Claire frowned and looked at her.


    "Why are you so adamant on protecting him? Look, Seiji died because he rushed us even though the purple haired girl told us otherwise. He even tried to kill you."


    "No, he didn''t try to kill me. That''s not him, he even tried to explain to me when his eyes glowed in red..."


    "Both of you, shut up. Hyoon is just spouting nonsense because she''s feeling guilty about Seiji''s death. I wonder what it felt like when you threw Seiji''s body away," Dmitri coldly said while playing with his knife.


    "You.. you mustn''t... fight with each other.."


    Li Jing twiddled with her fingers while stuttering.


    Hyoon only glared at Dmitri but didn''t reply.


    The wind was cold and moist making the party''s atmosphere all the more gloomy.


    After the momentary silence, Claire finally spoke.


    "Say what you will about him. But I know what a captain feels whenever they made a mistake. He must have been carrying the burden of Seiji''s death and Rheena all this time. Well, I guess it doesn''t matter anymore. We''ll go on our separate ways anyways."


    With that, Claire left the party.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "W-wait!"


    Li Jing shouted anxiously and followed behind her.


    "Are you going too?" Hyoon asked as she turned her gaze at Dmitri.


    "Nah, I''ll just sit here. We''ll get transported anyways. Just stop talking, you sound like my nagging mom."


    Hyoon raised her eyebrows at his remark. She found it strange, since it was unusual for Dmitri to talk about matters about him.


    "Your father must be unlucky then."


    "Yeah, he''s unlucky because he got killed by his own son."


    Before Hyoon could even react to his casual response, devoid of his usual cold tone, a bright light shrouded their entire bodies.


    *


    In a huge theater room, with lights coming from rocks and gems inserted on the walls, seven people were discussing among themselves.


    "Is this okay? We haven''t tested their combat abilities yet." Ling Tian waved his fan with an annoyed look.


    Li Na shook her head and replied, "We got the chamber for that."


    "Fine, then we''ll discuss about recruitment...."


    Zai Zen and the rest nodded at Ling Tian''s words and begun negotiating.


    The negotiations didn''t exactly went smoothly. Nameless suddenly drew her katana at Dylan, while Li Na almost fought with the girl clad in Armor.


    "That guy is ours. You want to fight here? You''re challenging the name of our dear Emperor?!"


    The young girl who almost look like a child drew a massive lance out of nowhere and aimed at Li Na, who was coldly glaring at her with her twin crescent blades.


    At the same time, Dylan darted around the theater dodging Nameless'' katana slashing at him.


    "Hey, eyy, oie, fine, fine. She''s yours."


    Nameless coldly glared at him and put her katana back on her ponytailed blue hair and walked in front, before closing her eyes.


    "Guess I''ll take those four then," Dylan sighed and sat at the front while wearing his white Dojo uniform.


    Soon, Li Na and the young girl clad in full armour finally reach an agreement.


    While Zai Zen, who was wearing his golden black Daoist robe, only closed his eyes and waited. Ling Tian waved his fan as no one disagreed to who he picked.


    Numerous light suddenly emerged in the theater room as the people finally arrived at the last step of passing the Adaptation Zone.


    *


    [Task is completed using the hidden approach]


    [The task to Appease the Ape King has been completed]


    [Task has been completed alone]


    [You''ve gained bonus 5000 credits, High Training Booster x1, experience +5% x5]


    [Generating rewards for task completion....]


    [You''ve received  2000 credits, random high grade equipment with effects.]


    [Mana Reinforced Spear has been sent to your inventory]


    [Silver Staff has been sent to your inventory]


    As soon as Jeemin regained consciousness, the first thing that greeted him was the Sytem Notice barraging him one notices after another.


    He felt warmth shrouding his entire body the moment he woke up.


    His entire being also felt light like he was lying on the surface of a still ocean.


    When he opened his eyes, his vision was filled with blue light that was neither bright nor dim. It was pleasing and soothing to look at.


    "Have I been transported to another world again?"


    Jeemin felt for the ground and propped himself up. After seeing the groundless ground, he almost reeled back from vertigo.


    "I''ll defeat my fear of height as soon as I get stronger, hopefully. I hope this new world would give some unique skills, higher rank, and some cheat OP weapon. If not, I''d rather die again then go to another world."


    He swept his gaze around him and only then he noticed that he didn''t feel any pain coming from any part of his body.


    Before he realized it, he was already turning his head swiftly at his left arm.


    However, he could only display a dismayed expression when he saw his missing left arm.


    So my left arm is gone, meaning I didn''t die.


    He sighed disappointedly and checked for his pouch. When he saw it was still in his pocket, he nodded at himself.


    Jeemin then check the status of his robe.


    Robe of Thalos


    Grade: H-1


    Class: Warrior


    Type: Armor


    Durability: 10/100


    Attributes: None


    Effects: Slightly increase defense according to the user''s stats.


    Weapon Skill: (1)


    (Art of Berserker - Rage)


    Feeds on the user''s flesh and blood to increase the user''s power and speed. Overusing the skill would gradually corrode the user''s mind.


    How could I fix this? Are there any blacksmith here?


    While he was in thought, he suddenly heard a faint chuckle.


    [Healing is done, continue walking forward after you leave the chamber.]


    The voice was soft and gentle.


    He tilted his head left and right looking for the source, but he wasn''t able to locate where it came from.


    [Go now, or do you want to miss being recruited? You''ll be transported in a small city alone. With no information about the outside world, how could a nonnative like you could survive?]


    Jeemin perked up his ear and asked, "If that happened, then where should I go then?"


    [Mhmmm. Are you taking advantage of me?]


    "No, my Goddess, I''m just asking for your divine guidance." He said bashfully.


    I don''t need to wear an indifferent personality here, I''m going to leave this place anyways.


    [Hmph. Okay f-fine. Find a mountain and reach level 1. If you''re mark S then that would take you less than 15 days. But if have the lowest rank, which is F, then less than two months.]


    "Uhhmm... What exactly should I do in the mountain?"


    [Training of course. Now go.]


    "W-wait, what''s your name?"


    [...]


    After getting no response, Jeemin bowed down and...


    "How do I get out of this place¡ª"


    ... he saw a white bright light behind him. When he looked closer, he could see a simple pavement with wide tiles and grasses growing in each of the gaps.


    Jeemin looked back and bowed again and said, "Thank you."


    Afterwards, he left the blue space.


    *


    At the middle of the empty space, a pavement leading to three locations floated.


    A small building with a dome-shaped roof, a two-story tall building, and a door at the end of the pavement that can be seen in its entirety if you look down from above.


    Jeemin walked straight as per the instruction earlier, and decided not to take a peek at the darkness from both of his sides.


    Even though the surroundings were like empty space, the pavement, two buildings, and the door at the end were visible.


    [Status Window]


    Name: Liu Jeemin


    Titles: None


    General information


    Current state: Healthy


    Physical: 62kg/167.3cm


    Cause of Transmigration: Suicide


    Mark: g


    Level 0


    Class: None


    Talent: Average


    Skills:


    A. Unique Skills:


    None


    B. Acquired Skills:


    -Foundational Skills:(1)


    ¡ªMana Ejection


    C. Weapon Skills: (1)


    ¡ªArt of Berserker - Rage


    Personality:


    -Inconsistent (Does not have fixed traits)


    -Slightly Clear(have a vague goal)


    -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: 4


    He stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes.


    Something''s changed. ''Slightly clear''?


    Jeemin can still recall his abject personalities when he checked it at the cave. He can remember it being ''confused'' not ''slightly clear''.


    Now that he looked at it, the second row of the Personality represents his desired direction, his goal. It is even stated at the end that he already had a vague goal.


    Looking back, he recalled being gradually consumed by the thought of becoming strong.


    He grinned at the improvement and hurriedly walked towards the door at the end of the road.


    But he checked himself first if his face was still covered properly by his black face mask. After confirming it was fine, he then looked at the appearance of his black leather robe.


    Suprisingly, it wasn''t tattered even though the durability was 10/100. But he can feel the major difference between 100/100 and 10/100, because it felt lighter than when it was undamaged.


    When he was about to move his hand forward to open the door, he stopped.


    Hesitation welled up in him as he displayed a pained facial expression.


    His forehead was creased as he thought.


    How should I deal with the rest of the party, especially Claire? Should I apologize and explain or just ignore them? What if we are recruited by the same recruiter, wouldn''t that be awkward?


    When he recalled what Hyoon shouted at him when he was influenced by the Origin inside his palm, his forehead further creased.


    I should apologize to Claire at least, pat Li Jing''s head, hmm, and thank Dmitri. How should I deal with Hyoon? Maybe some people just really hates other people for being born, tsk, I shouldn''t have saved her in the first place.


    He sighed because he knew he wouldn''t be able to handle the guilt if he let Hyoon died. It was more for himself that he saved her.


    When he realized this, he shook his head before he opened the door.


    *


    Creak.


    Suddenly, all his hairs stood on end when several gazes turned towards him.


    Jeemin fought the urge of lowering his head and stiffly swept his gaze around the theater room.


    He immediately spotted Claire standing beside an old man wearing golden black Daoist robe with long white beard.


    Jeemin even saw Li Jing and Lily beside a girl wearing a black windbreaker with a katana on her..


    He did a double take when he saw the katana was used to bun her ponytailed blue hair. He didn''t even know what to call her hairstyle rather than the katana was used as the lock to ponytail her hair, as the best description.


    Jeemin swallowed his saliva when he saw the huge man with broad frame and thick ripped muscles bulging from his white Dojo uniform.


    Even from afar, Jeemin needed to lift his head up just to look at the man''s face. The man was beside four burly men.


    One of the guy was a little bit familiar, thought Jeemin.


    Hmm, it was the guy who almost took my life.


    He also noticed a feminine guy waving a fan, and the familiar Li Na and the young girl clad in armour looking at his direction.


    Is that Dae Kyung-Sam beside that feminine man? Wait, what''s the connection between that young girl clad in armour and Cipriani, why is he standing beside her?


    Feeling those glares coming from the familiar people who he fought with, he only replied with his drooped eyelids after looking at them.


    The theater room was expansive but the lights on the wall seemed damaged since it was a little bit dim like a battle had taken place here.


    He quietly closed the door behind him and stood calmly at the side.


    Clap.


    Suddenly, the feminine man clapped once and spoke.


    "Hmm. The so-called star is here."

 Chapter 27 - End of Adaptation Zone

    The young girl who was clad in armour suddenly spoke with her child like voice, "The people who weren''t pick by us would have a letter in their pockets. Let''s make haste as the Emperor was calling me already."


    A random guy in the middle of the crowd raised his hand.


    "What''s the difference between being picked by the six of you and receiving the letter on my pocket?"


    "Better resources and guidance. There will also be a daily ''boost''. Then, your own abode servants, privilege access to treasures, maps, information, and many more."


    "Uhh. What''s that for? Are you saying we can''t go back home?"


    "No."


    After Marie flatly replied, some people broke down and sobbed.


    When Jeemin thought that it was reasonable that they can''t go home because they already died in the first place, he immediately changed his mind when he heard a woman spoke near him.


    "I... I was just watering plants. How could I not return back... my little son is alone at home..." She was covering her mouth while crying.


    Li Na, ignoring those who are sobbing, walked in front and said, "Those who received the letters, you can go out now. There''s a two-story building there for you to take a bath, then the domed building for you to heal yourselves. After that, go back here and we''ll depart."


    *


    When the people gradually left the theater room, Jeemin was still checking his pocket.


    After finding that there was no letter in his pocket, Jeemin fell in thought.


    So no one wants me?


    At this moment, Jeemin was left alone in the area where the participants who weren''t picked by the six people in front, stayed.


    Zai Zen raised his eyebrows beside Claire.


    "As expected."


    "What''s expected?" Claire asked hesitantly.


    "He didn''t get any recruitment letter."


    "Why''s that?"


    "Because he killed the one who was eyed by the Church," Zai Zen coughed and while stroking his beard.


    Claire was confused for a moment then something clicked.


    Was that the reason why he was acting weird last night?


    Zai Zen continued stroking his beard while he examined the youth who was blinking gloomily beside the door. If there was one thing he could tell from the youth, it was that, the youth was always shrouded in a gloomy aura.


    "Azrail, also known as Liu Jeemin. Are you interested in being my disciple?"


    Nameless and the rest gave the old man a glance after turning their gazes at Liu Jeemin.


    When Ling Tian was about to ask the old man what was he thinking, Jeemin replied.


    "Thank you for your offer, but I decline."


    At this moment, the six of them was stunned.


    Zai Zen frowned and asked, "Seeing that you didn''t leave yet, I''m sure you didn''t receive any letter right?"


    Jeemin nodded.


    "So why are you not accepting my offer?"


    Amidst the quietness, Jeemin let out a sigh of exhaustion.


    "I did manage to pass every stages, but it wasn''t through my own ability. I borrowed Claire''s special items. I failed to save the life of one of my teammates. I left them when I can''t take it anymore. I even had the idea of killing Claire when I was put in situation where my life is at stake."


    Jeemin then lifted his gaze up and looked at Claire, "I don''t think a human being like me deserved being recruited by the six of you."


    There was a faint moist forming around his eyes when he said these words.


    Jeemin neither apologized nor asked for her understanding, he just stared at Claire''s eyes with his usual gloomy eyes.


    "And I was staying here not because I didn''t receive any letter, but because I had other agenda."


    Zai Zen nodded while stroking his beard with complicated expressions.


    "Young man, how did you climbed up the mountain?"


    Jeemin stopped when he was about to walk forward. Since these people are already used to this world, it was highly improbable for them not to know that he has something inside his palm.


    "Because of this," he raised his remaining hand.


    "I think it absorbed whatever it was making the mountain harder to climb."


    Zai Zen paused from stroking his beard and asked in suprise, "Is it still conscious? I''m suprised it didn''t take over your mind yet."


    "Heh, it did at first. It almost choke me to death," he replied half-jokingly.


    However, Zai Zen and the rest suddenly had a change of expression.


    "What did you say?"


    "Uhmm, it almost choke me to death."


    "Young man, tell me how you were transferred here."


    "..."


    Jeemin didn''t respond. How could he tell these people he actually killed himself with the hope of being transported in another world? He might be immune to pity, but he wasn''t immune being seen as a lost cause.


    "That phenomenon only occurs when the user of the Origin has an intense desire to die. What I find difficult to understand is, why are you still ... alive?"


    Old man Zai Zen found it a little amusing.


    "I don''t know myself."


    Because of the interruption, instead of going with his agenda. He hesitated.


    Jeemin only gave an apologetic light bow to Claire and the rest of the party before going out.


    He gritted his teeth as he opened the door.


    In the end, he wasn''t able to talk to them like he planned to.


    There are other people watching him. He just couldn''t go around apologizing to each of them while being watched. At least he wasn''t that shameless enough.


    *


    When he left the theater room, he saw people entering and leaving the simple two-story building connected to somewhere in the middle of the pavement floating in empty space.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Even from afar, he can see those who just left the building having fresh looks, like they just finished taking a bath.


    It immediately made him self-conscious of his condition.


    The foul odor and sticky sweat on his body became pronounced as soon as he caught a whiff of the fresh fragrant smell coming from the people coming out of the building.


    As he walked towards that place, several people threw him a glance but eventually made their way towards the domed building.


    Inside the two-story building, Jeemin saw its simple structure.


    At his front was a decent size entrance of men''s restroom.


    There was a stairwell as well leading up  from his left, guarded by two men with cold expression on their faces.


    What Jeemin found comical was that their simple silver plated vest had a pink female symbol on it.


    After sweeping his gaze around the building, he went inside the men''s restroom.


    *


    ''Huff.''


    After finding a toilet cubicle with a shower, he enjoyed the fresh and cold water as it washed away the dirt on his body.


    The dirt and blood stains on his body pooled up beneath him as the shower continued to pour water on him.


    The fresh water was just magical because he felt rejuvenated the longer he stood below the shower.


    Brown, black, and deep red water that washed away the stains on his body pooled on the bathroom''s ground as he closed his eyes and gurgled the cold water coming from the shower.


    Jeemin examined his body and found no scars, but his expression gradually turned ugly.


    I guess I should have exercise more before I killed myself.


    The absence of well-toned abs made him grimaced from disappointment.


    At that moment he was stunned when his eyes swept around the bathroom. There was no soap nor a shampoo.


    But when he sniffed the cold breeze around him, the smell of fragrance wafting through his nostrils, he realized that the water coming from the shower was enough.


    He coughed and sneezed hard as he accidentally inhaled the water coming from the shower.


    Jeemin grinned afterwards and enjoyed the shower for an hour before getting a towel prepared outside the cubicle.


    *


    His head was sneakily peeking out from the cubicle''s door as he swept his gaze from left to right.


    When he determined that there were no people left on the restroom, like a gust of wind, he quickly took the towel near his cubicle and ran back inside.


    He nearly slipped on the bathroom''s slippery tiles as he ran while his heart was pounding in nervousness.


    Damn it, why can''t they put the towels inside the cubicles? Are they not aware that some guys are not comfortable waving around their dragons in front of other men?!


    He cursed nonstop as the sole of his feet got hurt from hitting the bottom of the toilet bowl when he nearly slipped on the wet tiles. Luckily, he was able to stop himself from completely slipping.


    And why didn''t I get the towel in the first place before I took a shower?


    His hand reluctantly took his clothes hanging on the rack after he dried himself up.


    When he caught a whiff of the stench coming from it, he nearly retched from the nauseating odour.


    He made an ugly expression when he realized that he needed to wear those stinky clothes again unless he wanted to run around outside naked.


    But when he caught sight of a simple box near the toilet bowl, his eyes widened in amazement.


    [Put your clothes here, we''ll fix it for you]


    After putting his clothes -  his jackets, jeans, leather robe and other stuffs - inside the white box made from marbles, he waited with anticipation in his eyes.


    The white box, inlaid with various inscriptions and runes, glowed in blue as the lights coming from the inscriptions lit up.


    As the lid opened by itself...


    His clothes were turned not only fresh and clean, but was also turned back to its original state. His smile was broad as he saw the clothes turned back into newly bought state.


    The faded blacks of the jacket turned blacker, and the faded...


    "..."


    ... intentionally-ripped jeans turned back to non ripped jeans.


    He checked the condition of the Robe of Thalos.


    [Durability: 100/100]


    Jeemin nodded and wore his clothes before making sure to cover his face with his black face mask.


    He then put his combat boots on the box and wore it after it was cleaned.


    When he finished fixing himself, he went out of his cubicle.


    But he froze when he saw Cipriani outside drying up his messy black hair with a towel.


    Cipriani took a look at him. His lips quivered unnoticeably as if he was hesitating. In the end, he turned his averted his eyes from him and fixed his tiger''s coat draped on his back.


    They might still be watching. Honestly, I have nothing against this kid.


    But Jeemin immediately tensed up and raised his alertness. He even instinctively put his hand on his pouch as if he was ready to draw a weapon in a blink of an eye.


    "..."


    Cipriani felt weird being stared at so he threw him a frown.


    However, it seems like Jeemin couldn''t take a hint as he warily eyed him from head to toe, calculating the best spot on where to stab him.


    When several seconds has passed by, Cipriani tilted his head and asked.


    "Do you need something?"


    "No, not at all."


    "So... Why are you staring at me like that? I don''t sway that way by the way, you know."


    "Huh?"


    Cipriani shook his head and left Jeemin who was clueless inside the restroom.


    *


    Jeemin went outside the building clenching his teeth with boiling anger.


    How dare he think of me that way? I swear I''d beat him to pulp if I saw him again!


    When he went back to the theater room, the rest were still outside, so there were few people sitting around the seats.


    Claire and the rest of the party were sitting in different locations.


    Jeemin didn''t find the six big shots who was doing the recruiting earlier which made his plan feasible.


    He breathed in and out.


    ''Huff, haa, huff, haa.''


    *


    Jeemin went towards Dmitri first and sat beside him.


    The kid looked at him with confusion.


    "Dmitri, I may not have fulfilled my role as the captain well, but you did well holding yourself up against the dangers we faced." Jeemin coughed and awkwardly patted Dmitri''s shoulder.


    "When we meet again, tell about the backstory why you''re always looking at your left hand."


    With that, Jeemin left immediately as he have no idea what to say anymore nor have the heart to continue the conversation.


    He repeated in his head that he was doing this for future investment. So that in the future when he needs their help, if ever they meet again, there won''t be any awkward tension between them.


    Of course, that was far from the truth. Jeemin didn''t want to end things hanging as he did in his previous world when he left his so-called friends like a ghost.


    I''m just doing this for future investments. That''s right, no need to be nervous.


    He went beside Li Jing and patted her head. Jeemin spun the gears of his mind and managed to recall something.


    That something was when Li Jing was muttering something in her sleep at the upside-down forest. It was when Li Jing was muttering about not being able to graduate or something.


    Now that he thought of it, it was a brilliant idea to use it. And so, he spoke while sounding rather vague.


    "Hmm, I didn''t graduate too, so don''t worry if you failed, okay? Just keep doing your best without minding the expectations of the people around you. I hope you could achieve a better life in this world."


    For Jeemin, he felt guilty for spewing anything that comes to his mind, he even felt he was just spewing nonsense.


    But to Li Jing, it was something else.


    In fact, Jeemin had no idea how those words he considered nonsense would affect her life.


    It was also at this moment that Li Jing felt his hand patting her head was ... familiar.


    Her face suddenly reddened like a tomato when a piece of memory was jolted from his mind stimulated from the familiar warmth coming from his hand.


    She remembered hugging Jeemin while she was naked! She also remembered how he didn''t take advantage of her when she was affected by the strange pink gas.


    H-he... h-he didn''t take advantage of me.. Even if I did that?!


    Jeemin who was clueless about what''s going on inside her mind immediately left as soon as he said those words.


    She didn''t even had the chance to ask him about something as she hugged her chest and lowered her head in thought.


    Jeemin then craned his neck to look around for Hyoon. When his eyes met her eyes, he took a gulp.


    It took him time to reach her since he was deliberating on how to deal with her or what the right words he should use.


    "..."


    But he ended up sitting one sit apart from her and was silent for several minutes.


    It was then, Hyoon broke the silence.


    "I''m sorry."


    Jeemin was racking his brain on what he should say or reply, but he ended up replying with a simple response.


    "It''s okay."


    Hyoon slowly sobbed at her seat. She inadvertently realized her mistake when Dmitri shouted at her at the Rest Zone.


    Jeemin suddenly realised something and said with a stern voice, "Don''t blame yourself for Seiji''s death. You did what you had to do. Alright, I blew up at first. My mistake, I know..."


    It was at this time Jeemin unconsciously talked to himself rather than Jin Hyoon.


    "... You hate me, well, the feeling is mutual. I hate myself too. I mean very much. And I''m happy that you''re expecting something for me. You wouldn''t this be angry at me for no reason, right?"


    It sounded more like Jeemin was asking himself rather than her.


    Before leaving, he left her with the words, "I hope you don''t hate me just because I was born."


    With that, he left her without giving her any chance to reply.


    At this moment, Jeemin thought it was tiring to talk to people rather running for your life. He sighed and looked towards Claire.


    She was as beautiful as ever. Her blonde hair and bright blue eyes; her pale white skin and long eyelashes; her rosy red lips and cute button nose, would make Jeemin who was usually reserved in complimenting people, praise her beauty.


    Surprisingly, she was waving her hand at him as soon as he looked at her.


    Jeemin scratched his hair uncharacteristically and walked towards her.


    He made sure to sit one sit apart away from her and avoided staring at her.


    "I''m sorry for what I did at the rest zone. I wasn''t in the right mind at that time."


    "I understand."


    "I''m really sorry."


    "I know."


    At that moment, Jeemin thought it was better if Claire didn''t reply at all because he had no idea what to say next.


    "Uuhhmm you need the greatsword back?"


    "No."


    Jeemin felt some kind of gaze coming from her making him sat rooted on the chair.


    "Why are you not looking at me when you''re talking to me? Is there something wrong with my face captain?"


    "No, not all. In fact your very beautifur¡ª euhk." His words slurred at the end when he realized what he was about to say.


    "What captain, can you repeat that again?"


    "I mean there''s nothing wrong with your face."


    "That''s not what you said." Claire sighed when he still didn''t turn his head towards her.


    What''s wrong with this guy, it''s like talking to a completely different person. He was able to talk to me face to face with his icy cold attitude before we were sent here, without difficulty at that.


    She even started doubting if she was talking to the same person right now.


    Meanwhile, Jeemin was groaning inwardly.


    Can I go now? I should leave now. Sigh, where''s those six people? I hope I can leave soon.


    He was feeling really anxious and his heart was pounding crazily as he found it strange why her stare made it impossible for him to leave.


    Was this some sort of social communication I didn''t know about?


    "What are your plans?"


    "Some.. Training I guess."


    "That''s all?"


    "Probably. I need to get stronger."


    "For what?"


    "..."


    It was at this moment the six people he was waiting for finally arrived at the front of the theater room.


    Li Na spoke with her usual cold voice, "Stay on your seats. Those who were holding letters would be transported on their respective recruiter''s organisation. While those who don''t..."


    She turned her eyes, with her bloody irises and white pupils, towards Jeemin.


    "... Those who don''t will be transferred to some random rank 1 city. And those we recruited will be naturally transported to our respective organisation."


    "Empire." Marie coldly added as her bronze armour suddenly changed.


    There were streams of lava flowing around the surface of her armour as she said, "Call our Empire organisation one more time and I''ll hang your head on our Imperial Gate."


    Li Na scoffed and was about to draw her weapon.


    Dylan stepped between the two, his muscles swelled up as his white Dojo uniform looks like it cannot contain his muscles anymore.


    "No fighting."


    "We''ll be transported any seconds now." He crossed his ripped arms that was a thicker than an adult human''s body and looked around.


    When a bright light was about to shroud them, Jeemin looked at Claire''s face one more time. He didn''t know why, he just want to etched her face in his mind.


    But at the same moment, he saw Claire was looking at him too. She grinned and waved at him before his vision went blank.


    "I hope we''ll meet again," Jeemin muttered.


    At the same time, Jeemin swore to himself to become stronger.


    Strong enough so that he could be confident with himself more; strong enough to make his mind stable; strong enough to grasp his true nature; and strong enough to overcome his desire to die.


    At least, he now had a slightly clear goal, that was to get stronger and stronger.


    The result of not being able to tie his loose ends completely was just because he was weak, he thought.


    If he was strong, he believe that he wouldn''t need to apologize nor rack his brain to get people to like him.


    The problem was, was his new approach in life would be the correct way?


    He didn''t know, and he doesn''t want to doubt it at least now.


    If he did, he''d end up having no goals and fall into the cycle of changing his personality again and again.


    ''This time, I''ll definitely stick to one personality.''


    But what personality should I use next?


    As soon as he fell in thought, he regained his vision.

 Chapter 28 - Sorting out, New World.

    I shouldn''t focus on my personality anymore. I need to consolidate my goal, then focus on just doing things and getting strong. I should stop thinking about myself. That''s it.


    While he was lost in thought, the smell of an ancient town welcomed Jeemin''s olfactory senses.


    [Since Adaptation Zone had been concluded, overall amplification has been lifted up.]


    His body froze up from the oppressive feeling shrouding the entire place. The wind gently blew as he felt cold.


    Caw, caw, caw, caw...


    His skin crawled when he heard the crows in the gray sky cawing nonstop. It wouldn''t have been creepy if it was only that. But only the cawing crows, gust of wind occasionally blowing from time to time, and creaking doors were the only sounds he could hear.


    What''s worse was that the dilapidated wooden houses around him made the overall atmosphere bleak and gloomy.


    Everything was in ruin. It was like he was at the center of an abandoned settlement, deteriorating from neglect and nature''s reclamation.


    Jeemin looked down and saw the dark and dried up soil. There were cracks on the surface of the ground as if it had suffered from thousand years of drought.


    There was a sun hanging on the sky but what was bizzare was he couldn''t feel its heat. Its light didn''t even hurt his eyes even though he was staring directly at it.


    The surrounding environment was lit just enough so that he could see the wooden houses that already fell into ruins.


    Those that could be considered in a relatively good condition were those houses that still had roofs.


    There were no visible people around. When he swept his gaze from his position a couple of times, he determined that it was highly likely that he''s the only person in town.


    "But why?"


    In front of him was a road that was neither wide nor narrow, surrounded by wooden houses from left and right.


    While his forehead was creased, he walked towards one of the houses that still had a roof on his left.


    *


    Creak.


    The door creaked the moment his hand made contact on its surface. When he pushed it forward just enough so that he could slid inside the gap, the wooden door suddenly fell down.


    Thud.


    Jeemin''s hairs on the back of his neck stood on end when the noise was loud enough that it even echoed outside.


    He stiffly lifted his head up from the fallen door towards the table inside the old wooden house.


    His eyes widened in shock as he staggered back.


    "I-I''m sorry f-for i-intruding."


    Jeemin bowed while the corner of his eyes were looking at the figure''s back sitting on a chair.


    The figure was wearing a black shabby robe with a hood making its gender hard to determine.


    Beads of sweat trickled down from Jeemin''s forehead as he waited for a response.


    "I-I''m just a roaming around, and I accidentally went inside, I''m not trying to steal anything."


    He explained while he gradually frowned.


    The figure neither reacted nor responded.


    Now that his eyes adjusted from the dimly lit house, the figure wasn''t even moving.


    He took a gulp, hesitated for a bit, and tiptoed inside while holding his breath.


    Jeemin''s heart pounded hard as he went closer to the figure wearing a shabby grey hooded robe.


    His hand were sweating like waterfalls when he was about an arm''s length away from the back of the figure.


    The figure''s shabby robe fluttered when the wind blew from the outside.


    Creak.


    Suddenly, the wooden floor that Jeemin was stepping on creaked. His heart got stuck on his throat as he stopped moving.


    But when the figure still didn''t make any move, he decided to not care about making any noise anymore as he took a look at its face.


    He expected to see an old man, however, what he saw made him gasped.


    The figure was only a skeleton wearing a shabby robe.


    Its skull had cracks on its surface and its skeletal hands were resting on the table as if it was thinking.


    Its empty eye sockets were specially giving him chills, as if it was alive and looking at him.


    Jeemin stopped himself from shivering from the creeps caressing his spine.


    He breathed through his mouth and calmed down. Then, he recalled some of the things in the novels he have read.


    Jeemin bowed down.


    "May your soul rest in peace."


    Who knows, he might gain something doing this. He then found himself another chair and sat down.


    "I''ll just organize and make a rough outline of what are the things I''ll do, so forgive my impertinence."


    He bowed his head towards the skeleton sitting across the table once more and took out his golden pouch.


    *


    Jeemin blew the dust away on the table and placed several vials he took out from the golden pouch. He then placed various equipments beside it.


    In the end, he removed everything inside the golden pouch besides the golden chest and seven normal pouches; since their only function were to store items.


    But the moment he took out the greatsword, it immediately fell on the floor. To the point that the wooden floor cracked and the greatsword fell halfway to the ground.


    "Eughhh."


    He heaved a deep breath and pulled the greatsword up. However, he frowned while panting.


    His heart thumped hard as he urged the Origin in his palm to activate.


    But nothing happened. What''s more startling was, he can''t feel the presence of the Origin inside his palm.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Jeemin brought his palm closer to his eyes and examined it. His palm looks normal, nothing out of the blue. The only thing he could see were the outlines of his handprint.


    Then, it was at this moment a piece of memory was juggled out of his mind.


    [Since Adaptation Zone had been concluded, overall amplification has been lifted up.]


    It was a memory from the moment his vision went clear. He was too startled when he saw the ruined town and gray sky that he had been distracted from noticing it.


    Now that he thought of it, it was really strange how he could run continuously with only short amount of rest.


    The recovery of his muscles also seemed fast. Since he could swing the greatsword around mindlessly at the desert after being worked out from the forest when they were being pursued.


    He stared at the wooden roof full of cobwebs for awhile and paced back and forth as he thought.


    Jeemin then took out his golden pouch, held it upside down, then inserted its mouth on the greatword''s hilt.


    A broad grinned emerged from his face when the hilt went inside. He pulled it down until half of its body was already ''devoured'' inside the pouch.


    When he reached the wooden floor, he hesitated for awhile. He scanned what''s below the hole and swept his gaze around the dark narrow underground, then after determining nothing was strange, he pulled down the golden pouch until it completely devoured the greatsword.


    "Huff."


    Jeemin scratched and shook his head.


    "I guess I can''t rely on my Origin anymore. Maybe the reason I can use it, even though Mili said I only absorbed half it, was because from the overall amplification from the Adaptation Zone."


    He sighed after knowing that he had no idea when he''s going to be able to completely absorb it.


    Jeemin checked the golden pouch again, however, his face soon turned weird.


    There were eight dark blue stone inside, each of them the size of a fist.


    He took it out and examined one of it closely.


    His forehead creased for a moment before he muttered, "Credits."


    Nothing happened.


    "Maybe credits only exist in the adaptation zone?"


    He remembered getting 1000 credits from accomplishing the task of escaping the forest and 7000 credits when he finished the Ape King task; which totalled 8000 credits.


    "So 8000 credits became these eight dark blue stones?"


    He sniffed it a bit before putting it back. Since he didn''t know what it is nor what''s is for, there''s no use making random guesses.


    His eyes then turned towards the item placed on the top of the table.


    Jeemin waited for that thing to appear.


    [Information Bank]


    [High Grade Healing Potion]


    -Heals grave wounds.


    [Divine Phoenix''s Blood]


    -Increase Lifespan by 100 years.


    [High Grade Mana Potion]


    -Regain Massive Mana that was lost.


    [Primordial Divine Potion]


    -Permanently increase Mana''s limit.


    [Berserker Potion]


    -Permanently increase power by 100%(Warning: Chances of losing one''s mind is high).


    [Essence of Wind Potion]


    -Permanently increase agility by 100%.


    [Eye of Medusa]


    -Permanently increase defense by 100%(Warning: Chances of being turned into stone is high).


    [High Training Booster] x2


    -Increases training results by 6 times. Duration 1 month.


    [Medium Training Booster]


    -Increases training results by 3 times. Duration 15 days.


    [Low Training Booster]


    -Increases training results by 1.5 times. Duration 8 days.


    [Low healing potion]


    -Heals small injuries.


    [Low mana potion]


    -Recover slight mana lost.


    [Essence of Power]


    -Permanently increase power by 25%.


    [Essence of Agility]


    -Permanently increase agility by 25%


    [Essence of Defense]


    -Permanently increase defense by 25%


    [Essence of Mana]


    -Permanently increase mana slightly.


    His eyes widened in suprise as he never thought how useful the treasures he gained from the mansion full traps.


    He narrowed his eyes and carefully read every description of the items.


    It took him an hour to finalized what he will do with these items, especially about the vials responsible for raising his stats.


    "I should only use these if I hit a bottleneck, especially if I can''t increase my power, agility, and defense anymore."


    Jeemin then kept all of them inside the pouch.


    His heart pounded from excitement when he held the vial containing white liquid.


    [Low Training Booster]


    -Increases training results by 1.5 times. Duration 8 days.


    "I need to find a place to train soon and plan my training regimen."


    His eyes sparkled when he found that he even had medium training booster and high training booster.


    After putting them back, he stared at the table again.


    [Information bank]


    [Magic Reinforced Spear]


    Grade: H-1


    Class: Warrior


    Type: Spear


    Durability: 100/100


    Element: Dark


    Weapon Skill: Mana Fix - mana can restore durability


    [Silver Staff]


    Grade: H-1


    Class: Warrior


    Type: Staff


    Durability: 100/100


    Attributes: None


    Effects: None


    Weapon Skill: (2)


    Elongate and Expand


    When he casted his gaze on the bronze spear besides the black spear, nothing appeared.


    "It''s either the bronze spear was too special or it was too common that the information bank didn''t display any information about it."


    He''s inclined to believe that it was the latter.


    Jeemin held the cold black spear on his hand, called mana Reinforced spear. It was quite heavy.


    He lightly threw a thrust forward.


    "I''ll focus on using spear for now."


    Afterwards, he kept the staff and two spears on his pouch.


    Jeemin took a glance at the skeleton who was sitting across the table before examining the remaining items again.


    [Earrings of Bahamuth]


    Grade: H-1


    Class: Universal


    Type: Accessories


    Durability: 100/100


    Element: None


    Weapon Skill:


    Increases sound sensitivity(Passive Skill)


    [Gorger''s Mask]


    Grade: H-1


    Class: Universal


    Type: Accessories


    Durability: 100/100


    Element: None


    Weapon Skill:


    Devour - Able to eat any raw meat without side-effects.


    Jeemin frowned when no information appeared about the silver ring next to the two so-called accessories.


    He wore the black earrings immediately but kept the mask and ring on his pouch.


    Jeemin thought for a moment before removing his black face mask.


    "I''m sure, people at the adaptation zone will recognise me as the one who always wore a mask, it''s better to remove it."


    The remaining items on the table were the incomplete map of the adaptation zone''s stages, gold bar, tattered shield, old pair of boots, chopping board, leather vest, dusty bottled wine, broken sword, and a rotten apple.


    After sorting all of them, he kept them inside the pouch and took out the mana jack and his phone.


    When he plugged the jack on the phone and imbued it with mana, the phone''s screen flashed, indication of being charged.


    After several minutes, Jeemin turned on the phone and smiled.


    He clicked the notepad and wrote every item he had. Afterwards, he scanned the gloomy house and saw a cabinet.


    Jeemin saw several clothes that fit him. Suprisingly, although they an aged scent, they weren''t dirty. He stuffed all of them and changed his black jacket to a simple gray shirt.


    He also tied his hair up into a man bun.


    When he finished having a new look, he went towards the skeleton sitting on the chair.


    He bowed down and hesitated for a moment. After scratching his hair, he took out the rotten apple from his pouch and the low potion.


    Jeemin inserted his index finger on the low potion and wiped it on the rotten apple.


    He grinned after seeing the rotten apple becoming red.


    "I took some of the clothes at the cabinet and this is all I can give, pardon my intrusion. May your soul rest in peace."


    After putting the apple in front of the skeleton, he left the house.


    But the moment he left the house, the skeleton''s skull slowly turned towards his direction and nodded.


    It then caress the apple in front of it before turning its gaze in front. Its gaze seemingly crossing thousands upon thousands of distance away.


    *


    Jeemin roamed around the ruined town for hours.


    At the back and left were mountain ranges, in front and the right are where the forests are located.


    He decided to head north since the forest at the left direction are bare and creepy.


    Jeemin even heard a loud roar coming from that direction that made his scalp numb.


    When he lifted his head up after scanning the forest in front of him, he was stunned.


    There were two huge and massive mountain from left and right, beyond the dark green forest.


    He fixed his gaze on the left mountain and nodded to himself. It was closer compared to the one on the right.


    The moment he went inside the forest, he immediately notice the sky changed. He squinted his eyes from the sudden intrusion of not-so-glaring bright light from the blue sky reflected in his eyes.


    When his eyes adjusted, he creased his forehead for a bit and glanced back.


    However, the moment he did, his eyes widened in shock.


    The town disappeared!


    Only the endless forest greeted him.


    His heart pounded from nervousness as he walked back.


    At this point, he should have already reached the outskirts of the town, but he was still inside the dark green forest no matter how he went back.


    Gulped.


    After taking several gulps, he breathed in and out to calm himself down.


    Since the ruined town disappeared, and he had no idea why that happened, he can only move forward and head towards the mountain. Dwelling on unknown things would only waste his time.


    But he didn''t forget to look back and gave a light bow, before continuing on his journey.


    *


    The forest was endless. Everywhere he looks, he was surrounded by towering trees. But there were also trees that are just tall enough to be climbable.


    Along the way he spotted weird plants here and there.


    The mushrooms were flickering with light. Some flowers felt even alive as they would sway towards his direction whenever he got near them.


    If there was one rule you should follow when travelling inside an unknown forest, you should keep your curiosity to yourself and avoid touching foreign plants around. He kept this in mind while his eyes wandered around with curiosity.


    Jeemin continued forward while raising his alertness as to spot any sudden movements that might put him in danger.


    But he couldn''t help admiring the forest. It was just too beautiful.


    The grasses were soft as it brush past his jeans and the flowers were colorful. Those strange mushrooms growing on the trunk of the trees filled him with curiosity.


    Luckily, there were no vines around. He''d probably run right now if he ever saw one. For some reason, he would shiver whenever he thought of dangling vines hanging on the trees.


    "Huff, haa."


    The air was fresh. However, the more he walked forward the more he could smell a hint of bloody scent drifting towards him.


    He stopped in his tracks and stood still.


    Only now he noticed that there were no chirping birds. There were no insects making strange sounds. It was completely silent.


    Jeemin swallowed his dry saliva and thought what is the reason why are there no animals nor sounds of animals around the forest. He already spent hours walking straight in the forest, his back soaked in cold sweat, but there were still no signs of life.


    Although it really felt that he was sent to another world with different ecosystem, the strange stillness and quietness of the forest isn''t a good news.


    Those things only happened when some lifeforms are threatened by something and hid themselves completely.


    Even on the surface of the moist ground, there were no insects nor worms crawling around.


    Hours passed by and the sky gradually turned orange.


    "It looks like the time here is the same as in the Earth."


    Jeemin glance at the sky and continued moving forward.


    Although the air was fresh and everything is peaceful, his heart was stuck on his throat as his body was tensed up.


    In a completely foreign environment crawling with unknown lifeforms that he know nothing about, who wouldn''t get nervous?


    Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes when he spotted a figure of a human being several meters away from him.


    At first he was just trotting towards its direction, but maybe from his excitement of seeing a human being like him after hours of walking around alone in an unknown environment, he started to ran fast.


    But when he got closer, his face suddenly contorted when the figure finally became clear in his view.